“Xixi, don’t be unhappy.”

Chi Yao walked behind Jing Xi, his voice dragging.

Jing Xi ignored him.

He sounded so wronged, but without even looking, Jing Xi knew that the other person must be smiling happily at this moment.

He used to be so cute when he was a child.

After the countdown began, everyone entered the forest.

Since the map couldn’t update their current location in real-time, they could only ensure they didn’t get lost along the way.

Jing Xi’s shoulder sank as someone leaned against him.

“Hey, this was caused by an irresistible force. It’s not like I did it to you on purpose. There’s no need to keep a straight face, is there?” Chi Yao said.

Jing Xi: “But you’re very satisfied with the result.”

Chi Yao’s eyes scanned his current appearance. “No, you’re more beautiful in person.”

Jing Xi: “I might believe you if you weren’t grinning.”

“Do I have a reason to lie to you?” Chi Yao chuckled, leaning in close and whispering in his ear, “But, your current look is more seductive—”

Before he could finish, a fist was thrown at his face.

“I’m sorry, I misspoke.” Chi Yao backed away to dodge and said seriously, “You were seductive before too, just in a different way.”

Fang Liang and Li Yuan walked behind them, watching the two of them start an internal conflict as soon as the game began.

“Are they going to be okay?” Li Yuan touched his chin, looking worried.

Although they were in a game, any injuries they sustained here would also cause the same amount of damage to their bodies.

He really shouldn’t have brought the boss of the enemy faction.

Fang Liang said calmly, “Fights are a sign of affection. They’re not comfortable without a little fighting and bickering.”

Li Yuan: “…”

“There’s a beast!”

A scream suddenly came from ahead. Chi Yao and Jing Xi paused and looked over at the same time.

Through the gaps in the trees, they could vaguely see the ground ahead slightly arching up and moving quickly.

A group of people quickly scattered, but some were a step too slow.

From the arched ground, a huge claw suddenly extended out. It was more than two meters tall. It grabbed a player and dragged him down into the ground.

“Save me! Someone, save me!”

The alpha who was grabbed struggled desperately but was still held in mid-air.

No one dared to go up and save him, and they didn’t think it was necessary to.

Although the rules didn’t allow them to kill each other, they were still opponents.

One less person meant one more chance of winning.

His teammates reacted and pulled out their military knives and flew towards him.

But the military knives bounced off the beast, having no effect at all.

“It’s a groundhog,” Chi Yao said, watching the show with his hands in his pockets.

A gust of wind suddenly blew past his ear. In the blink of an eye, Jing Xi had already rushed over.

Li Yuan tried to stop him. “Hey, don’t meddle—”

Chi Yao’s eyes followed Jing Xi’s movements. He raised his hand to stop him.

Just as the alpha was about to be dragged into the hole, Jing Xi suddenly appeared out of nowhere. A sharp military knife was plunged into the groundhog’s skin, slicing it horizontally.

A terrifying roar came from underground.

Jing Xi’s chosen spot was the tendon. After slicing it, he quickly pulled out the military knife, and the groundhog’s claw immediately let go.

“Aren’t you going to run?” he said coldly.

The alpha was so scared that his whole body was shaking. Hearing the words, he remembered to run. After rolling onto the ground, he crawled away with his hands and feet.

The groundhog was startled, and its claw retracted back into the ground.

“That was close!”

“That’s terrifying! What is that, a bear?”

“A second-level mutated groundhog. It’s much bigger than a bear!”

With the scare over, the crowd started chattering.

With such a strong mutated beast appearing so early in the game, many people felt discouraged.

No one knew what they would encounter in the next twelve hours.

“That knife strike was really accurate,” Li Yuan said, marveling.

He hadn’t heard Chi Yao speak for a long time. He turned his head and saw that Chi Yao was taking pictures from different angles.

Li Yuan: “…”

You’re just here to have fun, aren’t you?

Jing Xi got up and walked two steps. The ground suddenly arched up in a large area.

He jumped up and grabbed the branch above him, nimbly flipping onto it.

The next moment, the ground cracked, and the groundhog’s massive body burrowed out.

“Ahhh—!”

Screams rose from the crowd.

Jing Xi had just stepped on a branch to get up when the groundhog’s claw swung over.

He was forced to leap between different branches, flipping to the groundhog’s back and then jumping onto its head.

The head was the hardest and most fatal part.

In a situation where weapons were scarce, he had to take a risk to win quickly.

“Whoa! What does he want to do? He can’t pierce the skull with that little broken knife.” Li Yuan craned his neck to watch.

Chi Yao watched, the corners of his lips curling up slightly.

“Other than the skull, everything else is a weakness.”

Li Yuan: “He could stab the abdomen.”

Chi Yao: “The abdomen is not easy to get to, and if you pierce it, there will be blood and guts. It’s too smelly.”

Li Yuan: “…”

During the groundhog’s violent struggle, Jing Xi was flung away.

“He failed!” Li Yuan shouted excitedly.

Chi Yao’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Not yet.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Jing Xi, who was falling, suddenly turned his hand and stabbed the military knife into the groundhog’s eye.

“Roar—!”

The groundhog howled in pain and fell.

Jing Xi flipped over and landed, just managing to avoid the splashing blood.

After being stabbed in the eye, the groundhog was enraged and started attacking indiscriminately.

The entire ground was shaking.

The others didn’t dare to get too close and had already run far away. Only Jing Xi was still within the attack range.

The military knife was too short. It was only enough to blind the groundhog, but it couldn’t cause a fatal injury.

Jing Xi dodged while pulling out another military knife, ready to finish it off.

Whoosh!

He suddenly heard a whooshing sound next to his ear.

A phantom-like object flew towards the groundhog’s head.

Jing Xi abruptly looked up.

A steel arrow hit the handle of the knife, pushing it further in.

“Roar—!”

Along with the groundhog’s scream, half of the arrow was buried inside, which was enough to be fatal.

Thump!

The groundhog’s heavy body fell to the ground.

Jing Xi tilted his head to look at Chi Yao, who was not far behind. He was putting down the bow in his hand and giving him a smug smile.

“D-Did it die?!”

Only when the groundhog stopped moving did the people dare to speak softly.

Some of the braver ones went to check it out. They were so scared their faces turned pale when they saw the scene of the beast with an arrow shot through its eye.

“He was able to hit it while it was moving so violently?!”

“The entire military knife is buried inside!”

“Damn it, does this game have cheats too?”

Many people secretly looked at Chi Yao and Jing Xi.

This sister looked very imposing, but they didn’t expect that pretty boy to be so powerful too.

Chi Yao returned the bow to Fang Liang and walked towards Jing Xi.

Jing Xi watched him approach and said calmly, “I thought you wouldn’t lend a hand.”

“I’m not interested in saving him, but you’re a different story.”

Chi Yao’s eyes scanned Jing Xi’s shoulder. He casually took off his jacket and put it on him.

“Brother, this can add points.”

Hearing Li Yuan’s voice, Chi Yao looked at the top left corner of the screen. In the team section, their score went from “0” to “20”.

A message popped up below.

[100 points can be exchanged for one map location refresh.]

The betting amount behind the team name, his and Jing Xi’s, surged from one million to one billion. Fang Liang and Li Yuan’s increased to 150 million.

The jacket still had Chi Yao’s body temperature. Jing Xi was stunned.

This virtual avatar was a female beta. The clothes she was wearing didn’t have much fabric, but it wasn’t to the point of being indecent.

He looked down and immediately saw the broken strap.

It was probably torn by a branch during the fight.

“Let’s go,” Chi Yao said, walking away. “There are a lot of baby groundhogs. It’ll be more troublesome if we stay.”

Seeing that they were about to leave, the others immediately followed.

The group of people who had looked down on them before were now following them closer than anyone else.

“Big brother, that shot was amazing. What did you do before?”

Chi Yao smiled and gave a vague answer. “I was on the streets.”

“No wonder you’re so good! Which street were you on?”

Chi Yao raised his chin towards Jing Xi. “You can ask her. It’s not my place to say.”

The others were confused.

That female beta exuded a cold aura that kept people away, and with her skills, no one dared to approach her.

“Why? Is she your wife?”

“You’re so powerful, how can you be henpecked?”

“Hehehe, nine out of ten powerful bosses are henpecked.”

Listening to them jeering, Chi Yao saw Jing Xi looking at him and said lazily, “She’s the boss’s woman, the big sister of the group.”

Jing Xi: “…”

You just wait.

Everyone looked at Jing Xi, their eyes filled with more awe.

No wonder she was so awesome. She was a big shot.

Jing Xi retracted his gaze and said unhurriedly, “But the person who sleeps in the same bed with him every night is you.”

The plain tone and cold expression added a hint of resentment out of nowhere.

Everyone looked at Chi Yao in unison, with an “oh, I see” expression on their faces.

Chi Yao: “…”

This brat.

He quickly took two steps and walked side by side with Jing Xi. “Then how about you join us next time?”

Whoa!

Three people in one bed?!

Jing Xi said expressionlessly, “I can’t sleep with an urn, so I’ll leave it for you.”

Chi Yao: “…”

That’s harsh.

The others: “…”

How, how exciting.

Fang Liang, Li Yuan: “…”

Did the boss actually lose a verbal fight for once?

There were no targets to observe in this group, so after walking a while, Chi Yao shook them off.

Jing Xi noticed that the path was getting more and more remote. Every time they encountered another team, Chi Yao would stop and observe.

Could it be that some of the players were also abnormal?

The sound of water and chaotic shouting came from not far away.

After passing through a small patch of bushes, a five-meter-wide river stretched out in front of them.

On the other side of the river, several teams were being chased by seven or eight first-level mutated alligators.

First-level mutations were the closest in form to regular wild beasts, and they were also the easiest to deal with.

Jing Xi looked around. “It’s not easy to cross.”

There was nothing around that could be used as a bridge, unless they cut down a tree themselves or swam across.

Chi Yao didn’t say anything. He scanned every person on the other side.

Their expressions of terror didn’t seem fake. Judging by the way they ran, they weren’t professional fighters.

This group could also be ruled out.

A moment later, a red notification appeared in the center of their vision.

The AI’s broadcast sounded in everyone’s ears.

[Player “Carry Me To Victory Please”, “War God Himself”, and “Make The Opponent So Sad They Surrender”, the three hundred million in bets have all returned to the prize pool.]

Chi Yao glanced at the number of online players. There were only 990 left.

The first two hours had the highest elimination rate.

“What happens if you surrender?” Jing Xi asked.

Chi Yao: “Nothing, as long as you have the money to pay the liquidated damages, you won’t die.”

Jing Xi frowned.

The liquidated damages were probably something that an average person couldn’t afford.

They would either leave their life here or spend the rest of it in debt.

Once you stepped in here, there was no going back.

A steel arrow flew through the air and shot into the center of the mutated bison’s forehead.

The bison fell to the ground.

[Points +20, team’s cumulative points 1050, currently ranked first. Points can be exchanged for refresh opportunities and guidance.]

Chi Yao glanced at it and ignored it.

He continued to walk forward.

After a few steps, a wild beast’s scream came from the right side.

“That team is now ranked second,” Li Yuan parted the grass to look. “They’re pretty fierce.”

Chi Yao took a look. The leader of that team was the bald beta who had flirted with Jing Xi at the beginning.

He claimed to have been here many times and knew the way well. His recruited teammates were also skilled fighters. When the game started, they immediately left the main group and went ahead.

“Who’s over there?!”

The bald beta glared over fiercely. When he saw Jing Xi, a vulgar smile appeared on his lips. “Hey, it’s the little lady. We’re so fated—”

Before he could finish, something hit his right cheek with a great force, causing his face to turn to the side.

He reached up and felt his right cheek swell up like a steamed bun.

“Who the hell threw that rock?! Ugh!”

As soon as he finished speaking, his left cheek was also hit by a rock, and his face turned to the other side.

“Don’t turn your face towards me,” Chi Yao sneered. “It’s dirty and ugly.”

The bald beta covered his face and glared angrily. “You pretty boy, you dare to go against me?!”

As he was speaking, another team emerged from the bushes on the side of the two teams.

Chi Yao looked over.

They weren’t any of the teams they had encountered before.

These four people were all alphas. They were thin and weak and looked like they wouldn’t survive ten minutes in this dangerous forest.

Chi Yao’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Jing Xi stood beside Chi Yao, his hand on the military knife on his thigh.

“Where the hell did these pretty boys come from?! Get lost!”

The bald beta was enraged from humiliation. He pressed his hand against the chest of the alpha in the front of the other team.

He thought that such a thin person would fall with a gentle push, but he couldn’t move him at all.

The bald beta frowned. “You—”

The alpha suddenly grabbed his collar and plunged the military knife into the bald beta’s abdomen.

“Ugh—!”

In a flash of lightning, no one had time to react.

The bald beta’s eyes widened. The sharp pain in his abdomen made him unable to believe it.

Before anyone could react, the alpha pulled out the military knife and stabbed him again. His face didn’t even show a hint of emotion.

In just two seconds, he was stabbed ten times in the same spot. The bald beta fell to the ground.

The AI’s notification sounded in everyone’s ears.

[Player “Playing Escape With My Sons” has lost his life signs. The eight hundred million in bets have returned to the prize pool.]

The bald beta’s teammates looked at the bleeding military knife in the alpha’s hand, stunned.

What’s going on?! Did they start killing each other to win?

Before they could figure it out, the three people behind the alpha walked towards them.

Without a second thought, they turned and ran.

Jing Xi had just pulled out his military knife when the alpha on the other side looked at him directly.

There was no human emotion in his eyes, only pure killing intent.

He was very familiar with the feeling of being targeted by a wild beast.

This group of people was not normal.

“Damn it, they want to kill us too?” Li Yuan cursed under his breath. “We’re not even at the finish line yet. Isn’t it too early to waste energy here?”

He had just prepared for a fight when he saw Chi Yao turn and run.

“We can’t win. Let’s get out of here.”

Li Yuan: “…”

He put away his military knife in frustration and followed him.

After running for ten minutes, they finally shook off those people.

Chi Yao pretended to bend over and gasp for breath, his eyes looking at Jing Xi.

Jing Xi also stopped and nodded slightly at him.

The IDs and data of the four people had already been collected by Xiao Hong.

“I’m exhausted. Let’s take a break.”

Chi Yao sat down against a large tree trunk and refused to walk anymore.

After more than three hours, the sky in the game turned dark, and night was approaching.

Fang Liang and Li Yuan dutifully gathered firewood and started a fire.

Jing Xi used the excuse of picking up firewood to walk around the area.

[Xiao Hong: Data has been captured. We can track the four people’s situation in real-time.]

He only started walking back after hearing this notification.

When Chi Yao saw him coming back, he opened his arms and teased him. “Come sit with your brother.”

Jing Xi glanced at him, expressionlessly put down the firewood, and ignored him.

Just as Chi Yao was thinking about how to annoy him, he saw Jing Xi straighten up and slowly walk over, sitting down in front of him.

His arms were suddenly full. Chi Yao froze. “…”

He really came.

Jing Xi leaned back and said on purpose, “Relax your muscles.”

Fang Liang and Li Yuan looked like they had seen a ghost. They even held their breath, afraid of being discovered that they were just background characters.

Chi Yao: “…”

This kid doesn’t really have feelings for me, does he?