Chapter 450 [(*^▽^*)]

If Lin Leyou were just a simple player, he wouldn't be in so much trouble, but he isn't! Once his identity is exposed, he might never have any freedom for the rest of his life!

Even players like Xue Rui need to report their situation to the Administration Bureau regularly, let alone someone with such a special status. Even if they want to go to university, they have to do so in the Endless World!

Lin Leyou immediately made a decision. Since it was all the same—going to university—it seemed there was little difference between the Endless World and the real world. As long as he learned something, that was all that mattered; a university diploma and such…

Getting this in the real world won't be of any use to me, so I'll leave it in the Endless World and look for it properly after this dungeon ends.

However, he quickly came to his senses and realized that now was not the time to think about this. The atmosphere was still awkward, so he should say something.

Lin Leyou, "Well... let's..."

Xue Rui said earnestly, "Brother Lin!"

Lin Leyou paused slightly, startled. "What's wrong?"

Xue Rui said very seriously, "I don't know right now."

Lin Leyou asked blankly, "What don't you know?"

Xue Rui said seriously, "I don't know the answer to your question. Can I think about it?"

Lin Leyou thought about his joking question earlier. Was it too late to admit that he was just kidding?

"Well... okay, I have no objection. You can think about it slowly. Um... I mean, you can think about this issue when you get back. Right now, this mission is extremely important to you, it's a matter of life and death, so don't get distracted!"

Xue Rui blinked, as if he had come back to life. "Okay, I understand."

This time, Xue Rui walked in front again, but they didn't grab his wrist or anything like that. Lin Leyou obediently followed behind and didn't cause any more trouble.

Walking on mountain paths in the dark was indeed not a good idea. Just as they were cautiously moving forward, they suddenly heard a system notification sound. It was the sound of points being credited to their account. One of the teams had encountered a tiger. Several people had escaped alone, but now one of them had been killed by the tiger.

Not long after, more points were credited to my account. This time, there seemed to be no other people or wild animals around the location where the red dot had disappeared. What was going on?

Lin Leyou thought for a moment, "Did he lose his footing and fall to his death?"

Xue Rui narrowed his eyes. "That should be it."

Otherwise, there's no way to explain how this person died.

Lin Leyou said, “You lead the way, but don’t walk too fast, lest you fall into a hole. Although we are… sometimes reality doesn’t work out for us, and many things aren’t marked on the map, so we have to be careful.”

Xue Rui: "Okay, I'll be careful."

His pace had indeed slowed down considerably, and Lin Leyou gradually felt relieved.

Lin Leyou observed the situation on the map and suddenly spotted a black ant marker not far behind them. Wait! This location is…

"Xiao Rui, is this place marked with black poisonous ants the place we just left? Is there Roman's body over there? Did you see any black poisonous ants when you killed Roman?"

Xue Rui stopped, and the two examined the map together. "I didn't see any black poison ants before I left."

But now black ants have appeared where Roman's body was. What's going on? They won't leave her alone even after she's dead. Are they going to eat her?

Xue Rui, "Should we go back and take a look?"

Lin Leyou shook his head, "There's no need to go back. Roman is already dead anyway. But I do have a guess about the black ant's poison. Maybe it's a mark?"

Xue Rui, "The mark? You mean, this mark is so that the black ants can keep tracking the people or animals that have been bitten, and keep chasing them until they leave this mountain or die?"

Lin Leyou nodded. "That's what I think. There might be a slight toxicity, but the tracking marker should be correct."

Xue Rui said, "Maybe the poison is related to the number of times you've been bitten. If it's okay, we can wait a little longer."

They walked slowly, and it took them more than an hour to reach the place Xue Rui had mentioned. There was indeed a stream there, but it was late at night and the temperature in the mountains was a bit low, so it wasn't a good place to take a bath.

Otherwise, Lin Leyou would definitely take off her clothes and take a proper shower. She really smelled terrible. Before, when she was with other people, she couldn't take a proper shower. At most, she would wash her face and hands.

Xue Rui pointed over there and said, "There should be a cave here. Let's go inside and rest."

Lin Leyou stared at that spot for a long time, but couldn't see anything... Hmm? There was indeed a cave, but the entrance to the cave was just a slightly larger crack.

Moreover, the gap was completely covered by hanging vines with their own leaves. If Xue Rui hadn't pointed it out to him and he hadn't looked closer, he probably wouldn't have noticed it even as he passed by.

The two of them went in through the gap sideways, walked forward about five or six meters, and came out through the gap. It was actually quite spacious inside, and there was even water flowing down from the inside!

Xue Rui, "Would you like to take a shower here?"

Lin Leyou nodded, "No problem. By the way, let's light the fire first. It shouldn't be visible from outside if we light it here."

Xue Rui: "This corner is very secluded; no one will know about it."

The two lit a fire, boiled some hot water, mixed it with cold water, and took a simple bath. They also washed their hair and changed into clean clothes. They washed their dirty clothes as well, and then dried them by the fire later.

While taking a shower, neither of them seemed embarrassed, since they were both grown men. However, Lin Leyou wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that Xue Rui's eyes were darting around.

Both of them felt much better after taking a shower, as if they had been reborn.

Lin Leyou said enthusiastically, "Let's make something hot to eat. I've been really bored these past few days."

Xue Rui had no problem with it. He had put some seasonings in his bag, while Lin Leyou had put a lot of delicious food in his game backpack. It would be perfect to take them out and cook them now.

However, the only downside is...

Lin Leyou sniffed. "Isn't this smell too strong? It might drift a long way. What if someone follows the scent here?"

This is no exaggeration. After all, they don't know how many of them are NPCs, how many are players and residents, so there might be someone with such a useless item.

Xue Rui: "There's nothing we can do about it. How about we finish eating quickly?"

Lin Leyou said, "Forget it, let's eat slowly. Anyway, if they come looking for us, we'll just kill them."

Xue Rui thought about it and thought it was feasible, "Okay."

And so, the two of them slowly savored the pot of stew. The conditions were simple, and there was no way to make anything better, so they could only have this stew, just like eating hot pot. And you know what? It tasted pretty good!

It was an hour later when they finished eating.

During this time, they would check the map every now and then to see if any red dots were approaching. Fortunately, no red dots came near until they finished eating, which put them at ease.

Lin Leyou, "Want to sleep?"

Xue Rui: "Let's take turns sleeping."

Lin Leyou: "Why? Do we still need to keep watch now?"

Xue Rui nodded, "Yes, we need to. Although we have a map, this deep mountain is not 100% safe for us. Something might climb in here."

Lin Leyou, "You mean... a snake?"

Xue Rui: "That's right, we still need to be careful."

Lin Leyou thought for a moment, then took out a mosquito net from his backpack. "How about this?"

Xue Rui paused for a moment after seeing the mosquito net, "You... why are you still carrying this?"

Lin Leyou said, "I just stuffed it in without thinking. After all, we're camping deep in the mountains, and this thing should still come in handy, right? See, we're using it now, aren't we?"

Xue Rui, “But… this thing…”

Lin Leyou said, "It's okay. We'll just put a small warning device around us when we sleep."

Xue Rui was still somewhat hesitant, but in the end she didn't object, "Then I'll listen to you."

Actually, he didn't mean he didn't want to rest and sleep, but... he was going to sleep in the same mosquito net as Lin Leyou, so how big was the space inside the mosquito net?

Although we always slept in the same bed when we lived in Xingfu Community, my mindset is different now.

Xue Rui, "Is it done?"

Lin Leyou said, "Can you help me? I can't do it by myself."

Xue Rui came over to help, and the two of them finished much faster, in less than two minutes. "Let's go to sleep. After taking a shower and having a full meal, there's nothing more comfortable than sleeping now."

Xue Rui glanced back. The clothes they'd washed earlier were still hanging by the campfire, half-dry after being roasted for so long, just lying there. And their mosquito net…

He took a deep breath, as if there was nothing he could refuse.

Lin Leyou said, "Alright, don't think too much, go to sleep."

Xue Rui nodded, climbed into the mosquito net, and lay down next to Lin Leyou. He originally thought he wouldn't be able to sleep, but unexpectedly he fell asleep very quickly, without even realizing it.

Lin Leyou opened her eyes and glanced at the sleeping Xue Rui. She had to admit, he was quite different from when they first met, even though less than a year had passed…

Well, it seems like Xue Rui has suddenly transformed from a young boy into a mature and composed adult, while I remain the same as before…

Come to think of it, I was already this old in my past life, so no matter how young I am now, I probably can't recapture that carefree feeling of my youth.

Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. I'm going to sleep.

He glanced at the map before going to sleep and was relieved to see no red dots approaching their hiding place. Of course, he still checked the watch-shaped scanning monitor, which was blue.