The mysterious voice once said, never abandon your treehouse. He wondered if staying overnight in another survivor’s treehouse would count as abandoning his own.
He wanted to find someone to test this idea, but the test subject couldn’t be Li Wenxi.
After Xu Xin shared this idea with her, Li Wenxi also fell into deep thought.
"Indeed... it sounds risky, well... let’s forget it then, maybe wait until you set up the coordinates next time. Otherwise, it’ll be troublesome for you to take me back at night." Li Wenxi agreed reluctantly.
"It’s no big deal, I need to take you back anyway. If I don’t, you’ll have to go back on your own."
While they were chatting, Silver King’s speed didn’t slow down but instead got faster. Xu Xin suddenly noticed the blood pattern on Silver King became more vivid than usual.
Xu Xin suddenly grew alert.
The last time the blood pattern on Silver King lit up was when they crossed the Red Mist. Could the current environment be similar to the Red Mist?
"Silver King, stop!" Xu Xin called out to halt Silver King.
Now, the treehouse was less than a kilometer away from them. From just a few hundred meters, the structure of the double-story treehouse was clearly visible.
Silver King came to a sudden stop, causing Li Wenxi to yelp. Fortunately, Xu Xin held her tight, preventing her from being thrown out.
"Wh-what’s wrong? Is there something around?" Li Wenxi asked, looking vigilantly around without complaining.
"There might be something. Silver King’s condition appears unusual." Xu Xin looked at the unusually bright blood pattern on Silver King with a serious expression. Was something around affecting it?
"Silver King, do you feel anything different?" Xu Xin asked.
"Awo?" Silver King tilted its head towards Xu Xin, eyes seemingly filled with confusion.
After running for so long, it seemed neither fatigued nor exhausted, instead even more energetic than before.
This is odd. Previously, when running alongside Ji Chaoyang’s Bai Ma by the creek, Xu Xin felt it was somewhat tired, needing a short rest in between. Why is it more vigorous now, even with two people?
However, judging from Silver King’s reaction, it didn’t seem to sense anything unusual.
"Silver King? Oh, the blood pattern on Silver King, it’s so bright!" Li Wenxi exclaimed, covering her mouth in surprise, "Much more vibrant than Aniu’s!"
Xu Xin scanned his surroundings. Apart from getting closer to the treehouse, there was nothing else.
The jungle now seemed desolate. He could see most of the scenery around at a glance. Except for the bright green treehouse, there seemed to be nothing else.
Could it be because of that treehouse? Is there something wrong with it?
Xu Xin squinted at the treehouse a few hundred meters away.
A two-story treehouse with two wooden crossbows mounted around it. Judging by the location, the treehouse owner should be from District 188, likely having bought the crossbows from [Explorers].
Besides that, there wasn’t anything special. Just a usual treehouse.
"Xu Xin, the blood pattern on Silver King is fading again," Li Wenxi tugged on his arm.
Xu Xin immediately looked back at Silver King. Indeed, the blood pattern was no longer as vibrant as moments ago, it dimmed and returned to its original color within seconds.
Though back to its usual color, it was still more vibrant compared to Li Wenxi’s Aniu.
"This..." Xu Xin scrutinized Silver King, perplexed, "What’s happening? Could it not be an issue of the area but a problem with Silver King itself?"
"Awo?" Silver King also made a puzzled sound, not feeling anything strange at all.
Never mind, there’s no use in getting tangled up now. I’ll check the situation again when we pass by here on the way back.
"Let’s go check out that treehouse up front. It should be one of us."
Silver King sprinted swiftly, reaching the treehouse in several seconds.
"This treehouse is really small..." Li Wenxi whispered, "Do they really have enough space?"
"It’s enough if they only have one or two functional areas."
There was no activity inside the treehouse. Li Wenxi looked up at the treehouse window, calling out, "Hello, is anyone there?"
After her shout, footsteps suddenly sounded from the first floor of the treehouse. Because the short treehouse stood only three meters tall, the footsteps were clearly audible from the window.
Then, the wooden crossbows on the treehouse wall moved suddenly, aiming at Xu Xin and Li Wenxi, while a wary voice rang out from inside the treehouse.
"Who are you?! What are you doing here?!"
"It’s a woman!" Li Wenxi’s eyes lit up.
Since the zone opened, this was the sixth person Xu Xin encountered.
The others were Le Youfang, Lou Fei’Er, Ji Chaoyang, Li Wenxi, Ma Hongwei, and this woman. Including the yet-to-be-seen Qi Xuefei, all their treehouses were within this region, and except for Le Youfang and this woman, everyone else was in the top ten of the region.
This region was certainly peculiar.
Including him, there were four men and four women in total whom he knew in this area, meaning the world survivors’ gender ratio seemed quite balanced.
"Don’t panic, I’m Xu Xin, and she’s Li Wenxi. You should’ve heard our names." Xu Xin spoke warmly.
Green-grade wooden crossbows probably couldn’t cause them harm now. Silver King could also dodge her actions with its current speed.
"...Xu Xin?! Li Wenxi?! Are you... are you from [Explorers]?!"
The woman’s voice changed instantly, from initially threatening with a hint of fear, to being surprised, excited, yet still laced with a bit of doubt. She leaned out of the window, eyes wide open, looking at the two.
She seemed to be around Li Wenxi’s age, possibly also a university student, with long hair draping over her shoulders. She wasn’t a beauty, but pleasant to look at.
Seeing her holding a green-grade crossbow, Xu Xin was slightly surprised.
Hadn’t they yet to release crossbows to the public?
The crossbow was a metallic weapon, something only he and Ji Chaoyang could make, and with the scarcity of iron mines back then, it wasn’t made available.
Though now they could mass-produce them thanks to Li Wenxi’s resources, he and Ji Chaoyang had been handling other matters, delaying the release of metal weapon trades.
Where did she get this crossbow? Found in the dungeon?
"You... are you really Xu Xin and Li Wenxi?" The girl asked, her face filled with excitement, disbelief, and a touch of suspicion.
"Of course!" Li Wenxi shook her left hand, showing her watch. Everyone knew Explorers could communicate outside their treehouses. "We can privately verify our identities now. What’s your name?"
"I... I’ve sent a message on the regional channel..."
"Wow, we share the same last name! Indeed, ’Li’ is a common surname in this world too!" Li Wenxi was a bit pleased to hear the girl shared her surname.
"That means many with the Li surname were victimized by this world." Xu Xin chuckled, reminding her.
"Ugh, can you speak properly!" Li Wenxi playfully punched him, then opened the regional channel, finding a message from the girl. She only sent an ellipsis.
Li Wenxi clicked on the girl’s profile, opened a private chat, and spoke into her watch, "Hello!"
The girl immediately received Li Wenxi’s private message. Upon opening it, she was so excited she nearly jumped up, her eyes tearing up instantly.
"It’s really you! You finally came... sob..."