Conversations drifted in from outside. Soon, Qu Yue’s voice rang out, “Xiao Cen, Xiao Cen? It’s me. Could you come out to talk?”

Cen An listened quietly, then quietly pushed open the window to peer out in the moonlight. It was indeed Qu Yue outside, but Zhao Wu hadn’t come. Instead, a young girl accompanied her.

He finally rose, opened the door, and, without inviting the two girls inside, asked from the doorway, “What is it?”

Qu Yue’s expression was grave. “Forgive me for disturbing you, Xiao Cen, but this is a matter of life and death. Today, the bok choy…”

Cen An froze. “The bok choy caused a problem?” That couldn’t be—he’d eaten one himself that evening and was still standing right here, perfectly fine!

“Not exactly. Sigh!” Qu Yue nudged the younger girl. “Wanwan, you tell him!”

Up close, the girl looked even younger—just seventeen or eighteen—still carrying traces of childishness, yet radiating a spirited energy. “Hello, Brother Cen. My father is Liao Yongzhi. You might have heard of him; he’s the captain of the Yongning Ability Squad.”

Cen An nodded. “I’ve long admired his reputation.”

Liao Wanwan forced a smile. “My father lost control of his abilities last year and has been recuperating at home these past few months. Today, Sister Qu and Brother Zhao brought some bok choy to see him. He asked me to stir-fry a plate, but after eating it, he passed out! We… we tried everything to wake him, but…”

Realizing a misunderstanding, she hurriedly clarified, “We know it’s not the baby bok choy’s fault. Sister Qu and I ate it too, and we’re fine. But Dad’s situation is special. I was wondering if Brother Cen has any ideas?”

Brother Cen… Brother Cen really didn’t have any solutions…

Cen An had never encountered this kind of situation before. Supernatural ability malfunctions? He’d only heard about them.

But regardless, it was somewhat related to Xiaobai Cai, so he couldn’t just ignore it. “Hold on, I’ll go with you to take a look.”

He returned to his room to grab a coat. After a moment’s thought, he also took a bottle of recovery potion and several packets of rejuvenation paste from the medicine shelf.

“Let’s go.”

Liao Wanwan wiped away the tears that had welled up from her anxiety and led the way.

In the pitch-black night, the village was eerily quiet, broken only by the hurried footsteps of the three.

Along the way, they encountered patrolling ability users. Only then did Cen An learn that ability users patrolled the village every night—a rule established by Liao Yongzhi.

Liao Yongzhi’s home was an ordinary single-story house. As soon as Liao Wanwan pushed open the door, Zhao Wu rushed out to greet them. “You’re finally here! Xiao Cen, come quickly—Brother Liao doesn’t look good.”

Liao Wanwan’s freshly dried tears welled up again. She stumbled forward, rushing inside. “Father!”

Cen An frowned and followed her inside.

On the bed, a man with sunken cheeks writhed in agony. His brow was deeply furrowed, and he emitted muffled groans of extreme pain as a steady shower of dust and rocks fell from above.

Zhao Wu wiped sweat from his brow. “Brother Liao is an earth ability user. His abilities seem beyond his control. If it comes to that… Wanwan, I’ll have to disable his abilities.”

Liao Wanwan gritted her teeth. “Fine. As long as he lives, I’ll support my father from now on!” “

Zhao Wu smiled bitterly. An ability rampage was extremely dangerous for an ability user. Even if the ability was disabled in time, survival was rare… He dared not make any guarantees about saving his life.

”Don’t rush.” Cen An suddenly raised his hand. He had already opened Liao Yongzhi’s status.

With the Happy Farm game system embedded within him, everyone else in this world functioned like NPCs to him. Naturally, he could inspect their statuses.

Yet Liao Yongzhi’s status wasn’t [Near Death], but [Ability Recovery in Progress].

The progress bar advanced at an excruciatingly slow pace, currently only reaching 3%.

Cen An knew nothing about psychic abilities, but “recovering” certainly didn’t sound like a bad thing.

After a moment’s thought, he asked, “Is there any bok choy left at home? Bring it here for me to examine.”

Liao Wanwan didn’t know what he intended to do, but she quickly dashed to the kitchen and fetched a head for him.

Cen An held it up for a closer look.

【Baby Bok Choy:

Type: Vegetable

Shelf Life: 5 days 2 hours

Function: Edible】

The system interface showed no special abilities for the bok choy. Was he overthinking this?

The man on the bed struggled more violently as spikes began erupting from the surrounding floor. Tears welled in Zhao Wu’s eyes as iron nails appeared in his right palm.

Yes, neutralizing the abilities of the mutinous psychics wasn’t to save them, but to protect others from harm…

“Wait!” Cen An instinctively held him back. He genuinely admired Liao Yongzhi and couldn’t bear to see such a responsible man rendered useless. “Brother Zhao, Sister Qu, did you two eat the bok choy too? How did it make you feel?”

“Feelings?” The couple froze at his question. “Crisp? Delicious?”

“What else? How did your abilities feel?” Cen An pressed. “Harder to control? Easier?”

The moment he asked, they understood. Their expressions turned serious as they concentrated on their sensations.

Moments later, they exchanged glances, filled with astonishment, delight, and disbelief. Qu Yue spoke first: “I… I feel my abilities are more stable now, easier to control. It’s just that the change is so subtle, I hadn’t noticed it before.”

Zhao Wu nodded. “Mine too! What… what does this mean?”

Cen An exhaled in relief. “It means bok choy might have calming ability surges. Captain Liao reacted so strongly because his ability has been out of control for so long—even the slightest change triggers intense stimulation.”

Liao Wanwan blurted out, “What do you mean? Does that mean my dad will be okay?”

“To find out, let’s do an experiment.” Cen An had Liao Wanwan quickly boil water and cook four or five bok choy for Qu Yue and Zhao Wu to try.

If they felt nothing, it meant one stalk was too weak an effect—then they’d eat several.

If it truly worked… well, that would be a happy ending for everyone.

Qu Yue remained his usual brash self: “Boil my ass! What a waste of time. That veggie’s tender and crisp—just let me and Old Zhao munch on it raw!”

And so, in the dead of night, Cen An found himself watching two ability user rabbits nibbling away at bok choy leaves in someone else’s room.

Surprisingly, the couple had strong teeth and didn’t mind the chill…

The outcome unfolded exactly as Cen An had predicted. By the third plant, Qu Yue and Zhao Wu felt their abilities begin to stabilize.

Though their powers hadn’t spiraled out of control, they’d absorbed numerous crystal cores before. The residual, volatile energy within those cores naturally exerted an influence.

This was a common struggle for many ability users.

Now, however, they sensed that energy was diminishing. Though the progress was painfully slow… it was undeniably dissipating!

The couple was both shocked and overjoyed. The power surge was a Damocles’ sword hanging over every ability user’s head, destroying countless brilliant talents. They never dreamed this seemingly unsolvable problem could have a solution!

Qu Yue was overcome with emotion. “Xiao Cen, no, Brother Cen! Big Brother Cen! From now on, you’re my own brother! You’re the savior of all of us ability users!”

Zhao Wu, clutching half a bok choy, nodded frantically. “My own brother! From now on, if you tell me to go east, I won’t go west!”

Cen An pressed his hand to his forehead. “What kind of nonsense is this… Your generational titles are all wrong, too!”

He turned to the equally excited Liao Wanwan and suggested, “My advice is, once he calms down, mash the bok choy and boil it. Start by feeding him just a tiny bit of the puree, then gradually increase the amount to avoid overwhelming his system. Of course, I’m not a professional—I recommend you also have a doctor take a look.”

Little Liao Wanwan nodded vigorously. “Mm-hmm, mash and cook, right? I’ve got it! Tomorrow I’ll feed my dad a spoonful. Thanks, Brother Cen!”

Her “Brother Cen” was utterly speechless. So she only heard the first half, huh?

But baby bok choy is quite mild; it shouldn’t cause any issues.

Cen An took his leave, warmly seen off by the trio. Liao Wanwan lugged the household rice bin to scoop him some, while Qu Yue and Zhao Wu helped hold the sack and stuffed more food into his hands…

In these times, offering sustenance was the truest expression of gratitude.

Cen An wasn’t adept at socializing, much less accepting such overwhelming kindness. He practically fled the scene.

Only upon arriving home did he realize he’d brought back the very bowl they’d used to scoop rice. He chuckled to himself.

Having lingered a bit that evening, he rose rather late the next morning.

After a quick tidy-up, Cen An hoisted his axe and headed for the mountains.

Besides gathering wood today, he also needed to find some food supplies at home were running low. Additionally, he planned to gather some tree sap.

He currently fetched water from the foot of the mountain north of his small shack, where a narrow mountain spring trickled down.

As for tools, he either used a large iron pot or a wooden bowl he’d carved himself—both quite inconvenient. Containers like wooden buckets or basins for holding water required tree sap.

In the game, tree sap wasn’t particularly hard to come by, nor was it limited to specific tree species. Any tree, given enough age, would secrete sap. A simple cut on the trunk, secured with a small wooden tube, was all it took to collect it.

Cen An headed to a slightly more distant mountain, selected a few suitable-looking trees, made his cuts, placed the small wooden tubes, and then set about chopping down the trees.

Dusted with monster repellent powder, Cen An chopped away with single-minded focus. By the time he noticed, the sun hung high in the sky.

Wiping sweat from his brow, he reached to retrieve the wooden tubes when rustling sounds erupted from the grass.

Instinctively gripping his iron sword, he turned to see a gray shadow darting out—

Cen An swung his sword in a chop. Though he called it a chop, it was more like the shadow had collided with the blade itself. Staring intently, he realized it was a gray rabbit.

No! There was a sound!

Cen An turned warily. Dry branches and leaves parted on their own as the dog owner emerged, cradling the dog in one arm.

His sharp, assertive features held a hint of smug satisfaction.

Compared to the owner, the puppy was far more honest. The moment it spotted Cen An, it began whimpering and wagging its tail, circling its owner’s palm, eager to be let down.

Cen An took the puppy and petted it. “This rabbit—did you chase it over?”

Su Rui raised an eyebrow. “Of course. I told it to run into your blade, and it did. How about that? Pretty impressive, huh? Want to give that wooden whistle a try sometime?”

Cen An hummed in acknowledgment. “So you’ll take this rabbit meat back to eat yourself, right? No need for me to cook it?”

Su Rui paused, clearing his throat. “Well, I suppose I still need you to do that.”

Feeling a bit embarrassed, he protested, “You did take my money!”