Since this artwork looked far too sinister, and coupled with not knowing what effect touching it might have, the item was temporarily given to Qing Tian to carry.
Si Suying found a small backpack, so Qing Tian placed the statue inside and carried it on her back, while still holding the doll she had found earlier in her arms. As for the large batch of canned food they had just found…
"If I'd known earlier, I would have spent points to unlock a storage ring." Zhao Guogu was quite annoyed. If only she had a storage ring, she wouldn't be troubled about being unable to take all the supplies with her. Even though she was the Luck Emperor, she was unwilling to abandon supplies she had already found!
Si Suying didn't say anything. Although this Luck Emperor, Zhao Guogu, was extremely lucky, she was also truly poor and incredibly frugal. This girl rarely shopped in the mall; after joining Clover, she even teleported to the Broken Mirror Continent for all three meals a day just to eat vegetarian food with Qing Tian.
Hmm… but whenever it came to dates or giving gifts to Si Suying, Zhao Guogu was still quite generous.
Hearing Zhao Guogu's lament now, Si Suying felt somewhat pleased "Just buy one after we leave the game."
"Of course I'll buy one, sigh… I just wish they weren't so expensive. I really envy the rich ladies." Zhao Guogu's tone was sour and helpless as she sighed again, laboriously stuffing the cans from the table one by one into her backpack. But the supplies they had collected were simply too much. The backpack, already filled with food and water, was bulging full. Zhao Guogu stood up and tried to lift it with both hands but couldn't.
"How annoying!" Zhao Guogu gritted her teeth, angrily plopping back down at the table. "Wu Sansheng? Qing Tian? Quick, quick, come over and eat a few cans before we go! There's no rush to search immediately anyway! How long have we been in the game? It's not even dawn yet."
"…This Black Mirror Vortex probably doesn't have daytime." Even so, Wu Sansheng complied with Zhao Guogu's suggestion, came to the table, opened a can of yellow peaches, and started eating.
They had found quite a few cans: meat cans, fish cans, bean cans, and besides those, all sorts of fruit cans.
Zhao Guogu buried her head in eating, thinking: Why haven't Mu Anqi and the others arrived yet? If they came now, that would be great, then we wouldn't have to worry about where to put all this stuff.
Sigh, what exactly are they doing! Have they already forgotten about us? They couldn't have already started "touring," maybe having a barbecue buffet, could they?
…
"Whew, all cleared out." Mu Anqi let out a long sigh of relief. With the help of the Green Vine Demon sisters, the "looting" work had proceeded very smoothly. They discarded the useless junk items—such as "Tattered Cloth Armor" and "Fragile Sledgehammer." Mu Anqi really didn't understand how a sledgehammer could be paired with the word "fragile," until she tried gently tapping a wall with one of the hammers, and the sledgehammer in her hand instantly shattered into pieces. Then she understood what kind of combination it was.
She thought, even the shoddy white equipment in ordinary games isn't as scammy as the white equipment in this Black Mirror Vortex! At least white equipment in other games has, say, 100 durability! But this hammer? Could its durability be "one"? The "one" as in "shatters at one touch," the number "one" in first-place con artistry!
This Black Mirror Vortex, if you immerse yourself and treat it as a game, is actually quite interesting. Mu Anqi's team was overly powerful, one-hitting minor monsters without any difficulty, while also diligently searching for supplies and heading to the next map to explore and find their teammates. Doesn't that bring the game experience?
After storing the supplies in their storage rings, the group gathered around, ate some of the found food to fill their stomachs, then went down to the blood array in the basement and activated the teleportation.
"The third map… We should finally be able to find Zhao Guogu and the others, right?"
If Zhao Guogu's team had already cleared this stage, this Black Mirror Vortex would disappear, and they would all be teleported out.
"Hehe—"
"Hehehe—"
A sinister, eerie laughter surrounded Mu Anqi in an encircling manner. This familiar sensation made her furious: What the heck? Do we have to suffer NPC harassment every time we teleport to the next map?!
Encircling shadows flashed by, then reappeared the next second within Mu Anqi's peripheral vision. This unknown creature kept blinking and circling around Mu Anqi, the "hehehe" sound was simply outrageous!
Who could tolerate this? Enraged, Mu Anqi switched her action list and blurted out, "I wish you rapid success." And the very next second after she spoke, the snickering, robed figure disappeared.
"…Huh?" The darkness shattered, a sensation of falling enveloped her, and in a daze, she found herself standing on a street. The street lamp above her flickered fittingly, emitting a sizzling electrical sound.
That's it? It was all bluff, then.
This is what Mu Anqi thought, so she had no idea that Fang Xunjiu, who had just managed to give a "Nice Guy Card" to the constantly blinking robed figure, hadn't even had time to sigh in relief before another robed figure rushed out, blinking directly to close in on Fang Xunjiu!
Fang Xunjiu was so startled he almost didn't catch his breath. But this robed figure suddenly dropped into a dramatic kneel assuming a standard posture and began performing kowtows, and…
"Dad, I was wrong!"
The same sinister, eerie tone that kept making the "hehehe" sound was truly terrifying, but when the same tone shouted "Dad, I was wrong!" it somehow made one want to dig their toes into the ground in embarrassment, completely dispelling the previous horror.
Fang Xunjiu's heart, which had momentarily stopped, began beating violently. He clutched his chest, holding the Nice Guy Card, wondering if his ability had malfunctioned. In a somewhat dazed state, he shoved a Nice Guy Card at the kowtowing robed figure and quickly ran off into the darkness. When a circle of white light appeared before his eyes, he touched it without hesitation—
…he saw Mu Anqi standing under the streetlight, looking dazed.
In that instant, the bewildered Fang Xunjiu suddenly remembered Mu Anqi's skill—after all, he had been on the receiving end before. "So that's it… Sigh, Rich Lady, you really are… something else."
"?" Mu Anqi looked over blankly, only to find Fang Xunjiu sighing with profound weariness. "What's wrong?"
"No, it's nothing." Fang Xunjiu shook his head. "After all, I'm just an innocent male player. What could possibly happen to me?"
Mu Anqi: "…"
Mu Anqi, slow on the uptake, finally realized where that robed figure had gone. She offered an awkward smile. "Were you… were you hurt?"
"Not physically, but my spirit was greatly shaken. You probably can't imagine the feeling of finally managing to give a Nice Guy Card to one robed figure, only to have another one suddenly appear, kneel frantically, kowtow, and call me 'Dad'…" Fang Xunjiu's face was a picture of world-weariness. "I thought my Nice Guy Card dispenser had turned into a Daddy Card dispenser…"
"Ah, that action." Mu Anqi breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought maybe the robed figure started dancing provocatively with you, or sang 'Drunken Butterfly' to you."
Fang Xunjiu: "…" The Rich Lady's gameplays are getting wilder and wilder.
After their brief exchange, Ji Huaichu also emerged. She wasn't carrying the head of a robed figure, but judging by her aura, she had probably been in a fight. Next came He Guxia, Jiang Yuexia, Bai Yulai, the Green Vine sisters, Xia Yun, and Fang Yunjiu.
Once everyone had gathered, the tour group set off again to explore the new map.
Mu Anqi silently canceled her action list, as she hadn't decided which actions to replace yet… Accidentally targeting teammates, while probabilistic, seemed to have a 100% probability when it came to Fang Xunjiu.
Just as Mu Anqi and the others passed the first street corner, Zhao Guogu and her group, laden with large and small bags, laboriously shuffled out of a building.
Clang clang clang—the cans in their backpacks were clashing together. Si Suying, carrying a backpack, led the way scouting ahead. Spotting the crowd of figures at the street corner, she hesitated, "…Is that Mu Anqi and the others?"
Zhao Guogu blinked her eyes, took a second look at her own skills, and double-checked that her passive "Wish Fulfillment" wasn't active. Could this be the effect of a double Luck Emperor buff overlaying? Amazing!
"Looks like you all… have been living pretty comfortably?" Mu Anqi walked over with a helpless expression. Judging by Zhao Guogu's state, it seemed they had found so many supplies they couldn't even carry them all?!
However, when Mu Anqi got closer and saw Wu Sansheng and Qing Tian holding hands, she was genuinely shocked!
"…" Wu Sansheng also noticed everyone's gazes. She remained expressionless and calmly explained, "Qing Tian is timid. Fearful emotions have negative effects in the Black Mirror Vortex. My skill can absorb her emotions."
Qing Tian tilted her head, the little four-leaf clover on her head swaying slightly. Holding her rabbit doll with one hand, she looked utterly innocent.
"I see, no wonder the white fog was so thick when we first entered." Mu Anqi nodded, then went over to take Si Suying's backpack and stuffed all of Zhao Guogu's various bags into her storage ring. 'Once the game is over, I can expand the storage ring again. It's not like we're short on points now anyway.'
Wu Sansheng breathed a sigh of relief, but before that relief could fully settle, she noticed the White Fox Demon King staring intently at her hand.
Bai Yulai was stroking her large fox tail repeatedly, but her beast-like pupils were fixed on the point where Wu Sansheng and Qing Tian made contact. Noticing Wu Sansheng's gaze, Bai Yulai narrowed her eyes slightly. For once, she didn't adopt a charming, delicate demeanor. Instead, she let out a cold sneer.
Wu Sansheng: "…"
She didn't know why, but she inexplicably felt a little guilty.
"Qing Tian found an eerie statue that's probably related to clearing the stage, right? We haven't finished exploring this area yet because every house we enter has so many supplies. Just packing everything took a lot of time." Zhao Guogu excitedly shared their findings with her teammates. "I'm so glad we finally ran into you! Otherwise, it would've been hard to carry all this stuff! And if we went into another house, we wouldn't be able to carry anything more."
"No matter how many times I hear it, this girl's words never fail to make my fists clench," Jiang Yuexia said through gritted teeth, her expression stiff. Even Qing Tian wouldn't say something so infuriating! This was just like last time when Si Suying said the two Demon Kings should meet for a meal. The hotel happened to be running an event, and Zhao Guogu not only won the grand prize but also said things like, 'Oh my, why do I always win the top prize whenever there's an event? I guess I'm just really lucky, huh?'
"There's no need to rush clearing the stage. Let things take their natural course. Aren't we here to travel, after all?" Ye Jingmeng casually scattered a handful of seeds, her excitement evident. "Can you sense if there's a bar nearby? Or even just some alcohol will do!"