Chapter 54. Snowy Mountains and Rivers ⑥: Vanished...

Congratulations on acquiring the skill: Treasure Chest Crafting (Diamond Level) (Upgradeable)

...

Lin Xiaoxiao slowly opened her heavy eyelids after she had had a good sleep.

"Is anything bothering you?" Xiao Weizhi's worried voice came from the side.

Lin Xiaoxiao blinked, feeling the warm hand on her forehead, her voice still heavy with sleep: "I don't feel unwell, I just feel a little sleepy."

Seeing that Lin Xiaoxiao said she wasn't feeling unwell and didn't have a fever, Xiao Weizhi's tense mood relaxed slightly. He asked gently in a hoarse voice, "Do you want to sleep a little longer?"

God knows how panicked he felt when he opened his eyes in the middle of the night and saw that the person next door had disappeared.

Especially when he found Lin Xiaoxiao unconscious at the tent entrance, he was thrown into an uncontrollable panic.

If Cheng Cheng hadn't examined her, Lin Xiaoxiao would only be in a deep sleep state and wouldn't have suffered any additional damage.

Xiao Weizhi can use her skills to turn this place upside down and find the 'murderer' who murdered her.

Lin Xiaoxiao shook her head slightly, struggling to get up: "No, get up, I'm a little hungry."

No sooner had she finished speaking than her stomach began to rumble.

Xiao Weizhi reached out and helped Lin Xiaoxiao up, placing a pillow behind her back so she could wait inside the tent instead of going out to find food.

Instead, they carried the food into the tent, watched her finish eating, and then took the tray away and sent it out.

After she had eaten her fill, Lin Xiaoxiao slowly recalled what had happened the night before:

She made a deal with a tree spirit named Balu: in exchange for a key and a bead; the key opened the chest she had fished out earlier; she vaguely remembered that before she fainted, a skill appeared in the chest?

Wait, what are the treasure chest merchant's skills?

Lin Xiaoxiao sat on the small bed, hugging the blanket, and quickly opened her personal information panel:

Name: Lin Xiaoxiao

Age: 21

Occupations: Treasure Chest Merchant [Hidden Occupation], [Divine Agent]

Destined Bound Person: Xiao Weizhi [Effect: Shared Life and Death]

Level: LV63 (...) [Currently retained experience points: 235475]

Job Skills: Daily Treasure Chest [10/10] (10,000 Gold/each), Luck Treasure Chest (refreshes daily), Experience Treasure Chest [0/3] (100,000 Gold/each), Sacrifice to the Goddess of Fortune (once every six months), Treasure Chest Crafting (Diamond Level)

Other skills: Divine Eye (Diamond Level), Gathering (Intermediate), Hearing the Voice of All Things

Talents: Extra-large storage space, Lucky Libra, [Negative Buff: Experience Points -50% (Permanent)], [Negative Buff: Stamina -20% (Permanent)], [Identity Concealment Buff (Permanent)]

Special Contacts Module: Currently recorded contacts: [3/3] (List collapsed)

Task modules: [Task 2 (please expand to view details)], [Task 3 (please expand to view details)]

So, the orb of light in that small box is the treasure chest merchant's professional skill?

Are they the professional skills that those 'predecessors' traded out?

What is this? A treasure hunt game? Or a collection game?

Lin Xiaoxiao looked at the new skill annotations she had acquired on her information panel, her face scrunched up, looking like a little bitter gourd.

[Treasure Chest Crafting Skill (Diamond Level) (Upgradeable): Once you select suitable wood, metal, gems, etc., you can activate the skill to create a treasure chest with its own extraterrestrial dimension. The chest can hold anything, depending on what the maker chooses to put inside.]

[Special Note: Currently, the highest level of treasure chest that can be crafted by this skill holder is Diamond-grade. This skill is exclusive to treasure chest merchants and cannot be used by other classes.]

Having learned from Darlene that she had lost 80% of her treasure chest merchant skills, I was already mentally prepared for a long and arduous search.

I never expected that I would find a professional skill so soon, and the process of finding it was so childish.

Before she could even compose herself, Xiao Weizhi, who had gone out to deliver the tray, came in carrying a glass of water, lifting the curtain to enter.

He handed her the water glass with a straw: "Have some citron honey tea, your voice is a little hoarse."

Lin Xiaoxiao took a sip, then held it up and handed it back to him: "You drink too, your voice sounds so hoarse."

Seeing that she really couldn't drink anymore, Xiao Weizhi took the cup and drank two sips.

Then, he bent down and casually placed the cup on the bedside table next to him, and casually tossed the red-tailed rat and the treasure-hunting mouse that had climbed onto her crib under the bed, before sitting down next to her.

At this moment, the noise outside grew louder and louder.

Lin Xiaoxiao tilted her head, puzzled, and asked, "What's going on outside?"

Xiao Weizhi sat down on the edge of the small bed, tucked the blanket around her, and explained the events in a few words: "Nothing much, it's just that the Ice Dream Lake turned back into an ordinary terraced lake group overnight."

The team that first discovered the incident was also ambushed by a fish monster that crawled out of the lake, and several members of that team were seriously injured.

Then all the teams worked together to eliminate all the fish monsters in the lake, luring out the BOSS hidden in the largest lake, a diamond-level ice-type fish monster.

After the combined efforts of dozens or even hundreds of teams, it took several hours to finally grind down the BOSS.

All of this happened while Lin Xiaoxiao was unconscious.

Hearing Xiao Weizhi's analysis, Lin Xiaoxiao inexplicably felt a pang of guilt.

She could roughly guess why the Ice Dream Lake had turned into an ordinary lake: the Myriad Treasure Tree Demon that had been suppressing this place had left freely after making a deal with her, taking with it the energy, treasures, and resources that had scattered throughout this small area of ​​the world...

Moreover, the treasures and resources in those lakes originally belonged to the Myriad Treasure Tree Demon.

The ordinary lakes and hordes of monsters that exist now are the original appearance of this place (these monsters did not appear before because they were suppressed under the lakes by the barrier of the Ten Thousand Demon Tree Demon).

Seeing that Lin Xiaoxiao kept her head down, Xiao Weizhi subconsciously reached out and touched her forehead: "Still sleepy?"

Lin Xiaoxiao gently shook her head: "I'm not sleepy anymore. Are we leaving today?"

Xiao Weizhi reached out and put his arm around her shoulder, gently pulling her into his embrace. He placed a light kiss on her forehead and said, "No rush. The plan is to stay here for another day and make a decision tomorrow."

Originally, Longya entered this secret realm with a nonchalant attitude.

This time, we gained a lot of resources and a new reserve member.

That's enough. The rest of the time is spent ensuring your own safety, waiting for the exit of the secret realm to open, and then returning.

Lin Xiaoxiao rested her head on Xiao Weizhi's shoulder, closed her eyes and pondered. She felt as if she had forgotten something very important, but she just couldn't remember it.

It wasn't until evening that Lin Xiaoxiao yawned and slowly walked out, carrying Hongwei in her arms.

Once outside, they discovered that besides their own team members, there was another full squad of strangers sitting at the folding table outside the camp.

More than twenty people crammed the 5-meter-long table, which usually has plenty of room to sit, into the room.

On the table were five steaming hot pots, and around them were piled up various vegetables, meats, and fruit drinks (during the secret mission, no team will drink any beverages containing alcohol).

Cheng Cheng glanced at Lin Xiaoxiao, who was standing to the side looking somewhat lost, and raised his hand to wave: "Xiaoxiao, here, your seat and the boss's seat are on my side."

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Lin Xiaoxiao quietly quickened her pace and sat down next to Cheng Cheng.

Faced with the stares of this unfamiliar team.

Lin Xiaoxiao felt inexplicably embarrassed, turned her head and lowered her voice to ask, "Sister Chengcheng, what are these?"

Cheng Cheng placed an empty bowl in front of her, somewhat puzzled: "Didn't the boss tell you?"

Lin Xiaoxiao shook her head. What did she say?

Xiao Weizhi briefly told her about what had happened before, and some things he thought were worth mentioning during the fight against the BOSS.

As for the fact that guests would be coming to the camp today, not a single word was mentioned.

Cheng Cheng pointed to the man sitting on the right, whose muscles were bulging and who was chatting and drinking with Chen Feng, and introduced him in a low voice: "Chen Tianchi, the captain of the SS-level Deer Forest Squad."

Then, pointing to a woman who was quite charming in appearance but rather bold in demeanor, chatting and laughing with Huang Yuwei, he said: "Qi Miao, the vice captain of the SS-level Deer Forest Squad."

Then, in a voice only the two of them could hear, they whispered a description of the personnel configuration of this double S-level team.

Lin Xiaoxiao asked in confusion, "Are we very familiar with them?"

Xiao Weizhi sat down in the empty seat next to her.

Cheng Cheng swiftly grabbed a large chunk of meat from the hot pot, dipped it in the sauce in front of him, and stuffed it into his mouth, saying in a muffled voice, "Ask the boss."

Lin Xiaoxiao immediately moved closer to Xiao Weizhi, who was picking up chopsticks, resting her head on his arm, and said somewhat awkwardly, "We're having a get-together with another team today, why didn't you tell me?"

If she had been told earlier that other teams were coming to the camp, she wouldn't have stayed in the tent and would have come out sooner.

Xiao Weizhi placed a pair of chopsticks in her hand, his voice gentle: "This is Senior Brother Chen Feng's team. I'm not familiar with them, so there's no point in talking about it. Let's eat meat?"

Xiao Weizhi picked up a few pieces of meat from the clear broth pot and placed them in the small bowl in front of Lin Xiaoxiao.

Lin Xiaoxiao stared at the meat chunks in the small bowl in front of her, which had no spice at all, and protested in a muffled voice, "I want to eat meat cooked in a spicy hot pot, not this tasteless meat."

Xiao Weizhi continued using serving chopsticks to scoop up food, nodding, "After you finish this batch, I'll scoop up some meat from the spicy side. There are a lot of people, so don't reach out, or you'll burn your hands."

Hearing that she would be able to eat spicy hot pot soon, Lin Xiaoxiao happily picked up her small bowl and began to eat.

During the meal, we could still hear the Deer Forest Team members across the way constantly teasing Redtail and the Treasure-Hunting Mouse.

"Look here, a beautiful six-tailed little red fox, look over here."

"Little mouse, do you want some greens? I'll get you some."

"Brother? Look at your thick beard, look at your dark skin, calling you uncle is already giving you face."

"Little Red Fox, I have a kitten at my house too. Would you like to come and play at my house for a few days?"

...

Annoyed to no end, Redtail kept changing its shape, presenting its fluffy little bottom to this group of strange uncles and ees.

Whenever her plate was dragged away, Redtail would angrily shout in her childish voice, "It's mine! You dare to take it? I'll bite you to death!"

Even when the Lulin team members were scolded, they didn't get angry. Instead, they smiled and apologized, asking Redtail if she wanted to eat this or that.

Redtail is a good child; once someone apologizes, it forgives them and won't be angry anymore.

While the two teams were eating, a figure stood on a distant mountain, staring intently at the location of the Ice Dream Lake, muttering to himself: "Soon, soon... we'll see it soon, don't worry..."

The two teams chatted and ate together, getting along very well, and everyone had a great time after the meal.

Lin Xiaoxiao was an exception; she only ate a few bites of the meat slices from the spicy hot pot after she had eaten her fill.

The meat and vegetables cooked in the clear broth that Xiao Weizhi had stuffed into my stomach earlier occupied 95% of its capacity.

After the meal, she pouted and clung to Cheng Cheng's arm, her expression somewhat resentful: "I didn't enjoy my meal today."

Cheng Cheng chuckled, "If you didn't enjoy the meal today, we'll have hot pot next time."

Because of her inexplicable coma, Xiao Weizhi planned to take her for a full body check-up after returning to the capital, and also to check if she had been cursed or possessed any other magical abilities.

So before the dinner party today, Xiao Weizhi secretly instructed them: help stop Lin Xiaoxiao from eating too much spicy food at the hot pot dinner tonight.

Lin Xiaoxiao stared intently at Cheng Cheng's slightly guilty expression, her resentment almost overflowing from her eyes.

She tried to pick up some meat from the spicy hot pot, but Cheng Cheng, Wang Hao, and Jiang Tao 'accidentally' knocked the meat out of her chopsticks several times. Even a fool could guess what was going on.

Cheng Cheng's eyes darted around, and when he saw Chen Feng's gaze coming through him, he immediately and carefully broke free from Lin Xiaoxiao's embrace: "Feng is looking for me, Xiaoxiao, you sit down for a while, I'll come find you when I'm done with my work."

After saying that, he turned and left without looking back.

Lin Xiaoxiao originally wanted to find Xiao Weizhi to complain to, but after looking around, she found him, Chen Feng, Chen Tianchi, and Qi Miao sitting to the side talking about something, and all of them had tightly furrowed brows.

Xiao Weizhi's expression was very serious, his brows were furrowed, his glasses obscured part of his eyes, a half-smoked cigarette was held between the index and middle fingers of his right hand, and his other hand was casually resting on the armrest of the chair, silently tapping the armrest lightly with his index finger.

Chen Tianchi, sitting opposite Xiao Weizhi, also had a very serious expression. He kept talking in a low voice, as if trying to persuade Xiao Weizhi with words.

Seeing this, Lin Xiaoxiao picked up Red Tail and Treasure-Seeking Mouse, who were hiding at her feet, and went back into the tent.

She planned to go back to her tent to open the luck chest.

During this time, she saved up all the lucky treasure chests, planning to open them all at once to see if she could get anything good.

Back in the tent, Lin Xiaoxiao sat on a low stool, took out all the luck treasure chests she had stored, put them aside, and opened them one by one.

The first item is: [A set of ceramic kitten dolls (no grade required)]

The second one is: [Unidentified tattered pants (no rating)]

The third one is...

I opened seven or eight in a row, and they were all ordinary items with certain levels.

The treasure-hunting mouse squatted on a chair to the side, its eyes filled with disgust for Lin Xiaoxiao's little black hands.

Finally, on the tenth lucky chest, I got the item:

Congratulations on acquiring the skill: Holy Light Healing (Gold Rank)

【Holy Light Healing (Gold Tier): Priest-only skill; after use, all external wounds on the target will be instantly healed, and the target will gain a buff that restores 600 health per second for 10 minutes】

[Special Note: If the target's level is too high, the healing buff per second will gradually weaken; players at level 6 will not receive the buff and can only recover from external injuries!]

Lin Xiaoxiao held the skill scroll in her hand, and after reading the skill explanation, she raised her eyebrows in surprise.

This skill is perfect for Cheng Cheng!

Then she carefully stored the skill scroll in her spatial storage and continued opening chests.

The first nine were ordinary items without any level, and the tenth one was a different item:

Congratulations on obtaining: Lavis's Alchemy Equipment (Silver Grade)

Lavis's Alchemy Equipment (Silver Grade): It is equipped with an alchemy table, an extraction table, a refining device, a recording desk, a herb storage cabinet... (names of hundreds of items omitted)

[Special Note: As a former alchemy prodigy, everyone wants to know if Lavis possesses any secret formula. Perhaps this equipment holds an unexpected surprise.]

The medicine refining equipment is shaped like a square suitcase that can be lifted with one hand.

The box is decorated with twisted patterns of different colors, suggesting that it contains a spatial device. On the black metal buckles on both sides, two very distinctive characters are painted in red paint.

The overall look is mysterious and luxurious.

Lin Xiaoxiao thought the device was perfect for Chen Yijin, so she put it away and continued opening the boxes.

On the twenty-eighth box, she opened an item that was very suitable for her:

Congratulations on obtaining: Ashmead's Staff (Gold Grade)

[Ashmid's Staff (Gold Grade): The staff is equipped with three special magical inscriptions: [Stable, Unyielding, Unobstructed]. As long as the holder holds this staff, any road surface will be as smooth as walking on it.]

[Special Note: It is said that nobles in the past considered a cane a symbol of status, and encountering certain nobles with such a cane might bring unexpected joy.]

This cane is about 90cm long. The main body is a dark brown stick with delicate carvings, while the bottom and the handle are made of gold metal.

The handle is carved with large flowers, the flower centers are inlaid with gemstones of various colors, and the middle section is wrapped with a special leather so that it won't feel cold when held.

Overall, it looks very luxurious and elegant, like a fashion item commonly used by gentlemen and noble ladies in the Middle Ages.

Lin Xiaoxiao stood up, leaning on her cane, and tentatively took two steps.

After discovering that she could use the cane, she felt much more comfortable walking, probably because she had a point of leverage. Her right leg no longer felt as heavy as before.

Xiao Weizhi lifted the tent flap and saw a mess on the ground. Lin Xiaoxiao was walking around in circles, leaning on an ornate cane.

He slowly approached, pulled the wandering Lin Xiaoxiao into his arms, and asked in a deep voice, "Aren't you tired of walking all this time?"

Lin Xiaoxiao smelled the strong smell of smoke coming from Xiao Weizhi and subconsciously wrinkled her nose: "You smell so strongly of smoke."

Xiao Weizhi released Lin Xiaoxiao, took several steps back, unbuttoned his robe which was covered in the smell of smoke, and hung it on the floor shelf by the door: "Sorry, I was talking to Chen Tianchi and the others and smoked a couple more cigarettes. I'm going to take a shower first."

When he came out after washing up, Lin Xiaoxiao had already cleaned up the mess in the tent, packing and sorting everything, keeping what needed to be kept and throwing away what needed to be thrown away.

She sat drowsily on the small sofa, holding Redtail in her arms. The projection in mid-air was a TV series she had downloaded earlier using the communicator.

Xiao Weizhi walked over and casually picked up the red-tailed dog from her arms, put it aside, and asked in a low voice, "Why aren't you asleep yet?"

Lin Xiaoxiao yawned: "I'll go right away."

Lin Xiaoxiao was so tired that she forgot that she was waiting for Xiao Weizhi to tell him that she had found a skill book suitable for Cheng Cheng and a medicine-making device for Chen Yijin today, and wanted to ask him how to deal with them.

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Author's Note: Opening chests is a celebration for the lucky, but those with bad luck might be a little sad [winking emoji].