Chapter Bonanza (6/10)

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

While Hei Tang ran off to the desert to have some fun, Nan Liujing was wandering around Mulberry Village.

Mulberry Island itself wasn’t a large island—it would be a stretch to even call it medium-sized—so naturally, the village that had sprung up there wasn’t particularly big either. Nan Liujing gave a rough count: the entire village had fewer than 20 buildings still standing after weathering natural disasters. Some were homes, some were shops and workshops, and there were also warehouses and stables.

Inside the stables, Nan Liujing found a large amount of hay, a bag of shriveled soybeans, and half a bag of black, round, cake-like objects. When he put them into his backpack, the inventory displayed: Hay x89, Soybeans x20, rapeseed cakes x67.

Nan Liujing took a closer look at the item description for the rapeseed cake and discovered that it was a type of feed for cattle, sheep, and horses—slightly higher quality than pasture grass.

The village’s two warehouses were both silos—cylindrical structures topped with pointed thatched roofs. Fortunately, since they were located in a desert region, the thatch hadn’t sprouted. The windows were set high up and had escaped the ravages of wind and sand, so the contents inside were in relatively good condition.

One of them contained a large number of hay bales, all tied into large squares with grass rope and neatly stacked inside the warehouse—originally intended as feed for livestock.

However, upon checking the item description, Nan Liujing discovered that they had lost their value as feed and could only be taken back to line the floors of the animal sheds.

Unpacking the hay bales and spreading them on the floor allowed the animals to trample on them, which provided warmth. Since they could relieve themselves directly on the hay, cleanup was also convenient. All he had to do was use a pitchfork to remove the soiled hay and replace it with fresh hay.

With a total of 99 hay bales, he wouldn’t have to worry about hygiene issues in his animal sheds for quite some time.

Exploring the first warehouse went smoothly. Nan Liujing quickly cleared it out, not even overlooking the scattered bits of hay on the floor—he picked them all up and, to his surprise, managed to gather 3 units of hay.

Upon exiting this warehouse, Nan Liujing naturally walked toward the second warehouse next to it and opened the door without a second thought.

In an instant, he felt a burning sensation in his chest, and at the same time, a powerful gust of wind struck him. Nan Liujing didn’t even have time to see what it was; his body reacted faster than his brain, and he instinctively arched his back, arching his body into a bridge position.

In that split second, the world spun before his eyes. Through the orange-red visor of his goggles, he saw a thick, black “long whip” whipping past just above his body.

The whip was jet-black and glossy, segmented like lotus root nodes, with a thick, swollen tip curved into a hook larger than a soccer ball.

In the blink of an eye, Nan Liujing realized this wasn’t a whip—it was a scorpion tail stinger!

And judging by the size of the tail hook, the scorpion itself was definitely no small creature!

Damn it, I’ve run into a “door-opening kill”!

With a thud, Nan Liujing’s legs gave way, and he fell flat on his butt in the sand.

Before he even had time to cry out in pain, he quickly braced himself with one hand, rolled onto his side, and rolled away, narrowly avoiding the second strike.

After missing twice, the giant scorpion swiftly lunged a third time. Nan Liujing was just trying to scramble to his feet, but the sand-covered ground prevented him from standing quickly. The scorpion’s tail stinger curved sharply mid-strike, slipping out of his field of vision and striking him from an angle—hitting his back.

A massive impact sent Nan Liujing flying through the air; he tumbled and crashed onto the sand dune.

“…Damn it.”

Nan Liujing staggered to his feet; the pendant hanging from his chest flickered a few times, and a translucent protective shield vanished.

If it hadn’t been for this pendant blocking the blow just now, he wouldn’t have even had a chance to be knocked back—he would have been impaled directly by the tail hook.

He gasped, still shaken, his eyes fixed intently on the warehouse’s wide-open door as he drew his sword with a backhand grip and held it horizontally in front of him.

Click, click.

The giant scorpion lurking inside the warehouse finally revealed itself. It strolled out leisurely, its body as large as a compact car, raising two massive pincers, its eight legs sharper than knife blades, sunk into the sand. Its tail was curved, the stinger raised, and it swayed gently.

Cold sweat broke out on Nan Liujing’s forehead.

Is this even a monster a human can take on?

It’s even bigger and scarier than a giant sea creature.

What should I do? Should I run?

Can I even run away?! Can a person outrun a scorpion in the desert?

There’s no other choice—I have to pull out my secret move.

Nan Liujing took a deep breath, focused his energy in his lower abdomen, and with all his might, bellowed, “Hei Tang!!!”

Before the words had even left his mouth, the giant scorpion, startled by the sound, raised its tail and charged straight at him.

Nan Liujing felt as if a runaway car were barreling toward him.

At such high speed, there was no way to outrun it. Nan Liujing gritted his teeth; instead of retreating or dodging, he charged forward without a moment’s hesitation.

Just as they were about to collide like a comet hitting Earth—with the scorpion’s tail hook about to strike him—Nan Liujing suddenly crouched down as low as he could, extended one leg, and used the momentum to slide beneath the giant scorpion.

The giant scorpion was massive and had a high center of gravity; the space beneath its eight long legs was large enough to fit a full-grown adult lying flat.

Its enormous body instantly engulfed Nan Liujing, plunging his vision into total darkness. Without a second thought, Nan Liujing aimed for a gap in the scorpion’s abdomen and thrust his sword forward!

There was a wet thud, and Nan Liujing felt the tip of his sword pierce through a layer of hard exoskeleton and plunge into a soft abdominal cavity.

Without hesitation, he began to stab and twist with all his might.

A large amount of fluid spurted out, with a few drops splashing onto his mask.

More fluid trickled down the blade onto Nan Liujing’s hands and body, and Nan Liujing was completely oblivious to his surroundings, focused solely on stabbing wildly.

The giant scorpion hissed at him, its body trembling violently. Then it began thrashing its legs frantically, trying to expose the human hidden beneath it.

In its panic, one of its legs lashed out toward Nan Liujing’s face. Nan Liujing’s eyes widened as the pendant grew hot once more, on the verge of activating a second protective shield.

“Meow-aaah—!”

A heart-wrenching howl rang out. In the next instant, a flash of light filled Nan Liujing’s vision, and he saw the giant scorpion get completely flung off him. The long sword was forced out of its sheath, and a stream of fluid spurted from the wound, splashing all over Nan Liujing.

The little cat, wearing orange goggles and a gas mask, stood in front of him, snarling furiously as if beside itself, its back arched, fur bristling all over—the entire cat puffed up like a giant spiny lizard.

Not far away, the desert giant scorpion staggered to its feet; the wound on its abdomen didn’t seem to have affected it much. It swung its two massive pincers, its mandibles grinding together to produce a “hiss—hiss— .”

“Meow-ow! Meow-ow! Hah!!!”

Hei Tang had even started hissing, its ears flattened completely against its head, and its tail bristled like a feather duster.

It was clear that it was terrified too, but it still resolutely stood in front of Nan Liujing, striking a protective pose.

“……” Nan Liujing stood up, leaning on his sword, his gaze shifting from the kitten to the giant scorpion. He took a deep breath. “Hei Tang, let’s take it on together!”

Hearing this, the kitten’s ears perked up slightly, and it turned its head to glance at him.

Even Nan Liujing had to admit that it was truly humiliating for a grown man to be reduced to a state where he needed protection from a little kitten. What kind of loser would hide behind a little kitten, trembling without a shred of shame, watching the kitten risk its life for him?

Although he wasn’t a combat-focused player and had no delusions of conquering the world or defeating every opponent, Nan Liujing at least hoped that when danger struck, he could be the one standing side by side with the person he cared about.

First, he had to find a way to get Hei Tang into the giant scorpion’s shadow.

Hei Tang, who had mastered the “Shadow Strike” skill, would guarantee a hit on her next attack as long as she could sneak into the enemy’s shadow beforehand.

The problem was how to get close.

With two massive pincers in front of the giant scorpion and a tail that could extend and retract at will, it was impossible for him to get close. The only solution Nan Liujing could think of was for someone else to act as bait and create an opening for Hei Tang.

And there was no one better suited for that role than himself.

Gripping his sword tightly, Nan Liujing hesitated no longer; he pushed off with his feet and charged forward.

“Hei Tang, come!”

“Meow!” Hei Tang let out a loud cry and leaped into Nan Liujing’s shadow.

Nan Liujing charged headlong at the giant scorpion. Seemingly worried it might slip beneath him again, this time, before Nan Liujing could get close, the giant scorpion raised its tail and struck out like lightning—

Clang!

Nan Liujing blocked the strike with his sword. Unable to withstand the giant scorpion’s strength with one hand, he gripped the hilt and the blade with both hands—one above, one below. Blood gushed from his palms. Nan Liujing gritted his teeth, veins bulging in his arms. Just then, the cat ears in his shadow silently transitioned along their connecting point into the giant scorpion’s shadow.

“Damn it!”

The iron sword ultimately couldn’t hold up and flew out of his hand. The next second, a black shadow struck him in the face, and the pendant activated its second protective shield. Nan Liujing was thrown backward by the massive impact.

Knocked back for the second time, Nan Liujing remained remarkably calm inside.

The main objective had already been achieved. As clever as Hei Tang was, it would certainly prioritize neutralizing the enemy’s most powerful offensive capability when launching an attack.

Back when they’d fought the giant swimming crab together, Nan Liujing had noticed that Hei Tang liked to sever the enemy’s arms and legs; facing the giant scorpion—which, like the crab, was an arthropod—its fighting style wouldn’t change.

As long as Hei Tang could sever the giant scorpion’s tail with a single strike, he could seize that opportunity to land a follow-up blow! 

He landed, rolled, and with his blood-soaked hand, reached into his pocket. With a few practiced, blind fumbles, an iron axe appeared in his grasp.

Clutching the axe, Nan Liujing stood up and charged headlong at the giant scorpion once more.

At the same moment, the Shadow Cat appeared silently above the giant scorpion’s head. Green eyes glinted with a faint, cold light beneath orange goggles. It crouched into a vertical line, its claws snapping out as it leaped forward, swinging the segmented tip of its tail to sever more than half of the giant scorpion’s tail in a single stroke, leaving only a small portion still attached.

With all the nerves controlling the tail severed, the scorpion’s tail fell heavily onto the sand. The giant scorpion spun around in shock and rage, and at that very moment, Nan Liujing ran up in front of it and swung his axe at the joint connecting its massive claws.

A Strength attribute of 12 proved its worth, and the iron axe he’d upgraded was far superior to a makeshift one. Nan Liujing aimed precisely, mustering every ounce of strength for a single, all-out swing that severed the massive claw on the spot.

Having landed the decisive blow, Nan Liujing wasted no time lingering in battle; he immediately rolled sideways to escape the fray, and Hei Tang also merged back into the giant scorpion’s shadow.

Having been thwarted twice, the giant scorpion was furious. But when it turned around, it couldn’t see the cat that had chopped off its tail; and when it looked back, the one who’d chopped off the claw had already scrambled away. The giant scorpion spun around in circles a few times, let out a screech, and charged toward Nan Liujing.

After taking just a couple of steps, Hei Tang reappeared and severed its tail completely with a single swipe of its paw.

The giant scorpion was beside itself with rage. It spun around, screeching loudly as it searched frantically for that detestable cat—but it didn’t notice for a moment that its own shadow had somehow sprouted a pair of tiny cat ears.

It was this momentary hesitation that caused the giant scorpion to completely lose sight of Nan Liujing.

“Phew… phew…”

Nan Liujing leaned against a sand dune, gasping for breath, completely exhausted.

His 12 Agility stat hadn’t let him down; even on the desert sand, where it was hard to gain traction, Nan Liujing had still run at the fastest speed of his life.

With trembling hands, he pulled out his tablet. The screen was smeared with his blood, so Nan Liujing casually wiped it twice with his sleeve before tapping open his stats panel.

For the first time since entering the game, his health bar was dropping—and it was plummeting.

Now that he looked, it had already dropped to 4/10.

Gasping for breath, Nan Liujing pulled a health potion from his backpack, bit off the cap, and tilted his head back to gulp it down.

The health potion took effect immediately. The very next second, the sword wound on his palm began to heal at a visible pace, and the dull ache in his chest eased considerably.

His health bar slowly began to rise. Nan Liujing tucked away the empty bottle, turned around, and cautiously peered out to observe the giant scorpion in the distance.

It was engaged in a battle of wits with thin air, attacking wildly. Hei Tang remained hidden in its shadow and did not appear.

The defining feature of the “Shadow Strike” skill is that as long as Hei Tang does not launch an attack, it can remain hidden in the enemy’s shadow indefinitely. However, if it does attack, given Hei Tang’s current abilities, it can only use the skill once.

It had already used it twice, so it would certainly be very cautious about using it one last time.

Once the health bar was fully restored, Nan Liujing quietly retrieved his standard-issue knight’s sword, then timed his approach perfectly as the giant scorpion turned its head, carefully creeping up on it.

The giant scorpion was digging into the sand with its massive claws, suspecting a cat was hiding inside; the clattering sound of sand perfectly masked Nan Liujing’s footsteps, leaving the giant scorpion completely unaware of his approach.

Instead, Hei Tang peeked out quietly from the giant scorpion’s shadow and tilted its head at Nan Liujing.

Nan Liujing said nothing, simply making a silent gesture.

Hei Tang twitched its ears and darted back into the shadows.

The next second, Hei Tang leaped out from beneath the giant scorpion, ramming its little head hard into the scorpion’s abdomen, then swiftly following up with a swipe of its paw.

Shadow Strike! Claw Strike!

Startled by the attack, the giant scorpion instinctively raised its body, exposing its abdomen—which still bore the scars of a sword wound.

Nan Liujing suddenly accelerated, gripping the sword hilt with both hands as he charged forward with his full body!

The sharp knight’s sword pierced the giant scorpion’s abdomen, the blade—over half a meter long—sinking in completely.

Die!!

Gritting his teeth, he wildly thrashed the long sword inside, directly shredding its heart.

A screech rang out, and the giant scorpion crashed to the ground.

It lay completely still.

【You have successfully defeated: Desert Giant Scorpion.】

【This battle has taught you a great deal. You have mastered the skill: Scorpion Kiss Lv. 1.】

【Scorpion Kiss: Attacks from behind an enemy, with a moderate chance of landing a critical hit and a small chance of an instant kill. Can only be performed with dagger-type weapons.】

【Do you want to dismember the Desert Giant Scorpion’s corpse?】

After 16 days in the game, Nan Liujing finally understood how combat-focused players like Zhang Zihan typically accumulated resources.

A single Desert Giant Scorpion yielded 4 Giant Scorpion Carapaces, 1 Giant Scorpion Tail Hook, and 30 Giant Scorpion Meat.

The Giant Scorpion Meat is pale yellow and crystal-clear, looking somewhat like jelly. It has almost no fishy odor and weighs 500g per unit. The Giant Scorpion Carapaces and tail hooks are both materials that can be used to craft armor and weapons.

The prices are actually quite good—the carapaces sell for 300, and the tail hooks for 1,000.

Nan Liujing planned to sell these two materials to Victor.

After dismembering the scorpion, nothing remained on the spot; a gust of wind blew, and the yellow sand completely buried all traces of the battle.

Hei Tang crouched on the ground, raising a paw to lick it, but when she realized she couldn’t reach it, she immediately shook her paw in disgust.

Nan Liujing dropped his sword and rushed over and scooped Hei Tang into his arms, lifting him high into the air: “Hei Tang, you’re amazing! How did you manage that? Even a scorpion that big couldn’t beat you! If it weren’t for you, I would’ve been done for today. Thank you so much!”

“Meow~” Hei Tang let out a dignified meow and tapped Nan Liujing’s face mask with her paw.

“What’s the big deal? I told you I’d always have your back.”

Back at the warehouse, Nan Liujing finally realized it was a sunken warehouse. There was a height difference of nearly four or five meters between the interior floor and the outside, and a large hole had been torn in the bottom, allowing sand to pour in and cover most of the warehouse. The giant desert scorpion must have entered through that hole as well. It likely mistook this warehouse for its own nest.

Walking down the steps, he found that almost everything was buried in the sand, and quite a bit of it had already dried out.

In desert regions, where temperatures are high and humidity is low, items simply dry out rather than rot.

Nan Liujing found some completely withered mulberry leaves—they crumbled to dust at the slightest touch—as well as some dried mulberries that were so parched the status bar indicated they were completely spoiled.

It didn’t matter if they were spoiled—he could take them back to make compost.

The item description for the compost bin was very clear: leaves, weeds, withered crops, kitchen scraps, basically anything plant- or animal-based can be tossed in.

Tomorrow he’ll harvest an uncountable amount of fertilizer, so he won’t have to worry about his fields failing to produce high-star crops for quite some time.

After rummaging around a bit more, he dug up a large pile of broken bottles and jars from the sand—not a single one was intact—causing Nan Liujing to gasp in regret.

“Are these… still useful?” He picked up a coarse pottery shard and checked the item description.

【Coarse Pottery Shards】

【Category: Trash】

【It used to be a jar.】

【Suggested Price: 0 Sol.】

Since they’ve all turned into trash, they’re probably beyond salvage.

Just as he was about to walk away in disappointment, a sudden idea struck Nan Liujing: What if he threw these shards into the slime maker?

He might as well put them away—after all, listing them in the trading zone wouldn’t cost a thing.

This island, including this village, is named after mulberry trees. It stands to reason that before the natural disaster struck, mulberry trees were likely the villagers’ main source of income; mulberries could be used to make wine, and mulberry leaves could be used to raise silkworms. So, Nan Liujing wasn’t at all surprised to find several burlap sacks of silkworm cocoons in the warehouse.

Some of these cocoons had been chewed open; the silkworm moths flew out but couldn’t break free from the sacks, so they mated inside and then died.

Others were actually intact, though the moths inside had died prematurely for some unknown reason.

The bottom of the sacks was littered with the corpses of silkworm moths and black eggs, along with some larvae that had failed to grow to full size due to a lack of food, lying shriveled and starved beside their parents and siblings.

Nan Liujing took all these sacks of silkworm cocoons with him. Silk couldn’t be extracted from the cocoons that had already been chewed open, but he figured they could be used for compost.

As for the intact silkworm cocoons, he might try extracting silk from them.

What surprised him most was that some of the black eggs were identified by the system as still viable; if the temperature was right, they might even hatch again.

Although Nan Liujing didn’t have any fresh mulberry leaves himself and knew nothing about silkworm farming, there might be players in the community who were skilled at it—trading them away wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Crawling out of the warehouse, Nan Liujing glanced at the time and hurried straight to the other dwellings.

The villagers of Mulberry Village make wine and raise silkworms—both extremely profitable ventures—so their living conditions are indeed quite good. Almost every dwelling has a fireplace, and wherever there’s a fireplace, there’s bound to be a “fire starter” inside.

Although the magic in the magic crystals was almost completely depleted, Nan Liujing didn’t mind—he took them anyway. After all, this was free money.

That included the ashes in the fireplaces—he took as much as he could find; the more, the better.

As for other supplies, there was a high degree of uncertainty, and what he found varied from household to household.

One household had a large stockpile of rock sugar in their kitchen—a full 50 units; another had drawers filled with glass jars containing various spices—nearly 20 different kinds, most of which were full and had hardly been used.

He also pieced together supplies from the kitchens of several households to gather 23 units of wheat flour. Although the status bar uniformly read “seems a bit spoiled,” the same rule applies: as long as it isn’t completely spoiled, it’s still fresh enough to use in cooking.

He even found two jars of honey; mature honey has no expiration date and can be eaten no matter how long it’s been stored.

In addition to food, there were plenty of daily necessities.

Two households kept small pets. Nan Liujing raided their dog beds, floor mats, food bowls, cat scratchers, and cat trees, and even dug out 50 packets of pet biscuits from a corner; since they were well-sealed, the product labels indicated they were still edible.

He found several sets of quilts, pillows, sheets, and duvet covers—more than enough not only for his own use but also to trade with others.

Nan Liujing also found a mattress of excellent quality—better than the one he was currently using—so he planned to replace his own as soon as he got back.

Unfortunately, he didn’t find many decent clothes; they were either moth-eaten or damaged by wind and sand. He picked out a few scattered items, some of which were women’s clothing; others didn’t fit right. In the end, only two linen long-sleeve shirts and a pair of linen pants fit him properly. Judging by their cut and craftsmanship, Nan Liujing felt they’d be quite suitable for working in.

He didn’t waste the remaining clothes either; he put them all up for sale.

What made Nan Liujing feel he’d really “hit the jackpot!” were the various kitchen utensils and tableware in the house. He got his hands on a huge pile of cups, plates, bowls, and dishes—mostly ceramic, with a few silver pieces—since all the wooden ones had sprouted. There were also several kitchen knives of various sizes, and plenty of pots and pans—he kept two frying pans, a milk pot, and a stew pot for himself, while trading the rest in the marketplace for basic materials.

He planned to use the basic materials he’d obtained from selling the clothes and kitchenware to stock up on seeds while their prices hadn’t risen any further.

A juicer and a blender—the former unlocked a world of culinary possibilities with various juices, while the latter helped him quickly puree ingredients into a paste.

The only downside was that both machines ran on magic crystals, which meant Nan Liujing’s demand for them had risen once again.

All in all, the supplies in Mulberry Village were simply too tempting, making Nan Liujing linger so long that he even forgot to eat.

Aside from that giant desert scorpion, he hadn’t encountered any other dangerous creatures.

It wasn’t until only four hours of his exploration time remained that he reluctantly left Mulberry Village and headed deeper into the forest.