"KAK91771, that's the system number, and I can adjust my intelligence to that of an eighteen-year-old human."
Oh dear, what kind of operation is this?
"Then how old were you before?"
"Eight years old! You humans all like adorable young ones."
Xiao Cheng felt like vomiting, this system must have been led astray by its previous host!
"From now on, I'll call you 77, and let's adjust to eighteen years old!" Truly a ghostly encounter.
"Alright, Host 77 acknowledged."
"Are you sure this task is meant for humans? What if I accidentally kick the bucket?" She's finally been reborn once, and if she dies so cheaply, it'd be too frustrating.
If this host fails too, it's done for; they're like locusts on the same rope, sharing fate. So it said, "77 trust the host."
Xiao Cheng... Haha!
The forest ahead is getting denser, Xiao Cheng stands on a not-so-high hill behind the village, looking forward to the expansive mountains ahead, reaching into the clouds, mysterious and dangerous.
Once over this hill, there's no path trodden by villagers. It's estimated that beyond this hill is the Da Mang Mountain that Brother Jia mentioned, seemingly no one usually comes here.
Now she has to bravely forge ahead; the forest in front is thorny, with bizarre rocks, sunlight like strands of golden sand piercing through the overlapping leaves, dappling the grass below. She can still smell the fragrance of grass, flowers, and moist earth.
A tiger roars, roar...
Xiao Cheng hastily breaks her fantasy of nature's beauty; the forest now appears eerie and terrifying, giving her goosebumps!
"77 how much further?" She needs to think about how to snatch survival from the jaws of the tiger; this is a hell-level difficulty!
"77, are there any tools to exchange?" With just her and an unreliable system, how can she safely rescue someone without any lethal weapons? Even if she doesn't know how to use a gun, a big machete would be nice!
Though panicked inside, she pretends to be calm; there's no choice but to face it. Not going means death, going at least provides a slim chance; it's the reasoning of breaking the jar.
"Host, still 1500 meters away, negative points don't have clearance for the mall. However, 77 has a few Energy Potions that can replenish strength, but one bottle only lasts for an hour, dropped from the initial gift pack," the system said weakly.
"What? I still have an initial gift pack, why didn't you mention it earlier?" It feels like missing out on a fortune.
"Uh! That's how it is, host, wasn't our situation urgent before, the gift pack got swallowed by space right then, and 77 only managed to grab an energy recharge, only getting this..."
Xiao Cheng couldn't say more, "What's the use of you, didn't grab any good stuff, just this..." She didn't want to ask what things the previous host had, asking would only upset herself.
Don't get angry! Getting angry makes you age faster, try to calm down...
"Bring it over!" No matter what, deal with the current predicament first, then settle accounts with the unreliable goods later.
Already feeling her little frame struggling, replenishing energy is good. Otherwise, this task might not be completed.
As she spoke, a blue potion appeared in her palm, quickly drank it, no taste, but feeling much lighter, and strength returned to her hands. Not bad!
While waving to cut away blocking branches, she trudged forward. The unknown branch had scratched her arm, blood oozing, but she couldn't care less.
The system kept urging in her mind; she had no choice, there wasn't even a path here, each step deep and shallow, could hardly speed up. Not turning back and leaving was already giving face.
Inadvertently looking up, a grey-black mottled pattered snake, as thick as a grown man's arm, hangs on a nearby branch, lazily flicking its red tongue at her, making a hissing sound.
"Ah..."
Her body moved faster than her brain, by the time she realized, she'd already run dozens of meters away; dear god! Frightened to death by such a big snake, if it wrapped around... Uh! The scene is unbearable.
Previously at grandpa's clinic, she'd seen various venomous snakes, but those were all used for potion-making, all dead. Nothing like this live encounter, making all her hairs stand. She had to run further, what if it chased her.
Ignoring other dangers, the sudden explosive strength sped her up considerably, disregarding the fleeting shadows from her arrival; probably the forest's small animals frightened by the commotion, scampering off.
System silently speechless; someone just said they couldn't move fast...
A quarter-hour passed, nearing the destination, faintly hearing the tiger's angry roars in the distance. She reduced her footstep noise, crouching forward a bit more, cautiously climbing a prominent rock ahead.
Squinting, a massive pale-yellow black-striped tiger viciously lunges at a man in black before him, as the man rolls sideways raising his arm to fire something, the tiger cries out in pain, even more fiercely attacking the man again, both sides stained and scarred.
From the looks of it, the tiger still has spare effort, the man barely coping, several times narrowly escaping dangers, likely reaching his limit; how can she help him?
Her thoughts raced, suddenly eyes lit up, right, the eyes and abdomen. The weaknesses of big cats like tigers and wolves are precisely the eyes and stomach. Making use of materials on hand, she quickly used a scythe to cut a few branches, sharpened them, ready to assist.
Before Xiao Cheng could think of a way to silently approach the tiger for a fatal strike, she looked up and saw a shocking scene.
The tiger pounces on the man, its paw heavily slaps down, at the last moment, the man uses a knife to block between the paw, exerting all his might to fend off, more blood flows.
Seeing this, the tiger opens its maw wide, revealing its daunting fangs, foul saliva drips onto the man's face. Preparing to swallow this hateful human in one bite, about to face death by tiger, the man has no extra strength to fend off the sharp fangs!
Will he die? But he hasn't avenged his enemies yet, how can he accept this! Consciousness gradually blurring, despite the perilous journey, tangling nine times with death, sacrificing nearly all confidants and followers, all in vain? In the end, he can't escape fate's arrangement.
He's exhausted, might as well die here, better than dying in those people's hands.
"Host hurry, Energy Value won't last," the system is extremely anxious, risking persuading the host to save the man because it's afraid to tell the truth, an unbearable harsh reality, only a strong host might change things, but it dares not say, fearing the host might react and tear it apart!
Going in! At this critical moment, Xiao Cheng dashed forward, tightly gripping the sharpened tree branch, trembling, forcibly plunging into the tiger's eye, the tiger writhed in pain, causing Xiao Cheng to be flung aside, heavily crashing into the nearby bushes, making a muffled sound.
The tiger's huge body swayed left and right, crashing through a patch of short trees, colliding with a tree, leaves scattered. Roaring! The pain infuriated it, the eye's injury far worse than the ones on its body, it spun chaotically, using its remaining eye to scan the surroundings, seeking the human who ambushed it. Stepping unevenly, it stumbled down the slope, emitting continuous collision sounds.