The tour guide in the cheongsam instantly shattered into pixelated pieces and reformed, transforming into a tollbooth employee holding a toll sign.
The railing slammed shut in front of Lin Cuiying. [Dear Host, this navigation service requires a payment of twenty coins~]
"I'll fucking kill you!" She really wanted to kick the electronic barrier away. "You think I won't expose your database?"
A series of sparks flew from the electronic barrier, and a tearful, bleeding emoji popped up above the tollbooth employee's head: [This is already at cost price, dear! Database repairs are very expensive!]
Lin Cuiying grabbed a piece of broken tile from beside her feet and threw it into the air, yelling, "Get lost!"
Then he turned and walked home, his back teeth grinding together.
The tollbooth, conjured by the system, shattered into pixels with a "sizzle".
Lin Changgeng, who was squatting down weaving bamboo baskets, saw his daughter come back in a huff and quickly asked, "Yingzi, what's wrong?"
"Father, do you know where Cangshu Mountain is?"
Lin Changgeng put down the bamboo strips in his hand and shook his head: "Cangshan Mountain? Isn't there only Daqingshan Mountain around here?"
"It's right outside the village."
“I have lived in Luhua Village for almost forty years and have never heard of Cangshu Mountain.”
Lin Cuiying stood in the courtyard, wishing she could drag the system out and beat it up.
"Are you fucking lying to me?" she questioned the system in her mind.
The electronic tour guide, holding a small flag that read "Please give us a five-star rating for excellent service," approached obsequiously: "How could that be? Host, that Cangshu Mountain outside the village is showing up normally on the map too~"
"Then how come my father didn't know?" Lin Cuiying said angrily, crossing her arms. "Don't tell me he's just making things up to scam me out of money?"
The tour guide in the cheongsam suddenly split into eight clones, waving signs that read "Trust me," "No lies," and "Honest and fair dealings."
【How could I lie to you? Host, trust me, the system is your most considerate companion!】
"Pah! I'd be a fool to believe you!" Lin Cuiying imagined a giant iron hammer in her mind, and eight clones of herself smashed the ground with a "clang, clang" sound, twisting into a pretzel, until only an electronic tour guide holding a "please give a good review" sign remained.
【Host, I really didn't lie to you, okay? Please believe me~ (????)】
Lin Cuiying watched it wriggle around and felt goosebumps rise on her skin: "Alright, alright, stop disgusting me."
At this moment, Chen came out of the kitchen and saw Lin Cuiying and her father talking in the yard. She asked curiously, "What are you two talking about here?"
Lin Cuiying recounted what had just happened to Chen Shi. After listening, Chen Shi pondered for a moment: "Cangshan Mountain? Could it be the mountain next to Daqingshan Mountain outside our village?"
Lin Changgeng looked at Chen Shi in confusion: "How could that be? Isn't that mountain also called Daqingshan?"
Chen explained, "The villagers all call that mountain Daqingshan, but the people in the neighboring village seem to call the mountain next to them Cangshushan."
Upon hearing this, Lin Cuiying's eyes lit up: "Really? Mother, how did you know?"
Ms. Chen recalled: "I had a close friend who married into the next village. Once, when I went to visit her, I heard people from her village talking about it. At the time, I found it strange that our village and the next village had different names for the same mountain."
Lin Cuiying was overjoyed: "So, Cangshan Mountain is another part of the Daqingshan Mountain outside our village?"
"That should be the case," Chen nodded.
Lin Changgeng looked at his daughter and asked with some concern, "Yingzi, what do you want with Cangshan Mountain? We've never been to that mountain before."
Not wanting her father to worry, Lin Cuiying made up an excuse: "It's nothing, I just heard there are some strange plants on that mountain, and I want to go and see them."
Lin Changgeng instructed, "We're not familiar with that mountain, so don't wander off by yourself. If you're going, you should call your brother along."
"Understood, Father."
Although she had promised her father, Lin Cuiying did not intend to invite Lin Tiandong.
Even though she used top-grade spiritual spring water, which was just right, she didn't want him to go on any risks with her.
After making up her mind, Lin Cuiying went back into the house, grabbed a wood-chopping knife, tucked it into her waistband, told Lin Changgeng that she was going to the mountains to dig up some wild vegetables, and then went out.
She went to Cangshan Mountain to investigate the situation. If all else failed, she would give some money to that greedy system and try to bring the black bear back no matter what.
After leaving the village, Lin Cuiying headed towards Daqingshan Mountain.
She knew Daqingshan well; when she was a child, she often went up the mountain with her friends from the village to pick mushrooms and collect bird eggs.
But she had never actually been to Cangshan Mountain in the neighboring village.
As she walked further and further into the wilderness, the trees around her grew taller and more lush. Lin Cuiying felt that she had reached the border between Daqingshan and Cangshushan.
She stopped and looked around carefully. She noticed that the trees on the right were slightly sparser, so she guessed that the other side should be Cangshu Mountain.
Lin Cuiying took a deep breath and stepped to the right.
The mountain roads were difficult to traverse, covered with weeds and thorns, forcing Lin Cuiying to clear a path with a machete from time to time.
Lin Cuiying cleaved through the thorns blocking her path with a single stroke, the musty smell of decaying leaves mixed with the scent of resin filling her nostrils.
The machete got stuck in the vines, making a teeth-grinding "crunch" sound, when suddenly the system's electronic voice exploded in my ears.
[Host, are you sure we're on the right track?]
Lin Cuiying abruptly stopped in her tracks, her machete slamming against a protruding tree root with a clang. "What do you mean?"
A cheerful electronic voice suddenly burst into my ears: "[Purchase the Cangshan Holographic Map now for only ten coins!]"
"Didn't you ask for twenty coins last time?" She sneered and chopped off the overgrown branch.
The tour guide in a cheongsam peeked halfway out from the shadows of the trees, her virtual projection glowing blue on the moss: [Last time I was giving directions to the host, this time it's just a map.]
Lin Cuiying flicked the tree sap sticking to the blade, "Trying to rip me off again? Let me tell you, you won't get away with it!"
[Buy now and get a free full map of Daqingshan!]
Lin Cuiying's machete grazed the system's illusory image and chopped into the tree trunk, sending wood chips scattering onto the ground.
The tour guide in the cheongsam trembled with fright as her umbrella swayed. Eight clones simultaneously raised promotional signs: "Buy one get one free! Buy one get one free!"
The electronic voice suddenly rose eight octaves: [Bonus: A holographic map of Daqingshan! Only ten coins...]
\"Shut up!\"
Seriously... I'm not considering... any special offers...
Lin Cuiying kicked away the wild vines beside her ankle, ignored the system, and continued walking forward.
She walked for an unknown amount of time before stopping to rest for a moment under a tree.
Lin Cuiying wiped away her sweat, and suddenly froze as her palm brushed against the tree bark—three knife marks on the crooked old locust tree seemed to be grinning at her.
The markers that had just been cut out were now appearing at a completely unfamiliar fork in the road.
"We've come full circle again?" She gritted her teeth, looking around. "Am I lost?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com