The Survival Rules of NPCs

Chapter 24: The Truth About the Forest!

"Little bok choy... turning yellow in the field..."

The dense forest, a secret realm gently enveloped by moss, is so beautiful that even the sunlight seems shy, its soft reflections illuminating the morning dewdrops, filtering them into diamond-like fragments of light, creating a beauty that seems almost unreal.

In this beautiful, secluded place, a round, white creature with a large leaf wrapped around its rear end was casually waving its fishing rod along a riverbank that looked like a beautiful blue ribbon.

The structure of the fishing rod is very interesting. The rod is a beautiful tree branch, and the fishing line is tree fiber. There is no hook, but it can be activated immediately when a creature in the river bites the bait, binding the bait tightly. It seems that it can catch anything.

And this time, what was caught was...

With a sharp roar, a creature four or five meters long, transparent and serpentine, twisted and struggled on the shore. Upon closer inspection, one could see that this transparent creature even had a hint of a dragon's physique, especially its exaggerated roar, which was completely unlike any ordinary creature.

But perhaps it was all bark and no bite. As soon as this thing came ashore, tiny sprouts kept emerging from the soil, burrowing into the creature's body and continuously drawing energy from it. Before long, the huge, transparent creature began to show color, an extremely bright and beautiful blue, especially its pair of huge sapphire eyes, each about the size of a fist. The chubby girl skillfully used a small green knife to carve out the beautiful eyes and casually put them into the jar next to her.

If you look closely, you'll find that the jar is filled with brightly colored gemstones, radiating a unique, natural glow.

Then the chubby girl skillfully separated the skin and flesh, pulled out the meridians, and separated the beautiful bones, folding them into sections.

After doing all this, I took out a small piece of bark again and used the sap of the vine to record: "The 291st day of the 61st year of the transmigration, around...maybe around one o'clock? I was lucky today and caught a big one: a chameleon. Well, I don't know what it's called, I just made up a name for it. This thing has delicious meat and thick fat that melts in your mouth. It's really good for making fish fillets, much better than bluefin tuna. But after grilling, the taste is just average, and the texture becomes a bit dry."

Its leather is excellent, shiny and soft, and it can even change color. I reckon a good leather craftsman could make a very nice leather coat from it, but unfortunately I don't know how. And its bones, if ground finely, could be used to make arrowheads—quite powerful, but must be used with caution. One shot could blast a huge hole. It's unsuitable for hunting; for now, I can only use it as a trump card, although I've collected many such trump cards without ever using them…

Having caught this thing, I should be able to hibernate this winter and won't lack meat to eat.

After making a note of it, the chubby girl carefully put away the bark and then began to huff and puff as a porter, carrying today's spoils.

Her name is Chen Xiaoting. She has been in this world for almost sixty years. She only remembers that she was invited by a game to participate in some kind of closed beta test. At the time, she was a little tired of watching short dramas, so she clicked in casually to kill some time. She never expected that once she entered, she would never be able to leave.

Since arriving here, she has been trapped in this forest. Whenever she gets too far away, the big tree in the center will pull her back.

But this tree has never harmed me. Not only that, it provides me with a tree hollow that is warm in winter and cool in summer. I can use it to make fishing rods, daggers, and bows and arrows. If wild animals invade, they will be captured by the tree and fed to me. It can also purify water sources. The dew on its leaves is sweet. I have been drinking it for sixty years and my body has never had any problems. Moreover, my skin is getting better and better, my senses are getting farther and farther, and I will not even age.

Unfortunately, he was always alone in this area.

She couldn't get out on her own, and it seemed no one was coming in either. She didn't understand what this world was like, but it probably wasn't a good one.

As her perception improved, she could use the tree's extensive roots to barely sense the outside world. What she heard most often was cold, hunger, and suffering. So every day she tried to use the tree roots to send messages to the outside world. She had food, water, and comfortable accommodations, everything she needed, except for a living person to chat with.

As time went on, some people began to try to respond to themselves, but they could not find themselves. They could only try to use their roots to sense the direction of the river, and to tell them where the roots found minerals and good herbs underground, hoping that they could survive and slowly find themselves.

But so many years have passed, and the voices of prayer have grown louder, yet no one has come looking for me. Several years ago, I became so impatient that I thought, "If you won't come looking for me, then I'll come looking for you." So I tried to convey my desire to leave.

Many people still responded, even saying strange things like the Earth Mother Goddess who was about to take control of the world. She didn't understand what those people were saying. She was just trying to let the roots continue to spread and see if she could contact more people instead of continuing to communicate with those fools who couldn't even understand her own language.

After carrying the cabbage for most of the day, the cabbage was so tired that it was trembling. The most annoying time of year is when it is time to prepare for hibernation. Although the temperature can be maintained under the big tree in the early stages, in the last two months of the year, the leaves of the big tree that can absorb sunlight will wither, causing the temperature in the covered area to drop rapidly except for the inside of the tree hole. I have tried it before, and even peeing outside can freeze quickly and damage my anus. So the best way is to obediently hide in the tree hole and hibernate.

Every year around this time, the number of distress calls from outside increases, but there's nothing she can do. She can't get out, and can only helplessly hear those cries of pain. So at this time of year, she simply stops listening; it's too heartbreaking to hear.

But just as she finished packing everything and was preparing to enter her hibernation period in the tree hole ahead of schedule, a message suddenly came from a vine that almost made her jump.

Are you from the same hometown? From Sichuan?

"Holy crap!!"

Bai Cai was so excited that she immediately lunged at the vine, grabbed it, and shouted, "Fellow villager! Fellow villager! I'm from Liupanshui, Yunnan and Guizhou! Where are you from? Answer me quickly!"

The sound traveled through the vines as a beam of light, but there was no echo for a long time.

The cabbage clung tightly to the vine, refusing to let go, and its years of loneliness suddenly erupted!

A fellow villager! It turns out we're from the same hometown!

Fellow villagers who can discuss national politics, social issues, celebrity gossip, mindless short dramas, and dowries/bride price lists!

Ten minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour, an hour...

There was no response, and just as Bai Cai was beginning to doubt that she had been hallucinating, the voice appeared again.

[From Liupanshui? A true fellow townsman! I'm from Dejiang, Tongren. Wow, this is rare! Where's the girl? What's with this forest? Did you do all that?]

Hearing the sound, the cabbage stood there stunned, and the next moment, it couldn't help but burst into tears.

It's not a hallucination, it really is someone from my hometown! Someone we can even discuss pickled cabbage and houttuynia cordata with!

Sixty years! Damn it, God, you're really cruel! Finally, someone has arrived!

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One hour ago:

If there is such a place as Asura Hell in this world, it must look like this...

Bright had imagined the forest would be a terrible place before he entered it, but he never expected it to be this bad.

Those human-faced trees contain human spirits, bound tightly by some strange force, emitting painful howls. Further inside, the tall, mature trees are laden with fruit—fruits visible only to spirits—each shaped like a human head, constantly emitting terrifying murmurs.

The content is all about enticing people to come closer, saying that there is warm shelter, plenty of food, clean water, and that they will not be discriminated against or abandoned.

Bright didn't know if ordinary people could hear these murmurs, but from the perspective of spirits, these strange fruits on the trees were all carrying deep malice.

When all the head fruits saw Bright, they were suddenly stunned, and then let out a terrible roar. If the branches hadn't held them firmly in place, Bright felt that these things would have rushed up and torn him to pieces!

The terrifying forest, with its countless trees bearing human faces and fruits bearing human heads, and a continuous line of resentment, bewitched the refugees who had been forced to this place. Bright witnessed several starving and freezing refugees, their faces filled with confusion, yet also with expectation and courage, leading their wives and children into this lying forest. Bright could almost completely foresee their fate.

Is this the truth about this forest?

A cursed place that constantly accumulates resentment, misleads outsiders, and devours those suffering.

But if that's all there is to it, how could this forest possibly attract a knowledgeable and promising finance scholar like Allen to lie low here? Surely, such bizarre circumstances are more likely to attract the attention of ambitious individuals.

What's in it for them? If the secret is just this, it makes no sense...

Mustering his courage, Bright continued walking, knowing it was dangerous, but he had no other choice.

As he ventured deeper, the number of human-faced trees increased, and the terrifying murmurs nearly made him lose himself in them. Just as he was about to collapse, a voice different from those eerie vengeful spirits came from the earth.

"Anyone here? Come to my place! Plenty of food, cozy accommodation, and a single dog who's been single for sixty years!"

The content of the voice was almost identical to the manipulative words used by those who sell human heads to seduce outsiders; the only difference was the tone and language...

Chinese... and it's Sichuan dialect, no less!

Bright's eyes lit up. He recognized the sound—it was inside those two sprouting corpses. He frantically searched for its source, finally lying on the ground. With his supernatural spiritual vision, he saw that the sound came from the roots beneath the earth. The sound... came from underground!

The Heart of the Forest worships Mother Earth, and that... might be its origin.

"Fellow countryman? From Sichuan?" Bright shouted to the ground.

Five minutes, ten minutes, half an hour... an hour...

A cold wind blew, and a chilling aura gathered. Countless human-headed fruits glared at him with resentment, making Bright, who was insensitive to cold and warmth, feel utterly cold. He even wondered if things continued like this, he would become one of those human-headed fruits.

"Fellow villager, fellow villager! I'm from Liupanshui, Guizhou. Where are you from? Please reply quickly!"