Chapter 63: 63, All missing

When it comes to survival instincts, among this group, aside from Ren Xiaosu, only Xu Xiance and Yang Xiaoju were the least pretentious.

Ren Xiaosu claimed that the juice squeezed from pine needles was drinkable, and the two of them eagerly climbed trees to find suitable pine needles, even plucking many pine cones in the process.

In truth, only someone like Ren Xiaosu, who had spent years wandering the wilderness, understood that nature was generous—it never kept track of who took what, as long as you approached it with sincerity, you could always rely on it to survive.

Someone sighed, "Humans don't live as freely as animals. If I could be reborn as an animal, that would be wonderful."

Ren Xiaosu glanced at the speaker and replied, "Animals don't live as freely as you imagine. I heard that giraffes, the tallest land animals, can fend off enemies with their height, but their mating rituals are incredibly complicated. Before courting, male giraffes must drink the female's urine to determine if she's in heat. If something unexpected happened, the urine would be wasted..."

The others suspected Ren Xiaosu was deliberately trying to disgust them...

No, this refugee brat must be doing it on purpose, right?

At this moment, with a gun in hand, Ren Xiaosu felt much bolder. The team now had only nine people left, seven guns, three of which were in the hands of Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaoju.

Moreover, Ren Xiaosu possessed advanced firearms skills, while Yang Xiaoju had perfect-level abilities. Unless they faced Xu Xiance head-on, their little alliance would always prevail.

While everyone else was picking pine needles and cones, Ren Xiaosu, idle, thought of his unused skill-learning chart. He glanced at Yang Xiaoju and decisively said in his mind, "Activate the learning chart."

"Randomly selected intermediate skill: bomb-making."

Ren Xiaosu was stunned for a moment, but he learned it without hesitation. Yet he couldn't quite figure out what kind of training Yang Xiaoju had undergone—her skills were so violent.

Moreover, firearms expertise and bomb-making paired with jump rope seemed so incongruous. Was this really a person's skill set...?

Suddenly curious, Ren Xiaosu asked in his mind, "Does the target have assassination skills?"

"Skill learned. Assassination skill is advanced."

He then asked, "Does the target have singing nursery rhymes skills?"

"Skill learned. Singing nursery rhymes skill is advanced."

Ren Xiaosu was speechless. What a jumble of random skills...

At one point, he felt he must have been insane to ask such questions, but never expected the answer to be yes—and at an advanced level, no less.

By now, the group had finally finished picking pine cones and needles. Ren Xiaosu sighed, "Can't you all pick a different tree? You're stripping this one bare!"

Everyone looked up and realized it was nearly bald.

After a moment's thought, Ren Xiaosu said, "I'm teaching you how to survive in the wilderness. Shouldn't you thank me?"

The others were taken aback, and a few scattered people thanked him. However, Ren Xiaosu noticed only Xu Xiance and Yang Xiaoju's thanks were genuine.

With 86 gratitude coins, Ren Xiaosu's desire for the unlocked weapon grew stronger, so he set his sights on the group.

At this point, Ren Xiaosu noticed Luo Xinyu's hands were empty. Even Liu Bu had gathered several pine cones.

Luo Xinyu, upon sensing Ren Xiaosu's gaze, hesitated and said, "I can't climb up..."

This star from the barricade had never climbed such a tall tree, so only she remained empty-handed. The loneliest moment in life is when everyone else has something you lack...

Like everyone else has money, but you don't...

Like everyone else has pine cones, but Luo Xinyu doesn't...

After a pause, Luo Xinyu said to Ren Xiaosu, "I'll give you ten thousand yuan. Can you help me pick some?"

Ren Xiaosu's eyes lit up, and he immediately stuffed the pine cones and needles he had wrapped in his clothes into Luo Xinyu's arms: "From now on, you're my brother, Ren Xiaosu!"

Luo Xinyu was stunned for a moment: "Thank you."

"Gratitude from Luo Xinyu, +1!"

Previously, Ren Xiaosu hadn't sold water because bottled water was too precious—clean and easy to carry. But pine cones and needles were different; they could be obtained easily.

Moreover... Luo Xinyu paid well! Ten thousand yuan could last two years in the settlement, with no worries about food and clothing!

In fact, before giving Ren Xiaosu the money, you never knew if you'd become his brother. This principle was also known as Schrödinger's Brother!

Luo Xinyu took the pine cones and needles, but noticed Ren Xiaosu hadn't gone to pick more. Curious, she asked, "Aren't you going to pick more pine cones? What will you eat tonight?"

Ren Xiaosu smiled, "I eat chocolate."

Luo Xinyu: "......"

The chocolate Luo Xinyu had exchanged with Ren Xiaosu earlier was still on him. It had been carried for days and had melted slightly, though it was deep autumn, the warmth from his pocket kept it from fully liquefying.

At first, Yang Xiaoju said chocolate would melt, but Ren Xiaosu didn't believe it—after all, he had never eaten any. He had originally planned to bring it back for Yan Liuyuan, but now it seemed impossible.

Only then did Luo Xinyu's gratitude dissipate. This was the chocolate she had been tricked out of!

......

Before dusk arrived, Ren Xiaosu finally found a massive rock cave suitable for camping. The rock protruded outward like a giant canopy, and beneath it formed a natural semi-open shelter, resembling a cave.

As Ren Xiaosu passed through an open area, he noticed scale-like clouds in the sky. Though he didn't understand the principle, he knew it was a sign of rain.

Thus, with such a rock to shield them from wind and rain, they could rest peacefully.

Just as they settled beneath the rock wall, the rain poured down from the heavens. Xu Xiance turned to Ren Xiaosu and asked, "Can we drink this rainwater?"

"No," Ren Xiaosu shook his head: "Drinking acid rain will kill you. Even if the acidity isn't as strong now, it's still dangerous."

Ren Xiaosu wasn't entirely sure of the cause or indicators of acid rain, so he crudely summarized its danger with "acidity"...

Suddenly, strange sounds emerged from the forest outside the cave, but they vanished in an instant, leaving no time for Ren Xiaosu and the others to react.

At that moment, the person at the back of the cave said, "Look, someone carved words here."

Ren Xiaosu and Xu Xiance walked inward and saw crookedly carved words on the cave's ceiling: "We saw a strange black shadow in the woods."

"They disappeared. They all disappeared."