"Kid, you really can run, huh? How'd you end up running this far? You really aren't afraid of dying, are you?"
Hearing that "kid" sounded like music to I Want to Become Immortal's ears, instantly sparking a glimmer of hope for survival in his heart.
"Help—help me!"
He shouted as he rushed over to the other person, instantly recognizing that this was the player called Hidden Moon Follows Wind!
He remembered the other person had warned him earlier this morning, and at the time he had been full of confidence, telling him not to bother. He hadn't expected...
His heart was filled with both awkwardness and shame, but staying alive was the priority right now, so he couldn't worry about all that.
He went straight to standing back-to-back with the other person. Without having to face enemies from both front and back, he finally felt a bit of a sense of security.
"Drink a health potion already! Two more hits and you're a goner," Xiao Jie reminded from the side.
At the same time, he assumed his stance.
The skill One Cut Two Pieces was good in every way, except that he couldn't run while in the preparation state. In other words, he either had to slowly close in on the enemy or wait for the enemy to charge in.
Still, it was just right for defense.
I Want to Become Immortal hurriedly pulled out a blood potion and chugged it down, and a wild dog that spotted him immediately rushed straight toward him.
Now's the time!
Xiao Jie abruptly spun around, slashing out sideways with the Wild Goose Feather Saber.
One Cut Two Pieces!
Before the wild dog could manage to turn, it was too late—its dog head was chopped off by a single slash. Instant kill!
I Want to Become Immortal stared in a daze. Cutting down a wild dog with sliver health from earlier was one thing, but being able to insta-kill one at full health? He had almost been cornered and killed by three dogs, yet wasn't the other person only level one?
Another wild dog seized the opportunity to launch a flying leap at Xiao Jie.
Xiao Jie didn't have time to charge up another attack, and unable to parry, he simply executed a Kite Flip! His form spun and leaped out, and the wild dog completely missed.
The moment he landed, he immediately turned back around and slashed.
Horizontal cut—vertical chop! With just two strokes, the wild dog was whittled down to a sliver of health, and it snapped its jaws in a frenzy.
Xiao Jie backed away while the Wild Goose Feather Saber in his hand thrust out straight. Splat, the blade pierced into the wild dog's mouth and out the back of its neck, skewering it clean through.
Compared to ordinary sabers, this Wild Goose Feather Saber had an extra stabbing motion module, giving Xiao Jie a lot more maneuvering room.
Having cleanly and neatly dealt with both wild dogs, I Want to Become Immortal's health finally recovered over the halfway mark.
Xiao Jie also consumed a Strength Pill to restore his stamina, and said at the same time, "It's getting dark soon. Wang Kai asked me to tell you that Night Ghouls will spawn once it gets dark, but it looks like wild dogs are already enough for you to handle. Let's pull back quick."
Yet I Want to Become Immortal said urgently, "Don't leave yet, there's a Salvage Goblin over there."
Without the threat of the wild dogs, I Want to Become Immortal got ideas again, insisting that he had to loot that thing; otherwise, wouldn't he have taken those risks for nothing?
Turning his head, he saw the Salvage Goblin scuttling away in panic, disappearing into the dense woods.
Xiao Jie was left speechless at that. At this point, he didn't have a shred of good feeling left for this fellow. The bastard's tone had been so arrogant this morning, yet the moment they met, he pulled a stunt like this. He still hadn't learned his lesson, and was actually thinking about killing monsters to drop gear. This guy really had zero concept of the death game.
How could a scrub player like this even dare to play a death game...
His intolerance for stupidity flared up involuntarily.
"Salvage your sister! If you're not leaving, you can stay here. I've delivered the message anyway, I'm out of here."
With that, he turned around and walked away.
I Want to Become Immortal was left stunned in place by the scolding. He glanced in the direction where the Salvage Goblin had disappeared, then looked at Hidden Moon Follows Wind's departing back, stamped his foot, and hurried to follow.
The sky was growing darker by the minute now, and the surrounding woods became even dimmer.
As the visibility dropped, a sense of crisis welled up naturally.
Fortunately, they didn't run into any monsters along the way.
The two of them sprinted all the way along the path they had taken earlier. By the time they burst out of the forest, the sky was already starting to darken. The last shred of sunlight on the horizon was gradually sinking into the darkness, and everything around turned dim, gloomy, and carried a certain ominous aura.
Xiao Jie suddenly noticed that there were no stars in the sky at all; only a dark red blood moon hung halfway up in the air.
It was unusually unsettling.
His stamina was completely depleted once again. This was no time to be stingy with medicine; there was no time to wait for stamina to regenerate on its own. Xiao Jie swallowed another Strength Pill, then broke into a full sprint. At the entrance of the distant village, a few militiamen were preparing to close the gates, and Wang Kai was waiting anxiously by the entrance.
"Don't close the gate, don't close the gate!" He shouted twice, and seeing the militiamen continue without pausing, he simply blocked the doorway with his entire body.
Tie Qianli (Militia Captain): "Wang Kai, what madness are you up to? Move aside at once. It's getting dark, we have to close the gates."
"Wait a little longer, wait a little longer—look, they're back!"
The militia captain turned a deaf ear and simply gave the order to close the gates. Fortunately, the two of them had already dashed close enough, and finally rushed through the gates at the very last moment before dark.
Rumble!
The heavy wooden doors slammed shut with a thud. Tie Qianli glanced over the three of them, but didn't say anything further.
"Light the torches,"
Thank goodness, it was almost too late.
Watching the heavy gates slam shut behind him, Xiao Jie let out a long breath. Damn it, I was still too greedy. I shouldn't take on random errands like this next time.
As for I Want to Become Immortal, he felt a lingering wave of terror; if he hadn't kept up, he probably would have been locked outside the village just now.
"Big Brother Hidden Moon Follows Wind, I..."
"No need to thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank your Brother Wang. He's the one who asked me to go look for you. But that's just for this once; next time I won't care. Damn it, you've got such a carefree attitude playing a death game—I really have to hand it to you. No wonder the fatality rate for this game's first year is as high as 78%. I guess everyone who dies is an idiot just like you."
Xiao Jie scolded unceremoniously.
In reality, he was actually a pretty easygoing person, but once games were involved, he would turn exceptionally stern.
After all, as a guild leader, he frequently had to command raid teams through progression, and usually just one person acting stupid could cause dozens of people to wipe together.
There was really no being too polite with those who made a habit of acting stupid. If you didn't scold them harshly, what you were wasting was everyone else's time.
And that was just in ordinary games. Seeing someone act foolish in a death game like this, Xiao Jie's intolerance for stupidity—driven by frustration that they wouldn't live up to potential—subconsciously welled up.
Only after finishing his scolding did he remember that the person before him was a complete stranger, someone he hadn't even known for a full day.
Yet having just escaped a dangerous situation, he was in no mood to cater to the other person's emotions.
He proceeded directly to trade with Wang Kai.
"Here, these are your equipment. Hand over the money."
Wang Kai showered him in repeated thanks.
"Thanks, thanks! Brother Hidden Moon, you're way too righteous. A true hero of the jianghu."
Yet as grateful as he sounded, his trading actions didn't pause for a second. He placed 1,000 copper coins on the table and traded back his entire set of equipment. Xiao Jie didn't give him those potion bottles, and Wang Kai tactfully didn't ask.
Seeing all his gear returned, Wang Kai also breathed a sigh of relief. This was his KPI for half a month, after all.
"I won't say more, brother. If you need anything in the future, just look for me. See you tomorrow, log off quickly now, it's pitch black."
Xiao Jie asked curiously, "Do we have to log off once it gets dark? Aren't we inside the village? Can Night Ghouls really run into the village?"
"Even inside the village isn't completely safe after dark. In short, listen to me and log off. We'll talk about anything else tomorrow."
With that, Wang Kai scurried back to the Blacksmith Shop to log off, completely ignoring I Want to Become Immortal from start to finish.
Heed good advice and you'll never go hungry; Xiao Jie didn't hesitate either, finding a safe spot to exit the game.
I Want to Become Immortal watched the two of them leave with a blank expression, and after a moment of thought, he also silently exited the game.
Only Ginkgo Village remained in the darkness, shrouded in the crimson moonlight, utterly silent.
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