Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
No one dared to enter the dense forest last night as it felt extremely eerie in there. But after walking all morning, the group had yet to encounter anything dangerous.
The only thing that could possibly pose a threat to them was the boar, but it had rammed itself straight into a tree.
Ren Xiaosu was looking out for any traces of large animals’ feces during the journey, but he saw nothing.
However, Ren Xiaosu did not lower his guard as he still couldn’t figure out why the fish scraps and bones had disappeared, as well as why Xu Xia’s body had vanished.
They found a small clearing in the forest and started collecting a lot of firewood as they planned to set up camp here. As everyone did not get any sleep last night, they wanted to turn in early today. Otherwise, no one could bear it for much longer!
Xu Xianchu dissected the boar with a bayonet. Soon, the scent of blood filled the entire clearing. Ren Xiaosu reminded him, “Don’t think you can leave any unfinished food for tomorrow. A lot of the dangers in the wilderness are created by the scent of blood.”
Ren Xiaosu then pointed to the ground. A swarm of black ants had already gathered here. Each of them was about the size of a finger pad, and they looked exceptionally terrifying. “They won’t attack you when you’re moving about during the day since they’re just looking for the food source through the scent of blood. But by nighttime, you’ll end up becoming their food if you sleep in an area filled with a bloody scent. The formic acid secreted by the ants after a bite is enough to make you feel like dying.”
Xu Xianchu nodded. “Understood, thank you for the reminder.”
“Gratitude received from Xu Xianchu, +1!”
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. It seemed like Xu Xianchu was quite a sincere person after all.
At noon, everyone gorged themselves on the roasted pork as they were starving. While Ren Xiaosu was eating the meat, Luo Xinyu unexpectedly took a seat beside him.
Luo Xinyu said innocently, “I feel that it’s possible to lead an interesting life in the wilderness. It feels really romantic.”
Ren Xiaosu shook his head and said, “This is about survival. There’s nothing romantic about it.”
In the wilderness, Ren Xiaosu had never heard of the word “romantic” before. Besides, anything that occurred in the wilderness could never be associated with the word “romantic” at all.
Sometimes, Ren Xiaosu felt that there was a huge gulf between his mindset as a refugee and those from the stronghold.
Luo Xinyu ignored Ren Xiaosu’s rebuttal and said to him, “Do you know that you’re very charming?”
Ren Xiaosu frowned. Did she come and find him after hitting a roadblock with Xu Xianchu?
He pretended not to have heard her, but Luo Xinyu stayed beside him and did not leave.
In fact, Luo Xinyu had her own plans. By following Ren Xiaosu, she would at least not go hungry in this place.
The others might not have noticed, but Luo Xinyu had realized that Ren Xiaosu was definitely not an ordinary person. How could an ordinary young man drag an adult man around while making an escape? Even Xu Xianchu would probably not be able to do this.
As such, Luo Xinyu felt that men were most likely to behave impulsively during their adolescence. It was probably the same in the town as in the stronghold. All she needed to do was to be more friendly towards this young man, and he would be willing to go through all kinds of hardships for her. In fact, she would not even mind letting Ren Xiaosu take advantage of her for real.
Did such incidents rarely happen in the stronghold? Hardly so.
To put it bluntly, she felt insecure and wanted to look for someone she could use.
In reality, Luo Xinyu could also express her interest to Xu Xianchu. Before the expedition started, Luo Xinyu had approached Xu Xianchu more than once to chat, but she was rebuffed by him every time.
In Luo Xinyu’s eyes, Xu Xianchu was a relatively headstrong adult who knew what he wanted. If there were danger, it could be very possible that Xu Xianchu would abandon her at once.
As for Liu Bu, needless to say, he was just a good-for-nothing....
In her opinion, how could a refugee like Ren Xiaosu who had not seen the world yet possibly resist her charms?
In fact, Luo Xinyu and Liu Bu had a certain air to them when they faced the refugees. They regarded the refugees as inferior to those from the stronghold. They were not people, just goods or accessories.
Ren Xiaosu controlled his tone and said to Luo Xinyu, “Lady, please stay away from me.”
Annoyed, Luo Xinyu decided she had to be more direct. She smiled and said, “Could there have been a misunderstanding between us? Actually, I...”
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. “What’s with you?”
Luo Xinyu leaned in closer to Ren Xiaosu as though she were whispering something secretive to him. She got so close that her body was nearly touching his arm. As she spoke, her breath smelled like flowers. “I like you.”
Ren Xiaosu’s expression turned to one of fury. “You better watch your words!”
Luo Xinyu was surprised.
Pfft! Yang Xiaojin, who was drinking from a water bottle beside them, spat out everything at once. Apparently realizing she shouldn’t have reacted this way, she quickly pretended not to have heard anything.
Meanwhile, Luo Xinyu never thought that Ren Xiaosu would react to her in such a way! Was this how a normal person would react? Who should be watching their words?!
‘He must be sick in the head, right?!’
At this moment, Luo Xinyu started to wonder if she had made the wrong decision.
What Luo Xinyu didn’t know was that Ren Xiaosu had seen too many of such “seduction” cases during his time in town. Since the time he learned how to hunt, a lot of women threw themselves at him. That was why Yan Liuyuan was so wary of Xiaoyu at the beginning.
Luo Xinyu still had the impression that he was quite inexperienced. But in actual fact, Ren Xiaosu had seen so much that it would likely scare her if she knew all about it.
Ren Xiaosu sneered in his head. He wouldn’t want a woman like Luo Xinyu even if she gave herself to him. It would be a waste of his food if he had to feed her!
In the past, he thought that the people in the stronghold would all be smart. After all, Mr. Zhang had mentioned that most of the books were kept in the stronghold. Hence, Ren Xiaosu thought that the more that people read, the smarter they should be.
However, both Liu Bu and Luo Xinyu were shaking up his understanding of this.
Of course, there were also smart people in the stronghold such as the two officers, Wang Congyang and Xu Xianchu.
Luo Xinyu calmed down and said, “If you help me get out of here alive, I’ll fight for three spots in the stronghold for you when we get back to Stronghold 113.”
Ren Xiaosu got up to leave. “Who are you trying to bluff? You’re making it sound like you call the shots in the stronghold.”
Ren Xiaosu was not foolish. He felt that if he used the Skill Duplication Scroll on Luo Xinyu, he might just end up copying her advanced bragging skill.