Chapter 37: The Thirty-Seventh Cup

Chapter 37: The Thirty-Seventh Cup

Rainforest Area.

The rainforest terrain was not conducive for driving, so during their previous movements, they had deliberately chosen open areas and even manually cleared a path.

But now, He Wuning and Yi Luo were acting alone and couldn't make such grand changes to the terrain. The pink milk tea car couldn't speed recklessly and could only move slowly and bumpily, occasionally being attacked by snakes, insects, mice, and ants.

Fortunately, their destination was right in front of them.

Q Sauce lay on the car window, its two round eyes blinking excitedly as it pointed in one direction: "I see it! Just like the intel from the forum, there's a wild boss here! Look over there! Its tail is showing!"

He Wuning stood beside it, looking in the direction it pointed. The rainforest was dense, and the wild boss they were after this time was a half-human, half-snake green snake woman. According to the forum, she seemed to be a lower variant of the snake woman they had encountered in the mahjong dungeon.

He Wuning glanced around but didn't immediately spot where the green snake woman's tail was showing.

The milk tea car stopped, and Yi Luo raised his gun to shoot. The bullet whistled through the air, heading straight for the target. A section of green "vine" hanging from a tree trunk suddenly trembled and quickly retreated back up the tree, revealing the wild boss green snake woman with her green snake tail and human upper body.

Yi Luo chuckled. "There you go, did you see that?"

The green snake woman's tail tapered from thin to thick at the tip, easily mistaken for a green vine. It almost fooled He Wuning.

He Wuning stepped out of the milk tea car, and an unscabbarded Tang horizontal saber slid into his hand as if it had appeared out of thin air.

He had learned a few moves from Yi Luo and was now here to test his skills.

The Tang horizontal saber had a narrow, long, and straight blade, a standard weapon from the Tang Dynasty, resembling a sword more than a saber. Its handle was long, allowing for use with either one or both hands.

In terms of damage, it far exceeded He Wuning's previous snake skin dagger, though he was still getting used to the longer length of the weapon.

The green snake woman looked no more than a teenage girl from the waist up, wrapped in a large green leaf—this game was all-ages, so no matter what kind of monster you were, you couldn't go naked if you had human features.

Her face was very beautiful, somewhat similar to the snake woman in the mahjong parlor, but lacking maturity, instead exuding a youthful innocence.

If it were just that, this place might be a sanctuary for players who loved non-human characters—but her crimson lips hissed with a snake's tongue, and the curve of her mouth seemed to split her head in half, with fangs gleaming and drool or venom sliding down her chin.

The green snake woman crouched low, her tail coiling like a spring, ready to attack.

She ignored He Wuning as he entered her attack range and launched herself directly at Yi Luo in the driver's seat, opening her mouth wide to swallow her prey whole.

Yi Luo didn't dodge; he even lowered the window and leaned out to observe the incoming boss, watching with keen interest.

He Wuning held the saber with both hands and swung upward. If the boss didn't dodge, she would likely receive an uppercut from the blade.

The green snake woman nimbly halted her attack, twisting her body mid-air as if boneless, and her bright yellow vertical pupils darted between the two of them.

Her ability to dodge wasn't due to any particular intelligence. According to the intel Q Sauce gathered from the forum and Xue Xun's data, this boss had high agility and a chance to evade attacks.

He Wuning raised an eyebrow, observing the coils of her tail on the ground—while her tail remained on the ground, her upper body could seamlessly switch attacks in mid-air. They needed to control her movement first.

He Wuning switched to holding the saber with one hand.

Yi Luo put away his gun, leaning against the window to watch and offer advice to his friend learning the saber: "Spread your legs."

"Don't keep your arms close."

"Getting too close won't help... Hey, you're practically inviting her in!"

He Wuning's face darkened as he slashed the green snake woman's chin, the sharp blade drawing a line of blood. She let out an angry hiss, and her slender tail moved to block the blade, producing a metallic sound when struck.

He Wuning glanced at the part of her tail that was hit; the green scales were slightly raised, and blood seeped from the base.

Though tough, the attack wasn't completely ineffective.

"Strike at the vital point," Yi Luo reminded him. "Why are you always hitting the hard parts?"

He Wuning struck her tail again. This time, the green snake woman was prepared and whipped her tail fiercely to block the blow. Though she was injured, the impact also numbed He Wuning's hand, nearly causing him to drop the saber.

Taking advantage of the moment, she tried to spit venom, but He Wuning quickly switched hands and struck her mouth with the flat of the blade, knocking her head to the side and sending the venom onto a tree.

He tried another strike, growing impatient. "I'm trying to find the vital point!"

Anyone would know to strike at the vital point, but it was a vague term referring to the heart of a snake. He Wuning looked at her human-like upper body and then at her snake tail, unsure where to strike.

Their fight dragged on, seeming evenly matched, but He Wuning gradually became more adept with the Tang horizontal saber, executing the techniques Yi Luo taught him more skillfully, yet not limited to just those moves.

Yi Luo observed his movements.

Previously, he had mentioned that He Wuning was self-taught, relying purely on instinct for his swings and dodges. Using a dagger was probably because it felt more like an extension of his body.

His combat style was efficient and intuitive, but lacked formal technique, relying on whatever felt natural.

—Yi Luo suspected he might have picked up some moves from martial arts films.

Even with the new saber, his style remained casual and spontaneous, but he seemed to know intuitively when the techniques he had learned would be more effective than his instincts.

He seemed born to know how to control his body for maximum damage, with his agility reflected in his stats, but his innate fighting talent was perhaps the reason he excelled in the game.

He was a natural genius.

Yi Luo thought, if he lived in a war-torn era, he could probably sweep through armies and become a renowned general.

He Wuning was unaware of Yi Luo's thoughts; he only felt he had practiced enough.

His use of the Tang horizontal saber grew increasingly proficient, and his attack speed increased, gradually returning to his usual pace. The green snake woman retreated step by step, accumulating more wounds, her once smooth scales becoming ragged and battered.

With only 10% health remaining, the green snake woman suddenly lashed her tail to create distance from He Wuning. As he wondered if she planned to flee, she lifted her head, closed her mouth, and assumed a pitiful expression.

He Wuning felt no emotion, but his status bar displayed a special debuff—"Charm."

He Wuning: "…"

He watched helplessly as he let go of the knife he couldn't lift, and the Tang saber plunged straight into the ground. The Green Snake Woman's lips split open, and she reached out to him affectionately, her snake tail supporting her as she stood tall, ready to engulf He Wuning, her love (?!), from head to toe.

He Wuning looked expressionlessly at the snake mouth larger than his head in front of him, hearing three gunshots behind him—one to the head, one to the heart, and one to the snake tail below the abdomen. The Green Snake Woman fell backward with her mouth wide open.

Yi Luo holstered his gun: "Seems like the vital spot is in the lower abdomen."

He Wuning turned back without any expression: "Didn't you say you wouldn't interfere so I could practice?"

Yi Luo cleared his throat: "Sorry, couldn't help it."

Q-jiang angrily poked his head out of the car window: "Hey, demon, don't seduce my darling!"

"How outrageous! How can you do this? No monster ethics!"

Yi Luo found it amusing: "And what about you? I see you're not exactly following system ethics either."

Q-jiang immediately changed his tune: "Wah, my darling scolded me."

Yi Luo: "..."

He Wuning didn't bother being their judge. He picked up the knife, dusted off his clothes, collected the Green Snake Woman's loot, and got into the car.

Yi Luo glanced at him and asked: "How was it?"

He Wuning thought for a moment and replied: "Not bad. A longer blade has its advantages; you can use the flat side to strike people."

Yi Luo: "?"

Your swordsmanship is quite imaginative.

He Wuning tossed him a green jade hairpin shaped like a snake: "Is this what you meant by equipment with racial characteristics?"

From the stats, this accessory seemed ordinary, and there was no indication that it would have a special effect on the Snake Women race. If Yi Luo hadn't mentioned it before, he might have sold it directly.

Yi Luo nodded: "You can show it to the traders in the trading center. Some traders with higher skill levels can reveal hidden attributes."

He seemed to think of something and chuckled.

He Wuning gave him a strange look: "What are you laughing about?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking..." Yi Luo slowly started the car, heading towards the next wild boss, "some players may seem capable of finishing off a boss with one blow, but they might actually be wearing skirts, hairpins, and high-heeled shoes..."

He Wuning promptly threw the hairpin at him as a projectile. If Yi Luo hadn't dodged quickly, he suspected He Wuning would have stuck it right between his eyes.

He Wuning nodded: "You make a good point, so why don't you wear it then?"

Yi Luo: "..."

Their next target was the Red Ant Queen.

Deep in the rainforest lay a territory belonging to the Red Ants, where ant monsters were particularly dense and often appeared in swarms. Some players had discovered a massive ant nest there.

The hierarchy among the Red Ants was easy to discern—by size.

Level 1 ants were roughly the size of real ants, and players only realized they had killed a monster after stepping on one. Level 10 ants, however, were half a person's height, while the guards patrolling the outer perimeter were around level 20, equivalent to two-meter-tall muscular men.

The traits of immense strength and communal living made this area a dangerous zone that most players avoided.

"In other words, we can cause some trouble here without affecting other players."

Yi Luo smiled and gave him a thumbs-up, "Go ahead, brave warrior, and see if you can deliver gifts right to the Red Ants' doorstep."

Author's note: Yi Luo: If you fight him to the death, I can sit back and watch, but if you dare try to charm him, I'll shoot. Threatening.jpg

This is an extra chapter due to 2k nutrient fluid! Today, when I woke up, it was already 3k, so I hurriedly added the missing 2k._(:з」∠)_

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided nutrient fluid during the period from 23:35:59 on August 24, 2021, to 18:37:38 on August 25, 2021.

Thank you to the little angel who threw a grenade: Dog Dandan (1);

Thank you to the little angels who threw landmines: Sujie (2); Dog Dandan (1);

Thank you to the little angels who provided nutrient fluid: Bi Zui (200 bottles); Chacha Zi (70 bottles); Li Xuan (50 bottles); www (20 bottles); Jiuqian Qi (7 bottles); Yue Ling (5 bottles); Shi Liu, Yan Xiaobai, Genuine Little Fox (1 bottle each);

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!