Chapter 17 Foreboding

Mingmei's worries were definitely not unfounded; her uncle had a "record," okay?

Hearing what Mingmei said, Mu Chen lowered his head and chuckled softly. Then, looking at the scenery bisected by the huge rocky mountain, he lowered his head, gazing at the land beneath his feet, his eyes flickering, seemingly deep in thought.

"Alright, time to go down the mountain. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll catch the sunrise."

No one knew about their little nighttime climb. Although he told Lu Gui he was going to find Mingmei when he left, for the two of them to be out all night, anyone would be worried, right?

Sure enough, as soon as they descended, they saw Lu Gui standing before them with a torch in hand, his face filled with resentment, looking like a forsaken wife waiting for her husband to return home after many years (?).

This inevitably made Mingmei and Mu Chen feel a little guilty.

"Now I understand why you pushed me to be the temporary 'village chief.'"

Lu Gui's eyes were deep as he stared at the two of them, then at their tightly clasped hands. He let out a muffled grunt. "I'm going to be driven to an early grave by you two!"

Lu Gui couldn't imagine the scene if Mu Chen became the decision-maker, and everyone turned around to ask him something, only to find him missing half the time.

"It's fine. Since I've done it, I won't do anything without being sure."

Mu Chen wasn't embarrassed at all. On the contrary, his attitude made Lu Gui laugh with exasperation. Lu Gui didn't look at him, turning instead to Mingmei, who had already hidden half her body behind Mu Chen out of guilt. He said, "And you, as the priestess, what if something happened?"

"Can't you wish me well for once?"

Being lectured again for the same reason, Mingmei's tone was subdued, but she also seriously vowed that she wouldn't do it again.

"Actually... I'm quite skilled. Don't worry too much."

"Not worry? What skills do you have if you encounter a wild beast? Not even nimble feet!"

Mingmei: "..."

She couldn't respond to that.

Lu Gui reminded them that the game world they were in wasn't just any ordinary desolate star.

And so, Lu Gui continued to nag them all the way back to the cave. The two of them didn't say a word, humbly accepting it, after all, Lu Gui meant well.

The fact that he had spent most of the night outside waiting for them meant they wouldn't be so foolish as to dislike what he did.

However, Lu Gui's nagging really stunned Mingmei.

"Did you notice... Lu Gui isn't that old, but he's so talkative?"

The next day, Mingmei woke up naturally and followed Mu Chen and the others back to the cabin to clean it up.

Because the window was torn down, and the doors and windows weren't closed tightly when they ran, the fat bird took off, sweeping dust, weeds, and dry snow into the house. Upon entering, you'd think the place had been robbed!

While cleaning, Mingmei watched Lu Gui chasing after Lu Xiaoyao, nagging her for not sweeping cleanly and telling her to be more efficient.

Saying that small things reflect big things, what would happen if Lu Xiaoyao fought with wild beasts in the future if she was so lazy?

He chased after her, nagging her so much that Lu Xiaoyao rolled her eyes. Mingmei watched, laughing non-stop, and told Mu Chen about it.

"He just loves to worry."

Despite Lu Gui's smiling face when he first arrived, Mu Chen clearly saw the alienation in his eyes.

Later, after spending more time together, he realized that this person was extremely good to his own people. And being too good often leads to worrying, and when you worry, you can't help but talk.

Sometimes Mu Chen missed the way Lu Gui initially didn't bother with him, acting all weird and sarcastic.

Ah... is this considered remembering the hardships of the past?

While Lu Xiaoyao was being nagged by her older brother, Julian and his roommates were re-installing the window. This time, they weren't as particular as they were during the initial installation.

The translucent resin used to come from the dense forest at the foot of the mountain, but with the heavy snow sealing it off, that was impossible now. Julian simply used thin branches to cover the large hole in the wall and covered it with a windproof animal hide.

During the day, the animal hide would be lifted to let in some light and air, and it would be put back down at night.

Winter was a time for rest and recuperation, and Mingmei and the others were no exception. Aside from the incident with the fat bird, nothing happened during the entire winter that caused them any fear.

In the blink of an eye, the season of melting ice and snow and the revival of all things arrived. Because they still remembered the beast tide at the beginning of spring in the apocalypse instance, they naturally understood the dangers of spring here. They were several times more vigilant when going down the mountain to hunt.

"With the arrival of spring, those animals that have been hungry all winter are really... We hid in that tree today, you didn't see it, but a huge wild beast was surrounded and bitten to death by dozens of hyena-like animals."

"Oh, really? Those hyenas are that fierce?"

"You bet! Later, even carnivorous wild beasts that wanted to get a piece of the action were scared away by their bared teeth!"

Speaking of those beasts that were probably the ancestors of hyenas, the well-fed and well-drinked crowd gathered in front of the village's newly built small square, listening to Zhen Po's vivid descriptions.

"Then isn't it very dangerous for you to go down the mountain to hunt?"

Mingmei and the other players who mainly gathered wild fruits and vegetables hadn't been down the mountain recently. Listening to Zhen Po's description, they felt that the mountains had become dangerous after just one winter.

"It's okay, but it just feels like something's not right..."

Zhen Po scratched his head, pondering the things that had happened recently while hunting down the mountain. It was Zhen Hu who spoke first, "It feels like there are fewer animals recently. Especially the herbivorous small animals."

These animals were also their main hunting targets.

"Hmm?"

"Now that you mention it, it seems like it's true. There are mostly large animals, mostly wild beasts, and the rest are ferocious carnivores."

"Huh? Could it be that those gentle little animals froze to death?"

Lu Xiaoyao said, but was glared at by her brother and shut her mouth.

"No wonder those wild beasts are targeting those huge wild beasts."

If what Zhen Hu discovered was indeed the case, then there really was a problem.

"If that's the case, it's only a matter of time before we're targeted, after all, compared to wild beasts, we seem easier to bully, don't we?"

When Mingmei said this, she had a smile on her face, but everyone could see that it was a bitter smile. If that was really the case, they were really going to be out of luck.

Bad things always come true, the next day, Mu Chen and the others were attacked by a small group of hyenas while hunting down the mountain.

Fortunately, there weren't dozens of them like they had seen last time, but even after dealing with those dozen or so hyenas, Mu Chen and the others returned with some injuries that night.

While helping Mu Chen apply medicine that night, Mingmei frowned and didn't say a word, all she heard was Lu Xiaoyao's voice.

She said almost everything that Mingmei wanted to say to curse the hyenas.

"Those doggone things! They not only steal our food, but they also want to eat us? Bah! They're not human!"

"Yeah, they're so ferocious, they'll eat anything, it's crazy, right?"

Mu Ning also felt that what Lu Xiaoyao said was right. Before winter came, although the mountains were dangerous, there were still animals they could hunt, but after not going down the mountain for a winter, those animals were gone?

Looking at those hyenas today, they looked like they hadn't eaten in days, it was getting stranger and stranger!