Quick Travel to the Clouds

Chapter 774 Challenge Dungeon 30

The punches and kicks avoided vital points but were painful enough, with even force, ensuring that they left a deep "impression" on him without actually causing serious disability.

During this time, Xia Wanqi whimpered and struggled inside the sack, mumbling curses and begging for mercy, but Yun Chu ignored him, focusing only on completing her "work".

About ten minutes later, the "work" was over.

Yun Chu put away the array plate and checked the scene, finding no trace of her.

She glanced at the "sack" on the ground, which was no longer wriggling and was only making faint groans, her eyes cold.

With a swift movement, like a wisp of smoke merging into the night, she quickly moved away from the area and sped off in the direction she had come from.

Soon after, panicked shouts and commotion erupted from the small valley camp behind her, but all of that was no longer relevant to her.

Under the moonlight, her figure moved swiftly through the dense forest, her mind calm and collected.

Progress on the male protagonist's quest: 2/6.

The moonlight outlined the indistinct contours of the dense forest, while the clouds drifted silently through it like wisps of smoke.

Fire Iron Flying Ant had already sent her real-time footage of Xie Yipei and the other two's camp.

The campfire was about to burn out. Lu Ting was keeping watch, Hu Lanqin seemed to have already rested, and Xie Yipei was leaning against a tree, closing his eyes to rest. But Yun Chu could feel that the invisible contract connection fluctuated slightly when she approached.

She broke free of her concealment and stepped out of the shadows.

Xie Yipei opened his eyes almost simultaneously, his gaze landing precisely on her. He looked her up and down, and after confirming she was unharmed, he let out a barely perceptible sigh of relief, before regaining his usual calm. "You're back."

"Mm," Yun Chu replied briefly, walking over to the fire and sitting down. She could feel Hu Lanqin's sleeping bag shift, and a cold gaze swept across her back before quickly withdrawing.

"Is everything done?" Xie Yipei handed over a glass of warm water.

"Mmm." Yun Chu took it and took a sip.

The warm water soothed the slight fatigue from her all-night journey. She didn't say much, and Xie Yipei didn't ask any more questions.

Lu Ting nodded to her and continued to cautiously observe his surroundings.

In the following days, the pace of the survival dungeon seemed to slow down abruptly.

Perhaps it was because they had exhausted too much energy and luck exploring the hidden dungeons in the early stages, or perhaps they had cleared out most of the dangerous creatures in the area, or perhaps... Xie Yipei had intentionally chosen a relatively safe route to rest.

Apart from the occasional attacks by small groups of mutated beasts and a half-day bout of severe weather mixed with corrosive acid rain, there were no other major setbacks.

Every day consisted of traveling, setting up camp, resting, and occasionally gathering some usable resources.

Yun Chu continued to expand the reconnaissance range using the Fire Iron Flying Ants, but did not find any more hidden dungeon entrances worth the risk, nor did she deliberately search for Xia Wanqi's whereabouts again—the third "greeting" needed to be done at a more suitable time and in a different dungeon.

Hu Lanqin became unusually silent, rarely making eye contact with Yun Chu except for necessary exchanges, and her execution of Xie Yipei's instructions was also somewhat stiff.

Lu Ting seemed to have sensed something, but wisely remained neutral and focused.

Xie Yipei focused more attention on Yun Chu.

It's not the controlling scrutiny of the past, but a more natural and intimate concern.

He would pay attention to whether she was tired, and when distributing food, he would leave more of her favorite flavors. When resting at night, although he still held her to sleep, his actions were less forceful and more habitually possessive and... caring.

Yun Chu had mixed feelings about this. She was forced to accept it because of the contract and the established fact, but deep down she felt helpless and a little uneasy about the gradually infiltrating intimacy.

When the notification sound of the end of the fifteenth day of the survival instance rang in the minds of all the surviving players, the four of them were in a relatively open clearing in the woods.

The 'Misty Forest' survival challenge instance has ended. Number of players who successfully survived: 147/500. Rewards are being calculated...

As the system's cold announcement rang out, the primitive and rugged jungle scene before my eyes began to peel away and disappear piece by piece, like a faded painting.

After a brief period of weightlessness and dizziness, Yun Chu's feet landed firmly on the ground again.

The smell of decaying leaves and blood no longer lingered around my nose, but rather the familiar scent of air freshener mixed with the aroma of sun-dried carpets—a scent belonging to the modern civilized world.

The low hum of the central air conditioning was in my ears, along with the faint sounds of city traffic in the distance.

She returned to her room.

The luxurious and spacious bedroom features a soft imported wool carpet and huge floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a manicured garden and the bustling city skyline in the distance.

The sun was shining brightly; it was midday.

The outfit she wore, stained with dirt and dried blood from crawling and rolling in the jungle, had been transformed back into a comfortable silk nightgown.

Her skin was smooth, and all the minor scratches left by the battle had disappeared without a trace. Only the pale gold mark on her waist, representing the "Kiss Contract," remained clear and slightly warm.

She looked down at her hands, which were slender, white, and delicate, as if the fifteen days of perilous survival in the jungle had just passed by were nothing more than a vivid nightmare.

But the skill icons that were clearly present in her mind, the various new items and materials in her inventory, and the increasing points on her personal panel all reminded her that it was real.

And... the mark on his waist emanated a calm and powerful presence belonging to another person.

She walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the peaceful and serene scene outside, feeling somewhat dazed. This was the absurd feeling of players in the Infinite World traversing between life-or-death dungeons and reality.

Less than a minute later, the personal cell phone on the bedside table suddenly rang.

The ringtone was a strange, deep, rhythmic tune that she had never set before.

Yun Chu walked over and pressed the answer button.

"Are you home?" The man's deep, pleasant voice came through the receiver, carrying a subtle sense of realism, lacking the palpable tension of a dungeon game, yet still exuding a sense of control.

"Mmm," Yun Chu replied, her voice a little hoarse.

"I just arrived too." There seemed to be some news on Xie Yipei's end, along with the background sound of a low engine hum. "He sent me the location. I'll be there at 10 a.m. tomorrow."

His tone was matter-of-fact, as if he were stating a pre-arranged schedule: "I'm here to marry you."

Yun Chu's fingers tightened slightly as she gripped her phone.

Although he had already agreed in the instance, the impact of hearing his direct and forceful declaration upon returning to this familiar and peaceful "home" was still strong.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say "my parents..." but swallowed the words back.

Her parents, also dungeon players, are currently fighting in some unknown dungeon, with no return date in sight.

Aside from the maid who comes to clean regularly, she is the only person in the house.

If her parents came back and found out she had suddenly gotten married... Yun Chu could almost imagine their shock and the potentially very complicated questioning that would follow.

She didn't want them to worry too much, especially about the "contract".

"Okay." She finally uttered only one word.

"Get some rest." Xie Yipei seemed to detect a slight difference in her voice, but he didn't say anything more. He just gave her a word of advice and then hung up the phone decisively.