Qin Ziwen then went upstairs to ask Deng Guang if he wanted to go up the mountain with them. Deng Guang hesitated for a mont and looked back at his family.
Xiao Xuei nodded. "Go ahead. Our daughter and I will stay ho. We won’t go anywhere."
Deng Guang nodded. "Alright, I’ll go pack my things."
After eting downstairs, the three of them left the Gated Community through the nearest south gate. They then circled around to the north side and started heading east.
Qin Ziwen, Du Yu, and Deng Guang trekked through the mountain forest. To make it a quick round trip, they traveled light, bringing only their weapons, armor, and so dry rations for lunch. The Beaked Eagle flew overhead, keeping watch for them.
Along the way, Deng Guang stepped behind a cluster of bushes to relieve himself. Qin Ziwen and Du Yu stood a short distance away, chatting.
"Brother Du Yu, I heard you’ve killed a tiger before?"
"That’s right." Du Yu nodded in acknowledgnt.
"How many?"
Du Yu was taken aback. "Sir, they’re not exactly cabbages in a field. They aren’t that easy to kill. I’ve only ever killed two."
"Oh... Wait, two?" The first part of his sentence was one thing, but the second half almost made Qin Ziwen do a double-take.
Du Yu said, "That’s right. The ferocious, man-eating tiger I killed had a cub in its den, so I took care of it as well."
Qin Ziwen couldn’t help but laugh. "I didn’t expect soone as straight-faced as you to tell a joke like that."
"Sir, watch out." Du Yu suddenly stretched out an arm, stopping Qin Ziwen.
Up on the slope, a leopard erged from behind a tree.
It stared at the two n, then dropped sothing from its mouth before darting away in a flash.
"That’s odd. The leopard didn’t seem hostile. Why would it just leave its prey?" Du Yu said, confused.
But Qin Ziwen recognized it.
It was the sa leopard he had fed the wild boar’s heart to.
He walked over quickly and saw a dead rabbit lying on the ground. "I’ve seen this leopard before. It was injured, so I gave it a piece of a heart to eat. I saw it once more when I ca up the mountain after that, but it ran off."
Du Yu understood now. "Perhaps it ca to repay your kindness."
"I go to the bathroom for one minute and you’ve already caught a rabbit?" Deng Guang said as he walked up from behind. Seeing the rabbit in Qin Ziwen’s hand, he clucked his tongue in amazent.
"I didn’t catch it, it was a gift." Qin Ziwen explained what had just happened. Deng Guang found the story fascinating. He had only read tales of foxes repaying kindness in books; he never thought a leopard would do the sa. He laughed and said, "Maybe it saw we didn’t have any prey and decided to bring us so."
"Haha, alright, let’s take it then." Qin Ziwen picked up the rabbit from the ground. ’It was a kind gesture from the leopard, after all. Can’t let it go to waste.’
Not far away, the leopard was hidden on a thick branch, quietly watching the three n walk away.
It scraped its claws against the bark, a low whimper rumbling in its throat.
For so reason, it had gotten nervous when it saw one of the humans, and its jaw had gone slack, causing it to drop its prey.
...
As they continued up the mountain, two Black Falcons appeared overhead. They had learned their lesson this ti and didn’t approach, instead flying high above to watch from a distance.
The three n arrived at the cave entrance, and Qin Ziwen peered into its depths.
Inside, he could just make out a small, white point of light.
’Is that... an Expansion Card?’
Qin Ziwen frowned for a mont, then his expression relaxed.
’An Expansion Card is fine, too. A Card from this Advanced Altar can’t be too shabby, and I happen to need more space for that Advanced Building.’
Qin Ziwen took a flashlight out of his bag. Du Yu glanced at it curiously.
He had seen the glowing object yesterday. It was even brighter than a tallow torch!
The only drawback was its limited range. Unlike a torch that could illuminate the surroundings, this Marvel, called a flashlight, could only light up what was directly in front of it.
"Sir, let go," Du Yu volunteered.
"You?"
"Yes. I’ve spent years in the mountains. I’m skilled in this kind of terrain."
"Alright, be careful then." Qin Ziwen handed the flashlight to Du Yu, then took a motorcycle helt from Deng Guang. "You want to wear this helt?"
Du Yu tried it on, then took it off. "It’s too heavy. I can’t hear properly with it on. I’m more comfortable when I can hear my surroundings."
"Alright. Just be careful."
Qin Ziwen watched intently as Du Yu entered the cave.
’That sound from the depths of the cave yesterday... was it because taking the Card startled sothing, or was it just a coincidence?’
As he neared the Card, the flashlight’s beam suddenly died.
A mont later, when the light ca back on, it was already moving back toward the cave entrance.
Du Yu jogged out, his expression grim.
"Sir, mission accomplished."
He took the white Card from Du Yu’s hand. Its front and back were both as pure white as jade.
The mont he held it, he knew its na and purpose: [Expansion Card] Small-sized blank expansion card.
Compared to yesterday’s Advanced Building and the Red Function Card from the day before, this Small-sized blank expansion card seed a bit... lackluster.
’Does this an the rewards from the altar get worse over ti?’
Qin Ziwen looked at Deng Guang. "Brother Deng, do you want to reserve tomorrow’s Card?"
Deng Guang’s face lit up with joy, but he hesitated, looking at Qin Ziwen. "I... Can I reserve tomorrow’s?"
"Of course," Qin Ziwen said without hesitation.
A man is nothing without his word, and he had no intention of going back on his promise.
Deng Guang nodded. "Then I’ll take tomorrow’s Card!"
The three of them made their way back down the mountain.
A little after six in the evening, they finally arrived back at the Gated Community.
Compared to the bustling activity at this ti yesterday, the Gated Community was sowhat desolate today.
Most of the people still outside were wearing masks, and a few stalls were set up on the ground. Qin Ziwen saw soone selling dicine.
The mont the stall was set up, several people crowded around it. They even started arguing over a particular dicine.
’The price of dicine will probably skyrocket soon,’ he estimated.
Back at his apartnt, Qin Ziwen went out onto the balcony. He activated the two Small-sized blank expansion cards, extending the boundary outward from the 10x10 ter area where his tavern building was located.
In the distance, the gray, misty boundary wall lted away like spring snow, expanding outward in a perfectly straight line.
It continued outward, forming a new 20x40 ter expansion zone.
He looked at the adjacent tavern and ntally commanded, ’Rearrange.’
In the next second, the small light orb of his Ho appeared.
It projected a screen of light that transford into a top-down 3D map in front of him.
Just like in so kind of city-building ga, he felt he could now freely move any of the Card-generated buildings and resource nodes within the area, rearranging them to more suitable locations.
’This rearranging ability is fascinating. If the cooldown is ever removed and my Ho becos large enough, what if I get terrain Cards for things like mountains or lakes? I’d basically have the power to move mountains and drain seas.’
’Just by moving a Card, I could crush soone under a mountain.’
’Forget the future—even now, if soone broke into my Ho, couldn’t I just activate the rearrange ability and drop a house on their head? Wouldn’t that just crush them flat?’
...
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