Chapter 70: Zhang Xiaobo's Reflections

Sunlight shone again into the golden phoenix tree forest; Zhang Xiaobo leisurely went along with his feeling, secretly admiring the scenery of this game.

He narrowed his eyes and said contentedly, "Ah, how beautiful!"

Since that day, Zhang Xiaobo remained inside the Dwarf Tribe as an adventurer, helping them fight against the Profit State's soldiers, and also for their prophecy—the adventurer in the prophecy will lead the dwarves to victory! So this is their mission; they came to this world for what? Wealth? Power? No, adventurers are not for wealth, nor for the so-called power; they are all people from other worlds; everything here is just a game.

Zhang Xiaobo thought this, and at the same time started complaining, saying: "Ah, this state has been going on for several days, huh? If I had known earlier these past few days, I wouldn't have played, but I couldn't help it; now I'm done for—I can't even get out."

"At least you are now the dwarves' protector, their savior!" Jin Meng, not knowing when he had approached, responded to Zhang Xiaobo's words.

Zhang Xiaobo first sighed, then asked: "It's normal for Feng Yan to protect the dwarves, but you are a bounty hunter of the Profit State, right? Why are you protecting them?"

Upon hearing Zhang Xiaobo's words, Jin Meng did not answer at first; he first felt his money pouch—that was Feng Yan's payment to him—then took out a gold coin and tossed it into the air. The gold coin continuously tumbled and fell in the air, glowing golden in midair. Afterwards Jin Meng clapped his hands once, making a 'pa' sound, and the coin landed in his palm. He then asked Zhang Xiaobo: "So, guess whether it's heads or tails?"

"There's no heads or tails." Zhang Xiaobo replied, showing a disdainful expression and continued, "Gold coins normally aren't engraved with patterns."

"Yeah, that's right—I'm protecting the dwarves precisely for this." Jin Meng lowered his head, a flicker of sorrow passing through his eyes, then continued, "This country is the same."

"Yeah, I see that." Zhang Xiaobo answered Jin Meng's words, then also asked, "In other words, for money you would oppose your own country? Is that alright?"

"It doesn't matter anymore." Jin Meng answered, raising his head, closing his eyes, taking a deep breath, then slowly exhaling the breath from his chest, opening his eyes, and at the same time counter-asked Zhang Xiaobo: "I ask you, if this country cannot give its people a happy and good life, would you choose to change it or rebuild it?"

"This..." Zhang Xiaobo couldn't answer for a moment; he hesitated a while, then firmly said, "I will forever love my country, for it is the place that gave birth to me!"

"You hesitated, but you really love your country." Jin Meng teased.

"Yeah, that's right." Zhang Xiaobo scratched his head and answered with a smile.

Early that morning, the two went back and forth with questions and answers, quite delighted, yet Zhang Xiaobo's inner worry lingered without fading; he had nothing in his hand that could effectively be a large-scale lethal weapon, and if he truly led them, lacking such a weapon would be quite difficult.

He began to feel uneasy; the dwarves regarded them as saviors, but Zhang Xiaobo deeply understood that this time the Profit State's soldiers were only after money, not truly launching an attack, and they wouldn't risk their lives for the dwarves.

But after that, this made Zhang Xiaobo feel fear.

That was, real corpses!

The scene left after that battle was truly too horrifying, making Zhang Xiaobo feel afraid; he deeply knew this was a game, but faced with such a scene he still tried his best to endure, not letting himself vomit···the river water had been dyed red, the dwarves' corpses lay scattered in disorder, piled up into small hills; the whole scene could be called a human hell, though not as bad as the meat grinder of Verdun, yet it was extraordinarily cruel.

Zhang Xiaobo grew increasingly uneasy; he went to the chief and said to the chief, "Please gather all those who can fight within the tribe; I have something to say."

"As soon as possible?" the chief asked.

"Yeah, the sooner the better!" Zhang Xiaobo said.

Feng Yan slowly woke up, finding himself lying on the cold ground, with a scene before him that he had never seen before.

Feng Yan slowly stood up; his body still ached a little. He slowly observed his surroundings and discovered that strange runes were carved on the surrounding stone walls, emitting a faint blue light. Though not bright, it was enough for Feng Yan to make out the scene around him.

"Clang!" a sound rang out, and then a black iron rod fell down.

Feng Yan walked over, picked up the iron rod, which was bent out of shape; he held the crooked rod in his hand, thinking about how to restore it, and at the same time picked up the black sword!

Feng Yan swung the black sword above his head, releasing a black sword qi!

"Boom!" a loud roar came, and that huge stone had already turned into fragments.

Feng Yan clapped his hands, preparing to carefully observe the runes etched around; just as he was about to do so, a hand grabbed his ankle!

"Ah!" Feng Yan let out a terrified scream!

"Don't shout, it's me!" Chen Hao made a silencing gesture with his fingers.

Feng Yan nodded, slowly calming down; only Chen Hao remained, holding back laughter, his hand over his mouth, his face turning red from suppressing it.

Feng Yan looked at Chen Hao's appearance, wanting to scold him, then glanced at the iron rod in his hand, revealing a faint smug smile, and asked Chen Hao: "Chen Hao, funny or not?"

Chen Hao couldn't hold back, laughing loudly while saying: "Funny! Really funny!"

Feng Yan couldn't take it anymore, gritting his teeth and said: "Really?"

Afterwards, Chen Hao's head emitted two dull thuds; Chen Hao covered his head, feeling somewhat aggrieved, and said: "Just a little fun, look at yourself."

Feng Yan turned his head aside, coldly saying: "Even if it's just a broken leg from fooling around, is that okay?"

Chen Hao was speechless; he opened the map and said: "Here, there's no mark on the map."

"Does that mean we've found it?" Feng Yan pressed.

"Probably yes, that's right." Chen Hao answered Feng Yan's question, while observing the surroundings.

The surrounding runes emitted a blue light; the whole cave seemed like a deity's domain, yet the surroundings appeared very spacious. In this huge stone cavern there was only a humanoid statue and two animal statues, and the blue runes shone precisely on those three statues, as if shining a spotlight on them.

Chen Hao felt something odd, then carefully examined the three statues around, but because they were too far away, the humanoid's face remained indistinct; Chen Hao stepped forward, only to misstep and lose his footing.

"Ah!" Chen Hao shouted, then with his extremely quick reflexes grabbed the ground, but he still slid down bit by bit; just as Chen Hao thought the game was over, Feng Yan seized his hand and slowly pulled him up.

"Uh, that was close!" Chen Hao, still panting with lingering fear, said to Feng Yan.

"Yeah, that's right." Feng Yan replied.

Feng Yan looked at the spot where Chen Hao almost fell; it was because the faint blue light, though it allowed seeing some things, combined with the poor lighting and the three central statues, must be the crucial clue to obtaining the Profit State's treasure!

Feng Yan drew the black sword from his back and then looked at the runes on all four sides!

"I wonder how Feng Yan and them are doing." Wang You began to worry.

Since Feng Yan and Chen Hao's group left, the guards inside the temporary palace have increased in number; although they haven't done anything excessive, she clearly knows that these are sent by the king and prince to monitor them.

"I hope they return soon!" Wang You said anxiously, meanwhile kneeling on the ground, clasping her hands in prayer.