In the end, despite Qin Chuan's smooth talk, Wig still spent 20 points to buy the so-called "Beginner Butchery Method" skill. Of course, in order to be fair, the other three people, including Chen Jiu, each contributed 5 points. After all, this skill would benefit everyone, so it was not appropriate for her to bear the cost alone. However, what Chen Jiu didn't expect was that such a small thing actually caused a bug for Qin Chuan. Although the Particle Reconstruction System implanted a brain chip in the players, the main function of the chip was to establish a real-time connection with Frost River—or the research institute. It did not have the function of knowledge infusion. So, in order to learn a new skill, Frost River had to demonstrate it himself and teach it step by step. This gave Qin Chuan a chance.
He was surprised to find that the game only required one payment, and then four people could surround and watch it! Even the newbie guide NPC would not stop him from directly operating it. If this wasn't a bug, then what was a bug? He excitedly remembered this question in his mind and planned to post it in the group when he logged off later. Chen Jiu, who was watching him take advantage of the situation, couldn't help but smile. Big brother, you're a big shot in Huazhong University in real life! You're researching materials related to nuclear fusion! How many people spend their whole lives trying to get to your position, and now you're so happy here because you got a free lesson? It's not even a slaughter class!
Looking back, doesn't this just prove that the game mechanism is working? Using a little bit of reward to continuously hook the players and make them willingly fall into the game... Hey, what you thought was a bug was actually just the game mechanism. Seeing Chen Jiu's ambiguous expression, Qin Chuan quickly shouted, "What are you standing around for, come and get some freebies!" Chen Jiu then went along with it, after all, learning a few things can't be bad for himself...
......
On the other side, there was the Xiahe Village. The body of the uninvited guest was still placed in front of the village's sacred furnace, but due to the relatively high temperature around the furnace, in order to avoid the body from smelling, Village Chief Lin Feng ordered two villagers to dispose of it.
Though it was dark outside, in reality the day only lasted for six hours, so even in the night, the villagers of Xiahe Village had to continue their work. Whether it was collecting the gedan for weaving wind-breakers, filling quilts with the down fur of snow hares, or hastily turning the soil and planting the last batch of quick-growing bitter lettuce before the ice tide came… Everyone was making the last preparations to face the ice tide.
Under the sacred furnace, Lin Shuang and Lin Xue carried Chen Jiu's "body" together. Even though they were females, on this barren land, the survivors only distinguished between males and females during childbirth.
"Where are we taking it?" Lin Shuang asked.
Let's bury it in the countryside, it'll make good fertilizer.
Lin Xue replied without a change in expression.
Do we need to cut it up? The ground is getting colder, if we don't cut it, it'll rot slowly.
We'll have to go to the old man to have him cut it, we don't know how.
Let's go.
The two of them carried the body towards a house on the outskirts of the village. The door was wide open, and the man inside was startled when Lin Shuang kicked it open.
In front of the man was a blue stone table and a body cut up into four or five pieces.
The bones were picked out, the dried flesh thrown to the side, piled up high.
The volume of a dead person after decomposition is not much, just like a large pot overturned. After being buried in the ground, it could grow up to 400 jin of buckwheat, enough for one person to eat for a year.
"Someone else has come? Who is this one?" The man called Old Bones frowned and asked. Recently, too many people have died in the village, almost one every few days, which is definitely not a good sign.
"It's not a villager this time, it's the stranger who came last time. Where should we put it?"
"Put it aside first."
Lin Shuang and Lin Xue threw Chen Jiu's corpse aside and looked at the head lying on the desk.
"Little River's grandmother... she was 45, that's considered a long life, right?" Lin Shuang asked.
"It is, but my great-grandfather's generation, some of them even lived to over 70. Back then, the Ice Age and the Red Tide didn't come so frequently, I heard it only happened once every 20 to 30 years..."
"The village chief said if we survive this time, it won't come back for another 30 years,"
"Do you believe him?" Old Bones sarcastically laughed.
He said last time when the red tide came, "This red tide is over, the next ice age will be thirty years later". Look at now, how many years has it been?
"...Eleven years," Lin Shuang replied sadly.
When the red tide came last time, she was still an ignorant child. Although she had already joined the labor of Xiahe Village, she hadn't really felt the sense of crisis.
Children were taken care of the most, and even in times of extreme food shortages, she was able to eat her fill.
Other than the suffocating heat and the almost complete drying of the Dangyang Lake, it seemed that life had not changed much.
The most memorable thing she could remember was the passing away of her parents.
The process was quite ordinary. They ventured out to find water, and when they got home, they had already developed fever and passed away shortly afterwards.
Their corpses were handled by the old bones, and buried in the piece of land near the river bay. Now, that's one of the most fertile lands in Summer River Village.
Thinking of this, Lin Shuang couldn't help but feel a bit sad.
If she died one day, where would she be buried?
She wished she could be buried closer to the Divine Stove, so that her corpse could rot faster and her soul could be freed sooner.
-- Now that's quite a bargain for this stranger.
Before she had time to collect her scattered thoughts, the old man in front of her continued, "Be careful these two days, don't go to Wan Kulin to pick acorns anymore. We've been telling you not to go, but you two are brave, and luckily nothing happened."
"But now it's not allowed, there are bandits there."
"Bandits? In Wan Kulin? How is that possible!"
Lin Shuan and Lin Xue both gasped in surprise.
"Impossible! What do you think these people that you brought here are? They are bandits from above!"
"Lin Bao chased after the Snow Rabbit and found himself on the edge of Wan Ku Forest, where he saw four bandits hunting with bows and arrows in their hands."
"They are crazy! One of the bandits even charged at a wild boar without backing down, even when he started spitting blood. For a bite to eat, they would risk their lives. If they were to catch you, what do you think they would do?"
Lin Shuang drew in a deep breath of cold air.
Charging head-on with a wild boar—that really takes your life for granted.
Can one still live through it?
"Are those people so crazy?", she asked incredulously.
"Ask Lin Bao, he was almost scared out of his wits."
"What happened to the other three people after they went hunting for the giant elk?"
"They didn't even care, their eyes were totally fixed on the giant elk! The gun was broken, but they still beat the elk to death with a stick!"
"The middle one, a male, was laughing while he was hitting it, saying it was too much fun."
Lin Bao was lying on the snow, too scared to move. After they left, throwing the female's body out, Lin Bao only dared to run back."
"When he left, the snow wolves had already come and eaten the body."
After hearing Old Bones' words, Lin Shuang quietly sighed.
In this world, people are no longer necessarily people. One second, they could be dependent friends, and the next, they could be disposable corpses. Fortunately, it is not like that in Xiahe Village. Looking at Lin Shuang's expression, Old Bone also sighed and then said, "You don't need to worry too much. They won't be able to survive the Ice Age with their methods. I guess, that man who vomited blood won't last long. They are living in a cave, and when the Ice Age comes, the entrance will be sealed. If they got a lot of prey, after the Ice Age passes, we can take a risk and fetch some back..."