Si Yan took out his electronic device and began examining their location. “Let’s clear out the nearby stations first,” he said.
On his map, the red dots marked clearance targets while green indicators showed supply points.
“Clearance targets?” Ruan Tang was utterly confused, but no one offered an explanation.
It wasn’t until they arrived and saw Si Yan crouching behind a dirt mound, shooting at moving humanoid standees one bullet at a time, that she understood what he meant.
Si Yan’s marksmanship was excellent, landing nearly every shot. Wen Ran was naturally skilled too, and soon they had cleared one area. In comparison, Xu Shi’an performed poorly, hitting only one target for every five shots.
Seeing the points they’d acquired, Si Yan immediately prepared to move to the next location, assuming the role of team leader without even asking Xu Shi’an for his opinion.
At the next spot, Xu Shi’an directly tossed a simulated landmine. With a “boom,” all the targets fell, and over a dozen points were credited solely to him.
“What are you doing?” Si Yan shouted.
Xu Shi’an replied, “This saves more time.”
“Do you think you’re the only clever one here?” Si Yan was furious. They had been using silencers on their guns, but now the loud explosion had exposed their position.
“Experienced players know not to use grenades recklessly!”
Seeing how angry he was, Ruan Tang asked, “Is it really that serious?”
Si Yan explained, “Did you think this wilderness game was just about shooting dummies? Accumulating one hundred points from real players is equivalent to taking out a hundred dummies. By the end of the game, it’s basically about hunting people. We’re exposed now—get ready to be pursued.”
Xu Shi’an frowned. “The rules in this damn place are different from where I’ve played before. Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Si Yan retorted, “Why don’t you admit you acted impulsively?”
Xu Shi’an glanced at him. “Look at you, so full of yourself. Quite the disciplinarian, huh?”
He was fed up—he wasn’t some employee of the Si Corporation, so why was Si Yan putting on airs and acting all high and mighty?
Wen Ran had expected these two to argue, but she hadn’t thought it would happen so soon after the game started, faster than she anticipated.
She stepped in to mediate, “Our position is already compromised. Let’s retreat first—it won’t be good if someone shows up.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than a gunshot rang out. Fortunately, the bullet only struck the ground.
“Run!” Si Yan signaled, and everyone followed him forward, with pursuers close behind.
He glanced back—the other team consisted entirely of experienced players, four men. Si Yan had no choice but to lead Wen Ran and the others into a small forest.
They hid for what felt like ages before finally shaking off their pursuers. Si Yan crouched on the ground, feeling more frustrated than ever. In the past, he would have counterattacked and taken out several opponents, but his teammates were just too weak.
He looked at Xu Shi’an and said, “If you don’t follow orders, don’t stay in my team.”
Listen to Si Yan? Absolutely impossible!
Xu Shi’an snorted coldly and picked up his backpack to leave.
“You can’t,” Wen Ran stood up. “There’s only one map in the team. What if you get lost?”
Ruan Tang had considered going with Xu Shi’an, but after hearing Wen Ran’s words and still shaken from being chased, she retreated back.
Xu Shi’an didn’t care about any of that. He said to Wen Ran, “If you’re worried about me, then come with me.”Xu Shi’an glanced at Ruan Tang again. He had long known this woman was a fence-sitter and had no expectations of her whatsoever. Bringing her along was nothing but a burden.
Seeing Wen Ran remained silent, he said angrily, “All talk and no action.”
Without giving them another glance, he directly left the team. The moment Xu Shi’an took a few steps forward, the point deduction began.
“Ding, Xu Shi’an Affection points -1.”
“Ding, Xu Shi’an Affection points -2.”
“Ding, Xu Shi’an Affection points -3.”
Wen Ran was speechless. The man basically lost one point with every step he took. His back hadn’t even fully disappeared from view yet, and the points kept dropping. How could she dare not chase after him?
After telling Si Yan to be careful, she quickly ran after Xu Shi’an. Si Yan wanted to stop her, but seeing how urgently Wen Ran was chasing after the man, his words got stuck in his throat.
“Xu Shi’an!”
Wen Ran jogged after him, but the man ahead walked with hurried, rapid steps.
Although Xu Shi’an didn’t stop to wait for Wen Ran, all the points he had just lost were restored the moment the woman caught up with him.
“Ouch!” Seeing she couldn’t keep up, Wen Ran simply fell to the ground, pretending to have tripped.
Hearing the sound, Xu Shi’an indeed stopped. He turned around and saw Wen Ran on the ground, hands clutching her knee.
He thought disdainfully in his heart, How useless—can’t even walk properly.
Wen Ran continued her act, “It hurts so much!”
“What’s wrong?” Xu Shi’an walked over and reached out his hand to her. “Can you still stand up?”
Wen Ran immediately placed her hand in his and used his strength to get up. “Of course I can stand! I was just pretending!”
The woman’s voice was cheerful, “Hehe! I knew you wouldn’t abandon me!”
Wen Ran spoke with certainty, but Xu Shi’an turned his face away. “So boring! Childish!”
Aren’t you too old for such tricks? He said, “If you pull this again next time, it won’t work.”
“It will!” Wen Ran said, “Everyone else might ignore me, but An’an won’t!”
Xu Shi’an replied, “You’re wrong about that. If something happens to you, I’ll be the first to not care, then inherit the Wen family fortune.”
He spoke seriously, without a hint of joking with Wen Ran. “Don’t count on me.”
Wen Ran pouted. This bastard has quite the imagination. Don’t worry, even if she didn’t stay long in this world, these rotten men wouldn’t get a single penny of the original host’s inheritance.
Seeing Wen Ran walking beside him in silence, Xu Shi’an thought she was frightened by his earlier words.
He added, “Don’t worry. Even though we’re in the wilderness, I won’t do anything to you.”
“Staying with me is much better than being with the Si family. Looking at you, you’ll probably be angered to death by Si Yan sooner or later—you won’t live long.”
Wen Ran had never seen someone curse others to their face so openly. She slapped Xu Shi’an’s arm, “I think compared to Si Yan, you’re the one who can anger me more!”
“How would I dare!” Xu Shi’an said, “Even if I found ten women, you wouldn’t bat an eye. But if Si Yan finds just one, you mope around like a resentful wife.”
Uh… was that sarcasm?
“Yes.” Zha Zha affirmed Wen Ran’s thoughts, “I can hear it too.”
Wen Ran nodded. If even Zha Zha could tell, then it was probably genuine jealousy.
“Where do I look like a resentful wife?” Wen Ran defended herself, “I’m clearly a noble lady!””Hmph!” The man said disdainfully, “I wonder who’s been posting all those melancholic things in their social feed every day. It’s hard to miss even if I tried.”
Xu Shi’an thought to himself, when he was with Ruan Tang, he never saw Wen Ran react like this.
“Are you actually concerned about me?” Wen Ran said, “Well then, I’ll forgive your sarcastic remarks!”
Xu Shi’an: “…”
He was clearly annoyed by her, how did that become concern? He refused to acknowledge that!