Chapter 51. Snowy Mountains and Rivers ③: Encountering Thoughts...
Congratulations on defeating the level 55 Gray Frost Sable! Experience gained: 34234
...
Lin Xiaoxiao heard the notification that she had reached level 63, and a satisfied and cheerful smile appeared on her face as she slowly lowered the weapon she had been holding high.
Since gaining attack skills, she has become obsessed with the feeling of having a weapon in her hand and being able to control her own destiny.
Moreover, watching the damage numbers refresh rapidly on the damage panel gives you a strangely satisfying sense of accomplishment.
Now I understand why my teammates are so obsessed with all kinds of battles. Every battle is a thrilling release of adrenaline, followed by a hefty reward.
Over the course of a few days, Lin Xiaoxiao had spent nearly 500,000 gold coins, and that was without her weapon being able to fire in rapid succession.
Once we return to the capital, and the weapons have been improved to address these issues, the amount of resources consumed could be astronomical.
However, compared to each harvest, the gold coins fired as bullets may not even amount to one-tenth of an individual's income.
The other kids at the scene were all staring at Lin Xiaoxiao, waiting for her to speak.
Lin Xiaoxiao held a large bag she had taken out of her spatial storage, pointed at the gray-haired sable beast's body in front of her, and asked in confusion, "Aren't you going to clean it up?"
Cheng Cheng waved his hand dismissively, looking at her with expectant eyes: "No rush, we can clean it up slowly later. Xiaoxiao, tell me quickly, do you think there's anything here?"
Before Lin Xiaoxiao could speak, the Treasure-Hunting Rat's voice came from her head: "Master, go 65 meters in the eleven o'clock direction, dig down, there's something down there."
Lin Xiaoxiao's lips twitched. Following the Treasure-Hunting Mouse's instructions, she changed her words to a vaguer one, drew a rough area, and told her teammates.
Given the Treasure-Hunting Rat's habit of speaking so calmly, the item buried under the snow is definitely no higher than silver level, and is most likely a bronze level resource.
Following Lin Xiaoxiao's instructions, Wang Hao, Li Junxuan, and Jiang Tao picked up shovels and began digging a hole at the roughly designated location.
The remaining people, including Lin Xiaoxiao, were cleaning up the battlefield and packing up the gold coins, resources, and monster bodies that had been dropped in the previous battle.
"Come quick, come quick, there's a huge patch of snow lingzhi mushrooms over here!" Wang Hao's excited shouts came from not far away.
After Lin Xiaoxiao and the others finished cleaning up the battlefield, they went to find Wang Hao and the other two.
They discovered that Wang Hao and his group were locked in a confrontation with a team that had appeared out of nowhere.
The squad leader, standing not far from Wang Hao, was 1.7 meters tall and had a body as fat as a ball, wearing a worn-out gray-blue armor that was several sizes too small.
The leader, armed with a weapon, had an arrogant and domineering expression on his face. He threatened in a vicious voice, "If you know what's good for you, hurry up and hand over this resource point. We outnumber you, and believe me, we'll beat the three of you to a pulp."
The leader was flanked by two shifty-looking henchmen.
A 1.9-meter-tall, skinny henchman chimed in: "That's right, if you know what's good for you, hurry up and hand over this resource point behind you. Our boss isn't someone to be trifled with."
Another short, round-figured man, who was probably only 1.4 meters tall, chimed in: "If you know what's good for you, hurry up and give way!"
Jiang Tao tossed the shovel aside and sneered coldly, "Know what's good for you? Anyone who dared to talk to me like that before is probably overgrown with weeds by now."
Wang Hao had already switched weapons, twirling his two pistols in his hands as if warming up, and asked with a half-smile, "I'm a little curious, if you don't know what's good for you, how will you 'deal with' the three of us?"
Li Junxuan remained silent, his body slightly tense, and the tips of his fingers hanging at his sides emitted a faint glow indicating that he had entered combat mode and was ready to unleash his skills at any moment.
The opposing team members were also armed, and the atmosphere became tense, with the air thick with tension, until Lin Xiaoxiao and the others arrived.
Seeing that the number of people was not much different, the other side's arrogance subsided.
Xiao Weizhi stared coldly at the leader for a while, then calmly stated the information about him: "Luo Wende, the current captain of the B-level Eagle Squad. Since being promoted to B-level six years ago, he has been stagnant, and has even suffered from deficits in points and finances on multiple occasions, relying on robbing resources from weaker teams in secret realms to make ends meet."
Seeing that Xiao Weizhi was very familiar with his information, the fat man Luo Wende (the leader) froze his arrogant expression and became cautious and serious, asking in a deep voice, "Who are you?"
Xiao Weizhi sneered and shook his head slightly: "Luo Wende, if your brother knew the current situation of the Eagle Squad, he would probably be so angry that he would turn his coffin upside down."
As if his sore spot had been hit, Luo Wende raised the giant pendulum in his hand, pointed it at Xiao Weizhi, and trembled uncontrollably, as if he was furious, but he couldn't utter a word.
Xiao Weizhi gently reached out and brushed the snowflakes off his shoulder, then casually patted the A-level squad badge hanging on his left chest.
The moment Luo Wende saw the A-level team badge, he knew that this team was not one to be trifled with, but rather a rock-solid iron plate. If they continued, the Eagle Squad would not fare well either. Gritting his teeth, he waved to the team members behind him: "Let's go!"
After the Eagle Squad left, Lin Xiaoxiao poked Xiao Weizhi's waist with her gloved index finger and asked curiously, "Do you know this team?"
Xiao Weizhi grasped Lin Xiaoxiao's playful hand in return and replied softly, "To be precise, I know the previous captain of this team..."
He met Luo Wuqian, the former captain of the Eagle Squad, six years ago. At that time, Xiao Weizhi had not yet graduated and had no plans to create a squad.
By chance, I once joined the Eagle Squad and went through a C-level dungeon together.
After leaving that C-level secret realm, the two had no contact for a long time. The next news they heard about Luo Wuqian was the sad news that he had died in an A-level secret realm.
Later, Xiao Weizhi overheard from another friend that the Eagle Squad was not as good as before after changing its captain, and he remembered it.
As for why Xiao Weizhi was able to recognize Luo Wende, it was because of that giant swing weapon, which was the (gold-grade) weapon he obtained from opening a chest when he fought the BOSS with Luo Wuqian.
This weapon emptied Luo Wuqian's savings, and he even had to borrow money from Xiao Weizhi for the return trip, which is why he remembers it so clearly.
As Lin Xiaoxiao listened, she nodded and sighed, never expecting that this person's brother and Xiao Weizhi were once friends.
No one noticed that Liu Huihui was staring at a woman standing in the corner of the Eagle Squad.
As the woman left, she glanced at Liu Huihui almost imperceptibly, then silently chose to leave with the Eagle Squad.
After the entire Eagle Squad left.
Wang Hao immediately put his two guns back into his spatial storage, excitedly pointed to the snow lingzhi mushrooms he had dug out behind him, and called out to everyone: "Don't just stand there, come and help collect the snow lingzhi mushrooms!"
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately began to divide the work: the boys went to dig snow, while the girls and Chen Yijin helped collect the snow-covered Ganoderma lucidum.
When Lin Xiaoxiao touched the Snow Lingzhi, an attribute notification quickly popped up:
[Snow Lingzhi (Bronze Grade): Grows in icy and snowy environments, is of a cooling nature, and has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, nourishing the heart and calming the mind, and enhancing physical fitness. It is suitable for making medicines, can be taken orally, and can also be used in cooking.]
Lin Xiaoxiao was already mentally prepared about the grade of the snow lingzhi.
After all, the treasure-hunting rat isn't very interested in resources below the gold level; it only needs resources of at least the diamond level to get it excited.
As for why this patch of snow lingzhi was singled out by the treasure-hunting rat, it's most likely because its growing area is so large that the accumulated quantity is worth some money (only the treasure-hunting rat thinks it's worthless, while the entire Dragon Tooth team is ecstatic).
The nine members of the Dragon Tooth team spent a full seven hours collecting the snow-covered Ganoderma lucidum, from dawn till dusk. They set up searchlights and, in the dark, collected all the Ganoderma lucidum from this patch.
Fortunately, the location of this patch of snow lingzhi mushrooms was quite good, so we simply found a flat spot next to it to set up camp.
For dinner, Chen Yijin used what he had on hand, combining snow lingzhi mushrooms with the snow pheasant he had hunted earlier, to cook a large pot of incredibly delicious bird soup.
After scooping out all the ingredients, we used the remaining broth to cook a delicious hot pot.
Redtail also got to eat Chen Yijin's special Snow Lingzhi stewed chicken (less salt version), while Treasure Mouse had vegetable salad with Snow Lingzhi.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their dinner tonight.
Before going to bed, Lin Xiaoxiao was still reminiscing about the incredibly delicious bird soup, and she couldn't fall asleep for a long time.
Xiao Weizhi sat on the small bed next to him and reminded him in a low voice, "Aren't you going to sleep?"
Lin Xiaoxiao rolled around in her blanket, smacking her lips, "I'm going to sleep right away, the soup was really delicious today."
Xiao Weizhi took off his glasses and placed them on the bedside table: "If you want to drink, just call Yijinzhu tomorrow. Snow lotus and snow eagle are in your space, it's not a big deal."
Lin Xiaoxiao nodded in agreement, happily hugged the blanket, lay down, and closed her eyes to prepare for sleep.
Seeing that she obediently lay down to rest, Xiao Weizhi turned off all the lights in the tent and lay down as well, slowly closing his eyes.
Liu Huihui sat on a chair outside the tent, gazing absently at the pitch-black distance, recalling the woman he had seen in the Eagles team during the day...
The night passed quickly, and when Lin Xiaoxiao opened her eyes again, it was already 9 a.m. the next day.
She was somewhat surprised when she came out of the tent after washing up.
Because now only Chen Yijin is cooking outside, while Xiao Weizhi and the other companions are nowhere to be seen.
Lin Xiaoxiao slowly walked to the kitchen, stood by the window, and asked Chen Yijin inside curiously, "Brother Yijin, where are they?"
While kneading the dough, Chen Yijin replied with a cheerful smile, "They've probably gone to watch the excitement."
Watching the excitement? What excitement?
Lin Xiaoxiao reached out and tugged at the kitchen window, her tone somewhat puzzled: "What's all the commotion about?"
The dough in Chen Yijin's hand obediently turned into a smooth ball of dough. He then placed it in a large bowl beside him, covered it with a towel, and waited for the dough to ferment.
After finishing all this, Chen Yijin rested his hands on the kitchen table and smiled as he explained to Lin Xiaoxiao, "Around 7 a.m., there was a loud noise from the north, probably a fight. Jiang Tao and Li Junxuan, who woke up first, went to see what was going on, and Cheng Cheng, Chen Feng, and Wang Hao, who woke up later, went too."
Upon hearing this, Lin Xiaoxiao looked somewhat annoyed. It was all her fault for getting up too late and missing the chance to watch the excitement. Wait, no, Xiao Weizhi doesn't like watching excitement, so where did he go?
Just as Lin Xiaoxiao thought of Xiao Weizhi, she was gently tapped on the head.
She turned around and found that the person standing behind her was none other than the one she had just been thinking about. She asked curiously, "Where did you go?"
Xiao Weizhi put his hand on Lin Xiaoxiao's shoulder and leaned closer to her instinctively: "I'm in Huihui's tent, talking to him about something."
Lin Xiaoxiao then realized that Chen Yijin had mentioned all the friends' names, but not Liu Huihui, who had been on night watch last night. He figured Liu Huihui should still be resting in his tent at this time.
By the time Chen Yijin's breakfast was ready, the five people who had gone to see the play still hadn't returned.
Lin Xiaoxiao sat in a chair, holding a bun with a missing piece in her hand. Her brows furrowed slightly, and she said to Xiao Weizhi beside her with a worried tone, "He hasn't come back for so long. Could something have happened?"
Xiao Weizhi took a sip of hot tea, put down the teacup, and turned to look at her: "If you're worried, then go and see."
Upon hearing this, Lin Xiaoxiao instantly lost her appetite for breakfast. She put the steamed buns on the plate and said with a hint of excitement, "Okay, okay, let's go see why they haven't come back yet."
Xiao Weizhi shook his head and sighed. His worry was feigned; his real intention was to watch the spectacle.
Lin Xiaoxiao's habit of watching a good show is exactly the same as those other boisterous guys in the team, no wonder they can get along so well.
He turned to Yijin and said, "Yijin, you and Huihui will keep watch over the camp. We'll be back soon."
Chen Yijin nodded happily: "No problem, boss. Huihui should be waking up soon. I'll talk to him about it then."
Then, Xiao Weizhi rode a snowmobile with Lin Xiaoxiao on the back, heading north for nearly 30 kilometers.
I saw my friends sitting in a row on small stools on the edge of a cliff, looking down with great interest.
After getting off the motorcycle, Lin Xiaoxiao walked over with some curiosity and skillfully pulled out a small stool next to Cheng Cheng on the far right and sat down: "Sister Cheng, what are you looking at here?"
Cheng Cheng didn't even turn his head, but pointed downwards and said, "Watching a fight."
Fighting? What kind of fighting?
Following Cheng Cheng's pointing finger, Lin Xiaoxiao squinted and looked down, discovering two small teams below the cliff, who were fighting over some unknown reason.
Various colored skill lights illuminated below the cliff, accompanied by occasional explosions, and amidst the billowing snow dust, one could vaguely see the brutal, hand-to-hand combat.
Lin Xiaoxiao couldn't see very clearly, so she silently took out a few telescopes from her spatial storage and handed one to each of her companions who were lined up in a row.
Through the binoculars, it was clear that one of the squads was the same Eagle Squad we had encountered yesterday.
Lin Xiaoxiao asked with some curiosity, "Does anyone know why these two teams started fighting?"
Jiang Tao, the first to arrive at the scene, spoke with a sly chuckle: "It seems the Eagles went to rob someone again, but they ran into a bunch of hotheads. They'd rather fight than back down, so they started fighting..."
As Jiang Tao's commentary faded, the battle below the cliff came to a conclusion.
Neither team won or lost, and both had players with injuries.
Through the binoculars, it was observed that the two captains were about two meters apart, exchanging a few harsh words as if face to face, before the unnamed squad took the lead and left.
Luo Wende, who had left the eagle behind, stood with his hands on his hips, pointing at the team members, and was furious with impotence.
Immediately afterwards, one of the women, who looked like a support character and had short, bronze hair, was slapped hard across the face and then knocked to the ground in the snow.
The final result was that everyone in the Eagle Squad left, leaving her behind.
Lin Xiaoxiao stared at the woman, unconsciously biting her lower lip. A hint of reluctance flashed in her eyes as she recalled her previous experience of being abandoned and felt a sense of empathy.
She whispered to Xiao Weizhi beside her, "Weizhi, could you take her with you? At least let her leave this secret realm safely."
Even offensive professionals might not be able to safely leave this A-level secret realm alone, let alone a support professional.
Xiao Weizhi guessed that Lin Xiaoxiao might be recalling her experience of being abandoned by the team in the secret realm, and nodded in agreement: "Okay."
Then he turned to Jiang Tao and instructed, "Jiang Tao, go down and bring that woman back to the camp!"
Jiang Tao nodded, stood up, twisted his neck, shook his legs, and relaxed his muscles, which were tense from the cold. Then he leaped into the air, disappearing and reappearing in mid-air from time to time. After four or five times, he landed safely at the bottom of the cliff, which was more than 80 meters high.
He sprinted several dozen meters and successfully reached the woman's side.
Seeing that Jiang Tao had successfully reached the woman's side, Xiao Weizhi pulled Lin Xiaoxiao and turned to leave: "Let's go back to the camp first. Jiang Tao will bring her back safely later."
Back at the camp, Lin Xiaoxiao waited anxiously for more than two hours before Jiang Tao finally returned with his men.
Stepping onto the suspended terrace and passing through the camp's protective shield, Jiang Tao patted the snow off his shoulders, his voice somewhat annoyed: "I took a detour and drove dozens of kilometers to bring the person back. It was a miscalculation. I should have asked Xiaoxiao for a snowmobile before going down."
Wang Hao grinned and chuckled, "Whose fault is that? Blame it on yourself for not remembering!"
Seeing that the two were about to start arguing again, Chen Yijin quickly brought out the food and invited Jiang Tao to eat breakfast.
Lin Xiaoxiao breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the reserved woman behind Jiang Tao. She put on a warm smile and greeted her, "Hello, are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?"
The woman's gaze first fell on Liu Huihui, who was standing stiffly not far away, and then she gave Lin Xiaoxiao a gentle smile: "Okay, thank you for your help. My name is Huang Yuwei, and I am a support-type professional. Thank you very much for your help."
Lin Xiaoxiao noticed that Huang Yuwei had two deep dimples when she smiled. When she wasn't smiling, Huang Yuwei looked like a cool and aloof girl, but when she smiled, she looked exceptionally vibrant.
She was drawn to the stark contrast of Huang Yuwei's smile and kept staring at her.
Huang Yuwei thought something was wrong with her body, feeling both embarrassed and confused. She asked in a soft voice, "Excuse me, why are you staring at me?"
Lin Xiaoxiao subconsciously replied, "I think you're very pretty."
Huang Yuwei was first taken aback, then burst into laughter, never expecting it to be for this reason.
Because watching a play in the morning took up some time, and then Huang Yuwei arrived, most of the day had passed. After a vote by the team, they decided to stay in this place for another day before leaving.
After spending half a day together, the entire Dragon Fang team learned that Huang Yuwei was actually a hidden profession: Crazy Aura Master.
Compared to ordinary aura masters who can stack various buffs (increased attack, increased defense, increased speed, etc.), this is different.
Although the Mad Aura Master is a hidden class, it has a very obvious flaw: all of its skills are auxiliary auras that enhance attack, making it arguably the most extreme hidden class.
After nightfall, while everyone else was resting, Huang Yuwei quietly emerged from the small tent that had been set up for her alone.
Walking to the edge of the camp, he plopped down next to Liu Huihui, who was on night watch, and greeted him cheerfully, "Junior, long time no see."
Liu Huihui stiffened, her gaze fixed on the hot tea in front of her, and greeted in a muffled voice, "Senior, it's been a long time."
Huang Yuwei teased with a smile, "Haven't seen you for years, how come you've become so reserved? Where did that brash energy you used to have when you patted your chest and bragged in front of your classmates that you could pin me down and do all sorts of crazy things go?"
The entire Dragon Fang team, who were eavesdropping, were so shocked they were speechless. (The reason they were eavesdropping was because Liu Huihui's unusual reaction to Huang Yuwei was discovered by his teammates.)
Crosses and circles? Did Liu Huihui ever have such an overtly provocative past?
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