Chapter 117
Chapter 117
Jian Fan didn’t say much.
The group first left the area covered by the Green Bubbles.
Only after they reached the Safe Zone did Lu Jing finally take a moment to stretch his legs. Having been cramped up over there for so long had been incredibly uncomfortable.
Qin Nan looked directly at Jian Fan and asked, “What exactly did you figure out just now?”
“The Transmission Medium for the Green Bubbles,” Jian Fan said.
“What about it?” Qin Nan was a bit confused.
Jian Fan looked at Qin Nan and replied, “The Transmission Medium for the Green Bubbles should correspond to the Five Elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth.”
Qin Nan froze, shocked. “Didn’t you say you didn’t understand the I Ching?”
“Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth… is it that strange to know about them?” Jian Fan countered.
Qin Nan: “…”
“It’s not strange,” Qin Nan replied. He knew about them too, but under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have made that connection.
This time, the medium chosen by the Green Bubbles was the trees and grass, which should correspond to Wood. Meanwhile, the water he had splashed, the earth Lu Jing had been sitting on, and the stones from before should belong to Water, Earth, and Metal respectively-none of which were within the scope of transmission this time. As for the sand, whether it counted as Water or Earth, Qin Nan didn’t know; regardless, it wouldn’t be Wood.
“The source of the Green Bubbles should be Water,” Mu Xin suddenly spoke up.
The others looked at her.
“How so?” Qin Weiyi asked.
“Back at the beach, it was obvious that the seawater spread them to the sand. This time, it was the dew on the trees that spread them to the leaves. Besides, the only large-scale source of liquid here is the seawater. Since the seawater already transmitted them to the sand, it shouldn’t be just a single Transmission Medium. Therefore, I suspect the Green Bubbles live within the medium of Water, and each time after that, they spread to Metal, Wood, Fire, or Earth. If that’s the case, perhaps sand in the Realm of Death corresponds to Water-just not seawater or dew,” Mu Xin explained.
To put it simply, the Green Bubbles spread from certain watery liquids onto these mediums. If these mediums correspond to Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth-where stones are Metal, trees and grass are Wood, sand is Water, and the dirt ground is Earth-then Fire…
“Fire wouldn’t just start for no reason. What else could Fire be?” Qin Nan asked.
The others shook their heads, having no immediate thoughts on the matter.
“Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, Earth generates Metal, Metal generates Water, Water generates Wood… Metal overcomes Wood, Wood overcomes Earth, Earth overcomes Water, Water overcomes Fire, Fire overcomes Metal,” Jian Fan suddenly started muttering to himself.
Qin Nan listened closely and realized Jian Fan was reciting the Five Elements Mutual Generation and Overcoming cycles.
“Is there something more to the Five Elements?” Qin Nan asked.
Jian Fan looked at him and said, “Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth. We’re missing Fire. Could Fire be the key to our departure?”
Following Jian Fan’s suggestion, Qin Nan gave it some thought and realized it was a genuine possibility.
If the Transmission Medium for the Green Bubbles really followed the Five Elements, then the method to crack this world might very well lie within them as well. However, just knowing about things like Metal or Fire wasn’t enough for Qin Nan to figure anything out.
The others clearly had no leads either.
None of them were metaphysics enthusiasts. They knew of the Five Elements, but anything deeper than that left them completely baffled and grasping at straws.
“We can discuss this later. Let’s leave this area first,” Qi Shuping spoke up to remind them.
They had just engaged in combat here. Because they had to rescue the trapped trio of Lu Jing and the others, they had already spent a significant amount of time. It was highly likely that enemies had been drawn to this location; standing around chatting in a group made them too big of a target.
Qin Weiyi snapped back to attention. After scanning the surviving Players, he nodded and spoke to Lu Jing, “Let’s go.”
After Orange Hair and Qian Xing had been obliterated, there were only nine of them left.
And with this latest onslaught of Green Bubbles, they had also lost a considerable amount of supplies.
Everyone’s Tent was a total loss. Xia Zeqin’s Down Jacket was gone, and the water for three people that Qin Nan had been carrying was completely depleted. Of the two Down Jackets that had been sitting on the backpacks, one had been destroyed during Qin Nan’s frantic movements, though they did manage to save the other. Although Yellow Hair had lost his Tent, he had been wearing his Military Overcoat at the time, so it was preserved.
Those in the best situation were likely Lu Jing and Qin Weiyi, as both of their Down Jackets remained intact.
They needed to find supplies quickly.
There were certainly more than just two Airdrop crates; they had to find another Military Box soon to replenish their resources.
The group began heading toward the mountain behind them.
They had no intention of turning back toward the original banana trees. For one, they had already scavenged the banana and coconut trees for almost all they were worth. Secondly, the previous attack by the Green Bubbles had used trees as the Transmission Medium. This meant the banana trees had likely not escaped disaster. Even if the bananas themselves hadn’t been consumed, eating fruit that had been touched by the Green Bubbles…
Forget it. It was more reliable to look for Airdrop resources.
After searching around the base of the mountain without success, the group began their ascent.
About three or four hours later, hunger began to set in. Since Qin Nan had used up all the water to save their lives earlier, they could only swallow their Compressed Biscuits dry.
He handed Mu Xin her portion, looking a bit sheepish. “Sorry about that. I wasted your water too.”
Mu Xin shook her head. “It’s fine. It was just a bit of water, and you guys risked your lives to get it in the first place. This is enough for me.” As she spoke, she shook the Compressed Biscuits in her hand.
Naturally, Mu Xin wasn’t exactly happy that Qin Nan had used the water, but getting angry wouldn’t change the facts. Besides, between a bottle of water and a reliable teammate, the latter was clearly more important.
Lin Junruo glanced at the water in her own hand.
She was a light drinker and had been rationing it carefully, so she still had more than half a bottle left.
After eating a few pieces of biscuit, she took several gulps of water and then handed the bottle to Mu Xin.
Mu Xin paused, startled.
“If you don’t mind my spit,” Lin Junruo said, nudging the bottle toward Mu Xin again.
Mu Xin smiled. “Thanks.”
With Lin Junruo sharing her water, Mu Xin was taken care of, but Qin Nan and Jian Fan truly had nothing to drink.
Qin Nan patted Jian Fan on the shoulder and sighed. “Brother, I guess you’ll just have to suffer along with me.”
Jian Fan didn’t say a word. He shifted his shoulder, shaking off Qin Nan’s hand. He continued eating his biscuits with a stoic expression, as if having no water didn’t bother him at all.
Qin Nan shrugged and sat down to start eating his own biscuits.
Once the group had finished eating and rested for about ten minutes, Lu Jing called for everyone to set out.
“Almost the entire island has been swept by the Green Bubbles by now. The initial Airdrop crates have probably been swallowed up. If we want to find more, they’d have to be from later drops. Wouldn’t the beach be a more suitable place to look?” Qin Nan asked as they climbed.
When the first Airdrop occurred, they were still on the beach. They didn’t know if there had been any subsequent drops.
Comparatively speaking, however, the probability of finding a Military Box on the beach was higher. After all, yesterday’s Green Bubbles had targeted stones, and today it was trees and grass; the threat hadn’t receded yet.
“You want to head back now?” Qin Weiyi asked.
Looking at the time, the Green Bubbles were about to recede. If they headed down now, they would reach the beach just in time. However, after trekking such a long distance, turning back was no easy task.
Qin Nan choked on his words and sighed. “It would be great if an Airdrop landed right now.”
“Keep dreaming,” Qin Weiyi teased.
The others also thought Qin Nan was being fanciful. Yet, at that very moment-
Lu Jing, who was walking at the very front, suddenly jerked to a halt.