A/N: Thank you all for the love and support you showed. It was a grandfather of mine who died. He had been bed ridden for the past 4 months so I guess it's a good thing he died without suffering for too long. I don't like funerals. They seem to suck the energy out of me somehow and make me tired and emotionally drained.
Sorry for the downer of an Author's note at the beginning.
Anyway, this was a fun chapter to write. I hope you all enjoy it.
Here is the real chapter 13.
Happy Readings.
Tow 13
Squirrels!
Cheng Xiu gazed down at the moving lands. The further and further they moved from the Village center, the smaller the houses around them became. From those made of stones, it changed to those made of straws and mud, and the village was bordered by many houses made of sticks and straws. None of them had windows. It really was a village.
The Dragons slowly descended to the ground and landed with a soft thud.
"What's going on?"
"The flying period is over I guess."
"Shouldn't Reptile Carts fly all the time?"
San Zhu laughed. "That's for people who are level 20 and above. Us low-level people have to make do with a spurt of taste of how it feels to fly in a Dragon Cart."
"That sucks."
San Zhu shrugged.
Cheng Xiu went back to watching the terrains of The Other World.
The dragons ran at full speed and before she knew it, they had left the last marks of civilization. The lands changed, becoming rolling yellow hills, with wild vegetation. And then it drove into a dense forest.
"Are you alright?" San Zhu asked. "You seem a bit upset?"
"Mm."
San Zhu frowned. "So…did that mean you are alright? Or did you mean you are upset?"
Cheng Xiu stared into the golden trees, mind occupied.
"Sister Cheng?"
Cheng Xiu turned to him. "Yes?"
San Zhu shook his head with a strained smile on his face. "Nothing. WenXian was a great guy, huh? I have always admired him as a fellow player. Did you know that he is in almost all the leaderboards?"
"He pushed me out of Veritas teleportation circle. That's how it became my starter village."
"A-all these rich people s-suck? That is what I meant. Right sister Cheng? Sister Cheng? Huh? sister Cheng?" he said and turned back to observe the road.
Cheng Xiu just sent him a look.
Talking to Cheng Xiu about WenXian was like stepping on a ground full of hidden traps. He had better avoid that topic from now on.
"The Lu family has three sons, right?" Cheng Xiu asked.
San Zhu frowned. So much for avoiding it. "Five children. Three sons from the first wife, who died, and two children, from the second wife, who ran away with another man."
Cheng Xiu hummed. "What are the names of the youngest ones?"
"A son called WenXing who is 22 years old. I hear he is kind of a waste of space or something. The other is a daughter. I think she is 17 or something. The Lu family is very protective of her because she is the first daughter in five generations. So there isn't as much of public information."
"Hm."
The youngest son was 22. He couldn't be the Master.
Cheng Xiu had stumbled across the master's work when she was 14 herself. It was a fanfiction work about a handsome 15 year old pop star trending during that time falling for a young heiress. She had loved the Master's work and read every one of the Master's works since then.
Cheng Xiu was an OG member of Master's Fanclub-cough-Discussion Forum.
The Master was 18 at most. And there were rumours that master was a girl...so...
"What is the girl's name?" She asked casually.
San Zhu gave her a look that said he wasn't buying her nonchalant attitude.
Cheng Xiu blushed.
"Lu WenYi," he said with a smile.
"Are the Lu parents obsessed with the name Wen?"
San Zhu shrugged. "I guess it's-"
Loud screeching noises echoed around them.
"What is that?" Cheng Xiu asked, arming herself with the Bow and Arrow and strapping her sword in place.
San Zhu took out a Spiked Trident from his storage ring. "I'm guessing a monster of some sort."
"What? Why are we going through other monster's areas before we reach the Rats' place?"
"The Other World is different from most VR games," San Zhu said. "There is no area limit to creatures of the same level."
"And what does that mean?" asked Cheng Xiu as she pulled out the weapons San Zhu gave her from her own Storage ring.
"Any creature that is in the same level or lower than the Rats would be in the same general area. They eat each other, drink water from the same river and keep the population in check most of the time. So it must be the sound of some creatures on a hunt."
Cheng Xiu notched an arrow to the bow. Her body glowed and her mind calmed down. Her mind filled with a basic understanding of how to use the bow.
[Ding!]
[Player has equipped herself with Level 3 Artemis Bow. Gained 5% Archery Efficiency.]
Well, that was convenient, Cheng Xiu thought.
They waited for an attack. There was nothing. The cart went deeper into the dense forest.
San Zhu put his trident down.
"Relax, Sister Cheng," said San Zhu, seeing her tense figure. "We are riding a level 5 Reptile Cart, there is no way those things would dare to attack us as long as we stay out of their lair."
Cheng Xiu stood up and looked around her, into the wild dark forest on either side. Her instincts told her that they were in danger.
The cart left the forest onto a dirt road that was surrounded by trees and long orange shrubs on either of its side.
She saw two yellow dots in the sky. They were bigger and bigger as whatever those were got closer and closer.
Cheng Xiu shot an arrow to the yellow dot on the right.
"Sister Cheng! What-"
The dot dodged.
The two dots became bigger faster. She could finally make out the shapes and tried to identify what they were.
"Are those squirrels?" Cheng Xiu asked.
San Zhu cursed and tapped on the runes twice. The Dragons picked up speed.
"They'll catch up to us in three minutes at this speed," Cheng Xiu said.
San Zhu panicked. "Shit! Shit! Why are Flying Squirrels here?"
"Maybe because they are smarter than you give them credit for or maybe this is a change that came along with Version 5 of the game."
They heard screeches near the wheels of the cart.
"Damn it! There must be ground level ones as well!"
San Zhu raised his trident and ran to the opening. He saw a red, cat-sized squirrel with saber teeth gnawing at the wheel knobs. There were many running after the cart.
Cursing, San Zhu stabbed the squirrel's back and threw it on the dirt road.
[Ding!]
[Player has killed a Red Squirrel. +1 to weapon Mastery Level 2.]
Two more jumped onto the wheel. San Zhu continued to kill off the squirrels as fast as he could but they seem to be replaced just as fast by others. Some came in twos and threes while some came solo.
The only good thing was that it actually honed his skill.
Something tore through the wood panel walls of the cart, fell on the floor, and rolled to Cheng Xiu's feet.
She shot another arrow and looked at the large brown shell case.
"Is that an acorn?" Cheng Xiu asked.
"Don't worry about that right now! Kill the Flying Squirrels! Quick! They have exploding nuts which they will throw at us if they get within a 2 mile radius from us!"
Cheng Xiu cursed and shot another arrow.
The Squirrels dodged again.
"For a supposed genius, your aims are pathetic!"
Cheng Xiu frowned. "I'm trying! I have no prior experience!"
San Zhu cursed. "I must be cursed today! First I lost my position to that Liu bastard! Now I have to fight random squirrel attacks!"
Cheng Xiu shot another arrow.
It hit the left one.
[Ding]
[Critical hit! Through sheer luck Player has unlocked Archery Skill.
Congratulations Player Selafia.]
[Player has killed a Flying Squirrel of E Rank. +2 to Archery. 2/100 to level up.]
The Squirrel disappeared into pixel lights.
Cheng Xiu smirked and notched another arrow.
Another acorn tore through the panels. Cheng Xiu turned her arrow head towards the front wheel.
"Kill the Flying Squirrels! As long as they are dead, the others will leave!" San Zhu shouted at her as he stabbed another red Squirrel from beside her.
Something bit her leg.
"Ow!"
A large red squirrel gnawed at her feet.
Cheng Xiu scowled, and released her arrow to its head point blank.
[Ding]
[Player has killed a Red Squirrel of E-Rank. +1 to Archery Level 1. 3/100 to level up.]
The beast pixelated away.
Cheng Xiu bent down and observed her wound. It was deep and bleeding.
"What happened?" San Zhu asked, his back to her as he killed some more Squirrels.
Cheng Xiu aimed her bow at the other Flying Squirrel. The one that seemed to always dodge and escape her arrows. "We forgot a cart has four wheels."
San Zhu cursed and started to run around, killing those that go the closest to one of the wheel knobs.
Cheng Xiu released her arrow and aimed at its yellow head. It hit the beast in the mouth as it spit something at their cart.
[Ding!]
[Player has killed a Flying Squirrel of S-Rank! +10 to Archery. 13/100 to level up.]
Its yellow body pixelated as it fell to the ground.
Cheng Xiu looked down at what the beast had thrown. A red nut, that was the size of a basketball.
"Bother San! It's a-"
The nut exploded, breaking the cart into pieces. The runes on the reins broke apart and the Dragons ran off.
Cheng Xiu felt pain everywhere and everything went dark.
A/N: And that is the true Chapter 17.
Squirrels and Exploding nuts. Don't ask me what goes on in my head. Sometimes, even I am curious about the deep end to which my mind goes.
Thank you for all the collections, and I hope to write and develop this into a story you won't leave halfway.
So how was the chapter? liked it? loved it? how was the pacing of the story? Was it enjoyable to read?
Do comment and share your valuable opinions on how the story feels like so far. Also, if you did like the chapter would you mind sparing the story a powerstone? Thank you!