Chapter 48: The Squad That Never Returned

Liu Liu turned its canine head to the side; hadn’t this human already figured it out? Why ask again? Even as an artificial intelligence, even those little sprites designed to answer questions disliked repeating themselves.

Yun Qing returned to her wooden cabin, a cramped space barely eight square meters, furnished with a bed, a basic fabricator, and an energy converter. It was crowded. She pushed the bed as far from the door as possible, nestling it against one wall, then arranged the two machines against the opposite wall. At last, a narrow passage emerged, making the room feel less cluttered.

“Liu Liu, this tiny house can maybe fit a cabinet. If I wanted a table and chair, I’d have to tear it down and rebuild.”

“You need to earn more silver, upgrade quickly, and expand your homestead—then you can build a bigger house.”

After organizing her belongings, Yun Qing eyed the bed. Its surface was riddled with four- or five-centimeter gaps between the planks. No wonder the system warned her that sleeping here would leave her aching. How could it not? Still, she had nothing to complain about—having a bed in an absolutely safe place was a luxury.

She ignored the threat of soreness and lay down to rest. She tossed and turned; the boards were hard, the gaps uncomfortable. She expected sleep to elude her, but only moments after closing her eyes, she drifted into a fitful slumber.

…

In Ye Family Village, many stood at the entrance, including the village chief. Not a single member of the seventh squad, who had gone hunting that day, had returned—among them was Ye Wenjing, the chief’s cherished daughter.

Before the onset of the dark night, the chief had sent a plea for help to a sect, and cultivators arrived promptly to resolve the crisis. He assumed the rescuers were those he’d summoned, and after the village was saved, he made no further contact with the sect. This caused the Central Continent Cultivation Alliance to miss the prime window for investigation.

Ye Wei led a small team back from outside the village. The chief hurried to meet them, asking, “How did it go?”

Exhausted, Ye Family Village’s guard captain, Ye Wei, replied, worry etched on his face, “From the area assigned to the seventh squad, it seems they encountered several soul corpses at the small cabin eight li out. Judging by the signs of battle, no one was injured or bled. Based on their tracks, they headed toward the toxic wheat fields. But the night there is treacherous and visibility poor. We followed their trail for several li, but found no further footprints. We’ll have to search again in daylight.”

A guard added, “There were occasional signs of fighting along the way, but no blood. Later, there were no traces at all. Likely, they’ve found a safe place to hide.”

The chief nodded. Though anxious, he could do nothing. The vast and dangerous toxic wheat fields posed immense risks to searchers at night; all they could do was wait for morning.

…

After being chased by soul corpses, Yun Qing didn’t leave. The four members of the squad hoped to quickly deal with their enemies but didn’t expect two more soul corpses to burst from the cabin. Now even their survival was at stake. Judging by their attire, these four belonged to another village’s squad, sheltering in the cabin when the dark night fell.

One-on-one, the four were no match. Ye Mao immediately ordered, “Avoid their attack—run!”

…

When Yun Qing awoke, her mind and energy were fully restored. Sure enough, her back ached. How could she get a better bed? She didn’t need to ask Liu Liu; she could guess—raise favorability, draw for prizes, obtain the formula for an advanced bed, then craft one.

Checking her sanctuary’s level-one energy, she found it just over a hundred points less than before she slept. Likely, a hundred was consumed while she slept inside, and the extra was spent by the trees in her fields.

The trees in the fields had matured. After harvesting them, Yun Qing, saving silver, refrained from planting more trees and instead crafted a simple wooden cabinet.

Unsure of the current time, she checked the system clock: three in the morning.

Rested and with nothing to do in the sanctuary, Yun Qing asked, “Liu Liu, can I view the outside from within?”

“Yes, you can. At present, checking the outside environment costs twenty energy points per viewing. The more complex the environment, the more energy it requires.”

“Then I won’t look.” Yun Qing exited the sanctuary with a thought—leaving and reentering didn’t cost as much energy.

Outside, a bright moon hung in the sky.

Moonlight pierced the darkness, but unlike daylight, visibility was limited. Still, there was an upside: under the silvery glow, objects shrouded in poisonous gas stood out more clearly.

Without needing to focus as intensely as during the day, Yun Qing could see everywhere—polluted blood-staunching grass, polluted flax, polluted qi-ginseng, polluted pain-relief herbs, polluted chili peppers.

Only matured herbs could be harvested using the gathering skill; immature ones could be dug up with iron pliers and tossed into the energy converter.

In the deserted toxic wheat fields, these ordinary herbs were scattered everywhere, sometimes in dense patches.

Yun Qing dug with delight—more herbs today meant more silver back in the village and more energy.

Using iron pliers to dig herbs had its downside: it didn’t grant gathering experience. But silver and energy were urgently needed, and gathering experience could wait.

The toxic wheat fields were perilous at night. Yun Qing dared not venture into dense woods, sticking to open ground illuminated by pale moonlight. She advanced cautiously, tapping with a long wooden stick to feel her way forward.

Not that she wanted to stumble blindly, but visibility was poor, and she feared water or pits ahead.

Digging up various herbs, she occasionally found unpolluted ones, which, when gathered, provided experience.

Suddenly, her stick hooked a vine, and something the size of a fist caught her eye.

“Melon, can be gathered. Requires level 20 gathering skill.”

Melon! Ye Qiaoqiao had taught her to recognize them. She’d seen the vines before, never a ripe melon. This was her first, and following the vine, she found not just one, but several.

This was the first fruit she’d encountered in this strange world besides wild strawberries.

After picking one by hand, Yun Qing searched and found three fist-sized melons in all.

Untouched by cultivation or improvement, the melons were small.

She examined the one in her hand—green tinged with white, exuding a faint fruity fragrance.

Melon: can be eaten directly, used in various dishes, quenches thirst and satisfies hunger.

Seeing the words “quenches thirst,” Yun Qing couldn’t help but swallow. She hadn’t brought much water, and had been rationing what she had.

‘Melon, restores 20 hunger points.’

No flavor rating, no attribute boost; Yun Qing’s expectations for the melon dwindled.

After brushing off its fine fuzz on her clothes, she bit into the melon. The rind was tough, but the flesh was crisp. One bite revealed fruit about a centimeter thick and inside, rows of yellow-orange seeds.

The flesh was sweet and juicy; each chew released a burst of juice. With every mouthful, Yun Qing’s palate was filled with lingering sweetness.

Delicious!

A wilderness thirst-quencher!