Goddess of the Firepit

Qing Chen had only hitched a ride on a whim and never expected that he would end up getting involved with Qin Yiyi's family.

He was a little puzzled as to why a group of wicked Wilderness People would suddenly ask about the Qin Family.

At that moment, the seven Wilderness People arrived at the three pickup trucks. Two of them were pale and coughed occasionally.

Qing Chen stayed in the car as agreed with Sun Chuci and the others, without getting out.

The seven Wilderness People appeared to be forming a triangular wedge formation. If a conflict were to occur, the Wilderness People on both flanks could draw their guns and bring all three pickup trucks into attack range at any time.

"A wilderness hunter surnamed Qin?" Sun Chuci, caught off guard by the question, carefully recalled and replied, "We don't have much contact with the wilderness hunters in City No. 18. We all follow different routes, so I haven't heard of them. Why are you asking about them?"

The Wilderness People chuckled dismissively, "It's nothing, I was just asking casually. It doesn't matter if we don't know each other."

Sun Chuci felt something was off; he clearly sensed that the other party wasn't just asking casually.

Seeing his suspicion, the Wilderness People explained, "There's a legend in the wilderness that one of their daughters suddenly became Goddess by the hearth, so I was just asking."

Qing Chen sat in the car, stunned.

He knew Qin Yiyi had gone to the snowy mountains of the southwest, and he also knew that Qin Yiyi wanted to gain power from the fire pit...

But what he didn't know was that Qin Yiyi was no longer the little girl who always carried an apple in her bag, but the Goddess of the hearth.

Qing Chen had heard of the Divine Child, but this was the first time he had heard of the Goddess.

Sun Chuci seemed to agree, "Goddess? Aren't there only Divine Child?"

Legends about the Fire Pit Divine Child often circulate in the Federation. It is said that their coming-of-age ceremony is to hunt important figures in the Federation or powerful beasts in Forbidden Zone. Otherwise, the Divine Child are not considered to be truly adults and cannot lead their own teams to hunt.

Only after completing the coming-of-age ceremony can the Divine Child possess his own power and followers.

So Qing Chen wondered, did Qin Yiyi need to go through such a ritual? She probably did.

He recalled what Qin Yiyi said: the girl was the same age as him, 17 years old.

Her birthday is June 1st, which means that the girl will also be going through her coming-of-age ceremony in six months.

At this moment, the Wilderness People grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, and explained cheerfully, "Goddess are indeed rare, it seems like only one appears every hundred years or so, while Divine Child appear several every ten years or so. However, this is also uncontrollable, it all depends on the will of the gods."

"Gods?" Sun Chuci asked in confusion.

"That's right. Whether someone can become Divine Child or Goddess in the hearth is perfectly clear to the gods," the Wilderness People explained with a smile. "Becoming Divine Child or Goddess grants immediate power. So many Wilderness People go on pilgrimages to the hearth precisely to gain this power. It's said that on the day the Goddess appeared, the flames in the hearth blazed exceptionally brightly. The Goddess, having just received the power bestowed by the gods, far surpassed those Divine Child. It's also said that the Great Elder gave his own sword to the Goddess; some say she might become the next Great Elder."

Qing Chen listened to the other party's words, he suddenly realized that the strength of everyone in the fire pit was not acquired through cultivation, but was bestowed by the 'gods'.

This deity seems to possess its own consciousness, and it will choose who will become the Divine Child and Goddess.

However, these Wilderness People may never have been to the hearth; everything they heard was hearsay.

In fact, the fire pit that night was much more lively than the Wilderness People described.

The magnificent flames burned for four hours, and all the people around the fire sang and danced, while the girl with wheat-colored skin was like the twilight before the approach of midsummer night.

Qing Chen sat in the car watching the Wilderness People. He understood why the other party wanted to know if Sun Chuci and the others knew the Qin Family.

On the one hand, it's because the Fire Pond Goddess's family is still in the Federation. If the Federation finds out about this, they will definitely put the Qin Family under control. So the Fire Pond has probably already sent people to the Central Plains to look for the Qin Family.

On the other hand, the Qin Family are wilderness hunters, as are Sun Chuci and his group. If they know each other and have a good relationship, these Wilderness People might be able to use this opportunity to make contact with the Qin Family.

If we can find the Qin Family first, we will probably get the chance to enter the fire pit.

So, once the other side confirmed that Sun Chuci and his group didn't know the Qin Family, they should have prepared to make their move.

But then the Wilderness People said, "The falcon is in our vehicle. Three of you come with us to get it. By the way, we not only brought the falcon this time, but also some wild game we hunted ourselves. It tastes really good. You can eat it yourselves or take it back to the city to give to the Immigration and Customs Administration. Consider it a free gift from us after several collaborations."

As he spoke, he turned around to go back to his car.

The Wilderness People were very kind and even brought thoughtful gifts.

However, just as he turned around, Qing Chen in the car suddenly said, "Why don't you bring the falcon over? It's just in a cage, you can just bring the cage over."

The Wilderness People turned around in surprise to look at Qing Chen in the car, then looked at Sun Chuci: "Who is this young man? We've never seen him before!"

Sun Chuci quickly explained, "This is a new member of our wilderness hunting team."

If Qing Chen were an outsider, these Wilderness People might demand that he be executed, so Sun Chuci told a lie.

The leader of the Wilderness People smiled at Qing Chen, "Young man, you're quite cautious. But we've cooperated with your captain more than once or twice. Don't you even have this much trust?"

Tuanzi turned to look at Qing Chen and quickly winked at him to keep quiet.

However, Sun Chuci realized what was going on and followed up on Qing Chen's words, saying, "Brother Zhang, bring the falcon over here, and we'll make the deal over here."

The leader of the Wilderness People's smile faded, and he narrowed his eyes slightly. "What, you don't trust us? If that's the case, then we can stop doing business together! Before this young man appeared, our business was going perfectly. How come he can already make decisions for you just by arriving? In your wild hunting team, who's really in charge?"

This Wilderness People's every word was an attempt to sow discord within the group, and even the other boys in Sun Chuci's team felt something was amiss.

They clearly picked up Qing Xiao Tu along the way, so why is he suddenly taking over now?

It seems that Qing Xiao Tu had been influencing their decision ever since they started parking.

One of the boys glared at Qing Chen, trying to tell him to shut up. This deal was very important to them, and they couldn't afford any problems.

Every time the wilderness hunters leave the city, they have to pay the Immigration and Customs Administration. This time, they haven't even been able to earn back the money they paid, the fuel costs, the vehicle depreciation, and the rent in the city.

If we go back empty-handed, how will we get by?

In the past, it only took people seven days to travel Inner World. If they were really hungry, they could endure it by drinking only water.

But now the time travel is 30 days, who can withstand that?

If we go back to City No. 10 and have no money to live on, we might have to sell our guns and cars to make ends meet.

Moreover, by then they could no longer afford the "contribution money" to the Immigration and Customs Administration, making it extremely difficult to go hunting again.

Qing Chen glanced at the boys, but didn't take their impatient looks to heart at all.

Just then, Sun Chuci suddenly said firmly, "Brother Zhang, please bring the falcon over here, otherwise we will terminate this transaction."

Qing Chen nodded to himself, thinking to himself that it was no wonder this group of college students could survive in the wilderness; it turned out they had such a calm and rational captain.

I wonder which university this Sun Chuci is from. This kind of person would be perfect to be Bai Zhou's helper.

Qing Chen knew very well that after arriving in City No. 10, he would eventually have to make a trip to Zheng City in the world of the Outer World, since he would need to deal with the Time Walker of Zheng City.

However, before that, he needs to find out the situation of the Time Walker in Zheng City so that he can act with a clear purpose.

By this time, the faces of the Wilderness People had darkened. One of them said coldly, "We'll go get the falcon now, but we won't do any more trade. I'd like to see how you wilderness hunters, who can't even hunt your own prey, manage to survive in this wilderness. We'll also tell the other Wilderness People that you are untrustworthy wilderness hunters."

A group of college students traveled to the Inner World and wanted to learn the hunting skills that Qin Cheng and his friends had taken more than ten years to master in just two months. That's too difficult.

So what Sun Chuci and his companions did after becoming wilderness hunters was to act as intermediaries between the Wilderness People and the Federation, making deals between them.

If the Wilderness People don't trade with them, they'll probably have a hard time.

But Sun Chuci remained unmoved. "Please go and get the falcon."

The seven Wilderness People returned to their vehicle. Sun Chuci, seeing that they were far away, suddenly turned to Tuanzi and said, "Give your automatic rifle to this Qing Xiao Tu."

Tuanzi: "Huh?"

"Listen to me, give it to him," Sun Chuci said, then looked at Qing Chen: "You're not an ordinary examinee, are you? But now's not the time to talk about this. Thanks for the reminder, please help me out later."

Tuanzi reluctantly handed the automatic rifle to Qing Chen in the car.

But Qing Chen immediately sensed something was wrong. "Why are there only five bullets in the magazine?"

Sun Chuci was stunned on the spot. It seemed that this young man was even more terrifying than he had imagined. He had just picked up the gun and knew how many bullets were in it just by weighing it!

Sun Chuci thought for a moment and then handed over his gun, "You can use mine. They're not very familiar with firearms, and bullets bought on the black market are very expensive, so their guns aren't fully loaded, for fear of wasting them."

In the hands of someone who doesn't understand guns, firearms are more of a deterrent than a practical weapon. Qing Chen understood why Sun Chuci did this, and he also understood that the situation of this wilderness hunter team might not be so good.

The next moment, the Wilderness People returned, carrying two cages covered with black cloth.

Everyone's right hand was on their waist.