Afterwards, Qin Ziwen went upstairs to ask Deng Guang if he wanted to go up the mountain together. Deng Guang hesitated for a moment, then looked back at his family.
Xiao Meixue nodded, "You go. My daughter and I will stay at home, we won't go anywhere."
Deng Guang nodded, "Alright, I'll go pack some things."
After going downstairs, the three of them exited the residential complex through the nearest south gate, then circled around to the north side and headed east from there.
Qin Ziwen, Du Yu, and Deng Guang walked through the mountain forest. To facilitate a quick trip there and back, they traveled light, bringing only weapons, protective gear, and dry rations for lunch. The Crowned Eagle flew overhead, keeping watch for the group.
On the way, when Deng Guang went behind a nearby thicket to relieve himself, Qin Ziwen and Du Yu stood a bit further away, chatting.
"Brother Du Yu, I heard you once killed a fierce tiger before?"
"That is indeed true," Du Yu nodded in acknowledgment.
"How many did you kill?"
Du Yu was momentarily speechless, "Sir, it's not like cabbage in a field, it's not that easy to kill. I've only killed two."
"Oh, wait, two." The first half of the sentence was fine, but the second half nearly made Qin Ziwen fail to process it.
Du Yu said, "That's right. At that time, after killing the man-eating evil tiger, there was a small one in its den, so I took care of it as well."
Qin Ziwen chuckled, "I didn't expect someone as serious-looking as you to also make such jokes."
"Sir, be careful." Du Yu suddenly reached out a hand, stopping Qin Ziwen.
On the slope above, a Golden Leopard emerged from behind a tree.
It stared at the two men, then spat something out of its mouth before darting away in a flash.
"Strange, this leopard doesn't seem to have killing intent. Why did it leave its prey behind?" Du Yu was puzzled.
Qin Ziwen, however, recognized it.
This leopard was exactly the one he had previously fed a piece of wild boar heart to.
He quickly stepped forward and saw a dead rabbit lying on the ground. "I've seen this leopard before. It was injured at the time, and I fed it a piece of heart. I saw it again later when going up the mountain, but it ran away that time."
Du Yu understood now, "Perhaps it came to repay the kindness."
"I just went to the bathroom, and you guys already hunted a rabbit." Deng Guang came over from behind. Seeing the rabbit Qin Ziwen was holding, he clicked his tongue in amazement.
"It wasn't me who hunted it, it was a gift." Qin Ziwen recounted what had just happened. After hearing the story, Deng Guang found it interesting. He had only ever read stories like foxes repaying kindness in books before, never expecting a leopard would also repay kindness. He immediately said with a laugh, "Did this leopard see we didn't bring any prey and specifically came to feed us?"
"Haha, alright then, we'll take it." Qin Ziwen picked up the rabbit from the ground. After all, it was the leopard's kind gesture; it shouldn't be wasted.
Not far away, the Golden Leopard hid on a tree trunk, quietly watching the three men walk away.
It sharpened its claws and let out a low, rumbling growl from its throat.
Just now, for some reason, it felt a bit nervous upon seeing one of the humans, its mouth loosened, and the prey fell out.
......
When going up the mountain again, two Black Falcons flew overhead. This time, they had learned their lesson and didn't approach closely, instead flying high above, watching from a distance.
The three men arrived in front of the mountain cave. Qin Ziwen looked deep into the cave.
He saw a small white point of light inside.
This is... an Expansion Card?
Qin Ziwen first frowned, then relaxed his expression.
An Expansion Card is fine too. The cards from such a high-level altar wouldn't be too bad. He was just short of space to place that advanced building anyway.
He took a flashlight out of his bag. Du Yu first looked at the flashlight curiously.
He had seen this glowing thing yesterday. It was even brighter than a tallow torch!
It's just that its illumination range was limited. Unlike a torch that could light up all directions, this strange object called a flashlight could only shine straight ahead.
"Sir, I'll go," Du Yu volunteered.
"You'll go?"
"Yes, I've been going up mountains all year round. I'm good with this kind of terrain."
"Then be careful." Qin Ziwen handed the flashlight to Du Yu, then took the motorcycle helmet from Deng Guang. "Will you wear the helmet?"
Du Yu tried it on, then took it off. "It's too heavy and bulky. I can't hear clearly with it on. I'm more accustomed to being able to hear sounds clearly."
"Alright, then be careful."
Watching Du Yu enter the cave, Qin Ziwen stared at him intently.
That sound that came from deep within the cave yesterday—was it because the card was taken, disturbing something, or was it just a coincidence?
The flashlight's beam suddenly went out as it approached the card.
After a while, when the flashlight lit up again, it was already heading back toward the cave entrance.
Du Yu jogged out, his expression serious.
"Sir, mission accomplished."
Taking the white card from Du Yu's hand, both the front and back of the card were pure white like jade.
Holding it in his hand, he immediately learned its name and purpose: [Expansion Card] Blank Expansion Card (Small)
Compared to yesterday's advanced building and the red Function Card from the day before, this small Expansion Card seemed somewhat "ordinary."
Was it that the further you went, the worse the rewards from the altar became?
Qin Ziwen looked at Deng Guang, "Brother Deng, do you want to reserve tomorrow's card?"
Deng Guang's face lit up with joy. He hesitated for a moment, looking at Qin Ziwen. "I... can I reserve tomorrow's?"
Qin Ziwen said without hesitation, "Of course you can."
A person without trustworthiness cannot stand. He had no intention of going back on his word.
Deng Guang nodded, "Then tomorrow's card it is!"
The three men descended along the mountain slope.
At a little past six in the evening, they finally reached the residential complex.
Compared to the liveliness at this time yesterday, the complex was somewhat deserted today.
Most of the people still outside were wearing masks. Several stalls were set up on the ground. Qin Ziwen saw someone selling medicine.
As soon as it was set up, several people gathered around. To fight over a certain medicine, they even started arguing.
Probably the price of medicine would rise significantly recently.
Returning to his residence, Qin Ziwen went to the balcony area. Following the previous zone, he activated the two small Blank Expansion Cards outward along the 10*10 meter area where the tavern building was located.
In the distance, the gray, misty boundary wall of the fog realm melted away like spring snow, expanding outward along a straight line.
It continued outward, forming a new expanded area of 20*40 meters.
He looked at the tavern beside him and silently thought about using the placement function.
The next second, the Home system's little glowing ball appeared.
It projected a light screen that transformed into a top-down 3D diagram in front of him.
Just like in some kind of management and construction game, he felt he could now arbitrarily move the constructions and resource points generated by cards within the area, relocating them to suitable places.
This rearranging ability was truly interesting. If in the future the placement ability had no cooldown, and the Home area was large enough, and he obtained cards for terrain like mountains and lakes, wouldn't he become a different kind of "mountain-moving, sea-overturning" being?
Just by moving cards, he could crush others under mountains.
Never mind the future; even now, if someone broke into his home, he could directly activate the placement ability and put a building on top of someone's head. Wouldn't that directly crush them under the house?
......