Chapter 130: Chapter 122: Skills Align with Basic Swordsmanship

Inside a cave room, a group of players sat around the campfire. The fresh meat of various creatures was skewered on sticks, forming a circle around the fire. As it roasted, grease dripped down, filling the air with a tantalizing aroma of meat.

“So…so you all realized you couldn’t reach me, and came to rescue me on purpose?” Li Chun was very touched, stood up, and bowed to Li Zheng and the others, expressing her gratitude: “I really troubled everyone, thank you, brothers and sisters.”

The Five-Colored Xuan Poison Spider behind her also bowed down halfway, mimicking its owner to express its gratitude.

“Actually, we didn’t do much; it was mainly thanks to Li Zheng.”

Yan Guang picked up the roasted meat in front of him, noticed it was ready to eat, tore off a small piece, blew on it to cool it down, and offered it to Phoenix Mountain.

“…”

Phoenix Mountain looked at the roasted meat, then at Yan Guang, and at everyone else, before opening his mouth to accept the offering.

Phoenix Mountain: “(-~-)”

Everyone: “(*-*)”

Yan Guang: “(_)”

While feeding Phoenix Mountain, Yan Guang corrected, “If it weren’t for him noticing you hadn’t spoken in the regional channel all day, and couldn’t reach you, we wouldn’t have realized anything.”

Phoenix Mountain nodded: “Mm-hmm.”

Li Zheng looked at Phoenix Mountain with a confused expression: “???”

Has this guy lost his mind?

Wasn’t he very resistant to Yan Guang?

This behavior…

It’s a bit peculiar…

He sharply sensed something going on between the two but couldn’t figure out why.

Only Ye Yuan, her face flushed red by the firelight, kept shifting her gaze between Yan Guang and Phoenix Mountain.

Li Zheng didn’t take all the credit either: “Actually, I managed to find you here thanks to Ye Kai’s help. If he hadn’t lent me an item, I wouldn’t have been able to precisely locate you.

Also, Chu Xiao provided the group bouncing prop to gather everyone here.

I didn’t really pay any cost myself.”

Ye Kai pulled out the roasted meat in front of him, trying a bite: “The main thing is you noticed something was wrong, otherwise, even with the props, we couldn’t have saved her.”

Chu Xiao, sitting beside Ye Kai, added at this time: “That’s right! And the fact that you helped me find my sister’s killer is something I’m very grateful for too.”

Saying this, he too stood up and deeply bowed to Li Zheng.

Li Zheng was a bit embarrassed instead: “Oh, I didn’t have such ability; it was purely Lin Feng being a fool, playing self-exposure games with me.

I guess he said those things back then to try and provoke me, to mess with my mindset.”

People often aren’t rational when they’re furious. If Li Zheng had fallen for it back then and went up against Lin Feng, he probably wouldn’t be sitting by the fire chatting right now.

But life is just that ironic.

Lin Feng originally wanted to provoke Li Zheng, then take advantage of his disturbed state to cripple him, tormenting him into handing over the “Death Declaration.”

The ultimate result, however, was that he ended up losing to a truly infuriated opponent, dying a miserable death.

Now his corpse, like a tattered sack, lay strewn on the ground. After some time, when everyone left this room, his body might gradually rot and stink, or be eaten by creatures wandering into this place.

Bury him?

Humanitarianism?

Doesn’t exist!

No one present thought such an opponent was worth respecting; not trampling him to ashes was already everyone showing restraint.

Chu Xiao raised his head, earnestly saying: “But it’s also because of you that I was able to personally avenge my enemy; I won’t forget this debt.”

“Oh, what’s a debt anyway, we’re all adults, isn’t it normal to help each other in a place like Matrix?” Li Zheng scratched his head, “If I run into danger in the future, just coming to stand by me would be enough.”

“Rest assured.” Chu Xiao pounded his chest: “I’ll be there whenever you call!”

“That’s all I need to hear!”

Li Zheng rummaged through his abode, pulling out a bottle of milk and two cups: “It’s a pity there’s no alcohol, but I do have some milk here, let’s have a toast!”

It was clear none of the people present were drinkers; no one had such things prepared at their homes. As soon as they heard Li Zheng had milk, they quickly took out their own drinking containers to share a bit.

“Cheers!” xN

“Ying!”

“Hiss!”

“Meow~”

A few players, along with their pets, drank the clock’s milk they had been given.

Ye Yuan put down the cup, her eyes shining: “It really does taste like milk! I thought with you being single, the bottle would be filled with…”

“Xiaoyuan!”

Ye Kai shouted, stopping his sister’s nonsensical rambling, and then turned to Li Zheng with an apologetic smile: “My sister’s had a knack for weird interests since she was a kid, always reading some boys’ love or odd literature, don’t mind her.”

“Boys’ love?”

Li Chun’s eyes lit up, and she ran over to sit beside Ye Yuan, and the two began chatting in whispers.

Occasionally, the two girls would burst into strange laughter, these two…

had effectively solidified their friendship.

Everyone: “…”

“Pop!”

The small spider lifted a limb to slap its face, seeming somewhat helpless about its owner’s behavior.

“Ying ying?”

The little Sakura looked up at Li Zheng, puzzled, seemingly asking what “boys’ love” was all about.

Li Zheng said helplessly: “Kids shouldn’t ask so many questions, it’s something you can’t eat anyway!”

“Ying!”

The little one nodded, concentrating on the piece of roasted meat it had received…

Which was actually the Ghost Lion Heart Li Zheng had specifically prepared for it.

After a few meals of this thing, the little guy was almost sick of it, but to get stronger, it could only keep eating!

Focused on its meal, the little guy’s eyes were filled with determination.

I want to become stronger!

In my mind, the scene of Li Zheng being sent flying and hitting the rock wall, vomiting blood on the ground, is hard to forget.

From now on, I will fight alongside my master and never be just a little follower who can only cheer!

[Pet Sakura personality enhancement, “motivated” solidification effect increased by 5%]

“Huh?”

Li Zheng looked at the panel prompt in front of him, bewildered.

What’s going on?

How come the little guy suddenly evolved a bit on its own?

Scratching his head, he couldn’t figure out why, so he simply didn’t bother.

After all, the result is moving in a good direction, so letting it be is quite nice too.

The BBQ dinner continued in a harmonious and friendly atmosphere for an hour, with everyone chatting heartily.

Eventually, a few girls, on a whim, even performed their own skills for everyone.

Before entering the Matrix, Li Chun was studying dance. She went back to her place to change clothes and came out to perform a type of dance that Li Zheng couldn’t name.

As Phoenix Mountain would say: “Damn, that looks amazing!”

Then he got punched by Yan Guang.

Yan Guang sang a pop song a cappella, her mature voice carrying a hint of raspiness, actually sounding quite professional.

After inquiry, it turned out she’d studied vocals for some time and even participated in several talent shows, but she never garnered much fame due to her ordinary looks.

Ye Yuan’s performance was rather noisy and hardcore; she…set up a Gatling and shot at the rock wall, sketching a Huludewawa with bullets…

Liu Jiale gave her a thumbs up, praising Ye Yuan: “This Mickey Mouse drawing is spot on!”

Zhan Zhouzhou took out a Tungsten Steel Longsword and performed a swordsmanship routine she had practiced for competitions, but was interrupted by Li Chun after just a few seconds.

She was pulled into her capsule residence, and when they came out again, Zhan Zhouzhou was in pure white ancient attire, with cropped hair, looking somewhat mismatched.

However, it was then that everyone noticed Zhan Zhouzhou was actually quite good-looking. Ye Kai was regretfully shaking his head: “It’s a pity this hairstyle is a points-deduction factor.”

He was then fiercely glared at by both Zhan Zhouzhou and Li Zheng.

Once Li Chun put a wig on Zhan Zhouzhou, the girl had transformed again.

Standing there with the sword, a natural aura emerged, like a longsword with a faint touch of immortality standing before everyone.

“Whoa…”

Li Zheng was stunned: “I need to find out if there’s a potent hair growth tonic in the Matrix, no matter the cost, I must get her a bottle!”

Phoenix Mountain: “+1, Ouch~”

Yan Guang punched him again.

“Once upon a time, now, gone and never to return.”

…

Yan Guang used two iron rods to tap out the rhythm, singing “Love of My Life” in her unique voice as accompaniment for Zhan Zhouzhou.

As the song played, Zhan Zhouzhou danced with the longsword, movements gentle and slow, instantly getting into character.

For a moment, this marvelous combination mesmerized everyone.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but Li Zheng faintly felt as if he saw a fairy descending into the mortal world falling in love with a mortal. After many hardships, they were separated, unable to be together.

“In the sea of bitterness, love and hate arise…”

As the music peaked, Zhan Zhouzhou suddenly stopped and stared at the sword, lost in thought.

This change pulled everyone out of their wonderful reverie, leaving them feeling quite depressed.

“Wow! This sucks! I’ve never felt this bad even when watching a movie and being interrupted at a critical point!”

Liu Jiale held his heart, face filled with pain.

Not being able to see the complete performance, he felt as if something was missing, like when a sewing project reaches its final stage but suddenly stops, unable to continue, leaving a painful feeling.

It wasn’t just him; everyone present had this sensation.

But when Zhan Zhouzhou suddenly stopped and stared at the longsword, though everyone found it odd, they tacitly didn’t disturb her.

“Zhouzhou, follow me inside!”

As the accompanist, Yan Guang felt this emptiness more intensely. She thought she had to fill this part with something, so she grabbed Phoenix Mountain and headed for her capsule residence.

Oddly enough, Phoenix Mountain didn’t resist or call for help this time…

Watching them enter and close the door, Li Zheng was bewildered.

How many days has it been?

Phoenix Mountain just gave in?

So shamelessly?

Weren’t you so resistant to Yan Guang?

Really, chasing a girl is like crossing a mountain, chasing a boy is like crossing a piece of tulle?

Hah…player!

“Uh? Why am I feeling jealous?”

Li Zheng scratched his head, puzzled, picked up the already sleeping Sakura next to him, and returned to his residence. (Before the bonfire started, everyone had already set up their residences, as they couldn’t go back after being transported.)

Seeing that it was already late, the others returned to their rooms to rest and recharge, preparing for tomorrow’s exploration.

Only Li Chun, because of spending the whole day under Hypnotic Gas, sat not far from Zhan Zhouzhou to keep her company.

…

Closing the door, Li Zheng summoned a black thick-backed knife. It was Lin Feng’s knife; before the bonfire was lit, Chu Xiao had given it to Li Zheng.

Casually swinging it a few times, he nodded with satisfaction.

“It’s identical to Liu Jiale’s, though it’s not a spear, but with Platinum Quality here, it’s still good for temporary use.

Besides…”

Opening the historical prompt record, Li Zheng found the message.

[Skill matches Basic Swordsmanship, Swordsmanship Specialization progress 0.001%]