Chapter 133: They Were Still Warm When I Stripped Them

"Huh?" Chu Ping's hand trembled, hesitant to reach out. "Stripped off a dead body?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about it, though. They were still warm when I took them," Ye Da said. "I didn't bother with the ones that had already gone cold."

"Why be afraid of clothes from the dead?"

Though shocked to his core, Chu Ping silently accepted the garments. "In this godforsaken weather, if I don't wear them, I'll be the one going cold sooner or later."

"Smart man." Ye Da offered a word of praise. This guy truly lived up to his earthworm-based ability; he knew how to bend and stretch when necessary. In a place like this, being too fastidious was a surefire way to lose your life. Nature was far better at teaching lessons than society; in society, if you failed to learn how to be a person, you just ended up in prison. But in nature, if you didn't learn how to be a person, you simply became a ghost. You wouldn't need to be a person anymore.

"What about you?" Ye Da pulled another set of clothes from his pack and asked Zhang Ya.

Zhang Ya shivered, as if struck by a terrifying thought. She shook her head repeatedly. "No, thank you. I'm not cold."

"Oh." Ye Da silently retracted the clothes. He glanced at Zhang Ya’s inner thoughts, curious about what was on her mind.

[Loyalty: 78% (So cold... so cold! I really want to wear them, but I'm so scared! I’ve heard that when people die, their souls linger on the items they once used. Just thinking that I wouldn't be wearing clothes, but a dead person’s spirit... ah, ah, stop thinking about it, stop! It’s too terrifying!!)]

Hahaha! Ye Da couldn't help but chuckle at the silent drama playing out in Zhang Ya's mind. It was a horror movie this time. Wait, why was there more? Just as Ye Da was about to turn and keep walking, he noticed the thoughts following Zhang Ya’s loyalty rating had updated, unfolding like a serial drama.

[Loyalty: 78% (I remember a ghost story I once heard, something about cursed clothes. How did it go? Oh right, I remember now. A group of young people encountered something supernatural and barely escaped with their lives, only to return home and find their clothes had a strange smell. But because it was the rainy season and their house had no sunlight, the clothes never dried properly, so they thought the smell was normal... No, it's too cold, my brain can't even think straight anymore!)]

Huh? This... what happened next? Ye Da was left speechless seeing only half of the story in Zhang Ya’s mind. At least finish the story before thinking about something else!

"Achoo!" Zhang Ya suddenly sneezed.

Seeing this, Chu Ping quickly asked, "Sister Ya, why don't you take my clothes? You're wearing too little; you'll catch a cold."

"No need," Zhang Ya refused firmly.

[Loyalty: 78% (No, no, it's too scary! I really can't accept clothes stripped from a dead person, boo-hoo! If only I could wear the Bear-Slaying Master's clothes. I remember he bought a down jacket from someone early on, a North Face, I think? It should be the one he's wearing now. Boo-hoo, I really want to wear clothes from a living person.)]

Huh? She even knew I bought a North Face down jacket? How long has this woman been watching me? Ye Da was curious.

"If you don't mind that my clothes are a bit dirty, take mine," Ye Da said, taking off his jacket and handing it to her. "Don't worry, these weren't taken from a dead person!"

"I know. Thank you." Zhang Ya's expression remained calm, but the joy in her eyes betrayed her composure. It wasn't just her eyes; her loyalty and her inner thoughts were jumping up rapidly.

[Loyalty +1]
[Loyalty...]
[Loyalty: 80% (Ahhh, I knew the Bear-Slaying Master was the best! My god, he’s such a gentleman, I admire him so much!!! The Master's clothes are so warm, they still have his body heat, it's so comfortable! Ahhh, I can't, I'm going to fall for him. No, I have to stay composed! Zhang Ya, you must stay composed!)]

Loyalty reached eighty! Ye Da’s eyes lit up. He had finally won Zhang Ya over; his luck was truly good. He hadn't expected a single down jacket to seal the deal. As for himself, Ye Da didn't care whether the clothes were worn by the living or the dead—clothes were just clothes; it made no difference who wore them. For the rest of the journey, Ye Da kept waiting for the little story in Zhang Ya’s mind to continue, but to his disappointment, she never picked up the thread again.

"Such a thick fog!" Chu Ping shouted. "Lord, the fog ahead is so thick, just like the world before the sun came out. Could there be danger inside?"

Players who had learned the hard way from the mist had all learned one thing: never wander into the fog before the sun rose and cleared it, or you were easily attacked by monsters hiding within.

"Wait!" Though she was a woman, Zhang Ya's scouting ability was far superior to Chu Ping's. She sniffed the air toward the mist. "I smell... a rotten egg odor."

"Also..." Zhang Ya took a few steps forward, walking straight into the dense white fog. "I feel like the temperature here is much higher than elsewhere."

"Especially the ground here—look, the snow has melted."

"I don't think this is just ordinary fog. It seems to be water vapor from geothermal heat, and combined with that rotten egg smell, could there be a volcano nearby?"

Impressive! Ye Da praised her silently. Zhang Ya didn't have an analysis lens; she had deduced this entirely through her own knowledge and observation. Yet, her answer matched almost exactly with what Ye Da had seen through his lens. That was brilliant.

"A volcano?" Chu Ping said, half-doubting. "Just because the snow melted doesn't prove there's a volcano. If this is just fog caused by some unique geography, we’ll be in danger if we charge in blindly."

"The rotten egg smell is hydrogen sulfide gas released during a volcanic eruption," Zhang Ya said concisely. "As for why there’s such thick fog, I suspect there might be a water source passing through this volcanic area, leading to the mist!"

"And it's precisely because of the high-temperature fog that the snow melts before it even hits the ground!"

"The melting snow also produces a large amount of water vapor; with the two combined, the fog is naturally thicker!"

Zhang Ya’s argument was logical and well-founded. Now it was Chu Ping's turn to be stunned. He opened his mouth, but for a long time, he couldn't find a single word to refute her.