Six people ran frantically, with the bees relentlessly pursuing them from behind.
They quickly dashed across the grassland, the air around them growing increasingly humid, the faint salty smell of the sea wafting into their nostrils. The soil gradually transformed into fine sand, and a stretch of white beach appeared before them.
Ahead was a beautiful expanse of azure sea.
“It’s the sea!” Dou Dou, who was running the fastest, turned back excitedly to shout at the others, “Let’s hide in the water; the bees can’t swim!”
He was carrying Qi Xiaokui on his back and was the first to plunge into the sea, with the others quickly following suit.
However, not everyone could swim. Although Xin Meng ran into the water under the pressure of survival, he found himself unable to move forward when the water reached his neck. Those who couldn’t swim had an innate fear of being submerged in the sea.
You Yi seemed to have anticipated this, always staying close to him. Just as Xin Meng was about to fall over from being pushed by the waves, You Yi quickly steadied him. However, Xin Meng had to go under; no one could replace him. The swarm of bees was coming fast, and with his head above water, he was just waiting to die. You Yi simply wrapped his arms around Xin Meng’s head, took a deep breath, bit his lip, and provided him with oxygen, pulling him down into the water together!
All six of them went underwater, but terrifyingly, this did not save them. When Dou Dou inadvertently turned back to see if the others were following, he discovered that those bees, of an unknown species, had actually plunged into the water after them!
Thousands of bees dove into the water like little cannonballs. Once in the water, their speed was naturally slower than when flying, but they were still much faster than the humans swimming, and not a single one drowned!
Dou Dou: “……” His face hurt so much.
Just after saying that the bees couldn’t go into the water, they encountered a group that could swim…
These bees, defying the laws of nature, quickly made everyone realize that if they didn’t eliminate them completely, they would continue to follow closely behind, threatening their lives.
Just as they became aware of this problem, a change occurred ahead. A deep-sea monster, casting a massive shadow and an overwhelming sense of pressure, suddenly leaped up from the depths of the sea, opening its mouth full of sharp teeth and swallowing a small black person in one gulp!
“Bluefish!”
The words almost simultaneously surfaced in everyone’s minds; it was the monster of the next level!
This was simply adding insult to injury. The threat from behind hadn’t been resolved, and now a ferocious carnivorous giant fish appeared in front of them. The six people and the remaining three small monsters were caught in the middle, and the encirclement was getting tighter!
Dou Dou, with Qi Xiaokui, tried to break through, but countless bees wove a net with no flaws. After several failed attempts, the others felt a wave of despair.
You Yi assessed the current situation, then looked at Xin Meng. Xin Meng was extremely afraid of water. Although he was being tightly held by You Yi and could temporarily remain calm, he instinctively clung to his clothes, unable to exert any strength, and You Yi couldn’t free his hands.
Since that was the case…
He made a decisive decision, lifted a foot, and kicked the small black person in the back. The immense force sent it flying forward, right into the mouth of the bluefish!
The bluefish opened its massive mouth and devoured the second small black person.
The six people underwater suddenly saw everything go dark and returned to the save point…
“Cough, cough…” Luo Yingying lay on the ground, coughing violently. She wasn’t a good swimmer either and had almost reached her limit. If they had returned a moment later, she might have drowned.
This time, everyone was exhausted. Even Dou Dou lay on the ground gasping for breath, while only Xin Meng, under You Yi’s protection, was in relatively good condition, though still trembling from fear of the water.
Xin Meng was tightly held in You Yi’s arms, gradually feeling reassured. He recalled that this seemed to be the second time he had been pulled out of the water by You Yi. Indeed, with him around, he always managed to turn danger into safety.
“It’s all my fault for going to the bathroom and being so slow. If I hadn’t delayed, maybe the bees wouldn’t have come back,” Luo Yingying apologized to everyone, looking lost, her whole body drenched, even her hair dripping with water, and she sneezed as the wind blew past.
Qi Xiaokui seemed to understand a bit after hearing this and comforted her, “How can you blame yourself for needing to go to the bathroom? That’s not something you can hold in.”
“Exactly,” Dou Dou sat up from the ground and said, “Don’t be too hard on yourself; we went too, right?”
“Thank you, everyone,” Luo Yingying was at a loss for words, and Li Wenjun put his arm around her shoulder, sincerely thanking the others.
“I also think it’s not because of that,” Xin Meng said, regaining his composure. “We should still be prepared for the worst. Maybe after going into the sea, those bees will still chase us. Otherwise, the game wouldn’t have given them the strange ability to swim; it must be useful.”
The others exchanged glances, increasingly feeling that this might be the case.
“So what should we do…” Luo Yingying couldn’t help but feel a bit negative, thinking that this game was much harder than the previous ones. Although they could return to the save point infinitely, these repeated returns were constantly draining their physical strength and mental energy. She couldn’t help but doubt whether she could really hold on until the end.
“Why don’t we wait here for the bees to come after we kill the cow and take them out?” Dou Dou suggested.
Qi Xiaokui was speechless, “Look at our current state; who do you think will take out whom? The only one who’s fine is You Yi. Are you going to let him take out the entire swarm by himself?”
“Why does it have to be him alone? Isn’t there me?” Dou Dou protested.
Dou Dou’s skills were indeed surprisingly good, but he had no weapons. However, on the other hand, having weapons wouldn’t help much; there were thousands of those bees.
“I’m sure there’s a way to crack this,” Xin Meng tried to analyze. “Every puzzle has a correct answer; there are no dead ends in the game. The seawater can’t stop them, which only means that this isn’t the correct way to solve it, meaning the key isn’t in the next level. If we assume that the clue appears before this level, then we must have seen it, but we didn’t pay attention to it. What could it be…”
He bit his lip, his mind racing as he recalled the path they had taken.
The others were inspired and greatly admired Xin Meng.
“Yes, yes, yes! Just like feeding a hamburger to a crow, the props are in the previous levels!” Dou Dou slapped his thigh, only to be slapped back by Qi Xiaokui.
He had slapped Qi Xiaokui’s thigh.
“Hamburger… crow… crow… bird?” Xin Meng suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said, “Do crows eat bees?”
Qi Xiaokui and Luo Yingying exchanged glances, and Luo Yingying uncertainly said, “I know some birds eat them, but I’m not sure about crows…”
“Right, robins eat bees, but I’m not sure about crows,” Qi Xiaokui added.
“Aren’t crows scavengers?” Dou Dou looked confused.
“They also eat insects!” Luo Yingying, although a kindergarten teacher, had a wealth of knowledge. “They are omnivores; besides scavenging and insects, they also eat grains and fruits, and occasionally they’ll steal other birds’ eggs. And didn’t they eat hamburgers before?”
“Oh, that’s right!” Dou Dou slapped his forehead, having forgotten about that.
“Bees are also insects; they should… eat them too, right?” Li Wenjun frowned and said, “Are you suggesting we let crows eat the bees? But putting aside whether they eat them or not, just the size difference is too great. Crows are only half the size of bees, and there aren’t that many of them. Isn’t that like hitting a rock with an egg? Can it succeed?”
“Although it sounds unbelievable, isn’t it even more unbelievable that bees can swim?” Xin Meng retorted. “I’ve thought for a long time about everything I’ve seen along the way. Besides crows, nothing else is useful against bees. The possibility of crows is the greatest.”
“Remove all impossibilities, and what remains, no matter how unreasonable it seems, is the truth of the matter!” Dou Dou clapped his hands. “That’s what Sherlock Holmes said! I think it’s reliable!”
The others couldn’t think of a better solution either, so they decided to take it one step at a time and try it out first.
This journey was even harder to traverse. Although they had rested for a while earlier, it was merely a drop in the bucket. The two weaker women were extremely fatigued, their steps heavy, while the men faced more threats from the lack of water.
Three days; if they went without water for three days, most people would die of dehydration.
—Not including them. With such a huge amount of activity, they wouldn’t last more than two days.
You Yi assessed his physical condition and clearly stated that since entering the game, it had already been over 24 hours.
With no other choice, as they passed Hamburger Mountain, everyone except Xin Meng, who was responsible for feeding the small black people, had to quickly pull out the pitiful lettuce stuck in the hamburgers. Although it couldn’t truly alleviate their lack of moisture, it was better than nothing.
Dou Dou pulled out the lettuce leaves and chewed them while occasionally glancing at You Yi and then at Xin Meng, his eyes darting around. Before long, he approached Xin Meng, who was seriously feeding the small black people.
“Xin Meng, your husband is really amazing,” Dou Dou struck up a conversation.
Xin Meng was naturally very pleased to hear others praise You Yi and quickly smiled at him. “He used to be a special forces soldier, so he’s very skilled.”
“No, no, no, although he is indeed very skilled, that’s not what I’m talking about!” Dou Dou shook his head.
“Not that?” Xin Meng didn’t understand what he meant.
“I mean, the fact that he used the save point to save everyone’s lives,” Dou Dou leaned in and said mysteriously. “Being able to discover the hidden path in the game is truly remarkable.”
“This… as long as you think about it carefully, anyone could come up with it…” Xin Meng looked at him in confusion; it wasn’t something hard to discover.
“But your husband’s reaction was just too quick, and his timing was perfect; his judgment was simply amazing… not just this time, but several times before,” Dou Dou said.
Although he was praising You Yi, Xin Meng felt that there was something more in his words, and sure enough, she heard Dou Dou continue.
“It always feels like he’s very familiar with this game, especially with various loopholes and hidden conditions;” Dou Dou joked, “Is he really not a GM or something?”
Xin Meng pursed her lips and looked into his eyes, saying, “Of course not; he’s just experienced and has played a few more games than us. Also, why don’t you just ask him directly?”
Dou Dou chuckled awkwardly, “I was thinking about it, but he rarely interacts with anyone other than you!”
However, Xin Meng felt that he wasn’t being truthful.
