The next day, the thirteenth day into the game, was also the thirteenth day of An Yinong’s differentiation period.
The day after tomorrow he would begin the differentiation of the Zerg, right? An Yinong looked at his fingers that were glowing but no pores were visible, and suddenly became curious about what differentiation was.
These things were originally taught by parents or other elders, but Mai’s parents had passed away too early. He was seventeen years old now and always felt that it was too early, so he had never looked for such clues on the Internet.
So until now he still didn’t know what the differentiation process was. Anyway, the protagonist of the story stayed in the room for fifteen days and was never seen by the original owner.
He walked out of the room again, looking like he had achieved differentiation – his appearance became more refined, three-dimensional, full of temptation, and had a strange fragrance. As for the insect form, no one has ever seen them in insect form.
“How did Qin differentiate before?”
Qin, who was tidying up, paused, understanding his concerns, and reached out to press his hand on his head, rubbing it gently: “Don’t worry, just let it be.”
An Yinong protected his hair with both hands. Although they were close, he didn’t allow him to mess up his hair. “Don’t you need to make any preparations?”
“Maybe I need to prepare an extra set of clothes.”
When it came to Qin, An Yinong was stunned. Why should he prepare an extra set of clothes?
“You’ll know when the time comes.”
Even if it was years after the Zerg split, the marriage contract could be signed at that time. Qin looked at An Yinong’s face, his brows softened, and he smiled without realizing it. An Yinong was so amazed by this rare smile that he temporarily forgot about the little troubles during the differentiation period.
After counting their supplies, they continued to walk north. At the beginning, they could still see many trees and grass, but gradually, the scenery became more and more desolate, and the grass dried up and turned yellow due to lack of water.
An Yinong felt the feeling conveyed to him by the land: “There is a desert ahead.”
There was indeed a desert ahead, but before they completely entered the area, they first encountered an abandoned Zerg site. It seemed to be a small city. At the gate of the city lay a tree that had been chopped down by someone. Lantern-like fruits rolled all over the ground, yellow, orange and red.
Some small rodents were carefully eating the ripe fruits carefully, and a few contestants were picking the fruits that had not fallen from the treetops.
“Hmm?” An Yinong seemed to sense something and walked over there.
The contestants saw An Yinong and the other person, and they were alert: “Ice Blade Qin?”
“What do you want to do?” Seeing An Yinong walking straight towards them, these people jumped up and shouted at him.
An Yinong did not answer, but just walked forward. Every time he took a step forward, the fear on their faces increased. Qin behind him seemed to encourage him, and followed him step by step without saying a word.
The man riding on the tree trunk to pick the fruits broke out in a cold sweat: “Don’t think we won’t resist!”
In fact, they were still dozens of meters apart, and An Yinong wanted to get closer before explaining. But the people on the other side saw their approach as a provocation. These people came down from the tree canopy and gathered behind the thick tree trunks, almost transforming into insect shapes.
A wind came from nowhere, carrying the bitter smell of sand, blowing on An Yinong’s snow-white hair and indifferent face. Feeling the hostility, he lightly swung his fingers, and a black thorn-like spell loomed.
The man hiding behind the tree trunk had trembling lips. For some reason, for a moment, he felt that this young man was more terrifying than the crazy Qin behind him.
“Let’s go.”
The contestants behind the tree trunk spread out with the red fruits in their arms and quickly disappeared into the wilderness. An Yinong didn’t glance at them from the corner of his eyes. He stepped over the thick tree trunk and walked all the way to his destination.
The tiny plant hid in a tall thorny bush, shivering as it hugged itself with its two leaves.
It saw An Yinong and slowly stretched out a leaf. An Yinong also stretched out a finger and caught its leaf: “Are you calling me?”
The plant used a leaf to point to a cluster of nine fruits on its head, with a bluish-purple sheen on the surface.
“Bluebell?” Qin looked at the plant that An Yinong held out from the bushes. This was a very rare plant, with a body full of treasures and a fruit of…
“The little plant said its fruit is useful to you, and it hopes I can take it with me. It bears fruit every year and is very useful.”
An Yinong held the plants and brought them to Qin.
Qin looked at the little plant shaking its leaves to act cute, and fell into deep thought again: Why was this plant, which was fought over by millions of people, like a refugee here?
The audience in the live broadcast room started crying while biting their fists. Bluebell was a strange plant that could slow down the fragmentation of the spiritual realm. It had legs and could run, and was very rare.
“There are so many people in the world who are mentally damaged, why did Qin meet this kind of Taobao expert? Not only is he a Taobao expert, but he can even raise a delicate plant like Bluebell that will die at any time?”
This was a ‘bluebell’, not a roadside berry. It was not a question of money, it was simply impossible for it to appear on the market, and once it appeared, it would be reserved.
“I also want a teammate who can send bluebells.”
“The person upstairs is not a teammate, but a boyfriend~friend~”
“Don’t remind me. It makes me more jealous.”
On the thirteenth day after Qin entered the game, the few remaining fans he had once again “decreased” – they decided to find someone to support Qin.
“Are these useful to you?” An Yinong picked the fruits and put them in Qin’s hands.
Qin looked at the fruits in his hand. They were indeed useful to him. So he didn’t hesitate and swallowed them one by one: he wanted to live a few more days, at least until they left the game. At that time, he would introduce An Yinong to the Explorers and then have a formal date. He would pay anything for it.
The cold fruit started to “burn” as soon as it entered his esophagus. He could even feel the fruit melting in the flames and then releasing more heat. Qin’s aching head was warmed by the heat and seemed to be less painful.
An Yinong touched the leaves of the plant and smiled.
With the bluebell, the two walked into the dilapidated city gate. It was unknown how long this place had been abandoned. There were weeds everywhere and wild animals were poking their heads around.
The houses on both sides of the avenue were flat-roofed made of stone and mud, with small windows. When they walked in, they found that there was only one floor above ground and several caves underground.
Going down the ladder on the first floor, there was often a hall with a stove and a chimney leading to the outside. They also found wooden and metal tools, as well as cloth and fur in the house. Next to the hall were other excavated residences, including bedrooms, storage rooms, workshops, etc. An Yinong even discovered a pit toilet.
“No wonder there’s a foul smell in there.” An Yinong pinched his nose and came out to get some fresh air.
Although the houses here were of different shapes, with one floor above ground and several floors of caves underground, it seemed that the same species, or similar species of insects, lived here.
“Zergs with similar living habits or those that can cooperate with each other will gather together. The site we encountered before was the site of a group of Zerg that adapted to the tropical climate,” Qin said.
This habit had continued to the interstellar world, and there are more than a dozen Zerg countries, and the habits and preferences of the Zerg in each country were not quite the same.
“Wow, I’ve never been to another country. If there’s a chance, can we go there together?”
Qin thought about his limited life span, but he did not show any sorrow, he just smiled and nodded. Regardless of the architectural style, this place looked very much like the border Western Province where he had stayed.
So An Yinong found a house similar to the “county government office” based on his own experience: “Calcinated bricks appeared. Vegetable oil was used for lighting.”
He lit the lamp. This place had been searched, there are many footprints on the ground, and many cloth scrolls were scattered on the ground.
An Yinong guessed that at that time, “paper” had not yet appeared, so the carrier of writing was cloth. He checked these scrolls one by one, but found nothing of use. He didn’t know whether they had not been found yet or had been taken away.
Originally thinking that this time would be the same as the last time, An Yinong turned around and saw the painting on the wall. The artwork showed trees, houses and villages, as well as hard-working Zerg. He leaned over to study it carefully: “Qin, look at this picture, is it the map we are looking for?”
Judging from the arrangement of the houses, this was indeed a map of this place, but he didn’t know which symbol was for the treasure chest.
“The previous landmarks were important objects. In a place like this, the precious thing is water.” An Yinong pointed to a well in the village. This was the only place in the whole map where water could be seen. “I remember we passed by here before.”
An Yinong and his companion came to the well. There were several players nearby, but there were no footprints near the well. No one should have explored this place yet. He put his hand on the ground and carefully tilted it, then pointed at the well. There was no need for them to do anything. The water grass in the well grew wildly, and they lifted this square box to the wellhead.
The players who were curious about this finally understood what they were looking for, a treasure chest. They were eager to move, but fearing the presence of Qin, no one dared to approach.
An Yinong carefully opened it, and inside the box was still a stone tablet covered with hieroglyphics. The fourth slate was in hand.
“Oh——” This kind of cheating really makes the designer sad. An Yinong, who could communicate with plants and animals, was like playing a decryption game with a script.
The game designer in front of the screen looked at An Yinong’s face and said: “The existence of the priest is simply a disregard for the rules.”
After leaving the Zerg ruins, An Yinong and his companions were greeted by an even more desolate desert. An Yinong took the flying device and flew up to see nothing but yellow sand. The two of them zipped up their protective suits, put on their hats, and activated the cooling function, but it was still stuffy and they felt like roasted suckling pigs in a furnace.
“The temperature here is more than ten degrees higher than before?”
There was a scorching sun above his head, flaming wind around him, and endless yellow sand. An Yinong was sweating from the heat, and the sand under his feet was enough to fry a steak to medium-rare.
He used his watch to determine his location: “If the game really forces us to enter the inner layer, then according to our previous experience, we can leave the desert by walking north.”
“Do we have to cross this desert?” His lips were chapped and he didn’t want to speak. “It’s hot… huh?”
A hand appeared with a few ice cubes lying in the palm. An Yinong accepted Qin’s kindness, buried one piece in the soil of Bluebell, gave one piece to Fengchi, and put the rest in his own mouth.
Bluebell was curled up into a ball, and those who didn’t know better would think it was withering. By the time the wind blew, it had lost even the energy to “woof”.
The ice cube slowly melted in the mouth, suppressing the anxiety in the heart. They continued walking, but could not see what plants were on the ground. Occasionally they saw a plant, but it was wilted and dry, as if it had no moisture at all. The desert was so huge that despite walking for a long time, but the sand dunes in the distance were still far away.
“We have to get out of here as soon as possible. Things will become troublesome at night.” An Yinong squinted and looked ahead. His eyes were stung by the reflected light from the sand, his skin was red from being exposed to the sun and he was losing a lot of moisture.
However, Qin could condense the moisture in the air and freeze it into ice crystals, so they could still replenish some water and avoid death from dehydration.
“We need to find a place to pitch our tent before dark.”
“This is all sand. If we set up our tent, it might be buried by the wind and sand overnight.” An Yinong put his hands over his eyes to block out the light, “But there is no suitable place nearby…”
“Rustle, rustle.”
“What’s that sound?” The audience in the live broadcast room first heard a rustling sound, and then saw the sand surface shaking, right under Qin and An Yinong’s feet.
The sand rapidly sunk.
