Chapter 37: The Grim Reaper Reappear, Treasure Hunting in the Space

The commotion in the front yard had no effect on the back yard.

Dinner was served, and the well-behaved Zhou Sinian was already sitting and waiting.

His table manners were perfect—full marks!

Ming Dai carefully placed the clay pot on the counter, lifted the lid, and the sweet fragrance of chestnuts and red dates wafted into the air.

Swish, Zhou Sinian raised his bowl high, as if to make sure Ming Dai saw it.

She took the bowl, scooped out a full bowl of chestnut porridge.

She took out the sugar jar from the cupboard and scooped two spoons of brown sugar into the bowl. “Stir it, wait for it to cool down before eating. If it’s not sweet enough, add more sugar yourself.”

Zhou Sinian obediently took the small spoon and stirred it, the sweet fragrance filling the air and warming his face.

Ming Dai served herself a bowl too, without adding sugar, and set it aside to cool.

She then took out the basket of steamed buns, which was full—enough to last for several days.

She placed six of them on a plate, wrapped the rest in a white cloth, and locked them in the cupboard.

Carrying the buns back, Zhou Sinian had already started drinking the chestnut porridge in small sips.

The rich, sweet taste once again awakened his taste buds. One spoonful after another, and soon the bowl was empty.

Without needing instruction, he refilled his bowl on his own, adding two spoons of brown sugar and stirring it in.

Ming Dai picked up a steamed bun, squeezed it a little—soft and springy—and was quite satisfied. She broke it open, spread a spoonful of egg sauce on it, and took a bite. It was so delicious that it felt as if her tongue could swallow it whole.

Seeing this, Zhou Sinian followed her lead, and then continued eating one steamed bun after another.

Sauerkraut with cured meat was another delicious dish that satisfied hunger and alleviated the greasy feeling. The probiotics in the sauerkraut were also beneficial to the body.

Ming Dai picked at the sauerkraut while Zhou Sinian looked for the meat. Neither of them minded the other’s eating habits, and they ate in perfect harmony.

It was another “clean plate” day.

Zhou Sinian went to wash the pot and dishes, putting everything back in its place.

Ming Dai, meanwhile, began preparing for their trip up the mountain.

Since they still had the cart, she decided to take advantage of it and gather all the pine nuts from the spot Zhou Sinian had remembered.

Although she already had enough food, water, and money for now, she believed in planning for the future.

Living a carefree life was her goal. In the past, she had planned to buy a house and rent it out, but now, she was thinking of collecting antiques or something similar.

Her reasons were twofold: to preserve and allow these treasures to appreciate in value, and to indirectly protect them.

At the same time, she also had a wish from her ancestors.

She remembered her grandfather saying that during the time they lived through, many ancient remedies were lost or destroyed, and she wanted to recover them.

This time, she took several burlap sacks and filled them up, placing them in the cart.

She closed the door, got in, and Zhou Sinian pulled her in. The two happily headed up the mountain.

Zhou Sinian had gained some experience this time.

After parking the cart, he ignored Ming Dai’s objections and, lifting her under his arm, rushed up the mountain with her.

Ming Dai went from resisting to yielding in just one second.

In the blink of an eye, she almost wanted to sing “Tarzan of the Apes” to express her mood.

But she was afraid of scaring Zhou Sinian and getting thrown out, so she had to hold back.

They quickly arrived at the place where they had collected chestnuts the day before.

Looking at the ground covered in chestnut shells, she felt a sense of accomplishment.

This had once been the empire she had built, and now, she was going to conquer another!

They continued up the mountain. Zhou Sinian carried Ming Dai in his left hand, wielding a machete in his right to clear the path, while a burlap sack was slung over his back.

After half an hour of walking, they finally reached the pine nut forest.

As soon as they entered, the ground was covered with pine cones, which made Ming Dai excitedly exclaim.

“We can’t go any further, we can’t go anywhere!”

Anyone who’s been out in the wild knew that when faced with such a situation, the only option was:

Go for it! Go for it! Work at it with all your might!

Take it! Take it! Take it all!

Zhou Sinian, watching Ming Dai go wild, felt a bit scared. Had he somehow passed on his craziness to her?

Luckily, Ming Dai quickly calmed down.

After walking around for a while, she was faced with a happy problem.

This forest was three times larger than the chestnut forest below, which meant it had over a hundred large pine trees.

Because no one had come to harvest, pine cones were scattered in layers all over the ground, and there were still some hanging on the trees, dried by the wind.

Only the occasional squirrels would come and pick some for winter storage.

The rest was all going to waste.

As a citizen of China, any waste of food was shameful!

It had to be taken!

After thinking for a moment, she decided to use the same method as yesterday—first knock, then harvest the pine nuts and leave the cones behind.

Ming Dai, under Zhou Sinian’s puzzled gaze, pulled a folded plastic sheet out from her crossbody bag.

After calling him over to help, they spread it out together. Zhou Sinian went to pick up the pine cones while Ming Dai tapped on the plastic sheet.

The entire forest echoed with rhythmic sounds: bang, bang, bang, rustle, rustle, rustle.

Soon, Zhou Sinian had gathered a small mountain of pine cones.

Ming Dai had also reached her limit, stepping aside to let Zhou Sinian take over the tapping, while she took over the packing.

As she packed, she also used the same method to collect all the fallen pine nuts from the ground, sorting out the good ones from the bad ones.

Zhou Sinian seemed to notice something, looking back towards the ground, where layers of pine cones still lay untouched, seemingly without any unusual changes.

Ming Dai curled her lips into a smile. If you can catch me, I’ll admit defeat!

“Actually, you can tell him,” a voice, oddly familiar, suddenly rang out in Ming Dai’s mind.

She instantly straightened up, her teeth clenched tightly.

“Scammer Grim Reaper?!”

The voice in her mind remained silent for a moment before weakly emphasizing, “I am Liang Sheng. You can call me Lord Liang Sheng, the current head of the Black Wuchang.”

Ming Dai sneered. “Heh, now what? No matter what or how many syllables your name has, it doesn’t change the fact that you tricked me! Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah!”

Ming Dai’s mind was furiously venting, and her body moved along with her thoughts.

Zhou Sinian watched her excitedly punch the air, a bit worried.

He was aware of his own condition. Although he didn’t know why, he knew that he wasn’t always normal and couldn’t always control himself.

It didn’t matter much to him, but seeing Ming Dai like this made him a little concerned.

They had finally gotten a good meal, but was it about to fall apart?

In her mind, Ming Dai’s barrage of insults continued, one after another, so intense that the “scammer grim reaper” on the other side couldn’t even get a word in.

Finally, when she paused to catch her breath, Liang Sheng weakly spoke up: “Lady Ming Dai, please don’t be angry. As an apology, I’ll give you another treasure hunting function for the space.”

Ming Dai took a breath, calmed down, but still didn’t speak.

The voice of the “scammer grim reaper” came in a low, coaxing tone: “I just learned that you plan to collect antiques, which is a very wise decision in these times. As you know, many people are being persecuted, and a lot of things are hidden underground. Before they can be dug up, they turn into ruins. This is essentially a waste, and it’s shameful!”

Ming Dai’s interest was piqued.

“Our newly developed space treasure hunting feature can identify treasures of various dimensions. It can determine that as long as they are unowned or involved in black market trades, they can be collected and brought into your space.”

Ming Dai was intrigued, but she also saw through the true nature of the “scammer grim reaper.”

“Speak, what do you want in return?”

The “scammer grim reaper” was caught, but didn’t feel ashamed. Instead, it happily responded: “Actually, in launching this book-traveling event, we need our travelers to complete small tasks. For example, you can use this treasure hunting function to collect some treasures. After duplicating them in the space, we take the copy, and you keep the original. This way, there is no impact on this world, and we complete our material collection task. It’s a win-win!”

Ming Dai squinted her eyes: “So, the materials you gave me from this era came from this method?”

“Hehe, so you really are clever.”

Ming Dai rolled her eyes. This guy wasn’t taking the replicas; he was probably taking the replication templates, which meant unlimited duplication and trade.

It couldn’t be denied, Ming Dai had figured it all out.

However, this didn’t contradict Ming Dai’s original intentions and was actually acceptable.

“This works. You said I could tell Zhou Sinian, what does that mean?”

The official customer service voice from the “scammer grim reaper” sounded again: “Here’s the deal, dear. Every traveler who enters the book world will have a mission. During this mission, they can choose an assistant. The assistant can access the secrets of the space and will receive mental cues from the space. They cannot reveal any secrets about the mission holder. In your case, choosing Zhou Sinian as your assistant is the best option.”

Ming Dai nodded, then thought of something else: “What if the assistant dies midway, or if I want to change the person?”

“That’s simple. If they die, it means they cease to exist, and their soul will go to the Underworld, where the staff will handle it. If you want to switch, just send the message with your will, and I will receive it by email. I’ll come to handle it, and the assistant’s memories will be erased.”

Email? You guys are pretty advanced!

Ming Dai felt reassured and then asked, “There won’t be other travelers in this world, right?”

“Don’t worry. Only one person is allowed to enter a book world at the same time.”

Ming Dai was completely at ease now: “Alright, let’s leave it at that for now. I’ll let you know if anything comes up.”

“Okay, have a pleasant journey!”

When she opened her eyes again, she saw Zhou Sinian holding a stick, looking at her with a sad expression.

Before she could speak, Zhou Sinian said, “You should take some medicine.”

He remembered that in the beginning, taking some medicine had been enough to help him control himself.