Chapter 72: Has Anyone Been to the Streamside Shelter?

Under Eric Te's high-profile announcement, the real world fell into a widespread commotion, but this did not prevent every Dream World player from going to sleep on time.

With the idea of not thinking about what he couldn't figure out, Qin Chuan went to sleep early, and upon waking again found himself in the Mountain Valley Shelter.

Turning his head, Qin Chuan saw Yue Li smiling brightly.

After a brief hesitation, he asked, "Did you watch Eric Te's press conference video?"

"I have." Yue Li's expression was quite relaxed, "but you don't need to be too nervous; he's probably just bluffing, whether the possessor of the Life Prayer or the Sundial Talent is fake."

"Hmm." A hint of complexity flashed in Qin Chuan's gaze toward Yue Li.

He could be certain of this because he was the possessor of the Sundial Talent.

And Yue Li's tone being so confident meant that his earlier guess was correct.

Guessing it was one thing; verifying it was another.

Although carrying a backpack, the stamina-restoring fruit wasn't valuable; under Shui Hua's ability it was easy to find, and when the two grew tired they promptly replenished their strength, chatting and laughing, soon arriving near the Streamside Shelter.

That was his first little home in this world, a fond memory of him and Shui Hua.

"Well, this is the way to my previous shelter." Qin Chuan smiled, "Since there's no goal anyway, we might as well use the positions of the two shelters as our initial direction."

"My talent pales in comparison to the Life Prayer; it's just a purple talent." Yue Li glanced at Qin Chuan, then suddenly smiled, "But don't worry, I'll pay attention."

"Huh?" Qin Chuan raised his eyebrows.

Qin Chuan originally didn't intend this, but after hearing Yue Li's suggestion he felt somewhat inclined; he glanced at Shui Hua happily playing in the stream, "Alright, let's go take a look."

"I see, that's a good idea." Yue Li had no doubts and nodded in realization.

Hearing Qin Chuan's call, Shui Hua responded with a sound, eagerly swinging her big tail to follow.

They were just going to look for that Elite Tier Lv20 Blue-scaled Flood Dragon, and it happened to pass by the Streamside Shelter.

"Come to think of it, your talent is very similar to the Life Prayer guessed online." Qin Chuan said jokingly, "So you must be careful; don't reveal your talent's effect, or else others might mistake you for having the Life Prayer and target you."

About a week had passed since they last came here; Qin Chuan thought the Streamside Shelter would be a bit dirty, but upon entering he found it even cleaner than expected.

"Huh? What is this?" Yue Li, who entered the shelter together, quickly spotted a pile of nuts and fruits stacked in the corner.

However, the general direction remained unchanged.

"All right then." Qin Chuan stopped mentioning the talent, picked up the prepared vine whip backpack from before leaving the Dream World, "We should set off."

Before setting off, Qin Chuan double-confirmed the locked-on target's position; he had to admit that the Blue-scaled Flood Dragon was quite the troublemaker, its current location being two or three kilometers from where they started.

"Shui Hua, let's go!"

After filling two water bags with stream water, Yue Li crouched by the stream, cupped the clear stream water in her hands and drank it all at once, then looked toward the nearby shelter and asked, "Shall we go check out your former shelter?"

Xiaoqing let out a cry, soaring high to keep watch over the surroundings, while Shui Hua swayed her big tail beside the two, occasionally darting into passing thickets to bring back usable plant fruits.

"Hmm!" Yue Li also had an identical backpack at her feet; she picked it up, took one last look at the traces of their life inside the shelter, then followed Qin Chuan's steps.

"This direction feels a bit familiar?" After walking several hundred meters, Yue Li suddenly spoke.

That statement was of course false.

He remembered that when he left, he had taken all the food from here.

Moreover, among those nuts, a few kinds were hard to pick, so he had never harvested them.

After he left, had other players come here?

Thinking of this possibility, Qin Chuan's face showed an uncertain, astonished expression.

"Should we wait here to see?" Yue Li seemed to have thought the same as Qin Chuan; her expression involuntarily tightened.

Could it be a new player?

As for Shui Hua, after looking at this pile of food she couldn't help but go over and sniff it, then her gaze turned somewhat strange.

This smell…

"Cry—"

"Squeak—"

At that moment, a cry from Xiaoqing and another startled, angry sound suddenly came from outside the house.

The two people and one beast inside the shelter, hearing the movement, hurried out.

Seeing the situation outside, Qin Chuan and Yue Li's faces both showed surprise, while Shui Hua wore an expression of "as expected."

In the open space outside the shelter, Xiaoqing flapped its wings, its gaze locked on the flame-tailed squirrel below, its eyes carrying a hint of warning.

The flame-tailed squirrel, however, appeared extremely angry, its fire-aggregated tail swollen a bit more than usual; although its aura was inferior to Xiaoqing's, it showed no fear whatsoever.

"Xiaoqing, it's not an enemy!"

Qin Chuan shouted loudly, then walked toward the flame-tailed squirrel.

Seeing the nuts cradled in the flame-tailed squirrel's arms, he already understood the true situation.

After he left, the one living here wasn't another player but this little critter.

"Flame-tailed squirrel, have you been living here this whole time?"

The flame-tailed squirrel nodded, looking at the nuts in its arms, hesitated a moment, then with a pained expression took out two and offered them to Qin Chuan.

"Squeak~"

"Human, this is rent!"

Seeing its cute little appearance, Qin Chuan couldn't help but laugh, "Alright, I don't need your rent; if you like it, just keep living here."

"We just happened to come by; next we'll leave this place for somewhere far away."

Hearing that, the flame-tailed squirrel's motion of retracting the nuts paused, and without hesitation it produced half and gave it to Qin Chuan.

"Squeak~"

"This is a farewell gift!"

"What a cute little squirrel~" Yue Li, who had somehow come up beside Qin Chuan, gazed at the flame-tailed squirrel with shining eyes; the sight that even Qin Chuan found adorable instantly melted her heart, "May I pet you?"

The flame-tailed squirrel glanced at the hovering Xiaoqing in the air, but felt no aversion toward Yue Li; instead it found this human very amiable, and it came forward, rubbing its cheek against her palm.

The soft, smooth feel of the fur made Yue Li's eyes narrow with sudden delight.

"Do you know this flame-tailed squirrel?" Yue Li glanced curiously at Qin Chuan.

Last time she came here, she hadn't seen this little guy.

"Well, when I was scouting this spot to build a shelter…" Qin Chuan briefly explained his connection with the flame-tailed squirrel.

After hearing that, Yue Li showed a thoughtful expression.

She stroked the flame-tailed squirrel and spoke softly.

"How about we bring it along?"

(End of chapter)