"Could it really be Su?" Xiong Ruoyou had also come to the same conclusion. Although logically, if all other possibilities were ruled out, no matter how absurd the remaining one was, it must be the truth—but she still found it hard to believe.
This was Su they were talking about. The first time they met, he could barely get a sentence out without coughing for half a day. Just hearing him made it obvious he was a sickly and fragile guy!
No, she refused to believe it. It absolutely could not be Su.
"If not him, then who else?" Fan Xuanye's voice drifted in from the side, prompting both Mu Qingyun and Xiong Ruoyou to turn and look at him.
Noticing their stares, he shrugged innocently. "He's the only one I can think of. The three of us are all right here."
"Forget it. Let's go one more round. Once we're close to 300 points, we'll head back," Mu Qingyun said with a frown, taking out more "charcoal" fuel for their weapons.
…
Elsewhere, Bai Feifei was frantically running around looking for Mu Xueyao. She finally found her behind a pile of rocks.
Mu Xueyao was far from her usual pristine appearance. Her complexion was pale, and dark circles sat beneath her eyes—she looked like she hadn't slept a wink the night before.
"Your Highness!"
Hearing Bai Feifei's voice, Mu Xueyao abruptly opened her eyes from her meditative state and frowned upon seeing her rush over.
Why is she here?
Her gaze drifted to Bai Feifei's wrist and noticed that her livestream device was still active.
"Feifei, your…" Mu Xueyao subtly tapped her own wrist, signaling to Bai Feifei to turn it off.
Even though Bai Feifei was panicked, she was still afraid of angering Mu Xueyao. She obediently followed the signal and switched off the livestream.
"What is it?" Mu Xueyao took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
"Your Highness, I took the pill you gave me—do you have an antidote?" Bai Feifei was nearly in tears from worry. Heaven knew how desperate and panicked she had been while searching for Mu Xueyao, afraid the poison would activate before she could find her.
"You took it?" Mu Xueyao looked at her like she was an idiot, clearly not expecting this plot twist.
"Why on earth would you do that? Trying to die faster and take me down with you?"
"No, no—it was an accident," Bai Feifei shook her head, ready to explain what had happened, but just then the poison began to take effect.
Pfft— A mouthful of blood spilled from her lips. A sharp pain tore through her throat, rendering her unable to speak.
Seeing this, Mu Xueyao quickly retrieved the antidote from her storage pouch. She popped a small black pill into Bai Feifei's mouth.
The pill dissolved instantly, its medicinal aroma flooding her throat. Bai Feifei swallowed with difficulty, finally feeling some relief from the pain.
"What exactly happened?" Mu Xueyao asked, brows furrowed in frustration as she stared at her like a disappointment.
Once she had calmed down, Bai Feifei began recounting the incident.
…
Meanwhile, Mu Qingyun had just killed the last virtual creature and turned to glance at the exhausted Xiong Ruoyou and Fan Xuanye.
All three of them were utterly drained. They clearly couldn't continue today.
"Let's head back," she said, retracting her laser rifle and addressing the two.
The moment she heard that, Xiong Ruoyou let out a huge sigh of relief. She had never worked so hard for anything in her entire life.
Still in her bear form, she didn't bother changing back. She simply grabbed one person in each paw and dashed toward the base.
"…Ugh."
Being swung around like a ragdoll, Mu Qingyun had a massive headache. She turned to look at Fan Xuanye, who also wore the expression of someone who had lost all hope.
[Hahaha! Oh my god, look at Mu-ge!]
[This is too much—she looks like a baby chick being carried around by Big Bear Sister! I'm dying of laughter!]
[Fan Xuanye's face is priceless! He looks like he's done.]
…
Being carried like this would have been tolerable if not for Xiong Ruoyou's swollen eyes, which made her nearly blind.
She herself was fine—her massive body could crash through anything. But Mu Qingyun and Fan Xuanye were the real victims. Mu Qingyun had to hold her laser rifle at the ready, destroying anything in their path.
Fan Xuanye had transformed into his snake-tailed form and was striking anything they collided with, his tail aching from all the blows.
Help. This was unbearable. He would rather have walked himself.
When they ran into a pile of rocks, Mu Qingyun blasted them apart with her laser rifle, kicked the remaining debris aside, and stepped through.
She wanted to say something but, glancing at Xiong Ruoyou's squinting face, she sighed and chose to remain silent.
Once they finally returned to the shelter, both Mu Qingyun and Fan Xuanye couldn't wait to get down.
"Su!"
Calling out his name, she entered the room and looked around for him.
Oddly, Su was nowhere to be seen—yet their point totals above their heads were still increasing.
Instead of searching further, they decided to wait in the house.
By evening, their scores had nearly reached 300. Under the full moon, their virtual creature points finally hit the 300 mark.
Seven hundred points… in nine days… Mu Qingyun stared at Xiong Ruoyou's point total and quietly calculated the odds of reaching 700 within the time limit.
"Let's go."
Just as she was thinking about the point system, faint voices sounded outside the door.
She looked up—and the door was pushed open.
Su was leaning on Kazel, and Kazel was being supported by Su. The two of them hobbled inside, holding each other up.
"Where were you two?" she asked, standing up quickly and rushing to their side. She grabbed each of them and helped them to sit in a corner.
"We were out hunting virtual creatures," Kazel panted, exhausted. "I weakened them, and Su landed the final blow."
Su gently patted Kazel's back, helping him catch his breath.
So that's what happened.
Upon hearing this, Mu Qingyun finally understood. No wonder their point totals had been going up—it was because Kazel and Su had been hunting together this way.
"Tomorrow I'll take Su with me. Kazel, you should rest," she said, frowning. She felt guilty for troubling Kazel like this. After all, he had also come for the trial—surely he hoped to get into the military academy too.
Hunting virtual creatures was exhausting, and Kazel had been helping them nonstop. She couldn't help but feel like she owed him too much.
"It's fine. Su and I work well together. I think we could keep hunting like this," Kazel smiled at her. "We rest when we need to. It's not like virtual creatures appear constantly."
"Yeah, I think working with him is fine too," Su agreed. Kazel was the only one who knew his true identity—so he could only cooperate with him.
Mu Qingyun glanced between the two of them, a bit suspicious. They had always seemed at odds with each other, but now… they suddenly got along?