“Do you remember how you got here?” Dou Dou threw out another question.
Xin Meng shook his head, “I just took a nap, and when I woke up, I was here. I don’t know what happened.”
Dou Dou looked at him with a subtle gaze for a moment, as if judging the truth of his words, and finally said with a grin, “Me too, it’s really strange, right?”
Xin Meng frowned; Dou Dou’s tone sounded very odd. Why was he asking that?
What exactly was he trying to find out?
As if knowing what he wanted to ask, Dou Dou laughed and walked away from him, running over to Qi Xiaokui, grinning and saying something that earned him a slap from her. He dodged with a smile and ran off to tease Luo Yingying.
After Xin Meng finished feeding the little black boy, the others had also eaten enough and started running around.
You Yi came to Xin Meng’s side and handed him the lettuce that had been set aside for him. Xin Meng picked up a piece and casually put it in his mouth, whispering to You Yi, “This Dou Dou is too strange. He seems very interested in you. I can’t say he has any malice, but I just feel like he’s probing for something.”
“He’s not new to playing games,” You Yi said. “No one has ever mentioned that switching games would restore one’s original physical condition, but he knows.”
Xin Meng recalled what Dou Dou had said that time and guessed he might have let something slip. “So it’s true. He also asked about your medical kit. He’s curious about everything that’s different about you compared to other players. Not to mention the reason, just the fact that he can notice the unusual means he must have seen many other players. He’s not as new as he claims to be. But why is he pretending it’s his first time participating in the game? What does he want?”
You Yi shook his head. “So far, it’s hard to tell.”
“Even though he lied, he hasn’t harmed anyone in the team. Instead, he’s been saving people and taking care of Qi Xiaokui,” Xin Meng said, looking ahead with a frown. “He doesn’t run away when faced with danger; he even charges to the front. He’s contributed a lot to getting through this journey… I don’t understand. Since he doesn’t want to harm anyone, why lie? Does he have some kind of conspiracy like Jiezi? But…”
You Yi fell silent for a moment and said softly, “Overthinking is useless. Let’s just observe how things unfold.”
“That’s all we can do.” Xin Meng nodded.
When they arrived at the narrow path filled with crows, everyone took out the soft, transparent giant condoms from their backpacks.
This was the method they had discussed earlier. They would place hamburgers on the ground to attract the crows, then use these to catch them. If they caught too few, they would concentrate them in one and continue catching with the remaining five condoms until they were full. Dou Dou personally pulled one over and found that it was just like a real condom, with strong elasticity that could stretch a lot without breaking.
The path was very narrow; if they only placed one pile, at most one person could stand in front and one behind to catch them, while the others couldn’t pass and would just be anxious. So Xin Meng simply placed three piles at intervals, with two people in each group, one in front and one behind to guard. You Yi’s group only had him because Xin Meng had to go to the end to feed the little black boy after placing the piles, leaving only five people lined up on the narrow path.
Soon, the sound of flapping wings echoed, and a dark mass of crows swooped down, excitedly eating the hamburgers. In the blink of an eye, the hamburgers were devoured.
The five people immediately lunged with the condoms, but crows are very cunning and smart birds. They scattered to the sides in a flurry, and in the end, only You Yi managed to catch one in his condom; the others didn’t catch a single one.
“Did we fail?” Li Wenjun shook his hand, helplessly saying, “The plan was good, but reality isn’t that easy.”
To be honest, none of them had ever caught a bird before, so they had no experience. They thought they could catch them while they were eating, as long as they acted quickly, but they forgot that crows are not like pigeons; these creatures are incredibly cunning and not so easy to catch.
“Ah!” “Ah!”
The crows cawed loudly, as if mocking them.
However, just as they were about to think of another method, they noticed the crows flapping their wings and flying back. This time, none of them attacked; instead, they all stood on the path, quietly watching the five people.
“What’s… going on?” Luo Yingying felt a bit scared and took a step back, her back bumping into Qi Xiaokui.
Qi Xiaokui supported her, “Be careful.”
One crow was very close to Qi Xiaokui. When she looked over, it took two gentle steps forward. Seeing that Qi Xiaokui didn’t dodge, it took two more steps, getting closer and closer.
“I feel like… they don’t seem to have any malice.” Qi Xiaokui looked at the crow, whose black bean-like eyes were also looking at her, even tilting its head. She surprisingly found the crow quite cute…
The crow waddled forward, finally reaching Qi Xiaokui’s feet, flying up and landing on her shoulder. Qi Xiaokui turned her head, her cheek brushing against its warm, smooth feathers.
It felt pretty good…
The other crows also flew up, landing on them, some on their shoulders, and a few crowded on their heads.
“What’s going on? Why did they suddenly become so friendly?” Dou Dou grimaced, enduring the flapping of wings, accidentally swallowing several feathers, and quickly spat them out.
“It means our guess was correct,” You Yi said calmly. His state was simply overwhelming; those crows seemed to know who they couldn’t provoke, as only one larger crow stood on his shoulder, looking like the strongest in the group, proudly standing with its head held high, while the other crows didn’t dare to approach, only bothering the other four… Of course, when Xin Meng returned, the one being bothered would turn into five.
However, Xin Meng, with a head full of birds, was still very happy. “I guessed right! These crows are indeed the correct tools! We were always afraid they would eat the hamburgers and then come back to attack, so we hurried away each time, missing the changes! This puzzle is interconnected; we must first get the hamburgers, bring them to feed the crows, and they can transform into the key for the next level. We don’t even need to catch them ourselves; they will follow us. This must be the right way to deal with the bees!”
The others also felt certain, only Dou Dou kept flipping the condom around, muttering, “This thing isn’t used here; what’s it for? Are we supposed to give it to the bull as a condom? If we give it a stroke, will it let us go?”
Qi Xiaokui slapped him on the forehead, her face turning red.
The reality perfectly confirmed Xin Meng’s words. When they tried to chase the little black boy, the group of crows flew up and followed them overhead, moving forward with them.
Everyone was invigorated by this fact, quickly running to catch up with the little black boy, passing through the castle and the forest, arriving at the location of the beehive.
What happened next once again proved the correctness of this action.
The crows flying in the air saw the giant bees that the little black boys had knocked out and let out excited, hoarse cries, as if starving cats had spotted delicious mice, disregarding the size difference, diving down like black swords from the sky, plunging into the swarm of bees!
The bees, encountering their natural enemies, almost fled in panic. Although they tried to resist with their stingers, the crows’ feathers seemed to have some mysterious quality, proving to be impenetrable like steel. Instead, the bees were pecked through their soft bellies by the crows’ sharp beaks!
The small black figures dashed through the yellow-black cloud, forcefully scattering the swarm, easily taking down one prey after another that was twice their size.
Everyone watched in astonishment, only Xin Meng and You Yi still remembered the little black boys, seizing the opportunity while the bees were not all dead to take down one little black boy and pulled the others to safety outside the chaotic battle.
The battle lasted only about ten minutes, and the previously arrogant bees were all wiped out. The crows, as victors, flew up into the sky, circling and joyfully calling out, then flew away in the direction they came from.
Only the ground was left littered with the remains of bees.
“So it can be like this?” Dou Dou looked dumbfounded, “It opened the door to a new world for me… Ah! I suddenly really want to raise a crow, what should I do?”
The others: “…”
They didn’t have more time to be dazed; ahead, a group of anxious little black boys and a bull were waiting for them.
Dealing with the bull didn’t have any better methods; their previous strategy would work, being both convenient and not requiring running around. As long as they controlled it well, there wouldn’t be any danger.
Moreover, this time the division of labor was clearer. Dou Dou and Li Wenjun could each subdue two little black boys, so they directly handed over four little black boys to them, while also standing separately beside Luo Yingying and Qi Xiaokui, just in case. Luo Yingying, Qi Xiaokui, and Xin Meng formed a triangle, surrounding the bull in the middle, taking turns to provoke it, while You Yi was responsible for cutting its rear to let it bleed.
The bull had a terrifying size and frightening brute strength, but as a balance, it also had a stupid brain. The three of them led it around, yet it still didn’t learn its lesson, running wherever it was hit, ultimately exhausting itself to death for the second time.
Now it seemed that as long as they restarted the second time, many dangers that seemed life-threatening at the time had become a bit easier.
It was as if clearing the levels was that simple.
However, the question was, how many times could the players endure restarting?
The first level was fine, the second level was fine, but how many people could last until the tenth level?
The few of them, exhausted, walked onto the beach, the snow-white clean sand, the boundless blue sea, and the gentle, slightly salty sea breeze should have been a scene like a fairyland. However, no one had the mood to appreciate or enjoy it, especially when they thought that there was a monstrous creature waiting for them in the water that could eat people, and they had to knowingly walk into danger. A heavy feeling settled in their hearts.
The two women’s steps slowed even more. The situation was urgent when they went into the sea earlier, and they didn’t care about much. But when they returned to the save point, the stinging sensation of saltwater wrapping around their wounds quickly spread throughout their bodies, making even the men frown, let alone them. But neither of the two mentioned it, still following along as they ran until they were about to enter the sea, when they finally showed a hint of hesitation.
