Hiiii, so sorry for the over two weeks late update, this is the first of the six I was meant to schedule. I’ll schedule 2 for everyday until Friday. Thanks for understanding!

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The contents of the third chest, however, took him by surprise: inside were a white cloth bag, a wooden box, and a small blue ceramic jar.

Both the cloth bag and the wooden box had withstood over a century without decaying; they were clearly no ordinary items.

Cen An recognized the first two items at a glance: the former was the Fresh Spirit Storage Bag, a storage item designed to keep fresh fruits and vegetables from spoiling, no matter how long they were kept inside. However, this bag could only be used once; once the contents were removed, it would shatter.

The latter was the Fragrant Wooden Box, another storage item designed to preserve herbs and pills, ensuring their potency remains intact no matter how long they’re kept inside. It, too, was a single-use item.

As for the last ceramic jar, Cen An didn’t recognize it, but he suspected its function was similar.

He opened the celadon jar first; inside was a container of white powder.

【Congratulations! You have obtained 5 Cave Hydra Shell Powders】

Cave Hydra Shell Powder? That’s actually a good item. He put it away.

He then opened the Fresh Spirit Treasure Bag, and a few fruits rolled out with a rumbling sound.

【Congratulations! You have obtained 3 Sugar-Hearted Apples】

【Congratulations! You have obtained Fragrant Apricots x4】

Cen An was instantly at a loss for words—such a precious storage item, and he was using it just to hold a few pieces of fruit?

But then he thought about it: there wasn’t a single speck of greenery to be seen in this mine. Compared to that, fruit was… actually quite precious, wasn’t it?

He shook his head and opened the Medicinal Fragrance Wooden Box.

【You have obtained 1 Ascending Sword Grass, 1 Hundred Treasures Herb, and 1 Stone Skin Spirit Root】

He blinked. These three herbs, though… were actually quite valuable.

Ascending Sword Grass combined with a Swordhorn Beetle can be used to craft Ascending Sword Pills, which increase attack power by 20% upon consumption. As it happened, he already had a Swordhorn Beetle on hand…

As for the Hundred Treasures Herb and the Stone-Skin Spirit Root, combined with Purple Mist Grass, they can be used to craft Purple Mist Hundred Herbs Pills, which increase defense by 30% upon consumption—and he just happened to have some Purple Mist Grass on hand as well…

It was truly as if the moment he thought of something, it appeared. He happily stowed the herbs away. “Let’s go. It’s time to head out.”

Su Rui walked beside him. “Can’t we eat the apple now?”

Cen An was speechless. “You know what an apple is?”

Su Rui gave him a somewhat displeased look. “We have them in the mountains, too.”

Cen An was about to say, “Why haven’t I seen any before…” but then he realized he probably didn’t actually recognize apple trees; to him, a tree without fruit looked just like any ordinary tree. “Let’s eat them at mealtime, shall we?”

Su Rui reluctantly agreed.

The two left the stone house and began gathering resources on this level.

Iron ore, copper ore, silver ore… basically, any ore was fair game. Su Rui had figured it out by now: aside from the land itself, the person beside him wanted everything.

Just as the two were scouring the ground, Su Rui suddenly turned his head. “I hear something.”

Cen An immediately recalled that when they first came down, Su Rui had mentioned hearing faint sounds on this level.

Su Rui led him away from their spot on tiptoe, heading in a certain direction… After walking for about ten minutes, Cen An looked up and was instantly surprised: Another house?

But upon looking more closely, he realized he’d misjudged it—the triangular shape in the distance wasn’t a building at all, but a tree.

Uh… wait a minute, a tree in a mine shaft doesn’t seem quite right, does it?

A rustling sound came from beneath the tree. Since Su Rui hadn’t mentioned any danger, Cen An didn’t think much of it. He stared at the tree for a moment and recognized it: “It’s a Rock-Crevice Thornbush—it can be used to make damage-reflecting armor… but how did it grow this big?”

“Just ask it!” No sooner had the words left his mouth than Su Rui darted out. When he returned, he was clutching a squeaking little creature in his hand.

The little thing looked a bit like a mouse, yet it was incredibly cute—much like the golden hamster breed he’d kept as a pet in his previous life, except its fur was a vivid emerald green.

It seemed somewhat sentient; its two little front paws were clasped together, and it kept waving at Su Rui, tears welling up in its little black-bean-like eyes.

Cen An looked at it again and again, finally digging up information about the little creature from the depths of his memory. “I think this might be… a Green Shade Rat?”

Su Rui: “A rat? Is it tasty?”

The Shade Rat immediately let out a shrill, piercing screech.

“I don’t think this one’s edible,” Cen An thought to himself. “Let me see… the Shade Rat seems to be a type of special-function animal that helps plants grow more lush…”

A few seconds later, he gave up. “I really can’t remember the rest, but it definitely isn’t edible. Besides, there isn’t much meat on it. Stop thinking about eating it all the time.”

Cen An had only seen the Green Shade Rat’s description once in the game’s hints. Logically speaking, a creature that makes plants grow more lushly should be quite popular among farming game players. But the problem was that the Green Shade Rat was simply too rare. Cen An had played for so long without ever encountering one, so naturally, he didn’t have a strong impression of it.

Su Rui snorted and tossed the little creature onto the ground. Instead of running away, the little thing spun around in place, then climbed up Cen An’s leg to his shoulder, letting out two pitiful yet ingratiating “cheep-cheep” sounds.

“Huh? What does that mean?” Cen An tilted his head to look at it.

“Cheep, cheep!” The little green mouse cautiously nuzzled his ear and pointed its front paws toward the thorns growing out of the rock crevice.

“Do you want me to go over there?” Cen An had never seen such a human-like creature before; his curiosity piqued, he walked in the direction it had indicated.

Upon closer inspection, the thornbush growing in the crevice appeared even larger, nearly as tall as the big trees outside. For it to thrive so well in such a barren environment, this little Green Shade Mouse must have put in a great deal of effort.

Still, “Why did you bring me here?” Cen An remained puzzled.

Su Rui, on the other hand, understood. “This tree is dying, isn’t it?”

“How could that be? It looks fine to me,” Cen An said in surprise.

“Deep in the mountains, every living thing will die in due time,” Su Rui said matter-of-factly. “Whether it’s you, me, or the rock-crevice thornbush.”

“I suppose you’re right…” Cen An mused, glancing at the silly dog—he hadn’t expected him to utter such philosophical words.

“So,” the silly dog perked up again a moment later, “why don’t we have lunch first?”

“……” Cen An turned his head again to look at the Green Shade Mouse. “So, did you bring me here to save it? I can’t do that, you know.”

The little green mouse chirped twice more, darted down from his shoulder, and led him to the roots of the Thornbush in the Rock Crevice. “Chirp, chirp!”

“Here? What’s going on…” Cen An reached out to touch it, but suddenly sensed something was wrong. The roots of the Rock-Crevice Thorn here were extremely fragile; with just a slight tug, the entire tree toppled sideways.

Thud!

【Congratulations! You have obtained 63 Rock Crevice Thorns】

Cen An was instantly stunned. A single ordinary Rock Crevice Thorn usually yields only 1 to 2 units, yet this massive tree had yielded a whopping 63 units! This must truly be an ancient, ancestral-level tree.

“Uh…” Cen An realized what he’d done and immediately felt embarrassed. Knocking the tree over—how could he possibly…

But then he saw the little Green Shade Mouse standing in front of the remaining stump, hopping back and forth and wagging its tail high in the air. It actually seemed… quite happy?

“I told you it was going to die anyway. Finding a use for it is better than rotting here. We mountain beasts are pretty laid-back about these things.” Su Rui didn’t seem to mind at all.

Cen An thought that made sense, but added, “Did you forget you’re human? Come on, stop looking so serious. Let’s go down another level, and then we’ll have lunch, okay?”

Behind him, the Green Shade Rat, seeing him leave, scrambled up the slope on all four legs to catch up, once again leaping onto his shoulder.

“Huh? You’re coming with me too? Alright… you’re so small, you shouldn’t be hard to take care of…”

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After descending to the seventeenth level, Cen An kept his word and began preparing lunch.

For lunch, he made clay-oven chicken.

The two plump chickens in Su Rui’s space were still alive—he had no idea where he’d caught them, but they were even fatter than the ones Cen An had bought at the market in his previous life.

Since cleaning the chickens required water and making clay-oven chicken required mud… the two of them returned to the 10th level.

Lin She was almost used to it; over the past couple of days, a head would pop up from the hole in the corner of the wall every now and then. He couldn’t be bothered to pay attention; he just peeked out from under his eyelids and let them be.

Cen An didn’t dare disturb him, so he just built a fire near the water’s edge. Su Rui, on the other hand, shamelessly stole two cassava roots and three ground fruits.

Cen An didn’t bother with him either; after all, he planned to share some of the cooked chicken with Senior Lin.

He helped Su Rui prepare the chicken: they gutted it, stuffed it with various spices, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, and cassava, then coated the outside with a layer of seasoning powder and soy sauce. Once marinated, it was ready to roast.

There weren’t many leaves, so Cen An had a sudden idea: he wrapped the chicken in three layers of thoroughly washed cave moss on the inside, then covered the outermost layer with large leaves.

He didn’t know what kind of leaves they were—Su Rui had found them in his spatial pocket—but they were non-toxic and gave off a lemongrass-like scent.

After wrapping the plump chicken and coating it with smooth mud, they formed two large mud balls, ready to be placed in the fire to roast.

At first, Lin She was still somewhat interested; after all, the garlic-flavored venison this little guy had brought last time was truly delicious.

But this time…

When he saw Cen An wrapping the chicken in moss, the corners of Lin She’s mouth started twitching. And when he saw him smearing mud all over it… Lin She simply closed his eyes.

What on earth is this? The kid is so clueless—he’s exactly like that old devil Mo Wenxuan was in his youth!

Cen An had no idea what he was thinking. This was the traditional way to prepare “beggar’s chicken”—and once wrapped in the mud crust, the meat inside would slowly steam to perfection, making it incredibly fragrant!

Considering that Senior Lin was still unwell, and the iron pot was sitting idle anyway, Cen An went ahead and cooked up a pot of moss soup.

Moss soup serves a similar purpose to moss energy cakes—it nourishes the body and restores energy, and it also has some restorative properties, making it quite suitable for the sick.

Since there was no shortage of moss in the cave, Cen An didn’t hold back; he grabbed a big handful and tossed it in. As the water came to a boil, a savory aroma reminiscent of kelp soup wafted up.

Timing it just right, Cen An sprinkled in some minced scallions and garlic, and the aroma immediately reached new heights.

Lin She, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them. His expression softened; this dish was actually quite good.

The soup was ready, and so was the clay-baked chicken.

Cen An used a small stick to poke out the red-hot lumps of clay, tapping them to break them apart, then directed Su Rui to fetch them. “Carefully peel back the outer layer of leaves—don’t dirty the moss underneath; it’s edible…”

Su Rui was even more serious than he was. With a thin layer of metal coating his hands, he carefully peeled back the leaves—

In that instant, an explosive burst of rich aroma filled the small chamber.

Su Rui’s expression grew even more solemn, his movements quickening as he kept his eyes fixed on the chicken. “Can I eat the whole thing?”

Cen An’s mouth twitched. “Sure…”

Lin She, lying on the stone bed, opened his eyes. What was going on? Was this thing actually delicious?

Cen An laid a layer of moss energy cakes on the wooden tray, plucked a chicken leg and a wing, ladled a bowl of moss soup, and added a bowl of cassava ground fruit and assorted mushrooms. He carried it all neatly over to the stone bed. “Senior Lin, dinner’s ready.”

After he left, Lin She opened his eyes and stared blankly at the wooden tray. It seemed as though a voice he hadn’t heard in thirty years was echoing in his ears: “A-She, it’s time to eat.”

Cen An returned to his spot, where Su Rui was already hugging a chicken and gnawing on it heartily.

He must have practiced some kind of divine martial art; even such rough movements didn’t look awkward, but rather exuded a bold, unrestrained grace.

Cen An didn’t have such a hearty appetite; he first served himself a bowl of moss soup to settle his stomach.

It was indeed as delicious as kelp soup… What was even more remarkable was that kelp soup usually requires meat to be added for it to taste good. Yet this moss soup contained no meat, yet possessed a rich, mellow aroma all its own. The moss floating in the soup was crisp to the bite, with thick, succulent leaves that offered an excellent texture.

Cen An drank about half a bowl of soup before picking up his chopsticks to tear the chicken apart and eat it.