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墨書 Inktalez
As He Min's words fell, the others turned to her, hesitant yet unsure of what to think.
He Min maintained a calm expression, seemingly unfazed by her indirect defense of Yu Yu. This made the others believe that perhaps she was simply encouraging them to broaden their perspectives.
"But," Deng Yinyin interjected, "whether it's Yu Yu poisoning the short knife or Xie Huai accidentally coming into contact with a poisonous plant, he is still poisoned. If that's the case, the Antidote should be effective. So what's going on with him now?"
"That's true," Xu Nuan considered another possibility. "But if multiple poisons are mixed together, wouldn't the effectiveness of the Antidote be diminished?"
"That's a possibility," Gu Ze wiped the rainwater from his face. "If that's the case, we really can't just give him any medicine."
"But if we leave him like this, his body won't hold up much longer. What are we going to do?"
He Min frowned as she looked at Xie Huai under the tree, clearly worried.
Xu Nuan and the others fell silent, all thinking of one person: Tang Jingshu. It was Tang Jingshu's repeated injuries, along with inflammation and fever, that had ultimately left her too weak to escape.
Could Xie Huai be the next Tang Jingshu?
As this thought crossed their minds, they momentarily forgot their previous conflicts. In the face of a companion's life and death, past betrayals faded away.
At that moment, Heavy Rain continued to pour down relentlessly. Everywhere they looked was shrouded in Mist, and a sudden gust of wind sent rain crashing against them. With no suitable place to seek shelter, they could only endure the elements.
After a moment of silence, Xu Hang gritted his teeth.
"Alright, let's take some emergency measures. Once Xie Huai regains some consciousness, we'll ask him if he has been scratched by any divination trees. If not, we need to find Yu Yu; he should know how to counteract the poison he used."
Xu Nuan believed this was the most comprehensive approach for now, quickly nodding in agreement. When her gaze inadvertently fell on He Min, she noticed that He Min seemed to hesitate, only to quickly regain her composure.
Amin appeared to be acting a bit strangely. Xu Nuan narrowed her eyes, looking past He Min to meet Gu Ze's gaze, which soon shifted away from hers and landed on He Min.
Had Gu Ze also noticed something off about He Min?
Xu Nuan suddenly felt a wave of irritation, exacerbated by the relentless rain.
In this downpour, there was no place for them to sit; several women stood apart, watching Gu Ze and Xu Hang tend to the unconscious Xie Huai. From their perspective, the commotion caused by Gu Ze and Xu Hang was significant, yet Xie Huai remained unresponsive. Didn't this indicate that the situation was dire?
Once the two had finished their tasks, Xie Huai still lay unconscious. Xu Hang could only take out a moisture-proof mat and place it over Xie Huai, propping him against a tree. The others continued to stand there, staring at the rain.
They found themselves in a predicament; they wanted to move forward but feared that Xie Huai might not hold on or might wake up to tell them he had not interacted with any strange trees. They needed to return to find Yu Yu and the others. If they did not advance, the heavy rain would further agitate them, intensifying their desire to push through this challenge. This conflicting emotion intertwined within each of them, mirroring the ebb and flow of the rain.
Although protected by raincoats, very little water seeped into their clothes, Xu Nuan still felt icy all over; her bones and flesh were clamoring for warmth. The damp wind rushed in from all directions, seeping into her raincoat and creeping through the seams of her clothing, causing her to shiver repeatedly.
Xu Nuan could endure this physical discomfort; however, every time she turned back to see Xie Huai still asleep, her irritation grew—irritation at her own helplessness. The few of them had initially planned to wake Xie Huai but feared that doing so might worsen his condition.
They did not want to experience once more how fragile life could be; in an instant of hesitation, a life could vanish.
Looking around at the others, she found their states were similar to hers. However, Xu Hang and Gu Ze were speaking in low tones about something she couldn't quite catch due to the sound of rain hitting the ground. Deng Yinyin was making an effort to join their conversation; her face showed little impatience as if simply engaging with someone in any environment was enough for her.
This observation only deepened Xu Nuan's gloom. She turned her head toward He Min, who stood several meters away lost in thought. He Min wore a deep purple Tactical Jacket with a matching purple raincoat draped over it; standing in the rain at that moment gave her an air of elegance.
Thinking back, Xu Nuan recalled that He Min had always lived quite elegantly—she was meticulous about everything. Even after entering the game and enjoying Yu Hao's affection, she maintained a graceful demeanor. However, after Yu Hao's passing, she seemed to have let go of some of that refinement. Yet now, perhaps it was just her impression, but Xu Nuan felt that He Min had returned to living with a certain elegance—a quality radiating from within.
She suddenly recalled the three interruptions from He Min earlier. After hesitating for a moment, she lifted her foot and walked towards He Min. Once she stood still, she softened her voice and asked,
"What are you thinking about so intently?"
"Hmm?"
He Min first made an unintelligible sound before looking up at Xu Nuan, a hint of surprise in her eyes.
"Nuan, you startled me by coming over so quietly."
Xu Nuan did not miss the fleeting panic that flashed in He Min's eyes. She felt a bit confused and unsure how to probe further.
"With the rain so loud, it's quite a skill to be able to think so deeply."
"Are you mocking me, Nuan?"
He Min quickly regained her composed expression, appropriately showing her concern.
"I was thinking about what we should do if Xie Huai's condition continues to drag on like this and the heavy rain doesn't stop. Time will cruelly pass, and our strength and health will fade away. I'm a bit worried."
Xu Nuan slightly curled her lips but suddenly realized something and pressed her lips together.
"If Xie Huai hasn't woken up before nightfall, Xu Hang will likely split the team into two groups—one to look for Yu Yu and the other to search for the Special Tree."
Xu Nuan kept an eye on He Min's expression, but it remained unchanged, showing no signs of distress.
"But how are we supposed to gather together like this?"
He Min tapped his head through the raincoat.
"Oh, I almost forgot that you have the Tail Ring for positioning. In that case, gathering becomes a simple task. Nuan, you're really smart."
Xu Nuan shook her head. "I just guessed that Xu Hang would make such a decision, but I didn't want everyone to separate so soon. There are too many unknowns in this stage."
He Min lightly avoided the topic. "Nuan, you've really changed; you wouldn't have said something like that before."
Noticing that He Min always seemed to intentionally avoid certain topics, Xu Nuan frowned. She glanced back at the tightly closed eyes of Xie Huai, pondered for a moment, and decided to speak up.
Before she could, the voice of the System rang out clearly amidst the Heavy Rain, making one marvel at the quality of the Game Base's monitoring equipment.
"Attention Players, the mission for this stage is now announced. Among the Players in this stage, one person has received a secret mission. The other Players must identify this person and input their name at the verification station to reveal the Special Tree and Supply Station."
"This rain will last for three days. Each time a wrong name is entered, an additional day will be added to the rain. Each team only has one chance to input a name. Teams are grouped according to their entry batch into this stage, and only the first person from each group who enters this stage is eligible to input a name. Please do not harbor any false hopes; monitoring is everywhere in this Game Base, and penalties are also omnipresent. You wouldn't want to experience the consequences of multiple name inputs."
As the System's voice faded away, the ground suddenly began to shake. With the tremors came numerous verification stations appearing before everyone, roughly every twenty meters apart. However, no matter how many verification stations there were, each team only had one opportunity.
"Wait!"
Xu Nuan suddenly turned around in panic to look at Xu Hang and the others.
"We entered this stage in the same batch as Chi Xiaoming and his group, right? That means we only have one chance to input a name for all ten of us!"
Several people clearly realized this, and Deng Yinyin suddenly exclaimed.
"I remember, it was Chi Xiaoming who went first. Among all of us, he is the only one qualified to input a name?"
"Ah! This is not good!"
He Min, standing next to Xu Nuan, also sighed.
Indeed, it was not good. Xu Nuan unconsciously bit her hand as she quickly analyzed their current predicament. First of all, they had no idea how many Players were in this round, making it difficult to identify who among them was the Secret Missioner. Secondly, they had no knowledge of what the so-called secret mission entailed. If it involved someone being able to clear multiple levels alone, that person might be tempted to use up all the opportunities for the other teams. Furthermore, their group of six did not have the qualification to input names, while Chi Xiaoming was the only one who did. They had no idea how far apart their two teams were. Of course, even if the six of them managed to join forces with Chi Xiaoming's four, there was no guarantee that Chi Xiaoming would heed their advice and cautiously input names. They had no initiative in this situation, which felt extremely uncomfortable. Additionally, even if Chi Xiaoming respected their opinions, there was no assurance that the Secret Missioner wasn’t in another team. In such a vast Game Base, getting to know and probe all the Players was a daunting task. Ultimately, they kept returning to the first point.
After analyzing everything in her mind, Xu Nuan found herself somewhat unsteady.
"I thought the previous mission was the hardest of all; now I realize there is no such thing as hard—only harder."
Although constantly being tasked with completing missions involving Special Trees and Supply Stations felt rather cliché, they could not deny that it was the most enticing challenge. They would rather face various dangerous creatures than participate in a mission that tested human nature and involved a gamble with the System and other Players. However, as Players, they had no choice.
Regardless of whether they accepted it or not, this game had already begun.
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