Chapter 22: Besieged by Venomous Snakes

Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Besieged by Venomous Snakes

Shi Zhile recalled, "’All the plants and animals in this game actually exist?’"

"Exactly! If the plants and animals are real, we’ve seen plants, so where are the animals? Also, are the players selected for this game just some people? Or is it all of humanity?"

Shi Zhile’s mind reeled.

’He’s right!’

’The players in the game are real people, so is it just some of us, or is it everyone?’

She had been so immersed in the joy of her legs being healed that she’d never considered this question.

Jiang Yuxing looked at her. "Curious as to why I recognize you?"

Shi Zhile nodded.

Jiang Yuxing nodded back. "Then you can stay curious!"

Shi Zhile was speechless.

’What a jerk!’

Jiang Yu coughed lightly. "Shi Zhile, we actually recognize you, too."

Shi Zhile shifted away, eyeing everyone warily. "You all know each other. Is this team some kind of elaborate scam targeting me?"

The other four were speechless.

Shi Zhile had already backed up against the wall. If there had been a window, she would have already jumped out of it and fled.

Jiang Yuxing said, "What are you afraid of? I just saw you on the news. The top science student from J Province."

Shi Zhile still didn’t believe him.

She had hidden her player information right away, yet Jiang Yuxing seemed to have known her real identity all along. It was incredibly suspicious.

’He has a secret! A secret that maybe even Chuyi and the others don’t know about.’

’The best way to uncover a secret is to become part of the story yourself.’

’She was outnumbered and couldn’t win a fight. Besides, if they wanted to get her, they would have made their move already.’

She relaxed. "Oh! The sun’s up. Now that we’re rested, we should look for supplies."

Supplies were scarce to begin with, and she didn’t have enough food to just hole up and survive the week.

Besides, not much time was left in the grace period. Since she had a second life to fall back on, she should definitely do more exploring.

Most importantly, she still hadn’t gotten today’s Wish Drifting Bottle.

They each ate breakfast, then searched through all the shipping containers.

Shi Zhile’s luck was pretty good. In a corner, she found Disinfectant x3, Padded Winter Clothing Set x2, and a Treasure Chest x1.

Including the one from yesterday, she now had two chests saved up.

By the time they finished searching, it was already noon. The group gathered together again.

Jiang Yuxing spread out the map and pointed to the summit. "The fog in the woods is too thick. To be safe, let’s hold off on looking for the town. There are ruins on the peak. How about we check those out first?"

They were still injured. Their Life Value had recovered, but the physical wounds remained. Playing it safe was their best bet.

After all, nobody knew if that giant python would show up again.

They followed the path uphill, occasionally running into a few other players.

Before a team was properly established, unstable groups like theirs wouldn’t pick a fight with a larger force.

An hour later, the five of them successfully reached the ruins.

They weren’t the first to arrive; a few other players were already rummaging through the rubble.

The houses were so dilapidated that only shattered remains were left, with piles of tiles, beams, and stones everywhere. Shi Zhile’s eyes lit up as she pushed through the overgrown grass and headed deeper in.

There were more and more collapsed houses. In some of the more intact ones, you could vaguely see dilapidated furniture inside.

’Supplies! This is all supplies!’

"Leader, your call. How are we splitting this?"

A corner of Jiang Yuxing’s mouth twitched. "Our backpacks have limited space. Let’s just have everyone explore on their own."

Of course he knew this was all supplies, but they didn’t have enough backpack capacity to carry it all away.

The moment he finished speaking, Shi Zhile vanished from sight.

Shi Zhile made a beeline for the outskirts, collecting everything as she went. Stones and wood went straight into her infinite inventory slots.

Her panel was constantly updating.

[Obtained Stone x30, Wood x10]

[Obtained Wood x20, Stone x40]

...

Whenever she came across old furniture, she would dismantle it into wood and nails before packing them away.

Just as she was getting into the rhythm of collecting, she heard Wang Peng yell, "Fuck!" followed by a shout.

"Watch out! There are snakes in the grass! Brother Nan, help! I’ve been bitten by a poisonous snake!"

Her Green Snake poked its head out, flicked its tongue twice, then settled back down, continuing to act like a bracelet on her wrist.

Shi Zhile took out her axe and started hacking at the grass as she moved toward the sound.

She was the closest. When she got there, Wang Peng was clutching a long, green snake.

The snake’s color was paler than a Cuiqing Snake, and its head was proportionally longer. She tried to pull up its description on her panel, but failed.

Ever since entering this instance, her panel had gone silent, only showing notifications when she gathered supplies or when her Cuiqing Snake had first appeared.

"How do you feel?"

Wang Peng pointed to the darkening wound on his calf. "This snake is venomous, but there was no notification from the panel. My Life Value is dropping by five points every hour."

Jiang Yuxing rushed over, with Chuyi and Jiang Yu right behind him.

He took the venomous snake and handed it to Chuyi to kill, then checked on Wang Peng.

"It’s a vine snake. They’re usually only mildly venomous, but we can’t rule out mutations inside an instance."

He pulled the drawstring from Wang Peng’s sweatpants and tied it tightly above the wound.

They were surrounded by weeds with nowhere to sit, so Shi Zhile simply pulled a few large stones from her inventory and laid them on the ground to create a flat surface.

Everyone stepped onto the stones. Wang Peng gave a bitter laugh. "I doubt we’ll find any serum. The good news is, I’ll revive after I die and leave the instance. Don’t worry about me, just go search for suppli—"

"Aah! So many snakes! Help! HELP!!!"

A man’s bloodcurdling scream echoed from deeper in the ruins, and a moment later, a man covered in writhing snakes burst out.

Spotting the group on the stones, he ran toward them, frantically tearing the snakes from his body.

"Save me... please, save me!"

As he opened his mouth to scream, a thin snake deftly slithered inside.

The scene was too grisly. Shi Zhile pulled the Green Snake off her wrist, clutched it in her hand, and took a torch out of her backpack.

A moment later, a rustling sound filled the air.

The dense grass began to tremble as snake after snake poured out, so many that it made one’s skin crawl.

And among them were more than a few highly venomous ones.

The man nearby was completely engulfed. Slender snakes swarmed over his entire body, leaving only the vague, constantly twitching outline of a human form visible.

Jiang Yuxing’s expression was grim. "Everyone, torches out! Don’t let them get close."

None of them wanted to experience having snakes crawling inside their bodies.

The group quickly took out their torches, but the flames were too weak.

Except for a one-meter radius around Shi Zhile that the snakes avoided, one or two of them were already slithering up to the others.

The snakes that arrived later abandoned the man and turned their attention to Shi Zhile’s group, surging forward like a tide.

Wang Peng’s exposed calf was bitten again. Chuyi was bitten on the wrist while trying to fend off a snake attacking Jiang Yu.

Soon after, Jiang Yu and Jiang Yuxing were also bitten.

Shi Zhile gritted her teeth, pulled four pairs of tattered underwear out of her backpack, and tossed them to the others.

"Burn them with your torches."

Without a word, the four of them lit the underwear. The flames grew larger, but it didn’t reduce the number of attacking snakes, which continued to swarm and bite them furiously.

’What about the immunity? Is it not working?’

She moved her torch closer to Jiang Yu, but it failed to disperse the snakes around her.

When she herself walked over, however, the snakes immediately gave way.

’It’s not the fire they’re afraid of!’

She looked down at XiaoQing, whose tail was coiled around her wrist. She then placed that hand on Jiang Yu’s shoulder. The instant she did, the snakes on the ground stopped attacking Jiang Yu.

"Quick, get over here! The snakes are afraid of XiaoQing!"