Chapter 10
Su Jing crouched low as she made her way through a dense thicket of giant blades of grass. The soil beneath her feet was soft but not sticky, and the strength boost from the sweet grass roots made her steps both light and steady.
The buzzing of bees grew clearer and clearer; we were less than two hundred meters away from the honey fruit tree area.
Just as she was about to quicken her pace, she suddenly heard hurried footsteps coming from behind the bushes on her left, accompanied by a broken Chinese shout: "Stop! Don't move!"
Su Jing tensed up instantly, instinctively gripping the folding shovel in her hand, turning her body slightly to the side, and casting a wary glance toward the source of the sound.
Two figures emerged from behind the grass, one fat and one thin, both with blond hair and blue eyes, American faces, wearing tactical vests. The tall, thin one held a black pistol, the muzzle pointed directly at her chest, while the short, fat one held a military dagger, his eyes greedily scanning her backpack (in reality, the supplies were all in her spatial storage; the backpack was just a disguise).
"Hand over all your supplies! And all the sweet grass roots you dug up, take them all out!"
The tall, thin man spoke haltingly in Chinese, the gun barrel swaying slightly, yet it remained locked onto Su Jing's vitals.
"Or I'll shoot!" His eyes were full of ruthlessness, clearly showing he was used to robbery. The short, fat man next to him chimed in, "Hurry up! Don't waste time, we know you dug up a lot of sweet grass roots, and there are good things in your space!"
Su Jing's heart sank—the other party actually knew about the existence of the space? Could it be that they saw her collecting supplies earlier, or that other participants leaked the information? She quickly calculated: the other party had guns, so a direct confrontation was definitely not an option. The power boost from the sweet grass root could double her strength, but it still couldn't stop bullets. She had to find a way to outsmart them.
She immediately feigned fear, her body trembling slightly. She slowly lowered the folding shovel in her hand and raised both hands above her head: "Don't shoot! I'll hand it over! I'll hand it all over!"
He deliberately feigned panic, his eyes darting away from the gun barrel. "I only have a little bit of sweet grass root in my backpack. There's nothing else in my storage space except some water and chocolate."
Seeing her show weakness, the tall, thin man smirked mockingly: "You're smart enough to know what's good for you! Throw your backpack over here, then open your spatial storage and take everything out. No tricks allowed!"
He took two steps forward, the gun still pointed at Su Jing, while the short, fat man moved to Su Jing's side to prevent her from escaping, the dagger in his hand reflecting a cold light in the sunlight.
Su Jing pretended to obediently bend down to pick up her backpack, but her fingers secretly activated her spatial ability behind her back—
Her space contained not only sweet grass roots and food, but also several fist-sized stones she had collected earlier. She had casually picked them up while digging for sweet grass roots, intending to use them to pave a road, but now they came in handy.
She deliberately slowed down her movements to lower the other party's guard, while using her mind to lock onto the heaviest rock (about 20 kilograms), quietly moving it to the exit of the space, waiting for the right opportunity.
"Hurry up! Stop dawdling!" The short, fat man kicked a stalk of grass beside him impatiently, his voice hoarse. "If you're any slower, I'll slash your face!"
Su Jing sneered inwardly, but appeared even more flustered. She picked up her backpack and threw it to the tall, thin man, then pretended to open her spatial storage: "I... I'll take it now, please don't shoot."
She gestured with her hands in front of her, as if manipulating space, but in reality, she was adjusting the position of the stones while slowly moving forward to close the distance with the tall, thin man.
The tall, thin man caught the backpack and casually tossed it to the short, fat man for inspection, while he himself kept a close eye on Su Jing's hands, afraid she might try something funny: "Open it now! Don't force me to shoot!"
Just as the short, fat man looked down at his backpack (which contained only two bottles of water and half a chocolate bar; the real supplies were in his spatial storage), and the tall, thin man focused his attention on Su Jing's hand movements, Su Jing suddenly launched an attack! With a thought, the 20-kilogram rock in her spatial storage instantly flew out, accompanied by a whistling sound, and accurately smashed into the tall, thin man's head!
With a dull thud, the rock slammed into the tall, thin man's forehead, and blood gushed out instantly. Before he could even scream, his eyes widened, and his body fell straight to the ground, the pistol in his hand clattering into the dirt.
Hearing the loud noise, the short, fat man looked up abruptly, saw the tall, thin man lying on the ground, and then saw Su Jing's icy gaze. He was terrified, dropped his backpack, and turned to run: "Monster! You're a monster!"
How could Su Jing give him a chance to escape? With another thought, a slightly smaller stone (about 15 kilograms) flew out of the space and accurately hit the fat, short man on the back.
"Ah—" The fat, short man let out a scream, lost his balance, and fell forward into the grass, spitting out a mouthful of blood. The dagger in his hand also fell to the ground.
Su Jing quickly stepped forward, picked up the pistol from the ground (she had learned shooting before and knew how to use it), walked to the short, fat man's side, and watched him struggle to get up, her eyes showing no emotion.
The short, stout man looked up at Su Jing, his eyes filled with fear and pleading: "Don't kill me! I was wrong! I shouldn't have taken your things! Please, please let me go!"
"When you were about to kill me, why didn't you think of letting me go?"
Su Jing's voice was icy cold, devoid of any pity. She knew that in this instance, being merciful to the enemy was being cruel to herself.
Instead of using a gun, she picked up a folding shovel from the ground and smashed it hard into the back of the fat man's head. The power boost from the sweet grass root made the blow incredibly powerful, and the fat man didn't even utter a sound before he was completely still.
After dealing with the two robbers, Su Jing didn't linger. She immediately checked the surrounding environment, used her spatial ability to store the two men's pistols, daggers, and backpacks into her space, and then quickly cleaned up the bloodstains and traces of falling rocks on the ground—she didn't want to leave any clues that might attract other participants.
She gripped the pistol tightly, released the safety, and cautiously looked around. The power boost from the sweet grass root was still there, making her senses much sharper than usual. She could clearly hear the sound of grass blades rubbing together, but there were no other unusual noises.
Only after confirming that she was safe did she breathe a sigh of relief, her back already covered in a layer of cold sweat—the counterattack just now, although successful, was also extremely dangerous. If the other party had reacted quickly enough and fired, she would have had a hard time dodging it.
"It seems that we cannot easily reveal the existence of this space in the future, nor can we let our guard down against anyone."
Su Jing made a silent decision in her heart. The participants in this instance came from different countries, and their hearts were unpredictable. They would do anything for resources, so she had to be more cautious.
She activated her spatial abilities again and checked the supplies inside: 165 kilograms of sweet grass roots were intact, along with the pistol (with 8 bullets in the magazine), dagger, and supplies from the two robbers' backpacks (several bottles of water, three packs of compressed biscuits, and a multi-purpose military knife).
Although these extra supplies are few, they are essential for survival in dungeons, and are better than nothing.
Su Jing wasted no time, tucked her pistol into her waistband, gripped her folding shovel, and continued toward the honey fruit tree area.
Now she not only has a power boost, but also a gun as a weapon, which greatly increases her sense of security. However, she is also more cautious, stopping every few steps to observe her surroundings from a distance, making sure there are no other participants or dangerous creatures.
The buzzing sound in my ears grew louder and louder, and I could already see the green canopy swaying in the distance—those were the leaves of the honey fruit tree, which were wider and thicker than the leaves of the giant grass, and seemed to be covered with yellow fruits.
Su Jing slowed her pace, thinking to herself: the giant bees only have a danger level of 3, so they shouldn't be too difficult to deal with. As long as she carefully avoids them, she can collect the fruits from the honey tree.
Just as she was about to continue forward, she suddenly heard a light footstep behind her, as if someone was secretly following her.
Su Jing instantly became alert, quickly hiding behind a thick stalk of grass, holding her breath, and using spatial concealment for 3 seconds. The moment she exited the spatial concealment, she saw several figures moving towards her in the distance. Judging from their outlines, they were also participants in the dungeon, about three or four people, and they seemed to be carrying weapons.
"Were they attracted by the commotion just now?" Su Jing's heart tightened, and without the slightest hesitation, she turned around and ran towards the honey fruit tree area.
She didn't want to clash with these people; her priority now was to collect the Honey Fruit Tree fruits, complete the dungeon quest, and leave as soon as possible.
The power boost from the sweet grass root made her run much faster than usual. She gripped the folding shovel tightly in her hand, and the pistol at her waist could be drawn at any time.
The surrounding grass blades swept past her quickly, and the buzzing of bees grew closer. She could clearly see that the branches of the honey fruit tree were covered with giant bees the size of fists. Their bodies were yellow, and the sound of their wings vibrating was deafening.
Su Jing didn't stop and continued running towards the honey fruit tree—she had to collect the fruit as soon as possible and then find a place to hide.
Her eyes were firm, her steps were steady, and she had only one thought in her mind: to get the honey fruit and escape safely.
Running to the honey fruit tree, Su Jing quickly glanced around—the tree was laden with yellow honey fruits, each about the size of a fist, emitting a faint sweet fragrance. Most of the giant bees were gathered on the trunk and leaves, seemingly not immediately attacking her.
Instead of climbing the tree rashly, she activated her spatial ability again, focusing her gaze on the few honey fruits at the very top of the tree—where there were the fewest bees, and the location was conspicuous and easy to pick.
Her space has a short-distance object moving function, although the distance is limited, it is enough to deal with the fruit on the tree.
She took a deep breath, focused her mind, and began to manipulate her spatial abilities to pick the honey fruit from the tree, while remaining alert to the movements behind her and the giant bees around her, ready to deal with any emergencies.
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