Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

"How about you wait for me in the treehouse, and I'll come back after handling things," Xu Xin said to Li Wenxi, who was about to pull him away.

"...Are you saying I'm just dragging you down?" Li Wenxi pursed her lips and made a trigger-pulling gesture, "I can help you with shooting from a distance, bang!"

"Of course not, it's just... if it's a three-tier treehouse, I want to test things out first, it's inconvenient for two people to move."

The owner of a three-tier treehouse likely possesses special abilities or survival methods, just like them. One must never underestimate such people. Like Lou Fei'Er, if Xu Xin hadn't had a hearing enhancement that day, he might have been taken down by her.

As a cautious person, he would never rush directly to attack the territory or near the treehouse of such people. Who knows what methods they might have. The top ten in the region are not to be trifled with.

If encountered in the wild, he wouldn't be afraid. In terms of solo combat, except for Wen Guixin, he feels confident against anyone. But attacking a treehouse isn't that simple.

Take his treehouse, for example; even if he's not nearby, it's very safe. It has treehouse armor, automatic crossbows, Afu and his beloved guarding it, and most importantly, he possesses a mutated plant heart.

Although all survivors are considered neutral entities, anyone daring to attack a treehouse would immediately be classified as an enemy. In such a situation, even before the treehouse armor could be breached, the mutated plant heart would strike, combined with the interference of Afu's attacks, and the automatic shooting of the blue-level crossbows...

Even Xu Xin wouldn't know how to survive in such a scenario.

Given his treehouse's strength, Xu Xin had no reason to believe that other strong individuals in the region would have weak treehouses.

Being cautious is always a good idea.

Wait a minute...

If the owner of this treehouse is among the top ten in District 187, then Zhang Daoguang, their leader, should have reminded them to clear out surrounding survivors.

He likely, much like Lou Fei'Er, has launched attacks on those nearby!

Among the dozen or so people who died in District 188 yesterday, perhaps some were his doing!

"Have you encountered anyone these past two days? Or anything strange?" Xu Xin suddenly asked Li Wenxi seriously.

"Huh?" Li Wenxi was startled by Xu Xin's sudden serious tone and spoke softly, "No... not really, why?"

"Think again, did anything unusual happen yesterday?"

"Unusual...? Hmm..." Li Wenxi frowned, thinking, "Yesterday, I was out mining almost all day until evening, didn't encounter anything much... Oh right!"

Li Wenxi seemed to recall something, clapped her hands, and pointed at Aniu, "When I came back yesterday, Aniu was a bit restless. It was fine before, but as soon as it got near the treehouse, it suddenly became agitated!"

"Agitated? How was it agitated?"

"It kept huffing at the jungle, seemingly wanting to charge towards it. I thought Aniu was trying to escape, so I quickly brought it back to the third tier of the treehouse, then it calmed down. Does that count as something strange?"

Huffing towards the jungle, wanting to charge?

Xu Xin squinted his eyes and asked Aniu, "Aniu, did you sense anything when you returned last night?"

Aniu heard Xu Xin's question, immediately stood up from its crouched posture, and mooed twice, as if replying.

"Yip!" Keke once again took the role of translator, gesturing with its little paws.

"Wow! Keke is so cute!" Li Wenxi wanted to go and hug Keke but was pulled back by Xu Xin.

Xu Xin watched Keke's gestures, then glanced at the somewhat puzzled Li Wenxi and asked, "What were you wearing when you went out yesterday? Steel armor set?"

"Yeah," Li Wenxi nodded, "Steel armor set is my strongest gear, of course I'll wear it, it enhances strength, makes mining easier."

"Was Aniu agitated in the same direction the whole time yesterday?"

"...Yes, uh... what are you getting at?" Li Wenxi seemed to realize something, her expression changed.

"...When you came back, someone was hiding in the jungle next to the treehouse, spotted by Aniu."

"Huh?" Li Wenxi's expression instantly became a bit frightened and apprehensive, instinctively grabbing Xu Xin's arm, "Someone was around then?"

"Exactly. He might have been waiting for you to return so he could kill you," Xu Xin speculated. "But fortunately, you were riding a massive mutated cow, wearing an unseen steel armor set, protecting yourself completely. He likely determined in the shadows that he couldn't harm you secretly, and couldn't beat you head-on, so he didn't act."

Li Wenxi was dumbfounded and turned to look at Aniu, "Aniu, did you really sense someone yesterday?"

The massive Blood Patterned Ox nodded gently.

"This..." Li Wenxi said somewhat with lingering fear as she held onto Xu Xin's arm tightly.

"You're too carefree! Aniu's reaction should've alerted you to enemies nearby," Xu Xin was a bit helpless, with Li Wenxi's bold personality. It's a good thing she was fully armored in a steel set, not afraid of ambushes; otherwise, who knows how she would've died.

However, the most intimidating is Aniu — larger than the Silver King, covered in dense blood patterns, the solid muscles on the cow looking incredibly powerful. Generally, no one would bother someone riding such a formidable beast.

"Um... I'm sorry..." Li Wenxi bowed her head, looking at her toes, apologizing.

"Why are you apologizing to me..." Xu Xin was a bit speechless, "Alright, just stay here in the treehouse. I'll go south and check things out. If it's not a three-tier treehouse, I'll handle it directly; if it is, I have solutions, don't worry."

If it's a three-layer treehouse, Xu Xin already has the most reasonable solution in mind.

Lou Fei'Er.

She is the most suitable person to do this task.

As someone who is still officially with the 187 area, combined with her acting skills, appearance, and now enhanced physical strength from the mutation pill, it's truly effortless for her to deal with a survivor from the 187 area who considers her a comrade. Xu Xin doesn't need to bother or risk his life to solve this issue.

"I... alright..." Li Wenxi pouted and didn't insist further. She was too embarrassed to ask to go along; she felt that, given her careless nature, she would only be a hindrance, "How long will you be gone?"

"Not long. If it's a three-layer treehouse, I'll just take a look and return."

"Oh, oh."

Li Wenxi escorted Xu Xin, Keke, and Silver King to the treehouse. Xu Xin flipped onto the wolf and dashed towards the verdant south.

"Hurry back!" Li Wenxi shouted from behind, as Xu Xin waved his hand backwards and plunged into the jungle.

"Keke, are there any enemies around?" Xu Xin asked while observing the gradually approaching greenery.

"Ying." Keke shook her head.

Silver King quickly shuttled through the bare forest, and soon, Xu Xin could see the full view of the treehouse on the tree.

"Indeed, it's a three-layer treehouse..." Xu Xin squinted his eyes.

He stopped a few hundred meters from the treehouse and observed it.

"Ying!" Keke suddenly pointed her little paw at the treehouse.

"Is someone in the treehouse?"

"Ying!" Keke nodded her little head.

Today, the owner of this treehouse hasn't gone out, it seems.

Surrounding this three-layer treehouse, although a large clearing has been cut out, with some plants growing, there are no parasitic treehouses. This slightly reassured Xu Xin; it appears this survivor hasn't killed someone from the 188 area.

But this doesn't mean the person isn't strong. Just the dense array of crossbows around the crown of the treehouse is enough to terrify anyone. The absence of parasitic treehouses nearby might mean that survivors from the 188 area in this vicinity have long perished.

Although their 188 area has at least three thousand survivors, nearly seven thousand have died. It's very likely that only Li Wenxi is alive nearby.

Xu Xin had Silver King stay a few hundred meters from the treehouse, to avoid getting closer, while he took Keke and slowly advanced.

Silver King is a mutant beast; to Xu Xin, it's an ally unit, but it might not be seen the same way by others, especially those from different areas. If the treehouse crossbows initiate auto-fire, they might detect Silver King and attack it, so keeping it farther away is safer.

Moreover, the forest is barren now with no canopy cover, and Silver King's large figure, covered with blood patterns, is too easy to spot. On the other hand, Xu Xin's Scale Armor, when dry, looks just like roadside stones, making it very suitable for concealment.

Xu Xin tried to step in areas where dried leaves were sparse; otherwise, the sound of crushing leaves would be too loud.

When he was about to emerge from the jungle, Keke suddenly nudged his face with her little paw, softly saying "Ying," before jumping off his shoulder and hid behind a tree.

Is this telling me to hide?

Xu Xin immediately ducked behind a thicker poplar tree.

At this moment, a person suddenly popped out from a window — a short-haired man, with a bow and arrow, aimed at Xu Xin's location.

"Who! Show yourself!"

Damn, despite being so cautious, he was still found.

Though he didn't know how the opponent detected him, a survivor owning a three-layer treehouse indeed can't be underestimated.

Can't be reckless; this is a survivor shielded by the treehouse, and he was still unsure of the opponent's strength; the opponent has home advantage.

"Don't shoot! Friend! 187 area!" Xu Xin signalled Keke to stay behind the tree and then revealed himself with raised hands.

Given his current gear, even if the opponent shoots arrows, it won't hurt him, so he dared to do so.

"187 area?" The opponent's bow slightly eased.

"Where are you from? What's your name?" The opponent inquired.

"I come from the north; my treehouse is northwestwards. I passed by a treehouse similar to yours from the north. My name is... Gu Honghao," Xu Xin shouted with raised hands.

He wants to try to trick the person out of the treehouse.

As long as the person dares to exit the treehouse, dares to approach him, Xu Xin is fully confident in his ability to subdue him!