"Wh...What do you mean the Fog Corpses chasing me will drop Star Stones?" Xiao Jinsheng's voice trembled.
This kind of constitution is only good for quietly making a fortune.
Let others find out and throw her into a Fog Corpse horde to lure monsters, then what?
"Isn't it because of her? Let her go lure another wave of Fog Corpses, and the problem will be solved." Sure enough, Mo Jiao, who harbored the deepest killing intent towards her, spoke maliciously.
Xiao Jinsheng grabbed Que Zelian and Yu Yunxiao by their hands, hiding behind them.
Her fox-like eyes glared daggers at Mo Jiao.
However, her delicate face and lively eyes, with their upturned corners, seemed charming even in anger.
The lethal damage of her gaze didn't frighten Mo Jiao in the slightest.
Mo Jiao looked at her face, his purple eyes flickering briefly as he suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and coldly turned his gaze away.
"If we want to confirm whether it's because of her, there's no need for her to provoke the Fog Corpses." Que Zelian refuted, "The five of us can take turns killing a wave of Fog Corpses. If none of us find any Star Stones, the result will be obvious."
"I'll go first." As the action-oriented one, Su Ye was the most proactive.
He hefted his long saber and charged into the dense fog of the ruined city. Ten minutes later, he returned covered in blood.
Aside from the saber in his hand, he had found nothing.
He shook his head, "Killed a hundred Fog Corpses—didn't find a single Star Stone."
Quickly, the remaining four men took turns going out to hunt Fog Corpses. Three returned empty-handed.
The only exception was Mo Jiao, who used black fog to drag back a Fog Corpse.
He looked down at Xiao Jinsheng, "Run a lap and let it chase you a few steps."
"Why don't *you* run a lap and let it chase you a few steps?" Xiao Jinsheng shot back.
Mo Jiao shrugged helplessly, "I went out once, and two hundred Fog Corpses were chasing me. Not a single Star Stone to be found."
"This Fog Corpse has a limp. Even if you run slowly, it won't catch up to you. What are you afraid of?"
Xiao Jinsheng fell silent.
She began to doubt herself as well.
She had been on the Mist Continent for two days and a night now. Without a system companion or cheat codes.
All she'd received from the system were five butcher-like bodyguards sent to protect her.
But over this period, she had discovered many peculiarities about herself.
She couldn't rank up despite absorbing the same Star Stones.
Others who accepted One Star spiritual power level missions received tools with a durability of 1,000; hers, inexplicably, had a durability of 10,000.
Whether it was the Fog Corpse that broke through the window to attack her last night or the swarm chasing her today, they all dropped Star Stones at a 100% rate.
Too many mysteries, too much confusion, made Xiao Jinsheng want to figure things out, even if she was scared.
"Let Que Zelian control this Fog Corpse. I don't trust you."
Xiao Jinsheng wanted to test whether the 100% drop rate for Star Stones from Fog Corpses was indeed due to her.
"Fine." Mo Jiao didn't mind Xiao Jinsheng mistrusting him.
He handed the Fog Corpse over to Que Zelian.
"Are you sure about this?" Que Zelian asked.
Receiving Xiao Jinsheng's affirming nod, he recalled how she trembled in his arms earlier while being chased by the swarm of Fog Corpses.
Now, seeing her clearly afraid yet still gathering the courage to try, he realized Xiao Jinsheng had truly changed.
And all her changes seemed for the better.
Thinking of this, Que Zelian's voice softened, "Don't worry. I won't let you get hurt."
"Do a good job, and I'll give you fifty extra points," Xiao Jinsheng encouraged magnanimously, concerned for her own life.
Que Zelian was momentarily speechless.
Despite being terrified, she still had time to play her little points game.
"Well, thank you in advance then." Que Zelian chuckled lightly.
Xiao Jinsheng stood five meters away from the Fog Corpse, ready to run.
As Que Zelian counted down, the Fog Corpse was released. Despite Que Zelian being less than a meter away, it fixated on Xiao Jinsheng, five meters away, and growled as it charged toward her.
"Waaaaaahhhh—"
"Heeeeelp—"
"Save meee—"
Xiao Jinsheng cried loudly as she ran, while the limping Fog Corpse followed, closing the gap to four meters, three meters, two meters.
When it was just one meter away, its claw reached out to grab her windblown hair, only to be whisked away by a gust of wind that hurled it off the balcony. The body was shredded to pieces mid-air.
Xiao Jinsheng, still focused solely on escaping, didn't realize the Fog Corpse had been dealt with. She continued running in circles on the rooftop, eventually colliding into Que Zelian's awaiting arms.
"It's over now. The Fog Corpse has already been thrown downstairs." Que Zelian steadied her weakened body and gently reassured her.
Xiao Jinsheng buried her face in his chest and whimpered, "Did...did it drop a Star Stone?"
"Yes." A Star Stone was swept up by Que Zelian's Wind Element Superpower from the remains below.
"Why do these Fog Corpses drop Star Stones whenever they chase her?" Yu Yunxiao asked, puzzled.
Xiao Jinsheng lifted her face from Que Zelian's chest, "Because I'm lucky!"
Then, she buried her face back into Que Zelian's chest.
Her arms tightened around his lean and muscular waist.
During battles, Que Zelian always flew over the scene, and despite the bloody chaos below, he carried the clean scent of cedarwood.
Xiao Jinsheng inhaled the invigorating cool fragrance, calming her frenzied mind.
The fear faded, and her audacity grew.
Her arms encircling Que Zelian's waist slid stealthily down his back.
Just as her hands reached his lower back, they were firmly caught.
Que Zelian fought the tingling numbness crawling up his tailbone, brought on by her touch.
Keenly aware of her mischievous hands, he tightly pinned them and gritted out with a cold smile, "Where do you think you're trying to go?"
"I'm scared! My heart hurts!" Xiao Jinsheng replied innocently, tears welling in her eyes.
"Hmph." Que Zelian mercilessly pried her hands off himself, "I never knew you were a little rascal."
"Being able to soothe me with your body is your honor." Xiao Jinsheng exposed her shameless nature without hesitation.
Que Zelian's ears flushed red, unsure whether it was from anger or something else.
Trying to recover, he received Xiao Jinsheng's annoyed glare instead, "That's why I said, you're not cut out to be a compassionate saint."
"I don't believe in Buddhism," Que Zelian reminded her.
Xiao Jinsheng huffed, turning her head away angrily, refusing to interact further.
"Why does it feel like the four of us are a bit redundant?" Yu Yunxiao wondered aloud.
"You three are the redundant ones." Su Ye quipped while cleaning his long saber.
His answer immediately drew inquisitive gazes from the three members of their "divorce alliance."
"You're not leaving?" Huaiqing asked.
"Are you planning to betray our divorce alliance just like Que Zelian?" Yu Yunxiao accused.
Mo Jiao remained silent, lost in thought.
Having Que Zelian protect Xiao Jinsheng was already troublesome.
If Su Ye sided with her too, it would be even more difficult.
"She promised to change, didn't she?" Su Ye spoke with familiarity.
Coincidentally, Que Zelian had uttered the same words earlier that morning.
"I like the bad ones. Teasing her keeps things entertaining." Su Ye added.
Yu Yunxiao retorted, "She used to be even worse, and you didn't seem to like her back then."
Su Ye froze mid-swipe of his saber.
A peculiar gleam flashed in his golden eyes, but he offered no explanation.
Instead, he said, "Just pretend I like her current bad streak even better."
"She doesn't like the aggressive ones." Mo Jiao chimed in sharply, "Among the five of us, she fears me the most, but I'm convinced she dislikes *you* the most."
The confident Su Ye fell silent immediately.