Chapter 103: Lost in the Snow Mountain 06

Chapter 103: Lost in the Snow Mountain 06

In reality, Qin Fei still had two small tents in his personal space, but he wasn't foolish enough to take them all out at once.

Wen Ren Dawn was left speechless.

"The tents, where did they come from?" The members of Dawn Squad were equally stunned as their captain.

Qin Fei's eyes curved into a smile. "I just collected them from the campsite."

Wen Ren's eyebrows shot up nearly to his hairline. "When did you collect them?"

"Before you guys came over." Qin Fei didn't hide anything and answered candidly.

Wen Ren: "Why didn't you say anything earlier?!"

Qin Fei: "You didn't ask."

The princess was well-versed in the art of changing the subject and subtly gestured to Ah Hui.

Instantly, Ah Hui laid out a large pile of cooking utensils on the snow.

Following Qin Fei's instructions, Ding Li followed suit, releasing soup packets and canned food according to the number of people.

Qin Fei shrugged. "Oh, oh, what's the point of dwelling on this? Since everyone is satisfied with the tent arrangements, why don't we have dinner instead?"

Wen Ren Dawn: "?"

What a convenient satisfaction for everyone.

Just how much supplies were they hiding?

Dawn Squad now regretted not moving faster when the instance began. If they had, they wouldn't be at others' mercy right now.

Mi Yang stood next to Qin Fei with a sour expression, her black diamond earring shimmering under the reflected snowlight.

Cen San Ya sat weakly nearby, seemingly glancing at Wen Ren casually.

Wen Ren: "!!"

Threat, it was a blatant threat!

Mi Yang was one thing, but what was Black Feather doing, joining in the fray?

With two A-rank powerhouses present, Wen Ren Dawn was furious but dared not even let out a peep, grumbling and nodding. "Let's eat then."

Fortunately, in high-level instances, there was usually more than one food supply point. There should still be food in the village.

Wen Ren Dawn's only thought at the moment was that he hoped tonight would pass quickly.

As soon as dawn broke, they would immediately rush down the mountain without stopping!

His stomach growled inappropriately.

Wen Ren's face darkened as he called for his team members to set up the tents and sit in a circle around him.

There were portable gas canisters and alcohol stoves in the cooking kits. After the hot food entered their mouths, the pallor on everyone's faces finally regained some color.

After dinner, Wen Ren Dawn shamelessly proposed to take away part of the cooking utensils and food.

Qin Fei had no intention of making things difficult for him and generously offered that he could take everything they used tonight.

"Since we're all in the same instance, we should help each other out."

Qin Fei smiled warmly, the clear amber eyes shining with kindness.

"You can keep whatever you want, and I'll also give you these foods."

The members of Dawn Squad were stunned by Qin Fei's generosity.

In survival-type instances, players often fought over food. It was unheard of for someone like Qin Fei to so readily give up supplies without asking for anything in return.

The eight people's expressions toward Qin Fei changed instantly.

The friction caused by the tent distribution disappeared in an instant. When they looked at each other, their silent gazes seemed to convey:

This person is really quite nice!

Ah Hui, who was forced to watch the whole process while helping clean up the cooking utensils: "…"

They made up almost half the headcount but only got a quarter of the food. What exactly were they moved about?

And the cooking utensils, she actually had a spare set in her personal space.

Didn't Dawn Squad realize that the pot they used for nineteen people was too small and barely sufficient?

Ah Hui now highly suspected that the people on the opposite team were all a bunch of simple-minded idiots with brawn but no brains.

It was completely dark. The dark clouds hung heavily on the edge of the cliff, resembling massive rocks ready to roll down at any moment, creating an inexplicable sense of oppression.

The players returned to their respective tents.

...

On Wen Ren Dawn's side.

Nine people squeezed inside one tent.

Jack the Ripper's body was like a small mountain, occupying the space of two people by himself.

The eight remaining players were eager to exchange information about the instance, but with an outsider sitting next to them, one who was rumored to be a dangerous individual with a terrible reputation, it was difficult for everyone to relax.

They looked at each other, feeling awkward for a long time.

Captain Wenren couldn't resist and eventually threw out a soundproof protective bubble.

"Whew—"

Inside the bubble, the eight people instantly let out a collective sigh of relief.

Wu Meng, through the semi-transparent bubble, secretly observed Jack.

The man was leaning in a corner with his axe in his arms, seemingly resting his eyes, not paying attention to them.

Beside Captain Wenren Dawn, the short team member who had been following him spoke up with a grim expression:

"What should we do tonight? Just huddle in the tent?"

Wu Meng looked at him in surprise.

"Well, what else?" Wu Meng rubbed the back of his head, "Go freeze in the snow?"

Wu Meng's innate weapon was a long knife. As he spoke, he took it out and placed it on his knee, continuously wiping it with a piece of cloth.

The short team member with triangular eyes was named Diao Ming. After being silenced by Wu Meng, he frowned and said,

"That's not what I meant. Don't you think it's inappropriate that Feifei hid in the tent secretly?"

Wu Meng blinked. "I think it's alright, and besides, didn't he share supplies with us?"

Diao Ming was completely speechless. "How can you be so easily fooled? A little food and you're satisfied?"

They must have more over there; these supplies were just given out to save face.

Wu Meng, known for having a short temper despite not being very bright, immediately got angry upon hearing this and slapped the back of his knife on the ground. "Why are you speaking so rudely? What do you mean 'easily fooled'?!"

In fact, the members of the Dawn Squad didn't really want to deal with Diao Ming.

It was because there was no one here familiar with them; otherwise, they would have realized from the beginning that Diao Ming was a new face in the Dawn Squad.

In the previous instance, which took place over a month ago, one of the Dawn Squad's regular members suffered severe injuries.

He was barely alive and was dragged out of the instance by the other squad members.

Injuries of such severity could not be immediately self-healed even after returning to the central city.

That squad member had been lying in bed recuperating ever since, while the other members continued to enter instances regularly as per their routine.

To earn some extra money to buy high-level healing medicine for their teammate, Captain Wenren took on an escort mission in the free trade market, which involved guiding Diao Ming through an instance.

It was utterly annoying!

The members of the Dawn Squad rolled their eyes at Diao Ming whenever he wasn't looking.

He was only a C-rank player with no combat power, yet he was extremely picky and loved to give orders.

Throughout the journey, he either complained about something or criticized another. By the time they entered the instance, he had already offended the entire squad within half a day.

If it weren't for the constraints of the mission, Wu Meng would have kicked him away long ago.

Wu Meng glared at the captain, receiving an innocent look in return.

Captain Wenren had never taken on an escort mission before and hadn't expected to bring a troublemaker into the squad.

Seeing that Wu Meng and Diao Ming were about to argue, Captain Wenren coughed and sternly said, "Enough! Diao Ming, what exactly are you trying to say?"

Diao Ming knew that the captain was taking sides, but he couldn't do anything against the seven people facing him, so he could only clench his teeth in frustration.

What lousy service attitude, how dare they take on missions.

Once they were out of the instance, he would definitely give them a bad review!

"I'm saying that sometimes, the enemy of your enemy is your friend."

A sinister light flashed in Diao Ming's eyes.

He turned sideways, gesturing for the Dawn Squad members to look at Jack the Ripper outside the bubble.

"Didn't Feifei hide supplies secretly? And that NPC guide was also played around by him."

Diao Ming narrowed his eyes.

"If we join forces with Jack..."

If the Dawn Squad joined forces with Jack the Ripper.

The probability of suppressing the other side would be at least sixty percent.

It was true that there were two A-rank players on the other side, but their advantage lay solely in clearing instances. They were different.

They could fight, and that was a tangible fact.

Jack the Ripper wasn't interested in the instance; his focus was solely on Feifei. Once the Dawn Squad gained control of the instance, wouldn't the MVP of this round be easily obtained?

Captain Wenren's expression suddenly changed. "Don't even think about it!"

Wu Meng's face darkened almost instantly.

"We will not cooperate with any player in the instance."

Wu Meng’s expression was cold and hard.

There were some things that Captain Wenren found inconvenient to say to Diao Ming, the client, but Wu Meng had no psychological pressure in saying them.

"When we signed the contract with you, we already emphasized this point."

Diao Ming felt they were simply being unreasonable!

"I know why you don’t want to cooperate with others in the instances—it’s just because—" Diao Ming still wanted to fight for his MVP status.

"Enough!"

In a corner of the bubble, Team Member Ying Huo suddenly stood up. "I’ll go patrol the surroundings."

Wu Meng followed suit. "I’ll go too."

The soundproof bubble shattered instantly with their abrupt movements, suppressing the words Diao Ming hadn’t yet said back into his throat.

Diao Ming trembled with anger!

Wenren Liming sighed and took out Member No. 1’s mountain-climbing journal from his personal space.

"Let’s take a look together."

…

Wu Meng and Ying Huo’s faces were so gloomy they could almost drip water.

When they lifted the tent flap, a gust of snow and wind immediately frosted over their eyelashes and eyebrows.

Wu Meng hurriedly put on his snow goggles.

A noise came from behind him, and Wu Meng turned around to see Qin Fei crawling out of the small tent on the right.

"Hi."

The tall young man stood in the snowstorm, raising his hand to greet them.

The swirling snow blurred the outline of his figure, but the warmth in his clear apricot eyes remained undiminished.

He looked kind no matter how one looked at him.

"…Hello."

Perhaps it was because he had just listened to a discussion about how to deal with the person in front of him inside the tent, Wu Meng felt inexplicably guilty when he looked at Qin Fei.

Ying Huo thought Wu Meng was being too obvious with his guilt. If they continued like this, they would surely be seen through by the other party. He quickly interrupted, "Did you come out for something?"

"Yes." Qin Fei nodded. "I’m going to use the restroom nearby."

In instances containing survival elements, players’ physiological conditions were no different from those in the real world, and sometimes even more intense.

Wu Meng had just drunk a large bowl of hot soup. After hearing Qin Fei’s words, he couldn’t help but pause, strangely blurting out, "…Do you want to go together?"

He also wanted to go.

Qin Fei’s steps faltered slightly.

After a moment, the young man’s expression returned to normal, as if the brief hesitation had never existed.

"Sure," he replied.

The three of them stepped into the blizzard side by side. The howling cold wind swallowed all the surrounding sounds, including the sound of their footsteps.

The campsite behind them grew farther and farther away, becoming increasingly blurry. The orange-yellow light emanating from the tents was gradually replaced by pure black night.

"Minus ten degrees."

Ying Huo glanced at the compass in his hand, which was equipped with a simple thermometer.

But in reality, the perceived temperature had already reached below minus twenty degrees.

Ying Huo tightened his collar to prevent the snow from entering his jacket.

Both Ying Huo and Wu Meng were angry, and they walked forward with their heads down, unknowingly walking quite far.

When they turned around, the campsite was completely out of sight.

Qin Fei had his hands in his pockets and followed behind them unhurriedly, his head lowered as if deep in thought.

Wu Meng glanced at him and lowered his voice to Ying Huo. "He’s pretty naive."

To dare to walk this far with two players he didn’t know at all.

If they had formed an alliance with Jack the Ripper as Diao Ming had said, the little Qin behind them would probably have already become a warm corpse.

Ying Huo extended his hand and made a zipping motion across his mouth. "Talk less."

Although the person behind them should not be able to hear their words at such a distance, there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t have other methods.

Wu Meng shut his mouth.

However, silence didn’t last long. Not speaking for a while made people uncomfortable.

Wu Meng held back for a moment, but couldn’t resist whispering, "Shouldn’t we stop now?"

They weren’t really going to patrol; they just needed to find a place to urinate. Did they need to walk to the ends of the earth?

Ying Huo’s mouth twitched.

He had been preoccupied with other thoughts and had long forgotten about this.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" He shot Wu Meng an annoyed look.

Wu Meng felt wronged. "Didn't you tell me to shut up?"

Ying Huo: "…"

As they spoke, the two of them stopped walking, and Qin Fei, who was behind them, also came to a halt.

"Um, Feifei, shall we take care of it here?" Wu Meng turned around and said.

"Sure." Qin Fei had no objections. "I'll go over there."

Then, he added under their bewildered gazes, "There's someone nearby, I can't do it."

Wu Meng & Ying Huo: "…"

What could one say? He was quite particular about his personal matters.

But from his appearance, demeanor, to his actions, Qin Fei indeed exuded an aura of meticulousness.

Wu Meng shifted his gaze away from the small bun on the back of his head and nodded as he instructed, "Don't wander too far, stay within our sight."

It was pitch dark, and being alone was unsafe.

Qin Fei smiled and agreed, then turned around and left by himself.

After all, they weren't teammates, so Wu Meng and Ying Huo didn't pay much attention to Qin Fei. Anyway, he was heading in the direction of the campsite, so he wouldn't get lost.

Qin Fei walked back for a while.

Only when he was sure that neither the campsite nor Wu Meng and Ying Huo could see him did he stop.

He reached out, and his sleeve slid down, revealing half of his slender, pale forearm. The electronic watch that had originally been worn on his left wrist had somehow moved to his right hand. Qin Fei took off the watch and gently rubbed the skin beneath the watch face.

A large area of skin had turned purple and black at the edges.

In this instance, Qin Fei had drawn the identity card of the deceased, but until now, he had no idea what the deceased's method of passing through was.

The system hadn't given any hints, and even in the afternoon, Qin Fei had doubted whether he was actually the deceased, and if the corpse was just a misleading clue?

Until just now, after dinner.

Qin Fei inadvertently discovered that a large part of his wrist was bruised.

And once inside the warmer tent, the color of the bruise deepened rapidly.

Not just the wrist.

His ankles, calves.

And more places covered by clothing that Qin Fei hadn't noticed were slowly showing signs.

Qin Fei suddenly realized that this couldn't possibly be a mark left by a bump or collision.

—It was a postmortem lividity.

Upon realizing this, a progress bar suddenly appeared at the bottom of Qin Fei's attribute panel.

"Player's Corpse Transformation Progress: 25% (Safe threshold is below 5%, fully reversible range is below 55%, semi-reversible range is below 75%, please explore specific corpse transformation standards yourself)"

Qin Fei could finally confirm without a doubt that he was the chosen one selected by the system to be the deceased.

The cause of the corpse transformation was easy to guess; the postmortem lividity only started after he ate, and the high temperature inside the tent accelerated its onset.

Before dinner, Qin Fei hadn't seen this prompt at all, and his body hadn't shown any abnormalities.

That meant his level of corpse transformation must have been below 5% at that time.

A single dinner, which lasted no more than half an hour, had pushed the corpse transformation progress straight to 25%.

The speed was too fast.

Qin Fei even suspected that if he hadn't noticed the bruise on his wrist after dinner and instead had a good sleep in the tent, he might have rotted into a pile of stinking flesh in his dreams.

The night wind whistled through the cliffs, emitting sharp howls like the wails of ghosts. Amidst the flying snow, the young man squatted down on the spot.

He extended a hand, the joints slender, the skin lustrous, as if carved from the finest jade. Then, he placed his fingertips vertically on the snow surface and slowly submerged his entire palm into the deep snow.

The bone-chilling cold instantly penetrated his pores, as if being gnawed by countless tiny worms at the same time.

With a dull itchiness, it spread along the blood vessels and finger bones, moving upward through the spinal cord and nerves, washing over every region of the brain.

The young man furrowed his brows, then relaxed them, his expression returning to calmness.

One minute.

Two minutes.

The skin on the back of his hand gradually began to numb, and only then did Qin Fei pull his hand out.

The color of the postmortem lividity on his wrist had faded significantly.

Cryopreservation could slow down the rate of decomposition of corpses.

Indeed, this common knowledge still held true in the instance.

The number on the attribute panel had only decreased by 1%, perhaps because the area he treated was too small.

Qin Fei cupped a large handful of snow in both hands and buried his entire face in it.

After some thought, he still felt it wasn't enough. He reached out to grab a handful of snow, kneading it into a dense, compact snowball before stuffing it into his mouth.

The foreign object was too large, stretching the skin inside his mouth. The young man frowned in discomfort, extending his finger to poke at the snowball from the outside, breaking it apart.

Chill instantly spread from between his fingertips, creeping down his throat.

For a moment, Qin Fei felt as if all the blood in his body had frozen solid. He seemed to be frozen in place, turned into an ice sculpture.

His temples and heart pounded in unison, tears welling up in his eyes due to the physiological response.

Qin Fei maintained his composure, wiping away the snowflakes at the corner of his lips with his fingertips before scooping up another handful of snow.

After consuming five snowballs in a row, a heavy, throbbing pain emanated from his stomach.

Qin Fei began to feel a bit regretful, realizing that he shouldn't have eaten so much for dinner.

But the hunger and weakness before dinner were genuine.

It seemed this paradoxical design was intentionally created by the system to challenge deceased players.

Sounds of indrawn breaths echoed through the live-stream hall.

"Holy shit, what a tough guy."

"Chewing on snowballs in the freezing wilderness, the streamer has impressive self-control."

"I feel my molars ache just watching..."

"Am I the only one who finds it incredibly arousing when my wife licks her lips?"

The numbers on the attribute panel finally recovered to 3%, and Qin Fei stood up.

In the darkness behind him, two tall figures approached side by side.

Following the direction of the wind, Qin Fei could faintly hear their conversation.

"I stayed longer than I intended without noticing."

"You talk too much."

"It's not my fault. If you blame anyone, blame Diao Ming for being so damn annoying. Once I start berating him, I can't stop..."

"Do you think that Qin Feifei has gone back yet?"

"She must have returned by now. After such a long time, even if she had constipation, she should be done by now."

Their voices abruptly cut off as they stopped a few meters away from Qin Fei, awkward smiles appearing on their faces.

Wu Meng: "Uh...you haven't gone back yet, heh heh."

Qin Fei smiled. "Yeah, I have constipation."

Wu Meng: "..."

Some people really don't know how to give others a way out!!

Wu Meng silently chanted three times in his mind, "As long as I'm not embarrassed, it's him who's embarrassed," then stiffly asked, "Have you—"

"—wait a moment." Qin Fei suddenly interrupted him.

"Did you guys hear something?"

Behind the sounds of wind, rain, and falling snow, a faint hum flickered past.

Wu Meng was taken aback.

He hadn't heard anything, but neither he nor Ying Huo made a sound.

The three of them stood perfectly still, like lifeless wooden stakes, even their breathing slowed and became gentle.

A moment later, the sound rang out again.

Ying Huo's expression changed slightly.

This time, he also heard it.

The sound was small, passing close to him before disappearing, sounding like the wings of some insect fluttering.

Qin Fei raised a finger to his lips, and the other two blinked, signaling that they understood.

Waiting like scarecrows in the blizzard was far from comfortable.

The breaths from their mouths and noses condensed into frost before their vision froze, but the sound finally rang out once more.

This time, Wu Meng was quick to react, pulling out a coat from his personal space and lunging towards the source of the sound with lightning speed.

With a thud, he fell into the snow, coat and all.

"I got it!" Wu Meng exclaimed excitedly.

Qin Fei and Ying Huo hurried over to take a look.

Ying Huo rummaged through his personal space, finding a tin can whose previous contents were unknown. He unscrewed the lid, and Wu Meng placed the thing under the coat into the can.

Finally, they could see the creature's true form.

"It's really a bug," Wu Meng said in surprise, his eyes widening.

In the bottle, a peculiar creature was slamming itself against the glass that confined it with reckless abandon.

The insect's body was large, round, and swollen, much like a cicada in summer.

Yet its wings were a deep gray, covered in fuzz that resembled veins embedded in the wing surface.

The interplay of dark and light gray fuzz created an odd pattern on the wings, resembling a ghastly face.

From a distance, it looked like a multitude of eyes silently watching everything from the darkness.

"Why would there be an insect on the snow mountain?" Wu Meng asked the question that both Qin Fei and Ying Huo wanted to ask.

Ying Huo stared at the insect for a long moment before his expression suddenly changed. "There seem to be more... over there..."

He had just activated his special ability, and his senses became extremely acute in an instant. In a direction further away from here, familiar flapping sounds echoed one after another, forming a continuous series.

Ying Huo's gaze scanned the darkness.

Until he locked onto one particular direction.

"Over there."

He pointed behind them.

The vast snow stretched endlessly, dyed into a withered black under the moonless night. At the end of their vision, a towering silhouette stood silently in the snow.

It was precisely where the sound came from.

"That seems to be—"

Wu Meng squinted his eyes.

"A forest." Qin Fei pursed his lips, his jaw tensing.

Their hearts sank.

A forest.

Yes, it was indeed a forest.

But just a short while ago, there was clearly nothing there?