To Sweep Across Like Wildfire - Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Just as Meng Chi saw Shen Qingruo leaning over, she took off her headphones to make it easier for her to watch. She never expected that within a single second of putting it on speaker, Jiang Sitian’s astonished voice would come blaring out.

The room was quiet, and her shocked exclamation echoed through the space.

The team voice chat fell into a dead silence for two seconds.

Wen Nianzhou broke this deathly stillness by repeating the name Jiang Sitian had used. There was no malice in her voice, only curiosity: “Bad woman?”

Shen Qingruo shamelessly accepted the title: “You flatter me, truly.”

“…” Connecting the dots to why Meng Chi had been intentionally lowering her voice earlier, Jiang Sitian’s voice began to tremble. Her tone was like that of a lover discovering an affair. “The reason you said it wasn’t convenient to talk earlier… was because you were with this woman?”

Knowing full well there was nothing going on between Tiantian and Meng Chi, Shen Qingruo’s mischievous streak remained undiminished. She looked at Meng Chi with a critical gaze, as if saying, Look at the romantic debts you’ve incurred.

“Are you at a hotel with her again?” Jiang Sitian’s interrogation followed immediately.

“Not quite,” Shen Qingruo chimed in with easy familiarity. A playful, slightly wicked smile played on her lips as she dropped a bombshell: “She’s at my house.”

“…” Jiang Sitian was so stunned she didn’t know what to say.

After dropping the bomb and relishing the ensuing silence, Shen Qingruo looked completely serene. She glanced at Meng Chi’s phone screen, immediately marked a spot, and said, “There’s a snake in the grass right there.”

“Where? Where?” As soon as Jiang Sitian heard there was a “prone camper,” she immediately scoped in. The distant grassy slope was a sea of green; she couldn’t see a thing.

Wen Nianzhou, not knowing the history here, didn’t join their conversation. Her reactions were fast; she spotted it through her scope—a player in a Ghillie suit lying in the grass. If they hadn’t moved slightly just now, it would have been impossible to see them. She quickly found cover, switched to her sniper rifle, and after a brief shootout, a plume of green smoke drifted up from the slope.

Jiang Sitian finally caught up with the rhythm and said excitedly, “I see the loot box!”

“…Go grab it. That person has a Ghillie suit,” Wen Nianzhou said.

Ghillie suits only appear in air drops and come in different colors. Wearing a green one while lying in the grass makes a player nearly invisible—perfect for ambushes.

Jiang Sitian dashed out like a rabbit. Realizing she looked a bit too eager, she cleared her throat and said, “I’m getting it for Meng Chi.”

Meng Chi said calmly, “You take it. I don’t need it.”

Jiang Sitian truly admired her. No matter the situation, Meng Chi remained composed. Who would have thought that such a calm tone came from a total newbie whose movement was still as stiff as a bot?

Wen Nianzhou invited proactively, “Friend of Number 3, are you interested in playing a few rounds?”

She wasn’t entirely sure what the relationship between Meng Chi and this person was. Based on the conversation, it seemed a bit “complicated,” but calling her a “friend” felt safe enough.

Meng Chi thought Shen Qingruo wouldn’t agree, but to her surprise, she accepted instantly.

“Ah…” Jiang Sitian’s tone was a mix of surprise and a hint of reluctance.

“What’s wrong?” Wen Nianzhou asked.

Jiang Sitian: “Nothing. Let’s play.”

Given the recent trouble with Jiang Yiku, Wen Nianzhou had been in a bad mood. Since she was finally showing some spirit today, Jiang Sitian didn’t want to spoil the fun, even if she didn’t particularly want to be on a team with the “bad woman.”

A new match started quickly, and Shen Qingruo joined the squad.

They decided to play “wild” and stay safe, flying to a remote area. Not long after landing, gunfire erupted nearby.

Wen Nianzhou said, “It’s a bot.”

“Well, it picked the wrong fight. Come on, Meng Chi, let’s go beat it up and show it how cruel the world is.”

Wen Nianzhou had just picked up an attachment when she heard a flurry of savage gunfire pummeling the bot. “…” Based on that intense noise, one would think an entire pro team had arrived.

After finishing off the bot, Jiang Sitian felt exceptionally brave. Seeing that Meng Chi’s controls were still a bit clumsy, she began to lecture her earnestly on how to handle close-quarters combat.

A moment later, she heard more gunfire nearby. “This time it’s a real player. I’ll give you a demonstration.”

Before Meng Chi could even locate the enemy, Jiang Sitian had already charged forward to engage in a face-to-face brawl. After a few spins and jumps, she was suddenly knocked down… it happened in the blink of an eye, leaving Meng Chi no time to react.

Jiang Sitian: “…”

Jiang Sitian was silent for a split second before letting out a heart-wrenching wail: “Sister Nianzhou, help!”

As soon as she finished, a calm voice came through the headset: “Crawl back. There’s cover behind you. Don’t let them finish you off.”

Meng Chi dropped those words and charged out with her mechanical, bot-like movements.

Jiang Sitian couldn’t help but close her eyes, unable to watch her friend get gunned down. She only opened them when the gunfire rang out again. She saw Meng Chi moving like a true novice, seemingly unable to tell directions, but she was using cover to circle around the enemy.

After a tense stalemate, the enemy hit Meng Chi once, but she quickly hid again.

Just then, an extremely faint sound came through the mic—the sound of reloading.

“Their magazine is empty.” As if she had anticipated this, Meng Chi suddenly lunged out from behind the cover and fired.

In an instant, only a glowing green loot box remained.

Jiang Sitian: “?” Jiang Sitian: “!” Jiang Sitian: “Holy crap! That was amazing!”

Ammo in a magazine is limited. Once empty, one must reload, which takes time. Meng Chi had capitalized on those one or two seconds. As a beginner with clunky movement, she couldn’t win a head-on spray duel, so she had circled around intentionally to bait the enemy into firing while she counted their bullets.

When Jiang Sitian realized this, her heart was a mess of emotions. She couldn’t tell which of them was the actual “newbie” anymore.

Wen Nianzhou, who was a bit far away and embroiled in her own close-quarters fight, glanced at the kill feed for teammate Number 3. Relieved, she said, “I’m tied down right now. Number 4 is closer to you; have Number 4 pull you up.”

Number 4 was indeed closer. Having heard the shots, she had rushed over just as the fight ended.

Jiang Sitian: “…”

The last thing she wanted was to be rescued by Number 4. But seeing Number 4 sprinting toward her without any sign of stopping, and seeing her own health bar at a sliver, she hurriedly spoke up: “Number 4, help me up.”

Number 4 stopped, crouched down, and began the rescue. Number 4 must have seen her “extreme” play just now, but throughout the rescue, she was eerily silent, offering no insults or mockery.

Does Number 4 actually have some basic decency occasionally?

After being pulled up, Jiang Sitian felt suspicious. She saw Number 4 still crouching silently beside her.

“…” She suddenly realized what Number 4 was waiting for. Her lower lip trembled as she struggled to open her mouth. She let out a muffled mumble that was barely audible, just enough to be recognized as human speech.

Number 4 let out a soft chuckle and said, “You’re welcome.” Then, she nimbly moved away, satisfied.

Jiang Sitian: “…”

She knew there was no way this bad woman would stay quiet. She was just waiting for her “thank you”!

By the time Meng Chi ran over, she was already safe.

The zone began to shrink. Meng Chi opened the mini-map in the top right corner and said, “The circle is closing in. We should leave quickly.”

Jiang Sitian’s temper faded as quickly as it came. She immediately put the bad woman’s teasing behind her and said, “I’ve marked a four-wheeler. I’ll go get it and we can outrun the ‘poison’.”

After picking up the last person, the “poison” had already reached them. Jiang Sitian hit the gas and the car shot forward with a whoosh, not letting the edge of the zone touch them at all.

Shen Qingruo commented, “Now that’s what I call a slingshot start.”

Jiang Sitian was a simple person: anyone who praised her was her best friend. Although she had some “frictions” with the bad woman, it didn’t stop her from accepting the compliment. She said proudly, “It was alright.”

“What guns do you guys have? Are your attachments complete?” Shen Qingruo asked.

After they shared their inventories, Shen Qingruo said immediately, “Let’s go car-hunting yao che.”

“What does ‘yao che’ mean?” Meng Chi asked.

The usually quiet Wen Nianzhou explained, “Driving around to find other teams’ vehicles and shooting them down.” She then replied to Shen Qingruo, “Hunting is fine. I’m in.”

“Then I’m definitely in,” Jiang Sitian said. “My hands are hot right now. I was just wondering where to show off my peak driving skills.”

Meng Chi said, “Whatever you decide is fine. I have no objections.”

Before they set off, Meng Chi swapped to a passenger seat, leaving the high-output firing positions to the others. They swapped some attachments.

Next, they encountered three vehicles in a row. The first two were taken down without exception. While they were fighting the second car, the third car watched from a distance and typed in the World Channel: “Holy crap! A car-hunt! A pack of werewolves just wiped an entire squad! Damn, that was intense! We’re over by S-City; if anyone’s interested, come and third-party… Holy crap, they’re looking at us… Run! Run!”

The third car only had two people. Unwilling to engage in a head-on conflict, they immediately bolted. Seeing the girls in hot pursuit, they initially shouted confidently: “Stop chasing! We have two cans of fuel; you’ll never catch us!”

Fuel cans are a common loot item used to refuel vehicles. As the terrain became more complex, the distance between the two cars began to shrink.

The third car immediately surrendered: “Bosses, please stop chasing! We’re just spectators… let us go, waahhh…”

Soon, they reached a hillside. Seeing the end was near, they jumped out of the car and threw all their loot on the ground. “Bosses, we threw everything out! Just take it… spare us… we’ll never watch the drama again, waahhh…”

A very pleasant, slightly lazy voice came from the pursuing car: “Where are your two cans of fuel?”

“Here, here…” Confused, they hurriedly dropped the fuel.

An “old driver” dressed in a colorful outfit hopped out of the car, picked up the fuel cans, and went straight back inside.

The air went still for a few seconds. The car remained parked in front of them. The four players sat in their seats, seemingly staring them down in silence.

What does this mean? Are they letting them go or not?

A moment later, the “old driver” started the engine and drove away smoothly.

The two players snapped out of it and realized what had just happened. They were just using them as a gas station!

Them: “…” Them: “???”

These pros chased us for so long just to mug us for our gas?