At noon here, it was so hot that people broke out into sweat, and the three eyeballs in the sky were blood-red.
By dusk, they began to close, leaving only a slit by this time.
The surrounding temperature plummeted instantly, and a light breeze blew through, cold and gloomy.
In this game, extreme cold and heat both caused health drops.
Song Xu selected a spot sheltered from the wind, stacked up a campfire pile, and lit it.
There was no shortage of twigs and thatch in her backpack.
Unfortunately, she had not dug more moss yesterday, so she could not build a doghouse shelter and had no choice but to sleep on the ground.
With her stamina running too low, Song Xu sat beside the campfire, resting her chin on her hand and nodding off.
When her left hand went numb, she switched to her right hand.
Suddenly slipping her hand, she snapped her eyes open.
*Flap flap flap~*
Several palm-sized moths were circling around the campfire.
Attracted by the firelight, they flew in endless circles.
Song Xu had never seen such large moths, and sub-consciously triggered ‘Eyes See, Mouth Eats’.
[Phosphorescent Night Moth]
[Diet: High protein, edible. Compound eyes and wings are mildly toxic and must be removed. Abdominal meat is plump, best when roasted. It is one of the main food sources of the Red-Eyed Toad.]
Song Xu instantly lost all sleepiness!
She suddenly thought of her passive skill.
[Food Master’s Charm: Any target will develop an unparalleled affection for you after consuming food prepared by your own hands.]
If she cooked these moths and fed them to the Red-Eyed Toad, would it develop an affection for her, abandon its attacks, and obediently stand there waiting for her to shoot it?
It did say “any target” after all.
It was worth a shot.
She quickly browsed through the system mall.
Sure enough, under the tools category, there were dip nets—the most expensive cost over a hundred points, while the cheapest was 5 points.
Gritting her teeth, she bought the cheapest one and quietly got up.
Gauging the exact moment the moths circled directly above the campfire, she scooped the dip net upward with a sharp motion!
*Swoosh!*
The cloth net scraped past the edge of the flame, bringing up a small shower of sparks.
At the same time, it trapped two Phosphorescent Night Moths that had failed to react in time!
They fluttered frantically inside, their wing dust falling in sprinkles.
Song Xu rapidly pulled the dip net back, moving away from the fire source.
Then she slammed it hard against the ground twice.
Carefully pinching the stunned moth, she pulled one out.
This moth’s face looked terrifyingly grotesque!
Tearing off its two wings and cutting off its head, a squirt of white juice splashed out.
Enduring the nausea, Song Xu processed the other moth as well.
Then, following the same method, she continued capturing them.
The firelight continuously attracted moths.
In less than twenty minutes, she caught eleven Phosphorescent Night Moths.
It should be just about enough.
Finding some thin twigs, she skewer them up.
One by one, the plump white moth meat skewers were arranged beside the campfire, slowly roasting in the residual heat.
She turned them from time to time to avoid burning.
Soon, a burnt fragrance blended with a seafood aroma drifted out.
[Cooking Successful]
[Obtained: Phosphorescent Night Moth Skewer x1, Restores 10 Health upon consumption]
[Deliciousness: ★]
[Recipe cataloged.]
The enticing aroma wormed its way into her nose, making her stomach rumble unhelpfully.
Not long ago, this thing had a furry body and weird compound eyes, yet who knew it would smell so fragrant once roasted.
Song Xu’s throat worked as she swallowed her saliva.
Forget it, these were all prepared for the toad.
She shook her head and stored the eleven skewers of roasted moth meat into her Large Stomach Pouch.
By the time she finished all this, it was almost midnight.
She felt a wave of exhaustion like a collapse.
At this point, her stamina had hit rock bottom; if she did not rest now, her health would start dropping.
Adding a few dry logs to build up the campfire brighter, she curled up next to the fire, holding her bow and arrows, and fell asleep using the stone axe as a pillow.
*Rustle… rustle rustle…*
In the darkness, several dark shadows twisted like melting asphalt, slowly flowing out from the ground.
A shadow tentacle extended outward; the moment its tip crossed the boundary between light and darkness, it immediately jerked back as if scalded.
Song Xu humped her brows in her sleep, curling her body even tighter.
Time passed slowly amid the guardianship of the firelight and the greed of the dark shadows.
. . .
Near daybreak, a thunderous roar suddenly exploded in Song Xu’s mind!
“WIFE!!!”
Song Xu was dragged violently back to reality straight from deep sleep, her eyes snapping wide open!
Before her was extreme darkness.
A cold, slimy touch was rapidly winding upward from her ankles, spreading across her skin.
The campfire had completely gone out at some point.
“Ugh!”
Fear clutched her throat, leaving her unable to make a complete sound.
The icy touch crawled past her knees, crept up her chest, and coiled toward her neck, making every hair on her body stand on end.
Don’t panic!
Her daughter was still waiting for her!
Liang Yan—that was Liang Yan’s voice just now!
Suppressing the trembling through her body, she rapidly pulled matches from her backpack.
Hurry!
Useless hands, don’t shake!
*Schhh~*
The moment the flame appeared, the shadow pressed against her neck abruptly shrank back an inch!
Hands and feet in a scramble, she ignited a torch she had crafted earlier, and an orange-yellow glow burst outward.
*Hiss hiss!*
Like hot oil in a frying pan, the shadow tentacles wrapped around her hissed, retreating rapidly off her body in just two or three seconds.
“Whew… whew…”
Song Xu was drenched in cold sweat, staring at those twisting shadows in the darkness.
[Night Demon LV99]
[Diet: Non-living entity, inedible; fears light, feeds on player fear; immune to all attacks, impossible to kill.]
[Tip: Night Demons permeate all dark corners of the canyon. Please maintain a light source or enter a system-defined safe shelter.]
Song Xu’s hand holding the torch trembled slightly.
Level 99? And invincible!
She was currently only Level 0, her experience points sitting at a pitiful 23.
Those terrifying black shadows were still trying to approach her.
To her horror, she discovered that as the black shadows grew closer, the torch in her hand flickered between bright and dim, its durability dropping by two ticks in an instant!
No wonder such a large campfire had gone out.
Shivering, Song Xu pulled out another torch, preparing to switch quickly when this one was about to go out.
Just at that moment, the three eyeballs in the sky opened a sliver of a slit—it was dawn.
In an instant, the Night Demons vanished without a trace.
Song Xu let out a breath of relief.
Looking down, around her ankles and calves where the Night Demons had wrapped, rings of pale grey marks remained on her skin, throbbing with faint pain, though there was no broken skin or bleeding.
In the status bar, her health had dropped to 38/50, and a debuff had been added.
[Night Demon Erosion (Mild): All attributes reduced by 5% for 30 minutes.]
This was the third day.
Song Xu took out that piece of black bread she had been reluctant to eat and took a bite.
This bread was different from prepared dishes; one bite restored 5 health points, and it could be eaten ten times in total.
That call of “wife” she heard in her dream just now…
Was it a hallucination? Auditory illusion?
Or was Liang Yan truly somewhere out there, sensing her danger through some means?
She did not know.
Supporting herself against a nearby rock, she stood up.
She glanced at her status and took a few deep breaths.
She had to become stronger!
As long as Liang Yan was still around, she would definitely be able to find him.
Time to move!