Zhao Wu now deeply regretted his decision.

Today, he and his wife Qu Yue had ventured deep into the mountains to hunt mutant beasts. Relying on both being Level 3 ability users, they had pushed further than usual. Unexpectedly, they encountered two Level 3 mutant beasts—Red-tailed Fox.

Though equally ranked, mutant beasts of this level possessed greater combat prowess than ability users. Though the couple fled swiftly, they were still wounded by the Red-tailed Fox.

They thought their misfortune ended there, but near the village, they encountered a pack of sharp-toothed rats.

Sharp-toothed rats weren’t known to be pack beasts. Why were so many gathered together?

The question barely formed in his mind before it vanished. Escape was his only thought now—even if he couldn’t make it out alive, he had to get Qu Yue to safety!

“Yue, listen to me! Run now! I’ll hold them off. You—”

“Shut up!” Qu Yue’s eyes blazed crimson. “You’ve forgotten who’s in charge here, haven’t you? Trying to boss me around? Dream on!”

Zhao Wu gave a bitter smile. “A-Yue…”

Qu Yue wiped her face. “Cut the crap. Kill as many as you can. I’ll die fighting before I let them have an easy time of it!”

The sharp-toothed rats seemed to sense her fighting spirit. Stirring slightly, they suddenly surged forward in unison. The black shadows skittered along the ground like a dark line closing in—

“A-Yue!” Zhao Wu, ignoring his own injuries, flung a cluster of iron spikes spattered with blood, preparing to detonate his ability!

At that moment, something fell from the sky like snow.

No, it wasn’t snow. It was a grayish-green powder carrying an indescribable scent—partly sweet, partly foul.

The wind swirled the powder, blanketing the entire small basin as the odor spread.

The sharp-toothed rats changed their behavior. As Level 1 mutant beasts, they possessed no advanced intelligence. The scent in the wind conveyed a message: prey is toxic, unfit for consumption—depart immediately…

Those that had already fed on flesh hesitated, but the others turned tail and scurried away.

Zhao Wu and Qu Yue froze. The two, who had been on the verge of fighting for their lives, were momentarily overwhelmed by the turn of events. Yet their combat instincts as ability users remained sharp. They immediately summoned their last ounce of ability, slashing down the sharp-toothed rats still frozen in place.

In mere moments, the once-dense swarm of sharp-toothed rats vanished without a trace, leaving only a field of blood-soaked carcasses behind.

Zhao Wu was the first to recover. “Which master saved my wife and me? Zhao Wu thanks you for saving our lives!”

Rustling sounds came from behind them. The couple turned and froze.

A young man was struggling to climb down from the edge of the small basin. Judging by his movements and physical condition, he wasn’t just unskilled for an ability user—he seemed unskilled even for an ordinary person.

The couple truly hadn’t expected their savior to be such a gentle, handsome-looking youth.

Lucky break, Cen An thought as he descended.

At the last moment, he’d devised a plan: sprinkling monster repellent powder around the basin’s perimeter, then puncturing the last packet and tossing it into the sharp-toothed rat swarm. Just then, a gust of wind picked up… With both timing and location working in his favor, he’d finally achieved a somewhat satisfactory outcome.

The little girl wouldn’t be an orphan after all.

He nodded to the couple. “May I ask… could I have these sharp-toothed rat carcasses?”

The couple exchanged glances. Qu Yue quickly replied, “Of course! Take them all, take everything!”

A debt of life-saving grace! What were a few rat carcasses compared to that?

Cen An began picking up the blood-soaked carcasses and stuffing them into his basket.

Qu Yue, impatient by nature, saw him filling the basket one by one and stepped in to help. “Young man, if you can’t carry them all, I’ll have my husband help you carry them back. I promise not a single one will be missing!”

Cen An glanced back at Zhao Wu, covered in blood, and decided that the promise was unlikely to be fulfilled.

【Acquired Sharp-toothed Rat Corpse x17】

Cen An took a look and was quite satisfied with this haul.

Seeing him finish packing, Qu Yue assumed he was leaving and offered readily, “I’m Qu Yue, he’s Zhao Wu. We’re ability users from Yongning Village, living near the small market there—ask anyone, and they’ll know us. Little brother, you saved both of us today. If you ever need anything, just come find us. We won’t hesitate for a second.”

Zhao Wu, less smooth-talking than his wife, nodded in agreement behind her.

This was genuine gratitude—they didn’t ask for the benefactor’s name or address, yet laid out their own details clearly. Both had witnessed the sharp-toothed rats fleeing because of that strange powder, yet showed no curiosity about it.

Their character was rock-solid.

Cen An nodded. He wasn’t skilled at socializing, nor did he particularly enjoy it, but he couldn’t leave just yet.

As he descended, something suddenly occurred to him. In the game, swarms of mutant beasts often appeared.

That was when an [Easter Egg] appeared.

“Easter eggs” was the game’s term for massive resource spawns in specific areas. For instance, a large patch of rare mushrooms was called a mushroom Easter egg, while a cluster of precious ore was termed an ore Easter egg.

This world shared a vague, yet undeniable connection to the game from his past life. Cen An felt certain an Easter egg must be hidden nearby.

Zhao Wu and Qu Yue, the couple, were still unable to move. Though ability users possessed superior physical conditioning compared to ordinary people, there were limits. Zhao Wu’s injuries were too severe for him to walk anytime soon. Thus, the two could only watch as the young man who had just saved them began wandering around the small basin.

After a decade of marriage, the couple understood each other implicitly. They exchanged glances: Do you know what this young fellow is doing?

Qu Yue: No idea. Let him be.

Zhao Wu: Stay alert. If he needs help, don’t wait for him to ask.

Qu Yue: Need I say more?

Drawing on his gaming experience, Cen An spotted an entrance concealed by shrubs along the small basin’s edge.

Parting the thicket revealed an even smaller basin within, the two basins forming a gourd-like shape.

At the sight of this terrain, Cen An knew he was in luck. This was the exact landscape where Easter eggs appeared in the game, and it was highly likely to yield medicinal plants—he just didn’t know what kind of herbs.

He twisted his body and stepped inside. Looking up, he saw a dense, lush expanse of spring glory herb crammed together.

Cen An couldn’t help but smile—truly an unexpected delight.

Spring glory herb, combined with wood ash and sawdust, could be crafted into rejuvenation paste. This potion restored substantial health, making it the most effective healing item in the early game.

Cen An immediately bent down to start harvesting.

The system notification chimed in promptly:

[Congratulations! You have obtained Spring glory herb x3]

【Congratulations! You have obtained spring glory herb x5】

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Though smaller than the previous basin, this spring glory herb hotspot still spanned at least several hundred square meters, densely packed with herbs.

Cen An bent over gathering for a long while. His backpack was already packed with seventy or eighty spring glory herbs. Looking up, he realized he’d barely harvested even half of it.

This was truly a sweet burden. By the time he finished gathering it all, night would likely have fallen.

“Young… young man, need some help?” Qu Yue’s voice came from the entrance of the small basin.

Cen An was slightly surprised. “You haven’t left yet?”

Qu Yue had sensibly stopped at the entrance, unable to see the scene inside. “I was just about to go. Seeing you hadn’t come out for so long, I thought I’d ask if you wanted to head out together.”

They were concerned that without abilities, staying out too late in the wild could be dangerous for Cen An.

Cen An pondered for a moment. “If it’s possible, I do indeed have something I need your help with.”

Moments later, Qu Yue and Cen An were gathering the spring glory herb together.

Even Zhao Wu, his body still heavy with unhealed wounds, had dragged himself in. His injuries had been medicated and bandaged, the bleeding barely stemmed. He took charge of keeping watch around them, guarding against the sharp-toothed rats returning.

An hour later, the entire cluster of spring glory herb had vanished, replaced by 178 individual plants gathered in Cen An’s hands.

Cen An’s expression grew slightly complex.

Requesting… or rather, allowing Qu Yue and her husband to assist with the gathering, he tacitly accepted that the pair would keep a portion for themselves.

Having grown up in an orphanage, he was no stranger to the fickleness of human relationships and harbored little expectation for human nature.

Though he had saved the two, it was solely for the sake of the little girl he’d met briefly at the market—he sought no repayment for his life-saving deed.

In these chaotic times, the fact that these two hadn’t snatched the grass from him was already generous. Keeping a portion as a “commission” wouldn’t have been unreasonable.

Moreover, the spring glory herb could restore vitality and heal external injuries—exactly what the couple needed… Cen An hadn’t expected them to return every single stalk, leaving themselves with none.

Holding the ten neatly bundled bundles of spring glory herb, Cen An suddenly said, “Please wait a moment. I need to prepare some medicine.”

Qu Yue and Zhao Wu exchanged glances. The straightforward woman hesitated, “Young man, night is falling. We must hurry. The mutant beasts are far more dangerous after dark.”

“No problem.” Cen An lit a campfire. “It won’t take long.”

He grabbed his machete and some wood, scraped shavings from the timber to burn into ash, then took out five stalks of spring glory herb.

Moments later, five portions of rejuvenation paste were ready.

He handed the still-warm ointments to the couple. “Let’s go.”

Qu Yue hadn’t expected the medicine was for them and quickly protested, “You saved both our lives. How could we possibly accept your medicine too…”

Cen An glanced at Zhao Wu. “Take it. It’s what you need.”

Qu Yue could only accept it, feeling terribly embarrassed.

Qu Yue, likely sensing Cen An’s unfamiliarity with Yongning Village, deliberately shared a great deal of information.

Only then did Cen An realize it was indeed the rainy season. Rain had fallen just two days prior, and based on the seasonal pattern, another downpour would arrive tomorrow, or at the latest, the day after.

A sense of urgency washed over him. Having failed to find broad leaves or vines today, he must intensify his search tomorrow. He certainly didn’t want to experience the proverbial “raining outside, dripping inside” scenario.

Noticing Cen An declined their escort, the couple bid farewell at the village entrance and walked away together.

Cen An returned home alone, inspected the growth of the baby bok choy, and then entered the small, dilapidated hut.

The door crafted from the system formula came with its own lock. Cen An had also carefully tucked strands of hair into the door and windows, ensuring no one had entered.

After entering, he sat for a moment before beginning to take stock of today’s harvest.

Though he hadn’t found broad leaves or vines, today’s haul was substantial: [Savory Mushrooms x16, Wood x30, Long Leaves x10, Ground Fruit x8, mang grass x8, Mint x23, sharp-toothed rat carcasses x17, spring glory herb x178, Wild Chicken Eggs x2]

The last two wild chicken eggs were found on the way back. Qu Yue, with her sharp eyes, had picked them out of the grass. For some reason, she insisted on giving them to him.

Cen An couldn’t refuse and had to take them back.

The processed spring glory herb could be stored without worry, so he carefully packed it away. He then took out the mang grass and long leaves to make eight portions of monster repellent powder.

This monster repellent powder was remarkably economical—just a light dusting on one’s body sufficed. Yet today, to save Zhao Wu and the other, he’d used up all ten portions.

Still, these eight portions would last quite a while.

After stowing the powder, Cen An stepped outside the shack and laid out the sharp-toothed rat corpses. He intended to process them while the light was still good.

None of these rats had had their crystal cores extracted. Cen An used his iron sword to carefully remove each one, collecting seventeen crystal cores.

Next came skinning.

This was his second time doing it, and the iron sword wasn’t exactly ideal for the task. The fur he peeled off was uneven and pitted. Moreover, he didn’t know how to tan hides, and the system didn’t have any relevant recipes either. He had no idea when he might actually need this skill.

If it really didn’t work out, he’d just have to sell them at the small market or find someone to help tan the hides…

Lost in thought, Cen An suddenly heard a sharp “tsk.”

Turning, he saw the dog owner who’d left that morning standing nearby, holding the dog by its neck. The man stared at the blood-stained fur in Cen An’s hands, his expression one of utter revulsion.

Cen An slowly raised an eyebrow:?