Chapter 13 A Nerve-Wracking Moment
Su He had been trekking up the mountain with the twins for over an hour without encountering anything that could be exchanged for points, which left her a little discouraged.
Indeed, luck wasn't always on her side. The fact was, the items in the system weren't so easy to get.
While she was lost in thought, Zai Zai suddenly pointed at a bird's nest in a tree and said, "Eggs, Mommy, eggs!"
Su He looked up and indeed spotted the bird's nest above them. However, since the tree was taller than them, she couldn't see the eggs inside.
Just then, the voice of the robot Xiao Qi spoke up right on cue.
"Detected endangered species' eggs in the position ahead and above you. One egg is worth 500 points. The location has been marked."
As soon as Xiao Qi finished speaking, Su He saw the marked location—it was exactly the bird's nest Zai Zai had pointed out.
This system was so laggy! It couldn't detect anything until it was right in front of them, and Zai Zai had noticed it first.
Griping aside, since one egg was worth 500 points, Su He was determined to snag that nest.
"Zai Zai, you're amazing for spotting the eggs! Mommy's going to climb the tree to get them. You two stay put down there, okay?"
Zai Zai glanced at the tree and then at Su He, hesitating as he said, "But Mommy, the tree is so tall."
For the twins, it was indeed very high, but for Su He, it wasn't a big deal.
Back when she was a child in the countryside, she had climbed trees many times to grab bird eggs.
"It's fine. Just wait quietly below." With that, Su He immediately started climbing the tree.
But she had forgotten—she was out of shape now, and her limbs weren't as nimble as before.
Yikes, this was tough. And with her weight, would the branches even support her?
Despite the difficulty, Su He powered through for those points. Without hesitation, she carefully climbed up the tree and slowly inched toward the branch with the nest.
That branch was too thin—it definitely couldn't hold her weight.
"Xiao Qi, is there any way I can get the eggs?" Su He asked the robot.
"This system cannot interfere with anything in the host's world. However, I can apply for a reach extender for you. See if you can grab it with that," the robot replied.
Su He sighed.
Eh, better than nothing.
She instructed the robot to place the tool in her basket and asked Zai Zai to pass it up to her. Niu Niu and Zai Zai had hiked up on their own today, so they had no idea what was in her basket.
The tool had a long reach. Once Su He had it, she moved again toward the branch with the nest and soon reached it.
Placing the reach extender on the nest, Su He pressed a switch, and a net shot out, capturing the nest.
Not wanting to risk it, Su He carefully pulled the nest toward her, afraid it might tip over.
Fortunately, it all worked out. The moment the nest touched her hand, Su He immediately stashed it in her inventory without even looking inside.
"Mom! Mom!" The little ones couldn't help shouting from below.
"Alright, coming down!"
After Su He finished speaking and was about to come down from the tree, who knew her weight would be too much? The branch couldn't bear it and snapped with a loud "crack."
Su He was startled but luckily she immediately grabbed onto the larger trunk, or else she would have fallen flat on her face in front of the kids.
"Mommy, mommy~ waaah~" The breaking branch scared Niu Niu badly, and she started crying from worry for Su He.
As she tried to climb down, Su He comforted Niu Niu, "Mommy's okay, sweetie, no tears."
Even Zai Zai piped up to comfort his sister, saying, "Stop crying, or Mommy will start worrying about you instead."
Hearing this, Niu Niu didn't dare to cry anymore but still urged Su He to come down quickly.
"Coming, coming."
With that, Su He slowly slid down while hugging the tree, but the rough bark and numerous branches scraped her arms, leaving many spots scraped raw.
Once safely on the ground, Niu Niu immediately ran over and hugged one of Su He's legs, saying, "Tree bad! No climb!"
"Alright, alright, no more tree-climbing," Su He quickly reassured her.
Finding a spot, Su He sat down to rest.
After half a day of effort, all she had to show for it was a bird's nest. She hoped there would be more eggs inside so she could exchange for more points.
"Mommy, I'm hungry," Niu Niu said.
Only then did Su He realize her own stomach was growling loudly.
But given this body's naturally large appetite, getting hungry quickly was normal.
"Alright, but we'll have to make do up here. No proper meal today—just bread or buns."
Su He took out the food she had prepared earlier from her basket and let the kids choose what they wanted.
Zai Zai picked a bun, while Niu Niu chose bread.
"There's plenty here. You can have more if you're still hungry," Su He said with a smile, watching the two kids. Then she grabbed a piece of bread for herself and took a bite.
For water, Su He had boiled some at home and brought it in a flask.
"Food tastes better on the mountain!" Zai Zai said, tilting his head up.
"Sure, but the mountain is dangerous. You're too young to come here often."
Su He didn't want the two young kids accompanying her up the mountain all the time. So far, they hadn't encountered anything dangerous, by sheer luck. But who could guarantee their luck would always hold?
No sooner had Su He thought this than the robot Xiao Qi in her mind alerted her.
"Detected ahead: a *Mangshan pit viper*, a snake with deadly venom. It can be exchanged for 2,000 points, but please exercise caution when capturing it."
Su He was startled. Looking up, she saw the system-marked location—a snake, nearly indistinguishable from the grass, sliding toward them. Without the marker, she would never have noticed it, as the snake was extremely well-camouflaged.
She broke into a cold sweat and immediately snatched the tongs the system had provided earlier from her basket.
She was deathly afraid of snakes, but to protect her children, she had to catch this one.
As the snake slowly approached, Su He lurched forward, squeezing the tongs shut on its body. The snake coiled up instantly, just as Su He had hoped.
She pressed the switch, and the net instantly coiled around the entire snake.
After being caught, the snake aggressively flicked its tongue at them, letting out sharp hisses.
"Mommy!" Niu Niu saw the snake but wasn't scared; instead, she looked at it with curiosity.
Having lived in the city with Su He before, they rarely went out, so they'd never seen a snake before.
Zai Zai also gazed at the snake in wonder, though he was a little frightened.
"If you ever come across something like this in the future, keep your distance, okay?" Su He said sternly.
Both kids nodded solemnly.