Chapter 27: The Lost Civilization

After a few seconds of silence, Chi Xing snorted with indignation. "Why don't you ask me if I'm surprised?"

Jiang Yao, blunt as ever, widened her eyes. "Does that even need asking? I'm not blind."

"..."

Ji Yuanyuan whispered a snarky remark: "I have to say, Sister Yao really radiates a subtle sense of 'dead inside' energy. Living is fine, but being dead would be just as well."

"Which genius invented that description? It’s damn accurate!" Zhao Xiaoting couldn't help but exclaim.

Chi Xing narrowed his eyes with a cold sneer and began rolling up his sleeves. "I hope your life is as tough as your mouth."

Jiang Yao calmly glanced downward. "If nothing goes wrong, it should be tougher than yours."

"!!!"

What kind of wild, suggestive talk was that? Was this something they were even allowed to hear?

As expected, Chi Xing’s face turned livid with rage.

Seeing a confrontation about to erupt, Jiang Yao braced herself for a fight, but suddenly, everything went black. A bad premonition rose in her heart.

As it turned out, her premonition was correct—that damn system was back online!

[Welcome, Student Jiang Yao, to this social practice course: "The Lost Civilization." During the mission, please immerse yourself in your role!]

Jiang Yao twitched her lip. "It’s the end of the world, and you’re still forcing us to take classes and exams?"

The system’s tone was robotic: [Precisely because it is the end of the world, we fear students will fall behind in their professional knowledge and end up crying while settling for jobs with a monthly salary of three thousand. Thus, we conduct periodic testing. This is an exclusive privilege of esteemed university students~]

The system was certainly keeping up with current events.

Jiang Yao gave a cold "Oh" and decisively said, "Unsubscribe."

[...]

Afraid the system didn't understand, she repeated it: "Unsubscribe."

The system chose to selectively play dead: [Story Background: You are an archaeologist who heard that traces of tribal culture have been discovered in a remote, isolated mountain village. For the sake of your research project, you have decided to go and investigate.]

Jiang Yao opened her eyes. Outside the window, primitive natural scenery blurred into lines as they sped backward. The air was filled with a stifling, suffocating odor that made her feel nauseous.

She frowned instinctively, realizing she was inside a moving bus.

Looking up, she saw mostly familiar faces. Zhao Xiaoting, Ji Yuanyuan, and Xiang Yu were all there, and they immediately spotted each other, breathing a collective sigh of relief.

There was also Chi Xing, Duan Yiren, Wei Kai, and the guy with dyed yellow hair.

Additionally, there were two unfamiliar men who didn't seem to be from their school; they looked at least thirty years old and were dressed quite plainly.

Including the driver, there were eleven people in total.

As everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, the driver spoke in a heavy, accented Mandarin: "Why would you young people want to go to a place as remote as Luoxia Mountain?"

This was a good opportunity to exchange information.

Jiang Yao was the first to speak. "I am an archaeologist. I’m here to research ancient tribal culture."

Chi Xing glanced back at her and lazily chimed in, "I'm an adventure blogger. This is a perk I promised my followers."

Wei Kai looked at the yellow-haired guy and scratched the back of his head. "We're outdoor sports enthusiasts. We're here for mountain climbing!"

Ji Yuanyuan and her two friends exchanged a look. "We're university students on vacation. We heard the scenery at Luoxia Mountain is nice, with a sort of raw, primitive beauty, so we’re here to take photos and check in."

Duan Yiren pressed her lips together. "I'm a writer. I want to visit to gather material and find some inspiration."

The driver clicked his tongue in wonder. "I don't understand you young people! You have a prosperous life in the big city, yet you insist on running off to the middle of nowhere to suffer. What’s so good about a place where even the birds don't bother to poop?"

Since they had paid their fares, he didn't say too much more.

At this point, the younger of the two middle-aged men, who seemed quite talkative, looked surprised. "Handsome and beautiful folks, are you all heading to Luoxia Mountain?" His Mandarin was much better than the driver's, and he seemed quite warm.

Zhao Xiaoting asked, puzzled, "Big brother, aren't you guys going there too?"

The man scratched his head and gave an honest, simple smile. "I'm actually a villager from Luoxia Mountain, and this is my second uncle!" He patted the man next to him on the shoulder. "We were just out buying supplies!"

The second uncle nodded shyly without saying a word, appearing quite reserved.

Everyone looked at the wicker basket next to his seat and nodded in understanding.

Wei Kai clapped his hands. "What a coincidence! Big brother, is there any good food or fun things to do there?"

"You can just call me Brother Zhuzi!" Zhuzi laughed heartily, then said with some hesitation, "To be honest, there’s nothing particularly fun in our village—just a regular rural area. But the scenery is decent, with green mountains and clear waters. As for good food, it’s definitely not as good as in your big cities!"

The yellow-haired guy looked disappointed. "Then what are we going there for?"

He was met with a subtle glare from Chi Xing, so he rubbed his nose and shut his mouth.

Zhuzi felt a bit awkward, but then he laughed again. "If you're just here to play, there’s really no need to go through the trouble of coming to such a place. But since you’re already here, have you considered where you’re staying?"

When he said this, everyone looked blank. Aside from the story background, the system hadn't left them a single clue.

Zhuzi widened his eyes. "You don't mean to tell me you didn't think about that? It’s all rural out there; there are no hotels or inns like in your cities. Did you really come here without doing any research?"

The group exchanged awkward, confused glances.

It wasn't their fault; it was the system's! They had been dumped on this bus the moment they opened their eyes.

Zhuzi chuckled. "It’s a good thing you ran into us. Everyone in our village knows each other well. Just say the word, and it won't be a problem for you to stay for a few nights."

The yellow-haired guy brightened up. "Isn't that a coincidence! We're so lucky we met you!"

Someone sat down next to her. Jiang Yao looked over and saw it was Ji Yuanyuan, who leaned in and whispered, "Yaoyao, what do you think the system means by this? It calls it a social practice course, but it didn't give us a specific mission! Isn't this just crossing the river by feeling for stones?"

"The course is titled 'The Lost Civilization.' Perhaps it has something to do with civilization?" Jiang Yao said, though she wasn't entirely sure.

Ji Yuanyuan looked thoughtful. "If you put it that way, does it mean we’re supposed to help this backward little mountain village get out of the mountains and revitalize its development?"

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She winked at the person next to them. "Chi Xing is a streamer, after all! But honestly, with that sour look on his face, does anyone actually watch his stream?"

Chi Xing was busy fiddling with his streaming equipment and glanced at her sideways. "You want to try?"

Ji Yuanyuan immediately shrank back and obediently sat up straight.

"Dear passengers, we're approaching Luoxia Mountain. Because the mountain roads are steep and difficult for the bus to navigate, I’ll drop you off at the junction ahead."

Everyone instantly perked up.

"Finally getting off the bus. This ride was making me want to throw up."