Chapter 48

"Strange, something doesn't seem right." Since entering the lava fissure, Li Huailin hadn't seen a single player. After walking for about ten minutes, Li Huailin felt something was off.

"Could they have already gone to the entrance of the main city to intercept me?" Li Huailin thought for a moment and muttered to himself, "But that doesn't make sense either. I haven't seen anyone collecting materials here. Could they have already arranged for them to leave?"

"This is not good at all." Li Huailin frowned. This was disrupting his money-making rhythm.

"Right, to prevent them from not finding me, I'll just add them as a friend and provoke them." Li Huailin thought he was being very wise and immediately started to add Wentian as a friend.

System notification: The player you are looking for is currently offline.

"Eh?" Li Huailin was taken aback. Why did Wentian go offline in the middle of the fight? Nowadays, online games don't have disconnections. What's going on with this guy? Could something urgent have come up in real life?

"Hmm... hmm, there was another official, what was his name again..." Seeing that Wentian was offline, Li Huailin remembered the official from Mieshi who was still giving orders after Wentian died. However, he didn't know Jiuge's name and hadn't killed him, so there was no record in his battle log.

"Let me just add someone randomly. They're probably looking for me too, so I'll send them my location." Li Huailin glanced at his battle log and found someone he had killed and sent a friend request.

"Vice President, Niubi Ge is requesting to add me as a friend," a player in the Mieshi guild channel shouted.

"Ignore him, just reject it," Jiuge thought for a moment and said, "Everyone, don't add him, just reject it."

"Okay," the player nodded and rejected Li Huailin's friend request.

"Eh? Rejected?" Li Huailin also received a system notification, "What's going on?"

After thinking for a moment, Li Huailin randomly picked a few more people and sent them friend requests, but as expected, they were all immediately rejected.

"Eh? What's happening?" Li Huailin scratched his head, "Could my money-making path have been discovered? No way, I was working so hard to draw their attention, and Wentian could actually hold back? If it were me, I would have pulled out a knife and killed them already."

Li Huailin was frustrated. He had finally found a way to make money, but it seemed to be cut short after just two times. He had been counting on the Mieshi guild to cover all his expenses, but his beautiful dream was shattered so quickly.

"Damn, I thought you guys were good people, making me feel a sense of familiarity." Li Huailin also started to hate Wentian, "This is your base, right? I'll just wander around here. I don't believe I won't run into anyone. I'll kill anyone I see and see how long you can hold out."

Li Huailin, who was determined, didn't realize that a few people were following him, reporting his movements.

"Everyone, Niubi Ge is heading northeast into the canyon. Members in the logistics department, please finish your current tasks and then move to the southeast," a rogue player following Li Huailin said in the Mieshi guild channel.

"Huanghe received, Huanghe received," a logistics player responded.

"Damn, how old are you to still play Huanghe and Yangtze?" A nearby player laughed and patted him.

"No, I find it super interesting. We usually just gather herbs and fight fire elementals, which is so boring. Today is so interesting, it feels like we're playing hide and seek while collecting items," the player laughed.

"True, it does feel more interesting," the nearby player nodded, "Much better than the repetitive daily tasks."

"Alright, stop talking. The ghost is coming, everyone follow me," the squad leader said.

"Okay, Captain," the two players said in unison.

Li Huailin had no idea he had become the "ghost" in a game of hide and seek. He wandered around the lava fissure for about fifteen minutes and didn't see a single person.

"What's going on? Did they all evacuate?" Li Huailin scratched his head, "That doesn't make sense. They must be waiting for me to leave. Once I leave, they'll come back... This is getting complicated. I haven't learned how to gather herbs. If I ask Hongyue to come, they'll probably be killed by the Mieshi guild."

This time, it was Li Huailin's turn to be frustrated. He didn't expect the Mieshi guild to play this move, which really gave him a headache.

"You're dragging me down, but I won't believe you won't come to gather herbs. I'll see who can't take the loss more." Li Huailin didn't realize that the Mieshi guild members were gathering herbs while circling around him. He thought they had temporarily evacuated and would return once he left, so he decided to wait them out and see who would give up first.

With this decision, Li Huailin started wandering aimlessly in the lava fissure. However, after just half an hour, Li Huailin couldn't take it anymore.

"Boring, so boring!" Li Huailin had said he would outlast them, but he only lasted half an hour, "Why is this so boring? I can't fight monsters to level up, what am I doing just wandering around here! I'm about to go crazy, no... I can't lose, but it is really boring."

After thinking it through, he realized it was all the Mieshi guild's fault. He couldn't let them have it easy. Li Huailin was thinking of something to do to pass the time when he suddenly noticed a large pit of lava emitting rolling heat waves.

The lava fissure was a high-temperature area, mainly due to the lava inside. A little further into the valley, you could see many lava pits. In the center of the valley was a huge lava pit, about the size of a basketball court, with boiling lava and surging heat waves, making it almost impossible to approach. Of course, this was a simulation game, so it wouldn't really hurt you, but the direct brain stimulation would definitely not be pleasant.

"Right, I'll just jump into the lava!" Li Huailin punched his palm, "This is leveling up. It takes me about fifteen minutes to run here, so I'll come back every fifteen minutes. The Mieshi guild will be miserable. Yes, that's what I'll do. I'm so smart."

"Recon team, where is Niubi Ge now?" The Mieshi guild members were still exchanging information with the players following Li Huailin.

"How many fire flowers has he gathered?" Jiuge also asked, mainly to assess the guild's losses.

"He's in the central lava area, but Vice President, I haven't seen Niubi Ge gather any herbs at all. If I didn't lose sight of him, he hasn't gathered a single one," a rogue reported.

"Not a single one?" Jiuge was taken aback.

"Damn!" Suddenly, the rogue player shouted.

"What happened? What's wrong with him?" Jiuge quickly asked.

"Damn, Niubi Ge just jumped into the lava," the rogue player shouted.

"Jump... jump into the lava?" Jiuge repeated, "Are you kidding? Why would he jump into the lava for no reason?"

"Really, I saw him jump in himself, definitely not by accident," the rogue player quickly said.

"Damn, is this guy really crazy?" Jiuge suddenly understood why this guy would provoke their guild. He might have a mental illness; otherwise, why would he jump into the lava for no reason?

At this moment, Li Huailin, who had already been labeled as crazy, was speechless because of the system. A new buff appeared in his buff bar.

Lava Burn: Increases 1000 HP per second.

"Damn, system, can't you just make the lava deal direct damage? Why do you have to create a buff?" Li Huailin, who was in the lava pit, couldn't help but say.

"No, this is too uncomfortable." Although Li Huailin wasn't losing HP, the lava's stimulation wasn't just heat; it was also an extremely uncomfortable feeling, directly stimulating his brain, making it unbearable.

Of course, he had no experience swimming in lava, so he could only swim based on his experience in water. However, the visibility in the lava was extremely low, and Li Huailin couldn't see his surroundings, so he just swam around aimlessly. After a while, he couldn't even tell which way was up.

Just as he was about to log out of the game and rest for a while before trying again, he suddenly reached out and touched a rock.

"I'm at the edge!" Li Huailin was delighted and quickly grabbed the rock, pulling himself out of the lava.

"Phew... phew..." Li Huailin lay on the ground, catching his breath, "I'm so smart, but I'm just digging my own grave. Hey, where am I?"

Looking around, Li Huailin realized he wasn't in the center of the lava fissure.

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