"Great, this gives us more time to get away from here. Its leg won't grow back anytime soon," said Zhao Jiayan, surprised and delighted.
"I've heard there's a Spirit Monster Core inside this thing. Do you know where it is?" Yang Yuan thought of the memory of the original owner of his body and asked, while reloading his pistol.
"Not sure, but I've heard the cores of spirit monsters are usually in their chest, and their heads aren't their weak points," Zhao Jiayan replied.
"It's in the chest, on the left side, around where the heart would be," Jiang Yiyi suddenly said with great certainty.
Both Yang Yuan and Zhao Jiayan looked over in confusion.
Jiang Yiyi said, "I can feel it."
"You... can feel it?" Zhao Jiayan exclaimed, "You didn't seem to have this ability before, did you? Yiyi, have you awakened?"
Yang Yuan, recalling how this little girl could sense danger in advance twice before, felt a wave of emotion and looked at her expectantly.
"I'm not sure. When those people left, I was really angry, and then I noticed my... perception seemed to have become much stronger," Jiang Yiyi said uncertainly.
When those people betrayed her, she was so furious that her hair stood up, and at that moment, she suddenly realized she could sense their presence.
But since her physique and strength hadn't changed at all, she was unsure whether she had truly awakened at her young age.
Moreover, she'd heard that the awakening process usually involves a high fever, but she hadn't experienced that at all.
"You must have awakened, that's wonderful!"
Zhao Jiayan said joyfully, "If those people knew Yiyi, you'd become an Awakened, they'd definitely regret missing the chance to cling to you."
Jiang Yiyi rarely smiled, but then she said, "Big brother is the real support. Yiyi's ability is only sensing, it can't kill powerful monsters."
She understood clearly that her ability could only assist in Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil, but it couldn't kill enemies, not much use.
Yet, Yang Yuan managed to shoot the joints of the stone monster's leg with a handgun, something she'd never even heard of before.
However, Zhao Jiayan and Yang Yuan didn't agree. Her ability, if used well, was extremely powerful, a super strong support.
"You guys are both my support," Zhao Jiayan said with a laugh, feeling very envious.
Although she wasn't sure if Yang Yuan had awakened, from his performance after waking up, especially being able to use a handgun to kill the giant wolf and break the joint of the stone monster's leg—
She guessed that Yang Yuan might have awakened too, just what kind of ability was unclear. She didn't ask, she was just glad in her heart.
In any case, she was very happy overall. Originally in a difficult situation, she suddenly had two supports to rely on. Going forward, at least they wouldn't go hungry, right?
Yang Yuan smiled and then fired six shots at the stone monster's chest.
"Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang!!"
The bullets from the high-quality handgun were powerful, all six shots hitting the same spot, creating a very deep crater in the stone monster's chest.
Following that, the stone monster trembled and then stopped moving.
"It's dead," Jiang Yiyi quickly said.
Yang Yuan felt a surge of joy and asked, "Yiyi, can you be sure?"
Jiang Yiyi hesitated for a moment and explained, "There was a strange light on it before, and now that light is gone, plus that strange aura is also gone, it should be dead."
"Then it should be dead, I'll go get the Spirit Monster Core out, Yang Yuan, keep an eye on things for me."
Zhao Jiayan immediately took out that rusty little knife and walked over; only she could handle this kind of dirty work.
Yang Yuan reloaded his handgun while keeping a close watch on the stone monster. Only when Zhao Jiayan approached and there was no reaction from the monster did he feel relieved.
"Yiyi, keep an eye on the surroundings and let me know if anything happens."
"Mm-hmm." Jiang Yiyi tightened her little face and seriously sensed the movements around them.
Yang Yuan looked again at the handgun's data:
[LV.2: 13/10 (Cannot upgrade)]
As expected, the level of the item is limited by the level of the individual; this was now thoroughly verified.
But, his own personal experience acquisition method was still uncertain.
He could only wait and see after catching up with the main group.
At this moment, Zhao Jiayan used the rusty little knife with difficulty to dig out a stone emitting a faint glow: "This should be it, right?"
It was her first time seeing such a treasure, and she felt somewhat excited.
It was said that ten Spirit Monster Cores could be exchanged for a chance to awaken superpowers.
This showed how precious the Spirit Monster Core was.
After humans came to this world, they excavated Ancient Ruins everywhere, finding things from these ruins that allowed them to awaken abilities postnatally.
But those awakenings required a price to be paid, and the military couldn't altruistically offer everyone an awakening, as the qualifications had to be purchased.
There was no related information in Yang Yuan's memory, so he looked at Jiang Yiyi.
Jiang Yiyi nodded, "The stone monster has only this thing containing energy inside, so it should be."
"Great."
Zhao Jiayan came back holding the Spirit Monster Core and handed it to Yang Yuan, "Keep it with you."
"All right."
Yang Yuan took the Spirit Monster Core and sensed it, finding that there was indeed energy inside, but he couldn't absorb it, so he put it in his pocket.
"Let's keep going. We must catch up with the main group before midnight; otherwise, it'll be too dangerous."
"Mm-hmm."
The three continued their journey.
As Yang Yuan's injuries had somewhat healed and the main group was moving downhill in search of a water source, their speed increased significantly.
The world at night was far more dangerous than during the day, and they dared not spend the night alone in the wild.
Even though both Yang Yuan and Jiang Yiyi were now Awakened.
Because—
Monsters that appeared at night were often immune to physical attacks and extremely frightening.
Perhaps because the main group had cleared the dangers on this path, they didn't encounter any threats.
Stone monsters, which bully the weak and fear the strong, were exceptions. They never give up against the weak, and feign death against the strong or in greater numbers.
Finally, the sky became completely dark, and after advancing for more than two hours, around ten o'clock in this world's time, they caught up with the main group.
From afar, they saw numerous campfires ahead, surrounding the military camp in the middle.
The military camp was lit, with powerful Superpower Users using their powers to dig wells and obtain water, while many people lined up to exchange water.
"We've made it."
After advancing for another half hour and with the outermost campfire just over a hundred meters away, Zhao Jiayan exclaimed in delight.
Jiang Yiyi also showed signs of happiness.
Yang Yuan also breathed a sigh of relief; he was now tired, sleepy, and hungry. If they hadn't caught up with the main group, they'd have to camp alone in the wild.
But that would be very dangerous as encountering malevolent spirits would almost be a death sentence, and they had no means to deal with such creatures.
Moreover, finding water on their own was challenging. They had to rely on the military's Superpower Users to dig wells for water, as it was said that it required deep digging to reach groundwater, something normal human efforts couldn't achieve quickly.
"The spaces inside are taken. Let's camp and start a fire on the outermost area."
Yang Yuan chose a giant tree with a three-meter diameter nearby, cleared the leaves with his foot, checked to ensure there were no poisonous insects, and then leaned against the trunk to sit.
"Okay, Yiyi, quickly gather some wood to start a fire, I'll go exchange for water."
Zhao Jiayan asked Yang Yuan, "Do you need anything? How much meat should we keep?"
Yang Yuan caught his breath, thought for a moment, and said, "Keep about five pounds. Anything we can't finish tonight, we'll dry. Exchange the rest for water and other easily stored foods. If you can get salt, try to get some; we can't keep eating meat without salt. And if you can swap for ammunition, try to get more of my handgun's type, I'm running low. By the way, keep the wolf sinew, I need it."