Cen An returned home with a heavy crystal core in his pocket. After setting down the seasonings and wild greens he’d gathered along the way, he immediately opened his farm page.

He glanced at his balance, then navigated to the land purchase page. In one go, he bought four plots of 【Fertile Black Soil】.

Combined with his previous two plots, he now owned six black soil parcels.

He rearranged the layout, dividing the six plots into two rows of three each. This filled the open space in front of his small, dilapidated house.

If he wanted to buy more land, it would have to go behind the house. The open area behind the house is connected to the mountain, making it less conspicuous than the front and offering a larger area.

Cen An opened the seed purchase page again, buying one pack each of bok choy, white radish, sweet asparagus, and colorful tomato seeds.

For the remaining two plots, he pondered carefully before adding another pack of white radish and one of sweet asparagus.

If the goal was rapid farm leveling, planting only colorful tomatoes would be the most cost-effective choice. Their high price meant they offered substantial experience points.

However, Cen An now had to consider marketability. Bok choy and white radish could soothe psychic abilities, making them essential for squad members.

Sweet asparagus enhances abilities, so ambitious individuals would certainly need it too.

As for the colorful tomatoes, though he hadn’t grown them yet, Cen An guessed their effect was likely related to ability enhancement. But without confirmation, he decided to plant just one portion for now.

The crystal cores in his hand clattered into the system, leaving him with 812 remaining.

With the seeds secured, Cen An swung his hoe and began planting.

【Gained x5 EXP】

【Gained x8 EXP】

【Gained x12 EXP】

【Gained x15 EXP】

The system announced tirelessly until the long-awaited voice finally sounded:

【Congratulations on Reaching Level 3!】

【New Seeds Unlocked!】

【New Land Unlocked!】

Cen An didn’t rush to check the seeds or land, choosing instead to wait.

Finally—

【House Upgrade Feature Activated!】

Cen An froze, then felt a surge of delight. A new feature for upgrading his house?

House upgrades were a common feature in games from his past life.

In fact, this function was ubiquitous across major games: collect enough materials, and the system would upgrade your residence. Some games even offered pre-built houses in different styles for players to choose from…

But to implement this in reality? Wasn’t the system’s capability a bit too powerful?

Cen An grew increasingly curious about the system’s origins.

He opened the house upgrade function, revealing the familiar interface:

【House Level: Shabby Shack

Description: Is this even habitable?

Next Level: Ordinary Log Cabin

Upgrade Materials Required: Wood x1000, Hay x800, Stone x500, Hardwood x300, Softwood x200, Clay x100, Tree Sap x100, Iron Ingot x100, Long Leaves x80, Broad Leaves x80…】

That long list of materials made Cen An’s hand tremble. Even if they gave him another wind-cold fruit tree, he still couldn’t gather enough…

He shook his head and clicked open the seeds page to check the newly unlocked seeds. Farm Level 3 had only unlocked one type of seed:

【Cold Jade Melon Seed

Price: 500 crystal cores

Variety: Fruit

Growing Requirements: Shade-loving, Sandy Soil

Growth Time: 15 days 23 hours】

Sandy soil… Cen An pondered briefly before opening the land purchase interface.

Sure enough, behind 【Fertile Black Soil】, the option 【Fertile Sandy Soil】 appeared.

Glancing at the price, he gasped—sandy soil cost 500 crystal cores per plot! That meant growing this Jade Melon would require 1000 crystal cores just for seeds and land.

With costs this high, he wondered what use this Jade Melon could possibly have.

Another tap opened a new system page:

Farm Name: Harvest Farm

Level: 3

Experience: 3900/50000

Wealth: 812 crystal cores

Land Owned: 6

House Upgrade System: Unlocked

Fish Pond: Unlockable for 1000 crystal cores

Livestock Shed: Unlockable for 3000 crystal cores

Inventory: Axe x1, Hoe x1, Pickaxe x1, Iron Sword x1, Baby Bok Choy x30, White Radish x30, Sweet Asparagus x30, Wooden Whistle x1, Straw Rabbit x1】

He now owned 6 plots of black soil and had 812 crystal cores remaining. Compared to his penniless state at the beginning, it was truly night and day.

Cen An smiled as he closed the interface.

Next up: working hard to upgrade the house… He’d harbored resentment toward this ramshackle shack for ages.

Not to mention those two gaping holes in the roof—they were an eyesore.

He picked up the broken bamboo basket and headed inside. Night was falling; it was time to eat.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

As dusk fell over the deserted mountains, Xiao Yi was running for his life.

Behind him, several masked figures pursued relentlessly.

Though young, Xiao Yi had grown up scrambling through these wild hills. Agile as a monkey and familiar with the terrain, he managed to shake his pursuers for the moment.

He made it back to his makeshift hut.

The child had indeed gathered branches to build himself a hut.

It wasn’t that Yongning Village wouldn’t help him build a wooden house; he simply refused their offers.

As for the reason…

Xiao Yi dove headfirst into the hut. Before the pursuers arrived, he frantically dragged his straw bedding, pressing it down onto a patch of disturbed earth.

There lay the small cabbages and white radishes Cen An had given him. He’d seen villagers storing root vegetables and knew burying them preserved them better than leaving them exposed.

It was precisely because of these vegetables that he’d declined the villagers’ offer to help build his hut.

From what Tian Yuan, Yu Fei, and Yu Lin had said, he understood these vegetables were no ordinary crop. Naturally, he wouldn’t betray Cen An’s secret… even though Cen An had never asked him to keep it.

A seven or eight-year-old boy’s strength was limited. He dragged the straw bed over with all his might, but just as he finished placing it, his pursuers arrived.

The leader deliberately altered his voice, speaking in a deep, gruff tone: “Kid, hand over your vegetables, and we’ll let you go. Otherwise, a beating will be the least of your troubles!”

Xiao Yi stared at them coldly, showing no fear. “I told you, I don’t have any vegetables! If you don’t leave now, I’ll call for help!”

The leader snorted coldly and raised his hand.

A sudden gust of wind swept across the flat ground, whipping sand and dust into Xiao Yi’s face. The grit instantly blinded his eyes. Xiao Yi snapped to realization—these people were ability users!

He opened his mouth to scream, but someone had already lunged forward, covering his mouth and nose.

Xiao Yi struggled desperately!

The man, covering his mouth, dared not use force, only trying to restrain him as best he could. He whispered hoarsely, “This kid’s as strong as a bull calf… Hurry up!”

Xiao Yi heard the rustling sounds of searching all around him. He seethed inwardly—these people were searching for Cen An! Looking for Cen An’s vegetables!

The shack was built by Xiao Yi himself, and the supplies were gathered after the Gloomy Rain Period. How much could there be? The masked men finished searching in moments, frowning. “Nothing? Impossible. He must have hidden it…”

“Wait, there’s a wooden jar here. What the hell is this… Damn, it’s spicy!”

“Must be Cen An’s doing too. Take it back…”

Just as they spoke, a sudden shout erupted: “Damn it! That kid…”

Xiao Yi had fought free of the ability user’s grip despite his injuries, even biting down hard on the man’s hand!

His face was covered in sand, tears streaming from squinted eyes, yet his gaze was sharp as a young wolf cub’s. “I’ll kill you all!”

A dark shadow whizzed through the air. Several ability users instinctively ducked, only realizing as it neared that it was merely a piece of wood.

The ability user holding the jar felt his hand go empty, a sharp pain in his knuckles as three claw marks appeared. “Ow!”

That kid snatched the jar when they weren’t looking, then leaped out of the shack!

“Quick, chase him!”

“Chase my ass! Didn’t you see he ran into the village? Are you trying to make sure everyone knows we’re masked child-snatchers? Have you no shame?”

“Look who’s talking! You couldn’t even cover a kid properly. What good are you?”

“You try it then! What if you smothered him with too much force…”

“Shut it down!” The leader in black, furious, ripped off his mask—it was Jiang Ming, the one standing beside Shi Long earlier. His eyes swept menacingly over the group. “Save your breath. Figure out how to explain this to Team Leader Shi!”

Xiao Yi clutched the pepper jar and jogged along. By the time he realized it, he found himself running once more to Cen An’s ramshackle hut.

A tantalizing aroma wafted from inside. Having skipped breakfast and run all this way, his stomach was already empty, growling loudly.

The wooden door suddenly swung open. The face he’d longed to see in his dreams appeared, startled. “Xiao Yi?”

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Earlier, Cen An had entered the house carrying a bamboo basket, first inspecting today’s harvest.

The various seasonings gathered along the way went without saying—they’d be dried and stored properly.

He set aside thirty of each of the baby bok choy, white radishes, and sweet asparagus. He couldn’t possibly eat it all himself, so he divided it into portions to save for his friends.

One portion each for Yu Fei and Yu Lin. Tian Yuan claimed he wasn’t a true ability user, but he had awakened abilities after all—a little of this surely couldn’t hurt.

Besides, sweet asparagus could enhance psychic abilities. Maybe if he ate enough, he could become a full-fledged ability user?

There was also the dog owner. Though they hadn’t seen each other in ages, they were still meat-sharing buddies, so he set aside a portion for him, too.

After all this dividing, he had very little left for himself.

He turned his attention to the milk cake and roe deer meat Qu Yue had given him.

The roe deer meat was cut into perfectly sized chunks, wrapped in clean leaves. It weighed about ten jin—roughly twenty pounds—the most tender and succulent cuts from the entire animal.

Then he examined the milk cake, also wrapped in leaves. Unwrapping it and taking a sniff, he realized to his surprise that it was actually a piece of cheese.

Yongning Village didn’t raise cattle. He had no idea where Qu Yue and her group had obtained this milk cake—it must have taken tremendous effort…

Cen An pursed his lips, put the cheese away, and took out the roe deer meat.

He’d never tasted roe deer meat in his previous life and didn’t know any special recipes. So he tossed it into the pot, added scallions, ginger, garlic, star anise, bay leaves, and other seasonings. He then pierced two soy sauce fruits and squeezed their contents in before starting the braising process.

Even dinosaur meat tastes good when braised.

Lost in thought, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside.

Guards stood watch at the entrance, and Cen An, no longer as cautious as before, pushed the door open to investigate—and there stood Xiao Yi.

“Xiao Yi?” Cen An froze, then gasped. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

Xiao Yi stood at the doorway looking utterly wretched. His clothes were torn and dust-covered, tear streaks still visible on her face (from sand getting in his eyes), his exposed arms bruised and battered (from struggling), his expression dazed (from staring at him in awe). He looked every bit the pitiful little victim who’d been thoroughly bullied.

Cen An’s heart ached instantly. “Did someone bully you?” he demanded angrily.

Xiao Yi pressed his lips together, glanced at him, then quickly lowered his head. “Someone’s investigating you. They want your vegetables. You should be careful… If it gets too bad, tell the other three… Never mind, I’ll tell them for you…”

With that, he turned to leave.

He shouldn’t have come in the first place, the little boy thought. This man has no special abilities; he’s soft-hearted and easily fooled. Even if he knew, he couldn’t do anything about it. Better to just tell the other three directly…

“Stop!” A shout came from behind, and Xiao Yi instinctively halted his steps.

He heard the man sigh softly as warm, dry palms enveloped his grimy little hands. “Doesn’t your body hurt? Aren’t you hungry? Come inside and eat first.”

The small hut remained warm and bright, the aroma of food filling every corner, just like the dreams Xiao Yi had been having these past few days.

Cen An brought over a wooden basin and carefully washed him.

Xiao Yi sat quietly, a look of bewilderment on his face.

The water was warm, and even the animal skin used for wiping was soft and gentle. He had never even touched such a skin before, yet now it was being carelessly dampened to clean the grime from his body…

“Oh dear, such a large scrape! Doesn’t it hurt?” Cen An frowned, fetching a packet of rejuvenation paste from the inner room before carefully applying it.

The deep green ointment brought a cool sensation, instantly soothing the stinging pain in his wounds.

Xiao Yi snapped back to reality, stammering awkwardly, “Th-thank you…”

Cen An paused, then smiled softly as she ruffled his hair. “Alright, let’s eat first. I heard your stomach growling.”

Xiao Yi flushed instantly. He didn’t want to look so helpless in front of him…

The meal was soon served, with rice as today’s staple.

Large chunks of braised roe deer meat, drenched in thick sauce, were heaped generously over the rice.

Steamed ground fruit was mixed with three roadside-picked eggplants, shredded and tossed together with minced garlic, scallions, and soy sauce.

The dish looked downright unappetizing, but tasted absolutely delicious.

A meal steeped in Northeastern flavor.

Hmm, Northeastern flavor…

Cen An pondered, glancing at the table before retrieving two small Chinese cabbages. He split them open, washed the tender leaves, and set them aside.

Being in Northeast China, how could one not make rice wraps?

Speaking of which, though called “small Chinese cabbage,” these actually differed from the variety in his past life—much larger in size with exceptionally tender leaves. They were perfect for rice wraps.

Seeing the little boy’s bewildered expression, Cen An smiled, picked up a leaf, placed several spoonfuls of rice on it, added a generous scoop of ground fruit stir-fried eggplant, then topped it with two thick slices of roe deer meat. She folded it up and handed it over. “Here, try this.”

Xiao Yi’s hands moved faster than his brain. He took it blankly and took a big bite—

The bok choy was as fresh as if just picked, its leaves tender and sweet, even the stems free of any fibrousness.

The rice, freshly pounded just days ago, carried a rich, fragrant aroma; the eggplant mixed with ground fruit, seasoned with a hint of minced garlic, was spicy and appetizingly savory…

And atop it all, that large piece of marinated roe deer meat—its fibers saturated with marinade, the flavor fully infused. Eating it in big bites, the aroma was beyond description!

What was even more remarkable was how a single rice packet managed to blend all these flavors together. One bite left you craving more.

By the time Xiao Yi realized it, he’d already eaten half the rice packet!

“Delicious, right?” Cen An winked at him with a smile. “I had this once as a kid and craved it for years.”

Back then, an elderly woman from Northeast China came to donate money. Seeing the group of skinny, dark-skinned children, her heart ached. So, after her donation, she treated the entire orphanage to a meal.

It was all Northeastern specialties, including this rice ball. Cen An devoured three in one go and nearly stuffed himself sick.

Xiao Yi watched his smile, quickly lowered his head, and began eating slowly.

Only after finishing his meal did Cen An gently ask what had happened.

Xiao Yi gave a brief account and demanded that Cen An inform Yu Fei and the others immediately.

Cen An smiled. “Alright, leave these matters to the adults. You have your own responsibilities to attend to.”

Xiao Yi looked puzzled.

Cen An pulled him into the inner room, where a new bamboo cot had been prepared. “It’s late. A child should be sleeping.”

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Deep into the night, the moon crept up silently only to be swallowed by clouds again. The wind began to stir.

In the darkness, a group of people moved stealthily forward.

They had changed into black clothing, their faces concealed by matching black scarves. Their footsteps were soundless, propelled by a faint current of air that accelerated their pace—the work of wind-element abilities.

They traversed the entire village without encountering a single patrol—whether by luck or due to an insider remained unknown.

Within ten minutes, they reached their destination: a pitch-black, dilapidated wooden hut. A large open space stretched before it, and three simple rain shelters sat atop the roof, oddly cute in their clumsiness.

The leader shot a glance around. Two figures exchanged resigned glances before quietly creeping forward.

The leader rolled his eyes, unable to hold back his impatience. “He’s just an ordinary person! What are you afraid of? Hurry up!”

The two had no choice but to pick up their pace.

The open space in front of the house offered no cover, leaving them exposed to the others’ gaze. Suddenly, one of them stumbled back half a step. “…Oh no!”

The other wasn’t so fortunate. “Ah… Mmmph!”

His scream was cut off mid-cry as wind sealed his mouth shut. The leader, a wind ability user, wouldn’t tolerate any noise.

The others, however, saw it clearly: the thin layer of soil covering the ground suddenly bulged upward. A thick, heavy trap emerged abruptly, snapping shut around his ankle. Through the trap’s cold, gleaming metal, they could see his ankle was already deformed—undoubtedly fractured!

Another dodged in time, unharmed but drenched in cold sweat. He rushed to free the trapped man, supporting him as they retreated.

The ability user shot them a vicious glance. That such a simple trap could trouble them was unexpected. He immediately waved his hand again.

Behind him, the others glanced nervously at each other, clearly unwilling to step forward.

Finally, with no other choice, a wood-elemental ability user stepped forward with a grimace. He spread his hands, and a vine shot out.

The vine swept silently across the ground. Crackling sounds erupted as several more traps were triggered, springing open one after another.

The wind-elemental ability user looked satisfied. He led the group forward slowly.

The vine continued to scout ahead, occasionally sweeping across already-checked ground and nearly tripping them up…

After stumbling over the vine yet again, the wind-type ability user couldn’t help but growl, “Retract your vine!”

The wood-type ability user froze. “I… I didn’t release any vine?”

The wind ability user fumed, “You didn’t? If you didn’t, then why was I tripped by a dog…”

Mid-sentence, he sensed something amiss. The vine was approaching again, even coiling around his ankle. “Wait—”

Whoosh—

The vine whipped his ankle upward, sending him flying. “Aaah—”

No one gagged him, though. That scream was deafening—half of Yongning Village’s lamps lit up from the noise.

The small shack brightened too.

Soft light seeped through door and window cracks. All the masked intruders grew tense, except for the one still being tossed around by the strangling vines.

A chuckle echoed from within the room. “Is that all you’ve got? You dare come looking for trouble with Brother Cen?”

The wooden door swung open from the inside, and the uninvited guests witnessed a familiar scene once more: Cen An sat at the far end, surrounded by three ability users who watched the commotion with mild curiosity.

Beside him, Yu Fei and Yu Lin stood flanking him, while Tian Yuan crossed his arms and yawned. “Alright, enough playing around.”

Before the masked figures could process who he was addressing, a dark shadow flew overhead. Thud! A human-shaped object dropped to the floor.

The plant disdainfully shook off its vines, slinking stealthily through the doorway. It brushed against Cen An’s calf.

Cen An sighed, rubbing the tip of its antennae.

The wind-type ability user on the ground had lost his mask, foaming at the mouth. His face was now clearly visible—it was none other than Jiang Ming.

It turned out that after hearing the story from Xiao Yi, Cen An had gone to Yu Fei and Tian Yuan’s house. His original intention was to warn them that whoever had targeted Xiao Yi might come for them next, giving them time to prepare.

After all, aside from the Ability Squad members, only these few received vegetables from him.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing his words, they unanimously agreed the enemy would target him.

Cen An was neither an ability user nor a hunter. In terms of combat strength (in outsiders’ eyes), he ranked lowest after Xiao Yi. Who else would they target?

Convinced, Cen An joined the others in waiting for the enemy to come to them.

The enemy did come, though much later than anyone expected—it was almost dawn.

“Are you well rested?” Tian Yuan grabbed his teacup and took a sip. “Mr. Jiang, why don’t you tell us what you’re doing here at Brother Cen’s place in the dead of night?”

Jiang Ming scrambled to his feet, glaring at them menacingly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just passing through! Your strangling vines attacked me for no reason!”

Yu Lin snorted with laughter. “Right. In the dead of night, bringing this many people, masked, ‘passing through’ someone’s yard.” He gave a thumbs-up. “True to Shi’s squad—you guys have taste.”

Jiang Ming’s expression darkened further.

“Speaking of which,” Yu Lin tilted his head, “the Ability Squad maintains village security. There are rules about trespassing into people’s homes, right?”

The masked men followed his gaze to see Qu Yue, Zhao Wu, and Wang Lie emerge from the inner room, their faces grim.

Qu Yue forced a smile and said to Cen An, “Xiao Cen, I promise I’ll give you a proper explanation for this.”

Cen An sighed and shook his head. “Sis Qu, you’re you, and he’s him. I’ve never lumped you two together.”

Qu Yue’s expression eased considerably. She waved her hand and said sternly, “Go fetch… Team Leader Shi Long.”