Cheng Shuili pulled the dagger from behind her waist and looked coldly at the man on the ground who had yet to wake up. She then pulled some rope out of her shopping cart.
Recalling the type of binding knot she had learned in her past life that only tightened the more one struggled, she pinned Li Erqiang's hands behind his back, quickly looped the rope through, and tied them securely.
Not satisfied with just binding his hands, she pulled out more rope and tied his ankles tightly as well. While wrapping the rope, Cheng Shuili felt her fingers brush against something.
Was something hidden here?
She pulled up Li Erqiang's pant leg to reveal a cold, gleaming dagger hidden inside.
【Ordinary Dagger (Current Status: Poisoned—soaked in poison for 12 hours; status ends in 8 hours): A plain, ordinary dagger. A tool is just a tool; its use depends on its owner.】
Poisoned, status ending in eight hours.
Cheng Shuili smiled as she gripped the poisoned dagger. She truly felt no remorse; she had simply struck first.
Holding a bottle of mineral water, Cheng Shuili took a sip herself before pouring a small amount directly onto Li Erqiang's face.
Li Erqiang's eyebrows twitched and then knit together tightly. After a long moment, he opened his eyes with a grimace, coming face-to-face with Cheng Shuili's calm gaze.
"Hiss... you... you bitch! You actually dared to ambush me! I'll kill you!" The muscles beneath his eyes twitched as he dropped his act and revealed his true, menacing nature.
As Li Erqiang tried to pull his hands free to reach for his leg, he realized that both his legs and arms were bound. A shiver ran through him as he finally understood that he was currently nothing more than a fish on a chopping block.
Cheng Shuili watched him with interest. Seeing him go still as cold sweat began to bead on his forehead, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Go on. Why did you stop talking?"
"Little sister, you've misunderstood," Li Erqiang forced a smile. "I was talking about a woman I met before. I approached her with good intentions to trade, but she took advantage of the moment I turned around to ambush me!"
"Fortunately, I'm blessed with great luck, which is why I'm still alive to see you. I was just cursing her earlier. This is all a misunderstanding! Little sister, you're so beautiful and kindhearted; you probably only tied me up because you were afraid I'd hurt you."
"Don't worry, I really am a good person. Untie me first and don't hurt me. I'll give you my shards as a gift, alright?"
Li Erqiang's tone was coaxing. His only hope now was that Cheng Shuili had only knocked him out out of caution.
He hoped that as a girl, Cheng Shuili wouldn't have the courage to kill someone with her own hands.
His eyes, which looked incredibly sincere, stared intently at Cheng Shuili. He hoped to see a hint of hesitation or cowardice on her face, but instead, those eyes held a faint smile and a trace of eerie excitement.
Li Erqiang couldn't help but shudder.
Cheng Shuili finally spoke, asking, "But didn't you say I was the first living person you'd seen? You're full of lies; talking is useless."
Cheng Shuili pulled out the poisoned dagger. She didn't strike hard, only leaving a small cut on the man's face. Once blood was drawn, Li Erqiang was poisoned.
As for whether he lived or died, in a way, that was now up to him. The moment Li Erqiang decided to poison his dagger, he had decided his own fate.
He was simply reaping what he had sown.
Cheng Shuili watched coldly.
Li Erqiang was surprised at first. He didn't recognize the dagger in Cheng Shuili's hand as his own, and thinking she indeed lacked the courage to kill him, he let out a huge sigh of relief in his heart.
He couldn't help but smile, but the movement tugged at the wound on his face. Then, he realized something was wrong.
A piercing pain was rapidly spreading from the wound. His eyes, his mouth—within moments, his entire body was wracked with agony!
The sensation was all too familiar. Not long ago, he had watched an innocent girl pass away in agony under the torture of this very poison. He never expected it would be his turn so soon.
In his extreme suffering, Li Erqiang struggled until his head was tilted at a distorted angle, and he forcefully snapped his own neck.
【Player Li Erqiang has been killed. Obtained 75% of player Li Erqiang's supplies.】
【First player kill achieved. Achievement unlocked—Cold-blooded Killer: Just as expected of you, calm survivor! You can even bring yourself to strike down your own kind.】
It was only an achievement, not a title.
As the system notifications ended, Cheng Shuili watched as a portion of the supplies on the pickup truck vanished into smoke.
The items that disappeared seemed to be random.
Immediately following that, Li Erqiang's body and the pickup truck also vanished. The highway looked as if nothing had ever happened, leaving only the scattered supplies on the ground.
Cheng Shuili stared at the dagger in her hand for a moment before storing it in the shopping cart's compartment as an ordinary weapon.
Next was the happy harvest time.
Including the three shards contributed by Li Erqiang, Cheng Shuili now had nine shards, though she was still quite far from the goal of twenty-five.
In addition to those, Cheng Shuili also obtained: Master Shuai Instant Noodles x5, 500ml mineral water x7, portable tent x1, double-layer thermal sleeping bag x1, insulation material x5, rubber x3, and nails x10.
This was seventy-five percent of Li Erqiang's supplies.
Cheng Shuili placed quite a bit of value on that double-layer thermal sleeping bag.
The weather was fine for now, but if extreme cold arrived later, this sleeping bag might just save her life.
Aside from that, there were the five packs of instant noodles. Eating them every day wasn't great, but having a pack every once in a while was truly delicious!
Cheng Shuili happily packed everything away and restarted her little shopping cart.
She hadn't reached her mileage for the day yet. To experience something like this so early in the morning was truly a mood-killer.
Cheng Shuili shook her head. She twisted the handle and multi-tasked, planning to head to the Trading Post to get rid of some useless items, like the portable tent.
The item seemed intended for players who chose bicycles, or for those with pickup trucks and vans to use for camping on their vehicles.
Her shopping cart was quite impressive; not only had it evolved a compartment, but there was even a sofa inside. Why on earth would she ever want to sleep in a tent?
Cheng Shuili opened the trade channel, which was as lively as ever.
She planned to exchange the tent for some vehicle upgrade materials.
Cheng Shuili deduced that the materials required for upgrading a vehicle would likely increase the further one progressed. This meant that the Upgrade Core would be more valuable the later it was used.
She couldn't guarantee she would have such luck again in the future. After all, it was a 【Legendary】 item. Good steel should be used on the blade's edge, and the same applied to such items.
In a non-emergency like this, she should stick to the first upgrade path as much as possible.
Having made up her mind, Cheng Shuili spoke directly in the regional channel: "Trading a portable tent for iron blocks, iron nails, heat-shielding material, insulation material, plastic, rubber, and other materials. State your price; if it's fair, I'll initiate the trade directly."
【Star Dog】: Whoa, a big shot has appeared.
【Oily Cat Bingbing】: Boss Crow, I'll offer ten iron blocks, twenty iron nails, and one insulation material for it!
Rate on N.U.
