...
Nanhua Town, the edge of the collapse area.
During this time, the giant fungal creatures at the bottom of the pit have behaved exceptionally quietly, except for the occasional incomplete fungus puppet climbing out during the dead of night, only to be quickly taken out by the Hunters on night watch. There has been no other activity.
Sun Hang even wondered if the giant fungal creatures had cocooned themselves... but then he thought, the fungal creatures essentially occupy the insect’s shell and there’s no metamorphosis development process for fungi...
"What boring days these are." Charles complained as he tossed the knife in his hand – over the past few days, he had gotten very familiar with Sun Hang and the others, and his greatest hobby was coming over to chat with them and then sarcastically mocking Suyue, who had been "captured" by Sun Hang.
Interestingly enough, during this period, many Free Hunters and mercenaries arrived at the mine in Nanhua Town, but the members of the Sandthorn Rose seemed to have vanished into thin air, completely absent – leading Charles to suspect that the other members of Sandthorn Rose may have all been wiped out, leaving no one to come and retrieve her from Sun Hang’s team.
Or perhaps they didn’t want to offend the people of Dubhe Tower over someone like Suyue, directly treating her as an abandoned pawn.
"Boring days are better than days where life hangs by a thread." Candle Dragon reclined in a folding chair "pinched" from Chen Jing, leisurely rocking in it, "Actually, the scenery in the uninhabited zone is quite nice. After seeing the concrete jungle of the metropolitan areas, seeing the barren horizon and unimpeded sky is a unique form of enjoyment."
"For you metropolitan Hunters, it might be enjoyable, but for me, I see this kind of scenery all the time. I’m tired of it." Charles drew out the knife, scooped out a large chunk of luncheon meat from the can, and stuffed it into his mouth, "And let’s not forget the ever-present deadly sandstorms... Hey, do you think I’m just a glutton for punishment? I curse non-stop when chased by sandstorms and weird creatures, but now, when we finally have a few peaceful days, I find it boring, hahaha."
"You’re pretty masochistic." Sun Hang nodded, "Since you’re bored, how about another round?"
"Forget it, forget it." Charles shook his hands repeatedly, "I’m no match for you in chess, it’s pointless. I feel more talented in mahjong, but there’s no mahjong table here. When we get back to Yumen, I must challenge you a few rounds to regain the pride I lost in these past few days! By then, I’ll paint twenty turtles on your face!"
Due to a lack of resources, Sun Hang and Charles didn’t use material objects as gambling stakes in their chess games. They agreed that whoever lost would have his face freely decorated by the winner, and the loser couldn’t intentionally remove it—he could only wait for sweat to gradually wash away the ink.
Also due to the lack of resources, sweating excessively meant needing more water, so Charles had to wear a full-face gas mask all day to cover the graffiti-covered face painted by Sun Hang.
"Mahjong? I don’t know how, I won’t play." Sun Hang flatly refused.
"Ha, I bet you’re afraid of losing, huh?" Charles challenged.
"Speaking of which, the second phase of the hunting party from the three prominent families should have set off today, right?" Sun Hang decisively changed the topic.
"Yes, Chen Jing said they set off this morning." Ya Qiaoxi nodded, "Also, Cheng Ming, whom you were quite concerned about earlier, is included in the hunting party."
"Oh?"
"Not just that, he seems to be highly regarded by Bai Lingqiu and has been appointed as the deputy leader of the hunting party."
"Bai Lingqiu? Who’s that?" Sun Hang asked, "Isn’t that the Miss Bai from the three prominent families?"
He had seen the name amidst a bunch of information forwarded by the main brain, but Sun Hang hadn’t looked through the files carefully—for him, the profiles of non-infected persons could generally be skimmed over, whether the person was the eldest son of the Chen Family or Miss Bai from the Bai Family.
"Yes, that’s Miss Bai, the only daughter of the current Patriarch of the Bai Family, future heir to the Bai Group, and also the leader of the second phase hunting party of the three prominent families." Ya Qiaoxi said, "Tch, if you could court her, being a son-in-law wouldn’t be a bad deal... Pity that Bai Lingqiu always sports a poker face, just short of writing ’cold natured’ all over it."
"Just because someone constantly wears a poker face doesn’t mean they’re cold-natured; maybe they’re just expressionless." Charles suddenly interjected.
"Ha, with the Bai Family’s wealth, if it’s truly expressionlessness, they’d have treated it a long time ago!" Ya Qiaoxi cast Charles a disdainful glance, "You think we’re like people at the bottom, scrimping even to pay insurance!"
"True... So, do you think Miss Bai would ever fancy me? I’d be quite willing to marry in." Charles laughed.
"You?" Ya Qiaoxi giggled, "Can you even take off the mask covering your face right now?"
"I feel so unlucky..." Charles lamented to Sun Hang upon hearing Ya Qiaoxi’s remark, "Why did you have to draw those things on my face? Otherwise, with this handsome face of mine, winning over Miss Bai and marrying into the Bai Family, reaching the zenith of life would be a no-brainer!"