Chapter 131: A Date for Two

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Day 35 of the game, morning.

Li Gang and Lin Yan had left NB Town in HN Province two days ago and were now in a scenic area in ZJJ City, HN Province.

Li Gang breathed in the fresh, natural air, strolling through the mountain woods with a sense of quiet reflection. Just a day earlier, they had spent most of their time exploring the ZJJ Grand Canyon.

This itinerary had been proposed by Lin Yan. As she saw it, there was no need to abandon everything just to obsess over self-improvement and becoming stronger for the sake of winning the hunting game. Given that the game spanned ten years and only a month had passed, there was still a long road ahead; it was important to live each day well. That way, even if they were eliminated, there would be no regrets.

Time aside, the result was not necessarily the most important thing; the process was what mattered. Just as all people, or any living thing, would one day face death.

Upon learning of her perspective, Li Gang agreed without hesitation. To him, accompanying his goddess on these travels felt like dating in a world belonging only to the two of them, and he was only too happy to do so. Furthermore, whatever Lin Yan said, he would generally follow without question.

The two were currently weaving through the forest, heading toward the ancient city of Fenghuang, not far ahead. Before long, a corner of the ancient city came into view. The city leaned against the mountains and bordered the water, with the clear, shallow Tuo River winding through it, and walls built of red sandstone standing along the banks.

Half an hour later, they walked through the deserted flagstone alleys. The storefronts were all left wide open, a testament to the bustle that had once existed here. Yet, in the current silence, the scene felt somewhat eerie.

Most of the houses in the ancient city were built facing south, many being traditional wooden stilt houses. These dwellings were supported by four pillars on each side, with crossbeams connecting them to form a suspended attic. A corridor wrapped around three sides of the building, fitted with wooden railings. These railings were carved with auspicious patterns like the "hui" character, the "xi" (happiness) character, and the "ya" character. Many of the railings, doors, windows, and roof ridges were also carved with bat motifs, symbolizing good fortune. The rooftops usually featured platforms for viewing the scenery or drying clothes. The ridges of the attics were adorned with Taiji symbols in tile, and the four corners of the eaves were upturned, elegant and graceful. The ridges and eaves were decorated with mortar-set lattice windows embedded with glass and painted with lacquer.

Throughout the journey, the two remained largely silent, with little conversation. Li Gang often wanted to strike up a topic, but after considering several, he would look at Lin Yan and find himself unable to speak. Lin Yan seemed interested in everything around her, looking here and there, picking up small trinkets in the shops to examine. Li Gang had no interest in such things—they were just cheap tourist souvenirs. In his view, spending money on such items while traveling was mindless.

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Li Gang pulled up his tracking interface to check for other players nearby. The answer provided was that within a radius of twenty or thirty kilometers, there were no other players.

Earlier on the road, he had detected one player in the scenic area, but as soon as he and Lin Yan drew within a certain range, that person had quickly fled. This had become a common occurrence. Whether they were individuals or small groups, upon detecting the approach of Li Gang and Lin Yan, they would quietly slip away, wanting no contact. During this period, everyone seemed to have reached a tacit understanding, maintaining a safe distance and avoiding any interaction with strangers.

The initial chaos of slaughter and mutual hunting had vanished within a few days. This was to be expected. Most players who had actively hunted for the "mysterious gift" at the start had either succeeded or been killed in counter-attacks. Regardless of the outcome, those who obtained the gift—the incomplete basic guidance manuals—needed time to study them. Naturally, they sought quiet places to learn in peace.

Of course, out of ten thousand people, with around 600 deaths, only a tiny fraction had obtained the initial mystery gifts. Most had not. Those who hadn't were mostly people who were afraid to hunt others, or who were hesitant and fearful of being killed themselves. They weren't unwilling to get the gift; they simply deemed the risk too high and chose to remain observers—much like Li Gang’s initial mindset.

This had led to the current stalemate. Li Gang had reflected on this many times over the past few days. If he hadn't been surrounded by three people, or if he hadn't met Lin Yan, he would have likely chosen to hide and observe, just like most others. Looking back now, after obtaining the incomplete guidance manual, he realized that such a path was undoubtedly a slow death. Even those few who had obtained the manuals were currently lying low to focus on their training.

Perhaps the gap between everyone was small now, but as time passed and the few who had obtained the manuals mastered them and grew stronger, the disparity would widen. This was especially true for those who had obtained multiple manuals. As the saying goes, one step ahead leads to every step ahead.

During this time, Li Gang had used his smart system to carefully analyze the data. The 600 or so eliminations had mostly occurred in other countries, with very few involving players within China. This meant that the proportion of survivors from China among the future elite would likely be much smaller.

Li Gang and Lin Yan had both obtained three types of manual fragments, placing them among the rarest of the rare. However, he didn't believe they were the only ones; at the very least, Huang Feng and Qin Qing had also obtained three. Through teamwork, it was possible that some survivors on Earth had already collected all four fragments to complete the basic guidance manual.

"Sister Lin will likely survive until the very end to compete for the winner's spot among the ten thousand," Li Gang thought, watching her silhouette. "I wonder how long I can stay by her side before I fall?" He never had the arrogance to believe he could survive until the very end of this hunting game. "That guy... he should be able to survive until the end, too." For some reason, as he thought of this, Huang Feng’s image flickered through his mind.

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If this game continued as it was, Lin Yan and Huang Feng, with their backgrounds as elite special forces soldiers, held an immense advantage. Moreover, this advantage would only grow as they leveraged the multiple guidance manuals they had acquired early on.

Li Gang spent every second trying to improve himself, yet he could still vaguely feel that the gap between him and Lin Yan was not shrinking; it was constantly widening. This was not an illusion, but a fact he discovered every time they sparred.

Before meeting Lin Yan, he had dreamed of surviving to the end, winning the game, and resurrecting everyone, but mostly, he just wanted to survive a bit longer. Now, he wanted to follow Lin Yan, stay by her side, and be her support in this game, though he didn't know how long he could last.

"Li Gang, what are you thinking about?" Lin Yan walked up to him, looking puzzled. She had noticed him staring blankly into space for a while, lost in his own thoughts.

Li Gang snapped back to reality. He didn't intend to share his inner thoughts with her; those were his own secrets. "Nothing much. By the way, Sister Lin, where should we eat lunch?" he asked, changing the subject.

Lin Yan held a map of Fenghuang Ancient City, scanning the locations of various restaurants, feeling hesitant. However, she knew full well that no matter which restaurant they chose, there would be no chefs to cook for them; they would have to do it themselves.

"Let's go," she said, taking the lead. "Let's head to that one by the river."

At first, it hadn't bothered her, but as the days turned into weeks, even for a soldier like her who was accustomed to solitude, the world consisting only of her and Li Gang could occasionally feel lonely in this once-bustling town. Thinking about it now, for those who still chose to act alone, the isolation of being the only person in the world, while having to constantly watch out for others, must have been unbearable.

The two arrived at a restaurant by the river. A stream flowed slowly past one side. In the kitchen, they found many frozen ingredients in the refrigerator, but since the power had been out for days, most had gone bad. They cleared out the usable items and made a trip to a nearby supermarket to collect some packaged food. Although their lunch wasn't a feast, it was reasonably varied.

It had been over 40 days since the "God" had erased most of humanity. Power outages were beginning to occur in many places. A lack of electricity meant that food stored in refrigerators would spoil in batches. While the players didn't have to worry about food for the next few years, if they wanted meat or fresh produce, they would have to slaughter and cook it themselves. However, as long as they didn't get tired of it, there was enough packaged food to last for years, considering the expiration dates. All players had undergone a full physical restoration, so there were no concerns about nutritional balance.