They returned from the village at noon.
Mu Shan dragged a stool into the safe house and sat in the empty sunroom, lost in thought.
Thanks to the mushroom drink from Yu Da, her nearly depleted body squeezed out a bit more energy.
At her feet lay the soggy, messy fields. An iron rack stood in the center, with a raincoat still dripping water hung up to dry.
After a full day and night of desperate fighting, even an iron-willed corporate drone would have collapsed. Today, she truly didn’t want to lift a single finger.
There was a saying—【When your body can’t hold on, your spirit will carry you through the siege.】
Mu Shan felt her spirit was already a five-star general.
The flags of the Eight Gates Golden Lock Array were buried in the corners of the sunroom. Once the defensive array activated, an invisible transparent barrier formed outside the wire mesh. Ordinary falling leaves and birds wouldn’t trigger it, and to outsiders, it looked nonexistent. Only when sunlight hit at certain angles would there be refracted colorful light.
Mu Shan hadn’t tested it on a zombie worker, so she wasn’t sure of its exact effects, but a prop that cost so much to make wouldn’t be mere decoration.
She was like a turtle, storing all her food in her belly. Then, with a thick, hard shell, she enveloped her soft body and shrank inside.
Mu Shan’s mind was a mess—one moment swarms of insects charging at her, the next players turned into gardening works of art, then Huang Hongbo’s laughing face, then the NPC’s heat-cooked corpse.
Weak humans were pawns of the main god; she was just one of the ordinary masses.
A loud “gurgle” of protest from her stomach pulled her back to reality.
Mu Shan went downstairs to take a shower. The weather was too hot, and she lacked the energy to cook, so she took two berry pies from the fridge, planning to heat them up for a simple lunch.
A sudden “knock knock” sounded from outside the sunroom.
Peering through the peephole revealed no one, but when Mu Shan opened the door, she found a fresh pool of blood on the ground at her doorstep.
The blood came from two fish and a wild chicken, their heads brutally crushed.
Mu Shan: ……
“He Yuncong, come out.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, a black shadow leaped down from a tree more than ten meters from the door.
He “bang” landed on the ground, startling a flock of birds into fleeing from the woods with a rustle.
Mu Shan picked up the still-bleeding fish and chicken: “You hunted these?”
He Yuncong’s gaze swept over her face, burning with intensity: “Shanshan likes fish.”
Mu Shan pointed at him: “Never mind me first—how long since you ate?”
The question actually made him pause in thought.
Mu Shan was somewhat speechless. She handed him the two berry pies, and he bent down, sniffed them from her hand, then took a big bite.
Mu Shan carried the fish and chicken to the kitchen.
While he focused on devouring the pie, she leaned against the doorframe and asked: “Bro, who do you think the killer in this instance is?”
He Yuncong showed no reaction, either not understanding or not thinking about it.
Mu Shan continued on her own: “I’ve always wondered why he doesn’t kill in the wild. Huang Hongbo and the white guy knew to ambush me in the remote outskirts when they wanted me dead. But he killed No. 3 right by a safe house and No. 12 near the tavern. Those aren’t good spots for looting props.”
“Did he choose those spots on purpose, or did he have no choice…” As she pondered the key point, she suddenly felt her cheek tighten.
He Yuncong had finished the pie long ago. He pinched her face and said something terrifying in a casual tone: “Whoever you want to kill, I’ll help.”
Mu Shan was torn between laughter and tears. She swatted his hand away: “I want to kill the bastard who threw all of humanity into this instance game!”
He Yuncong thought for a moment and said seriously: “Okay, I got it.”
Mu Shan: What did you get……
By midday, the forest grew even hotter. After delivering the “takeout,” He Yuncong prepared to leave, but Mu Shan stopped him. “Wait.”
She pulled an orange from behind her and stuffed it into his hand.
“Here, I grew it myself. Eat it soon.”
He Yuncong cradled the orange.
It was bright yellow and plump, staying right in his arms—he wouldn’t even put it in his backpack.
Back at his own safe house, he placed the orange on his only table, propped his arm on it, and stared at it for half a day.
His safe house was extremely minimalist, lit only by the dim standard ceiling light.
The basement, without temperature control, would normally be hell in this instance, but for some unknown reason, He Yuncong’s safe house remained cool even in near-fifty-degree heat.
The man sat silently without moving. The golden little snake on his arm suddenly came alive, slithering onto the table. It curiously curved its body next to the orange, hissing and flicking its tongue.
But before it could get close, a hand slammed down from above, pinning it to the table.
The little snake writhed and struggled wildly, but the hand didn’t budge. In the end, it dissolved into a puddle of gold powder, leaking through his fingers and reforming as a golden accessory on his arm.
“Don’t touch it.”
This is hers.
No one can touch it.
The weather was scorching; the sunroom had become a massive steamer. Even with the glass roof open, only hot waves blew in.
If Tang Monk were in there, he’d be ready to eat by now.
Mu Shan had previously planned to install a temperature control system in the sunroom for the orange tree and potatoes, but now that the storm had killed all the plants, she simply gave up.
Fortunately, she had splurged on the basement’s cooling and heating system before. With the cool breeze on, it was very comfortable. After eating, Mu Shan collapsed into bed and slept.
Her exhausted body recovered during sleep, but she didn’t sleep long before waking up.
……She woke from the heat.
The “whoosh” from the vent had stopped, plunging the basement into darkness, stuffy like a steam box. She suspected the main god had boiled the safe house.
Drenched in sweat, Mu Shan jumped out of bed in the stifling, nearly unbreathable heat and stumbled to the thermometer.
Indoor temperature: 43 degrees……
Had the temp control broken? Or did the main god dislike players staying cool?
After checking, she quickly found the cause: Power consumption doubled in the heat, and the electric card she’d recharged yesterday was already empty today.
This was bad news.
Mu Shan hurriedly paid gold coins, and the vent roared back to life.
She gulped down half a glass of cool water, then her expression changed.
An even bigger disaster.
Her period, delayed two weeks, had arrived……
Prolonged high-intensity combat, rain, trekking through the wild—bodies self-regulate. She’d thought she’d go menopausal in this instance for life, but now the familiar heavy ache returned to her lower abdomen.
The familiar soreness spread through her limbs. Mu Shan first went to the bathroom to change pants, then dug out sanitary products.
Getting her period in this humid, hot rainforest was hell-level difficulty.
Forget hygiene issues from thick pads—would the blood scent attract monsters? Streams and waterfalls everywhere, no way to bathe. Even tough women weakened and swelled during their period; at 50% reduced stats, how could they fight monsters?
Mu Shan counted her sanitary supplies—scraped from the villa district last instance, barely enough.
The women in this NPC village didn’t seem like the type to use pads……
After cleanup, she lay back on the bed in the refreshing cool air, a cup of brown sugar water nearby.
She pretended to nap with eyes closed, but soon an abrupt, shrill shout echoed through the safe house.
“Yee-hah! Yee-hah! Yah yah yah yah!”
The kind humans couldn’t tolerate for a second, like a car alarm.
The sound came from the flowerpot on the safe house steps.
Mu Shan sat up wide-eyed, not even bothering with shoes, and thumped up the steps.
The pot held only an ugly, stunted sunflower.
Hungry? Thirsty??
She grabbed the pot, picked up the watering can with her right hand—but before she could pour—
Her vision blurred as a system prompt flashed.
【Singing Proficiency Reached Max Level
Magical Sunflower Upgrades to—Magical Anti-Japanese Sunflower
Quality: Rare
Description: Produces yields without sunlight, full patriotic fervor
Note: Yields not limited to gold coins, random types, depends on daily mood】
Mu Shan paused: “What sunflower?”
The unchanged-looking Anti-Japanese Sunflower cleared its throat. The slit on its huge flower disk split into a toothless grin; it took a deep breath.
“Broad sword!!! To the devils’ heads we go!!!”
Mu Shan was already weak; the deafening noise made her head buzz.
As the sunflower sang, the machine gunner in the adjacent pot started a sassy dance routine.
Oh, so you two evolved through daily song-and-dance rap sessions.
Mu Shan pinched her brow, wondering how to shut them up, when she noticed two tiny blue sparkles around the Anti-Japanese Sunflower’s pot.
Unlike the previous gold, these were blue.
She tapped one with her finger, and the blue light slowly faded.
【Extra Health +2】
Her personal health became 【34+2】.
Mu Shan perked up, quickly changing her expression.
She approached with the watering can, beaming: “Baby want water? Sprite? Cola? Eat seeds?”
Main Quest (Day 9)
After resting well all afternoon and evening yesterday, Mu Shan hadn’t even gone out to forage. Though it was the first two most uncomfortable days of her period, her condition had recovered decently.
Yesterday, the Anti-Japanese Sunflower sang two songs: “Onward, March with the Broad Sword” and “Yellow River Cantata.” The voice was high and stirring; it went dormant after.
The two songs netted her 【Extra Health +7】 and 【Extra Spirit +3】—impressive gains.
Only seven players remained in the instance. None stayed to guard homes this time; all headed out, gathering as usual at the uppermost No. 9 position.
They’d walked this path many times, carving a quick route. Mu Shan drew her laser sword to hack stray bushes, but the ground suddenly shook.
An earthquake!
Flocks of birds burst into flight, small forest animals fled madly, broken branches and uprooted trees everywhere.
The ground under Mu Shan bulged like a hill, then cracked. She had to focus entirely on the terrain shifts or risk being swallowed by fissures.
Even players were powerless against nature’s might.
Mu Shan leaped onto a tilted tree, hugging the trunk against the “rumble.” Even with cracks, straight trees wouldn’t fully collapse.
First the storm, now the quake—what else if they stayed? Guesses flashed in her mind.
The shaking finally stopped. The quake lasted less than a minute but felt eternal for players outside safe houses.
She worried about her safe house but recalled the new defensive array—should be fine.
High above came the buzz of insect wings. Hiding in collapsed trees, Mu Shan watched giant insect monsters fly by in swarms, like drifting dark clouds.
The bugs didn’t glance at the frail humans below.
A spark lit in Mu Shan’s mind. New guess: Giant insect monsters… didn’t actively attack humans?
Their every-three-day downstream sweep was system-driven; distance ended combat. The giant bee chase before was because Huang Hongbo’s group blew up the hive.
What exactly was the relation between giant insect monsters and humans?
But the idea was immature; she dropped it after mulling.
The quake stopped, but Mu Shan felt no relief.
Fallen trees blocked the old path; moving between points was harder than ever.
He Yuncong messaged, asking her location.
Mu Shan didn’t actually know herself. It should have been between position 5 and position 6.
About ten minutes later, Mu Shan stood beside an original stream, her clothes completely soaked through.
The stream had been destroyed by the earthquake, leaving only a trickle of water scattered amid the rubble.
What made Mu Shan stop wasn’t the water flow, but the corpse beside the stream.
A filthy, ragged man lay on the ground, half his body buried under the rubble from the earthquake.
He still clutched a wooden scoop in one hand as if trying to ladle water from the stream. His mouth hung slightly open, lips cracked, skin flushed red, cheeks sunken. His body language told Mu Shan that this man hadn’t died from the earthquake.
He had died from the heat.
Why had an NPC villager left the village to venture into the dangerous forest?
He carried a backpack. What had he set out to do?
Mu Shan racked her brains, but sweat poured down like rain. She shook her head, hot air streaming from her nostrils.
Less than twenty minutes had passed since the earthquake, yet she already felt on the verge of passing out.
She guessed the average temperature now exceeded fifty degrees.
Was this what a dungeon looked like after increasing the difficulty?
Mu Shan wanted to laugh.