Chapter 210 | Chapter 211 | Chapter 212
Chapter 210: Dark Forest (1)
Looking at the dozens of plump creatures that had suddenly appeared, all flapping their wings while panting from exhaustion, Su Ning, Lin Lele, and the others were instantly dumbfounded and completely speechless.
Xie Linjia looked a little awkward as she stared at the birds she had summoned with the whistle.
Calling them “birds” was honestly an exaggeration.
“Ground chickens” suited them much better.
Scratching her head, Xie Linjia laughed dryly.
“Hehe… back when I was living alone, I didn’t have anything to eat. Originally these birds were meant for scouting, but I ended up treating them as emergency rations instead, so now the ones that get summoned are always the fattest.”
Only then did Xie Linjia realize that she was currently inside a survival dungeon. The whistle was supposed to summon birds for reconnaissance, but somehow she had instinctively summoned the fattest edible birds instead.
Looking at these chicken-like fat birds, Su Ning had to admit she rather admired Xie Linjia for managing to survive with such an item.
Lin Lele also sighed emotionally.
“Honestly, that’s pretty good. At least you’ll never starve to death.”
Nan Sheng thought the item was quite useful as well.
Xie Linjia didn’t say anything further, though it was obvious these fat birds were no longer suitable for scouting. At most, they could probably test whether any terrifying monsters were lurking nearby.
Su Ning had never expected much from these fat chickens anyway.
The mission was to protect Xie Linjia. Since she had accepted it, she intended to do it properly.
With a wave of her hand, Youyou instantly appeared out of thin air.
The moment Lin Lele saw Youyou, her eyes lit up.
“Wow! We meet again, Youyou!”
Youyou merely glanced at the ghost-haired woman and completely ignored her greeting.
Lin Lele immediately looked heartbroken.
“Nan Sheng, look at Youyou! Did it forget about me already? This ungrateful big-faced cat—has it forgotten all those days when I roasted crabs for it?”
Youyou: Big-faced cat? Are you trying to experience my Terror Spikes personally?
Even Su Ning felt helpless with Lin Lele.
The bigger Youyou grew, the colder and more aloof its personality became. Sometimes it still showed a cute side around Su Ning, but toward everyone else it behaved increasingly coldly.
Of course, this wasn’t really Youyou’s own personality.
It was the natural temperament of the Ghostly White Tiger race.
As powerful assassins, Ghostly White Tigers naturally had to remain calm and emotionless. Otherwise, how could they achieve one-hit kills against enemies?
When Xie Linjia saw Su Ning summon Youyou, her eyes immediately brightened.
“With such a powerful monster pet, my chances of surviving this dungeon are much higher.”
She was deeply envious.
Still, she also understood that envy was meaningless. What mattered was becoming someone like that herself in the future.
“Youyou, scout the surrounding area. If there are enemies, eliminate them immediately.”
Su Ning calmly issued the order.
The moment she finished speaking, the ghost-like Youyou examined the surroundings. Activating its Earthsense talent, it immediately detected creatures secretly watching them nearby.
In the next instant, Youyou’s figure dissolved like smoke, transforming into a shadow and rushing toward the discovered target at incredible speed.
At this moment, the Dark Forest was dim and gloomy in every direction, as though specially designed to be Youyou’s battlefield. Once transformed into a shadow, it could instantly close in on its prey.
Su Ning and the others only heard several miserable screams and an earth-shaking tiger roar echo from the distance.
Soon afterward, they saw Youyou dragging back the corpse of a monster resembling a wild boar.
“A wild boar!”
Lin Lele’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
That was meat!
Not only Lin Lele—even Nan Sheng looked astonished.
Only Su Ning remained calm.
“Let’s find a place to rest first. Since all we need to do is survive for one day, I don’t want us wandering aimlessly through this dangerous forest and asking for trouble.”
Xie Linjia voiced her opinion.
Everyone immediately nodded in agreement.
In the end, the four found an enormous ancient tree and established a temporary camp beneath its massive roots.
The huge wild boar Youyou had hunted also became their dinner supply.
“We agreed already—everything obtained inside the dungeon belongs to you all as the reward for this mission. You don’t need to worry about me.”
Xie Linjia looked at the meat Su Ning handed over and originally wanted to refuse.
“I can just eat these instead.”
As she spoke, she pointed toward the ground chickens she had summoned.
Ground chickens: Has anyone considered our feelings? Is there nobody willing to stand up for us?!
Meanwhile, Lin Lele and Nan Sheng transformed into highly skilled chefs.
“Sister Xie, don’t feel embarrassed. I think Su Ning is just apologizing on Youyou’s behalf.”
Perhaps because Youyou had spent too much time gleefully chasing Meat-Meat Chickens inside the planting space, the moment it saw Xie Linjia’s ground chickens, it pounced on them like a starving tiger, swallowing them one bite at a time.
“This wild boar is huge anyway. There’s absolutely no need to worry about not having enough food!”
Only then did Xie Linjia finally relax.
The four women sat around the campfire, happily eating grilled meat together.
“It’s been so long since I’ve had such a peaceful and relaxing barbecue.”
Nan Sheng looked at the juicy meat skewer in her hand with deep emotion.
“Exactly. In every other survival dungeon, we’re either completing difficult missions or escaping terrifying dangers. Being able to simply sit down and rest feels like a luxury.”
Xie Linjia quietly listened to their complaints with full attention.
She wasn’t afraid.
She was learning.
Preparing herself for the future.
Taking a huge bite of the fragrant meat skewer, Lin Lele turned toward Su Ning.
“Su Ning, this chili sauce of yours is incredible! Even plain grilled meat tastes amazing with it!”
Seeing how much she liked it, Su Ning took out more chili sauce made from Spiritfire Peppers from her storage space.
“If you want some, I can give you a bit.”
“Really? Ahh, I seriously love you! Don’t worry, I won’t take your stuff for free. If I ever find good spiritual plant seeds, I’ll definitely give them all to you.”
Su Ning didn’t actually lack plants at all.
She was simply enjoying this rare moment of peace and relaxation.
Even though they were inside a survival dungeon, with Youyou around, ordinary dangers could easily be handled. And if Youyou couldn’t solve something, she herself would step in.
Most importantly, Su Ning genuinely enjoyed moments like this—eating together with friends and chatting casually.
Nan Sheng smacked her lips while holding the meat skewer.
“The only thing missing is alcohol. If we had drinks too, this would be perfect.”
Lin Lele immediately chimed in,
“I want soda instead! It’s been forever since I’ve had any. Supplies like that disappeared ages ago. It’s heartbreaking… my happy otaku water!”
Xie Linjia also looked nostalgic while listening to them.
“Yeah… I really want to drink soda too.”
Back then, she had strictly controlled her diet to maintain her figure.
Now, even eating the kinds of food she once refused had become a luxury beyond reach.
Su Ning smacked her lips as well.
Now they were making her crave drinks too.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have soda either.
“I don’t have soda, but I do have coconut juice and some other fruits.”
Su Ning took out four Sweet Coconuts and several Ice Fruits obtained from the previous dungeon.
The moment Lin Lele saw them, she became even more excited.
“Seriously, eating and taking all this stuff is making me feel embarrassed now!”
Even someone as thick-skinned as Lin Lele finally felt a little awkward.
Su Ning laughed.
“Embarrassed? Then when you find treasure chests later, just give me more good stuff.”
To someone who loved food, what were magical items compared to delicious meals?
“If I find a treasure chest, Su Ning, you’ll definitely get first pick of everything inside!”
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 211: Dark Forest (2)
After finishing its meal, Youyou lazily lay down on the ground.
Meanwhile, Su Ning and the others continued chatting about various matters.
At first, since Xie Linjia had been unable to enter dungeons for so long, she couldn’t really keep up with the topics Su Ning’s group discussed.
But afterward, when the conversation shifted toward problems in reality, the three of them actually knew less than Xie Linjia did.
“Recently, the extreme cold temperatures have been rising at rocket speed. I saw huge amounts of ice outside the shelter melting at an astonishing rate.”
As Nan Sheng spoke, surgical knives condensed between her fingers. Like a skilled sculptor, she casually used the shell of a Sweet Coconut to practice her cutting techniques.
“Yeah. We managed to survive another deadly natural disaster. I just wonder what the upcoming floods will be like. Hopefully they won’t be too terrifying. I really don’t want to keep hiding in my room like a turtle forever.”
Lin Lele held a comb while gently brushing her long hair.
Maintaining such long hair was troublesome enough already, especially since her ability involved controlling hair growth itself.
Sometimes she genuinely wanted to just shave herself bald and regrow it whenever needed.
Xie Linjia sighed emotionally.
“It seems surviving in the survival dungeons is difficult enough already, but even the disasters in reality are just as hard to deal with. Especially since the dangers in reality go far beyond mere natural disasters.”
“Oh? Sister Xie, you know more about this?”
Lin Lele’s curiosity was instantly ignited.
Even Su Ning became interested.
Xie Linjia slowly rotated the defensive ring in her hand while gazing at the campfire crackling noisily before them.
“You all only recently returned from the dungeons, so you probably don’t know yet. Recently, many shelter leaders have started developing ambitions to establish their own independent powers. After witnessing the rise of Shelter No. 12—now known as Sin City—they also want to become local tyrants like them, ruling over their own territories however they please.”
Lin Lele’s jaw nearly dropped in shock.
“Seriously?! Would Shelter No. 1 really allow that? I heard before that Shelter No. 1 already sent people to deal with former Shelter No. 12, which is now Sin City. But since we entered the dungeon afterward, we never heard what happened next.”
Su Ning truly hadn’t expected that while she herself had been quietly living a leisurely life alone, so many shocking events had been unfolding around her.
Xie Linjia continued:
“While players were entering dungeon worlds, ordinary people like me who gave up player qualifications weren’t just sitting around either. Using special items and weapons left behind by players from the dungeons, many people have also begun taking action.”
As she spoke, she looked toward Su Ning.
Su Ning looked confused.
“Why are you looking at me?”
After hesitating briefly, Xie Linjia decided to continue anyway.
“You probably don’t know this, but while you all were inside the dungeon recently, Shelter No. 6 was attacked.”
“Attacked? By who?!”
Lin Lele became even more anxious than Su Ning and hurriedly asked.
“I heard it was people from Sin City. Their city lord possesses a very strange ability—he can create special chains. Once someone wears one of those chains, they become like puppets controlled by him. Even if they enter a dungeon afterward, the chains still remain effective.”
“Shelter No. 6 was breached by people wearing those chains. Most of Shelter No. 6’s players had entered dungeons at the time, leaving very few capable fighters behind in reality. On top of that, because of earlier rumors about flooding disasters, many people had already left Shelter No. 6 beforehand. In the end, Sin City easily captured it.”
Lin Lele still worried that Su Ning might feel upset hearing this.
But when she turned around and saw Su Ning’s calm expression, she instantly relaxed.
Then again, Shelter No. 6 had expelled Su Ning before.
It was only natural she felt no attachment anymore.
If Lin Lele herself had been in Su Ning’s position, she probably would’ve laughed out loud by now.
Still, she couldn’t help feeling worried about what would happen to the ordinary people left behind in Shelter No. 6 after Sin City took control.
Nan Sheng added:
“I heard Sin City earned its name because the people there are terrifyingly ruthless. They act without any restraint and do whatever they want. The people from Shelter No. 6 are probably doomed.”
Xie Linjia nodded.
“Exactly. And because of that, many people from other shelters now see Sin City as a path forward. They also want to imitate them—forming personal strongholds, ruling alone, carving out territories, and becoming kings themselves.”
Lin Lele angrily exclaimed:
“Right now countless people are still dying from natural disasters, and these people are already dreaming about becoming kings and tyrants? What the hell are they even thinking?!”
After pondering quietly for a moment, Su Ning slowly spoke:
“Isn’t there a saying that troubled times create heroes? The apocalypse has already arrived. This is simply reality now. At first, our country’s order didn’t completely collapse, but after the survival dungeons appeared, people who gained power were bound to change internally.”
“Maybe at the beginning they only wanted peaceful lives. But human hearts are unpredictable. Once tempted by power, who can truly remain unchanged?”
Su Ning’s words caused everyone to fall silent.
Especially Xie Linjia.
She deeply understood what Su Ning meant.
Wasn’t her ex-husband the perfect example?
That was also why she so desperately wanted to become a player again.
Only with power did one gain the right to speak.
The weak would only ever be trampled upon.
Being protected by others would never compare to becoming strong yourself.
“I just hope our shelter won’t end up becoming as chaotic as the others. Hopefully our leader won’t become too ambitious.”
Nan Sheng quietly prayed.
Her words made Su Ning think of Gu Cheng’an.
Wasn’t he the leader of Shelter No. 5?
Su Ning didn’t have a particularly good impression of him and chose not to comment.
Still, she also hoped fewer problems would arise.
She had finally found a relatively peaceful shelter to live in. The last thing she wanted was for it to descend into chaos shortly after she arrived.
Unfortunately, Nan Sheng didn’t realize some things shouldn’t be prayed for.
Because the more one feared something happening, the more likely fate seemed determined to make it happen.
Just as the group continued resting beneath the giant tree, rain suddenly began falling within the Dark Forest.
Youyou disliked rainwater, so Su Ning sent it back into the space.
Since the Dark Forest hadn’t shown any major dangers so far, Su Ning didn’t think keeping Youyou outside was necessary.
The rain wasn’t heavy and only lasted a little over an hour.
But once it stopped, thin mist slowly began rising all around them.
Su Ning immediately became alert.
“Everyone, be careful.”
The others instantly entered combat readiness as well.
Logically speaking, in survival dungeons, the closer one got to the end, the more dangerous things became.
Suddenly—
Several eerie and hollow breathing sounds echoed from all around them.
Su Ning instantly felt goosebumps rise across her skin.
Not because she was afraid.
It was simply an instinctive reaction toward something uncanny and unnatural.
“What is that sound? Ghosts?!”
Even optimistic Lin Lele became frightened again.
Paranormal situations were exactly what she feared most.
The white mist quickly spread over the area.
“Look over there! What’s that?!”
Nan Sheng spotted several human-shaped silhouettes emerging from within the fog and immediately warned everyone to prepare themselves.
Su Ning looked toward the figures stepping out from the thick white mist.
The moment those vague silhouettes finally became visible before her eyes—
Su Ning’s eyes widened in utter disbelief.
At the same time, shocked cries erupted from beside her one after another.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 212: Temptation Souls, Water Moss
The reason Su Ning was so shocked was because two figures had actually emerged from the mist, ghostlike in appearance.
Even Su Ning, who was usually calm and steady as a mountain, couldn’t stop the ripples rising in her heart the moment she saw them.
Those figures were none other than her long-deceased parents.
“How is this possible?!”
Her parents had long since passed away, so how could they possibly appear inside this dungeon and stand before her now?
The only explanation was that the suddenly appearing mist was causing all of this.
Su Ning swept her gaze across them.
As expected, the Scavenger Eye provided the information she wanted.
[Monster: Temptation Soul]
Talent: Soul of Transformation — like a chameleon, it can transform into the person or thing its prey misses most deeply and is emotionally weakest toward.
Skills:
Hypnosis — like a demon whispering into one’s ears, causing the target to fall into deep sleep.
Life Drain — greedily absorbs the target’s life force like a vampire.
Note: One of the most dangerous existences within the Dark Forest. Because it is a soul entity, it is immune to physical attacks.
After reading the information, Su Ning finally understood.
The reason the monster had transformed into her parents was because it could peer into the human heart and become the person its target missed most deeply and was most emotionally vulnerable toward.
“So it transforms into the person someone misses and longs for the most…”
Su Ning muttered softly to herself.
Ever since her parents passed away, she had been forced to mature rapidly.
If she had remained as weak and fragile as before during the apocalypse, she probably would’ve died long ago.
Yet even though she clearly knew the beings before her were monsters, her heart still trembled uncontrollably.
She didn’t know what the monsters looked like in the eyes of the other three, but judging from their expressions, she could guess they were seeing the deepest wounds in their own hearts as well.
Even so, Su Ning absolutely could not allow those monsters to approach them.
These creatures not only possessed hypnotic abilities, they could also drain life force.
They were extremely dangerous.
And because they existed as soul entities immune to physical attacks, they were even harder to deal with.
Su Ning waved her hand, summoning Honghong beside her.
“Honghong, I’ll leave these monsters to you.”
Honghong: Leave it to me!
Against enemies immune to physical attacks, Honghong immediately unleashed its ultimate skill—[Lightning Storm]!
Su Ning quietly stared at the monster wearing the faces of her parents, trying her best to engrave this image into her memory.
Her father and mother smiled gently at her, as though saying:
“You’ve worked hard all this way.”
Su Ning tightly pressed her lips together.
Then Honghong’s attack descended instantly.
Accompanied by sharp screeches, the monsters were annihilated in an instant.
Meanwhile, tears filled Xie Linjia’s eyes.
In her vision, the Temptation Souls had transformed into her parents holding her child in their arms, repeatedly beckoning for her to come over.
For a brief moment, Xie Linjia almost believed her parents and son were truly standing there.
However, because Su Ning stood in front of her, she was unable to move closer.
Then she watched as Su Ning summoned another monster pet, which unleashed thunder and lightning toward the figures before them.
Pain stabbed through her heart, and instinctively she wanted to stop Su Ning.
But she also knew her parents and child were already dead.
What stood before her now could only be illusions.
In the end, she could only turn away, not daring to look again.
Yet even knowing they were fake, when her son appeared before her eyes, she still found herself unable to resist looking.
It had simply been too long since her child had appeared in her dreams.
“My child… are you blaming Mommy too? Blaming me for failing to protect you?”
Tears streamed down Xie Linjia’s face.
The Temptation Souls were completely incapable of resisting Honghong’s Lightning Storm and were directly obliterated by the terrifying electricity.
After everything ended, Su Ning turned around and saw that all three women’s eyes were red.
After a brief pause, she recalled the Temptation Souls’ talent.
“These were all illusions. You all—”
“I know.”
Xie Linjia wiped the corners of her eyes.
She could no longer remain this weak forever.
“I have a request.”
Xie Linjia suddenly spoke up.
Nan Sheng and Lin Lele also looked toward her after calming down emotionally, though both of them still looked somewhat depressed.
Hearing her words, Nan Sheng said softly,
“Go ahead.”
Xie Linjia clenched her fists.
“I want to become stronger. I want to learn how to fight. I don’t want to keep hiding anymore—I want to take the initiative.”
As she spoke, she looked awkwardly toward Su Ning and the others.
She felt embarrassed.
After all, Su Ning’s group had accepted this mission to protect her, yet now she was asking for something that would clearly increase the mission’s difficulty.
“We’re here to protect you anyway. Whatever you want to do, you don’t need my permission.”
Lin Lele immediately added,
“Sister Xie, I can teach you how to fight!”
As she spoke, her hair twisted together like a whip and lashed violently toward the distance.
Nan Sheng lifted her medical case.
“I’m a healer to begin with. It’s not like I should just sit around doing nothing.”
Afterward, the group stopped remaining in one place and began moving around the forest, searching to see if there were any useful resources they could bring back from the dungeon.
Whenever they encountered monsters, Su Ning no longer eliminated them immediately, instead allowing Xie Linjia to practice fighting against them.
And so, Xie Linjia gradually began learning combat.
She understood very clearly that Su Ning’s group could only protect her this one time.
Once she regained player qualifications, she would only be able to rely on herself.
Compared to other players, she had already fallen far behind.
She was nowhere near capable of competing against Liu Jun and Huang Juan.
If she wanted revenge, she would need to work even harder.
With Nan Sheng and Lin Lele watching over Xie Linjia, Su Ning wandered nearby investigating the dungeon’s environment.
What interested her most were the various plants.
Since she possessed the planting space, Su Ning habitually transplanted plants from survival dungeons to increase the biodiversity within her space.
Unfortunately, most of what she found turned out to be useless.
In truth, Su Ning still hoped to discover spiritual plants like the Spiritfire Peppers.
But plants like those were incredibly rare and depended entirely on luck.
Because it had rained earlier, numerous mushrooms had sprouted throughout the area.
Su Ning used the Scavenger Eye to identify which mushrooms were edible and which were poisonous.
“These mushrooms would make an amazing hotpot broth base.”
The moment she thought of hotpot, Su Ning immediately began salivating again.
No matter how often she ate hotpot, she never got tired of it.
“Hm? What’s this?”
While picking mushrooms, Su Ning suddenly discovered a strange green moss-like plant growing around rocks and tree roots.
The plants emitted a faint glow and looked extremely peculiar, instantly attracting her attention.
[Spiritual Plant: Water Moss]
A spiritual plant capable of absorbing enormous amounts of water, known as the “plant water reservoir.”
Su Ning also noticed that the area around the Water Moss was extremely dry.
If it hadn’t just rained earlier, she might’ve doubted whether the rain had happened at all.
“Even though it can’t be eaten, this is definitely something amazing for dealing with humidity!”
It could absorb water and moisture.
The only question was how much water a small patch of it could actually absorb.
Su Ning first transplanted some into her planting space.
While storing them away, she discovered the moss wasn’t only growing around rocks and tree roots—there were also huge patches spreading across tree trunks.
At that moment, cheerful sounds came from Xie Linjia’s direction.
Clearly, she had successfully defeated a monster by herself.
Originally intending to run over and share the good news with Su Ning, she instead found Su Ning busily collecting the glowing green moss.
“Su Ning, why are you collecting this moss?”
Lin Lele asked curiously.
Su Ning smiled faintly.
“Don’t you think something around here feels different?”
Nan Sheng possessed extremely sharp observational skills and immediately noticed how unusually dry the surrounding environment had become.
(End of Chapter)
