Meng Xianping rushed down the stairs, taking the lead.

Chen Xingyun and the others cautiously gripped their axes, checking for any suspicious activity before entering the pitch-black cave. However, aside from being dark, the surroundings were quiet, giving off a sense of safety.

“Man, I was so scared. A place like this should have monsters, but it turns out I was just overthinking.” Letting out a sigh of relief, Nicholas prepared to step forward, only to be pulled back by Chen Xingyun.

“Perhaps… there were monsters here at first,” Chen Xingyun thought, filled with regret.

All the advantages had already been taken by the other teams; it would be extremely difficult for him to secure victory now.

On the bright side, only one-quarter of the allotted time had passed; there was still a chance to turn the tables.

Chen Xingyun’s best opportunity to do so was to master the secrets of the underground cave.

Meng Xianping had the same idea, which was why he had rushed ahead, hoping to discover the treasure before Chen Xingyun and the others.

After realizing that the cave held no immediate danger, he grew bolder.

Seeing how Meng Xianping had run off so carelessly, Chen Xingyun felt a spark of inspiration. Instead of chasing after him, he intentionally slowed down, separating his small team from Meng Xianping.

Leaving this disgusting person behind would be less irritating than keeping him around.

After passing through numerous empty caves, Meng Xianping realized he couldn’t even figure out which direction he was heading in, and that’s when he noticed his teammates were nowhere to be seen.

But he knew that his every move was being streamed; a tree needs its bark and a man his dignity. Even if his heart had practically collapsed from fear, Meng Xianping refused to show any sign of panic on the surface.

“Chen Xingyun! Nicholas! Jiang Yu! Xu Mengying! Where are you guys? Hurry up!”

The voice echoed naturally in the hollow caves; Chen Xingyun and the others definitely heard it, and they would surely follow the sound to find him.

Meng Xianping thought he was being clever, but Chen Xingyun only wished he could rush down to this idiot and shut his stinking mouth.

Idiot! They could hear him, but Jing Yan, who had been down here for so long, could also hear him!

How cunning Jing Yan was; he obviously didn’t want anyone to share the treasure trove with him. Now, thanks to Meng Xianping, Jing Yan knew they were down below. Who knew if he knew they were following him? Regardless, for the sake of keeping the treasure all for himself, he might even resort to violence…

Chen Xingyun and the others dared not respond and, according to Meng Xianping’s cries, moved farther away from him.

“How noisy.” Zhou Yi and Qin Chengyue also heard Meng Xianping yelling for his teammates.

He turned to Qin Chengyue. “Did you notice anything?”

Qin Chengyue studied the walls and floor, then speculated, “There might have been a battle here in the past; it looks like it was quite violent. I’m guessing there used to be monsters here, but Jing Yan defeated them all, leaving only this empty cave.”

“So that’s how it is.” Zhou Yi pondered for a moment. “If he’s going to come back, there might be a missed instance. Let’s make a mark and explore deeper.”

Zhou Yi pulled out a marker and drew an “X” on the wall, intending to return if they hit a dead end.

Yet, just as they didn’t expect, one minute later, the mark on the wall seemed to have been swallowed by the wall itself, fading rapidly.

Jing Yan witnessed the entire incident and said in surprise, “So this place really is a labyrinth?”

The underground caves spread in every direction, indeed messy enough to disorient someone, but every single stone cave had been cleared by him personally, traversed no less than ten times, and the correct path had since been etched into his DNA.

Jing Yan navigated through the tunnels like a cart traveling down a familiar road, leaving the others to wander aimlessly on the first level.

Zhou Yi and Qin Chengyue returned, noticing the mark on the wall had disappeared.

“This might be a labyrinth,” Qin Chengyue analyzed. “It would be dangerous for us to enter without preparation. We already know where the entrance is, so I suggest we go back and get ready, just in case we get trapped inside.”

“Mm, that makes sense.”

The two hadn’t wandered off too far, so after searching briefly, they found their way back.

The other five weren’t so lucky.

Meng Xianping flew around like a buzzing fly, shrieking as he went, while Chen Xingyun and the others dodged him, keeping an eye out for Jing Yan’s appearance.

As they fumbled around, the group became more and more disoriented. Meng Xianping, having run out of slime, couldn’t create any torches, and finally, unable to handle the darkness, began hysterically calling out Chen Xingyun’s name.

But Chen Xingyun’s group was no better off. They had fought plenty of slimes before, but after Shen Xin killed them, they’d lost all their belongings. Now they were all weaponless, save for their axes, but the caves were spotless; where could they find slimes to kill?

The group groped through the darkness, growing weaker and more panicked with each step, until they finally met their doom beneath the earth, only regretting their greed as they were reborn after death.

“Ahem, ahem, ahem.”

April 26th.

Jing Yan woke up with a slight fever and a muddled head, clearly sick. The deeper into the cave, the colder it got; he had stayed down yesterday for too long and had accidentally caught a cold.

Fortunately, he had stocked up on medicine early on. After mixing himself a bitter cup, Jing Yan held his nose and gulped it down, then lay back in bed for a while, feeling much better.

“This isn’t sustainable; I need to get a thicker set of clothes for going down into the cave.”

Jing Yan took a hot water bottle over to Old He’s place to inquire about winter gear.

“Thicker clothes? No, we don’t have any. The town doesn’t have that many people, and we usually make our clothes. Those who don’t know how to will ask their neighbors for help, but we’ve never sold clothes.”

“I see.” Jing Yan asked some of the aunties and grandmas in town, but because his favor rating wasn’t high enough, all requests for clothing were denied.

He could only go to Shen Xin’s farm first.

Shen Xin was at the entrance discussing something with the Zhuang Jia and Zhuang Yi brothers. “I’ll put two locked chests at the entrance where you can leave your crops. You can just take what you need directly from there without coming into the farmyard to find me.”

“This should make things easier,” Zhuang Yi said as he handed the keys to his brother. “I’ll be managing the restaurant from now on, so my brother will take care of procuring the ingredients. Oh, by the way, the boss, the renovations are complete. I’ll be handling the advertising this afternoon, and we’ll officially open tomorrow morning.”

Shen Xin was curious. “Advertising? How do you plan on doing that?”

“There’s a notice board in town, right?” Zhuang Yi explained his idea to Shen Xin. “I plan on posting an advertisement disguised as a quest on the board with a reward of two copper coins. In the end, only one copper coin will be deducted as a ‘service fee,’ allowing us to publicize the restaurant.”

Shen Xin had no words.

You truly are a business genius.

Every day, both players and NPCs accepted missions from the notice board; a paltry one copper coin would yield an unparalleled advertising effect.

“Ahem, what are you all doing?” Jing Yan asked as he walked over and noticed the identical twins. “Woah? Clone technique?!”

“No, this is my twin brother. His name is Zhuang Jia,” Zhuang Yi introduced himself to Jing Yan.

“Oh, well, in that case, you two are quite something, entering the competition as a duo,” Jing Yan said.

What’s the point in coming here now? Zhuang Jia and his brother exchanged a wry glance, then lowered their heads to count the crops.

“What’s wrong? Still haven’t recovered from your cold?” Shen Xin led him into the house, noticing Jing Yan’s occasional coughs.

“Mm… The ground is getting colder, and my clothes are too thin. There’s no winter gear available in town.” Jing Yan sat down on the sofa. “But it’s fine, I’ll just wear a blanket while I’m down there!”

“That sounds inconvenient.” Shen Xin peeked out from the kitchen. “Why don’t you wait a day before going?”

Jing Yan cocked his head in confusion.

“Zhuang Yi is a blacksmith, I asked him to forge some furniture, and he’ll deliver it this afternoon. There’s a sewing machine among them, so maybe we can make something thicker for you?” Shen Xin added, “But I’ve never made clothes before, so I don’t know how it’ll turn out…”

Shen Xin noticed Stumpy’s hidden tail wagging again.

It’s fine if it’s not perfect, just having something is better than nothing!

Jing Yan looked at Shen Xin with bright eyes before obediently running to help set the table for breakfast.

Ah, whatever, it’s not like those aunties and grannies care enough to help me anyway. What’s wrong with not having anyone to help? At least I have a reliable friend!

“What do you want for breakfast?” He leaned in close, his head now at the same height as Shen Xin’s.

Jing Yan’s hair was slightly curled, thin, and soft, giving it a silky appearance.

Shen Xin looked away, scooped up the toast from the pot, spread some strawberry jam on it, and told Jing Yan to take it outside.

She took out a teapot and cup from the cupboard, then brewed a pot of honey passion fruit tea.

They had harvested honey today.

There was a slot in each beehive that, after putting in a jar, would fill it with honey after three minutes of settling time.

The honey was harvested every three days, so the next time should be the first day of summer. It was unclear whether the flowers planted then would wither; if they did, that would be quite a loss.

Regardless, they had harvested almost half a group’s worth of honey this time, so they wouldn’t run out of honey anytime soon. Shen Xin thus kept twenty-seven flowers for observation, leaving three behind.

“This is hot; you should drink some.”

Shen Xin poured Jing Yan a cup, and Jing Yan stood frozen after taking a sip.

“What’s wrong? Is it not sweet enough because I added too little honey?” Shen Xin tasted it herself and thought it was fine.

“I didn’t… Oh, it’s very tasty. After I drank it, my throat suddenly felt very comfortable.” Jing Yan opened his survival handbook and discovered that his cold symptoms had disappeared, replaced with a “moistening the lungs and stopping coughs” status.

Shen Xin had a sudden epiphany. “Indeed, honey has this effect. My mom buys me a jar every autumn and winter. You’ve been coughing the last few days, right? When we leave, you should take a bottle with you.”

“Okay~” Jing Yan took a bite of his fruit bread and then a sip of his honey passion fruit. He thought that life was just a bit too good sometimes.

Especially after drinking an incredibly bitter cold medicine first thing in the morning, this breakfast seemed even more delicious.

Jing Yan once again took action, showering Shen Xin with compliments left and right. After finishing his shower of compliments, he felt that he owed Shen Xin even more favors.

Every day, his partner delivered food and other goods to him; clearly, Shen Xin was providing him with exactly what he needed, when he needed it. In contrast, the care he put into choosing the ore and seeds he gifted his partner was woefully inadequate…

Shen Xin, who didn’t notice Stumpy’s expression had sunk, continued eating and chatting. “By the way, summer is coming in two days. Can you help me out with something on the first morning of summer? I want to buy some summer seeds.”

Here’s my chance!

Jing Yan quickly sat up straight. “Sure! I’ll wait for you in front of the shop.”

“Old He opens the shop at 7 P.M. Let’s meet at 6:50.”

“Sounds good!”

After finishing his meal, Jing Yan helped clean up the dishes. Since he had to wait for Shen Xin to make winter clothes, he decided not to go down into the cave today and instead ran into the mountains to hack away at some monsters, collecting a decent amount of ore and seeds.

Yet he hadn’t expected an even more surprising event to occur during this trip out.