Chapter 19: Danger

“Just thinking about him, he’s really something. He’s so small, but he eats so much his belly is all round, like a middle-aged man with a beer belly. I used to think it was hilarious!”

Thinking of him and his antics, Mu Xue pouted and said, “Fine, I’ll put up with his stinky mouth. As long as he doesn’t mess with me, I—I’ll let it slide!”

Lu Min looked at Mu Xue with affectionate eyes, then sped up his work cutting the jade stones. “Our Miss Lin is really tolerant today.”

“I think so too!”

Mu Xue puffed up with pride, humming a little tune as she worked. The three of them tirelessly cut the jade stones.

Lu Min said, “Ah Chu, you keep these first.”

Sang Chu glanced at the jade stones Lu Min had cut and said, “There’s plenty of space here. Just put what you’ve cut in the storage space. There’s some water too, put it all together. Once we’re done, we’ll split things up when we leave.”

Lu Min hesitated, “But…”

Mu Xue interrupted, “Oh, just listen to her! Sang Sang, you keep it for now. There’s so much space, it’s not like Sang Sang can follow you around cleaning up after you. We all trust each other, just sort it out when we’re out!”

“Alright, then I’ll go a bit further ahead. Be careful!”

【Ahhhhhh!!!】

A sharp scream made Sang Chu’s whole body jolt. 【Be careful, you scared me to death.】

Sang Chu’s voice was icy cold, not at all like someone who had just been startled.

He looked at the prices in the mall on the interface, feeling indescribably shocked.

【Ah Chu, do you know how valuable this stuff is? Just that little piece you gave me is worth a fortune! You’ve hit the jackpot!】

The jade stone in Sang Chu’s hand almost fell. Mu Xue stopped what she was doing and turned around, only to see Sang Chu’s face frozen in shock.

She hurried over. “Sang Xiao Chu, what’s wrong? Say something!”

“Lu Min, come here, quick!”

Lu Min heard the slight tremor in Mu Xue’s voice, dropped what he was doing, and ran over. “What’s wrong?”

“Look, look at Sang Xiao Chu! What’s going on with her?”

Sang Chu was still in a daze. Back in the monster world, she’d seen a lot, but things would disappear in the blink of an eye, and there was barely anything left.

But now, just this small piece was so valuable. Wasn’t she rich now?

Tu You: 【Ah Chu, Ah Chu, are you there?】

After a long while, Sang Chu finally found her voice: 【I—I’m here!】

【Ah Chu, just give me this little piece. Keep the rest for yourself. This stuff is really useful for cultivation!】

【Okay.】

Sang Chu didn’t think much and agreed. Just this little piece was enough to eat for a long time.

Mu Xue and Lu Min both noticed the dazed look in Sang Chu’s eyes.

“Sang Chu?!”

“Sang Xiao Chu!!!”

Lu Min shouted loudly, and Mu Xue shook Sang Chu’s shoulder hard.

Sang Chu said, “Stop, stop, I’m awake! If you shake me again, I’m going to throw up!”

Mu Xue finally snapped out of it and let out a big sigh. “You scared me to death, girl!”

Lu Min thought of Tu You and asked, “Is this stuff really that valuable?”

Sang Chu looked up at him. Sure enough, smart people catch on fast. “Yeah, I’m suddenly rich and can’t quite handle it.”

“Go to hell! That’s too much. If you scare me like that again, I’ll beat you up!”

Mu Xue raised her fair little fist and pretended to punch Sang Chu’s shoulder, but this time she really did.

“I didn’t expect this stuff to be so valuable either. I’ll dig out as much as I can. Tu You said it can help me improve my abilities. I’ll keep some for myself, and the rest I’ll use for trading!”

Lu Min said, “Sang Chu, I don’t recommend you use it all up.”

“Why not?”

Lu Min explained, “We don’t know how long the apocalypse will last. Maybe it’ll never end, maybe we’ll die before it does. Right now, survival is our only priority. As long as we can stay alive, these things are non-renewable resources. We can’t waste them just to improve our abilities.”

Mu Xue thought for a moment. “That’s true. What if the next world you go to doesn’t have this stuff? What will you do then? You should keep it!”

Lu Min nodded in agreement. For now, Sang Chu was his guarantee for survival. Only by making sure Sang Chu could travel through space safely could he hope to survive. That was the most important thing.

“Alright, I’ll keep it then.”

Lu Min and Mu Xue both nodded, then went back to digging for jade stones.

Tu You finished eating, and after a while, patted his round belly with satisfaction. “It’s all inside now. So much energy!”

“Mm, keep it safe.”

Sang Chu kept cutting jade stones, putting the new ones into the storage space. She had no idea how much time had passed, but the new storage space was soon stuffed full.

Mu Xue felt like her hands and waist were about to break. “I’m exhausted! My god, I can’t cut anymore!”

Lu Min was in better shape. He walked over to where Mu Xue was sprawled out on the terraced rocks, looking at her with a helpless but doting smile.

“Get up, let’s go back to the cave to rest.”

“No way, I’m too tired. Let me lie here for a bit!”

Mu Xue refused to budge.

Suddenly, the whole cave shook!

A sharp, piercing scream made all three of them cover their ears.

Mu Xue, who was physically weaker, was shaken so hard that blood started streaming from her eyes and nose.

“Xiao Xue!”

“Xue!”

Sang Chu and Lu Min rushed to her side.

‘Earthquake!’

The two of them were about to scream, but before they could, the ground started to crack, and falling rocks rained down.

Sang Chu was just about to pull out her weapon when she suddenly saw a pair of crimson snake eyes appear right in front of her.

‘Spinning Blade!’

Without thinking, Sang Chu threw out her spinning blade, energy gathering on the weapon. She glanced at Lu Min, and the two of them wordlessly coordinated—one would distract the giant snake, the other would help Mu Xue escape.

Mu Xue watched as Sang Chu faced off alone against the giant white serpent, and couldn’t help but shout, “Lu Min, go help her, quick!”

Lu Min handed Mu Xue a weapon for self-defense and said, “Take care of yourself!”

With that, he rushed forward. At this moment, Sang Chu was using all her power, but it was still not enough!

“Roar—!”

The giant serpent let out a deafening roar. Tu You, terrified, crouched on Sang Chu’s shoulder and shouted:

“We’re doomed, we’re doomed! All this stuff belongs to that big white flood dragon. It’s relying on these jade stones to transform into a dragon, and now I’ve ruined its plans! What do we do, what do we do? If it can’t transform, it’ll never let me go!”"