Moreover, Keke herself had said that the snake was non-venomous.

And it was highly nutritious. That made her even less likely to let it go.

Three meters away, right?

She pulled out her dagger from her lower leg and cautiously stepped forward.

Sure enough, she spotted the snake Keke had mentioned at a glance.

She had to admit—the snake was really fat.

Its body was long and thick. Judging by its size, it must have weighed at least ten pounds.

Looks like she was in for a feast tonight.

And with so much snake meat, they’d have enough for several meals.

She timed it perfectly and threw the dagger from a distance.

A single fatal strike.

To kill a snake, you had to strike its “seven-inch” vital point. Her dagger hit right on target.

Seeing that the snake was indeed dead, Jian Xiu stepped forward.

Still, even knowing it was dead, she hesitated to touch it with her bare hands.

Carefully, she pulled out her dagger and used a small hoe to collect the snake, placing it into her basket.

It was still early, and Jian Xiu felt her luck today was particularly good. She wasn’t in a hurry to head back.

Most importantly, her supermarket space could store supplies.

She had nothing to worry about.

“Keke, do you think there are any large beasts, like tigers, around here?” Jian Xiu couldn’t help but ask.

“No!”

“How do you know?”

“I haven’t detected any.”

“Have the points for that black bear been calculated yet?”

“Yes!”

“That fast?”

“The system upgrade made it faster.”

“How many points?” Jian Xiu asked excitedly.

“Eighteen.”

“Eigh… eighteen what?”

“Thousand!”

“Eighteen thousand points? Are you sure? You didn’t misspeak?”

“Positive! Just calculated. So, you’re still short about twenty thousand points,” Keke said helplessly.

Honestly, Keke didn’t see this as bad news.

Originally, it thought the black bear would be worth at least twenty thousand points.

After all, it was the only one of its kind recorded in their system.

And the entire bear was valuable.

But unexpectedly, it was only worth eighteen thousand.

It seemed earning points was only going to get harder.

However, seeing her reaction, Keke decided to stay quiet.

This was a rare opportunity.

Not only did Jian Xiu not want to leave the mountain so soon, but Keke also didn’t.

If its owner still owed points, it couldn’t upgrade.

So, it also hoped she could repay her debt quickly. Then, they would both be free.

With this in mind, Keke activated its scanning function again.

Luckily, after the recent upgrade, it could now scan infinitely.

For the next upgrade, they needed to clear the remaining debt first.

That was why Keke had urged Jian Xiu to venture deeper into the mountains.

“Xiu Xiu! Xiu Xiu! Two meters ahead, to the left!”

“A plant?”

“Yes, dig it up with the roots intact.”

“Got it, got it,” Jian Xiu replied quickly.

Everything they recorded had to be alive. For plants, that meant keeping the roots.

That much, she understood well.

Recording plants was easy—just dig them up and store them.

“Is there more?”

“Yes…”

“Where?”

“Keep going forward a bit.”

…

An hour later.

Jian Xiu couldn’t help but ask again, “How many more points do we need?”

“Not many, just under thirty thousand!”

“Alright, let’s keep looking!” Jian Xiu responded calmly, as if she had expected this.

“Then keep going forward!”

By now, Jian Xiu’s basket was filled with good medicinal herbs.

Though most weren’t worth much.

“Xiu Xiu, slow down! Slow down!” Keke suddenly said.

“What’s wrong? More good stuff ahead?”

“No, I think I hear people talking up ahead!”

“Maybe they’re hunters?”

“I don’t think so. I sense danger nearby. Just be careful.”

“Danger?” Jian Xiu narrowed her eyes.

She wasn’t curious about the danger itself—she was curious why she hadn’t sensed it.

“There’s no mystery to it. You earned a lot of points today, so the system rewarded me with another upgrade. That must be why I can detect it now. Keep your voice down and move forward carefully.”

Hearing Keke’s explanation, Jian Xiu finally understood.

Otherwise, she would’ve been unwilling to accept it.

Why should she be forced to live in this world but have worse instincts than before?

As she got closer, she noticed the atmosphere had changed.

She could even faintly hear voices.

Carefully, she crept forward and hid herself within the bushes.

“It’s impossible! Madam said the person is in a nearby village.”

“But Liang Lai himself wasn’t sure. Sending us here is like searching for a needle in a haystack.”

“What choice do we have? Didn’t you hear Madam? Either we return with his head, or we return with our own. What else can we do?”

“But do you really think the young marquis is here?”

“Doesn’t matter if he is or isn’t. We just need to make sure he never goes back alive.”

Hearing their conversation, Jian Xiu quickly pieced things together.

‘Liang Lai’—if she remembered correctly, that was the fugitive the county magistrate had mentioned.

Clearly, these men knew Liang Lai’s whereabouts.

But more importantly, she caught two key words—‘young marquis.’

Did that mean these men were sent by a noble family?

Their goal wasn’t to find someone, but to kill someone.

And since the government had put out a warrant for Liang Lai, yet the marquis’s household was secretly involved with him…

That meant the marquis’s family wasn’t clean either.

It was probably just another political power struggle within their noble house.

Jian Xiu had never experienced such things firsthand.

But as a post-apocalyptic survivor, she was very familiar with these schemes.

If she got involved, escaping would be difficult.

And that ‘madam’ they mentioned—she definitely wasn’t a good person.

What kind of good person would send assassins to a remote village?

Jian Xiu chuckled to herself.

She had enough problems of her own—why would she meddle in others’ affairs?

Shaking her head, she carefully backed away, ensuring no one noticed.

No way. She was just a countryside girl.

She didn’t want any trouble.

Besides, she had no money, no power—getting involved would only make her cannon fodder.

She wasn’t stupid.

The mountains were vast. If she couldn’t take this path, she could just take another.