Chapter 116: Chapter 116

“If she’s the lord, then was that visit just a scouting trip?”

“Very likely!”

“Hey, Haozi, aren’t you from the same school as Mu Ying, the top-ranked player? You’re always bragging about her being your school’s top student. Are you two close?” someone suddenly asked Shen Hao.

“...” Shen Hao snorted. “She was the star student in the honors class; I was the slacker in the worst class. What do you think?”

The person who’d hit a sore spot fell silent.

Jiu San listened to their conversation and quietly shut his mouth. Mu Ying had told him to keep her identity a secret. All he’d said was “she,” and these people guessed it right away? Too scary. He’d better keep quiet from now on."

"""What's that up ahead?"" someone asked, spotting a dark shape by the roadside in the distance.

""Looks like a house? Why would there be a house out here?""

Everyone shared the same confusion.

As they drew closer, the house—which had been perfectly still—suddenly came alive. Vines writhed and twisted, and even helpfully opened the gate to the yard for them.

""...""

They did need a place to rest for the night, but who would dare enter such a strange place?

No one suggested going in to take a look. The way those dense vines all started moving at once was honestly pretty scary.

As if sensing their hesitation, a few vine tips pulled back the tangle at the gate, revealing a wooden sign. As if afraid they wouldn't see it, the vines even lifted it up right in front of them.

""Did... the lord do this?""

Once they confirmed these bizarre vines weren't some new kind of monster, everyone relaxed.

Jiu San made the call: they'd stay here for the night.

Cautiously, everyone entered the yard. Sure enough, the vines didn't attack them.

Once it was clear the vines were friendly, people grew much bolder, and their attitudes began to shift.

Player A, staring at the vines: ""These vines are so smart—they can even open and close the door by themselves!""

Player B, realizing the value: ""I wonder if seeds for these binding vines are expensive?""

""Wow, they're so cute!"" said Player C, reaching out to touch a vine—only for the vine to flip over and gently pat their head in return.

...

Night fell, and wandering monsters, drawn by the scent of flesh and blood, crept closer.

One was a vicious dog the size of a pig. It eyed the seemingly fragile house before it, baring its fangs, thick drool dripping to the ground.

It crouched, then leapt.

Its agile body soared higher than the fence, and it even caught a glimpse of people sleeping in the yard.

The night watch by the fire spotted the sudden intruder and was about to shout to wake the others. His mouth opened, but before he could make a sound, he closed it again.

The fierce dog's hind legs were suddenly ensnared by the awakened vines, yanking it down with a smack against the fence.

Like poking a hornet's nest, all the vines on the fence sprang into action.

Some coiled around the dog like snakes, others whipped it with little vine lashes, making sharp snapping sounds.

The dog was instantly stunned.

What had looked like a plate of delicious food was now bristling with sharp thorns—a lot less appealing.

It had no intention of dying here.

It struggled desperately to crawl away, and just as it was about to escape the vines' grasp, a blade stabbed into its body.

""..."", the dog's eyes were full of unwillingness, but its life ebbed away quickly and silently.

The night watch, who'd come out to see the vine battle and managed to get in a finishing blow, pulled out his treasured knife and carefully wiped it clean. ""These vines are amazing! With these, who needs to live in a territory? Just build a house somewhere and plant a ring of these around it—wouldn't that be just as safe?""

If Mu Ying knew what he was thinking, she'd surely give a mysterious smile—she wasn't that naive.

The next morning, everyone was shocked to see the corpse of the vicious dog outside the yard. The night watch explained dryly, ""That dog tried to get in last night, but the vines took care of it. I just finished it off.""

""...""

For some reason, they suddenly felt a bit sorry for the dog, and quietly began to take these binding vines much more seriously.

What a perfect home guardian! Quite a few people started thinking about getting some binding vine seeds to plant around their own houses outside the territory.

If the vines allowed themselves to be pulled up instead of just petted, even with the sign's warning, someone would have tried to dig up a couple to take away.

...

""What's this white mist?"" someone asked curiously, reaching out to touch it. ""Feels kind of like a territory shield, but the color's off.""

""Maybe this is the territory? Did we make it?""

""Hey, come look, here's the main gate!"" someone called. ""Wait, why does it say 'Plantation Camp'?""

""Where are you from?""

Zheng Jing stepped out of the thick white mist.

She'd rented farmland right by the camp's edge, so she could see outside.

So many strangers had suddenly shown up, poking and prodding at the camp's shield and bringing several carts with them, so she couldn't help but come out to ask.

But she stayed pressed right up against the shield the whole time—facing so many people, she didn't dare take risks. If anything went wrong, she could just step back to safety.

""Hey, why is your camp's shield opaque? It's not like ours. Is this a private territory or something? Plantation camp—I haven't heard about that on the forums,"" Shen Hao asked with a cheeky grin.

""Huh?"" Zheng Jing was baffled. What kind of question was that? What did the shield have to do with territories? Clearly these people were from somewhere else. ""Did you come along this gravel road? Can you tell me where the other end is?""

""We came from the Linglong Gorge camp. Jiu San said this road leads to Qingshan Village, so we followed it,"" Shen Hao replied, a bit puzzled why she was asking them questions instead of answering theirs.

""Linglong Gorge? Do any of you have someone named..."" Zheng Jing rattled off the names of her friends and family.

""Uh... no idea.""

""Never heard of them.""

""No clue.""