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墨書 Inktalez
Feeling that she hadn't escaped far enough and could be caught by Dong Keyong at any moment, Xu Nuan decisively slammed her injured left wrist against the ground. The intense pain jolted her, and her scattered consciousness sharpened in that instant.
She let out a bitter laugh, not even glancing at her left wrist, and continued to crawl through the forest.
Although the trees in the Tundra were short and widely spaced, each one clustered together, making it easy to expose her whereabouts, Xu Nuan crawled as close to the ground as possible. Fortunately, she was wearing dark, nearly forest-green clothing that helped her blend into the surrounding environment. She believed that unless someone was standing high up with binoculars searching intently, it would be difficult for her to be spotted.
Just as Xu Nuan began to feel somewhat relieved, she suddenly realized that she had no way of knowing whether Dong Keyong had binoculars. Therefore, she couldn't allow herself to relax too soon.
With this thought in mind, Xu Nuan began to crawl frantically again. As she had hoped, she had long surpassed her previous limits; both her physical strength and mental state were exhausted. At this moment, she relied solely on a thread of unwillingness and a desire to survive to push herself this far.
As long as she persevered, there would be hope.
However, when a person found themselves in such a dire situation, it was easy to recall past events. For instance, regarding her attitude towards the game, she vaguely remembered when she first encountered the Third Batch of Players; she considered them childish and worthless. Back then, she was fixated on associating only with those who had value. Yet during her time with the Third Batch of Players and Gu Ze, she unknowingly changed. It was rare to maintain goodwill in such an environment; teamwork was indeed crucial. These thoughts gradually seeped into her previous convictions. When she faintly sensed her feelings for Gu Ze, she confronted this attitude head-on and became very angry with Chi Xiaoming for judging someone's worth in the game.
But after this incident, as misunderstandings drove her further away from Gu Ze, her thoughts unconsciously reverted to their original state: only those with value could survive in this game.
Without a doubt, she was currently the most valuable person. Despite being pursued by three groups of people, this only proved her importance—both to the Designers and to those who operated behind the scenes without daring to show themselves. They posed a threat to those who felt hopeless and believed they couldn't overcome all the Survival Games' final hurdles.
For those people, this was their value in still being alive in this game; for her, it was merely a burden. Yet she thought that burdens could also become weapons.
She could finally admit that she was an anomaly in this game. While Designers sought secret passages to survive and ordinary Players aimed to navigate all Survival Games for rewards they could never exhaust in their lifetimes, she alone was an existence that neither money nor life could satisfy.
Her heart had died; important people were gone; money and life lost their meaning. The only things that could fill the void within her were blood and hatred—not just the blood of those behind the scenes but also that of those who wore friendly faces while plotting against her. It wasn't solely hatred born from her parents' murder but also from the destruction of her life, from being judged as an anomaly, and from all the accumulated hatred towards this game.
"Value."
Xu Nuan murmured softly before letting out another low laugh. Hatred and anger surged within her chest, crashing against her other organs while tugging at her veins, infusing deep emotions into her blood—this made her laugh until tears streamed down her face.
The sun had moved westward; the evening glow painted the sky with brilliant colors while soft clouds hung low. Unfortunately, it did nothing to soothe Xu Nuan's increasingly extreme emotions.
In the last moment before losing consciousness again, Gu Ze's face flashed through her mind but quickly faded into darkness.
Xu Nuan did not wake up voluntarily; large raindrops pelted down on her body and wounds with an unpleasant sensation. Although fatigue urged her to slip back into sleep, seeing the misty yet dim light symbolizing daytime compelled her to push herself up with both hands.
The moment she sat up, however, she collapsed back onto the ground.
There was no hunger from lack of food; rainwater soaked into her wounds causing them to worsen and leading to a fever. Her entire body began to heat up while her stomach protested loudly.
Xu Nuan simply sat on the ground, tilting her head back and opening her mouth to drink the rainwater. Although she suspected that this rainwater was filled with harmful substances, she was too desperate to avoid dehydration to care about that now.
The rainwater temporarily refreshed her, washing away some of the dirt from her face. However, the pain from the fine scratches on her skin made her impatiently close her eyes.
After regaining a bit of strength, Xu Nuan finally managed to stand up, using the trees for support as she stumbled forward. A night had passed, and she felt slightly more at ease regarding the extremely dangerous Dong Keyong. She believed that in this Heavy Rain, everyone's visibility would be reduced, making her relatively safer than she had been yesterday.
The Heavy Rain was relentless; her clothes were soaked through, weighing heavily on her and making each step feel like a burden. With heavy steps, Xu Nuan decided to first look for something to eat to recover her strength before heading to the Special Tree and Supply Station. Once she reached the Supply Station, she could replenish her energy and tend to her injuries before moving on to the next challenge. At that moment, she resolved in her mind to make only a brief stop at the Supply Station, quickly gather supplies, and then leave swiftly, planning to find a safe place to rest before continuing alone.
This plan was meant to avoid Gu Ze and his group while also executing her short-term strategy. Having always been in a passive position, Xu Nuan intended to take the initiative this time. Before making her move, she needed good physical condition, mental clarity, and weapons. Once prepared, she would start encountering people outside of Xu Hang's team, luring them out one by one and dealing with them accordingly.
Although killing Zhang Hui had been an accident for her, it had truly prepared her for taking lives. The emptiness inside her would be filled with the blood of those who had pursued her under the guise of necessity.
The Heavy Rain did not last long; after soaking Xu Nuan and waking her up, it soon ceased. The dark clouds were quickly dispersed by the cold wind from the Tundra, revealing the sun's brilliant smile as it bathed the earth in warmth.
With the wind and sunlight working together, the moisture on the ground evaporated rapidly, and soon the Tundra became quite warm.
However, Xu Nuan knew this was merely an illusion caused by her own fever. When she first entered this area, sunlight had been abundant, but the temperature of the Tundra itself was low, and the wind carried an unyielding chill. The state of vegetation here indicated that high temperatures would not occur.
"Damn it."
Xu Nuan wiped away the sweat that had formed from forcing herself to walk quickly. Her damp clothes drew away much of her body heat as they dried. With no additional clothing to keep warm, she could only hug herself tightly against the cold wind as she walked.
In truth, it was difficult for her to determine where the Special Tree might be located; she could only rely on Dong Keyong's previous direction toward the mountains in hopes of discovering those red trees.
However, reality disappointed her. After wandering for some time without finding the Special Tree, fatigue set in again, and her feverish body could no longer withstand it as she collapsed weakly.
As she fell, she noticed some low shrubs bearing blue fruits of an unknown variety. But for someone who hadn't eaten in days like Xu Nuan, even if these fruits were toxic or sour and astringent, she would still shove them into her mouth.
Perhaps due to not having eaten for so long, Xu Nuan found these unknown fruits incredibly delicious and ate as many as she could to help regain some strength.
Once she felt a bit better, Xu Nuan planned to continue on her way. When she discovered that this path was lined with such fruits, a rare smile appeared on her lips as a hint of joy crossed her face.
But soon enough, that joy was replaced by terror.
At that moment, a thought struck her suddenly. If Dong Keyong had companions who had scouted ahead for him, then even if he didn't follow her trail directly to find her but instead went to ambush at the Supply Station first, he would still catch up with her.
Thinking about Dong Keyong's beast-like eyes filled with determination made Xu Nuan tremble uncontrollably. The feeling of having her life controlled by someone else and being unable to escape returned once more.
The fruit she had just eaten seemed to transform into needles, stabbing at her heart, and it felt as if hands were pressing her down into the depths of the sea. As she experienced the pain, she found it hard to breathe. Fear enveloped her, and the immense psychological pressure drained away a portion of the strength and spirit she had painstakingly regained.
"Ugh."
Xu Nuan suddenly bent over, clutching a tree as she began to gag. However, this was merely a manifestation of her psychological stress; in reality, she did not act on it.
"Ha, ha."
Xu Nuan gasped for air, trying to expel the terrifying thoughts from her mind, but she failed.
At that moment, in her fatigued state, she heard a rustling sound coming from a nearby thicket.
She immediately crouched down and covered her mouth, determined not to make any noise. Every nerve in her body tightened at that moment, all her attention converging to provide her with support.
While trying to remain silent, Xu Nuan focused on the source of the noise. Why would someone be hiding in the low bushes without revealing themselves?
Was it an ambush? Or were they fleeing like her?
Xu Nuan was deeply concerned about this point, but soon enough, the other party revealed their intentions through their actions.
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