Chapter 26

After Yun Yuwei finally managed to get his fever down, the first thing he did upon waking was rush to Shen Xin’s farm.

As luck would have it, Shen Xin had spent a good chunk of time fixing the fence, so he ran right into Yun Yuwei upon leaving his house.

“Shifu!” Yun Yuwei raised his right hand and called out loudly.

Shen Xin couldn’t help but respond, “Wukong.”

Yun Yuwei stared, confused.

Shen Xin finally realized who it was. “You just sounded exactly like Wukong, the one who got sent back after failing to defeat the White Bone Demon.”

Yun Yuwei fell silent, momentarily unsure how to respond. As he recalled the events of the previous day, his eyes began to well up with tears. “Shifu, you’re so merciless!”

Shen Xin clapped her hands. “Yes, yes, yes, now you’ve perfected the tone.”

“I’m serious!” Yun Yuwei’s tone was filled with accusations. “That day, after I got rained on, I ended up running a high fever…”

Shen Xin didn’t want to listen to him prattle on. “I’m busy. Can you move aside?”

Yun Yuwei remained silent, his gaze growing even more resentful. “Everyone else was attending the flower-viewing party yesterday, but I was too sick to go… No one even noticed I wasn’t there…”

Shen Xin hesitated, feeling a twinge of pity—this person didn’t even have any friends.

But what did that have to do with her?

Having wasted too much time this morning already, Shen Xin didn’t want to listen to Yun Yuwei’s monologue. She ducked into the nearby forest and disappeared.

“Shifu, Shifu!” Yun Yuwei cried from outside the woods.

“Wukong, let it be,” came a voice from within the trees, followed by no further reply.

After fighting a few monsters, Jing Yan felt that there really was something strange about this System.

The monsters today were harder to fight than usual, but easier than those from last night.

The episode with his stamina earlier in the day was also inexplicable.

He had grown tired for no reason and then fallen asleep.

Jing Yan took note of the time frame where the issue occurred, tucked his guidebook back into his inventory, and continued fighting monsters.

“Rustle rustle.”

The bushes behind him made noise, and Jing Yan prepared to swing his sword, only to see a stone monster much taller than himself appear.

If one had never seen a stone monster before, they would definitely be scared stiff upon encountering one.

But Jing Yan had fought countless such monsters in the depths of the earth. He unhurriedly took out his short bow, loaded it with an arrow, and fired several arrows at the stone monster’s neck. The monster howled a few times before it dissolved into data, leaving behind a few ore nuggets as a reward.

“Impressive, now I’m getting these things.” Jing Yan put away his bow and warily scanned his surroundings.

The first level of the North Mountain Cave had thirty rooms in total.

When he cleared the first ten rooms, the mobs roaming the island were green slimes.

After clearing twenty rooms, blue slimes began to appear.

They had just cleared thirty rooms yesterday, and now stone monsters were spawning.

Jing Yan finally realized that the mobs spawning in the wilderness were connected to the North Mountain Cave.

“Mm,” he muttered, “you really can’t slack off for even a second in this game.”

If one didn’t diligently earn money and fish in the early game, they wouldn’t have enough to eat later on.

But ensuring one’s basic needs were met wasn’t enough either.

If players chose to live by crafting alone, they would have to face increasingly difficult mobs even if they didn’t venture into monster caves, until eventually they would be unable to move freely outside town.

Therefore, players needed to develop their characters holistically.

In truth, Jing Yan himself tended to specialize, focusing single-mindedly on combat. Fortunately, his two companions were reliable. While one of them engaged in combat, the other focused on development, forming a perfect division of labor.

“But my buddy is pretty strong too…” Jing Yan thought this was unacceptable; wouldn’t that make him superfluous?

“I need to find a way to increase my own value to the team!”

Jing Yan had already forgotten his initial plan to purchase summer seeds and become self-sufficient through farming. Collaborating with Shen Xin was just too convenient, and over time, he had grown used to it.

Feeder +1.

Feeder +1.

After Shen Xin mistook a few plants, she finally identified the feed for the animals.

Just as the livestock store owner had said, the plant was exceptionally crunchy, feeling similar to celery when she cut it, strangely satisfying.

Shen Xin got hooked on harvesting. Without paying much attention, she sliced away until the sky darkened. With a full inventory of feed, she estimated that it would be enough to last the animals until autumn.

She took out her manual and confirmed the direction, then headed toward the farm.

April 20th, rainy.

Shen Xin made a surprising discovery today.

The sickle could harvest strawberries and passion fruit, in addition to wheat and rice!

Initially, she had assumed the sickle could only harvest grains, but she decided to try it out on the fruits nonetheless. To her surprise, a 3×3 square of crops was harvested with a single swing.

And it harvested everything within its range!

“Much easier now. When are you going to give me a ranged hoe and watering can?” Shen Xin quickly finished harvesting the crops, obtaining the byproduct feed, which she stored in the warehouse.

Next, she retrieved the copper ingots she had smelted last night. Congratulations! Shen Xin now had twenty ingots, enough to forge a furnace!

Building the furnace would take some time, so while she was crouched in the corner working, she heard a sound behind her. Shen Xin pointed toward the interior of the house. “The meal is already prepared. Please take a seat; I’ll finish building this part and then trade with you.”

As soon as she finished speaking, a wave of emotional sobs rolled from behind her.

Shen Xin turned around to see Yun Yuwei sobbing, tears rolling down his cheeks, “Such happiness comes too suddenly! Master, you’re truly wonderful.”

Shen Xin stared at him blankly for a moment, then said, “My apologies, but that statement wasn’t directed at you. Please leave immediately.”

Yun Yuwei stared, baffled.

“No, Shifu, don’t be so displeased with me.” Yun Yuwei crouched down next to Shen Xin.

Shen Xin pulled out her knife. “Piss off.”

Yun Yuwei took a few steps back, grinning sheepishly. “Shifu, don’t be so displeased with me. Did I do something to upset you?”

“It’s not exactly that I’m displeased. It’s just that I feel the urge to stab you every time I look at you.”

Yun Yuwei scurried away. “Why?!”

Because you’re annoying.

Shen Xin continued working on her smelting furnace. A moment later, another figure approached her.

“Get the hell away or else I’ll carve you into minced meat!” Shen Xin turned and saw Stumpy, his eyes full of grievance.

Jing Yan: Q.Q. Why are you being mean to me?

“I didn’t mean you, I didn’t mean you.” Shen Xin almost reached out to pat his head.

In order to comfort the wounded dog, Shen Xin pointed at Yun Yuwei. “I was telling him to piss off, not expecting you to show up.”

Yun Yuwei, who had been feeling aggrieved about the disparity in treatment, stared.

“Who’s he?” Jing Yan thought Yun Yuwei looked quite familiar.

“Her disciple!”

“A loathsome fellow.”

The two answered simultaneously. Jing Yan tilted his head, the combination of his waddling figure and the yellow duck raincoat was somehow quite cute?

“Are… you by any chance surnamed Yun?” Jing Yan asked slowly.

Surprised that someone recognized him, Yun Yuwei responded with a burst of pride, “Yes, yes, yes! My name is Yun Yuwei, the only son of the CEO of the Cloud Sea Group!”

Yun Yuwei distinctly felt Shen Xin shoot a few more glances his way after that.

Oh? Could it be that his master was stunned by his status?!

Alas, this was the trouble with being rich; once his identity was exposed, he could no longer make genuine friends.

Shen Xin looked at the blissfully ignorant Yun Yuwei, then whispered to Jing Yan, “The CEO of the Cloud Sea Group has certainly earned his stripes.”

With an heir like this, the man probably couldn’t sleep a wink out of anger every night.

“Who said it wasn’t so?” Jing Yan chuckled. “Apparently, the Cloud Sea Group also funded the creation of Paradise.”

“If that’s the case, his father should know the true nature of Paradise, so why would he still send his son into this game…” Jing Yan’s mind took a turn. “I get it now—his dad’s using this opportunity to toughen him up. What a thoughtful father.”

Done with his analysis, Jing Yan nudged Shen Xin with his elbow. “You should accept him as your disciple. Once we get out of here, the CEO of the Cloud Sea Group is definitely going to thank you profusely.”

Shen Xin’s disdain was written all over her face. “Forget it, I can’t stand that guy. Besides, teaching him sword techniques just feels like I’d be raising some sort of silkpants murderer.”

“Who said anything about sword techniques? I’m talking about teaching him how to be a person.” Jing Yan excitedly rubbed his hands together. “If you don’t want him, I’ll take him?”

Given the gleeful look on Jing Yan’s face, Yun Yuwei would definitely have a tough time under his tutelage.

So, Shen Xin…had no hesitation in agreeing!

“Teacher Jing, please thoroughly train—no, I mean, thoroughly instruct him!”

“Deal!”

Shen Xin returned to building her smelting furnace, and Jing Yan, with a smile on his face, sauntered over to Yun Yuwei and showed off a few moves.

Yun Yuwei only wanted to learn a flashy move or two so he could brag to his hooligan buddies.

Shen Xin didn’t want to teach him, but there was someone else more than happy to do it!

Yun Yuwei’s pride instantly resurfaced. He strode over to Shen Xin, kicked the half-assembled smelting furnace with his heel, and waited for Shen Xin to look up at him. Yun Yuwei stuck his chin up and said in a particularly infuriating tone, “You ignored me before, but today you’ll regret it! I’ll tell you right now, your blade skills are trash! I don’t need your pitiful instruction!”

Shen Xin blinked, bewildered. Fuck, what kind of crazy person is this?

When Shen Xin pulled out his knife, Yun Yuwei scrambled over to cower behind Jing Yan. “Shifu, protect me!”

“No need to rush.” Jing Yan slung an arm over his shoulder. “Dear disciple, while the rain isn’t heavy today, getting drenched like this isn’t ideal, wouldn’t you agree? Let’s get you a proper raincoat first.”

Yun Yuwei was even more delighted with this suggestion. Look at that, what a wonderful master he had now!

“See? You? You’ll never be a fraction as good as my master here!” Yun Yuwei stuck his tongue out at Shen Xin.

Shen Xin shot Jing Yan a meaningful glance. How should she put it? She really wanted to hack this guy down.

Jing Yan signaled for her to remain patient, then turned to Yun Yuwei with a smile. “However, there isn’t enough money on me to buy a new raincoat. Do you happen to have some money, my dear disciple?”

Yun Yuwei felt slightly abashed—he had never uttered the words “I’m broke” in his life as a wealthy second-gen.

Understanding his predicament, Jing Yan gave him a reassuring pat on the back. “No problem, raincoats, and umbrellas can be quite pricey. But this master knows of an inexpensive alternative, though it may require some effort on your part—can you handle it?”

“Of course I can!”

Jing Yan nodded in satisfaction and pushed him forward. “Go on, farmer Shen Xin has cheap and effective straw hats; go purchase one for yourself!”

“Shen Xin?” Yun Yuwei asked, confused. “Who’s Shen Xin?”

Smiling, Shen Xin pointed at himself. “Me.”

Yun Yuwei stared at him in incredulity.

Shit.