Chapter 79
Chapter 79
The crow was forced into Sun Xingye’s mouth, its charred flesh scraping across his teeth. He coughed violently, trying to expel the corpse.
But the harder he coughed, the more blood he swallowed.
Sun Xingye convulsed. Just when he thought Xiao Huai was about to strangle him to death…
Xiao Huai loosened his grip and released him.
Sun Xingye fell to his knees and coughed violently, snot and tears covering his face. He looked utterly wretched.
No one around them dared speak. Ji Yelin instinctively looked at Cheng Shan.
He was Sun Xingye’s companion and had done most of the work. Without him, the crows would never have attacked.
Cheng Shan’s face was ashen. He had already prepared himself to be tortured by Xiao Huai next.
Then the unexpected happened.
Xiao Huai tossed him three pieces of bread. “Divide these among yourselves. The moon will be out soon, so get some rest.”
Three pieces of bread were not much, but in their current circumstances, even a single cracker was unimaginably precious.
Cheng Shan’s eyes widened in disbelief. Xiao Huai had already turned away.
The others told him to stop looking. The fact that the NPC had done nothing to him was already an incredible stroke of luck. He must not provoke him again.
But Cheng Shan could not contain himself. He shouted, “A-Zhuolang, why didn’t you kill me?”
At first, Xiao Huai did not react. He took several more steps before slowly turning around.
“Oh? Why would I kill you?” Xiao Huai smiled, his gaze casual.
Cheng Shan had not expected him to answer.
“I… I was the one who released the crows.”
“Mm. I saw,” Xiao Huai replied carelessly.
Cheng Shan did not understand why he cared so little, and his voice rose.
“You attacked Sun Xingye! Why aren’t you attacking me?”
Xiao Huai blinked. From the sound of that, did Cheng Shan want to be strangled a few times too?
Before he could answer, Lu Yuanshi laughed softly. The sound was quiet, yet loud enough for everyone to hear.
After all, the surroundings were exceptionally silent.
Xiao Huai could not help meeting Lu Yuanshi’s gaze again.
Lu Yuanshi said, “Did those crows harm our A-Zhuolang in the slightest? Isn’t that what upset him?”
Smiling, he stared at the sticky, foul-smelling red substance clinging to Xiao Huai.
Xiao Huai frowned. The words “our A-Zhuolang” echoed through his mind, slowly shrinking to a single word: “our.”
He glanced at Lu Yuanshi. “I’m not angry.”
“You are.” Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Lu Yuanshi approached Xiao Huai one step at a time.
A handkerchief appeared in his hand. He offered it to Xiao Huai, then bent close and whispered into his ear so only he could hear:
“Dear, you weren’t like this on the train.”
The air took on Lu Yuanshi’s distinctive warmth. Something seemed to crawl across Xiao Huai’s ear, leaving it itchy and numb.
Lu Yuanshi’s voice was beautiful, especially when he bent close and whispered. It carried an almost… seductive quality.
Xiao Huai glared at him and stepped back, silently mouthing, “Who are you calling dear?”
But when he walked away, Lu Yuanshi stuck to him again like a stubborn burr.
Xiao Huai could not be bothered with him. He yawned. The sticky mess covering him truly was uncomfortable.
Perhaps he really was a little angry.
But there was another reason he had attacked Sun Xingye.
He wanted to test the rules.
And Sun Xingye had been remarkably eager to make himself the center of attention.
There were problems with Rules One and Three.
[1. If you become desperately thirsty, you may drink your own blood. Nothing bad will happen.]
[3. Do not consume the blood or flesh of crows.]
Both rules involved blood, and blood had roughly the same composition regardless of its source.
Drinking blood to quench thirst in a desert was not entirely absurd. Blood contained water.
But if a person drank their own blood, would they pass out from blood loss first or die of thirst first?
Rule Three specifically restricted the blood and flesh of crows.
Then what was so unusual about crow blood?
Before long, the entire group would face a crisis of dehydration.
A game would not force every player to die immediately after it began.
Rule Three was most likely false. In that case, Sun Xingye could suffer a little.
One should not be so quick to harm others.
Making him spend the night in fear counted as a minor punishment.
Although Cheng Shan had released the crows, Xiao Huai did not care.
For one thing, Cheng Shan had not wanted to release them. For another, Xiao Huai would have caught several crows himself even if Cheng Shan had not summoned any.
Finally, Xiao Huai had noticed that his livestream seemed to have entered a recommendation feed.
Being recommended was hardly bad. It earned him money.
Perhaps there had been so many crows that the sight of the flock burning to death made an interesting highlight?
He did not care much either way.
Still kneeling, Sun Xingye began clawing at his throat, desperate to vomit everything he had ever eaten.
The other players automatically kept their distance from him.
He retched so violently that the stench was unbearable.
The players began setting up simple sleeping tents where they stood.
Xiao Huai deliberately kept his distance from the group. Distance inspired fear.
But Lu Yuanshi ignored everyone else’s looks and remained beside Xiao Huai.
The others watched Lu Yuanshi as though he were already dead.
Ji Yelin sighed inwardly. *Beauty really does make people lose their minds. How can he stand so close to such a dangerous NPC? Isn’t he afraid of being killed?*
They would have lit a fire at night even without the rule.
The desert had an enormous temperature difference between day and night. The days were scorching, while the nights were bitterly cold.
Without a fire for warmth, they would freeze and shiver.
Fortunately, the System Shop had restricted only food and water. They could still buy equipment for starting fires.
The System Shop had charged them an outrageous amount for it.
But that was better than freezing to death.
When Sun Xingye finally stopped vomiting, his face was white as paper.
Only Rule Three began with a direct prohibition. The other three could almost be called subjective.
Each of the others included an additional phrase, such as “nothing bad will happen,” “be careful,” or “it is dangerous.”
Only Rule Three said: Do not consume the blood or flesh of crows.
Its tone was already a warning.
That made him the first person to violate a taboo rule.
Sun Xingye wanted nothing more than to kill Xiao Huai, but he lacked the strength to act.
His supernatural ability allowed him to read a dead person’s brain and extract the information within.
In a horror game, information was the most valuable currency.
Far from useless, his supernatural ability had earned him many benefits within Foxslayer.
At the very least, he possessed more life-saving items than the average player.
Sun Xingye glared viciously at Xiao Huai, his ratlike eyes narrowing.
“He’s just an NPC.”
Cheng Shan’s expression had remained troubled ever since Xiao Huai gave him the bread.
He could not understand why the NPC, after being attacked, had shown no anger and instead given them precious food.
Now, hearing Sun Xingye curse Xiao Huai, he could not stop himself from speaking.
“Sun Xingye, maybe A-Zhuolang isn’t a bad person. He didn’t kill you, and he didn’t kill me either…”