Chapter 95: A Brief Glimmer of Luck

""Too cruel, just too cruel! Little Tuan Tuan is so cute—how could you bear to kill her?""

Pei Yu circled around Wu Xingyu, muttering nonstop, looking utterly heartbroken.

Wu Xingyu frowned impatiently, his expression turning cold. He bent down, grabbed a ""Little Tuan Tuan"" that was gnawing on his combat boots, and casually tossed it at Pei Yu.

The bewildered, adorable little dumpling flailed its four tiny paws in midair. But in the next second, Meng Ji let out a roar and transformed back into its massive beast form—its leopard body was three times Pei Yu's size.

Pei Yu, arms wide open and face full of anticipation, was ready to be hit by the soft, fluffy Little Tuan Tuan.

His smile froze.

He watched as that gaping maw was about to chomp his head right off. His face changed instantly, and he cursed, ""Damn it! You little brat, are you trying to get me killed?!""

Pei Yu reacted quickly, dropping to the ground and rolling away just in time.

The ferocious Meng Ji, who had been pouncing at him, overshot and landed in the snow not far away.

Seeing this, Pei Yu stopped playing dead, scrambled up, and seized the moment. He pulled out his three-meter-long broadsword and, acting rather shamelessly, swung it at Meng Ji's backside.

""Meng Ji—!""

Meng Ji, now a giant beast, let out an enraged roar, twisted its massive head around, and lashed its steel-whip tail at the scoundrel who dared to sneak attack its rear.

Terrified and desperate to take down the beast, Pei Yu and the now-enraged Meng Ji ended up in a wild, chaotic chase—one man and one beast, locked in a one-on-one brawl.

The instigator, Wu Xingyu, glanced over with a satisfied look in his dark eyes. Then, with a swift motion, he mercilessly finished off the last Little Tuan Tuan.

There had been twenty Meng Ji beasts in total. One was tossed to Pei Yu, leaving nineteen.

But in the snow, only fifteen treasure chests appeared: ten bronze, five silver. That meant four of the beasts hadn’t dropped any chests.

Wu Xingyu pursed his lips and did a quick calculation. Usually, when he killed ten small monsters, six wouldn’t drop any chests, three would be empty, and only one might contain a few spirit coins—just enough to console his abysmal luck.

Comparing that to now, there was a slight improvement. At least the drop rate for chests had gone up.

So the Lucky Badge was doing something, after all.

Wu Xingyu reached up and lovingly polished the little koi badge on his chest.

""Third Brother, open the chests! Let’s see what you get,"" Yuan He called out, trotting over with shining eyes after noticing what was happening.

With the Lucky Badge in play, maybe Third Brother could finally shake off his terrible luck. Yuan He was a little excited.

""Mm.""

Wu Xingyu pressed his lips together. His face was still expressionless, but there was a flicker of anticipation in his eyes.

He bent down and opened the nearest silver chest.

[Ding dong—Congratulations, player, you have received 5 spirit coins!]

[Ding dong—Congratulations, player, you have received 1 Defense Jade Pendant!]

[Name: Defense Jade Pendant]

Effect: Blocks 50% of incoming damage.

Uses: 10 times

Wu Xingyu’s dark eyes lit up.

Yuan An’s chubby body trembled with excitement, his eyes shining. It worked! It really worked! After all the monsters they’d killed, this was the first time Third Brother had gotten something other than spirit coins.

And the Defense Jade Pendant was amazing—ten uses, each blocking half the damage. Just reading the description made Yuan An drool. The fact that Third Brother got it meant his bad luck was finally turning around.

Both of their eyes sparkled with excitement.

""Third Brother, open the next one! Keep going!"" Yuan An urged.

""Mm."" Wu Xingyu’s lips curved ever so slightly, a hint of pleasure in his eyes as he reached for the next silver chest.

[Ding dong—Congratulations, player, you have received 3 spirit coins!]

The bottom of the chest was empty except for three glowing coins. Yuan An’s excitement fizzled out instantly.

He forced a smile and tried to comfort him, ""It’s okay, Third Brother. The Lucky Badge can’t work every time. Let’s open the next one—maybe it’ll be even better!""

Wu Xingyu’s eyes darkened, but he nodded and kept opening chests.

But it seemed that earlier stroke of luck was just a brief glimmer before the gloom returned. The bad luck still hung over him like a heavy cloud.

[Ding dong—Congratulations, player, you have received 1 spirit coin!]

[Ding dong—Congratulations, player, you have received 3 spirit coins!]

[Ding dong—Congratulations, player, you have received 4 spirit coins!]

Wu Xingyu’s face grew even darker, his eyes stormy like a brewing tempest, and the oppressive aura around him intensified with every wave.

Yuan An shivered, squatting beside him in silence, hugging his chubby self and trembling.

If he’d known, he wouldn’t have come over out of curiosity. It would’ve been much better to go monster hunting with Yun He—or even to get chased around by Meng Ji like Pei Yu. This Third Brother was just too scary right now, sob.

""What are you two doing squatting here? We’re done with the monsters, time to get ready to head up the mountain,"" Yun Qimu’s voice rang out like heavenly music in Yuan An’s ears. He jumped up at once, eyes brimming with grateful tears as he looked at her.

Yun Qimu scratched her head, a bit confused. She glanced at Yuan An, then at Wu Xingyu, who was now standing silently, and suddenly seemed to remember something. She smiled and asked, ""You guys just fought monsters, right? How’s the Lucky Badge working out? With mine, I get an extra reward from every chest!""

Yuan An: …

He was panicking inside. Why did the village chief have to bring that up now?

But to his surprise, Wu Xingyu didn’t get angry. He just stared straight at the little koi on Yun Qimu’s chest, his voice cold and deep: ""Not great. There’s something wrong with this Lucky Badge. I want to trade for yours.""

Yun Qimu’s smile froze. She rolled her eyes at him. ""I think your bad luck is just too strong—one Lucky Badge isn’t enough to turn it around.""

Wu Xingyu was silent for a moment, then stubbornly retorted, ""I did get a Defense Jade Pendant from the first chest.""

""That just means you used up all your luck at once, so you didn’t get anything good after. Your little koi still looks nice and shiny, so it’s probably not broken. Maybe it just needs to recharge before it works again.""

Wu Xingyu blinked. That actually made some sense.

""Then save your future Lucky Badges for me. I’ll buy them.""

If one badge wasn’t enough, he’d use two. If two didn’t work, he’d use three. He refused to believe his bad luck couldn’t be overcome.

Wu Xingyu’s logic was just that simple.

Yun Qimu: ""But I want to see what happens if I stack Lucky Badges too! Maybe I’ll step on gold when I go out, find ores when I climb the mountain, or even bump into a boss just by wandering around.""

Super luck like that sounded amazing, and Yun Qimu definitely wanted to enjoy it for herself."