Wang Dama, who had switched weapons, was terrifyingly formidable. She wielded a kitchen knife with such ferocity that it whistled through the air like her third arm. Though the damage was not high, she inflicted a series of wounds on Norman Nov one after another.
The latter was pestered endlessly by a swarm of flies and mosquitoes, and to make matters worse, this ‘swarm of aunts and uncles’ was immune to physical attacks, possessing invincible properties.
Norman Nov’s nostrils were clawed into an upturned nose. He let out a frenzied roar: “Aaaah, get lost, all of you get lost—!”
But this suppression did not last long.
In a certain instant, the ghostly shadows behind him suddenly vanished entirely.
Sudden loss of control caused Norman Nov to stumble forward a step. He looked up and saw the shocked expression on Wang Ruizhi’s face.
Her skill had reached its time limit!
“Old hag, I’ll kill you!”
The anger he had suppressed for so long erupted in a roar. His arm muscles bulged like rising dough buns, and he swung his massive iron hammer with both hands, charging like a berserk beast.
Wang Ruizhi tossed out two items that slowed speed in succession, avoiding direct confrontation.
She glanced at the giant insect monster wrapped in the bubble not far away, rolled flexibly on the ground, and climbed up a nearby large tree using hands and feet.
【Soap Bubble Countdown: 25 seconds, 24 seconds…】
Norman Nov was not an insect monster; he could climb trees. But humans only had two hands—freeing them to climb meant he could not attack.
The man gnashed his teeth, his mind clouded by rage. He had just climbed halfway up the trunk when Wang Ruizhi poked her head out from above.
The middle-aged woman’s eyes flashed with cold light. This was the moment she had been waiting for.
【Player Wang Ruizhi (Wang Dama) uses skill: Beat the Mistress
(Active) High-speed 10 slaps in 1.5 seconds, opponent unable to counter during this time
Chance to cause stun effect
“I’ll beat you to death, you turtle grandson!”】
Her large, calloused palm, hardened from years of labor and as big as a plantain leaf, rose high.
Norman Nov only saw a string of system prompts appear before him. Before he could react to what skill it was, the woman’s barrage of slaps came crashing down on his head.
“Pa pa pa pa pa pa pa.”
“Pa pa pa—”
Without pause, the slaps—worthy of deadly chain palm strikes—beat his three souls and seven spirits right out of him.
Norman Nov was dazed, his face swollen like a pig’s head, stars flashing before his eyes. His ears rang deafeningly, deaf to everything else.
Wang Ruizhi panted heavily. She steadied herself and delivered a vicious kick to the man’s chest.
Balance was hard to maintain on the tree, so Norman Nov tumbled down head over heels, his massive body crushing a pile of bushes and weeds.
But he would not die just like that. Relying on his superhuman physique, the man struggled back to his feet.
“Damn it…”
Norman Nov looked up, only to find Wang Ruizhi standing right in front of him, motionless, gazing at him with calm eyes.
A sense of foreboding suddenly flooded his heart.
Rustling sounds came from behind. He slowly turned and saw that the bubble item he had thrown earlier had become extremely thin. The giant insect monster inside had awakened and was scratching nonstop with its segmented limbs and antennae.
【Soap Bubble Countdown: 3 seconds, 2 seconds…】
The instant he saw it clearly, Norman Nov whipped around and bolted. But he had not run far when a crisp “pop” sounded from behind.
The bubble had burst.
The rock moth spread its wings and chased him at extreme speed.
“Aaaah!”
The insect monster’s antennae lashed like iron whips, instantly knocking the burly man to the ground. Its hard limbs pierced his shoulder, and Norman Nov spat out a large mouthful of blood.
He reached toward the distance, his pupils filled with terror. “Save me, save…”
Wang Ruizhi stood at a distance, arms crossed, watching the man’s death throes coldly. She flipped him the bird.
The giant insect monster let out a skyward screech, opening its triple-layered maw lined with dense, razor-sharp teeth, and bit down on his head.
“Crunch—” Crisp.
At the same time, Mu Shan, far away on the other side, received the system kill notification.
【You killed player Norman Nov (Construction Worker)】
【You successfully seized Norman Nov’s skill: Piecework】
Around her danced impenetrable fire serpents. The flames scorched the leaves black and curled, smoke obscuring her vision and making it hard to spot Huang Hongbo’s position.
Hot sweat soaked her hair completely, large drops like soybeans trickling down her nose bridge.
Mu Shan panted roughly and adjusted the half-worn iron bucket on her head.
【Zombie’s Iron Bucket (Defensive)
Remaining Uses: 3/3】
Earlier, the iron bucket’s durability had nearly hit zero from the burning. After using the 【Renew Old with New】 skill, its durability returned to 100%.
But this was no long-term solution. Renew Old with New could only be used once a day, and the flames were a persistent skill—she had to end it quickly.
Mu Shan hid in the blind spot of a rock pile, but Huang Hongbo’s fire serpents spread toward her again as if they had eyes.
The scorching air distorted the view of the sky. Charred trees snapped and fell one after another, thick gray smoke rising into the air.
Huang Hongbo was drenched in sweat, breathing raggedly, eyes bloodshot. He patrolled neurotically, searching for the girl’s figure.
“Come out! Aren’t you so tough?”
“Looks like you’re set on playing hide-and-seek with me?”
“Little girl, if you don’t come out, you’ll just have to be burned to death!!!”
Huang Hongbo spewed threats for a while, then felt the forest was unnaturally silent.
Aside from the crackling of burning branches, he heard nothing else.
Something was wrong.
That damn woman must be up to something again.
His heart drummed with unease. He sent the blazing fire serpents ahead to clear the path and bolted in one direction.
He passed a toppled charred old tree surrounded by a jumble of rocks.
Farther on, a small lake appeared abruptly, cutting across the forest path. It teemed with a horde of zombies that should not have been in this instance. They jostled in the water, devouring some bloody thing.
Huang Hongbo retched and backed away a few steps. He skirted the lake and ran in another direction.
A few minutes later, he still had not found Mu Shan’s trail.
Yet, though he had gone in two different directions, what appeared before him again was… that same toppled charred old tree and rock pile.
A bad premonition hit him, and sure enough, two more steps brought him near the zombie lake again.
【Penrose Stairs (Auxiliary)
A staircase that always goes up or down but never ends, can fuse with any scene
Use: Traps others whose spirit value is lower than the owner’s in an infinite loop】
Faced with the unknown, Huang Hongbo panicked briefly, but soon burst into hysterical laughter.
“A maze item, huh? What’s a maze gonna do? I can’t get out, and neither can you!”
Fire serpents erupted around him again, igniting all the overhead leaves. “As long as the flames keep burning, this forest will turn into scorched earth. No matter where you hide then, it’ll be the same end!!”
Huang Hongbo’s hoarse, mad voice echoed through the forest.
Suddenly, he sensed something and jerked to the side.
A pea narrowly grazed his arm and hit the tree trunk, smashing a small crater.
Before Huang Hongbo could react, peas shot out one after another, clanging against his defensive armor. The angles were too tricky to dodge.
He shielded his head with his hands and advanced grimacing toward the peashooter’s direction.
The fire serpents had rushed into the bushes ahead of him, billowing thick black smoke.
“Stinky girl—!”
Mu Shan burst out of the encirclement through the flames, covered in large and small embers. Her expression was icy as she drew a green handgun from her pocket with her right hand, aiming the muzzle at him.
Huang Hongbo knew she had a ranged attack item, but its power was average. He sneered, relying on his armor and not dodging.
But this time was different. What shot from the gun barrel was not an ordinary pea, but an extraordinarily huge one!
The ping-pong-ball-sized pea spun rapidly, whistling through the air. By the time Huang Hongbo saw it clearly, it was too late to evade.
In a split second, the super pea broke through the surrounding flames and slammed into his armor.
【Critical Hit Rate 100%】
【Warrior’s Armor, Durability: 45—30】
No armor break, but his body lurched, the immense force sending him staggering backward onto the ground hard.
The defensive armor was heavy. Before Huang Hongbo could get up, a gleaming axe hacked down from above toward his eyes.
In that flash, he barely raised his arm to block in front of him.
“Clang—” A massive metallic clash. His arm went numb from the shock.
The situation between the two had fundamentally reversed.
Mu Shan endured the high-temperature flames, sweat pouring down her face, but her attacks were lightning-fast. The axe hammered down on the armor again and again; Huang Hongbo could not rise.
His eyes bulged, a sense of doom flooding his heart.
Sure enough, the next second, green light gleamed in Mu Shan’s eyes. She raised the axe high and brought it down with full force. “Ah!”
【Critical Hit Rate 60%】
Cracks appeared in the armor, and Huang Hongbo “pfft—” spat a mouthful of blood.
【You use skill: Piecework
(Active) Accumulate 10 attacks for one critical hit damage
Critical rate random
“Assembly line piece-rate pay!”】
Mu Shan kept up the high-intensity assault, her hands trembling nonstop, nearly exhausted. She wanted to keep suppressing him when the fire serpents suddenly flared up, forcing her back two steps.
Huang Hongbo propped himself up, teeth gritted around a mouthful of blood. “Die!!”
The instant the words left his mouth, the fire serpents swirling around suddenly leaped into the air, weaving into an impenetrable fire cloud midair.
The fire cloud burned, igniting nearly all the trees in range. In the roaring sea of flames, it turned into scattered specks of starry fire rain, descending from the sky.
The impenetrable fire rain was nearly impossible to dodge. Even defensive items would wear down their durability at such speeds.
Huang Hongbo shakily stood, hearing no other sounds from the thick smoke. He smirked. But before the smile fully formed, a notification flashed before him.
【Player Mu Shan (Collector) uses skill on you】
He retreated while roaring in breakdown: “How many skills do you even have!”
His response was Mu Shan’s figure charging out of the flames.
The heat-warped air made her form seem unreal. The scorching flames singed her hem and hair but caused no harm.
The girl’s fierce brows locked on him, killing intent plain: “You’re still pretty tough!!!”
The next second, the silver axe in her hand cleaved down overhead, slicing straight into the man’s chest and abdomen.
Huang Hongbo spewed gouts of blood from his mouth. Mu Shan’s eyes blazed red as she gripped the axe with both hands and pressed down viciously.
The instant the armor fully shattered, her heart stirred.
But before she could relax, she saw Huang Hongbo grit his teeth and hurl an item.
A small bottle cap landed on the charred ground, revealing the words “One More Bottle” inside.
【One More Bottle (Consumable)
Quality: Rare
Description: Grants a second life and 10-second repel effect at critical life-or-death moments
Use: Throw the winning bottle cap
Note: “If two lives aren’t enough to die, then there’s no helping it.”】
Mu Shan’s heart jolted. Not good!
Huang Hongbo, who had thrown the cap, fell into complete madness. His expression twisted as the axe-split chest and abdomen healed at extreme speed. He seized the Viking battle axe blade, forcing Mu Shan to retreat.
The two’s life-or-death struggle had exhausted nearly all their means.
The rare item’s powerful restoration gave him a second life.
The surrounding surging flames and gale turned into a fire tornado, hurling her flying.
With the 60-second countdown over, Mu Shan had no choice but to use her second 【Good Person】 skill to prevent being burned to death by the flames.
But she was still carried into mid-air by the fire tornado. Charred, dead branches continuously scraped across her body. Mu Shan hugged her head and curled into a ball. After feeling an unknown duration of spinning and weightlessness, she fell from a great height.
Her body collided with small trees and stones on the slope. The sensation of pain had already gone numb.
Mu Shan only knew that she was continuously rolling toward the bottom of the cliff—
She didn’t know how long this process lasted. It felt like a minute, or maybe twenty seconds.
When her body finally came to a stop, Mu Shan lay motionless. She lay on her back on the ground, feeling as if her body had fallen apart, with at least three or four fractures.
【Zombie’s Iron Bucket (Defensive)
Remaining Uses: 0/3】
The defensive item had taken quite a few life-threatening blows in her place, but the scrapped item didn’t count as 【old】. The Renew Old with New skill couldn’t be used.
Mu Shan tossed aside the broken iron bucket and steadied her breathing as she looked up at the cliff overhead, not knowing how high it was.
—Atop the cliff, the fire Huang Hongbo had set was still burning fiercely.
There was no kill notification. He had truly “revived.”
After arduously recovering a bit of strength, Mu Shan tremblingly took out healing medicine from her backpack. She gritted her teeth and applied it to herself, then bought powerful blood restoration potions from the system mall and chugged down two bottles.
But human body recovery wasn’t like in a game; it couldn’t make her instantly lively and kicking.
The severely injured Mu Shan lay in the grass, forcing her eyelids open to watch the orange flames burning high above. Unable to suppress her overdrawn exhaustion, she fell into a deep sleep.