The system countdown stopped abruptly in the last three seconds, and the purple mark on the boy's calf faded away completely, like ink being wiped away.
"Mother!" She turned around and supported Chen, who was coughing so hard she couldn't straighten up, her palm touching the bony spine.
Only then did Lin Cuiying realize that Lin Changgeng was not in the house. "Where's Dad?"
"Your father..." Chen's throat was rumbling like a bellows, her fingernails digging into her daughter's wrist, "...is in the back hill..."
It was getting dark, and there were many wild animals in the back mountains. Lin Cuiying felt a tightness in her chest and asked the system if it could locate her father's position.
A map suddenly popped up on the system interface, with two dots, one red and one blue, separated by half a mountain.
[Target location successful, straight-line distance 1.3 kilometers]
Lin Cuiying shoved the stone mortar into Daya's arms: "You stay home and look after your grandma and your uncle. I'm going to find your grandpa!"
She grabbed a machete, and using the newly risen moonlight, pushed aside the fence gate and followed the planned route into the woods.
A mountain breeze carrying dampness swept in, and Lin Cuiying crouched down and slipped into the bushes, dodging waist-high ferns, the dry branches under her feet making a faint cracking sound.
The system map flashed on my retina: [512 meters from target]
She swung her machete to cut through the vines, stepped on the gnarled tree roots to climb up the slope, and suddenly smelled a faint fishy smell in the air.
Lin Cuiying felt her hair stand on end. She reached behind a tree, pulled out a bamboo tube, and hid behind it. Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the darkness.
Two eerie green spots of light appeared between the shadows of the trees, like the gaze of some large wild beast.
A system alarm suddenly blared: [Wild animal attack posture detected!]
Lin Cuiying pressed herself against the tree trunk, drew her wood-chopping knife with her backhand, and the cold light on the blade reflected the pair of emerald green eyes in the shadows.
A foul stench wafted over her as Lin Cuiying swung her knife at the pair of green eyes.
The machete was sent flying through the air by a tremendous force, and the dark figure let out a low roar as its fangs gleamed coldly in the moonlight, aiming for her neck!
Lin Cuiying was terrified, her blood was screaming for danger, and she instinctively reached out to grab the tree trunk behind her.
"Smack!"
A thick branch snapped behind her, and by the moonlight, Lin Cuiying finally saw the beast's true form.
A huge black bear stood in front of her, its foul breath spraying onto her face.
A system alarm blared in my ears: [Countdown to wild animal attack: 5...4...3...]
The black bear, with its mountain-like body, approached, and she swung a branch at the beast's eye!
[Attack triggered!]
A row of scarlet icons suddenly popped up on the system interface, and the cursor flashed wildly: [Emergency Evacuation Plan Loading!]
grass!
What else is being loaded at this point?
Lin Cuiying watched helplessly as the black bear's mouth drew closer and closer to her, and she closed her eyes in despair.
"Clang!"
A loud bang made Lin Cuiying's whole body go numb, and she subconsciously opened her eyes.
The black bear's massive body was blocked by an iron fence that appeared out of nowhere.
The steel fence sliced open the beast's jaws like a knife, and the black bear let out a mournful howl before collapsing to the ground.
The beast's blood splattered on Lin Cuiying, and she stood there, stunned.
The system seemed to have skipped the buffer period, hastily announcing: [Congratulations, host, you have killed the beast.]
The unexpected surprise almost left Lin Cuiying completely dumbfounded.
She shrank back and stood there, frozen in place.
After a while, I subconsciously reached out to grab the steel fence that had appeared out of nowhere, but I found nothing.
She stared in shock at the empty space before her, speechless for a long time.
What...what is this?!
The system's voice sounded in his mind: [Congratulations, host, you have received an extra reward: spatial ability.]
space?
Where?
As if sensing Lin Cuiying's doubts, the system spoke again.
[Host, you have acquired spatial abilities. You can use telekinesis to place items into your spatial storage.]
Lin Cuiying tried to pick up the machete next to her, and sure enough, the position of the machete changed in front of her.
She stared in shock as the woodcutter's knife vanished into thin air as if by magic.
[Host, there is no limit to the number of times you can use your spatial abilities, as long as your will exists.]
Lin Cuiying carefully picked up the knife from the ground and tried to put it into her spatial storage again.
Sure enough, it worked!
After Lin Cuiying placed the black bear into the space with her mind, the system in her mind spoke again.
[The newbie gift pack has been used up by the host.]
Lin Cuiying was even more puzzled as she listened to the system's cold, mechanical voice.
What newbie gift pack?
How come it's finished using already?
She frowned slightly and asked tentatively, "Could you tell me more about this newbie gift pack?"
The newbie gift pack is the initial assistance provided by the system to the host, including emergency avoidance, navigation, medicinal herbs and food, and basic medical skills.
Lin Cuiying instantly realized that she had been lucky from the start, triggering the newbie gift pack right away. Otherwise, she wouldn't have won so easily when facing Zhang Ergou and the others in Shangdu Village.
Adding to the black bear from earlier, if it weren't for the system, she would definitely be the person with the shortest lifespan among transmigrators in the world.
As Lin Cuiying was thinking this, she suddenly felt a pang of anxiety and asked the system, "Are the functions in the newbie gift pack still usable?"
System response: [Host, all abilities except for spatial manipulation have been lost.]
Lin Cuiying couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, as she had originally hoped to use these functions to help her whole family get rich.
[Host, don't be discouraged. The system will continue to issue tasks. Completing them will earn you rewards and unlock new skills.]
Lin Cuiying's eyes lit up: "What mission?"
The system went silent. She called out several more times, but the system still did not respond.
Lin Cuiying was somewhat discouraged, but then she thought that she was already much luckier than ordinary people because she now had spatial abilities.
She stopped worrying about the system, picked up her machete, and continued walking deeper into the back mountain.
As night deepened, the silence in the back mountain became somewhat eerie.
Lin Cuiying gripped her machete and carefully made her way through the woods.
Suddenly, she heard a faint cry for help.
Lin Cuiying's heart tightened. Could it be her father?
She followed the sound and soon found a ravine.
In the mountain valley, a figure was struggling with great difficulty.
"father!"
Lin Cuiying exclaimed in surprise and rushed over.
The person in front of me was Lin Changgeng.
He already had a leg injury, and now he was caught in a trap, making him look extremely disheveled.
Upon seeing Lin Cuiying, a hint of surprise flashed in Lin Changgeng's eyes: "Yingzi, what brings you here?"
“Father, I’ve come to find you,” Lin Cuiying said, reaching out to pull Lin Changgeng.
But the trap was too deep; she couldn't pull it out at all.
Lin Changgeng said with a wry smile, "Yingzi, don't worry about me, go back quickly."
Lin Cuiying frowned: "Father, what are you saying? How could I possibly abandon you?"
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