Trembling At A High Altitude

The store had no weapons, no special props or items.

It looked like an ordinary store.

The two collected some ingredients and started cooking.

After the meals were ready, they removed the gags from the mouths of the owner and the assistant, had them taste the food to ensure it was fine, then enjoyed a warm meal themselves.

When leaving, they took some portable ingredients and the Universal currency of Storm Ridge but left a bear paw as an exchange.

They also left them a small knife blade to slowly cut each other free from the ropes.

They were mainly worried that being tied up might cause them to freeze or starve to death in the store, which would be blamed on Li Teng and Liu Hui. Killing NPC soldiers was fine, but for every NPC civilian killed, 10 points would be deducted. Li Teng's account was currently out of points, even the death of a single NPC civilian would get him sealed in wax, so he had to be extremely careful.

Storm Ridge was surrounded by mountains on two sides, with a main road running directly north to south.

After leaving the store, Li Teng studied the map and decided not to take the main road to Storm Ridge with Liu Hui. Instead, they chose to climb over a cliff over a hundred meters high on the west side of Storm Ridge.

On the circuitous mountain route, they encountered some scattered zombies.

After dispatching these zombies, Li Teng carefully cut off their facial skin and some other skin, cleaned them with snow water, and hung them on his back.

"What kind of play is this? It looks really creepy," Liu Hui said, puzzled.

"You'll know when the time comes."

...

For Li Teng and Liu Hui now, climbing a cliff over a hundred meters high was child's play.

In the middle of the night, the two scaled the western cliff into the encampment of Storm Ridge. Under cover of darkness, they sneaked into an NPC family's home, tied up the family, and threw them into a room. Then, Li Teng began cleaning and stitching together the human skin masks.

"Alright, try this on." Li Teng handed the finished human skin mask to Liu Hui.

Liu Hui roughly understood what it was all about, but the thought of it being peeled from a zombie made her queasy.

"What's more important, life or vanity?" Li Teng asked Liu Hui.

With no choice, Liu Hui obediently put on the human skin mask.

The wrinkled human skin mask made Liu Hui look much older and uglier, as if her face had been scorched by fire.

Li Teng was quite pleased with this and then found her a set of old people's clothing, crafting the image of an old woman weathered by the years.

"Why aren't you wearing one?" Liu Hui felt it was unfair.

"Turn around, and then turn back when I tell you to," Li Teng told Liu Hui.

"Alright." Liu Hui turned around.

"Okay, you can turn back now." After a while, Li Teng told Liu Hui.

Turning back, Liu Hui's eyes widened in astonishment, almost screaming aloud.

"Don't recognize me?" an old voice asked.

The skin was not just in appearance; it altered the voice too.

"Where did you get this face? It looks so real!" Liu Hui reached out to grab Li Teng's skin, trying to pull it off.

"Don't pull..." Li Teng quickly reached out to stop Liu Hui.

"Really? Is this genuine skin? Are you using a cheat?" Liu Hui was shocked.

"What cheat? This is skin from Film and Television City, which can be exchanged with points. It's completely legal," Li Teng explained to Liu Hui.

"Skin? I've heard about that. Some old people spend points to tailor their younger skin, making themselves look young again in a different way... Wait, are you saying this is actually how you look? Was that previous appearance just your 'skin'?" Liu Hui said, suddenly realizing something.

"No, I tailored an older version of skin for myself," Li Teng quickly shook his head.

"I've never heard of anyone tailoring older skin! You aren't an old geezer, are you?" Suddenly, Liu Hui felt deceived.

"Bullshit! Can that old geezer climb like me? Can he hammer a rock wedge for two hours like I can? Whether I'm young or not, don't you have a clue in your heart?" Li Teng robustly rebutted Liu Hui.

Liu Hui thought about it and felt that Li Teng made a lot of sense. She simply couldn't refute him.

If he really was as old as he looked, he must be at least eighty, right? It's impossible for him to be that vigorous.

Could it really be possible to customize one's elderly appearance?

"Come on, let me prove how young I am." Li Teng reached out to pull Liu Hui.

"No, change back to your younger appearance first, this old man is too scary." Liu Hui vigorously shook her head, mentally unable to accept it.

...

The next day.

An elderly couple appeared in Storm Ridge.

The old man looked almost eighty years old, and the old woman, stooping, with a face full of wrinkles, also looked quite old.

The two of them, carrying a basket of vegetables and fruits, strolled slowly along the street.

After roaming around most of Storm Ridge, Li Teng was completely convinced.

All NPCs, both civilians and patrolling soldiers in Storm Ridge, carried no guns.

They all held melee weapons.

The weapons shops also sold only melee weapons.

And they didn't even have bows and arrows.

The director and scriptwriter designed the script this way to prevent Li Teng and Liu Hui from acquiring firearms, completely foiling Li Teng's plan to seize firearms and make his way to City B.

It seems the only way to get guns would be to snatch them from those six actors.

...

Entering Storm Ridge from the south city gate brought them to a cross street lined with shops.

By ten in the morning, many of the shops in Storm Ridge were open.

Tea houses, restaurants, barbershops, clothing stores, etc.

NPC pedestrians also gradually increased in number; they entered the shops one by one to make purchases or to exchange goods, or even to pay for some services.

The elderly couple also arrived on this street.

The old man walked ahead, occasionally entering shops to chat with the shop owners. The old woman, carrying the basket and stooping, walked slowly and didn't follow him into the shops.

Soon, the two of them arrived at a shop directly across from the south gate.

It was a shop that bought beast skins and sold beast skin products.

The shop owner sat at the entrance, eating her meal while looking toward the south gate.

The husband sat inside the shop.

On the wall, besides some beast skin products, there were also some photos, apparently family portraits of the shop owner.

After circling inside the shop, Li Teng, shaking, returned to the shop owner's side.

"How much for that deer skin vest?" Li Teng pointed at the wall.

"Fifty," the shop owner quoted Li Teng a price.

"Where's your son A Qiang? Haven't seen him for a few days, I watched him grow up and he treated me well. If he were here, he would have charged me just thirty." Li Teng asked the shop owner.

"He...went out hunting, if you want that skin, I'll give it to you for forty," the shop owner replied to Li Teng.

"Alright, old lady, bring the money." Li Teng shouted out to Liu Hui outside.