With every handful wrapped, the scarecrow’s body grew sturdier by a notch.
[Scarecrow LV4]
So this was how this clearing came to be.
Song Xu tightened her grip on her shortbow and lowered her voice: “Go!”
The toads immediately charged forward.
The nearest scarecrow detected movement and sluggishly straightened up.
A toad slammed like a cannonball against its straw-bound leg, then opened its mouth to bite down.
-1!
As the damage number floated up, a few strands of withered grass fell out of the toad’s mouth.
The scarecrow paid it no mind at all; scooping its arm downward, it grabbed that toad in a single clutch.
The toad struggled frantically, whipping its tongue furiously.
-1, -1…
The scarecrow’s arm tightened violently.
Squish!
Accompanied by a teeth-grinding squeezing sound, the toad’s health bar instantly hit rock bottom, crushed directly into a lump of meat paste.
The moment the first scarecrow was attacked, all scarecrows stopped their grass-gathering actions, straightened their bodies, and ran over with thumping steps.
The toads had almost no intelligence, remembering only Song Xu’s attack command and flinging themselves forward to bite recklessly.
However, their attacks were like tickling; although the scarecrows were slow in footwork, the attacks from their hands were swift and fierce.
Song Xu knitted her brows.
Level 1 toads were no match for Level 4 scarecrows; she couldn’t hide any longer.
Drawing her bow, she aimed at a scarecrow with its back turned to her.
Time to test the new skill.
Whoosh!
The arrow left the string, nailing into the bundle of straw on the scarecrow’s back.
(-3!)
Song Xu knit her brows tighter.
Was arrow damage to scarecrows this low?
Yet right as the arrow hit that scarecrow, the skill Matching Game triggered.
Crack!
A faint blue electric arc instantly shot out, jumping onto the scarecrow beside it.
In the next second, that short scarecrow’s entire body froze violently.
(-108!)
Before it had time to make any movement, its entire body collapsed with a clatter, scattering into a pile of charred grass ash.
[Killed Scarecrow LV4, Experience Points +20, Points +4.]
Instant kill!
Song Xu’s eyes lit up.
The chain lightning caused remarkably high damage to the second target!
She drew her bow once again, still aiming at that initial scarecrow that had been shot in the back by her and was currently chasing the toads around.
Whoosh!
Another arrow stuck into its arm.
(-4!)
The electric arc jumped once more, accurately connecting to another scarecrow beside it.
Clatter~
The second scarecrow crumbled into black ash.
“Help me lure the mobs, don’t let them cluster together!” While issuing orders to the toads, she rapidly shifted her position.
Song Xu aimed at that tool-monster once more.
Third arrow.
Fourth arrow.
Every arrow landed on that scarecrow, which was growing increasingly furious.
Every electric arc that shot out inevitably took away a companion beside it.
Gradually, a small vacuum zone appeared on the clearing.
Centering around that scarecrow, companions within several meters of its surroundings were cleared out.
Finally, the other scarecrows seemed to notice something was wrong.
For a moment, a comical scene appeared on the clearing.
A scarecrow stuck full like a hedgehog was chasing after the main group, while a large swarm of scarecrows dodged awkwardly, trying to maintain distance.
How could Song Xu possibly miss this opportunity?
Whoosh! Crack! Clatter.
Whoosh! Crack! Clatter.
Experience points and points surged upward.
When this group of scarecrows was slaughtered down to only one remaining.
That scarecrow could no longer be recognized for its original appearance.
Not to mention its upper body being stuck full of arrows, several heavy giant toads were also hanging off its two legs.
It was completely unable to take a step forward anymore.
Song Xu walked up to it and took a close-up look.
The scarecrow had no facial features, with a faint glimmer showing from within two thatch eye sockets.
Song Xu reached out to pry open its dried grass head, digging out a round little stone.
[Scarecrow Core]
[Description: Low-quality energy material, barely enough to make a bundle of straw move. Combined with a construct, a primitive puppet can be crafted.]
Not knowing what use it had, she stored it in her bag to keep.
Clicking to submit the quest for killing scarecrows.
A dusty piece of clothing appeared in her backpack.
[Rabbit Fur Patchwork Padded Jacket (Bronze)]
[Attributes: Defense +8, keeps warm and windproof.]
The clothing felt a bit heavy in her hand, bearing a faint gamy odor.
The style was bulky with a hood, the grayish-brown rabbit fur being dark in some patches and light in others, stitched together crookedly.
Song Xu threw it straight on over her clothes.
The fur at the edge of the clothing rubbed against her neck, feeling a bit scratchy, but it indeed blocked a great deal of cold wind.
She looked down at herself.
Her legs were still wearing those novice shorts, leaving two bare legs exposed outside, freezing a layer of goosebumps with every gust of wind.
On her feet were the tall boots given by a previous quest, made of cowhide material and stiff.
Song Xu tugged at the corner of her jacket, feeling herself that this look was a bit of an eyesore.
She pulled the hood up to block her ears from freezing red.
Alright then.
Still better than freezing.
Glancing at her attribute panel.
[Song Xu · LV7]
[Health Points: 120/100]
[Stamina Points: 140/120]
[Experience Points: 1080/1200]
[Basic Attributes]
[Spirit: 12]
[Qi: 14]
[Luck: 10]
[Points: 425]
She was about to reach LV8 soon.
Tightening her grip on her shortbow, she took the remaining seven toads and plunged into the withered grass once more, searching for scarecrow gathering places.
…
A whole two days and one night passed.
In the end, only one toad responsible for luring mobs remained.
A total of two scarecrow elites were spawned, and the two treasure chests dropped yielded a small wooden house blueprint and a skill fragment.
A good deal of carrots and desert scallions were collected.
Even double-hop rabbits were killed over thirty in passing.
Beep beep beep, the private chat prompt sounded again.
[Vicious Stepmother: 🎙️(Voice) 🎙️57”]
This girl named Lü Le was overly enthusiastic; over the past two days, she had been sending her private chats and trade requests non-stop.
At first, Lü Le dug iron ore, sending it over every time she gathered 50 pieces.
Later, knowing that Song Xu lacked wooden planks, she directly traded her iron ore with others for wooden planks before sending them.
Lü Le sent one-way trades as well; sometimes Song Xu hadn’t even noticed, and the items were already inside her bag.
In this game, chatting could be done by entering text or sending voice messages, and if purchasing items, video calls could even be used.
So Lü Le would send voice messages to chat with Song Xu while digging ore.
Therefore, apart from supplies, Song Xu came to know all of Lü Le’s gossip.
Over these two days, she not only learned Lü Le’s real name and age, but even knew her phone number and where her home was located.
She lived in neighboring Ji Province, not far from the Hei Province where Song Xu resided.
Two years younger than Song Xu, she was 26 this year.
Last year, kicked in the head by a donkey, she married a second-marriage man and became a stepmother to someone.
To show her sincerity, combined with the fact that she didn’t want to have children in the first place, she directly underwent tubal ligation.
She was single-mindedly devoted to that 7-year-old boy, treating him as her own flesh and blood.
However, that child learned to constantly use bad language from his grandmother; unable to endure it any longer, she stepped in to discipline him with a couple of smacks.
As a result, her mother-in-law pointed at her nose and cursed her for being vicious.
Her husband also picked a massive fight with her without distinguishing right from wrong.
Lü Le was heartbroken; running out in a fit of rage, she was struck directly into the ICU by a drunk-driving heavy truck.