Chapter 100 Black Widow

It took me two minutes to kill this Flame Terror Wolf, but I ended up with nothing—no equipment, not even a single coin. Only a blood-red fur skin. I have no idea what it's for, so I tossed it into my backpack. Who knows, maybe I'll find a use for it someday. After all, they stack up to thirty and only take up one slot. The system gave me two hundred backpack spaces, but I've only used up a dozen. There are plenty of places to store things.
I continued deeper into the forest. Not far ahead, I encountered another rare spider called the Black Widow. Without hesitation, I walked straight up to it and called out, "I've been waiting for you!" A few quick strikes and the spider was finished. As expected, another green mage robe dropped. It was a thirty-level piece with twenty-one points of agility and fifteen points of stamina. The price should be over five thousand again. A multi-functional phone that lets me make calls and play games came into my hands!
Following the principle of earning more and fighting fewer monsters, I remained in the Silver Pine Forest from one in the morning until eight, slaughtering these rare creatures. According to forum materials in Yueheng, every map occasionally spawns rare monsters that guarantee equipment drops, though the respawn time is long—usually once every two months. After the server update, the Silver Moon City first appeared on the world map, and these rare monsters spawned along with it. Whether it was a system glitch or something else, this forest actually had many of them. What a rare opportunity. Once they respawned in two months, most players would be over forty levels. By then, thirty-level green gear would be heavily devalued.
By nearly eight in the morning, exhaustion had me completely drained. Murong Shanshan had already gone to sleep without a word. Several girls from our studio were still awake, but they were all swaying, barely able to last a few more minutes. I simply asked them. It turned out they had all received quests. Xuehan had accompanied Xin Yu and Xu Lin overnight to complete four medium-difficulty tasks, yielding three blue equipment pieces—a solid haul.
As for me, there is no need to elaborate. The entire night nearly overturned the vast Silver Pine Forest, eliminating every first-time rare spider. In total, fifty-five high-level green pieces and seven high-level blue pieces dropped. Unfortunately, none suited my needs, but even so, it was enough. After selling them all, I would have another big fortune.
While killing spiders, I also slaughtered more Flame Terror Wolves. On average, around ten of them yielded one wolf skin. Gazing at the fifty-plus wolf skins in my backpack, I felt a mix of amusement and helplessness. I had no idea what they were for, but judging by the difficulty of combat, their value could not be low. Even with my high attributes, two red potion bottles would barely suffice, and I would still end at zero health. For any other player, the monster would likely be dead before they ran out of HP.
My equipment was already beyond repair, so I simply returned to the city. The quest would not disappear, and after fixing it, I would log off to sleep. I would return in the afternoon refreshed.
Probably because everyone had enjoyed themselves greatly the night before, no one got up early to cook. I put on a coat and headed downstairs to the small stall to buy eight breakfasts to take back. Xuehan disliked soybean milk, so I bought her two bags of hot milk. Xin Yu always had that spring-like look, so I bought her a bag of soybean milk and two oil sticks. They were crispy, but they should still be fine. Fruit MM was a flat-chested beauty, with nothing prominent in front—not even a small bun. I bought two steamed buns for her as encouragement.
The morning sun was warm, and quite a few students preparing for school sat nearby. The lively atmosphere made me feel how truly wonderful it is to be alive.
When I returned, everyone had come out. Seeing the breakfasts in my hands, they laughed like flowers in bloom. The only thing that surprised me was that Xin Yu was actually wearing the sky-blue plush coat she had bought half a month earlier, paired with milky white casual pants, looking particularly fresh. I asked in confusion, "Xin Yu, why are you dressed so beautifully? Didn't you stay up all night last night? Why are you going out?"
Xin Yu gave a charming smile, straightened her chest, and threw a coquettish glance. "When did my sister start caring about my affairs?"
I bit into a bun and said nothing, lest she trick me into further conversation.
After finishing breakfast, Xin Yu really went out. I asked Xu Lin in puzzlement, "What's wrong with Xin Yu? She stayed up all night and you're not saying a word?"
Xu Lin shook her head. "I don't know either. Ever since Xin Yu got a call this morning, she's been in a very good mood, saying not to wait for her to eat at noon because a friend would treat her to dinner."
"What's going on? Does she have friends outside?"
Xu Lin sighed softly. "She has her ex-boyfriend. I secretly looked at her phone, and if I remember correctly, that number belongs to that man."
I said nothing, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Although Xin Yu usually seemed casual, after getting used to her, hearing that she went out to see other men made me depressed, as if someone had stolen something from me.
Xuehan seemed to have noticed my unease. She smiled and said, "Xin Yu already cut ties with that man long ago. Don't worry for nothing."
I quickly explained, "I have no worries, Xuehan. Don't think too much. I have absolutely no feelings for Xin Yu, let alone jealousy. If I were jealous, I would only be jealous of you..."
After hearing my casual words, Xuehan's delicate face flushed red. She glared at me and said, "You said the same thing when you were with Xin Yu, right?"
Good heavens! Xuehan was actually using such a jealous tone with me, making me so happy.
I smiled and said softly, "Xuehan, me and Xin Yu are absolutely pure. Don't worry for no reason."
Xuehan pursed her lips, smiled, and chided, "That's good that it's like that!"
Watching Xuehan's graceful figure walk into the room, I suddenly felt that I seemed to have changed these days. Could it be that after Xiao Yu left a year ago, I had finally entered a second spring of life?
Without pulling the curtains, I took off my coat and got into bed. I liked sleeping while gazing at the sky outside. The warm sun shining on the quilt felt especially comfortable, and the young men and women passing by on the street always made me feel younger. Perhaps I was really old at twenty-three, far from being able to compare to Murong Shanshan, this twenty-one-year-old pretty girl.
This afternoon, I still needed to get up to complete the quest of collecting skull ribs, which was almost finished. The next step was to mine those red silver ores. After crossing the Silver Pine Forest, there should be the mine that produced the red silver ores.