Chapter 27: The expedition failed before it even began, truly living up to the saying "eighty-one tribulations." ...
After eating two magic crystals, most of the wounds on Esther's body were healed, but the pain still lingered, irritating his nerves and refusing to subside for a long time.
"king."
"king."
"king."
...
The faint calls of the players could be heard. Eastbourne was still lying on the ground pretending to be dead, trying to slowly get up again. But when he heard the players' calls, he couldn't lie down anymore. He wiped the bloodstains on his face with his robe. Luckily, the robe was pure black, so the bloodstains were not very noticeable.
Easter managed to tidy himself up to look presentable, no longer looking like he was in a terrible state, before responding, "I'm here." He slowly and laboriously climbed up, rolling down smoothly, but slipping with every step as he climbed up, almost falling down again. He grabbed onto trees and grass for leverage, which was difficult, but at least he didn't slip and slide down.
Yunmu was the first to arrive, stretching out her little hand, "Little one, grab me quickly."
More little firemen ran over, hugging Yunmu's round, chubby body to prevent them from rolling down together, while anxiously urging Easter to grab Yunmu's hand quickly.
Without much hesitation, Easter grabbed Yunmu's hand and climbed up. His disheveled posture was obvious, but it was more pitiful than anything else. Fine beads of sweat appeared on Easter's forehead, his face was flushed from the exercise, and there were still traces of blood that he hadn't wiped off. The players were heartbroken to see him like this.
When East raised her eyes again, her clear, light pink eyes were even clearer than before, like a pink pool reflecting peach blossoms, so beautiful that it made people sink into it. The beauty mark at the corner of her eye was like icing on the cake, adding another touch to this stunning beauty.
A look of confusion crossed Esther's eyes. What was wrong with the players? They were all staring blankly at him. Esther took a couple of breaths and got up from the ground. "Are you injured?" His voice was hoarse, but he couldn't hide the concern in his words.
The players snapped out of their daze. Although it was very unethical, the king looked absolutely stunning.
"N-nothing," the players, facing the impact head-on, stammered in response.
“Your Majesty, that’s the question we should be asking you.” It was Matsushita Yuki who spoke.
East clapped his hands and stood up. "I'm fine. The injuries look serious, but they're just scrapes."
"Let's not talk about that now, we should get out of here as soon as possible." No one can say for sure whether the danger we just faced will strike again. Is the earthquake just a temporary pause, or is it over for good? It's completely unpredictable.
No matter how much the players had on their minds, they had to put that aside for now and hurry on their way.
There are three, four, or five fewer players. Some logged off on their own, and some logged off when their health bar was zero. Although the location for logging back in can be adjusted, the time is still not under our control. So, players who logged off will have to wait several more hours to log back in.
Meanwhile, the live stream room, which had been completely ignored, was buzzing with excitement.
[Hissing sounds, a battle-damaged beauty! I take a big bite.]
[I was pretty indifferent before, but now, I admit I was talking too loudly. Is it too late to join now?]
[Wow, my darling, my sweet baby, let me in! I need to save my precious baby!]
[Waaaaah~ Mommy feels so sorry for you, my sweet baby has suffered so much.]
[The king's baby's appearance was clearly concealed; how could the baby be so well-behaved and so heartbreaking?]
Let me in quickly!
...
What follows is just meaningless copy-pasting and pasting of the same content.
The system, observing the fluctuating data changes within its system space, sighed human-like. Upon closer inspection, the data showed an upward trend, but the system couldn't be happy at all when it thought about the cause of that peak value. People unaware of the full picture might think this was just a game, but it knew very well that this was not a game, but the real world. The host was not an NPC, but a real person who would feel pain when injured and suffer from bleeding. There was no such thing as being nonchalant; it was just a matter of enduring. It turned off the frustrating data screen and focused on guiding the host.
East's vision was a little blurry. It was true that the wound could heal quickly, but the lost blood could not be created out of thin air and would take some time to recover. Even if this time was much faster than normal, it could not change the fact that it was still too slow for East at the moment.
To make matters worse, an unknown creature suddenly appeared. It was dark green all over, not the kind of dark green that looks nice, but the kind of dark green that comes from a stagnant pool, dirty and disgusting. It was long and serpentine, with a pair of black fleshy wings extending from its back, a pair of scarlet eyes, and exposed fangs. It was clear that it was up to no good.
With a series of whooshing sounds, one unknown creature after another darted out, one, two, three... a total of twelve darting out, completely surrounding the group of little firemen and Easter.
Ister's expression was extremely bad; it was undoubtedly a monster, and a monster operating in a group at that.
In an instant, the monster pounced, its mouth wide open, but it had no tongue, only a large black hole, eerie and terrifying.
The little firemen who can take this route are all quite skilled and have quick reflexes. They engage in battle with the monsters, but unfortunately, the difference in combat power between the two sides is too great. In the past, the little firemen mainly used ambush tactics and rarely faced direct confrontations. Those who dared to fight head-on without believing in the evil would only face death and exit the game.
"King, we'll hold them off, you run!" In the chaos, a little fireman shouted. In twos and threes, the little firemen used all their strength to press down on a monster with their own weight, completely giving up the struggle, only wanting to fight for a way out for Ister.
It wasn't that Ist was oblivious to the situation; he knew perfectly well that leaving at this moment was the best option. The problem was that it wasn't that he didn't want to leave, but that the monsters blocking his path wouldn't let him go.
The situation was extremely urgent and tense, and everyone's heart was in their throats, including countless viewers in the live broadcast room.
The players were very skilled, managing to hold off most of the monsters, leaving only two. However, judging from the players' strained appearance, it was clear how threatening those two monsters were. Even if they managed to escape, they certainly wouldn't be able to completely shake them off.
The situation left no room for much thought. Faced with the threat, Easter's subconscious instinct screamed for danger to be eliminated. He desperately suppressed his instinctive reaction, his blood boiling and restless, completely ignoring the pain and discomfort in his body. He gripped his weapon tightly, a simple short blade, and made a desperate attempt to fight back.
Blood splattered as the monster's fangs tore a large chunk of flesh from Ister's arm. Similarly, a long gash was ripped open in the monster's body, from which a dirty green, viscous liquid oozed out.
There was a momentary, almost imperceptible pause in Esther's body. Something was wrong. It hadn't been this easy to harm the monster before, but in this life-or-death moment, Esther could only be thankful for this change.
The players were also putting up a fight. "Ah! I'll fight you to the death, for my baby!" they shouted at the top of their lungs, instantly boosting the players' morale.
"Cai Cai!"
Easton was momentarily distracted. By the time he realized what was happening, the monster was already right in front of him. He hurriedly dodged to the side, his body rolling over the rubble. Easton winced in pain, but he didn't have time to pay much attention. He rolled a few more times before quickly getting up and heading towards the players. In this situation, fighting alone was practically suicide.
The players soon discovered that Ister could hurt the monsters more easily than they could, and they automatically cooperated to help Ister fight the monsters. The bloody scenes could not be accurately presented in the live broadcast, but the large areas of mosaics still showed how brutal the battle was.
The players and Ister both chose to stand and retreat, as it was wishful thinking for them to kill all the monsters with their own strength.
As they seemed to cross a certain line, the monsters all scattered. Three or four of them were too badly injured to escape. Ister, exhausted, finished them off, making sure the magic crystal didn't touch his body, and stored it directly into his system space.
After system confirmation, the environment here is relatively safe. East collapsed to the ground, his chest rising and falling slightly, his face was so white that not a trace of blood could be seen, and his light pink eyes were hazy, as if shrouded in a layer of mist. The ground where he lay was soaked into a brownish-red color.
"King, King, are you alright?" The remaining players scrambled over.
He's a hero, not a nobody. "Holy crap, please don't! Our esteemed king, please don't let anything happen to you!"
East raised his hand and waved, as if to say that he was fine and wouldn't die anytime soon.
"I have medicine here, move aside, I'll treat the king's wounds." (It's up to you.)
The players quickly moved aside, and Easter blinked slightly. "This is troublesome," he said, letting the others do as they pleased.
East wasn't the type to make things difficult for himself. If it were just him, he could probably recover by taking a couple more magic crystals. But there were several little firemen besides him, and his presence was too conspicuous, making it difficult to hide.
Whatever, he didn't say anything, his expression focused and serious. Fortunately, he had prepared some hemostatic herbs and bandages in advance, thinking that the journey would definitely not be peaceful. The only thing he hadn't expected was that East would be so badly injured.
After washing the wound with clean water, DouDou looked at the wound that was almost exposed to the bone and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, we failed to protect you." Her tone was full of guilt.
Easter smiled and said, "Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault."
"Cough cough," Easter coughed twice. "If it weren't for you, I might have died long ago. I should thank you, not blame you for being ungrateful."
"Your Majesty, please stop talking and conserve your strength." The voice was low. Besides the deep, bone-revealing wound on his arm, Easter had countless large and small wounds on his chest, abdomen, back, and thighs. He looked as if he had been pulled from a pool of blood, a sight that sent chills down one's spine. One wondered, how much blood can a person have? Enough to flow like this?
Whatever, her hands were steady throughout, her movements gentle yet swift. She applied the dark herbal mud, bandaged it with clean bandages, and by the time it was all over, East was practically a silkworm cocoon.
East's head was a little foggy, and he was in a daze. "Sleepy," he murmured.
"Go to sleep, we're here for you," she gently soothed.
East was in a state of semi-consciousness, aware of what was happening in the outside world, yet as unclear as if looking at flowers through clouds and mist.
There are only seven players left, a devastating loss.
Matsuue gently touched Ister's face, turned around and looked at the other little firemen, and gave a bitter laugh, "This is terrible, absolutely terrible."
"Who says otherwise?" Yun Mu Dou Dou couldn't hide the heartache in her eyes, and tears were just a hair's breadth away from rolling down her cheeks. She gripped the spear tightly in her hand. "Just you wait. When I become strong, I will make all the demons in the world die."
“Let’s put our ambitions aside for now,” said the great hero, pointing to East with his small, sea-blue finger. “Shouldn’t we find a place to settle the king first?”
"Moreover, the monsters retreated in a very strange way, so we must be vigilant." It's better to roast sweet potatoes.
"What are we going to do?" The hero, not a shrew, looked helplessly at East lying on the ground. Was this game going a little too realistic? Most importantly, according to the game's setting, the king was clearly the protagonist, but now, he was seriously injured and unconscious, and there was an inexplicable sense that he was on the verge of death. Could this game ever be finished?
“I can make a simple stretcher…” Butterfly fell silent after saying this. At this moment, a new problem arose: everyone had just fought a monster and had almost no strength left. He didn’t know if everyone would be willing to do this.
"Brother Butterfly, hurry up! What are you hesitating for?" Yun Mu urged, and the remaining little fire people nodded in unison, their eyes filled with urgency.
Butterfly's lips curved into a smile, and her hands moved quickly. She had anticipated all sorts of situations in advance, and all she needed to do was put it together simply.
He was a true hero, not a novice. He frequently peered at the sky through the branches and leaves, a behavior so obvious that it was hard not to notice.
"What's wrong?" Matsushita Yuki asked. The two of them took turns carrying Ister, and Ayano and Junno were in charge, so she was relatively relaxed.
The expert paused for a moment before saying, "This is a game. I don't know if my judgment is correct. It looks like it's about to rain."
The little fire people who had heard what was said looked up at the sky in unison, but they couldn't see anything. The sky was clear and cloudless, and even the wind blowing around them was extremely gentle. It didn't look like it was going to rain at all, but they would rather believe it than not.
"Should we stop and rest for a while when we see a suitable place?" Ruokaodigua asked.
No one raised any objections. Fortunately, their bad luck had probably run its course, because they hadn't gone far when they saw a cave on a small hill, facing the direction of the rising sun. Sharp rocks stood all around the cave, and there were similarly sharp rocks above and below the cave entrance.
After greeting everyone, Yunmu climbed up to explore the cave. She walked around the cave and found that the ground was not very flat and there were some small stones. Fortunately, there was enough space, with a total area of about seven or eight square meters and a height of about two meters. Looking out, the stones at the cave entrance formed a natural "defense door".
"No problem," Yun Mu said, jumping down the hillside in a few quick movements.
Ester was carried into the cave by the little firemen. Just as they were settled, a sudden downpour began. The little firemen and the viewers in the live stream all looked at the hero, not the shrimp. "Hero, how did you figure that out?" Yun Mu asked.
Yunmu is quite pleased with being called a "hero" rather than a "shrimp," so she doesn't mind chatting with people about how to read the weather.
"Does anyone here know how to cook?" Suibianla asked timidly. She had brought Cai Cai along mainly so that he could cook for the king. Unfortunately, Cai Cai had died in the melee earlier.
Those who were discussing the weather stopped talking, and those who were already in deep thought became even more silent. Inside the cave, the only sound was the "splashing" of rain falling outside.
"Hmm?" Casual La sensed the strange atmosphere and spoke in a low voice.
"The NPCs won't be in any trouble if they don't eat a meal, right?" This is what the expert, not the novice, is saying. Anyway, he can't cook and usually lives on takeout, maybe cooking instant noodles at most. He's only cooking in this practically difficult situation. If the king doesn't die in the monster horde but dies from his cooking, he'll become a sinner.
Let's put it this way: most of the people carefully selected by the system in the early stages are wealthy and have plenty of free time. Even if they don't have a housekeeper to cook for them, they can basically eat without having to cook for themselves. Under such circumstances, unless they are genuinely passionate or interested, cooking is a tedious and troublesome activity for young people today.
"Sir, fire," said Ru Bu Kao Di Gua, "I have some of the dry rations that Cai Cai prepared; it should last for a few days."
"Oh, right," Yunmu slapped her forehead, making her little bird bob. "How could I forget that? To prepare for the current situation, Brother Cai left some dry food for Brother Digua and me." This sudden question from the chivalrous but not shrimp-like man completely baffled her.
Butterfly took out some dry wood, stacked it up, and quickly lit a fire with her homemade tinderbox and flammable dry grass. She also put a clay pot on top to boil water.
Alright, there's no need to rush anything now. We just need to wait for the king to wake up. Out of boredom, the seven little firemen started chatting about all sorts of things. They were all people with rich life experience, so the topics they talked about were anything but boring. The number of people in the live stream increased rather than decreased.
The "fireside chat" activity was going very well, the atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant, and even the sound of rain outside provided excellent background music.
"Hot, hot..." The faint, indistinct voice left the players bewildered for a moment before they realized what was happening. They looked towards the sound and saw Ister lying to one side, his face flushed, his warm white hair soaked with sweat, and his lips white and cracked.
He rushed to Ister's side in a panic, but immediately withdrew his hand as soon as he touched Ister's forehead. "What should we do? The king has a fever." There were no test subjects, no testing equipment, and the physical condition of the players was fundamentally different from that of humans. He could concoct a hemostatic paste and experiment on small animals, but when it came to things like fevers and colds, he was simply powerless. He couldn't just pick some herbs and brew them into medicine for people to drink; he wasn't some unscrupulous quack doctor who would do something so unreliable.
"Cold, cold..." she mumbled incoherently, waving her hand as if trying to pull off the blanket covering her.
Suibianla stepped forward and tucked the blanket under his arm. "We can only try to cool the king down first." Today's situation was undeniably terrible and upsetting. Suibianla was starting to doubt himself, wondering if his bad luck was dragging everyone down with him.
I squeezed a towel and placed it on Easter's forehead, then checked the newly bandaged wound. I was worried that Easter's wound would get infected.
Fortunately, their bad luck didn't end there. They took turns watching over him all night, and by the next day, East's fever had subsided.
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