Chapter Bonanza (4/10)

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Shuixi had thought everything through.

He also handed Jian Xingyi an item. “This is a ‘Messenger Pigeon.’”

It was a wooden carving of a pigeon.

Shuixi had obtained this rare item while running a dungeon earlier. He’d originally thought it was useless, but he never expected… that for those bound by a bond, it was indeed a precious treasure.

The Unity Anchor instantly teleports people to the destination, providing practical assistance.

But the Messenger Pigeon… It’s both practical and impractical.

“Hmm?”

“You can send me messages, and they’ll be delivered anytime, anywhere.”

Unless it’s an extreme situation, Shuixi believes Jian Xingyi wouldn’t use the Unity Anchor, but since he can’t reveal his identity, he can’t add Jian Xingyi as a friend or send him private messages.

Although he’d briefed Wu Yun and the others, and in reality, the people of Thousand Bells Snow Mountain wouldn’t let a resource tycoon like Jian Xingyi face danger, there’s actually… nothing to worry about.

But he still can’t help but worry.

That’s why he sent the message via carrier pigeon.

This item was originally designed for high-difficulty dungeons—for instance, when Jian Xingyi entered a dungeon in another timeline, he couldn’t contact anyone outside it. But this item could bypass all restrictions; it was practically a game-breaking exploit.

Jian Xingyi whispered, “So, how many times can I use this carrier pigeon?”

“Unlimited.”

“Oh.”

Jian Xingyi lowered his head and said nothing more.

For a moment, Shuixi didn’t know what to say either.

Jian Xingyi thought to himself: He should have known this all along. Shuixi was an NPC; he couldn’t stay with him forever. He had to go back to work, had to complete his own tasks. In the end, he was nothing more than a string of data.

But why did he feel something unusual toward data?

He’d said that day that he was still thinking about it. She’d thought about it for a long time, trying to figure out what she was feeling, but…

“Xinghe…”

“Mm, go ahead.” Jian Xingyi looked up again, a gentle smile returning to his face. “Be careful. Don’t get hurt again. Even though… You probably won’t die, you shouldn’t abuse your body.”

“……Okay.”

Jian Xingyi said with a smile, “Good night, then.”

After speaking, Jian Xingyi turned and climbed into bed, lying down with his back to Shuixi.

Jian Xingyi thought to himself, what’s there to be sad about? Hadn’t he already prepared himself for this?

Shuixi’s voice came from behind him, “Four days at the earliest, seven at the latest. Once it’s over, I’ll come back for you.”

“Okay, go ahead and do your thing. It’s fine if you don’t come back.”

After that, neither of them spoke again.

The next day, when Jian Xingyi woke up, the bed next to his was already empty. He touched it—there wasn’t even any lingering warmth left. Shuixi must have left very early.

But with such a massive blizzard raging outside these past two days, had Shuixi… just walked right through it?

Or did he have some special means of teleportation?

Jian Xingyi had no way of knowing.

Finding himself alone after getting up, Jian Xingyi felt a momentary sense of unease.

Hmm…

Jian Xingyi scratched his head. But he’d always been alone in this game; Shuixi had only traveled with him for about half a month.

In fact, it wasn’t just the game—in real life, he’d always been alone too.

So why was he still getting used to it?

This won’t do…!

From now on…

Jian Xingyi lowered his gaze. From now on, it would have to be like this.

He had to get used to it.

Jian Xingyi scrolled through his terminal. Firelight had left him a message saying that a large-scale hunt would be taking place near the summit of Grape Mountain in the coming days, so he wouldn’t be handling guild affairs for the time being—including the strategy forum and transactions with Jian Xingyi.

Firelight: 【I’m really sorry. If this affects your plans, just leave the food here. We can make up for it by restocking when we get back.】

Xinghe: 【No, no, it’s no trouble at all】

Jian Xingyi thought to himself, So that’s why there’s a large-scale hunt. No wonder Shuixi was called away on duty.

Scrolling through the chat log, the guild was reporting progress as usual. Then Jian Xingyi noticed a message from Wu Yun, telling him to come find him after waking up.

“You’re here!” Wu Yun smiled. “I heard your… partner had to leave on an errand. After the blizzard leaves, you and your guildmates are planning to summit in a couple of days, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Jian Xingyi said. “I mainly want to go to the summit to get the final blue flag. My companions don’t necessarily have to summit; they’re mainly there to gather wood and chop down trees.”

“I see. Just as we expected. So…” Wu Yun said, “Cangshui, Mao Tuan, Meimei, and I will accompany you up the mountain. Then, we’ll gather about ten high-level players from our three guilds to help your companions with the logging. Does that arrangement work for you?”

Jian Xingyi: “…?”

This… feels a bit too over-the-top!

His companions need a dozen guards, and he himself gets three top-tier players and three guild masters to accompany him…

I’m breaking out in a cold sweat!

Before, when he went out, he only had Shuixi by his side!

Of course, to be fair, his own self-defense skills are actually pretty decent—it’s just that… he’s a slacker with a lot of tools.

“Ah, don’t feel any pressure. Cangshui has his own reasons.” Wu Yun chuckled. “Here’s the thing: your colored flag is inside a temple on the mountaintop—the Thousand Bells Temple. It’s the landmark of our Thousand Bells Snow Mountain. Cangshui just remembered that many of the walls inside are supported by bricks, and they’re overgrown with vines. Over time, the bricks have even become intertwined with the plants, so the plants have become part of the support structure.”

According to the system’s description, the Thousand Bells Temple is both a ruin and a miracle. Amidst this vast expanse of snow, the temple is filled with flowers and grass, as if it were spring—but only within the temple itself.

Jian Xingyi understood. “So Cangshui wants to go to the temple to examine the brickwork and get a feel for the differences between the game and reality to gain some inspiration?”

“Exactly. Since Cangshui is going, I’m worried that if I’m busy looking after him, I won’t be able to keep an eye on the bigger picture. Luckily, that big guy Mao Tuan has been clamoring to come along too…”

Wu Yun resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“And then, since Mao Tuan was going, I was worried you’d feel awkward caught between him and me, so I called Meimei. Don’t let his appearance fool you—he’s actually very powerful. As a T1 player, he’s stronger than all his admirers.”

“Oh…!”

Wu Yun thought to himself, calling these people along was no exaggeration at all. This was the high-difficulty map, the Thousand Bells Snow Mountain. And while everyone was at full combat power, his, Cangshui’s, and Mao Tuan’s full combat power was the result of their hard work and success in reaching it, whereas Shanhai’s full combat power was simply because the game system’s highest rating was “full combat power”—anything beyond that couldn’t be measured.

“As for those ten or so people, they’ll just tag along with your companions to chop wood. After all, everyone needs resources, and having more people means they can look out for each other.”

Seeing that Wu Yun had thought this through so thoroughly, Jian Xingyi had no objections.

Wu Yun and the others were right—over the past two days, a terrifying blizzard had indeed swept in. Even from the guild’s safe zone, Jian Xingyi could hear the howling wind outside, as if it were about to uproot the trees.

With winds of this intensity and such extreme temperatures, anyone caught outside would sooner or later freeze to death or be blown away.

So for the past two days, Jian Xingyi had stayed put in the guild hall to rest and took the opportunity to learn from Cangshui.

He studied intently how Cangshui built walls and stacked the bricks, then taught Heiye and Baizhu how to construct the walls of the Long Live for A Hundred Years Guild.

During this time, Heiye sent Jian Xingyi a list of guilds he wanted to merge with. There were three in total—all from the Peace Mountain region with no shady pasts and sufficient strength to hold their own.

Jian Xingyi looked over the list for a while but didn’t feel particularly inspired, so he set it aside for the time being.

Two days later, the blizzard finally began to ease.

Although it hadn’t completely dissipated—the blizzard was still raging, and the surroundings remained a hazy gray—it was now safe enough to travel. If they delayed any longer, it would be a waste of time.

Jian Xingyi thought to himself that traveling with these bigwigs who knew the area well had one major advantage: he didn’t have to worry about a thing and could fully enjoy the feeling of being carried along.

Take this moment, for example: all he had to do was bring his people to the main gate to wait for the group to assemble.

The other big shots had prepared tents, cushions, fire sources, and other supplies to ensure they could safely make their way through the storm.

Over the past few days, Jian Xingyi had become quite close with the group. Wu Yun patted Jian Xingyi on the shoulder. “Things might get a little rough from here on out. Hang in there.”

“No problem.”

Cangshui rode with Wu Yun, while Jian Xingyi and Meimei rode in Mao Tuan’s car.

It wasn’t until Mao Tuan officially drove the car out of the guild that Jian Xingyi realized what “tough” really meant.

“Achoo!”

Oh my god… It’s so cold!!!

Everyone had drunk ginger soup, but they could still feel the chill.

Although the massive blizzard had eased, it hadn’t completely passed. Biting winds carrying ice shards and snowflakes lashed at them, visibility fluctuating between light and dark, and the car was bouncing violently.

Apart from the howling wind, Jian Xingyi could also hear the faint, intermittent howls of wolves and the snarling of zombies. At one point along the road, Jian Xingyi saw Meimei suddenly stand up and open fire, followed by the agonized screams of zombies being killed.

Hmm…

Truly, the Thousand Bells Snow Mountains. And Meimei was indeed skilled—the wind and snow were so fierce that Jian Xingyi couldn’t even tell where the zombies were.

When they’d come this way earlier, they hadn’t encountered a blizzard of this magnitude. Back then, Meimei had been their only guide, and they’d unfortunately suffered a flat tire, forcing them to rest where they were.

Meimei chuckled, “This time, Mao Tuan and Wu Yun are driving. They’re way more experienced than I am—they won’t get a flat tire.”

Even if they did, they’d brought plenty of spares.

“Oh!”

Roar—

The two cars stumbled and jolted their way through the blizzard.

Jian Xingyi furrowed his brow slightly. Why did he… seem to catch a glimpse of a white figure darting through the blizzard?

Jian Xingyi mentioned it to Meimei.

Meimei shuddered. “Ey! It’s the middle of the night! Why are you bringing that up? Pfft, pfft, pfft!”

Jian Xingyi scratched his head.

He must have seen things.

The car drove on for a while. Since the convertible wasn’t going very fast, Jian Xingyi used his driving skill to earn quite a bit of essence points along the way.

Whoosh—

It wasn’t a hallucination…!

Jian Xingyi’s eyes widened. “Meimei!”

“Hm?”

“There really is a white figure!”

Meimei met Jian Xingyi’s serious gaze, his expression a mix of vulnerability and toughness. He pulled out his rifle and scanned the surroundings warily, his face etched with fear. “Don’t you dare scare the hell out of me!”

Mao Tuan burst out laughing from the front seat. “Come on, you! This is Xinghe’s first time out with us like this. He’s probably just seeing things. Blizzards naturally create that kind of atmosphere—it’s normal.”

Jian Xingyi stared at Mao Tuan with a dark gaze, raised his hand, and pointed his index finger at him. “It’s not an illusion. It’s right to your left.”

It wasn’t that Jian Xingyi wasn’t afraid; he just…

His sanity had completely vanished. Once fear reached a certain point, his heart had simply stopped caring.

Then, with a look of feigned vulnerability, Meimei aimed his rifle and fired a burst of shots toward Mao Tuan’s left side. “Waaaaaah!”

Mao Tuan, looking tough but cowering in a delicate posture, shrank to the side, “Eeek! Waaah! Waaah! Waaah! Waaah! Waaah! Waaah!!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!—!