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墨書 Inktalez
Basically, no Player enjoys the rain. Each of them bears wounds, ranging from minor scrapes to serious injuries. Rainwater is the enemy of these injuries, and for those already exhausted in body and mind, encountering rain doubles their suffering, making it unbearable.
Looking around, the reeds were obscured by the curtain of rain, and the Cattails had surrendered. The freshwater marshes and Shallow Lake bowed down in the face of this torrential downpour. They were already traversing the Basin, where the ground was soft and damp. Now, with the rain falling, the land became muddy and difficult to navigate, compounded by the occasional appearance of puddles and swamps. This was not a good start for them.
Xu Nuan used to love the rain—the gentle drizzle, checkered umbrellas, cobblestone paths, cozy coffee shops. Rain was a time for romantic encounters and once represented a naive girl's daily longing. Unfortunately, now she found it painfully unbearable. Scrapes and cuts were wounds to her; during her six months in the game, her back had been injured multiple times—some light, some severe. All her ailments seemed to flare up together when it rained.
Wearing a raincoat, she endured the pain in silence as she followed the group. This area was a wetland without tall trees, and the scenery around them was monotonous. They had no place to escape the rain and could only grit their teeth and move forward. With each step, she felt her bones creaking in protest.
There were Six People in their group, which should have made for a lively atmosphere. However, in this downpour, everyone had lost interest in conversation, as the heavy rain made it difficult to see the faces of those beside them. Xu Nuan suddenly recalled a time when she had encountered such heavy rain before—when Tang Jing Shu was still around and before conflicts had erupted among the Third Batch of Players. In a swampy area, she had developed a fever due to an inflamed wound and ended up inadvertently teaming up with Gu Ze. They faced a wolf pack together, fell into a swamp while rescuing Guo Dafu, and ended up getting hurt again. Another vivid memory was on a rocky cliff during heavy rain when Deng Yinyin rolled down a slope. The usually bold Xie Huai risked his life to save Deng Yinyin. Although their relationship did not progress afterward, that rain led her to meet Rao Tingxue and fall off a cliff, recovering her memories and ultimately leading to significant conflict with Gu Ze.
"Huh."
Xu Nuan realized that no matter what she thought about now, her memories always ended with Gu Ze. Perhaps it was because they had grown close over time; that man was so articulate and capable that he unknowingly left a deep mark on her heart.
In this Heavy Rain while exploring her feelings, Xu Nuan found it absurd. Yet emotions often come unbidden and choose moments when one's Rationality is fragile to strike.
Xu Nuan tugged at the raincoat hood that hung down from being soaked by Heavy Rain and discreetly glanced at the tall man ahead of her. The uniform raincoat looked like a child’s outfit on him; while the sleeves fit well enough, the hem was too short—barely reaching above his knees—making his pants muddy and disheveled.
However, Gu Ze didn’t mind; he calmly focused on his footing as he walked ahead. In her impression, Gu Ze handled situations with more composure than she did; he possessed an air of leadership and was more capable than her in various aspects including physical skills. Such a man could enjoy this game freely yet often left her frustrated while also changing his demeanor due to her attitude. She didn’t take pride in this; rather, she felt indebted to him—her debts piling high with no end in sight if left unchecked.
She only had one life; trading it seemed insufficient—was there another way to repay this debt?
To offer herself.
The thought suddenly sprang into Xu Nuan's mind like a startled rabbit retreating from danger as she quickly looked down at the ground in front of her, pretending to focus on walking while missing the sly glint in the eyes of the man she had been watching for so long.
In such moments of wandering thoughts, Xu Nuan felt as if she had come back to life. She quickly reached up to pat her face dampened by raindrops in an attempt to wake herself up—once didn’t work so she tried twice—and only when she felt her brain could function normally did she lower her hand.
Just seconds after lowering her hand, Xu Nuan heard Deng Yinyin's scream.
"Ah!"
Immediately following was He Min's scream, though it contained a few more words than Deng Yinyin's.
"Ah, so many lizards!"
It wasn't until the few people walking ahead called out that Xu Nuan noticed a group of colorful lizards passing by them from about ten meters away.
The sound of so many lizards crawling through the reeds was actually quite loud, but the heavy rain masked it. It wasn't until the swarm of lizards got closer that they realized these creatures were present.
Each lizard was a normal size that they recognized, and their colors varied according to the surrounding plants. Their attack power was low, and they showed no intention of attacking; they simply passed by in droves as if fleeing from something.
Typically, when faced with a large number of less-than-beautiful creatures, women would scream to express their fear. Xu Nuan, who had already missed her chance to scream, moved over to join He Min and the others. The massive swarm of lizards blocked their path, forcing them to stop temporarily.
"I’ve seen ants moving during the rain and rats crossing the street during a plague, but I’ve never seen lizards migrating!"
Everyone expressed their confusion at the scene before them, and watching this spectacle in the rain was not particularly pleasant. Those in a hurry began to complain, starting with Deng Yinyin, who rambled on with several examples. Surprisingly, He Min followed suit.
"Come on, I only know that before an earthquake, snakes and rodents leave their burrows. I've never heard of lizards inexplicably leaving their homes."
Xu Nuan chimed in with a shiver, recalling her unpleasant memories of snakes.
"Maybe they're going home instead of leaving home."
He Min shook her body slightly and turned to Xu Nuan with an exasperated look.
"Nuan, that cold joke isn't funny. But if this rain keeps up, I'm going to feel cold."
"When you can't stop the rain from falling, the solution is just to wear more clothes."
In just a few exchanges, Xu Nuan and He Min fell back into their previous dynamic without any sense of awkwardness.
Deng Yinyin, who had been lamenting the number of lizards, twitched her lips and turned to the two, complaining.
"Have you two strayed off topic?"
Xu Nuan and He Min replied in unison.
"This is called finding joy in hardship."
"As if I haven't experienced anything at all."
Deng Yinyin raised her hand in surrender, her attention returning to the group of lizards. Now it was no longer a lament but a complaint.
"How long are they going to block the way? It's such a waste of our time, and this rain just keeps getting heavier. Who knows when it will stop?"
In truth, the others shared her thoughts but kept them to themselves.
Xu Hang looked around. There were actually many directions they could take; there was no need to be constrained by this one. Moreover, back during the 'Gentle Prairie' stage, he had been reminded by Zhang Xiao on how to quickly identify the location of the Special Tree when entering a new Survival Game. Even if they veered off a bit, they could always turn back later.
Having made his decision, Xu Hang called for everyone to change direction. Just as they took a few steps along the path of the lizards, they heard Gu Ze's exclamation.
"Xie Huai!"
The group hurriedly turned back to find Xie Huai, who had been silent since earlier, collapsed into Gu Ze's arms, an unusual flush on his face. Xu Hang, who was closest, reached over his raincoat to check Xie Huai's arm and found his body burning hot—clearly in the state of having not taken the Antidote earlier.
"What happened? Didn't he drink the Antidote?"
Deng Yinyin, startled, felt a rare sense of worry cross her face. She no longer ignored Xie Huai as she had before.
"Since it's raining and our efficiency is low anyway, why don't we help him over to that Dawn Redwood and rest there?"
Xu Nuan suggested after looking around.
At this point, they had no better options. Xu Hang was driving Xie Huai, while Gu Ze assisted him. They hadn't gone far when they had to change direction and take a brief shelter under a few low Dawn Redwoods.
The sky showed no signs of clearing, and the rain poured down fiercely, soaking the reeds near the shallow waters. The wetland, already abundant with water, was now even more flooded.
The group gathered under the Dawn Redwood to check on Xie Huai's condition. He had no fever, but his body was burning hot, and he was unconscious. His face was pale with a hint of redness, and his lips were pale rather than dark purple, making it hard to tell if he was poisoned. However, they couldn't find any other explanation. After drinking the Antidote earlier, Xie Huai had briefly recovered but then collapsed again. They dared not administer more Antidote.
Unable to move forward, they huddled together in the rain to analyze Xie Huai's illness. They were unsure what had happened to him and could only trace back to the source of the problem. This brought them back to their initial analysis: Xie Huai had been injured twice in the previous encounter and had come into contact with Chi Xiaoming's group at the Supply Station. The key point was that Deng Yinyin had also been knocked out by Lin Fang, and He Min had been injected with Muscle Relaxant just like Xie Huai. It made no sense that only Xie Huai was affected while the two women were fine. Furthermore, they had all interacted with Chi Xiaoming's group at the Supply Station; their contact had been purely verbal without any physical interaction. At that time, Deng Yinyin had been with Xie Huai and noticed nothing unusual. This left only one possibility: Xie Huai had been scratched by Yu Yu.
"That man looks polite and cultured, but he's full of bad ideas," Xu Hang remarked for the first time with such a poor evaluation.
"Since he could plan to steal the statue, it wouldn't be surprising if he smeared something on his knife just in case," He Min spoke up before anyone else could share their thoughts.
"However, it's also possible that Xie Huai encountered some strange plants while resting. Most plants in the Game Base have been modified; it's normal for them to be toxic. If we don't broaden our thinking a bit, we might end up going in the wrong direction."
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