Chapter 56 Painful Past

If Qiao Mei were a boy, she might have softened upon seeing Shan Cha's pitiful state, but unfortunately, she wasn't.

As for Xingxing beside her, he seems to be a very straight man, so he probably won't be soft-hearted.

So next, Camellia received the first rejection in her life, and was rejected by both of them at once.

Qiao Mei waved her hand: "No, we're not familiar with each other, and we can't cooperate well. Let's just take what we need and then part ways."

Xingxing didn't even glance at her. She controlled the Goddess Mecha and picked at the non-existent ear of the mecha, saying with disdain, "I don't really like teaming up with Clip, so I'll decline."

Qiao Mei listened to Xingxing's words, which could hardly be called a polite refusal, and after a slight twitch of her lips, she glanced at Camellia, who was still standing alone in the same spot, without feeling any pity.

Her intuition told her that Camellia was probably not a kind person.

After suppressing the thought, she even said a friendly goodbye to Camellia, and then headed to the agreed-upon next location with Xingxing.

Meanwhile, Camellia stared at Qiao Mei and Xingxing, who had already walked away, with a dark expression. She then summoned her scissor-shaped mech again. Under the watchful eyes of Shu Qingqing and the viewers in the live stream, she installed the Chain Cannon onto the still intact left arm of her mech and glared fiercely at Qiao Mei and Xingxing's two mechs.

While waiting for the barrage of cannon fire to gather energy, Camellia spoke in a fierce voice that could be heard by Shu Qingqing and the viewers in the live stream: "You took so many benefits from me, and you think you can just walk away? You wish! Since that's the case, I'll have no choice but to send you two to your deaths!!"

This was the first time Shu Qingqing had ever met someone whose appearance and personality were so different.

Hearing Camellia speak in that deep, hoarse voice again, she rolled her eyes at the live streaming equipment in a rather unrefined manner before launching a poll.

"Come on, let's bet on whether contestant #233, Rose, and contestant #555, Star, can avoid the scheming camellia attack. If you think they can't, choose option #2. Place your bets now!!"

While Shu Qingqing was doing her usual guessing game in the live stream, she seemed completely unaware that Qiao Mei, who was behind her, was making a move that posed no danger whatsoever.

With lightning speed, she unleashed the wings of her Flying Ape mech, lifted up Star's Goddess mech, and shouted at him as the roar of artillery fire came from the opposite side: "Quick, activate the sonic reflection of your Goddess mech!!"

Upon receiving Qiao Mei's command, Xingxing manipulated the pink and white goddess mecha to make a finger-pinching gesture, condensing a golden-white halo in front of her.

As the light from the aperture grew brighter, rings of transparent light rippled outwards from within it, directly striking the cannonballs fired by Camellia.

Then the cannonball was deflected by the light waves and shot towards the location of the scissor-shaped mech, exploding into sparks and sending the mech flying into a nearby valley.

When the roaring sound completely stopped and only the smell of gunpowder remained in the air, Qiao Mei relaxed her vigilance a little, controlled the Flying Ape mecha to land, and told Xingxing to quickly come out of the Goddess mecha.

"We've made quite a commotion here, and I reckon someone's coming soon. Let's find a secluded spot to hide!"

Xingxing obediently did as she was told, quickly catching up with the eight-year-old boy in front of her with her two star-shaped legs, panting as she ran, asking him questions.

"How did you know she was going to ambush us? If it weren't for your quick thinking, I feel we would all be eliminated by now."

This is also what the viewers in the live stream wanted to know. Many viewers believed that Rose and Star's B-grade mechs were definitely no match for the A+ grade scissor mech, which was still at 70% health.

So when the vote was held, nearly 90 percent of people chose option 2, feeling that roses and stars couldn't escape the attack of camellias.

Only Shu Qingqing, the streamer, and a small number of viewers chose number 1 and placed a bet of 100 Star Coins.

Now that the results are in, Shu Qingqing's smile is so wide it almost reaches the back of her head. Looking at contestants number 233 and 555 as if they were some kind of money tree, she said happily, "Not bad, not bad. From now on, we'll focus on these two for the live stream. Does anyone have any objections?"

These two ordinary people, both cunning and clever, were like a mudslide among the contestants who seemed to be at each other's throats and the atmosphere was extremely tense. They were interesting and exciting to watch, and the audience had no objections.

Qiao Mei on the screen was unaware that she had been targeted as the subject of the live stream. When the enemy outside heard the noise and rushed over, but saw no mechs and left, she quietly explained the situation to Xingxing.

"It's very simple. Look at her eyes and micro-expressions. After we rejected her, I saw an angry look in her eyes, and her right hand unconsciously clenched into a fist."

Xingxing still didn't understand: "She's just angry, why would she attack us directly? We just saved her."

Qiao Mei shook her head, her eyes flickering as if she were recalling something from the past: "It's not just like that. If it were just that, she wouldn't have clenched her fist. Usually, clenching a fist means that the person has murderous intent."

As for how she knew, Xingxing didn't ask any further, because he had keenly sensed that Rose's mood seemed to have undergone a subtle change.

The two of them then relied on stealth and teamwork to finally find a dense forest within the safe zone of the poison circle that was also difficult for others to find. They hid inside and survived until dawn, successfully surviving in the preliminary round.

They became two of the 3,000 finalists.

After Qiao Mei said goodbye to Xingxing and Shu Qingqing finished her broadcast, she took off the headset she was wearing. Unconsciously, some unpleasant memories came to mind, and the atmosphere around her seemed to drop.

"You have no choice but to agree, even if you don't want to! If you don't help me make money, how am I supposed to keep gambling? If we don't gamble, what chance does the family have to make a comeback?! Old Li said that the coal mine owner is willing to give you 10,000 yuan a night. If you go and stay for seven days, you can make a net profit of 70,000 yuan. Why can't you do that?!"

"Hurry up and change into these clothes, or I'll have to hit you!"

As the girl's memory dazed her, her body temperature dropped rapidly, and a layer of cold sweat appeared on her forehead and back. Her usually bright and clear red eyes became dull and dazed.

Xiao Ao Cang, who had already transformed into human form and was about to ask Qiao Mei for a hug, paused for a moment, reached out and tugged at her sleeve, and whispered, "An'an, what's wrong? Did you fail to make it to the semi-finals?"

Xiao Aocang's soft, sweet voice was like a large hand, lifting Qiao Mei out of that filthy, stagnant water. After catching her breath, she looked at the obedient face that came into view, and her nose suddenly felt sore. She reached out and hugged Xiao Aocang's body, and her mind uncontrollably recalled those painful past events that she could not suppress.

Shu Qingqing: (Grinning from ear to ear) Money tree, money tree!

On a side note: "Dragon God" is officially available now! Hope you all will support it! Mwah~