Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Chapter 28 - 28: The Gains of Other Survivors

The direction the pointer points to is exactly the direction the stream flows from, which suggests the silver treasure chest might be along the path he walked.

”Could it be the Black Bear Cave?”

Xu Xin gazed at the compass, lost in thought. When he came from the starting point, he actually carefully observed his surroundings, and besides the Black Bear Cave along the way, there didnʼt seem to be anything special.

Of course, the location of the treasure chest cannot be thought of with common sense. After all, who could have known the location of the copper treasure chest was within the root of the vine?

This position is extremely sinister. If it werenʼt for his ability, he might have already fallen for it, injured if not dead.

This time, the location of the silver treasure chest is certainly not ordinary, so he could only be cautious at every step.

”Letʼs check out the Black Bear Cave first. I wonder if there are still bears in the Black Bear Cave now.”

The skin of the black bear that Xu Xin killed has now become the backpack on his back. He opened the map and looked at the Black Bear Cave marked on it, and there were no red dots in the cave currently.

”This black bear might really be the one from the Black Bear Cave.” Xu Xin felt a bit delighted, if thatʼs true then itʼs perfect.

Last time, he only managed to kill a heavily wounded and undefended black bear with the help of the treehouse. Facing a black bear with cold weapons directly would only turn him into bear dung. If the black bear hadnʼt died, he could only rely on wit.

At this moment, Keke was lying on the table, using his little paws to move the compass needle.

The compass had already entered the cooling phase, and couldnʼt be used within the next two hours, so under Kekeʼs touch, the needle feebly swung, like a slipping clock.

Xu Xin checked the regional channel, and now the number had dropped below eight thousand, leaving only 7987 people. He remembered glancing at it when he left in the morning, and the regional channel had 8140 people at that time.

”So 150 people died so quickly?” Xu Xin was a little shocked. These people might have been ambushed by monsters carrying treasure chests, and moreover, some might have encountered gold and silver treasure chests for the first time rather than copper chests, and the monsters guarding those might be even stronger.

Now it seemed that the so-called end-elimination only forced survivors out of the treehouse; the real danger was the monsters guarding the treasure chests.

Xu Xin became more vigilant; he didnʼt want to die from a monster ambush.

As a cautious person, without this map capability that could predict danger in advance, he who already obtained a copper treasure chest might have stayed in the treehouse without venturing out.

And now someone in the regional channel was saying the same thing.

”Is anyone there, has someone returned?”

”Iʼm back, I got the copper treasure chest! Damn, not far after stepping out, a snake as thick as a bowl emerged from the ground and wrapped around me, almost strangling me!”

”Huh? You encountered a snake? How did you survive?”

”Haha, I was lucky, the stick in my hand happened to jam its mouth and the snake was strange; it shattered by itself after a few seconds, had it endured a few more seconds I might have been strangled to death. Luckily there was a copper chest in the hole it emerged from, I wasnʼt strangled in vain. Anyway, Iʼm not going out again, itʼs too dangerous, a copper chest is enough.”

”That was really dangerous!”

”What about you? Did you get the copper chest?”

”Me? I havenʼt even left yet.”

”? Arenʼt you afraid of death?”

”I got my leg bitten off by a wild beast, just waiting to die now, anyway going out means dying too, maybe not many people will find the chest, the bottom 50 places might be randomly chosen from all the empty-handed.”

”... You have quite the mindset.” ”Friend, stay strong.” ”Letʼs wait to die together.”

A few words popped up from others in the regional channel sporadically.

”Doesnʼt having a bad mindset mean you donʼt have to die? Die happily. By the way, old brother, whatʼs in your copper treasure chest, can you tell me?”

”Not much, a bag of fertilizer, two packs of seeds.”

Xu Xin silently watched their conversation.

It seemed though some people did not die in the beast wave, they suffered serious injuries, basically unable to move, otherwise, they wouldnʼt stay in place leaving fate to chance. This also served as a wake-up call to Xu Xin, suffering serious injuries means elimination in the next activity.

And judging by the words of the guy who got the box, it seems the dangers everyone encounters are different, but the contents of the copper treasure boxes are seemingly the same. He wondered if his seeds were the same as the others.

Originally, Xu Xin wanted to get some information from the channel, but since the treasure box locations and dangers each survivor encountered differed greatly, there wasnʼt much reference value.

To ensure he didnʼt miss anything in the afternoon due to sleepiness, Xu Xin ate an orange and kept a few of those he picked in the morning in his backpack, leaving the rest in the treehouse, and tossed one to Keke.

The little guy enjoyed eating it heartily.

”Donʼt drip orange juice on my shoulder.”

”Squeak!”

Following the stream, Xu Xin headed upstream. It was a path he had walked many times, first before the treehouse planting, then for pebbles (green) in the stream, also acquiring stones (green) in the Black Bear Cave, a round trip.

On these few trips, Xu Xin actually hadnʼt noticed anything unusual about the path beside the stream.

The silver treasure chest, like the copper one, was likely to suddenly appear.

Moreover, along this stream might generate special situations similar to previous weeds and shrubs as hints for the treasure chestʼs location, so Xu Xin kept an eye on subtle changes as he walked.

Seeing the Black Bear Cave up close, Xu Xin realized he had concentrated intensely for a long time and had already reached the cave. There were no red dots on the map, at least currently, there was no black bear in the cave.

Black bears can roam day and night, so Xu Xin couldnʼt know if the bear hadnʼt returned to the cave or if it had already been turned into a backpack, but being careful never hurts.

Xu Xinʼs focus remained on the map, his eyes fixed on the caveʼs interior, slowly, and stealthily stepping inside.

The strange wind sound again rang in Xu Xinʼs ears.

Below this cave, there should be a large cavern-like space, the air flowing inside produces this sound. Perhaps, exploring here could reveal a glimpse of the underground world.

The idea was appealing, but after thoroughly exploring the cave, Xu Xin didnʼt find even a small opening to another space.

The strange wind sound could be heard everywhere in the cave, but due to the echo inside, Xu Xin couldnʼt pinpoint its source.

Perhaps there really isnʼt a rock cave visible to the eye. Should he use a tool to break open a cave entrance?

But is there really a silver treasure chest buried here? This wind sound had been present since his first day, but based on the inference from the copper treasure chest location, Xu Xin thought the silver chest should represent a new environmental change rather than this longstanding wind sound.

Moreover, the treasure bear cub Keke on his shoulder showed no reaction, even already snoozing on his shoulder.

”This little guy, such a sleepyhead!” Xu Xin helplessly shook his head.

First, take the wind sound as a supplementary thought, explore along the river, and if unable to find anything, wait for the compass to cool down to confirm the direction once more.

Xu Xin walked out of the Black Bear Cave and returned to the riverside, continuing upstream. Quickly, he triggered a prompt.

[Reminder, do not leave the treehouse for more than three kilometers, otherwise things you donʼt want to see will occur.]

He reached the boundary again.