Yellow Hair's face turned completely pale, but Qingfeng remained somewhat calmer, looking at Nan Yue and the others with a hint of confusion.
"What... mission are you talking about?"
"You don't look like people so desperate for money that you've lost your minds. Why would you take such huge risks for tips?"
The scene fell silent. Although everyone had shown more or less how they differed from the people of the mission world, few NPCs ever noticed it.
Others were simply too disdainful to speak to them, viewing them as fake, polluted, and entities that shouldn't exist.
But Nan Yue was different. Because of the doubts she and Wen Xiang Yuan shared about this world, she didn't harbor hostility or contempt toward NPCs; she just didn't know how to explain it.
If NPCs knew their world was polluted and abandoned, and that while scavengers could purify it, they couldn't save the people within it...
That would be too cruel.
"We... are not your enemies."
Nan Yue tried to phrase her words gently. Sensing Qingfeng was wary of her, she kept a safe distance.
"We indeed have reasons for being here that we cannot ignore. Just like you, our lives are at stake. We knew earlier than you that this isn't just a game and that people really die."
"But we can barely protect ourselves and have no way to save you. All I can do is scout the path first."
Nan Yue guessed that this reason might be even harder for an NPC to accept, and she prepared herself for Qingfeng's blame.
The other scavengers were just watching the drama unfold.
Unexpectedly, Qingfeng looked up after a moment of reflection. "I understand."
She spoke with an air of indifference as if she truly believed it. "Everyone has their own fate. Regardless of why we entered this residence, it is our destiny. Even if you had warned us, it would have been too late."
"One must bear the consequences of their own choices without resentment toward others. That is how a person should be."
Nan Yue looked at Qingfeng with surprise. She was just an ordinary little Daoist with some ability, but nothing extraordinary.
Yet she was one of the few truly wise NPCs Nan Yue had ever met.
This made her feel even more that the mission world wasn't a lost cause or entirely composed of polluted entities.
Nan Yue pulled her thoughts back and stretched her body to warm up.
A cloud of white mist enveloped Nan Yue's fingers, and without her noticing, the wound on her finger healed.
She was exceptionally tolerant of pain, so she had already forgotten the minor injury caused by the iron thorns earlier. Naturally, she didn't notice that Jiang Siyan had seen it and quietly healed it for her.
Nan Yue glanced at the distance. Swimming to the Lake-center Pavilion would likely take over twenty minutes, and in this weather, it would be a challenge.
She took off her shoes, socks, and outer clothing, tied her hair up high, and dove into the lake first.
The water was even colder than she had imagined. This wasn't just because of the climate; Nan Yue suspected there were many corpses at the bottom of the lake, creating an overwhelming amount of baleful energy.
The sounds of people entering the water followed one after another. Nan Yue looked back slightly and saw that You Teng and Zhang Xuyang had followed her in after all.
Nan Yue looked away. She had said all she could. She had provided the safest plan for them, but how they chose to act was their own business.
Scavengers always prioritized themselves in missions, so it was normal for them to want to take the lead.
However...
Nan Yue glanced at Gu Xiang Kai and Zhu Xi Ning, and the two silently exchanged a look.
You Teng was a devious person, so they had to be careful of him playing tricks behind their backs.
Nan Yue swam at the very front, followed by Zhu Xi Ning, with Jiang Siyan in the middle and Gu Xiang Kai bringing up the rear. The other two followed at a moderate distance.
Swimming was a core subject for scavengers. No matter how clumsy a scavenger was, they had to learn how to swim. How graceful they looked depended on talent, but staying afloat in the water was a necessity.
Since it involved life and death, the training academy was always willing to spend extra time on it.
As Nan Yue swam, she remained vigilant. For some reason, she suddenly thought of when she was a child.
"Everyone should learn from Nan Yue. Nan Yue is the most talented student in our class. Look at her first time in the water; her movements are already perfect."
Little Nan Yue had paddled her limbs expressionlessly in the pool. She had known from a very young age that she was a natural-born scavenger.
But what puzzled her was that she seemed to have something that no one else did.
At first, she thought it was a hallucination, but she couldn't rest at night as if someone were constantly whispering in her ear.
She couldn't breathe, and she felt physical pain as if her body were wrapped in some kind of rotting, squirming flesh.
She felt as if she had been swallowed into the belly of some colossal giant, slowly being dissolved within its rotting intestines.
Yet there was nothing around her.
It wasn't until she was swimming that little Nan Yue saw the thing on her back in the reflection of the water.
It was difficult to describe what it actually was since it had no human form. It was just a faint mass of black mist, yet it seemed to have countless tentacles clutching her head, chest, and abdomen in a death grip.
It was perched on her back.
That was the first time Nan Yue realized she was truly carrying something that no one else could see.
And that thing would one day consume her.
That was an evil ghost, wasn't it? It was more terrifying than any evil ghost she had encountered in simulation missions.
Because it was aimed only at Nan Yue.
Nan Yue didn't know why it hadn't eaten her yet. Later, she thought it might be because the thing was still weak.
It was stronger than her, but not yet strong enough to devour her completely.
From that day on, little Nan Yue made up her mind to have a race with this evil ghost.
She had to grow rapidly. She didn't want to be eaten; one day, she would be the one to eat it.
Also from that day, Nan Yue, who was merely talented and studious, became exceptionally hardworking.
She studied, practiced, and simulated like a madwoman.
While others might be so scared by a single simulation mission that they couldn't recover for a month, she would grit her teeth and enter another one just a week later.
Then it became every three days, and then every single day.
She never complained of hardship or exhaustion. She was willing to be the first for any simulation, and she even managed to get the highest score in the school's history during the pain tolerance course without making a single sound.
Her eyes were bloodshot from the pain, and her gums bled from the pressure of her teeth, but she endured it.
Because she didn't want to be eaten.
"Nan Yue, are you a monster?"
That was what a boy at school had said to her because she had no friends, no rest, and no breaks.
All of her time was dedicated to studying and training.
Nan Yue ignored him. That person had failed his swimming exam.
He would be held back. If he couldn't pass the swimming exam, he wouldn't be allowed to leave the school no matter how high his other scores were.
The last time Nan Yue saw that boy was during a mid-week mock exam.
Rate on N.U.
