Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The bow and arrow were completely foreign to him; it would take at least an hour or two of practice to regain the skill of hitting his mark every time. However, Ji Xinghai knew that rushing would only lead to failure, so when he felt his muscles starting to ache, he put away the arrows and returned to the hunter's cabin.

Steam still hissed from the iron pot, the water nearly evaporated, so he added another ladleful.

The wooden figure continued to diligently sharpen the arrowheads, with a pile of finished ones nearby, awaiting the application of poison.

Ji Xinghai saw that the potatoes and sweet potatoes in the pot were almost done, so he fished them out, then went to the small vegetable garden to pull some greens, which he washed and threw into the pot.

Some of the cooked potatoes and sweet potatoes would be eaten now, while the rest would be saved for the next few days. The vegetable soup was for immediate consumption, as he needed to intake vitamins. As for rice, aside from what he would eat now, the remainder could be mixed with salt to make rice balls.

Salt was an essential seasoning.

Processing the arrowheads, preparing food and water, he was busy with these tasks for quite some time. By the time he finished this meal, another two hours had passed.

In fact, there was still non-human jerky hanging under the eaves outside, but he didn't care about it, fearing that someone watching might have unwarranted thoughts. Lowering his reputation for a piece of meat that didn't matter was simply not worth it.

He was crazy, but not stupid.

Ji Xinghai had no idea that most of the audience hadn't recognized the jerky as human flesh. They were puzzled as to why the student didn't cook some of it to eat, wondering if he just didn't like it.

And those who had already identified the nature of the jerky either didn't want to cause panic or were looking forward to a good show, so they chose to remain silent.

"Fortunately, Student Ji Xinghai knew it was human flesh all along, otherwise if he had unknowingly eaten human flesh, those people would have collectively gone into a frenzy, labeling our student as a cannibal."

"It must have been something he learned during his separation from humanity. Do you think he spent those nine years as a special forces soldier? He knows too much."

Staff members at the Command Unit yawned, their hands holding industrial-strength de-toxified tea that did little to dispel their drowsiness.

Not far behind them, several night-shift teams were analyzing the recorded footage frame by frame. More than focusing on the students themselves, they were analyzing the background environment.

"From the information we have, we know that this is an escape-type game scenario, where the main subjects trying to escape are civilians dressed in coarse clothing and armed with farming tools. These are multi-ethnic groups living together.

"Mapping out the locations where all the students converge, the game map resembles a neat basin shape. Through vegetation analysis, we can determine that this area has a high altitude. We've compared it to satellite maps, and it's not in the JiuZhou region. It could be another stage designed by the Hungry Academy."

"It's currently autumn, the harvest season. The only thing that could make farmers abandon their harvest and leave their homes is a matter of life and death.

"There must be a group of powerful enemies in this scenario that they cannot resist, or even have the heart to resist. These enemies also possess a considerable number of weapons. At least to the civilians armed with farming tools, these people have overwhelming military superiority."

"Because many ethnic minorities still retain the habit of making their own fabrics, clothes, and farming tools, we cannot determine a specific era from the weapons and clothes they possess.

"Given these conditions, we have two speculations."

The team leader was conducting an online meeting with his team members, each of them energetic, showing no signs of being up all night.

"The first possibility is that the Hungry Academy designed the scenario based on village conflicts.

"In summary, it's about two communities fighting over resources, with one side having overwhelming military superiority.

"This kind of thing was more common a hundred years ago, during a period of disorder and harsh living conditions. Village conflicts were not uncommon between villages."

"But to drive an entire village's residents up a mountain, the other participant must have had significant military intimidation and a terrible reputation. Being caught meant certain death or a fate worse than death.

"We consider the opposing side to be bandits.

"This also explains why the enemies possess a considerable number of firearms and are skilled in combat."

"The second possibility..." The team leader placed the pulled-up data on the screen, his expression serious, ready to say something.

"Team Leader, Student Ji Xinghai has reached the foot of the mountain."

"What? Let me see!"

In the game world, evening was approaching, with an orange-red sunset lazily hanging in the sky, resembling a giant salted duck egg yolk.

Students taking the conservative route had already hidden in shelters after filling their bellies, seeking quality sleep to conserve energy. Those seeking wealth amidst danger began descending the mountain, including Ji Xinghai and Zhang Ziqing.

"He's going down the mountain?"

The JiuZhou audience outside the game were anxious but helpless. They had a more lenient attitude towards Ji Xinghai, this random student who had temporarily taken on the hopes of JiuZhou.

Moreover, everyone had recently benefited greatly from him, so even if they felt uneasy, they still said comforting words in the live stream chat that they didn't fully believe.

"It's alright, I believe Brother Hai isn't a reckless person."

Ji Xinghai carried almost nothing with him, hiding his backpack filled with food, water, and weapons elsewhere. He only concealed a sharp knife at his waist, its blade coated with a tree sap that caused instant death upon contact.

The audience was particularly afraid that he might accidentally injure himself, but fortunately, the knife was wrapped in coarse cloth.

The wooden door of the hunter's cabin closed, with the red-haired hunting dog tied up outside, unafraid except when facing Ji Xinghai.

"If my house is occupied when I return, I'll chop you up for dog meat stew," Ji Xinghai said to the dog, who seemed to understand, its tail tucked between its legs, trembling.

"Eat! I'll follow suit and eat too!" The audience in the live stream, their teeth chattering with tension, resorted to humor to ease their nerves.

Since they couldn't stop him, they might as well join in the revelry. If worst came to worst... Didn't JiuZhou still have five exemptions?

Taking advantage of the remaining light, Ji Xinghai descended via a narrow path. The uneven stone trail, hidden among the mountains and forests, was easy to miss if one wasn't careful.

From this angle, the hunter's cabin appeared relatively hidden, surrounded by towering trees that made it difficult to spot.

The path twisted and turned, sometimes left, sometimes right, sometimes rocky, sometimes muddy. Walking it at night would likely result in a dangerous fall off the cliff. Ji Xinghai memorized the route, along with the details on both sides, as he walked.

He had received training, possessing a temporary 'photographic memory', ensuring that he wouldn't forget anything he urgently memorized within a few hours.

Autumn days were short, and the sun set quickly, turning the sky a grayish-blue. Dressed in black, Ji Xinghai was even more concealed in the forest.

He climbed a tall tree and, through the thick foliage, saw the flickering fires below. The village was not far away, like an isolated island surrounded by farmland.

"Hmm?" Almost instantly upon seeing the farmland, Ji Xinghai furrowed his brow, revealing for the first time an unmasked expression of genuine concern.

"What did he see?" The staff in the Black Tower tried to make out the background, but it was blurry. "Retrieve the Federation's Jieson's screen recording; there might be something odd about that farmland."

"Yes."

"Boss, this land was recently plowed with care, as if preparing to plant something, but before they could, an accident occurred."

The minister looked at the enlarged and detailed image, unsure why Ji Xinghai cared so much about these fields. In the southern mountainous region of the Y Continent, planting could still happen in August and September, so tilling the land wasn't unusual.

Inside the instance. It grew darker, with more lights turning on. Most of those fires gathered in one place, right at the center of Tulou. There were also a few scattered lights moving at a steady pace outside, seemingly patrolling at night.

Several beams suddenly shot down from the highest point of Tulou, sweeping across the grass and fields.

Indeed, there were organized enemies down the mountain.

At that moment, Zhang Ziqing also descended the mountain via another route. He followed the water, which was the best way to find a path down unfamiliar mountains and forests.

As a result, he and Ji Xinghai missed each other perfectly, both guarding separate areas hundreds of meters apart.

The Command Unit personnel sighed in relief. Although they had confidence in Ji Xinghai, Zhang Ziqing was after all an elite player they had rigorously trained, with formidable individual combat abilities.

Ji Xinghai, Zhang Ziqing, and the others who had already descended the mountain didn't act rashly. They observed the range and frequency of the searchlights' sweeps, as well as the paths taken by the patrolling personnel, while waiting for complete darkness.

During this time, Ji Xinghai casually found some unknown plants, squeezed out their juice, and smeared it on his face, hands, and body. This substance eliminated the 'human scent' from him and concealed his overly fair skin.

Time ticked by, one hour, two hours, and the sky became completely dark. A large wave of foreign viewers flooded into Ji Xinghai's live stream.

Only a dozen or so students dared to venture down the mountain to investigate, and these people had become famous on overseas forums. Some even started betting on their life or death. Among them were foreigners attracted by Ji Xinghai.

"Up ahead is either a big prize or death."

"The jiuZhou student is courting death; the random student has no self-awareness."

"You know nothing; Brother Hai isn't reckless. He must have his own considerations."

Foreign viewers only saw the stubbornness of the jiuZhou people, but soon they couldn't afford to mock as their attention was involuntarily drawn to the agile skills of the jiuZhou student.

"Do you jiuZhou people still claim you don't know kung fu?" Watching Ji Xinghai nimbly descend from a tree like a mountain cat and, under the cover of night, dart into the silent flatland, the foreign viewers exclaimed in surprise.

In an era without light pollution, with neither moon nor stars in the sky, the world was pitch black, and viewers could only see the golden mark on Ji Xinghai's head moving.

He advanced slowly through the darkness, not making any abrupt sounds.

A blinding beam of light swept over the grass near him.

The viewers were startled, but Ji Xinghai had already used the few seconds when the light beam moved away to quickly cross the dangerous area. He had a map in his mind, memorizing all the searchlight routes and time intervals.

Suddenly, while crouching and moving, Ji Xinghai seemed to notice something. He swiftly rolled to the side, hiding in the waist-high grass he had passed through earlier.

An enemy?

The viewers perked up, staring intently at the pitch-black screen.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, the second hand above silently moved. After about half a minute, a tiny flame appeared in their field of vision. It was so weak yet so prominent, exerting a suffocating pressure in the pitch-black night.

Who was it? The viewers almost stood up to press against the screen, trying to see the blurred silhouette beneath the flame clearly.

The wind brought chaotic footsteps, growing closer and louder. Ji Xinghai remained motionless in the grass, adjusting his breathing to match the rhythm of the wind rustling the leaves. Only his sharp eyes, still keen in the darkness, silently watched the distance through the gaps in the grass.

Finally, the flame appeared, its orange-red light and a row of shadows imprinted on his pale irises.