Chapter 44: The Golden Treasure Chest

Xu Feng had already slipped into Resort Lake. The clear lake water rippled in circles with the wind. Looking up from the lake bottom, the sunlight refracted into dreamlike colors, quite beautiful. At that moment, a huge shadow appeared before Xu Feng.

Xu Feng did not know those people were discussing “playing a game.” If he had known, he would have scoffed at their views. This was a real world—if one faced it with a gaming attitude, they surely wouldn’t last long.

In a game, characters could die countless times. But in reality, each person had only one life.

Xu Feng also didn’t know why, ever since Earth awakened, this world had become more and more like a game world. But Xu Feng knew that even if it were a game, this game gave each person only one chance. Once dead, it was all over; there wouldn’t be any chance for revival.

“Maybe I’m an exception,” Xu Feng smiled bitterly.

Boom, boom~

Suddenly, a dull noise came from the lake bottom ahead, and the entire lake water swayed violently.

Xu Feng’s heart stirred, and he quietly swam toward the source of the sound.

Deep at the bottom of the lake, a crack appeared. Thick, ink-black liquid gushed out. The Fish Monsters nearby had already fled in terror. Some slow-reacting Fish Monsters touched the black liquid and immediately let out agonizing screams. Their bodies, as if corroded by something, quickly turned into black mush, merging into the black liquid.

Xu Feng stopped, not daring to go forward.

“What is this? Why is it so bizarre?” Xu Feng frowned, staring intently at the dense black liquid ahead.

The liquid didn’t spread but remained in a blob about three meters square, as if it were a living creature, lying still over the lake bottom crack. Only a faint dark shadow around it swayed with the water.

“In my past life, I never heard of any ink-like monster in this Resort Lake…” Xu Feng searched his memory but found nothing.

“Behind the Resort, there’s a human settlement. This Resort Lake never had any powerful monsters appear. So what exactly is this thing before me?” Xu Feng couldn’t figure out this creature and didn’t approach to test it. Instead, he slowly retreated and left Resort Lake.

With such a strange thing at the lake bottom, Xu Feng dared not go back to hunt Fish Monsters.

In this apocalyptic world, there were many bizarre things. Just being strong didn’t mean one could act recklessly. Xu Feng had heard that beyond Nine Stars, there were even more powerful existences. From his conversation with the Spirit Tribe Treant Suyi, Xu Feng vaguely sensed that Nine Stars wasn’t the peak—there were stronger beings.

“Could that ink blob be one of those legendary existences beyond Nine Stars?” Xu Feng pondered.

…

Meanwhile, Zhang Qiang and the others had left the Resort and headed toward the mountains behind it.

“That Resort Lake has been taken over by that guy. If we go, we’ll surely clash with him. Better to explore the mountains behind; we might have some unexpected luck,” Guo Yu said calmly.

“Guo Yu’s right. Let’s check out the mountains. Maybe we’ll find herbs, ores, or other materials. We might even have a stroke of luck,” Ma Wei agreed.

The others didn’t speak, clearly sharing the same thought.

After two hours of hiking, the five arrived at a mountain hollow. Along the way, they hadn’t gained much.

“Look over there! That rock just flashed with a golden light,” Li Min suddenly pointed at a slope and shouted loudly.

“What golden light?”

“Where is it?”

“Right there, by that rock. Behind it, a golden light appeared just now, then vanished. Hey, look, it flashed again!” Li Min was very excited, hopping as she spoke.

“I’ll go check it out!” After hesitating a moment, Ma Wei gritted his teeth and said.

Zhang Qiang had thought of going up too, but now even a slight movement caused a dull pain in his chest, so he gave up the idea.

The slope wasn’t steep, but for an ordinary person, it required some effort. Ma Wei used both hands and feet to climb up to the rock halfway up the slope.

“Oh my, I’m exhausted!” Ma Wei gasped for breath, talking to himself.

“Ma Wei, did you see anything?” the people below shouted.

“Let me catch my breath first, I’m worn out,” Ma Wei said, peering behind the rock as he looked.

“Wh-what is this?” Ma Wei rubbed his eyes in surprise.

“Ma Wei, Ma Wei, what is it? You’re killing me with suspense,” Li Min said, stamping her foot.

“A chest! There’s a chest behind this rock, a chest shining with golden light,” Ma Wei shouted from atop the rock.

“A chest? Golden light? A golden chest?” Guo Yu seemed thoughtful, as if suddenly remembering something. He slapped his thigh and exclaimed happily, “Ma Wei, open it! Open it! It’s a Treasure Chest! There’s good stuff inside.”

“Yeah, yeah! In games, Treasure Chests appear in the wild. They contain good stuff, good stuff, haha!” Zhang Qiang got excited too.

“Great! We’re so lucky to find a Treasure Chest!”

“Heh, I hope it has a weapon inside.”

“What’s so good about weapons? It’d be best if it had a skill book or a profession book.”

They chattered eagerly, all watching Ma Wei on the rock.

“Th-this chest has a lock. I can’t open it!” Ma Wei fiddled with the lock on the chest, growing anxious.

Immediately, the others’ hearts sank.

“Oh no, it’s a locked Treasure Chest.”

“What do we do? If it’s locked, we can’t get the stuff inside.”

“Right. Unless we have a key or know how to pick locks. And that chest is golden, so it’s clearly high-level. Just knowing lockpicking might not be enough—maybe the skill level has to be very high.”

“What should we do? Did we get excited for nothing?”

…

Ma Wei came down from the slope, and the group gathered with worried faces, discussing what to do.

Leaving just like that felt unsatisfying. They’d walked in the mountains for most of the day, and this was their only find. Giving up felt like a waste. But if they stayed, what could they do? The chest was locked, and they had no way to open it.

“What should we do? Leave it? Or come back after we find a key or learn lockpicking?” Sun Liang asked hesitantly.

“What if the chest disappears? What if someone else finds it and opens it first? It’s a golden Treasure Chest—it must have great stuff inside.”

“Hey, I have an idea.” Zhang Qiang’s eyes shifted, and he said quietly, “What if we tell that guy upstairs about this and get something good from him? What do you think?”

“No way! If we tell him and he gets good stuff, he won’t give it to us. And we can’t beat him,” Ma Wei waved his hand dismissively.

“We don’t want what’s inside. Let’s trade this information for some equipment. What do you think?” Zhang Qiang whispered.