Chapter 50: And Then There Was Nothing After That

As the things darting around under the snow burrowed into their small courtyard, Yun Qimu raised her elegant eyebrows in surprise.

Whoosh—

A large, snow-white carp suddenly leaped out from the snow, revealing its true form in a splash.

Its body was crystal clear, each scale dazzlingly white like an ice sculpture, shimmering with a faint glow. With a flick of its white tail, the whole fish arced through the air.

Suddenly, the beautiful icy fish’s jet-black eyes flashed red. Its mouth opened wide and shot a chilling ice arrow straight at Yun Qimu.

“Watch out!”

Yun He, standing nearby, widened his eyes and shouted anxiously, reaching out to help. But a blinding flash of golden light caught his eyes, slowing his reaction by a split second.

Yun Qimu, gripping the golden Pangu Axe, coolly swatted away the ice arrow with one hand. Then, weighing the axe in her palm, she made a throwing motion.

With a sharp whistle, the golden axe flew from her hand, striking the fish just as it landed and tried to burrow back into the snow.

The axe chopped off half the fish’s head. Blue blood oozed out as its eyes glazed over, pinned dead in the snow. Its tail twitched a couple of times before going completely still.

In the blink of an eye, the dead fish’s spot was replaced by a glowing bronze treasure chest.

The system notification chimed: [Ding-dong—Congratulations, player, you have obtained 1 Bronze Treasure Chest!]

Yun He and Yuan An, both covered in mud, stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

Even Wu Xingyu, usually expressionless, looked shocked.

This… this really did drop a treasure chest! So Fatty Pei wasn’t joking after all!

Pei Yu hugged himself and, braving the heavy snow, dashed over in excitement, circling the treasure chest before waving frantically at Yun Qimu. “Chief, come quick! Come open the treasure chest!”

Yun Qimu wrapped her thick coat tighter and walked over without hesitation, reaching out to open the chest.

[Ding-dong—Congratulations, player, you have obtained 1 Snow Fish!]

[Ding-dong—Congratulations, player, you have obtained 1 packet of White Radish Seeds!]

[Ding-dong—Congratulations, player, you have obtained 5 Spirit Coins!]

[Ding-dong—Congratulations, player, you have obtained 1 Agility Card!]

“Whoa, there are actually four items! And the fish is whole!” Pei Yu’s peach blossom eyes widened with envy.

Then he pouted, looking especially aggrieved. “How come I only ever get at most two things from a chest? Is it because you’re the village chief and get a luck bonus?”

At some point, Mo Xie, Wu Xingyu, and the two mud people had also come over, turning to look at her with curiosity and eager anticipation.

Yun Qimu rolled her eyes at Pei Yu and snorted, “I have no idea if being chief gives me perks. Maybe I’m just naturally lucky.”

“That’s right! Silly Mu has silly luck—she’s always lucky. She’s never gotten less than three items from a chest.”

Yun Xiaoyu swaggered in with his dad from outside the fence, hands on his hips and a proud, cool look on his little face.

He shot Pei Yu a look of disdain. “I told you before and you didn’t believe me. Hmph, you believe it now, don’t you?”

“I believe it, I believe it,” Pei Yu nodded, green with envy.

Then he turned to Yun Qimu, eyes shining, and tried to flatter her, “Boss, can I team up with you? You open the chests, and we split the loot sixty-forty. How about it?”

“No way. You must be dreaming,” Yun Xiaoyu immediately retorted, glaring at him with big dark eyes and pouting angrily.

After being around Yun Qimu these days, Yun Xiaoyu was no longer the same as before. He now understood the importance of profit and spirit coins.

A sixty-forty split would mean giving away almost half of Qimu’s loot! Monsters were so scarce now, and you had to fight for the chance to kill them. Plus, Qimu could handle them herself—why team up with this flashy, smooth-talking guy? What if he tricked her? Mom always said that glib men were bad men. Men like his dad—strong, upright, who spoke little and did much—were the real good men.

So this flashy, peach-eyed guy was definitely the “bad man” Mom warned about. No teaming up with him.

Facing this little guy who barely reached his thigh, Pei Yu hugged himself in grievance. What did he ever do to deserve such dislike from this kid?

Yun Qimu chuckled, ruffling the little one’s hair. Under his indignant glare, she slowly withdrew her hand and turned to Pei Yu. “Xiaoyu’s right. I’m not teaming up. There are fewer monsters and more people now, so you’re not much help. Why should I give you forty percent? I can hunt monsters myself and keep all the loot. Isn’t that better?”

Pei Yu slumped in defeat.

Wu Xingyu’s hopeful gaze also dimmed a little.

Suddenly, he turned his head, silver eyes flashing. With a flick of his wrist, a dagger flew out, pinning a snow fish that was just about to poke its head out of the snow.

[Ding-dong—Congratulations, player, you have obtained 1 Bronze Treasure Chest!]

His silver eyes flickered.

Pei Yu looked over, his earlier disappointment replaced by excitement. “Xiao Yu, you killed that monster, right? Quick, open it! Let’s see how lucky you are!”

Wu Xingyu pursed his lips, shot Pei Yu a sidelong glance, and walked over to the chest with a gloomy look in his silver eyes.

He didn’t rush to open it. Instead, he circled the bronze chest, tapping and inspecting it carefully. Only after everyone’s expectant gazes did he finally reach for the lock.

Wu Xingyu’s face was expressionless, but his heart was pounding, a trace of hope hidden deep in his silver eyes.

When the chest opened, Pei Yu immediately craned his neck to look. Seeing the empty bottom, he slapped his thigh and burst out laughing.

“Haha! I knew it’d be empty. Xiao Yu, you’re hopeless—even I’m luckier than you! You really are the king of bad luck, hahaha…”

A vein throbbed on Wu Xingyu’s forehead. He ground his teeth at Pei Yu, fists itching for action.

“Aaah—!”

“Not the face, not the face! Xiao Yu, I was wrong, I was wrong, I really was wrong!”

Pei Yu yelped, clutching his head and hopping around in the snow. His muddy face was even more swollen, snow sticking to his hair, bruises and lumps everywhere—there wasn’t a single spot left unscathed. Yun Qimu couldn’t bear to look and turned away.

This guy really was a master at making trouble—and making people laugh!"