Chapter 27

"Why don't you go and grab it?"

Cui Xueren wanted to spit in Sun Yuan's face.

How outrageous!

He actually took me for a fool!

"Ganlu mushrooms are hard to find, one for ten thousand points, it's not expensive at all!"

Sun Yuan chuckled.

"I'll give you a thousand at most."

Cui Xueren directly cut the price to one-tenth.

Zhen Yu's heart skipped a beat, feeling like he was about to make a fortune.

"No way!"

Sun Yuan shook his head.

"Then get lost as far as you can!"

Cui Xueren snorted coldly, "See that? There are so many volunteers, they'll find the mushrooms eventually, it just takes more time."

"Good luck then!"

Sun Yuan left.

"Eh?"

Zhen Yu was dumbfounded, why did he leave?

What about the fortune we were supposed to make?

"Alright, two thousand each, no more."

Cui Xueren saw Sun Yuan leave and offered a new price.

To be honest,

He didn't value these points much because they came too easily, and he was just being stingy.

"Do you see that tall mushroom over there? I'll rest there tonight. If you change your mind, you can find me there!"

Sun Yuan said and left without another word.

Zhen Yu hurried to follow. After walking for a while, he looked back and asked, "Two thousand isn't bad, why not sell?"

"According to the rules, we have to reach the summit within 72 hours. It's only been half a day, and they haven't been beaten down enough by this game yet, so they're not in a hurry. Wait until they can't find any mushrooms tomorrow, and you'll see!"

Sun Yuan explained.

Living in human society for so long, suddenly being thrown into this primitive wilderness, without food or a place to sleep, would make anyone break down after a night.

Sun Yuan once stayed at a train station to save money on a hotel, and it was a terrible experience.

Not to mention the pressure of possibly dying if they can't complete the game.

"Let's go, we should rest!"

Looking far ahead, at the ten o'clock direction, there was a tall mushroom towering into the sky. Sun Yuan planned to camp there for the night.

Generally, when people are in an unfamiliar place and don't know where to stay, they choose a prominent landmark.

Because they might meet companions.

Sure enough, when Sun Yuan and Zhen Yu arrived, there were already people there.

A senior with dark skin was roasting a wild chicken.

The smell was mouth-watering.

By the fire he had lit, there were five girls.

"It'll be ready soon!"

Xu Qingshan looked at Zhao Siyu with love in his eyes.

He was a boy from the mountains.

Because he came from a poor mountainous area, he was very insecure at school.

Other students wore Adidas and Nike, while he wore cheap clothes from street vendors, and his shoes were handmade by his mother, very rustic.

He liked Zhao Siyu but didn't dare to pursue her because the ice cream she usually ate cost more than his two days' living expenses.

Xu Qingshan knew he could never marry that girl, but who would have thought the world would become a game, and they would be chosen by the silver horse to enter this Tower of God, starting a survival game.

This primitive forest, except for the giant mushrooms, was no different from the deep mountains in his hometown.

Catching mountain chickens, starting a fire, and building a temporary shelter, Xu Qingshan was extremely skilled at these tasks.

Soon,

He won Zhao Siyu's attention.

They talked more in one afternoon than they had in four years of university.

This made Xu Qingshan almost faint with happiness.

He felt that happiness had finally come.

Xu Qingshan was very alert. When Sun Yuan and Zhen Yu were still over thirty meters away, he heard them and picked up a sharpened wooden spear, standing up.

The five girls immediately tensed up.

"Si... Siyu, don't be afraid, I... I'll protect you."

Xu Qingshan's adrenaline was surging. This was a great opportunity to be a hero, and he felt he could even take on a tiger.

"We are third-year students from the Foreign Languages College."

Sun Yuan introduced himself, showing no hostility, "We plan to camp near this big mushroom tonight. Is that okay?"

"Sure... sure!"

Sun Yuan's polite attitude made Xu Qingshan smile, "This isn't my place, you can stay wherever you want."

"Thanks!"

Sun Yuan nodded and stopped about thirty meters from Xu Qingshan, "Classmate, are there any others around here?"

"Yes!"

Xu Qingshan was brief and went back to roasting his chicken.

This was for Zhao Siyu, so he couldn't let it burn.

Sun Yuan started clearing the ground of dead leaves and branches to prepare a clean spot for a fire, but Zhen Yu stopped him.

"Senior, you rest, I'll do the dirty work!"

Zhen Yu wasn't stupid; she knew if she was too lazy, she would be abandoned.

Sun Yuan didn't refuse, sitting down and watching Zhen Yu work alone.

This was a test.

If Zhen Yu showed any complaints or laziness, he would part ways with her.

Zhen Yu worked hard, occasionally saying a few flirtatious words to tease Sun Yuan.

As a popular streamer, she was used to fans making advances, so her flirting skills were quite refined.

On the other side, Xu Qingshan couldn't stand it anymore.

"Classmate, how can you do this?"

Xu Qingshan was an upright man, raised to be a pillar of society. Men like Sun Yuan, who rested while women worked, were despised in his village.

"Qingshan, don't bother with them!"

Zhao Siyu quickly advised when she saw Xu Qingshan getting involved.

"But that girl looks so pitiful."

Xu Qingshan's thick eyebrows furrowed.

"Feeling sorry for her?"

A round-faced girl sitting next to Zhao Siyu teased, "She is pretty, I'd want to be a hero too."

Her name was Xu Jing, and she was somewhat sharp-tongued.

"No, I'm not, don't misunderstand!"

Xu Qingshan's rough, dark face turned red, looking awkwardly at Zhao Siyu, trying to explain but stumbling over his words.

"I know you're a good person, but don't get involved in this!"

Zhao Siyu advised.

She had already sized up the boy. He was tall and handsome, and most importantly, he exuded a calm and composed demeanor.

Many students were panicking when they first arrived, but he wasn't.

"Don't offend him, he has weapons!"

Zhao Siyu was worried.

The boy's backpack had a baseball bat sticking out, and he also had a sharp silver spear, which could be deadly.

"Haha, I won't lose in a fight."

Xu Qingshan flexed his muscles and then called to Zhen Yu, "Classmate, do you want to come over and eat?"

He didn't call Sun Yuan because he didn't think the boy was good.

"There's only one chicken, we don't have enough to share, why are you inviting others?"

Xu Jing was unhappy.

"No problem, I can catch more!"

Xu Qingshan promised they wouldn't go hungry.

"Classmate, you misunderstood. I offered to do the work, and Sun Senior is very kind to me."

Zhen Yu explained.

"Uh..."

Xu Qingshan realized he had meddled unnecessarily, his face turning red again, feeling extremely embarrassed.

He sat back down, head down, thinking everyone must be laughing at him.

"Qingshan, you're too naive."

Zhao Siyu sighed, "Didn't you see that boy has two chickens?"

"So what?"

Xu Qingshan didn't understand.

"The girl won't go hungry with him!"

Zhao Siyu's gaze lingered on Zhen Yu's face, "Look at how she talks to him, she has a bit of admiration."

"Really?"

Xu Qingshan couldn't see it.

"The girl might not even realize it herself!"

Zhao Siyu, a literature major, was very sensitive to subtle emotions, and there was one more important point.

They had spent the whole afternoon looking for Ganlu mushrooms.

When the mimic mushrooms exploded, dirt flew everywhere, making everyone dirty and exhausted.

But the doll-faced girl in the JK uniform, except for a few holes in her black stockings, had no dirt on her and didn't look tired at all.

This meant she had a very easy afternoon, with no pressure at all.

And it was clearly because of the boy.

"Why bother with them? Let's eat and rest, we need to keep looking for mushrooms tomorrow!"

Xu Jing, who had been busy all day, was already hungry.

Her words made everyone lose their appetite, their faces filled with worry.

They had only found one mushroom today, and at this rate, when would they complete the task and leave this game?

...

"Senior, I'll go find some dry wood!"

Zhen Yu spent fifteen minutes setting up the temporary camp and then decided to start a fire to keep warm and ward off wild animals.

"Good job!"

Sun Yuan was pleased with Zhen Yu's work, praised her, and then stood up, holding two mountain chickens, walking towards Xu Qingshan.

"What are you up to?"

Xu Jing watched Sun Yuan warily.

"I see you six don't have enough to eat. How about this, I'll give you one chicken, and you help me gather some wood?"

Sun Yuan suggested.

"..."

Xu Qingshan and his group were stunned, wondering if he was crazy.

Gathering wood was easy, but catching chickens required both skill and luck.

Even Xu Qingshan, a mountain boy, had only caught one chicken.

"Don't back out!"

Xu Jing stood up quickly, "Give us the chicken, and don't try to take it back after it's cooked!"

"What do you take my senior for?"

Zhen Yu was annoyed, "It's just one chicken, why be so petty?"

You don't know what it's like to be hungry!

Xu Jing thought to herself.

"Classmate, how about you handle these two chickens?"

Sun Yuan looked at Xu Qingshan, "This deal isn't bad, right?"

"Not bad! Not bad!"

Xu Qingshan stood up, wiping his hands on his pants, "Don't worry, I'll clean them thoroughly, not a feather left."

"Hurry up, get to work!"

Xu Jing urged.

There were five girls, but only four stood up, one remained seated because she was injured, her right hand wrapped in a bloody bandage.

Clearly, she had been injured while picking mushrooms.

"Zhao Caiwei, get up, we need to gather wood!"

Xu Jing called out.

"Forget it, she's injured, let her rest a bit more."

Zhao Siyu sighed.

"..."

Xu Jing was unhappy.

Why should being injured mean special treatment?

Zhao Caiwei was injured because of her own carelessness, not because of others.

They had already brought her along and given her a share of the food, which was more than enough.

Sun Yuan, who was about to learn how to clean the chickens from Xu Qingshan, frowned when he heard this, looked at Xu Jing, and spoke.

"Zhen Yu, you don't need to gather wood. Just watch our stuff and make sure nothing gets lost."