On the third morning in the Menga Desert, the first thing the Extreme Team did after gathering downstairs was to glance outside the small inn's entrance.
Today—
Was yet another day they could enjoy free breakfast!
Although the buffet breakfast charged a symbolic fee of twenty yuan per person, given the quality of the ingredients, it still felt like a steal. The inn's restaurant had already closed, and even the innkeeper's family was eating there.
However, as everyone looked around, they noticed that the main characters were nowhere to be seen.
No drama to watch today.
"By the way, why did they suddenly start charging? That boss probably doesn’t care about such a small amount, right?"
Someone in the dining room asked. Although twenty yuan was practically nothing compared to the quality of the food, the sudden decision to charge last night seemed to hint at something that had happened during the day.
"Ah, about that... It’s a bit embarrassing," the innkeeper's wife said with a hint of guilt.
"Yesterday, many people in town found out that there was free food at the inn, and they came in droves, eating and even taking some away. The chefs had already finished their shifts, and when the crowd arrived, there was nothing left, which caused quite a scene. The boss’s assistant decided to start charging to avoid further trouble."
So that was it. The twenty-yuan fee was mainly to reduce hassle.
After breakfast, Yan followed the convoy for another day of routine testing. Today, they didn’t have to work until nightfall. The afternoon heat was unbearable, so they wrapped up the tests early and returned to the inn to rest.
"Huh? That RV is gone," Yan immediately noticed the missing luxury B-class RV in the parking lot.
"The food truck is gone too! Oh no, have they left? I was hoping for another feast tonight," the logistics team’s lady wailed.
"They left around noon, not long after your convoy headed out. That boss, the beautiful woman, and that handsome guy all left together," the innkeeper's wife explained.
It was only then that Yan saw the WeChat message Xu Jiaojiao had sent at noon.
**[Xu Jiaojiao]:** Yan, I’ve left. Have fun, and don’t worry about me.
**[Xu Jiaojiao]:** See you in Ning City during winter break.
Yan wanted to ask who Xu Jiaojiao had left with. Either of the two male guests could act unpredictably, but if both were present, they might balance each other out.
In the end, she simply replied, "See you during winter break. Don’t let yourself suffer. You’re the most important."
After confirming that the others had left and that the desert testing phase was over, the Extreme Team decided to treat themselves to a freshly slaughtered lamb from a local restaurant for a whole roasted lamb dinner that night.
Without the luxury buffet, the roasted lamb was a great alternative, especially in the desert setting. Compared to Wagyu beef, the juicy roasted lamb was a perfect match for the environment.
They feasted on the lamb, accompanied by roasted eggs, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. The fragrant lamb placed on flatbread was delicious even without any dipping sauce.
The lamb had no hint of gaminess, instead carrying a subtle milky aroma. Under the bright stars in the pollution-free night sky, the entire team was in high spirits.
They had to hit the road early the next morning, so no one pressured anyone to drink. After toasting with soft drinks and juice, they returned to the inn.
But—
As the team, still buzzing from the feast, entered the inn’s lobby, Yan spotted a familiar figure and two golden halos.
The familiar **[Rebirth]** halo shone above their heads, making the dimly lit front desk area look somewhat gilded.
Yan: ...
Good news: It wasn’t Shen Jingchen or Ji Mingyan.
Bad news: It was the other two male guests, Liang Ruichi and Wen Yu, who had left just two days ago.
"They left? When did they leave?"
"How could this be? My room is still here? They didn’t take my things?"
Liang Ruichi looked like he had rolled in the dirt, disheveled and exhausted. His voice was hoarse, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at the innkeeper’s wife.
"They left a while ago. It’s privacy when guests leave," the innkeeper’s wife said, rolling her eyes.
Beside him, Wen Yu remained calm. "Thank you. We’ll pack up and leave now."
"Wen Yu, stop pretending to be the good guy! If it weren’t for you, I would’ve—" Liang Ruichi shouted angrily.
If Wen Yu hadn’t held him back, he might have made it in time!
Jiaojiao! What had he done?
Yan, hidden among the team, rolled her eyes. Even rebirth couldn’t fix stupidity.
These two had also been reborn and rushed back, only to miss Xu Jiaojiao and the others, who had left earlier.
Yan quietly pulled Zhu Jue upstairs under the cover of the team. If Liang Ruichi found out they were still here, he might storm over and blame them for not taking care of Jiaojiao.
To avoid getting caught in the crossfire, Yan gave the innkeeper’s wife a sympathetic look and quickly retreated to her room.
The smell of roasted lamb and other barbecue clung to her, but Yan wasn’t in a hurry to shower. She pressed her ear to the door, listening to the commotion outside.
The inn’s soundproofing wasn’t great, and through the crack in the door, she soon heard Liang Ruichi and Wen Yu arguing as they went upstairs to pack and leave.
These two came and went quickly. Yan stood by the window, watching them drive off, and snapped a photo to send to Xu Jiaojiao. She could only help so much; her friend would have to handle things on her own back in Ning City.
Four reborn male guests—just thinking about it gave Yan a headache.
On the fourth morning in Menga Town, the convoy set off at dawn, heading to the next testing site.
In the off-road vehicle, Yan reviewed the upcoming route.
"The village we’re heading to in the mountains is called Kaoshan Village? That’s an interesting name."
"I heard it’s named that because it’s nestled against the mountains and near water. The Extreme Team has been testing in that area for a while and has become quite familiar with the locals," the logistics lady explained.
"I heard they’ve built new roads there. The mountain roads are wider and better maintained now, but there are still a lot of winding paths."
Although they weren’t heading into the desert today, the journey was still long. Fortunately, the ride wasn’t as bumpy. After days of travel, Yan and Zhu Jue had figured out how to sit more comfortably.
"Once we finish in Kaoshan Village, we’ll have to head back to school," Yan said, looking at the schedule. They had left Bin City for the Menga Desert, then detoured to the mountains for a few days before returning to Bin City, all timed perfectly with their vacation. The vastness of the country meant most of their time was spent on the road.
They set off at dawn, with the drivers taking turns at the wheel all day, carefully maintaining distance on the winding mountain roads.
The mountain roads alternated between steep and gentle, and the convoy moved at a steady pace. This time, Yan’s off-road vehicle was leading the way.
"Someone’s up ahead, trying to flag us down," Yan said, stretching after waking up from a nap. She noticed the logistics lady leaning forward.
"She’s holding up her thumb. Does she want a ride? We haven’t seen anyone else in this mountain area. She doesn’t look like a local."
The logistics lady waved a flag to signal the convoy behind them and reported the situation over the walkie-talkie, reminding everyone to maintain a safe distance.
As they got closer, they could see it was a young woman wearing a windbreaker, a backpack, and a hat—typical hiking gear.
Had she hiked up the mountain?
The logistics lady rolled down the window, and the woman leaned in to speak. "Hello, do you know where Kaoshan Village is?"
The question caught everyone off guard. The logistics lady asked directly, "Are you heading to Kaoshan Village? For tourism?"
The woman nodded. "Yes, I wanted to visit. I hitched a ride part of the way and then walked for hours. I’m so glad to see people again."
The logistics lady spoke into the walkie-talkie and then turned to Yan and Zhu Jue.
"Is it okay if she rides with us?"
Yan nodded. "No problem. Let her in."
Although the woman had a halo, she seemed harmless, much like Chu Shen.
"Thank you so much," the woman said with a bright, charming smile. She had short, ear-length hair.
In the back of the Jeep, Zhu Jue sat behind the driver, Yan in the middle, and the hitchhiker on the right side behind the passenger seat.
After getting into the car, she seemed a bit reserved. After introducing herself briefly, she quieted down and didn’t ask about what they were going to do.
Yan held Zhu Jue’s hand, her gaze subtly sweeping over the head of the girl who had introduced herself as “Ka Ka.”
**Travel Buddy**
This seemed to be a specialized aura, similar to Chu Shen’s “Kitchen God” or Yuan Ye’s “Girl’s Dress-Up” type of abilities, but more grounded in everyday life.
Ever since setting a flag in her mind on the bus leaving Bin City, and then immediately encountering Xu Jiaojiao upon arriving at the Meng Desert, Yan had been reflecting on herself.
Don’t set flags—flags are bound to fall!
So this time, setting off again from the small town, she tried her best not to think about anything.
Whether she would encounter someone with an aura or not, she left it to fate. If it was meant to be, they would meet across a thousand miles. If she suddenly ran into her and Zhu Jue’s good roommates, she wouldn’t even be surprised.
Life is full of reunions. Either accept it, or fate would force the two of them to accept it.
Yan even noticed a cute little figure above Ka Ka’s head, like an emoji from a phone. The little figure had short hair and a backpack, a perfect caricature of Ka Ka herself. It was the first time Yan had seen such an adorable aura.
She quietly wiped her eyes with a tissue. Yes, it wasn’t her imagination, but she had never seen anything like this above the heads of other aura users before.
Could it be because Ka Ka’s aura was special? What did “Travel Buddy” mean?
Ka Ka sat nervously in the back seat of the jeep. Even though the back seat was spacious, she still tried to stay as close to the door as possible, afraid that her presence might make the other passengers feel cramped.
This was her third blind box trip, and she was still a bit nervous.
Especially this time, the location she had painstakingly reached was even more remote than the previous two. She had no idea how many modes of transportation she had switched along the way.
The early part of the journey was manageable, but as she got closer to Kaoshan Village, it became increasingly difficult because there were almost no vehicles! She had to rely on her own two legs to walk for four hours. By now, she was truly exhausted, so when she encountered a convoy that allowed her to hitch a ride, Ka Ka felt like she was about to cry. Good people deserve a lifetime of peace!
“Ka Ka, are you a college student?” The logistics girl in the front seat, an extrovert, initiated the conversation.
“No, no, I graduated this year,” Ka Ka shook her head.
“Oh, I see. So you’re on a gap year trip, huh? Traveling across Xia Country by hitchhiking—that’s impressive,” the logistics girl gave her a thumbs up.
Hearing this, Ka Ka felt a bit embarrassed. “Not really, it’s just okay.”
Her ability to walk so much now was a far cry from her college days, when she either ate or lounged around. It all started when she accidentally downloaded a game app.
After graduating, Ka Ka had been lazing around at home when one day she saw an ad that said, “Do you want to find the meaning of travel?” “Do you want to see the scenery of distant places?” “Grab your backpack and start your journey!” She then downloaded the **Travel Buddy** app.
Ka Ka had thought it was a game where you could raise a little character, send them out to travel, bring back souvenirs, take photos of scenery, and so on—something to kill time.
What she never expected was that after entering the **Travel Buddy** app, she wasn’t controlling a little character. Instead, she became the “traveling character” herself, a kind of traveling frog!
Of course, Ka Ka didn’t have an owner, but the **Travel Buddy** app often had various tasks.
Some people posted tasks asking the little character to visit distant places, some issued blind box travel invitations for random trips, and others specified times and locations, requiring the little character to go to a certain place and take a photo.
Ka Ka avoided tasks with too many specific requirements, worried that if she followed the timing, she might encounter some unknown event.
So from July, when she got the **Travel Buddy** app, until now, she had only been doing commission tasks and blind box trips, always on the road.
The so-called blind box trip meant that she would draw a travel location completely at random.
For her first two blind boxes, Ka Ka had traveled to the northernmost village in the country and also endured great hardship to reach a remote primitive village in South Yunnan.
This third blind box, however, was even more challenging than the previous two. In a remote mountain valley with almost no vehicles, she had to find a place called Kaoshan Village that even locals couldn’t locate. Sticking to the principle of “since I’ve come this far, I can’t give up now,” she persisted until now.
Traveling blindly, with no prior knowledge, having to figure everything out on the spot, and even finding no relevant information online, brought her many unknowns and difficulties, but it was also quite interesting.
Especially since Ka Ka tried to treat herself as a game player. The difficulties she encountered were just temporary obstacles that players would eventually overcome. Everything was just a task to reach the final destination. Approaching life with a gaming mindset made it feel much more fun.
The place where Ka Ka had hitched a ride wasn’t far from Kaoshan Village. The off-road vehicle sped uphill, much faster than walking, and in no time, they arrived in the village. It felt like they got there in the blink of an eye.
In Ka Ka’s field of vision, her virtual little character on the map had successfully reached the destination of this blind box trip. She mentally cheered, “Yes!”
Third blind box trip—complete success!
The convoy stopped at an open area at the village entrance. Manager Li, who had already contacted the village in advance, got out to negotiate with the locals, who were casually chatting with their arms around each other.
Yan and the others also got out of the car, and Ka Ka bowed deeply to them. “Thank you for the ride, thank you, NPCs!”
In her excitement, Ka Ka blurted out what was on her mind. The team, mostly young people, quickly caught on and laughed.
“This is the first time I’ve been called an NPC,” Yan said, touching her chin as she turned to Zhu Jue.
This remote mountain area clearly had no hotels. The Jidao team had tested here several times before and had also donated money to build roads and bridges for the village. The empty houses in the village had been vacated and were directly assigned by gender.
Kaoshan Village was in a remote location, and most of the people still living there were elderly folks who grew enough food to feed themselves. The younger generation and children had already moved down the mountain, and no one bothered to come back during the National Day holiday.
As the only “stranger” in Kaoshan Village, and the first person they’d heard of who had come specifically to travel here, Ka Ka was treated like a rare guest. She was taken in and arranged to stay with the girls from the Jidao team.
“I’m really causing you trouble this time,” Ka Ka said, still feeling a bit embarrassed. She had brought her own sleeping pad, sleeping bag, and plenty of dry food, prepared to borrow an empty room and make do for the night.
“It’s no big deal. Besides, it’s not safe for you to stay alone. Staying with us means more people and more fun.”
Although the village was remote, thanks to national infrastructure projects and Jidao’s donations, they had running water and electricity, and even showers were no problem.
Yan would be staying with the girls from the team for the next few days. Everyone had their own sleeping bags, making it private and convenient.
On the second day in Kaoshan Village, Yan and Zhu Jue temporarily left the team. Instead of following the vehicles for testing, they stayed in the village to look around and enjoy the scenery.
During the day, the elderly gathered not far away, sunbathing, chatting, and playing chess to pass the time.
Yan noticed that Ka Ka hadn’t left yet. She was talking to each of the elderly folks.
If Yan hadn’t known about the aura above Ka Ka’s head, seeing her chat and probe like this might have made her suspect Ka Ka of being a spy gathering intelligence.
Of course, Ka Ka wasn’t gathering any intelligence. She was completing her travel task.
**Daily Task: During the trip, talk to at least five locals to learn about their daily lives (2/5)**
At first, doing such tasks was difficult. She always set mental barriers for herself, afraid of bothering others, worried that people would find her annoying for asking so many questions.
But after a few tries, Ka Ka realized that more than 90% of people were actually very willing to help, especially in the remote areas she had visited during her blind box trips. Her arrival made the locals particularly enthusiastic.
Just like the grandparents in front of her now. Even though they spoke with a heavy accent, they eagerly asked where she was from, if she was sleeping well, and how her studies were going.
"Our village, Kaoshan Village, has been around for ages! If you climb to the top of the mountain and look around, you'll see the sun setting behind endless mountains. That's why it's called Kaoshan—'Leaning on the Mountain.'"
"Big bosses used to come here. Did you see the river on your way here? The Green Ribbon River. It's like a jade belt wrapping around the village. Our village is beautiful!"
"Just follow that road straight ahead, and you'll reach the mountain top."
Ka Ka nodded, quickly finishing her small talk with the elders. She then took out a bag of soft little cakes from her backpack and handed them out to the old folks.
"Go ahead, eat them! I brought these, and they'll go bad if you don't."
Even Yan and Zhu Jue, who were standing nearby joining in the fun, received their share. Everyone got a piece.
"Thank you," the two of them said, and the three young people sat with the elders on the rocks under the big tree, enjoying the cakes.
Yan had a strange feeling, one that was hard to put into words.
Ka Ka wasn't the first "halo person" she had met, but the impression she left was completely different. Unlike others who always caused drama and stirred up trouble, Ka Ka seemed more ordinary. If it weren't for the obvious halo above her head, Yan might have mistaken her for just a regular person.
"Later, I plan to go to the mountain top that Grandpa mentioned. Do you want to come?" Ka Ka invited them proactively.
"Sure! I wanted to get up early to see the sunrise this morning but overslept. Let's go watch the sunset instead," Yan agreed without hesitation.
They followed the village path up the mountain, which was lush with greenery at this time of year. Although Ka Ka had initiated the invitation, she didn't talk much, and the three of them leisurely made their way up together.
Ka Ka glanced discreetly at the young couple beside her. Compared to the villagers, who showed a friendly green aura, the couple's neutral yellow stood out on her map, making her wonder if there was some special quest she could trigger.
After all, the others who had been staying in the same house had all gone out to work on some tests, while these two, who looked the youngest, were here sightseeing. Ka Ka couldn't help but feel like she had stumbled upon the hidden NPCs of this journey.
During her previous travel quests, Ka Ka had accidentally uncovered hidden NPCs in the area and even managed to turn their mildly hostile red auras into friendly green ones, which boosted her quest rating by two levels and earned her plenty of rewards.
This young couple seemed amiable, and they hadn't refused her invitation earlier, which made Ka Ka feel like this was her chance!
Especially since they didn't seem curious about why she was traveling alone to such a remote village, nor did they ask any questions. Yet, they seemed to hold some weight in the carpool group. Ka Ka was convinced they were definitely the heavyweight hidden NPCs of this trip.
As she pondered how to strike up a conversation, the three of them reached the mountain top and were greeted by the breathtaking view the elders had described.
In front of them was the jade belt of the river, and behind them stretched the endless mountains. The scenery was vast and stunning, and with the sunset casting golden light across the sky, it was truly a sight to soothe the soul.
For a moment, no one spoke, all holding their breath as they took in the view.
Ka Ka blinked, feeling that this sight made all her hardships worth it. She snapped a photo with her camera and then glanced at the young couple. Against the backdrop of green mountains, the setting sun, and the white clouds, the two figures sitting side by side, enjoying the mountain breeze, seemed to blend perfectly into the timeless scenery, as if they were the protagonists of this world.
She didn't dare make a sound and quietly took two more photos. After a while, she walked over and showed the pictures to them.
"Sorry, I couldn't resist taking these because the view was so beautiful. If you'd like, I can send them to you. If not, I'll delete them," Ka Ka said, scratching her head. She noticed that the couple's neutral yellow aura immediately turned to friendly green.
Huh? Really?
Did she just complete the quest that easily?
The next moment, she saw an achievement pop up on her game interface.
An achievement?! These hidden NPCs are so generous!
