"Once you master extraction, I'll give it to you," Wang GuiYing spoke and this time, Xin was a bit shocked to hear this.
The purple magical stone was so rare that most people would want to keep it hidden forever. If their friends witnessed the stone, they would kill their friends and if a stranger came to know about its possession, the stranger would be killed as well.
Nobody in their right minds would entrust the stone to someone else, especially not after hearing the benefits the purple magical stone possessed.
However, it seemed that Wang GuiYing was truly not a normal person.
Although he had already heard about the importance and benefits of the purple magical stone, he did not feel threatened.
He still trusted Xin and didn't even doubt the man for a second.
"What if I take it and run?" Xin asked. He had no plans of actually doing that but he still felt the need to ask that question.
Wang GuiYing smiled as he heard this question and spoke, "Then I'll take it as my fate and look for another one. I trust that you won't betray me but even if you do, I wouldn't be too sad. After all, it's just a stone with a pretty color."
Not many people in this game could say the same. In fact, even Xin could not talk about this stone so casually as if it were nothing more than a pretty-colored rock.
Xin chuckled softly as he spoke, "If you are willing to trust me so much, I guess I should consider myself lucky."
Wang GuiYing smirked, "Of course, you should! I don't treat everyone like this!"
The two didn't bother talking too much about the topic, afraid of being overheard. They collected the purple magical stone and as discussed, Xin really did try to cook the snake by boiling it. However, the meat tasted too gross to eat, and hence, they had to throw it away.
They got ready to once again continue their search for the gamemaster, but within ten minutes of walking around, the ground beneath them started to ominously shake.
Wang GuiYing immediately turned to Xin as if asking the man for an explanation.
Xin looked back at Wang GuiYing and shook his head as he guessed what was going through the man's head and spoke, "It's not me this time."
The trees were swinging side to side, looking as if they were ready to fall down at any moment now. Small cracks started forming on the ground and slowly but surely, the cracks started growing wider. Oddly enough there was no breeze and the sky above them was completely covered with dark clouds.
As long as Wang GuiYing remembered, the sky was still clear before the earthquake.
This was clearly not a good sign and both of the players understood that.
Wang GuiYing's eyebrows creased together and he looked to be displeased as he questioned, "Then what the hell is it? Another three-headed underground monster?!"
Xin once again shook his head, "Can't be."
Wang GuiYing was on his guard and constantly looked around in order to make sure nothing attacked them by surprise.
However, the ground suddenly stopped shaking and everything returned to normal. If the leaves of the trees were still not rustling, Wang GuiYing would have almost thought that he had imagined the earthquake.
"Follow me!" Xin exclaimed as he started running forward without bothering to explain anything.
Wang GuiYing was still shocked and clueless but when he saw the man running, he instinctively followed him.
Only after running for a minute or so did he realize where Xin was headed and he was even more confused.
"Why are we running back?"
This was the exact same path that they had taken in order to come here so it was only natural that Wang GuiYing was confused by Xin's actions.
"Just follow!" Xin didn't bother saying much as he exclaimed once again, sounding worried.
Wang GuiYing immediately shut his mouth and didn't question any further. He simply followed after the man with no hesitation.
Xin's footsteps slowly came to a stop and the trees that surrounded them started to clear up. They were now standing in front of a plain field.
Wang GuiYing clearly remembered that they had walked through a dense jungle filled with trees. When they had come here, there was no plain field.
Wang GuiYing stopped right beside Xin and now that he looked a bit closer, he noticed that this wasn't actually a plain field. It was the same jungle that they had crossed. However, it wasn't in the same state in which they had left it.
Something had cut down all the trees and killed all the beasts around the area.
In the middle of the plain field, there was a huge shining array. To be more exact, it was the afterimage of a magical array.
"Who could have done this?" Wang GuiYing had a small frown on his face as he asked. He already had an idea as to what the answer to that question would be but he wasn't confident enough to voice it out loud.
Xin sighed as he spoke, "Who else can it be? There are only two people who would be this showy. Mastermo and the gamemaster."
Wang GuiYing didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry as he heard this. It seemed that Xin also shared his thoughts.
Just the mere sight of the plain field sent shivers down Wang GuiYing's spine. Although the ones behind it weren't standing in front of him, he could still feel the oppressing power of the person. Who else except for Mastermo and Li Ling could make others feel this way?
Wang GuiYing gulped, "They are probably near."
"No," Xin shook his head with a disappointed sigh as he spoke, "Don't you remember that earthquake?"
Wang GuiYing silently nodded his head and looked at Xin for an explanation.
"That was them ascending to the fourth stage."
"..."
So they already left...?
"In that case, shouldn't we go after them...?" Wang GuiYing hesitantly asked.
"I don't want to go," Xin responded and Wang GuiYing was rendered speechless.
He looked at the man as if he had gone crazy and repeated his words in his mind just to recheck whether he had heard it right or not.
"The fourth stage isn't very fun," Xin spoke and he seemed to be sincere about it.
"But we need to get you out of this game," Wang GuiYing reminded the man.
"They'll probably return once they realize I'm not there," Xin shrugged his shoulders as he casually replied.
"You're joking... Right?"
Xin said nothing as he turned around and started walking back towards the mountains.
"..." It took Wang GuiYing a few minutes to wake up from the shock and as soon as he snapped himself awake, he ran after Xin.
"Stop! We need to go after them! We need to get you out of here!" Wang GuiYing clicked his tongue as he shouted but it seemed that his words had fallen to deaf ears.
"So what if you don't like the fourth stage? Your life is on the line here! I thought you were determined to save yourself! Do you really just plan to wait around for them to come and save you? What are you? A damsel in distress?!"
This time, Xin did hear him and he indeed stopped as well. He turned and said with an expressionless face, "I'm neither a damsel nor in distress."
Wang GuiYing blinked, thinking, 'Is that the only thing you heard...?!'
"And secondly," Xin added as his eyes narrowed down on Wang GuiYing, "Of all the people that I've known, you, do not have the right to criticize me."
Wang GuiYing felt as if he had offended the man but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't figure out how he had offended him.
Xin turned around once again and continued to walk forward.
"You said you'd help me find Zhou Xinyi!" Wang GuiYing shouted and this time, he didn't bother following after the man.
Xin once again stopped.
"If you want to keep your promise then you better catch up with them. In any case, a dead man can't help me find Zhou Xinyi."
Xin gulped as he heard this and looked down at the ground.
"Xin, I trusted your words... Don't let me regret that."
Xin scoffed and swiftly turned around, walking towards the man, "Wang GuiYing, do you really want to find Zhou Xinyi?"
Wang GuiYing nodded his head without any hesitation.
"Why?" Xin asked without missing a beat, "This time, be honest about it. Why do you want to find him?"
Wang GuiYing gulped as he heard this question.
It wasn't the first time he was asked this question but it was certainly the first time he was taking this long to answer it.
Why?
Why was he looking for Zhou Xinyi?
What would he do when he really did find him...?
"I don't know..." Wang GuiYing muttered with his head lowered in disappointment.
He was disappointed in himself for not being able to answer that question.