Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Just like before approaching Ma Hongwei's treehouse, Xu Xin carefully stepped on spots with fewer fallen leaves to avoid making noise, slowly approaching the treehouse now just three or four hundred meters away.

Li Wenxi followed closely behind him, stepping exactly where he stepped, moving cautiously.

Suddenly, Keke, perched on Xu Xin's shoulder, moved a bit. Perhaps remembering Xu Xin's warning, it didn't jump down but instead reached out with its tiny paw and gently clawed at the air in front, whispering a soft sound in Xu Xin's ear.

Xu Xin stepped even more cautiously, quietly warning Li Wenxi: "There are people ahead, be careful."

Soon, through the gaps in the foliage, they saw the scene beneath the treehouse.

"That's... Sister Xuefei!" Li Wenxi whispered in surprise behind Xu Xin.

Xu Xin's eyelid twitched slightly.

The trees surrounding this treehouse, within a hundred meters, had all been cut down, creating an open space around it, similar to the choice Xu Xin and Li Wenxi made.

And just twenty meters from the treehouse, a woman clad in blue-grade steel armor sat on the ground, breathing heavily, her face flushed from exertion, clutching her chest in pain and occasionally coughing.

Around her, there were at least twenty heavy crossbow arrows sticking out of the ground, while a few lay scattered, their wooden tips entirely deformed.

Even though Xu Xin had never seen Qi Xuefei, the blue-grade steel armor was undoubtedly one he crafted today, and Li Wenxi had certainly seen Qi Xuefei through a video, recognizing her appearance, confirming this woman was Qi Xuefei.

However, this freshly made steel armor now appeared worn, covered in dirt, and showing several scratches and dents.

These marks were clearly caused by heavy crossbow arrows.

Xu Xin clenched his fist. Being hit by heavy crossbow arrows, despite wearing blue-grade steel armor, would still result in injuries.

Blue-grade steel armor was the strongest defensive armor within the blue grade. From a defensive perspective, this armor set might not necessarily be inferior to a purple-grade scale armor set. Thus, green-grade heavy crossbow arrows merely scratched the surface of the steel armor and created dents.

But the armor being slightly damaged doesn't mean the person inside won't be harmed.

Heavy armor primarily prevents small-scale sharp attacks, such as crossbow arrows, snake bites, wolf gnaws, spear or sword attacks, and even tiger clawing and biting.

As long as the armor isn't destroyed, the wearer generally remains unharmed.

Yet, against heavy impact attacks, heavy armor offers little protection.

Just as earlier, Xu Xin donned blue-grade steel armor and still didn't dare to directly face a wild boar's charge. Being hit and slammed against a tree may not severely damage the armor, but the person inside would definitely suffer internal injuries!

For an extreme example, even the toughest armor couldn't protect someone from being launched dozens of meters by a truck hit, despite the armor remaining intact.

It's precisely because the armor is too hard to absorb impact forces, causing the force to transfer entirely to the person, easily leading to internal injuries, organ damage, or fractured bones.

The essence of a heavy crossbow lies in its "weight." Besides penetration power, the arrow itself is extraordinarily heavy, and being hit by such an arrow, even if it can't pierce the ultra-durable blue-grade steel armor, can still smash the wearer hard to the ground.

Clearly, Qi Xuefei had been slammed to the ground multiple times by heavy crossbows, resulting in her dusty appearance and constant chest clutching and coughing.

"... Is there any point to this? Are you toying with me?" Qi Xuefei supported herself from the ground, slowly standing up, and spoke weakly towards the direction of the treehouse.

Xu Xin, from their position, couldn't see the treehouse's occupant. His view was from the window facing another direction.

"Ka!" The sound of the mechanism twisting resounded, and another crossbow arrow shot from the treehouse's side, Qi Xuefei twisted to dodge but got grazed on the shoulder, the arrow's immense weight and energy directly flipped her to the ground.

Li Wenxi's face filled with anger, immediately drew her crossbow, but Xu Xin raised his hand to stop her before she charged forward.

"Hold on, observe the situation! Acting rashly could not only endanger Qi Xuefei but also trap us in a perilous situation!" Xu Xin quietly ordered.

"But..." Watching Qi Xuefei roll twice on the ground and quickly rise, Li Wenxi bit her lip hard.

"This person seems not wanting to kill her now, but if you act, seeing more people might provoke him to kill!" Xu Xin glanced at the treehouse filled with heavy crossbows and whispered.

If this person truly wanted to kill Qi Xuefei, a barrage of arrows would suffice; why the need to toy with one arrow at a time?

Thankfully, Qi Xuefei was smart, Xu Xin noticed she discreetly swallowed a pill during her roll, and her movements became agile.

Xu Xin, from the side, could see her small actions, but the person up in the treehouse surely couldn't.