DSMC Chapter 108.1

Yan Jiyun was almost scared to death by the scene in front of him.

He forced himself to stay calm and immediately bought one or two safety ropes from the in-game shop. He tied one to the sturdiest tree nearby, fastened one end to himself, and prepared to tie the other to Qi Feng.

No matter what, he had to pull Qi Feng back from the cliff!

Chu Mo rushed forward and also saw the unconscious man hanging from the vines. If he wasn’t mistaken, this person looked familiar.

Wasn’t it Qi Feng?

Chu Mo wasn’t that cold-blooded. He said, “You really want to save him? I know who he is. Isn’t he a very strong veteran player? If we save him, there’s no guarantee the two of us will make it out of the peak match.”

Yan Jiyun’s hands trembled with urgency as he coldly shot back, “Do you two have a grudge?”

Anyone who went against his pooper-scooper was his enemy.

If this temporary teammate tried anything against Qi Feng, he would risk his life to protect him.

Chu Mo started helping him tie the rope. “Not really. I don’t have a grudge against him, but he—”

Yan Jiyun kept his eyes fixed on Qi Feng, who was still unconscious, and deliberately said, “Then you can just stand by and watch. Since he’s such a powerful veteran player, he’s basically a golden thigh for me. If I save him, wouldn’t he carry me through the game? He should repay my life-saving favor, right?”

Chu Mo felt that made sense. Many players entered Peak Competition in teams. Fighting alone wasn’t always viable, and sometimes you needed help.

Chu Mo: “…”

This was a path he had never considered. His temporary teammate was a real talent. He decided to help. “Your rope doesn’t look very sturdy.”

Yan Jiyun replied, “It’s the only kind available in the shop.”

Once again, Chu Mo let go of some of his previous principles. They had already saved a pegasus, so saving one more person didn’t seem like a big deal. He didn’t know Qi Feng well, but he had heard of him. Better to rescue him first and talk later.

While he hesitated, Yan Jiyun had already leaned most of his body over the cliff. His fear of heights completely vanished. His only thought was saving the man.

“Can you reach him?” Chu Mo asked.

Qi Feng had saved his life before. Even if there was no blood relation, there was still the bond of care. Reachable or not, he had to try.

After bringing him back, Qi Feng had provided him with basic necessities and even took care of him meticulously when he was sick.

To him, his master was like a friend, like family. He wasn’t heartless. He would never leave Qi Feng to die.

Yan Jiyun said steadily, “I’ll tie the rope to him. When I do, you just pull the rope tight.” He had to stay calm at a time like this.

“Got it. Be careful!” Chu Mo said. It was the first time he had ever told someone unfamiliar to “be careful” in a game.

His temporary teammate’s behavior felt so natural. It had been a long time since he had seen such a normal human reaction. Perhaps he had been in the game too long; he found this kind of normal behavior surprising, even though saving people was perfectly ordinary in the real world.

Yan Jiyun hooked both feet against the base of a large rock, anchoring himself. Most of his body dangled over the cliff. He could reach Qi Feng, but he wasn’t sure he could pull him up immediately, so he untied the rope around his waist and secured it around Qi Feng instead.

He turned back and said, “You pull the rope. I’ll grab his arm.”

Chu Mo made an OK sign. “I’ll hold the rope depending on the situation.”

The rope was long enough. He wrapped part of it around himself; one pulling the rope, the other pulling the person. Together, their strength would be greater than one alone.

At the same time, Chu Mo pressed down on Yan Jiyun’s legs to prevent him from losing strength from the awkward position.

Using the strength in his legs and trusting Chu Mo, Yan Jiyun slowly pulled Qi Feng upward.

Qi Feng wasn’t overly bulky, but his muscles were well-trained. A tall adult man close to 1.9 meters was really heavy! 

Yan Jiyun used all his strength to pull him up. They were just a little short of success.

Having worked together along the way, they had developed some coordination.

Yan Jiyun said, “I’ll count to three, then pull my legs!”

Chu Mo found a foothold with both legs, ready to exert force. “Okay.”

Yan Jiyun shouted, “One, two, three— pull!”

Chu Mo yanked hard. With his hands braced against Yan Jiyun’s chest, he pulled backward. And in that moment, they finally dragged Qi Feng up from the edge of the cliff!

“I did it!” Yan Jiyun said, suddenly excited.

Chu Mo relaxed as well. He had always focused on staying alive. Actively saving someone like this was a first. Usually, he only saved teammates in the same dungeon.

Just as they loosened their grip to catch their breath, Qi Feng — who had just been pulled up — suddenly opened his eyes.

He opened them quickly, as if he had never been unconscious at all.

The vigilance of a veteran player kicked in. Qi Feng suddenly reached out and grabbed for Yan Jiyun’s throat.

At that moment, Yan Jiyun was only half-standing. The sudden attack made him lose his footing. His foot slipped, and his body tipped toward the cliff!

It happened too fast. Chu Mo, standing behind, didn’t even have time to react.

“Damn it!”

Realizing something was wrong, Qi Feng quickly understood his surroundings and immediately grabbed Yan Jiyun’s arm. One hand braced against the ground, the other held onto him.

Startled, Chu Mo rushed forward and grabbed Yan Jiyun’s other arm. “Hold on!”

Yan Jiyun was nearly stunned with fright. His legs dangled in midair. One wrong move and all of them would fall. Even the safety rope around his waist gave him no sense of security.

Fortunately, Qi Feng reacted quickly. Together with Chu Mo, they pulled Yan Jiyun back up from the edge.

Back on solid ground, Yan Jiyun’s face turned pale. He glared at Qi Feng, speechless. He really wanted to kick him back off the cliff.

That was some lightning-fast repayment of kindness. He had almost lost his life!

Qi Feng still held onto the arm of the curly-haired young man in front of him. Only after calming down did he notice the rope tied around his waist.

Chu Mo let out a sigh of relief. “Let’s head back into the forest. Don’t stand here. I’m getting weak in the legs just looking at this cliff. You two are something else!”

Yan Jiyun’s legs were weak too. He felt wronged, okay. He had just saved someone and nearly got thrown off the cliff by his own pooper-scooper.

Qi Feng apologized first. “Sorry. I didn’t know you were saving me. I had just been knocked unconscious and vaguely heard voices. I thought you were trying to harm me.”

Yan Jiyun rolled his eyes and snorted coldly. He stood up angrily, untying the rope as he walked away.

‘Don’t get angry, don’t get angry! Getting angry only hurts yourself.’

He had to stay calm. He had to understand.

In this kind of environment, Qi Feng’s vigilance was understandable. After all, Qi Feng didn’t know he was “Caramel.”

The three returned to the forest. The injured Pegasus hadn’t left and approached Qi Feng when it saw him.

Chu Mo more or less understood. The Pegasus recognized its master. Too bad about their bicycle.

Chu Mo spoke on Yan Jiyun’s behalf, “It’s understandable.” He openly sized up the legendary Qi Feng. “You’re Qi Feng, right?”

Although Chu Mo was also a manager in one of the top ten guilds, by the time he entered the game, Qi Feng had already begun fading from public view. He had only been playing for about two years, while Qi Feng had been in the game for three.

What puzzled him was after three years, why hadn’t Qi Feng entered the Top-level instances? His points should have qualified him long ago.

Qi Feng didn’t react much to being recognized. It was his first time being rescued like this, and he had almost pushed his savior off a cliff. He felt a bit guilty.

After calming down, Yan Jiyun finally took a proper look at Qi Feng. It was his first time standing face-to-face with him in human form. It felt strangely novel.

Qi Feng didn’t hold back his gratitude. “Yes. Thank you for saving me.”

To meet players willing to save others in a Peak Competition was rare, and something to cherish.

Still, he had vaguely heard them talking about “holding onto a golden thigh.”

Yan Jiyun quickly replied, “You’re welcome.”

Facing Qi Feng in human form for the first time, he still felt a bit awkward. Honestly, he wanted to turn back into a cat. He felt much more comfortable that way.

Chu Mo rarely saved strangers, so he felt a bit awkward too.

The three of them just stood there in an uncomfortable silence, until movement came from the forest, finally giving them direction.

Something was coming!

Qi Feng was wary of his rescuers, but he wouldn’t repay kindness with hostility. He said, “We haven’t actually left the Demon Forest. We need to get out quickly. After dark, it’ll probably be even more dangerous.”

Yan Jiyun asked, “How do you know?”

Qi Feng replied, “A guess. From the sky, we could see far more than from the ground. The so-called exit of the Demon Forest is just a distraction. Everyone is still inside the forest, including the monsters that attacked us. They all flew out from here.”

Chu Mo added, “We ran into those sharp-headed monsters too. Their eyesight is great in the light, but worse in the dark. They chase people relentlessly, and they eat them.”

The three exchanged what information they had.

Qi Feng told them about the black eagles attacking the Pegasus. Their wings were harder than steel. One slash and the Pegasus would fall straight from the sky. He hadn’t been able to hold out long enough to drive them all away and was eventually overwhelmed, falling from high altitude.

The impact had been too strong. His protective item activated when he hit the ground, bouncing him to the edge of a cliff, and he was knocked unconscious. 

The two-man team became a team of three.

Before Yan Jiyun could even think about how to interact with Qi Feng, the ground suddenly began to shake violently, as if something massive was slamming into the earth.

The source was still some distance away, but the force was immense.

Chu Mo said, “You might be right. There are even bigger things in this forest.”

A gust of wind blew through the trees. Yan Jiyun didn’t even need to sniff, he could smell blood in the air.

Immediately, ten system notifications popped up, stating that ten players had died.

Chu Mo’s first thought was that there were ten loot boxes to collect.

Yan Jiyun, however, had another angle, “Why did so many people die all at once?”

Qi Feng had the same thought. “And all ten died at the same time.”

Chu Mo swallowed his words, though he still couldn’t let go of the idea of points. “Should we go take a look?”

Yan Jiyun instantly understood. “We’d be facing a monster capable of killing ten players at once. There are only three of us. That’s too few.”

Chu Mo finally revealed his true mindset. “Fortune favors the bold.”

They didn’t hesitate much longer. The tremors were getting closer, and it was clearly heading their way. The ground shook as if the world itself were collapsing.

Yan Jiyun suddenly dropped to the ground, pretending to listen. “A player is being chased.”

Branches snapped, and someone cried out for help.

Chu Mo immediately abandoned his “fortune favors the bold” idea. He was the first to bolt, running faster than anyone.

Yan Jiyun followed right behind. There’s no choice, running at the first sign of danger was a cat’s instinct. After spending so long as one, he had picked up the habit.

Qi Feng: “…” Aren’t these two running a bit too fast?