Volume 2: Winter’s End
Shu Xun explained the situation of the two villas to Ye Qian before the night and also shared his speculation. Ye Qian nodded in agreement. Obviously, the conditions of the other villas were not good, and there was no harvest of any food.
Ye Qian also briefly inspected the frozen corpses sitting silently. With a poker face, he remained silent for a long time before speaking. “Race, non-evolved humans, died of hunger, time of death,” he paused here, and then continued, “about one hundred and fifty game days.”
Hearing this, Shu Xun also showed a slight surprise, and glanced at the corpse again, making sure he saw no signs of decay. One hundred and fifty game days, equivalent to five months, could it be that the humans in this world had some special characteristics? Shu Xun thought that Ye Qian was also puzzled by this, or else he wouldn’t have paused.
“Let’s go.” Unable to get an answer, Ye Qian wouldn’t waste time here. Having collected no food, their food reserves could only last about five days. Even if they didn’t rest, it would take two days to reach Micro City.
The situation in Micro City was unknown. If it was similar to here, they needed to move quickly to search for more food to sustain their energy for survival. Therefore, the speed not only determined the progress of the game but also decided their survival time.
Shu Xun obviously realized this issue. Although the food harvested in the forest base was not much, it was enough to prevent Shu Xun from starving. Therefore, Shu Xun did not fully understand the significance of food in this world until witnessing the situation in the villas around Micro Lake for the first time. Shu Xun realized that what led this world to its end was not just the winter but also the extreme scarcity of food.
Shu Xun walked towards Ye Qian with his small legs. However, halfway through, he suddenly stopped, tilted his little head, and asked, “Do you think he starved to death?” Shu Xun couldn’t determine the cause of death for the sitting man and didn’t have Ye Qian’s rich experience to gather more information, but he knew that Ye Qian’s judgment wouldn’t be wrong.
Ye Qian nodded naturally, giving an affirmative answer.
Shu Xun turned his head and looked at the man behind him, covered in frost. His eyes were still that deep blue, and his face showed no negative emotions, quietly like a painting, a picture unrelated to death.
Shu Xun took off his small backpack, unzipped it, and reached inside with his short arms, quickly finding a can of peach. Placing the can on the ground, Shu Xun put his backpack back on, then picked up the can of peaches, walked to the sitting corpse, climbed up the knees of the corpse, onto the shoulders, and hung it on the zipper of the clothes…
Ye Qian silently watched Shu Xun’s actions, neither asking nor urging.
In the live stream chat, there was a wave of question marks.
“Hahaha, this is hilarious! What’s going on?”
“What is the kid doing? People are starving, and even if you send food now, it’s too late!”
“I feel like I missed something in that last moment.”
“Is he really a child? Giving food to a dead person he’s never met?”
“God Ye, quickly stop him. Food is precious now. Can’t afford to waste it like this. Just tell him not to bring the dumpling!”
Regarding Shu Xun’s actions, some people agreed, while others opposed.
Ye Qian obviously understood Shu Xun’s actions, so he approached expressionlessly and took steps towards the corpse.
The barrage in the livestream room suddenly skyrocketed.
“God Ye, don’t do it! Little dumpling is still small! Show mercy!”
“Go, Ye Qian, that’s right, be ruthless to the end. Tell that dumpling what survival is!”
“Feel sorry for Shu Shu. Hope he won’t be sad later!”
So, in the live stream scene, an expressionless, and even a stern-faced expressionless figure, with a powerful aura, walked towards the location of the corpse. Then, under the gaze of billions of viewers, some unwillingly, some excitedly, he reached out, his slender palm heading straight for the dumpling. Two fingers pinched the back collar of the dumpling, lifting it up. The other hand reached forward, gripping the zipper of the corpse, and gently pulled.
Holding the can of peaches, Shu Xun turned to look at Ye Qian, then, with his short arms, he placed the can of peaches back into the embrace of the frozen man as the zipper opened. Ye Qian closed the zipper again, lifted Shu Xun, and placed him back in his own pocket.
The livestream room suddenly exploded with comments, and after a moment, another barrage of messages exploded.
“Ye Qian is definitely a lover of cute things! The terminal kind!”
“God Ye is beyond salvation! Case closed!”
“So heartwarming! Is this Ye Qian’s true nature?”
“Unstanning, unstanning! Where is the rational Ye Qian?”
“Mainly because the dumpling is too cute. Did you guys not see the pitiful expression on the dumpling’s face when Ye Qian lifted him up by the collar, holding the can of peaches!”
“I’ve always been curious about what’s on the dumpling’s forehead. Paint? Hasn’t the dumpling washed his face in all these days?”
“Forgetful upstairs, I’m curious too!”
“Could it be a characteristic of some animal? I haven’t seen it, but it looks nice.”
Clearly, in this era of near-perfect genetics, moles and birthmarks had long disappeared into the river of history, and people had no concept of cinnabar mole.
As the discussion in the livestream room gradually deviated, there was a sudden change in the game world.
Ye Qian, who was preparing to continue the journey, stopped in his tracks. He turned to look in the direction they had been rushing from, only to find that the gloomy sky had gradually changed its color. The oppressive gray finally faded away, and the sky was tinged with a faint blue, like a meandering ribbon quietly spreading across the horizon.
Shu Xun, nestled in the pocket, also saw the gradually tinting sky. The color seemed to deepen slowly, extending towards their current location.
“Something’s not right,” Shu Xun decisively said. The blue color didn’t seem like the clouds dispersing; instead, it appeared as if something blue was obstructing the gray clouds. Moreover, upon seeing the faint blue on the horizon, Shu Xun instinctively felt unease—a warning from his innate abilities. “Let’s leave quickly.”
Ye Qian remained expressionless, calmly speaking. “It’s too late.” After saying this, he turned back and headed towards the nearest villa. “We’ll stay here for today.”
Shu Xun quickly understood what “it’s too late” meant. They were now a day’s journey away from the next residential site, and the blue tint was spreading too quickly. Surely, Ye Qian had calculated the speed of the diffusion of the blue light through his recent observation.
Back in the villa, Ye Qian set Shu Xun down. “Within an hour, the blue light will spread here. I’ll go ice fishing,” he succinctly stated, turning to leave.
If it were someone else, Ye Qian’s logical speech might be hard to comprehend, but Shu Xun nodded earnestly. “Indeed, we might have to stay here for a while. I’ll go gather branches and be back within an hour.”
With their roles determined, the two immediately started working separately, seemingly preparing for a challenging situation.
In the live stream room:
“Is it my lack of intelligence? Why does their conversation feel disjointed?”
“Considering everything, both of them likely speculated about the blue light and made the same judgment. That’s why the dumpling instantly understood God Ye’s meaning and started working separately.”
“It looks like that blue aurora-like thing is tricky, and Ye Qian and the dumpling might be trapped here for a while.”
“Just said Shu Shu is a child, and now I feel like my intelligence has been crushed.”
“Ahh! They’re working separately again, can’t see the dumpling. Strongly request a teammate perspective in the live stream.”
Under the reluctant gaze of the audience, Ye Qian turned around and strode toward Micro Lake, while the little dumpling leaped agilely towards the Baiyan forest on the other side of Micro Lake, soon disappearing from sight.
Half an hour later, beneath the snow-covered Baiyan forest, under a sturdy white rock tree, a smooth hill of white snow formed, rapidly moving forward. It seemed like something beneath the snow was swiftly advancing. Soon, the small hill collided with the hard Baiyan tree, causing the white snow to puff up. A little dumpling quickly emerged from the snow, dressed in black clothes. It was none other than Shu Xun, searching for Baiyan nuts beneath the accumulated snow.
Shu Xun climbed out of the snow pit, stretching his chubby paws to pat off the snowflakes that clung to him. He shook his small head and then, satisfied, swung the small backpack hanging in front of him to the back. He began to prepare to return to Micro Lake, and looking at his cheerful chubby face, it was evident that the harvest was good.
Along the path he came, Shu Xun stepped on the soft, slightly cool white snow. This time, he didn’t dig a hole beneath the snow to move forward but walked on top of the white snow. As he walked, he picked up broken branches blown by the wind, collecting materials for making fire. Shu Xun wasn’t sure if Baiyan trees were widely distributed in this world, but evidently, the Baiyan tree held significant value due to its high tenacity, hardness, and density, making it suitable for crafting bows, arrows, weapons, and even a stable source of fire. Therefore, Shu Xun intentionally left space in his backpack to store Baiyan tree branches.
Whether it was his imagination or not, Shu Xun felt that while the blue light hadn’t arrived yet, the already extremely low temperature in the surroundings was rapidly dropping. Shu Xun rubbed his chubby paws, hastened his pace once again, and jogged towards Micro Lake.
Collecting materials along the way and advancing seemed to be smooth, except for the temperature dropping rapidly. Shu Xun, noticing broken branches on the left front, naturally trotted over with his short legs. Then, as he lifted the branch and prepared to shrink it into a mini size for storage in his backpack, a sudden strong wind came from the side.
Being a treasure-hunting mouse, Shu Xun’s sensitivity and intuition were naturally exceptional. Sensing something unusual, he quickly leaped away from the spot, creating distance. After pulling away, Shu Xun saw that the attacker was actually a rabbit! A snow-white, slightly larger rabbit!
Having just tasted the flavor of rabbit meat, Shu Xun instinctively felt that the rabbit in front of him was indeed quite big but still a bit thin…
