Chapter 29: Long-lasting Friendship
Zhao Siyu looked down at the watch on her wrist.
The time now was 1 a.m. in the morning. There were less than 11 hours before the end of the game, and visibility was poor since it was dark at night. Even if they used a flame as a light source, their efficiency wouldn’t increase much.
“There are at most 6 hours from dawn to noon. How is it possible to find three mushrooms in 6 hours?” Xu Jing cursed, “Silver Trojan is doing this on purpose!”
“There’s no point complaining.” Xu Qingshan got up and started to prepare torches. They would have to search through the night.
“Senior!”
Zhen Yu also woke up from the commotion. She was embarrassed when she noticed that she had drooled all over Sun Yuan’s sleeve when she fell asleep on his shoulder.
“Go back to sleep.”
Sun Yuan added two pieces of firewood to the campfire.
“Oh!”
She acknowledged and celebrated internally when she saw how hectic Xu Qingshan’s side was.
This was the advantage of hugging senior’s thigh!
Senior will carry me all the way.
Xu Jing had been nervous and scared of dying if she couldn’t complete the current task of collecting three honeydew mushrooms. When she heard how Sun Yuan gently coaxed Zhen Yu back to sleep, she couldn’t control her dissatisfaction and grievances anymore.
“Wu wu wu, why do I have to suffer like this?” Xu Jing cried as she complained.
Besides Zhao Siyu, the other girls burst out in tears. Although her eyes reddened and she felt wronged, she held back and kept silent with her lips pursed.
“Here!”
Xu Qingshan handed the torch over to Xu Jing.
Instead of accepting the torch, she slapped it away and ran towards Sun Yuan, “Sun Yuan, please, won’t you give me three mushrooms? I-I’ll give you tons of money!”
She initially wanted to volunteer herself as his girlfriend but lost confidence when she compared herself to Zhen Yu.
“I’m not short on money!” Sun Yuan shook his head.
“My dad is from the Housing and Urban-rural Development Bureau. I’ll get him to arrange a job for you there when you graduate!” She placed a larger bargaining chip on the table.
But Sun Yuan still shook his head.
“Then what do you want? Tell me!” Xu Jing was irritated, “Do you have any sympathy? We’ll all die without those mushrooms!”
“Your companions don’t have the mushrooms either.” Sun Yuan pointed at Xu Qingshan and the rest.
The stunned Xu Jing looked back but held back from commenting that they weren’t her problem. She wasn’t stupid. She understood that she would be worse off without them.
“It’s no use begging him. Senior gathered the honeydew mushrooms for his friends!” Zhen Yu interjected.
“Xu Jing, we’re leaving.” Zhao Siyu shouted and left.
Xu Qingshan quickly followed.
Looking back, Xu Jing felt that Sun Yuan had a heart of stone and was immediately filled with resentment.
Just wait and see; I’ll let you experience the pain I’ve been through when I’m better than you.
She then ran off chasing after Zhao Siyu.
“Senior, this game is too cruel.” Zhen Yu clutched onto Sun Yuan’s arm with sadness.
There would definitely be casualties among the six of them.
“You’re right.” He sighed and took out three mushrooms from his bag, “Look after the place.”
“Got it!” Zhen Yu nodded.
…
The mushroom forest was a harsh environment. Not even the torch could dispel the dread and loneliness lingering in the air.
It was like being in a horror film.
Boom!
Xu Qingshan triggered an explosive mushroom with a branch, throwing soil into the air.
“Ptooey!” Xu Jing spat out the dirt that flew into her mouth and asked with a look of despair, “How long are we going to search?”
No one was in the mood to care about her as they concentrated on searching for the honeydew mushrooms.
“Xu Qingshan, didn’t you say you were good at fighting?” Xu Jing rolled her eyes, “Why don’t we go rob Sun Yuan of his mushrooms?”
Swish!
Her words shocked everyone.
Although the thought crossed their mind, they kept it to themselves; they felt that it was too inhumane. But now, Xu Jing had brought up the topic.
“We’ll die if we can’t gather the mushrooms!” Xu Jing had an urge to vomit whenever she thought back to the dead bodies she saw during the day. “We’ve only just reached our twenties and have yet to experience everything in life!”
“Qingshan, the six of us can easily overpower him!” She tried to convince him, “Even if you don’t care about us, you should still think about Siyu. Can you bear to see her die?”
“Shut up!” Qingshan roared.
“Huh?” Xu Jing was startled.
“I’m disgusted with you. How can you think of robbing others when you can’t find it yourself? Are you telling me that you are the only one who wants to live?” Xu Qingshan questioned.
“Are you right in the head? Who cares about ethics when we’re already in such a dire situation? It’s the law of the jungle now; the strong will prey on the weak!” Xu Jing snapped, “Sun Yuan only has himself to blame if he cannot beat us!”
“Scram, I don’t want you in my sight!” Xu Qingshan shouted angrily.
“You…” Seeing that he couldn’t be persuaded, she turned to Zhao Siyu instead, “Siyu, what about you?”
“Xu Jing, there are some things that we can and cannot do. We need to know where to draw the line. If I were to live, I want to do so uprightly. And if I were to die, I’ll do so with a clear conscience.” Zhao Siyu felt a weight off her shoulders and continued, “Qingshan, continue searching for the mushrooms.”
“Right!”
A smile could be seen on Xu Qingshan’s face.
I expect nothing less from my goddess.
“You’re all idiots!” Xu Jing scolded. The two of them were too stiff.
“Careful!”
Xu Qingshan abruptly took a step forward, covering Zhao Siyu with his body, and held out the torch to illuminate his surroundings.
Sun Yuan could be seen standing beside a huge mushroom as the area brightened.
“Uh!”
Xu Qingshan felt awkward meeting Sun Yuan when Xu Jing had just suggested attacking him and stealing his mushrooms.
“Despite knowing you for a short time, I really appreciate your honest personality. Qingshan, let’s have a meal together when we get out of here.”
The corner of Sun Yuan’s mouth lifted into a smile as he walked toward Xu Qingshan and handed him three honeydew mushrooms, “Here, it’s for you.”
Sun Yuan saw potential in him and thought that he could be developed into a team member in the future. Hence, he came to give him the mushrooms to get through the current mission. It was beyond his expectation to stumble upon such a scene.
Xu Qingshan was a sincere man.
“T-This is too precious!” He didn’t accept the gift.
Ever since young, his mother had taught him not to owe others money, let alone favors.
“Just keep it. I can easily find more.” Sun Yuan pushed the honeydew mushrooms into Xu Qingshan’s hand and continued, “Did you see the pig I had? It’s very good at sniffing out mushrooms!”
Xu Qingshan was taken aback, but Zhao Siyu was enlightened. Her eyes shone with realization.
No wonder Sun Yuan had so many mushrooms!
I understand now.
Darn it!
To think I thought of myself as a quick-witted person, how could I have missed the hints given.
“If you really can’t find any mushrooms, you can try your luck at a lake in the morning. You might catch a little fragrant pig as I did.” Sun Yuan patted Xu Qingshan’s shoulders, “All right, that’s all I have to say. Take care of yourself!”
“Sun Yuan…”
Although Xu Qingshan wanted to refuse the mushrooms, he didn’t want to expose Zhao Siyu to more danger.
“Just accept them. Sun Yuan doesn’t seem like a hypocritical person. You can repay him later,” Zhao Siyu suggested.
If she was being honest, she was despondent.
She thought herself pretty, but her beauty failed to attract Sun Yuan’s attention.
“A-Alright.”
Xu Qingshan felt that the mushrooms were hot potatoes in his hands.
“He’s so smart!”
Zhao Caiwei pressed her injured arm against her chest and watched as Sun Yuan’s shadow melded into the darkness. She was disappointed.
Why didn’t they meet each other when the game started?
She wouldn’t be troubled as she was otherwise.
“Yes!” Xu Qingshan nodded hurriedly. He only knew how to search for the mushrooms like a fool.
“You should be careful of your butt, Xu Qingshan. That Sun Yuan might be gay. You better not let him catch you when you pick up the soap.”
Xu Jing felt that Sun Yuan was either mental or gay for him to give Xu Qingshan the mushrooms instead of a beauty like Zhao Siyu.
What a waste.
“Please leave!” Xu Qingshan shooed her away.
After receiving the mushrooms, he only had respect for Sun Yuan and couldn’t stand Xu Jing insulting him.
…
“You gave Xu Qingshan the mushrooms?” Zhen Yu curiously asked when Sun Yuan got back.
“Nah, I gave them to Zhao Siyu!”
Sun Yuan sat down.
“Sigh, since when was my senior Sun such a shallow person?” Zhen Yu pouted, “You didn’t even care about the gorgeous Shen Jingran.”
“You should rest up while you can!”
Sun Yuan wasn’t interested in continuing the conversation.
The silence lasted through the night.
Sun Yuan woke Zhen Yu when dawn arrived, “Have some food. We’re leaving soon.”
There were still leftovers of the roasted pheasant from the day before. Because there wasn’t any salt as seasonings, it tasted bland.
“Okay!”
Zhen Yu stretched and quickly got up when she saw that Sun Yuan was extinguishing the fire. She wanted to help but was frightened by the sudden call.
“Sun Yuan!”
Cui Xueren teared up, and his voice got a pitch higher with his excitement.
He had a pitiful night.
His plan to make use of the volunteer group to search for the honeydew mushrooms was foiled by Silver Trojan when it added a new rule in the middle of the night.
No one could sit still. Everyone started to search frantically.
The group fractured, and disputes were a common sight. Cui Xueren couldn’t keep the students under control when their life was on the line. With death inching closer as time ticked by, he had no choice but to abandon the group and come searching for Sun Yuan alone.
As a school leader, Cui Xueren was used to a pampered lifestyle and had never done anything alone at night. The darkness of the night, coupled with the forest’s complex terrain caused him to lose his way.
He struggled the whole night before finally making out the silhouette of the tallest mushroom in the vicinity when dawn broke.
“Sun Yuan, I-I’m here to purchase mushrooms!”
Although Cui Xueren was worried that his urgency would be taken advantage of by Sun Yuan to jack up the price, he couldn’t calm down.
How could he calm down when it was only roughly 6 hours away from noon?
He would die if he didn’t have the mushrooms.
~~~
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