Mu Anqi felt embarrassed for someone else once again. Compared to this, she even thought that her skill of pointing at the sky and shouting "Money, come!" was nothing. Thinking of Si Suying, even the "meow" from the cat seemed trivial in this situation.
Mu Anqi couldn't help but glance at Xia Yun, only to find that the sword-wielding older sister also had a dazed expression. Xia Yun looked at Mu Anqi, her gaze slightly evasive, and whispered, "C-Can we… turn back?"
Mu Anqi let out a heavy sigh. She thought of Fang Yunjiu's earlier expression, and it was obvious that the girl was embarrassed too. "J-Just… zone out for a bit."
So the two of them squatted behind the wooden shed like stones for two or three minutes, until Fang Yunjiu called out, saying the fire was ready. Only then did they walk out, pretending to know nothing, and exclaimed in delight, "You're amazing! This flame is even purple."
"Mm… yes. It's similar to an ordinary flame, but it has additional restraining power against ghosts and monsters." Fang Yunjiu seemed relieved. Seeing that they didn't have any strange expressions, she began to explain.
Such a big pot of water would take a long time to boil. Xia Yun took her life sword and chopped down a large tree, planning to hollow it out to make a simple wooden bucket. Mu Anqi's abilities were of little use at this moment, so she sat in the corner, quietly carving chopsticks and wooden skewers with a small dagger. After all, they could use these to skewer the fish and roast them later.
Unfortunately, there weren't any seasonings… but that wasn't a big problem. Considering the time, they could wait for the supply box to appear before eating. Once the water boiled, they would extinguish the fire, let it cool, filter out the dirt and sediment at the bottom, and then transfer it into the wooden bucket Xia Yun had prepared.
Fang Xunjiu returned fully loaded again. He placed the sweet potatoes on the ground and noticed the purple fire blazing. Fang Xunjiu clearly tried to suppress a smile, then went over and saw his sister holding a pile of branches and adding them to the firewood stack.
"We could dig a hole and throw the sweet potatoes in, then light a fire to cook them," Fang Xunjiu suggested to his sister. "What do you think?"
"That works," Fang Yunjiu replied after a moment. "But the supplies are about to appear. Let's go get them first and see what's inside."
As they spoke, Sheng Wujie, with a golden rope tied around his waist, dragged a heavy, bound pile of oversized wood step by step, his face red as he strained to get it back to the camp.
Mu Anqi happened to glance over and instantly thought of an illustration she had once seen in a textbook. She pointed at Sheng Wujie and turned to look at Xia Yun, who was still making the wooden bucket. "Haulers, haulers! In the language textbook, what was it called…?"
"Ah?" Xia Yun turned to glance as well and found it oddly familiar. She thought hard. "Haul… haulers'… love?"
"…Haulers on the Volga River," Fang Yunjiu couldn't help but say.
"Ah yes, that's it!" Mu Anqi exclaimed, feeling amazed. "It really looks just like that."
Sheng Wujie: "…"
He strained to pile the small mountain of firewood onto the firewood stack, then finally removed the golden rope from his body. This also seemed to be a prop. After finishing this, he rested in place for a long while before walking over to the iron pot, adjusting his tone, and asking, "Can I have a sip of water?"
"Do you have a container?"
"I have a spoon." Sheng Wujie pulled a tiny iron spoon, about the size of a finger, from his pocket. With a thought, the spoon kept enlarging until it reached the size of his forearm. This was also a drawn prop—an otherwise ordinary spoon.
[Ordinary Spoon]: For sneaking food, bring your own utensils, I'll just take one spoonful!
"…Then you can drink." Mu Anqi made a gesture of "please."
"When we go get the treasure chest later, should we leave someone to guard the camp?" Xia Yun placed the finished wooden bucket upside down on the ground, planning to take all the containers and utensils to the lakeside to wash them before use.
They could also fetch another bucket of water while they were at it.
Guarding the camp… after working so hard, of course, someone needed to stay behind. But who would do it?
Obtaining the supply box would grant survival points to the whole team, but eliminated players wouldn't necessarily benefit. The person left to guard the camp might encounter nothing at all, and thus have no chance to clash with other players.
"I'll guard the camp," Mu Anqi said, looking at Xia Yun. "Xia Yun can fly with her sword. If she's the first to reach the supply box, she can carry it back herself and might not even need to fight the other players." If Mu Anqi went, she would either have to travel on foot or ride Xia Yun's flying sword, which could slow Xia Yun down—so it was better for her to stay behind.
"Sure?" Xia Yun straightened up. "I'll do my best to bring the box back!"
Still, to be safe, Fang Xunjiu, Fang Yunjiu, and Sheng Wujie made full preparations, cracking their knuckles and waiting for the time to come.
Finally!
[Ding! Supply box deployed~]
The map flashed for a moment, and the next second, a golden treasure chest suddenly appeared!
The Fang siblings looked at the map and quickly set off toward the location. Sheng Wujie followed behind.
Xia Yun mounted her flying sword and soared into the sky, vanishing in a flash.
Mu Anqi leisurely sat in the wooden shed, popped a bell candy into her mouth, and continued carving wooden skewers for later use.
She wasn't very hungry, after all, she still had a bottle of nutrient solution. One bottle lasted a whole day—there was no way she could starve. But since it wasn't a critical situation, Mu Anqi was reluctant to drink it. Who knew if she could draw this item again next time?
While waiting, a subtle rustling came from the grass. Mu Anqi instantly became alert and tossed a "Artificial Little Sun" toward the sound. The patch of dark grass lit up immediately!
The ghost that had sneaked over to disrupt the base while the players were grabbing the supply box was stunned. In the blink of an eye, the area around it was as bright as daylight! "Damn it!" With a furious howl, it let out piercing wails and transformed into a shadow, lunging at Mu Anqi—
"Bang."
A headshot exploded the ghost's head, and a wave of yin energy dissipated. Its anger grew, but before it could react, another bullet pierced its head again.
Seeing the player about to shoot again, the ghost finally couldn't take it. Its yin energy scattered, and it didn't dare linger for a moment, trying to flee quickly.
"Wishing you wealth and prosperity." The female player had somehow approached and cheerfully offered a polite blessing. The ghost's fleeing form froze instantly; its shadow fell midair and landed on the ground in a perfect sliding kneel.
"May your blessings be as vast as the East Sea," Mu Anqi said, then cheerfully pulled out a red envelope containing one guansi coin from her pocket. "Don't run, don't be afraid. I just need you to answer a few questions."
The ghost, wanting to cry but unable, tried to control its dancing body, but it was completely unresponsive. It had no choice but to look at the gun pointed right at it and the red envelope, tearfully complying.
"Does every team have five players?"
"What color are the players from the other two teams? Where are their bases located?"
"Where do ghosts like you usually rest? How strong is the strongest ghost among you?"
"When you attack player territories, is there a pattern or is it random? Are the supply boxes distributed by you? Next time, could you place the box closer to the Red team's base?"
"Can you monitor the players? How are the other teams performing?"
A series of questions poured down. The unlucky ghost even saw Mu Anqi take out a notebook and paper, clearly planning to jot down these points.
Having accepted the red envelope and the constraints, the ghost glanced at Mu Anqi's gun, finally sighed, and obediently began answering the questions.
"Each team has five players. The other two teams are the Yellow Team and the Blue Team. Your bases form an equilateral triangle when connected. I can't give exact details, but you'll explore them eventually," the ghost said quietly. "As for where we rest… we rest in the forest too, no fixed spots. The Eternal Night Forest doesn't employ very powerful ghosts; the strongest are at the Barrier-Breaking stage."
"Our attacks have no pattern. If a player is alone or a base is unguarded, we'll act whenever there's an opportunity. But we're fair; we don't specifically target any team. The boxes aren't managed by us, and monitoring isn't under our control either—I don't know about those."
"I see…" Mu Anqi thought for a moment. So that's ten opposing players? Not too many. "Can you help me dig wild vegetables?"
"We signed a contract. We can't assist players in the game," the ghost quickly shook its head, then pitifully asked, "I've told you everything I know. Can you let me go now?"
"…?" Mu Anqi looked equally innocent. "I never said I'd let you go, did I?" Then she added another blessing, "May your life be as long as the South Mountain," and smiled. "Don't worry, my gun is fast. It won't hurt too much."
With that, she fired three shots in succession, hitting the ghost's head, heart, and chest-abdomen, completely shattering its yin energy. With a scream, Mu Anqi gained a survival point.
Right after she killed the ghost, she noticed her survival points flicker, jumping from 1 to 6.
Did they… grab the supply box?
Mu Anqi looked at the map to see the box's location, waiting for Xia Yun to return on her sword and explain the situation.
Meanwhile…
Fang Xunjiu activated the "Good Deeds Bring Rewards" skill, increasing his luck. Then he and his sister hurried toward the box. Not yet at the battlefield, and with Sheng Wujie following behind, Fang Yunjiu was reluctant to enter her evil god state for now, silently keeping pace.
But… they hadn't even reached the supply box yet—why did they already gain five survival points?!
Flying on the sword… is it really that fast?!
Xia Yun was the first to spot the supply box. It was a large iron chest, about the size of a regular suitcase, and looked incredibly heavy. She definitely couldn't lift it by herself, so she inserted her life sword into the ground beneath it and used it to lift the chest from below. Once that was done, she carefully stepped onto her sword, pulled out two smoke bombs, tossed them down casually, and soared into the air, flying back.
A Blue Team player, maxed out on agility and running like the wind, dashed over desperately, only to see the sword wobbling under the weight of the iron chest as it flew away. He gritted his teeth to give chase, but a choking cloud of smoke quickly spread, blinding him completely.