Chapter 17: The Unbreakable Bond of Fate

[ Ding! Congratulations! You have triggered the Talent: 100% Critical Hit! ]
[ Congratulations! You have obtained 10 jin of corn, 2 cases of canned yellow peaches, and 2 flashlights. ]
[ Congratulations! You have obtained 1 well and 1 fence blueprint. ]

A blueprint?
This was the first time Ning Yun had ever gotten a blueprint.
She quickly studied it and found that building one fence required two pieces of wood.
She wasn’t short of wood at all!
Most of the players she traded water with exchanged it for wood.
Besides, she had long felt that her little cabin in the forest wasn’t safe.
If she could surround it with a fence, at least there’d be a buffer zone, and the house wouldn’t be destroyed immediately.
Most importantly, she now had a well.
Unfortunately, when she opened the second Silver Treasure Chest, she didn’t trigger the critical talent, or else she would have had two wells.
In the trading mall, she was also buying buckets or bucket blueprints, but no one had appeared with them yet.
It made sense; there were only about nine hundred players now—too few, and the supplies were limited.

At night, Ning Yun spent most of her time organizing supplies.
She even increased her storage cabinets to five, each with 20 slots, totaling 100 slots—enough to last a long while.
One slot was reserved exclusively for Xiao Qichen’s belongings to keep them separate from hers.
The other four cabinets were all her own.
Two of those cabinets were already full, while the remaining two still had plenty of space.
Worried that Xiaobai was too small and might catch a chill sleeping on the floor,
she went to another player and bought a campfire.
Placed on the ground, it wasn’t a fire hazard, and the whole cabin became warm and cozy.
The fourth day of the survival game was much better than Ning Yun had imagined—calm and peaceful.

But on the fifth day, she clearly felt something was wrong with the temperature!
Because of the campfire, she had felt warm enough to even expose her feet while sleeping last night.
Now, the temperature had dropped significantly. Without the campfire, she probably would have been woken by the cold during the night.
When she opened her eyes, she noticed that the weather icon at the top right of her screen no longer showed clear skies with no wind, but instead read: "Moderate Snow, Not Suitable for Going Out."
Snow had fallen outside without any warning?
Ning Yun was shocked; just yesterday the weather had seemed like spring here.

Many wild vegetables typical of spring were growing lush and vibrant.
How could it change so suddenly?
Though the sun hadn’t risen yet, it was already past seven, and the sky was brightening.
Through the cabin window, she saw heavy snow falling outside, trees in the distance wearing white caps.
Even the nearby small river was covered in snow.
The chat channel was flooded with messages.

"What do I do? I’m going to freeze to death. Has anyone bought clothes? Please, give me one!"
"Anyone selling quilts? I’m willing to trade food."
"It’s so cold; I woke up freezing in the middle of the night, my hands and feet are numb. How can I even go out?"
"Didn’t you upgrade your house? I have a level one house with no quilt, but the indoor temperature is about 15 degrees, not too cold."
"Stop talking! I regret it so much. I traded away all my wood for water and food. Who would’ve thought it would suddenly snow?"
"Is a level one house really warm?"
"Of course! Why would I lie? Everyone, while you still can, rush to gather wood and stone, upgrade your house, don’t freeze to death. Just look at your friends’ lists—those who suddenly disappeared probably froze to death."
"No way, it’s too cold. I can’t even leave the house; I freeze as soon as I step outside."
"Whatever clothes you have, wear them for warmth."
"I have wood; if anyone needs some, come trade with me."
"Thanks, big shot! I’ve added you as a friend. Please accept."
"I’ve added you too, big shot."
"Anyone selling cotton-padded clothes? I’m out of food and have to go out."

There were many pleas for warm clothes in the channel, and Ning Yun’s friends also messaged her.
At that moment, she thought to check her friend list.
Early in the morning, Xiao Qichen had sent her a long down coat.
“Last night when I was hunting monsters, two dropped. I kept one and this one is for you.”
Hunting monsters last night?
Ning Yun was amazed; he was so diligent, almost working late every night.
By comparison, she felt quite lazy.
Taking out the down coat, Ning Yun realized it was bright red, extending all the way to her ankles.
It fully wrapped her, with a large hood as well.
Wearing it inside the cabin, she even felt warm enough to almost sweat.
Such a precious item, Ning Yun didn’t want to accept it without reason.
After some thought, she decided to give the well to Xiao Qichen.
“I have a river nearby and don’t lack water. You keep this. Once I finish the fence, you can surround your house with it.”

With the snow, going out was unwise, so Ning Yun decided to stay inside and build the fence.
Fortunately, her house was small; she only needed a dozen or so fence sections to surround it completely.
However, Xiaobai couldn’t stay still inside and kept causing trouble.
Sometimes it would come over to her to act spoiled; other times it dashed around the room, scattering her collected items everywhere.
Whenever Ning Yun showed an annoyed expression, Xiaobai would immediately try to charm her by rolling over and showing its belly, making her both laugh and cry.
“Don’t make a mess. Once I finish the fence, I’ll take you out to play.”
Saying that, she took some rabbit meat from her backpack.
“Today, I’ll switch things up for you. Let’s see if we can still find rabbits.”
Right, Xiao Qichen often went out monster hunting; he should have some meat too.
[Picture] “Xiaobai eats so much. Do you have other kinds of meat? I can trade you canned yellow peaches for some.”
She had two full cases and definitely couldn’t eat it all herself, so she could share some with Xiao Qichen.

Unbeknownst to her, Xiao Qichen had left before dawn.
Yesterday, he discovered a large beast’s den; the creature had gone out for food and hadn’t encountered him.
But with the cold and snowfall today, the beast likely wouldn’t come out.
There was only one person on his friend list.
So when Ning Yun messaged him, he saw it immediately.
That familiar white tiger made him furrow his brow.
Even though their past experiences were completely different, why was Xiaobai still by Ning Yun’s side?
White tigers were extremely rare; even in his previous life, there was only one.
Could this be an unbreakable bond?
Xiao Qichen felt some happiness, knowing that when Xiaobai grew up, it could protect Ning Yun.
But he also worried deeply. No matter how hard he tried, if Ning Yun was destined to follow the same path as before,
would all his efforts be in vain?

Ning Yun was still sending messages, sharing various photos of Xiaobai—eating, playing, baring its teeth.
It was clear she was in a very good mood.
His tightly furrowed brow relaxed slightly.
He replied, “Wait a moment, I’ll send you some wild boar meat.”
After a moment’s thought, he added, “Just give me two cans in return.”