Chapter 22: Chapter 22 Hide and Seek

There’s an interactive icon at the bottom.

After clicking on it, only “Water Concealment” was lit up.

There is also a line of text behind “Water Concealment”: Interactive mini-game (Hide and Seek): Find the hidden Beast Taming within a designated area (area radius equals Energy Level * 100m), with over 30% of the terrain in the hide and seek area being water environment. Each round of the game must find the hidden Beast Taming within thirty minutes, and if found successfully, Water Concealment skill’s Proficiency Level +1. If not found within the specified time, Proficiency Level does not increase,

Reminder: During the game, both parties must be fully engaged in the game without any cheating or suggesting behaviors. Playing in a closed environment is not allowed. In the presence of the above behaviors, no rewards will be obtained.

Ah, this…

So the mini-game is a real mini-game, huh.

But is this search for Beast Taming serious? Although it says no cheating, even if we don’t cheat, how smart could a little Karami that’s just over a month old be?

Let’s go!

Chen Xing explained the rules to Taotie and then, in accordance with the game rules, blindfolded himself and squatted in place, giving Taotie one minute to hide.

Taotie stood in front of its master, looking a bit foolish as its eyes swirled around.

It didn’t understand why its master wanted to play this, but it felt inexplicably fun.

It dashed on its four legs into the nearby lake and sank into the water.

Only a pair of eyes peeked out of the water’s surface, watching its master not far away on the shore.

The body, soaked by the water, gradually blurred and merged with the surrounding lush green water.

Chen Xing counted to eighty in his heart to make sure he didn’t count too quickly and that it was less than a minute.

The empty surroundings allowed one to see to the end at a glance; aside from some bushes a bit further away, there was the tranquil little lake nearby.

The soil by the lake was somewhat damp with fine crawling traces on the ground. Some grasses were recently flattened along the way, and he traced the little Taotie’s crawling marks to the lake’s edge.

Chen Xing considered a serious question as he looked out over the lake.

It must have gone underwater, so should he dive in to look for it?

Shallower areas might be manageable, but what about the deeper parts?

Seems like… it’s a bit troublesome.

Chen Xing muttered in his heart.

Was he really supposed to buy a whole set of diving gear to go underwater and search for it?

The radius of this area is Energy Level * 100, which is now 6.68 Energy Level, making the radius 668 meters.

Chen Xing glanced at the expansive surface of the water, the opposite bank of the lake bordered by a dense forest. He occasionally saw some wild ducks and birds flying around when he had been here before.

He had never been in this lake and didn’t know the specifics, but hearsay suggested that the average depth of the lake was at least two to three meters, with deeper parts possibly reaching four to five meters.

The sunset glow reflected on the lake’s surface, glittering with ripples. Chen Xing suddenly noticed something odd about the water’s surface not far from the shore.

While other parts of the surface had ripples, a small section about two to three meters from the nearby shore looked like it was pixelated.

Chen Xing turned to pick up a thin tree branch from the ground, then headed back to the lakeside.

He tapped at the pixelated spot!

Taotie, which had been staring intently at Chen Xing, suddenly got hit by a stick.

“Ow!”

Taotie, who thought it was well hidden, was startled and a big splash of water erupted.

Successful discovery of Beast Taming, Water Concealment Proficiency Level +1.

The Proficiency Level of the skill on the page after that belonged to Taotie in the Stone Booklet showed +1.

Water Concealment (1/100)

To evolve a Passive Skill, it was necessary to accumulate one hundred points of Proficiency Level, meaning that it had to be found a hundred times.

“Awoo~” Taotie was a bit disgruntled, feeling that it was caught only because it had been careless.

Not willing to accept defeat, it insisted on another round.

Chen Xing happily agreed, and within less than three minutes of starting the game, found Taotie. It seemed that this game of hide and seek wasn’t so difficult after all.

Soon, Chen Xing realized he had celebrated too soon.

Taotie, having reflected on its easy capture, ran even further this time, hiding under the water more than ten meters from the shore.

The result was Chen Xing searching around the lake and lakeshore for half an hour. As the sun set, there was still no sign of Taotie. Finally, Chen Xing admitted defeat and called out to the lake for a while before Taotie slowly stuck out half of its head from the water. Upon hearing its master concede, Taotie swam over, all giggly, climbed ashore with a triumphant look, crocodile-snout wide-open and head held high.

Seeing its smug expression, Chen Xing couldn’t help but give it a light kick.

“You really don’t give an inch, do you!”

Damn! Next time he definitely had to find a shallower spot.

Chen Xing looked at the cheerful Taotie at his feet, and the frustration in his heart eased slightly.

Although he had found it only once, it was at least very happy.

He was about to persuade it not to hide in such deep spots next time, as they were hard for him to search, but at the last moment, he remembered the rules stated there could be no cheating or hints, so he swallowed his words back down.

Nah, if it really took his words to heart and later always hid very close to the shore, continually making him seem like a cheat, that would be trouble. It’s better not to interfere artificially; just let it do its thing.

Although he was free to choose the playing field, that was something he could work with.

He needed to find an appropriate hiding area for next time to make it easier for himself to search.

Besides, if he wanted to grind the Proficiency Level of the skills, it would be better to do it sooner. Otherwise, the higher the Energy Level, the greater the area for hide and seek would become, and the more difficult it would be to find the hiding place.

Suddenly, a blinding light emanated from the sky; what had been night turned momentarily as bright as day.

The next moment, a loud boom echoed in his ears.

Staggering, Chen Xing nearly fell as the ground shook beneath him.

Taotie reacted faster than Chen Xing, grabbing onto his trouser leg with its two front paws and howling.

Holding Taotie, Chen Xing looked towards the direction of the sound.

The light had come from the north.

Residents from the buildings and neighborhoods on both sides rushed out in droves; some were even still in their pajamas.

“The officials have announced it’s not an earthquake; it’s a Secret Realm that has appeared north of Jincheng’s Qinglong District,” said a bald man holding a smartphone on the street.

“Hey, so it’s just a Secret Realm, I thought it was the Earth Dragon turning over.”

“Let’s go back home.”

The residents on the streets returned to their homes one after another. The Secret Realm was too far removed from their lives. As such phenomena appeared across the nation yearly, they were used to it.

Yet, some residents with different thoughts did not go back, instead heading directly towards the north of the city.

Meanwhile, Chen Lingya, who was at home, received a text message. After reading it, she quickly changed into a hoodie and sports pants and hurried out the door.