Chapter 96: The Little Monster Jingjing

Wu Xingyu’s eyes were full of grievance—how could this lucky guy want to be even luckier? So unfair.

Yuan An covered his face with a chubby paw. He wanted that kind of amazing luck too, but alas, he didn’t have it.

Maybe it was because he’d spent too much time with his third brother, but his own luck seemed to have gone downhill too. Tripping and stumbling while walking was one thing, but every time he opened a loot box, the stuff inside was always disappointing—just meat or spirit coins. As for other useful gear, so far, he’d only ever gotten a single Strength Ring.

He shuffled his little feet, edging backward.

Wu Xingyu and Yun Qimu both raised their eyebrows, sharp eyes turning to look at him.

Yun Qimu asked, “What are you doing?”

Yuan An froze, forcing an awkward smile. “Well, since Village Chief Yun said we’re heading up the mountain, I figured I’d get moving too. This mountain range is huge—we definitely can’t explore it all in one day, so we’d better make good use of our time.”

Yun Qimu smiled. “You’re right, we should hurry. We’re planning to take the middle path. What about you? I suggest our three teams split up to explore.”

Wu Xingyu’s dark eyes looked at her seriously. “You pick a path for us.”

This kid was probably so unlucky he’d gone a little crazy, Yun Qimu thought, giving him a sympathetic glance before pointing to the path on the right. “That one looks promising. There’s a small hill up there—maybe there’s something good.”

Wu Xingyu followed her finger, glanced over, and nodded with a blank face. “Alright, we’ll take that one.”

He gave Yun Qimu a polite nod, then set off in that direction.

Yuan An was torn, his chubby eyebrows twisted up like caterpillars.

The right path… He trusted Village Chief Yun’s luck, but he didn’t trust his third brother’s bad luck. No matter what treasures might be up there, with his third brother around, they’d probably walk right past them without even noticing.

“Let’s go.”

“Oh, coming, coming, Third Brother!”

Yuan An hurried to catch up, dragging Yun He—who was still happily trying on his new ring—along with him.

Pei Yu would’ve loved to keep following Yun Qimu and scoop up some good loot, but Mo Xie grabbed him by the arm and hauled him away.

He could only look back with teary puppy eyes, waving goodbye to Yun Qimu. Farewell, my friend. Farewell, my good luck.

Yun Qimu was speechless. This guy was such a drama queen!

“Alright, let’s keep moving up.”

“Yes, Village Chief Yun!”

Ge Miao and the others, still fired up from fighting Meng Ji, had eyes shining with excitement. They shouted and marched up the mountain after Yun Qimu.

Luke led his tribe down the left path, giving serious instructions: “We have to be careful from here on out. No backup means more danger. If you can’t handle it, retreat immediately. And did everyone bring the emergency red potions I told you to prepare?”

“Got them, Chief! We know our lives depend on it.”

“I got up early to buy mine from the potion workshop. No way I’m climbing a mountain without red potions!”

“Haha, I got lucky and pulled two big red potions from a treasure chest earlier—saved me twenty spirit coins!”

The Qiong Whale Tribe chatted and laughed, answering loudly and heading up the mountain full of energy.

From a distance, the mountain range looked bare and snow-covered, but in reality, there were plenty of plants hidden within.

“Village Chief Yun, look! Isn’t that a Danmu fruit tree?” Ge Miao pointed excitedly at a grove of evergreen fruit trees, their branches covered in snow but their blood-red trunks still visible.

“That’s right, those are Danmu fruit trees.” Yun Qimu glanced in the direction he pointed and nodded.

In her previous life, in that full-immersion online game, to keep players from starving to death, the game was full of these Danmu fruit trees—second only to wild veggies and weeds in abundance.

They grew in villages, in the wild, in mountain hollows, even on cliff faces—just in case a player got stuck on a cliff and starved before falling to their death.

There was once a timid player who wrote a post called “My Survival Love Story with Danmu Fruit on a Cliff,” which earned him the “respect” of many players.

He’d been snatched by a vicious eagle and dropped into its nest on a cliff as emergency rations, but the eagle never came back—probably killed by another player. He was terrified of heights and falling, but couldn’t climb up. In the end, he had to call a friend for help and wait for rescue from thousands of miles away.

He waited three days, refusing to die or try to climb out himself, just sat obediently in the nest. Whenever he got hungry, he’d reach over and pick Danmu fruit from a tree growing out of the cliff to eat, until his friend finally pulled him up.

From then on, he understood a universal truth: Danmu fruit—your best friend for survival.

Later, he used his “life-saving fruit” to make Danmu gummies, Danmu rice cakes, Danmu crispy biscuits, and all sorts of delicious snacks.

His cooking skills were so good that his snacks instantly became a hot commodity, his fame spreading throughout the game.

The status of Danmu fruit rose as well. No longer the last-resort, sickly-sweet, dog-wouldn’t-eat-it fruit, it became an essential ingredient for tasty snacks.

If repaying a favor means boosting your benefactor’s reputation, he did a great job.

As Yun Qimu walked, a smile tugged at her lips.

The ten people behind her gawked around like country bumpkins visiting the big city, marveling at every blade of green grass stubbornly growing through the snow.

The higher they climbed, the more plants there were, but most were just weeds—not worth collecting.

The Tengu tribesmen, who’d never seen so much greenery, were still amazed. On their exiled planet, the land was barren and polluted; the only thing they could grow was dirt clods. They’d never seen this much green before.

Suddenly, Yun Qimu, leading the way, stopped abruptly, her face serious as she hurled an axe into a dense thicket.

“Jingjing—!”

A pained cry rang out.

[Ding dong—Congratulations, player! You have discovered the little monster Jingjing. Please defeat and clear it promptly.]

“It’s a monster!” Ge Miao and the others snapped to attention, instantly on guard.

Awa caught Yun Qimu’s signal and immediately armored up, striding forward to take the lead.

He dove into the bushes and started wrestling with the monster called Jingjing.

Whoosh, whoosh—

After a few scuffles, a sturdy, thick-skinned Jingjing beast—looking like a cow with a horse’s tail—burst out of the bushes.

One of its horns had been chopped off, blood streaming down, and it lashed its tail wildly, trying to escape.

Awa chased after it relentlessly, fists clenched.

Yun Qimu narrowed her eyes and ordered, “Help him.”

Before she finished speaking, the other nine leapt into action—water arrows, machetes, and more rained down on the Jingjing.

The health bar above its head began to drop: 970/1000, 960/1000, 950/1000…

Good night~"