Chapter 188: Tycoon Town (4)
At Qin Yanshu's feet, a wolf had already fallen, its neck gushing blood as it kicked its legs and slowly died.
The pack still had four wolves left, circling Qin Yanshu and lunging at him in turns. Although his brandished Tang sword forced them to keep a distance, the wolves' size advantage meant this fight would not be easy.
No matter the rules, dealing with the immediate trouble came first. Ji Ning shook her head, flinging her worries aside—she had to help Qin Yanshu kill the wolves.
She looked at the steamed bun clutched in her left hand, wondering if she could lure one away by throwing it far. But judging by these wolves' lean, agile builds, with two living people right in front of them, they probably wouldn't be interested in a bun.
She glanced at the magic wand in her right hand and discovered the button and the top were glowing.
Not just a lit-up light kind of glow, but a faint pink radiance. The pink gel gem glued into the center of the plastic star at the tip now glittered brilliantly, exactly like a special effect from a fantasy animation.
"Ji Ning!"
With that heart-wrenching shout, Ji Ning's head shot up to see a wolf charging at her, fierce and unstoppable, its legs springing as it leaped—about to pounce on her in the next instant.
She could no longer hesitate. Ji Ning raised her right arm, aimed at the wolf's head, and quickly pressed the button.
As she acted, a rainbow-colored beam shot from the tip of the magic wand, striking the wolf as it hung in midair.
To her astonishment, the enormous wolf simply vanished upon contact with the light.
Because he was worried about Ji Ning, Qin Yanshu had been forced to unleash his body's potential; a surge of inexhaustible strength flooded his limbs, and his agility reached a new height.
Just as one wolf lunged at Ji Ning, only three remained in front of him, his pressure instantly halved.
He seized the moment when one wolf on the edge was off guard, dashed forward in a couple of strides, crouched, leaned back, and slid into the gap under its body. At the same time, he gripped his Tang sword sideways and slashed all the way from the wolf's chest to its belly.
The hide was split by the keen blade, entrails spilling out bit by bit, and the huge wolf collapsed to one side with barely a struggle.
From four wolves down to two, Qin Yanshu's side finally eased up a great deal.
Ji Ning let out a long breath, suppressed the wild joy of having bet on the right thing, and prepared to keep killing wolves with the magic wand.
But when she pressed the button again, the wand no longer responded.
She raised the wand to her eyes and saw that the gem in the middle of the plastic star had dimmed considerably—yet inside it, like water slowly filling up, a faint light was gradually rising from the bottom.
So the magic wand needed to "charge up" after a use.
She didn't know how long it took to charge fully, but right now, it was certainly unusable.
She looked at Qin Yanshu and saw the two wolves encircling him, barking madly as they lunged to bite, far more ferociously than before.
It looked like the deaths of their kin had provoked them; what had been an assault was now a desperate fight.
Even with only two wolves left, Qin Yanshu's situation hadn't improved much. Ji Ning had no choice but to throw caution to the wind.
She swapped the objects in her hands, sprinted behind Qin Yanshu, gathered all her strength, jumped, and hurled the steamed bun far beyond the wolves.
Her heart pounded wildly. Ji Ning secretly prayed that a special item would have a special effect.
In truth, it happened in an instant, but in Ji Ning's eyes it unfolded like slow motion.
The slightly smaller wolf was drawn by the bun sailing over its head; it turned and chased after it, limbs churning at high speed.
Without the flank harassment, Qin Yanshu could finally focus on the pack's largest wolf—the alpha.
He continuously shifted his stance, using his Tang sword to evade the snapping jaws. After gauging several exchanges, he finally, during one of the alpha's lunges, accurately drove the sword through its eerie green eye and straight into its skull.
The alpha fell, and the remaining lesser wolf was nothing to fear.
The wolf that had eaten Ji Ning's bun was on its way back when the victorious Qin Yanshu sliced its throat open.
After the last wolf breathed its last, the five wolves' corpses turned to ash and scattered into the air.
Where the wolves had died, five different items appeared: a "steamed bun," an "apple," a "dart," a "glass bead," and a "slingshot."
Qin Yanshu paid no attention to what lay on the ground. He turned, took two long strides to Ji Ning, and pulled her into his arms.
He held her so tightly it felt as if her waist would be snapped in two by his steel-bar arms.
But Ji Ning didn't mind at all. Her face buried against his chest, she could hear his heartbeat racing.
This side of him—so utterly different from his usual self, so agitated on her account that his nature seemed to change—well, it actually made her heart stir.
"You scared me. In that instant, I even heard something shatter."
Because she was pressed against him, his voice rumbled in his chest, buzzing right into her ears until she felt electrified.
Tentatively, she found his hand and squeezed her fingers between his three unfilled fingers where he no longer held the sword hilt. "I'm fine, I have a weapon too. My magic wand is so strong! It actually works!"
Qin Yanshu dropped the Tang sword and wrapped Ji Ning's hand inside his palm, his frantic heartbeat gradually calming.
"Alright, let's pick our rewards quickly. I don't know if they'll disappear." It was Ji Ning who remembered the important business first, given Qin Yanshu's mood.
The two of them then chose their rewards from the items the wolves had dropped.
Ji Ning chose food the first time, and this time she picked the "glass bead," which had appeared both times. She already knew the food wasn't for the players to eat but for clearing challenges, so she wanted to test what the other kind of item did.
Qin Yanshu chose the dart, strengthening his offensive ability to avoid relying on a single means the next time he faced a challenge swarming with monsters.
Just as both had selected their rewards, a mechanical voice rang through the space: "Two pieces have met, triggering the 'Love or Kill' test. Choose 'Love': after consummation, all items of the attacking side belong to the receiving side. Choose 'Kill': the loser's weapons and items all belong to the winner."
Livestream comments:
"Finally, Ning-Ning also encounters Love or Kill hahahahaha, I'm hard first as tribute."
"Lao Qin: I choose Kill."
"Ning-Ning: Then let's kill. Can a Tang sword beat a magic wand?"
"Hahahahahahahahaha!"
"All martial arts rely on speed to prevail, but before a magic wand, it's all making mountains out of molehills."
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