Newbie Guardians

Chapter 8 Hide and Seek

The moment I stepped into the Burial Grounds, the mission information appeared in my field of vision:

Task 1: ? ? ?

Task Two: ? ? ?

Task 3: ? ? ?

Having gone through the "Lost Axe" quest, Huang Xin was already familiar with the routine. These quests, full of question marks, required triggering to reveal the complete information.

Huang Xin carefully avoided the bones in the road, walking very slowly. When she was almost halfway there, a small child approached, with an innocent face, a ponytail, wearing a white shirt and blue pants, and black flat shoes. The child looked about seven or eight years old, hopping and skipping along, quite adorable. Huang Xin stopped, stepped aside, and stood straight, staring intently at the suspicious child, her mind racing.

"This is a burial ground, how could there be a child here? Something's definitely wrong."

Soon, the child came up to him, looked up, and said...

"Brother, play a game with me!" Her eyes were full of anticipation!

Huang Xin was just thinking about how to politely refuse when the information for Task One was immediately updated.

Task Name: Hide and Seek

Task requirements: Play games with Sanya and win three consecutive games.

Current progress: None

"Alright...so what!" The mission has already been presented, what else can we do?

"Great! My name is Sanya'er, let's play hide-and-seek together!"

"Sure, but we need to explain the rules clearly first."

"It's very simple!" Sanya pointed to a relatively intact tombstone.

"You stand here, facing the tombstone, and start counting. I'll hide while you do so. You have fifteen seconds to find me, and you must find me within one minute, or I win!"

"Alright!" Huang Shen saw that the area around the tombstone was completely empty, with nowhere to hide, which was advantageous to him. So, he walked to the tombstone and stopped half a meter away.

"Come closer! Place both hands on the tombstone, palms facing out, and then press your face against the back of your hands."

The moment he touched the tombstone, his palm felt a chill, and Huang Xin felt a little uneasy, but he quickly calmed down when he remembered his grandfather's words.

"1, 2, 3..." Huang Shen counted one number per second. After reaching fifteen, he immediately turned around and began searching. Fifteen seconds was a very short time; the child couldn't have gone too far. Thirty seconds later, Huang Shen's forehead was covered in sweat. How could this be? He had searched the entire vicinity carefully. Where did the child go? Could he have vanished into thin air?

"Disappear!" A thought flashed through Huang Xin's mind. He quietly took out the X-ray seed, held it in his palm, and, using the act of wiping sweat as cover, subtly put it in his mouth. Instantly, a cool sensation several times stronger than mint washed over him, his vision gradually cleared, and the surrounding environment seemed to peel away like a thin veil. Huang Xin saw more than twenty graves appear beside the tombstone he had just seen. What he had just experienced was an illusion! He had already felt something was strange; there were graves everywhere, but this place was completely empty! Huang Xin raced against time, sprinting through a forest of tombstones. Behind a tombstone that was only half intact, he found the child. He rushed over, grabbed the child's hand, and shouted...

"Got you!"

Sanya'er's eyes showed surprise.

"Next time I'll hide even more concealed, he definitely won't find me!" he exclaimed.

"I lost this round, so let's play another round!"

After the second round began, Huang Xinyi followed suit, running through the dense graves. Within ten seconds, he spotted the child, lying motionless in a hollow between two tombstones, completely hidden by the weeds, with only a pair of gray-white shoe heels visible, conspicuously standing out in the grass. To avoid revealing his hand too early, he pretended not to see the child, running past without slowing down. After circling several times, seeing that time was almost up, he grabbed the child, feigning ecstatic joy.

"I caught you again!"

The third round had just begun, and there were only twenty seconds left in the X-ray vision timer. Huang Xin ran at full speed and, before the X-ray vision expired, he saw the child crawl into the cracked grave, with only the tips of his shoes sticking out. He rushed over, grabbed the child's ankle, and slowly pulled him out.

Sanya looked completely bewildered, then sighed, accepting her loss. She took out a black card.

"I had so much fun today! Thank you, brother! Please accept this!"

After Huang Xin took it, he skipped and hopped back the way he came and quickly disappeared.

Task information update

Task completed!

The reward has been issued!

Strange! There were no ratings this time?

Huang Xin was completely baffled, so he had no choice but to continue walking forward.

Suddenly, a rhythmic rustling sound came from the roadside bushes. Upon closer inspection, a creature about 1.5 to 1.6 meters tall, covered in cacti, was swaying in an extremely awkward manner, as if it were drunk.

Just as Huang Xin was about to take a long detour, the information for Mission Two was updated.

Quest Name: Dancing Flaxen

Task description: I don't want to dance, please stop me!

Mission objective: Retrieve the three spikes stolen by the glow bees.

Huang Xin remembered the group of glowing insects flying in the air at the entrance, so he quickly walked back and slowly approached the swarm of glowing bees.

Upon closer inspection, these insects do indeed resemble bees. Since they are bees, they will definitely sting, and if they are highly venomous, a sting could be fatal. So, how can we catch them safely?

Remembering how he used to catch butterflies with a net as a child, a brilliant idea suddenly struck him! He found a long branch, took off his clothes, looped them over the branch, secured them with weeds, and tied the collar tight, making a makeshift net. He crept closer. Just as he raised the net, the swarm of fireflies seemed to sense it and flew upwards two or three meters, making it impossible for Huang Xin to reach them even if he jumped. When he found another branch and lengthened the net, the fireflies rose another two or three meters.

What to do? This bug is obviously intelligent! Huang Shen started scratching his head again, feeling like his brain wasn't working properly.

Bees love to collect pollen, but what do glow bees like? Let's try picking some wildflowers first. Looking around, the wildflowers are scattered everywhere. I lifted my leg and walked towards the nearest bush, when *crack*—I stepped on something! I hurriedly pulled my foot back and saw a palm-sized beetle, its body flattened, a large puddle of green sap oozing from its side. A strange smell hit me. Huang Shen took a few steps back, turned, and squatted by the roadside, dry heaving for a while before recovering, tears welling in his eyes. Suddenly, I heard a faint buzzing sound behind me. Turning around, I saw a dark mass on the ground—covered in glow bees! What a lucky coincidence! They actually like this!

Huang Shen was overjoyed. He tiptoed over, but the glow bees didn't fly away; they continued to enjoy their meal. Huang Shen crouched down to observe them closely. Although the glow bees hadn't flown away, it was best not to touch them unnecessarily. He found a small twig about ten centimeters long, dipped it in the green fluid from the beetles, and slowly extended it towards one of them. The glow bee wasn't startled and slowly climbed up, continuously sucking the delicious juice. Huang Shen suppressed his nausea and discomfort, slowly lifting the twig to observe the glow bee's tail. He discovered that this glow bee had no stinger; its lower abdomen was tightly clasped with a thin, long, sharp stinger by its two legs, as if this gave it a sense of security.

Huang Xin picked up another twig and gently tapped the spike a few times. The spike gradually tilted and finally detached from between the beetle's legs. The glow bee, still engrossed in its meal, paid no attention to the detached spike. Huang Xin found a leaf, picked up the spike covered in beetle fluid, and the mission information refreshed.

One has been obtained so far.

Huang Xin followed the same method and quickly collected three sharp thorns. He brought them to the "cactus monster," spread out the leaves, and neatly arranged the three thorns in front of it. The monster swiftly stretched out its cactus-covered "hand," grabbed a thorn, and stuck it into its "left foot." The left foot instantly stopped twisting. Then came the right foot, and finally, aiming at the center of its head, it stabbed it hard. Huang Xin was horrified; this was too cruel to itself!

After the monster stopped writhing, the quest information was updated again.

Task completed

The reward has been issued; please claim it as soon as possible.

Huang Xin was stunned. He hadn't seen anything. Who should he ask for help? Where should he get it? He circled the "cactus monster" several times, but still couldn't find anything.