Rescuing the Little NPCs Forced to Study

The Human-Faced Tree gritted its teeth and asked its second question.

"There's a potion that makes people's hair stand on end when they drink it. What core ingredients are needed to make it?"

With such a drastic change of subject, it refused to believe she could still answer correctly!

The livestream viewers were all discussing it.

[Is it a magic potion?]

[Can Jiujiu answer this one?]

[Don't panic. I'll look it up on Baidu.]

Before the players could find the correct answer, Xin Jiu had already blurted out, "Rat tails, porcupine quills, and Billywig stings."

If it had asked about another magic potion, she might not have been able to answer, but she had tried making Hair-Raising Potions many times in another game, so this question couldn't stump her.

The Human-Faced Tree's smile froze, and more resin seeped from its trunk. It really did look like it was sweating.

The little animals had still been puzzled, but its expression told them all that Xin Jiu had answered correctly. They stood up excitedly and clapped. Only one question remained!

The Human-Faced Tree took a deep breath, trying hard to calm itself.

I won't lose to a human player!

Don't be nervous. Don't be nervous!

It had to think of a question she absolutely couldn't answer. This time, the Human-Faced Tree thought for several minutes. Xin Jiu didn't rush it, quietly waiting for its question.

Two minutes later, the Human-Faced Tree's eyes suddenly lit up.

It had thought of a question it believed would definitely stump Xin Jiu.

"What do the Chirp Birds on the twenty-seventh floor like doing most?"

Chirp Birds were the most common birds on the twenty-seventh floor. They were cute and had clear, sweet calls, but there were so many of them that everyone was sick of them. Who would pay attention to what those birds liked?

Besides, most players here hadn't even cleared the fifteenth floor, while Chirp Birds were on the twenty-seventh.

So the Human-Faced Tree thought Xin Jiu definitely wouldn't be able to answer.

But it had celebrated too soon.

"Having baby birds."

The Human-Faced Tree was incredulous. "How did you know?!"

"Never mind that. I've answered all three questions, so hand over the fruit."

"Have you cleared the twenty-seventh floor?"

Xin Jiu said nothing.

The Human-Faced Tree pondered this. She probably had, or how could she know so much about the twenty-seventh floor?

If it had known she had cleared the twenty-seventh floor, it would have asked about the top of the tower!

The Human-Faced Tree sighed, but it still honored its promise and brought out the fruit.

Its crown shook, and then six fruits of different colors fell from it. Rather than falling to the ground, they hovered in front of Xin Jiu.

[Item: Magic Element Fruit]

[Description: Eating an element fruit increases the corresponding magic attribute.]

[Tip: Don't get greedy and gorge yourself, or you'll lose its true flavor.]

Xin Jiu looked them over. She had no magic attribute, but Bubu had the lightning attribute, so she took the deep gold fruit and handed it to Bubu. "Here."

"R-really?"

"Yes. You have the lightning attribute, don't you? Eating it should let you level up, right?"

Moved to tears, Bubu hugged the fruit and flew back and forth in midair.

Xin Jiu looked at the Human-Faced Tree again. "You can ask me three more questions, because I also need a black fruit."

At the mention of black fruit, the Human-Faced Tree actually began avoiding her gaze, its speech turning hesitant. "What black fruit? I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Stop pretending. You're a terrible actor."

"I only have fruit of the six attributes here. Nothing else!" the Human-Faced Tree insisted.

"So we can't reach an agreement?"

"There's nothing to discuss!"

Xin Jiu curled her lips. Then she could only resort to violence. Before attacking, she used [Monkey's Eye] to check the Human-Faced Tree's panel.

[Human-Faced Tree]

[Level: Lv.16]

[Skill: Branch and Vine Entanglement (B-rank)]

[Weaknesses: Lightning, fire]

[Perception: 36]

What Xin Jiu really wanted to know was its perception stat, because that determined whether she could use [Let's Blow a Kiss]. However, the Human-Faced Tree's perception was 36, much higher than hers, so [Let's Blow a Kiss] wouldn't work.

Then she could only fight.

Xin Jiu drew her military bayonet and charged straight at it.

With [Speed Skill] and [Beast Claw Light Boots], she was fast, but the Human-Faced Tree's reactions weren't slow either. Dozens of branches shot out of its crown, lashing at Xin Jiu like whips.

The branches whistled through the air as Xin Jiu nimbly dodged sideways.

But there were too many, packed densely together. No sooner had she dodged the ones in front than a branch struck her back in a sneak attack from the side.

"Hiss..."

She sucked in a sharp breath. Those long, thin branches hurt the most when they struck.

Although she had the skill Qingming had given her, her level wasn't high enough, so it still hurt a little. She needed to raise her stats soon.

The little animals all winced as they watched. No one present understood the power of those branches better than they did.

But the Human-Faced Tree had only been disciplining them, not trying to kill them. Against Xin Jiu, it intended to kill, striking fast and viciously!

"Bubble Cage!"

Xin Jiu raised her hand, and a transparent bubble flew out, trapping the Human-Faced Tree inside.

The Human-Faced Tree's speed dropped by 30%, giving Xin Jiu an opening. She dashed in front of it. "If you give me the fruit, I can spare your life."

"Dream on!"

The Human-Faced Tree shouted, and many branches suddenly sprouted from the middle of its trunk, as though trying to bind Xin Jiu!

Xin Jiu smelled blood on the branches. So when it had said the previous player had become fertilizer, did it mean it had eaten them into its trunk?

"Bubu!"

Bubu opened its mouth and spat out a purple bolt of lightning, striking precisely beside the Human-Faced Tree.

The tower had rules: NPCs couldn't kill one another.

So Bubu could only scare it.

Lightning countered wood, and the effect was obvious.

The Human-Faced Tree began trembling. Its bark gradually peeled away, and its leaves fell one after another.

While it was too terrified to move, Xin Jiu raised her bayonet high, stabbed it into the weakest part of the trunk, and dug out the black fruit.

The Human-Faced Tree crashed to the ground. The facial features on its trunk vanished, leaving an utterly ordinary tree.

[Human-Faced Tree killed. Points +20,000]

[Congratulations to player Xin Jiu for unlocking the hidden achievement: Rescue the Little Animals Forced to Study. Reward: 10,000 points.]

[Skill obtained: Branch and Vine Entanglement (B-rank)]

[Skill description: Summon branches and vines to entangle enemies, immobilizing them.]

[Tip: If you run into someone much stronger than you, you still have to run!]

With the Human-Faced Tree dead, the vines around the little animals' feet disappeared. They gathered around her, weeping with gratitude, and the little rabbit even rubbed against her trouser leg.

In their eyes, Xin Jiu was undoubtedly their savior.

Xin Jiu crouched and squeezed its ears. They were so soft and felt wonderful to touch.

Meanwhile, Hash Brown Heavy Dependence's livestream was also lively.

He had also found a Human-Faced Tree.

But the Human-Faced Tree Ao Lin encountered didn't teach and had a terrible temper. It attacked the moment they met.

The livestream viewers were all discussing it. Perhaps the NPCs in each instance were different, or perhaps Hash Brown was simply unlucky.

After defeating the Human-Faced Tree, Ao Lin put away the magic attribute fruit. Perhaps because he felt hot, he pulled off his mask and exhaled softly. Just a second later, he realized something was wrong. Everything inside the tower was broadcast live on the official website!

Yet in those mere two seconds, the livestream chat had already exploded.

Because they had seen his face.

[Ao Lin! Hash Brown is Ao Lin!]

[Holy crap! Didn't they say Ao Lin was on vacation? Why is he in the game?!]

[Ao Ao! How did you get into the game? My Ao!]

Ao Lin's management company erupted into chaos. Fans were either calling the company or bombarding it with questions online, and some who lived nearby were already downstairs demanding an explanation.