Song Xu’s heart tightened, and instinctively she wanted to exit the game.
Right at that moment, a red message flashed across the system panel:
[Warning: The Extreme Cold Tide has officially arrived. All conscious players have been forcibly recalled. Duration: 72 hours. During this period, players cannot exit the game.]
*Crack, crack, crack.*
It sounded like the crisp snapping of freezing ice, scraping past overhead along the walls.
Song Xu cursed inwardly as wild winds began to howl violently outside.
The sound of the wind turned into a terrifying screech.
The regional chat channel was instantly spammed with messages.
[Dragon Travels the World: What the fuck?! What is that sound?! My straw shed roof got ripped off!]
[Little Weakling: Help! I’m outside, my legs—my legs can’t move anymore! My health is dropping!]
[Brother Knife: Fuck! This wind is way too strong, even my house is shaking!]
[Momo Lili (Voice Message): No! The wood froze and cracked! I’m buried! Ah—!]
The avatar of the person who had just sent the message quickly grayed out.
Song Xu leaned against the wall, her face pale.
Her feet were shaking as well.
The walls emitted dull, squeezing noises, and the iron sheets on the windows rattled noisily from being blown.
Durability began to drop rapidly.
She took a glance at the Peeping Bear.
Half of Bao Bao’s body was hanging over the edge of the crib railing; with a small quiver of her body, she tumbled onto the big bed.
She looked left and right blankly, and then her little mouth turned down as tears began to well up.
Song Xu’s heart twisted tight.
This damned game actually prevented exiting at a time like this.
Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from the left window!
The iron sheet sealing the window was forced open by a massive force!
An icy cold current surged in violently.
Jolted by the freezing air, Song Xu rushed to the wall, opened the crafting panel, and operated her fingers at lightning speed.
If one layer of iron sheet window was not enough, then two layers, three layers.
Craft, craft, craft!
Layer upon layer of iron sheets firmly blocked the breach.
The freezing wind was forcibly cut off, a layer of frost condensed on the iron sheets, and the house stabilized.
Song Xu gathered her thoughts and looked at the Peeping Bear again.
In the monitor, the crib was empty.
Bao Bao had already crawled to her side and was curled up in the crook of her arm.
The little one’s face pressed against her arm, one hand still gripping the corner of her clothes, breathing evenly, already fast asleep.
Song Xu let out a breath of relief.
Fortunate that her daughter had fallen asleep again; otherwise, if she could not wake up for over 7 hours, how terrified would the child be?
Song Xu cleaned up the spilled chicken soup, scooped out another bowl, and ate it in small bites.
[Malicious Stepmother: Sister! I sent you messages, why didn’t you reply? How are things on your side? Are you okay!]
[Bao Bao’s Mom: Didn’t see it just now, I’m fine. How about you?]
[Malicious Stepmother: Good thing I listened to you and saved up a lot of materials. That gust just now froze and cracked my wooden planks, so I pasted materials like crazy and upgraded the house to Level 3! Otherwise, the durability almost went to zero.]
[Bao Bao’s Mom: Glad you’re fine. Looks like we won’t be able to go out for the next few days. Do you have enough food?]
[Malicious Stepmother: Don’t worry, Sister, I still have plenty of meat skewers. Do you have enough firewood? I’ll share half with you.]
Knowing the Extreme Cold was coming, Song Xu had long gathered half a backpack’s worth of firewood.
Just as she was about to reply that it was unnecessary, the private chat list flashed suddenly.
[Bao Bao’s Dad]
Song Xu’s hand froze in midair, her pupils shrinking sharply.
The next second, a message popped out.
[Bao Bao’s Dad: Wife? Is that you? It’s me, Liang Yan.]
With a buzz, Song Xu’s mind went blank.
With trembling hands, she pulled up the input box and sent a voice message directly: “Liang Yan?! It’s me! Where on earth are you?! Where did you go?! Say something!”
[Bao Bao’s Dad: Wife, don’t get excited…]
“I shouldn’t get excited? How the hell can I not get excited! You’ve been missing for three days! You didn’t leave a single word for the two of us, you fucking @#$%…”
[Bao Bao’s Dad: Wife, listen to me. This game has the Law of Silence, I really couldn’t tell you in advance.]
“It’s been three days since I came in! What were you doing?! Why didn’t you message me earlier! With a ten-fold time speed difference, couldn’t you find a spare moment to give me a call? Where are you right now!”
[Bao Bao’s Dad: That… I accidentally got killed by a BOSS, but don’t worry, I have a Resurrection Cross, I can resurrect one more time.]
“What do you mean?! What Resurrection Cross? Don’t type to me, send me a voice message—no, let’s video call.”
[Bao Bao’s Dad: Sending voice messages wastes stamina, and video call… I don’t have points left. Can we just chat like this? (Pouting.jpg)]
“I’ll buy it, wait.”
Without another word, Song Xu opened the system mall, spent 10 points to purchase a ten-minute video call permission, and used it directly.
The other party’s image appeared before her eyes.
In the dim light, Liang Yan lowered his head, wearing a tattered horned hat.
“Liang Yan?” Song Xu narrowed her eyes. “Raise your head.”
“Well, wife, I currently… don’t look good.”
“Don’t dawdle! One minute costs one point! Hurry up!”
The person opposite froze for a moment, then slowly raised his hands to take off the hat.
Song Xu’s breath hitched, her eyes widening abruptly.
Grizzled hair, a wrinkled face, droopy corners of the eyes, yet the smile pulled at the corners of his mouth was oh so familiar.
“Wife,” his voice was somewhat raspy, “I’m sorry, I’ve grown old…”
Song Xu stared fixedly at him, opening her mouth, and only after a long moment made a sound: “You—you were that begging old man?!”
“I actually—actually didn’t recognize you!” Her voice suddenly rose, filled with disbelief. “Liang Yan! You…”
Liang Yan lowered his head, rubbing his large hands together. “Wife, don’t get excited. I don’t have conscious time left right now. Staying in the real world deducts lifespan, deducts it heavily, which is why I got old like this. But don’t worry, real-world lifespan can also be exchanged with points. You’ll know in the future.”
Song Xu clenched her fist: “I thought you were in the game all along and hadn’t left! Since you were outside, why didn’t you come find me again!”
His shoulders slumped: “I didn’t dare to. I—I was afraid you’d find me hideous.”
Song Xu was angered to the point of laughing: “Bullshit! When have I ever found you hideous! Forget it, let’s not talk about that for now. Where are you right now, I mean in reality! Aging like this, how much lifespan do you have left?”
Liang Yan: “Um, I should be able to hold out for another week. The past two days… I’ve been staying under a bridge culvert in the park. Actually, I wanted to come home…”
Song Xu: “Nonsense, if you wanted to, why didn’t you come back! The next time you regain consciousness, appear in front of me immediately, right away! Also, what is the Resurrection Cross? What do you mean you were killed by a BOSS? What level are you now, where are you, and how can I give you points?”
Liang Yan paused, suddenly covering his face: “Waaah, wife… waaah, I’m too useless…”
Song Xu raised her fist, cracking her knuckles loudly: “If you talk more whiny nonsense while crying, believe it or not I’ll beat you up? Answer my questions right now!”