The First Order

How difficult was it for the refugees to get into the stronghold? According to Wang Fugui, he had only seen four people get into the stronghold successfully in his forty years of being alive. All of them were the “distant relatives” of certain important people in the stronghold.

Many of these people came to the stronghold to seek refuge with their relatives but were turned away by the stronghold. So they had to settle down in town and slowly wait for an opportunity to come.

If it was already so difficult for the relatives of important people to get into the stronghold, would Luo Xinyu’s claims of giving away three spots even be possible? If you were really that influential, you wouldn’t have had to make a deal with the soldiers to go to Stronghold 112. Shouldn’t you have gotten them to escort you there directly?

Stupid people think others are stupid.

Ren Xiaosu felt that Luo Xinyu was going through too much trouble to achieve her objective. Even though he was a refugee, he did not lack judgment. If someone else were the guide, they might just believe her claims. However, Ren Xiaosu did not.

If Ren Xiaosu accepted her terms, how would he find Luo Xinyu once she got back to the stronghold? What would prevent her from jumping ship?

Besides, honestly speaking, Ren Xiaosu did not have a good impression of Luo Xinyu and Liu Bu at all.

Everyone was parched after having pork for lunch. However, all of their bottled water and food had been left behind in the pickup, or rather, most of their bottled water and food had been destroyed when Xu Xianchu and the others mercilessly shot at the provisions.

Xu Xianchu looked at Ren Xiaosu and asked, “How can we find a source of water out here?”

At this moment, the palace assigned a quest. “Quest: Teach everyone how to locate a source of water.”

“You can only search for a river or collect dew from leaves.” Ren Xiaosu did not hide information from them. “But I don’t recommend you go to the riverbank. Based on my estimates, the nearest river is still quite a distance away. Just bear with it for now. You won’t die of thirst yet. We’ll collect dew tomorrow morning.”

Xu Xianchu nodded and said, “Thank you.”

“Gratitude received from Xu Xianchu, +1!”

Ren Xiaosu waited for quite a while before asking in his mind, “Where’s my reward?”

However, the palace ignored him. Ren Xiaosu wondered what was going on.

It was as though this was the first time the palace had witnessed Ren Xiaosu completing a quest without resorting to unconventional methods. Thus, the palace had some trouble making a decision on the outcome!

After a long time, the voice from the palace in Ren Xiaosu’s mind finally said, “Quest complete. Awarded 1.0 Strength.”

Ren Xiaosu was stunned. Although the quest had been completed, it was not what he had expected. Why was he given additional strength again?

Ren Xiaosu had been wondering if the palace would increase his Strength and Dexterity attributes in an even manner. But in the end, his Dexterity still remained at 4.1 while his Strength had already reached 7.5.

With a few more quests, Ren Xiaosu’s Strength would probably hit three times that of what a normal adult had.

Right now, Ren Xiaosu still had the two bottles of water he had traded half a fish for. It was not possible to hide them. After all, his jacket’s pockets were only so big.

Suddenly, Liu Bu came to Ren Xiaosu and said, “Sell me a bottle for 1,000 yuan.”

Ren Xiaosu gave him a look. “I’m not selling.”

“2,000 yuan!” Liu Bu said eagerly, “Will you sell it to me for 2,000 yuan? I’m really thirsty!”

Ren Xiaosu felt that Liu Bu was seriously a little dumb. He looked at Liu Bu and said, “Money is of no use in a place like this. The value of food and water is priceless. If you want to drink water, go get it from the riverbank yourself.”

Liu Bu wanted to vent his anger at Ren Xiaosu. But he couldn’t as he no longer had the bluster he had at the beginning. He also knew that Ren Xiaosu’s role had become increasingly more important than his during the journey. Based on Xu Xianchu’s character, if there were any disputes or irreconcilable differences between the two of them, he would definitely choose to abandon Liu Bu instead of Ren Xiaosu.

When he first came out of the stronghold, Liu Bu thought that the refugees were simply there to serve the stronghold, and those from stronghold like them would always be regarded as high and mighty. But now he was sobering up to the fact that it was not that way.

Ren Xiaosu wiped his hands clean with some leaves picked from a tree. Then he went to look for Wang Lei and showered him with concern again to obtain more gratitude tokens.

But how could there be an unlimited amount of gratitude tokens that he could gain from him? After receiving Ren Xiaosu’s warm and passionate care, Wang Lei realized that something was off with how Ren Xiaosu was treating him. As a result, Ren Xiaosu did not get any more gratitude tokens from Wang Lei’s thanks.

When Ren Xiaosu recognized that he was not receiving any more gratitude tokens from Wang Lei, he decisively gave up on him. By now, his gratitude tokens were at 84.

In the afternoon, Xu Xianchu looked up at the sky and said, “This place is not suitable for setting up camp. We must find a place that is not as open to prevent wild animals from attacking us. Everyone, let’s endure and keep going.”

Ren Xiaosu agreed with Xu Xianchu’s suggestion. This place had become too dangerous after a boar was killed and barbecued. It might seem like nothing was happening right now, but as the venomous snakes, bugs, and ants got more active at night, it could spell disaster for everyone when night fell.

Didn’t the rat that was dumped earlier become just a skeleton?

Xu Xianchu went to the stretcher and said to Ren Xiaosu, “Come, let’s carry him together.”

Ren Xiaosu said unhappily, “Why would I carry him?”

Xu Xianchu and Wang Lei were confused.

Ren Xiaosu looked at Liu Bu and said, “Go and carry the stretcher. If you don’t carry it, I’ll chop you up.”

Liu Bu nearly broke down. Had he gone crazy?!

The others at the campsite were shocked at this development. They thought, ‘Are you a schizo or what? Why has your attitude changed so quickly? Didn’t you say that you would chop whoever tried to vie with you to carry the stretcher this morning?’

Xu Xianchu did not want to waste any more time. He said, “Everyone will take turns carrying the wounded except for the ladies. Some of you might also get hurt at some point. If you don’t want to be left for dead when that happens, you should help out now.”

Ren Xiaosu suddenly felt that Xu Xianchu was quite a rational person. No matter what went on with the team, he would try his best to get everyone back on track.

Along the way, some misbehaving soldiers started getting closer to Luo Xinyu again. They would even pretend to casually brush their arms against Luo Xinyu when they passed her. But Luo Xinyu would keep anticipating it and try to avoid their advances. After which, some of the soldiers would laugh pervertedly.

Logically speaking, Liu Bu and Luo Xinyu should have a good relationship, but Liu Bu didn’t even dare to speak out when he saw this. How could he offend the soldiers?

After hitting a roadblock with Xu Xianchu and Ren Xiaosu, Luo Xinyu seemed to be somewhat at a loss. She did not know what to do and could only passively avoid them.

Moreover, the soldiers were starting to reveal their bestial sides as they found themselves stuck in this seemingly dangerous situation in which they might not even survive until tomorrow.

But Ren Xiaosu did not want to intervene. As the team moved forward, he remembered he had gained another Skill Duplication Scroll. He wondered if he could copy Yang Xiaojin’s advanced combat skill this time.

However, when Ren Xiaosu raised his head to look for Yang Xiaojin, he saw her pointing a gun at a soldier’s head. Yang Xiaojin turned to Ren Xiaosu and said, “His gun belongs to you now.”