Chapter 52
As Qinghe held Su Jing's hand and walked along the narrow path on the west side of the Monster Valley, the light in the forest noticeably dimmed.
The pine trees overhead were lush and leafy, their layers of branches and leaves almost completely blocking out the sunlight. Only a few scattered spots of light shone through the gaps onto the ground covered with decaying leaves, giving it a damp sheen.
The fresh scent of grass and trees in the air gradually faded, replaced by a faint fishy smell, like raw meat mixed with the smell of soil. Qinghe subconsciously slowed down and whispered a reminder: "Sister, we're almost in the territory of the Blue Wolves. Their noses are very sensitive, so we have to be careful."
Su Jing nodded, released Qinghe's hand, and touched the laser gun at her waist with her fingertips—the gun was cold, and the energy indicator light was green, indicating that it was fully charged.
She followed Qinghe's gaze and looked ahead. Not far away, on an open ground, stood a large, dark blue stone, about the height of two people. It was the iconic landmark of the Monster Valley that Qinghe had mentioned. On the decaying leaves next to the stone, she could vaguely see several sets of dark brown claw marks. Each claw mark was the size of an adult's palm, with sharp fingertips, clearly left by a blue wolf.
"Aww—"
A deep wolf howl suddenly came from behind the large blue stone, causing the surrounding leaves to fall in a rustling sound.
Su Jing instantly shielded Qing He behind her, aiming her laser gun at the source of the sound—a giant wolf, its fur a deep gray-blue, slowly emerged from behind a large blue stone. It was at least 2 meters long and nearly 1 meter tall at the shoulder. The muscle lines were clearly visible beneath its fluffy fur. What was most frightening were the claws on its front paws, which gleamed with a dark green luster and had bloodstains still clinging to their tips, indicating that it had just been hunting. Its amber wolf eyes stared intently at Su Jing, filled with undisguised ferocity.
[Detected a Tier 1 monster "Azure Wolf", danger level: 30, characteristics: poisonous claws (scratching will cause mild paralysis), weaknesses: eyes, abdomen, fear of high temperature/fire] The system notification sounded in my mind, and a simplified attribute chart of the Azure Wolf popped up on the panel.
Without hesitation, Su Jing pulled the trigger of the laser gun—a red laser beam shot out instantly, carrying a scorching heat, and accurately struck the blue wolf's left eye. "Awooo!" The blue wolf let out a shrill howl, black smoke instantly billowing from its left eye, and black blood dripped down its fur, landing on the decaying leaves with a soft "sizzling" sound.
It shook its head frantically, its front paws digging deep holes in the ground, but because it was blind in its left eye, its vision was distorted, and it missed Su Jing several times, instead crashing into the pine tree next to it with a dull "clang".
"Sister, now's the time!" Qinghe hid behind Su Jing, her small hands tightly gripping the bamboo medicine basket at her waist, her voice tense but not flustered.
Taking advantage of the moment, Su Jing adjusted the gun muzzle, and the laser beam shot out again, this time aiming at the blue wolf's right eye. With a "sizzle," the blue wolf's right eye was also hit, and it completely lost its sight, spinning around in place like a madman, its howls growing weaker and weaker.
Su Jing quickly stepped forward and fired another shot into the wolf's abdomen. The laser beam pierced through the wolf's belly, and the wolf's movements froze instantly. Its massive body slammed onto the decaying leaves with a thud, its limbs twitched a few times, and then it went still. Only the wound on its abdomen was still emitting a faint wisp of smoke.
Su Jing crouched down and used her dagger (an emergency tool she'd taken from her spatial storage) to cut open the wolf's abdomen. Most of the wolf's internal organs had already been burned by the laser. Beside the organs lay two round pills, each about the size of a ping-pong ball, gleaming with a pale green light. Their surfaces were engraved with fine lines, and they emitted a faint medicinal fragrance—the very Qi Gathering Pills needed for the mission. She carefully picked up the pills, wiping away the bloodstains.
The system notification immediately sounded: [Acquired 2 low-level pills "Qi Gathering Pills". Consuming them will slowly increase physical strength and endurance. They can be consumed directly or stored in your inventory].
"That's great! Sister, you're amazing!" Qinghe peeked out from behind Su Jing, her eyes lighting up when she saw the Qi Gathering Pill. She reached into her medicine basket and pulled out a palm-sized bamboo whistle.
“But there are definitely other blue wolves here. I’ll use the ‘beast-driving whistle’ to lure them to the other side. You keep searching here, and I’ll come back to find you in half an hour!”
Before Su Jing could respond, Qing He brought the bamboo whistle to her lips and blew it—the whistle was sharp but not piercing, with a special frequency. After only a few seconds of blowing, the howling of wolves came from afar, obviously other blue wolves were attracted by the whistle.
As Qinghe whistled, she ran towards the valley entrance. Her small figure quickly disappeared into the woods, and the wolves that had been scattered around her followed the whistle, leaving only a few howls that gradually faded into the distance.
As Su Jing watched Qing He leave, a warm feeling welled up in her heart—these natives always provided help at crucial moments. Martin from the cyber world, the little boy, and now Qing He, all helped her avoid many detours in unfamiliar dungeons.
She put away the Qi Gathering Pill, gripped the laser gun, and began searching around the large blue stone. The paw prints under the decaying leaves became increasingly dense, and occasionally she could see the gray wolf fur shed by the blue wolves. She followed the paw prints for about 50 meters into the valley and saw three blue wolves munching on a deer carcass. The strong smell of blood from the deer carcass attracted their full attention.
Su Jing did not rush forward rashly. Instead, she took out a Molotov cocktail (an emergency weapon she had stockpiled) from her spatial storage, uncorked it, and threw it at the pile of dry branches next to the three blue wolves.
With a loud bang, the Molotov cocktail shattered, and flames instantly erupted. The orange-red flames licked at the dry branches, crackling and popping. The blue wolves, terrified of fire, immediately raised their heads at the smell of burning, their previously tense bodies relaxing slightly. It was in this brief moment that Su Jing's laser gun fired three beams of red light in succession, striking the eyes of three blue wolves.
"Awooo—" The three blue wolves howled in pain at the same time. Blind as they were, they ran around in circles, some crashing into trees, others stepping into the holes they had dug themselves. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Su Jing stepped forward and fired a shot into the abdomen of each wolf. In less than a minute, all three wolves had fallen to the ground.
She cut open the wolves' bellies and found two Qi Gathering Pills inside each wolf, making a total of six. Adding the two she had already taken, she now had a total of eight.
Over the next hour, under the cover of Qinghe's beast-driving whistle, Su Jing efficiently hunted down blue wolves in the Monster Valley. She discovered that the blue wolves mostly moved in packs of 3-4 and were extremely sensitive to fire, so she would first use a Molotov cocktail to attract their attention, then use a laser gun to precisely attack their eyes, and finally finish them off with a shot to their bellies. The whole process was smooth and efficient, with almost no risk of injury.
Two Qi Gathering Pills can be found inside each Blue Wolf. Occasionally, only one pill may be found in a single Blue Wolf, but the overall number remains stable.
When Qinghe returned blowing her beast-driving whistle, Su Jing was squatting beside the corpse of the seventh blue wolf, taking a Qi-gathering pill. "Sister, how many did you kill? I saw a lot of blue wolves running that way at the valley entrance just now, so I don't think any slipped through."
Qinghe ran to her side, her forehead covered in fine beads of sweat, and she was still clutching the bamboo whistle in her hand, which was covered in dirt.
"Including this one, there are 8 in total." Su Jing put the two Qi Gathering Pills she had just taken out into the transparent medicine bottle, which already contained 16 Qi Gathering Pills. The pale green pills gleamed softly in the sunlight. "Including the first two, there are now 18 in total, which exceeds the 10 required by the mission."
Qinghe leaned closer to look at the medicine bottle, his mouth agape in surprise: "So many! Last time my dad came with the hunters, he only found 3 pills in a whole day, and they were picked up from a wolf den!" Just as he finished speaking, a notification popped up on Su Jing's system panel: "Global Channel New Message." Ivan's message, displayed in deep blue "Black Bear (Russian Bear Country)," stood out: "Our team has been searching in Monster Valley for almost 2 hours and only found 3 Qi Gathering Pills, and we even lost a teammate! 'I am the God of Wealth' is definitely in the lead again. She got first place in the Cyber Dungeon last time, and she must have found a shortcut this time too!"
Someone immediately chimed in the chat: "I only found one! And it was something someone else left over from killing wolves. The Qingyun Sect disciples are still fighting over pills, there's no way to properly search!" "Ivan only found three, 'I'm the God of Wealth' must have already collected ten, right?" Su Jing quickly scrolled through these messages without replying—
Now is not the time to expose ourselves. Moreover, the "abandoned medicine hut" that Qinghe just mentioned may contain other types of pills, such as healing pills or body-strengthening pills, which would enrich the variety of pills available.
She put away the medicine bottle and said to Qinghe, "Qinghe, can you take me to that abandoned medicine hut you mentioned before? I'd like to find some other pills."
Qinghe's eyes lit up and she immediately nodded: "Okay! The abandoned medicine hut is in the north of the Monster Valley, not far from here. It was where the apothecary of the Qingyun Sect lived a few years ago. After the apothecary left, there should still be some healing pills left inside! But we have to hurry. I heard that there are 'Crimson Flame Tigers' deep in the valley. They are very fierce and can breathe fire. It would be troublesome if it targeted us!"
Su Jing's heart skipped a beat—a Crimson Flame Tiger? It can breathe fire? Could it be related to the high-level Body Strengthening Pill? Just as she was about to ask further, a new prompt popped up on the system panel: [A clue to the high-level and low-level pill "Body Strengthening Pill" has been detected. This pill is located deep in the Monster Valley and is guarded by a second-tier monster beast, the Crimson Flame Tiger (3 meters long, capable of breathing flames, and extremely strong defense). It is recommended to form a team or improve your own strength before challenging it.]
At the same time, a message popped up in red on the global channel from "Hunter (USA)" Jack: "Attention everyone! There's a Crimson Flame Tiger deep in the Monster Valley, guarding a high-level Body Strengthening Pill! Anyone who wants the pills, team up with me, and we'll split them. I have a laser gun, which can deal with the Crimson Flame Tiger!"
His message had barely been sent when Emily, the golden "Nightingale (EU)," replied with obvious sarcasm: "Jack, nobody will believe you. Last time in the Cyber Dungeon, you teamed up to steal the top-tier core, only to use your teammates as cannon fodder. Now you want to do the same thing again? Apologize for your behavior last time first!"
Jack's reply was filled with anger: "Emily, don't talk nonsense! Last time was an accident! I definitely won't do it this time!" But no one responded in the channel; clearly, everyone still remembered what he had done before. Su Jing turned off the channel and followed Qing He towards the abandoned medicine hut—
She already has 18 Qi Gathering Pills, and her next goal is Healing Pills. As for Body Strengthening Pills and Crimson Flame Tiger Pills, she needs to assess her strength before making any plans. The abandoned medicine hut is her next stop to obtain more pills.
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