Chapter 74: The Downside of a Grand Villa
Yun Qing paid no heed to the murmurs in the rear nor cared for the mounting resentment from Madam Xia after her departure. She was returning, ready to await the monster siege upon the cave residence that would commence three hours hence.
According to Liu Liu, the details of the monster siege would be much the same as the last—monsters would either be level 5 or level 10. The previous time, Yun Qing had been level 18; now she was level 30, and with the benefit of prior experience, she believed there was little to fear.
Still, Liu Liu cautioned her, “Yun Qing, I think you should prepare for the monster assault on the cave.”
“Are the monsters the same as before? Is their strength unchanged?”
“Yes.”
Yun Qing felt confident, but prompted by Liu Liu, she checked her backpack. Stones, arrows, and other ranged weapons were amply stocked; her dagger was ready, her longsword was in disrepair, but her close combat weapons sufficed, so there was no urgency to visit the forge.
Her only deficiency was stamina.
Inside the cave villa, Yun Qing rested on the crude wooden bed, conserving energy and awaiting the monster assault.
Sleeping on a bed of rough boards with wide gaps left her back aching. In a haze, she heard the alarm sound.
“Beep beep! The monster siege will arrive in three minutes. Please prepare.”
Finally, it was here—she had waited long.
Yun Qing rolled off the crude bed, sprang outside the villa.
The countdown for the monster siege appeared, soon reaching zero. Around the cave, a ring of combat zones emerged.
On the mental map, red dots moved slowly from the drab outskirts toward the combat area.
Yun Qing entered the combat zone, heading to the closest red dot.
A red dot crossed into the combat area.
Chicken, level 5.
A small stone, charged and thrown, struck the chicken’s head.
-20;
Combat experience +5;
The corpse vanished, leaving a pile of coins.
Obtained: 1 tael of silver.
Another red dot entered the combat zone from another direction.
Yun Qing muttered inwardly, “Not good!”
From her vantage, she couldn’t see the combat zone on the opposite side—blocked by a two-story villa.
Days earlier, she had built the villa as large as possible to house more cabinets. Only now did she realize this “grand villa” not only obstructed her view but also her path.
The monsters emerging ahead weren’t quick, but Yun Qing, running around the villa’s four sides to slay chickens, was exhausted.
True, she was a bit stronger than at level 10, but what did it matter? Back then, a single stone killed a level 5 chicken; now, at level 30, it still took one stone per chicken.
Monsters appeared so sparsely that even at level 30, she certainly couldn’t slay two chickens with one stone.
The chickens appeared faster and at trickier angles.
A chicken entered the southeast corner of the combat zone for just a second; the next moment, another chicken arrived at the northwest corner.
She used her jumping skill to leap onto the villa roof, running across it, rolling off the edge to strike a chicken with a stone.
She did her utmost, but as the last chicken emerged, Yun Qing was a moment too slow, watching helplessly as it flew into the foundation and struck the villa.
After killing it with a stone, she saw, to her dismay, a large hole appear in her wooden wall.
Incredulous, Yun Qing asked, “Liu Liu, why are these chickens so strong in combat? When I fought sheep, they never had this much force.”
Liu Liu replied lazily, “It’s called a monster siege on the cave, not a monster siege on you. When they attack the cave, they deal extra damage. Besides, you can build fences and reinforce the wooden house, right? If you’d built fences and reinforced it, it wouldn’t be breached so easily.”
She had wanted to build fences and reinforce the house, but the trees for fences were still growing and she hadn’t yet learned to mine the ore for reinforcement!
No time for regrets now; she had to face the next challenge—a level 10 sheep had already appeared in the combat zone.
She had slain over a dozen chickens, and the silver gained barely covered the cost of skills and stamina. Fortunately, silver was no longer so scarce, and the chickens granted nearly 100 combat experience.
Recently, she had spent silver freely, almost numb to the outlay.
Using her jumping skill, she vaulted onto the villa roof, drew her bow, aimed a metal arrow at the level 10 sheep in the combat zone.
“Whoosh!”
The arrow struck, draining the sheep’s health bar; the arrow vanished.
-160;
Combat experience +10;
The next sheep hadn’t appeared yet, giving Yun Qing time to collect its loot, but fearing she’d be too slow, she stayed on the roof, aiming another arrow at the next red dot entering the combat zone.
-160;
Combat experience +10;
Thus, Yun Qing no longer ran about, but stood atop the roof, using metal arrows to snipe the sheep from afar.
Yet the piles of coins and items scattered across the combat zone gnawed at her heart like ants. She ached to jump down and gather them all.
In the past, watching others play games and neglect monster drops left her itching; now these drops were real money, meat, and manure fertilizer, making her heart ache.
Yun Qing endured.
She could bear it—some artificial intelligences could not, transforming into artificial idiots, rolling about before a piece of mutton.
“So hungry, I want to eat meat.”
“Yun Qing, so hungry, I want meat.”
“Yun Qing, I want to eat mutton, can you pick up that piece?”
“Yun Qing, you’re so cruel—how could you leave the mutton behind?”
“Liu Liu, could you stop repeating yourself? I want to pick it up too.”
“So hungry, I want to eat meat.”
“When were you ever starving?”
“I’ve been hungry so many times; I was starving for three days right at the start.”
Yun Qing: ...
She had assumed it meant: start with a dog and nothing else; never realized the dog saw it as: starved for three days at the beginning, fasting to become immortal.
...
She endured Liu Liu’s endless chatter in her mind, hoping that after the battle, the loot would still be there for her to collect.
Fortunately, she had crafted plenty of metal arrows and focused on shooting.
-160;
Combat experience +10;
At last, she survived Liu Liu’s nagging and the rapid appearance of one sheep after another.
When the final five red dots appeared together, Yun Qing intended to leap down and fight them hand-to-hand.
But unexpectedly, the five red dots emerged from different directions, forcing her to remain on the roof and shoot.
Three chickens, two sheep—standing on the roof, her stone-throwing range was limited and couldn’t reach the monsters.
She used metal arrows to kill the sheep first, then switched to any weapon for the chickens.
-160;
Combat experience +10;
She shot one sheep, turned, and drew her bow. On the other side, the chicken and sheep were already crossing the combat zone; the chicken entered the foundation, the sheep rushed into the farmland.
The sheep’s damage surely exceeded the chicken’s; she aimed her arrow at the level 10 sheep, but the trees in the farmland blocked its vital spot. The next moment, the vital spot appeared.
-160;
Combat experience +10;
After the sheep died, the chicken entered the foundation—the area she had not expanded due to insufficient level.
Her attack range was sufficient; with a stone in hand, she struck a chicken.
-20;
Combat experience +5;