Chu Xiuyan opened his eyes once again.
It was six in the morning.
Last night, the comic updated at nine o’clock.
After finishing the update and browsing the forum for a while, he went to sleep, and it just so happened that when he woke up, he had transmigrated.
Perfect!
Full of energy, he got out of bed, pushed open the door, and greeted Zhang Chun, who was sitting in the living room. “Good morning, Uncle.”
Zhang Chun, who had been sitting in the living room all night, slowly turned his head, glanced at Chu Xiuyan, then looked down at his watch before looking back at the boy and hesitantly asked, “Good morning. You only slept three hours?”
Last night, he had watched the boy running through the night from one in the morning until three, to the point where even that black dog gave up and collapsed on the ground, being dragged along.
Only then did he stumble back to the room… That energy was way too abundant.
Chu Xiuyan recalled the chaotic sense of time from switching between two worlds and replied helplessly, “Actually, I’m a fast charger, zipping right back to full power.”
“…I think your brain’s still not clear. Go back and keep sleeping.”
Zhang Chun ruffled his hair and said, “By the way, about what you told me last night—I searched the back mountain but didn’t find anyone. Don’t go to the mountain for now.”
“Even you couldn’t find them, Uncle?”
“Don’t make me sound so capable.” Zhang Chun grumbled. “Do you remember I’m just a B-Class?”
“Ah, it’s like how Uncle looks like he’s in his forties at twenty-eight, but seems super reliable even though he’s only B-Class!”
Chu Xiuyan gave a thumbs-up in praise.
Zhang Chun: “I really wish you’d swallow the first half of that sentence back.”
Chu Xiuyan laughed and dashed out of the house, heading toward his aunt’s place.
Just as Zhang Chun was about to lower his head for one last round of searching, a heavy object hit the ground outside.
He turned to see Cui Zhiyong, his eyes bruised black and blue, struggling to get up and staggering toward the black-haired boy.
Zhang Chun: “…Are you seriously going to keep going?”
Cui Zhiyong gritted his teeth: “I can’t swallow that anger!”
Zhang Chun shook his head at his resolute figure and continued searching outward from the village for the mysterious person.
Since he couldn’t find anything in the back mountain, he decided to search near the village entrance.
The Huangshi Settlement had its back against three large mountains; the only exit was to the west, leading to a vast forest.
Now searching broadly westward, Zhang Chun, already exhausted from a sleepless night, grew more and more headache-ridden.
Suddenly, about a kilometer into the woods, he spotted a white wolf seemingly observing something.
Because of the distance, Zhang Chun couldn’t tell if it was coming toward the village, so he raised his guard but didn’t attack.
Meanwhile, after finishing breakfast, Chu Xiuyan began wandering around the village, unable to go to the back mountain and thus feeling somewhat bored. He helped a strange uncle chop wood here, fed chickens for an elderly grandmother there, and before he knew it, the day passed.
Squatting on the rooftop, gazing at the setting sun in the distance, he said thoughtfully, [System, I don’t think this will do.]
System: [What?]
Chu Xiuyan pinched his chin and pondered, [If every day is like this, the comic will be completely boring, and I’ll turn from a cool, aloof handsome guy into just a simple village boy who only laughs “hahaha”!]
System: [You usually only laugh “hahaha” anyway.]
Chu Xiuyan ignored that and sank deeper into thought.
At night, clutching the blanket corner, Chu Xiuyan’s frown deepened as he rolled around in bed.
System: [I’m off work now, don’t cause me trouble.]
Chu Xiuyan ignored it, quickly got dressed, and got up.
[Help me check if Uncle is asleep yet.]
System: [One in the morning, do you think he’s asleep?]
Chu Xiuyan clenched his fist: [Charge! Night run to the back mountain!]
At the same time, Cui Zhiyong, staggering back home, suddenly turned his head and spotted a very familiar black-haired boy dashing toward the back mountain so fast he left only a blur.
He: “??”
No way, you’re going again?!
The night forest grew even quieter; birds were silent.
Dim moonlight filtered through overlapping leaves, casting a faint glow on the ground.
The wind rustled the leaves with a soft sound.
Suddenly, an angry roar shattered the silence, startling the sleeping birds, which fluttered their wings and flew off, dropping a few feathers.
Deep in the lush forest, a man stood in a pit about four or five meters deep, shoveling soil upward.
A communicator was clamped between his shoulder and cheek, crackling with static.
“Are you sure this will work? …Damn.”
The man gritted his teeth, his impatience causing him to mis-shovel, scattering dirt all over himself.
He frantically patted the dust off his clothes.
“It’s true. That’s how I got number three back,” the voice in the communicator replied, cold and emotionless.
The man paid no mind. After estimating the pit’s depth, he jumped out, flicked his long hair back irritably, and cursed, “Damn it, Fanyi, damn earth-element Mutant… Why is an earth-element Mutant from such a small village so strong? I thought they were only B-Class? Damn.”
After finishing the pit, he flattened it with some grass, then placed a fingernail-sized Blood Crystal a few meters to the west.
He continued placing Blood Crystals backward until they reached the trap.
The man brushed dirt off his hands. Moonlight shone on his red hair.
“Trap is set. Now we wait.”
He picked up the communicator and asked, “What have you all been up to? Haven’t heard from you in a while.”
“Catching birds,” the voice replied.
“The northwest Mutant stronghold is huge. They really seem to be trying to rebuild the city. Interesting. Oh, by the way, the boss asked me to tell you—don’t go to the Ruins City recently. That city might not survive this year’s Beast Tide.”
Red-haired man: “Why? I remember the Ruins City leader is S-Class.”
The voice remained emotionless: “Just above half-step S-Class, almost a walking Blood Crystal by now.”
The red-haired man felt a complicated emotion he couldn’t explain: “…Tch.”
Suddenly, the wind carried a faint voice.
“Wait, I’ve got something here. Gotta hang up first.”
Just as he spoke, an ear-splitting beast roar sounded from the forest, like a bear’s.
Then, as if the earth shook, thick smoke billowed, several towering trees cracked loudly and fell, raising a cloud of dust.
The red-haired man jumped onto a tree several meters high, puzzled: “What’s going on? Not sleeping at night and coming to fight bears in the mountain?”
But then he thought it might be a good chance to kidnap someone.
He pulled out a handful of tiny Blood Crystals, swirling them in his palm.
The breeze lifted the crystals as he flung them toward the smoky battlefield, scattering many along the way.
Meanwhile, Cui Zhiyong, dark circles under his eyes, yawned and stared blankly at the black-haired boy fighting a bear in the distance.
Learning from last time, he didn’t climb a tree but crouched in the bushes, observing the boy’s combat ability from afar.
Very strong. Pure power alone directly confronting the bear—no, more accurately, almost suppressing the bear.
Is this human strength?
The more Cui Zhiyong thought, the stronger his inner conflict grew.
On one hand, based on his recent tracking, the boy clearly didn’t have bad intentions.
Though reckless and often causing trouble, he cared about this village.
On the other hand, the boy’s strength was too high, his origin unknown, and likely to cause trouble.
More importantly, Cui Zhiyong felt a constant unease—a foreboding sense of danger.
Usually, such feelings only appeared when facing highly contaminated mutated creatures.
He chewed his nails anxiously.
Chu Xiuyan sat on top of the bear, somewhat troubled by two gazes around him.
Good grief, it’s so late, and the uncles are still awake spying on him? What kind of weird hobby is that?
He ruffled his hair. [System, are you still there?]
[System offline. Please leave a message. Will respond after starting work at 7 AM tomorrow. Thank you for your cooperation.]
[…System?! You’re supposed to be a handy little electronic helper, so stop acting like a gloomy office worker with clock-in and clock-out!]
After the rant, Chu Xiuyan stood, stretched, and prepared to drag the bear back to the village.
Suddenly, something shiny appeared in his vision, glowing red and dazzlingly beautiful in the night.
He walked over, bent down, and picked up a tiny Blood Crystal.
“Wow!”
Excited, he looked up and saw another small Blood Crystal about half a meter ahead.
He walked forward to pick it up, then saw more not far off.
He continued bending to pick them up, moving forward again and again…
The red-haired man perched in the tree clenched his fists, watching the black-haired boy getting closer to the trap, growing more and more anxious.
Cui Zhiyong crouching in the grass raised a huge question mark: Seriously? You can’t see such an obvious trap?
Chu Xiuyan gathered the Blood Crystals along the way until he reached a stream.
Just a few steps ahead was a pit trap covered by weeds.
By now, the boy’s hands held a large handful of Blood Crystals—roughly a dozen or so.
They didn’t seem as concentrated as the ones from the Mutant Settlement Mine or the one Uncle gave him, but little by little, it added up, stored for emergencies.
Who wouldn’t like picking up money?
Thinking that, the black-haired boy hummed a happy tune and prepared to turn around and leave.
Laughable, does he really think he can’t see that obvious trap ahead?
He’s not that dumb.
At that moment, a silver-white fish suddenly leapt from the rippling stream, its scales shining extraordinarily bright in the moonlight before splashing back into the water.
The clear sound caught Chu Xiuyan’s attention.
“Suddenly, I’m craving fish.”
The boy thought, “I’ll catch a few to bring back to the village.”
As he spoke, Gray Mist began to spread from under his feet, quickly forming a huge figure more than three meters tall behind him.
A deep, low call echoed as tiny gray particles floated in the air, radiating a faint aura of danger.
The night darkened, and the figure grew more terrifying and eerie.
At least from Cui Zhiyong’s hidden vantage point in the shadows, it looked like an unknown monster suddenly appeared and intended to attack the boy!
Just as he thought this, the huge gray monster raised its hand toward the still-unaware black-haired boy.
Frightened, Cui Zhiyong jumped up from his hiding spot and shouted, “Are you an idiot? Run—”
The boy turned, seeing Cui Zhiyong rushing toward him.
His expression shifted from happy to fearful.
“Wait, don’t come closer…”
Cui Zhiyong was both angry and moved, thinking maybe he had misjudged the boy.
In such a dangerous situation, he still cared about his safety… Safety… Danger…
Suddenly, the ground gave way beneath Cui Zhiyong.
He looked up blankly and met a pair of pitying eyes.
“Ah—”
He fell into a pit five or six meters deep.
The Gray Mist grabbed him, lifting him into the air, while the black-haired boy leisurely walked to the edge of the pit, sitting on the Gray Mist Yiren Chief’s shoulders, looking down mockingly at the struggling Cui Zhiyong.
“Didn’t I tell you not to come? Still wouldn’t listen. Tsk tsk.”
From the bottom of the pit, Cui Zhiyong struggled, extending a hand and asking with difficulty, “Was this… all part of your plan?”
Chu Xiuyan: “Pfft—”
The red-haired man in the tree: “……”
He turned his face and slammed it against the rough tree trunk.
“Damn,” he cursed softly.
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