Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After harvesting all the weeds on the farm, Ying Yuanxing counted the collected seeds: twelve in total, a mix of green and yellow. He had no idea what they would grow into.

But they smelled oddly fragrant!

Ying Yuanxing leaned down and sniffed. The seeds carried an indescribably fresh scent—not floral, nor like grain, yet somehow familiar.

After a moment of recollection, he remembered where he had encountered this aroma before: during a company team-building hike, the crisp, clean air he’d breathed upon entering the mountain in the morning was strikingly similar.

This thought made Ying Yuanxing look around and take a deep breath, puzzled. While the city’s foul air was understandable, Taoxi Village was so lush with vegetation—why wasn't the air fresh here?

He sniffed again. Before noticing the seeds’ clean scent, he hadn’t paid much attention, but with this comparison, the problem became apparent.

Wait a minute—could it be that Hongxing Corporation had damaged Taoxi Village’s environment, causing pollution that made the air bad despite the abundant greenery?

It wasn’t that Ying Yuanxing was eager to pin blame on Hongxing Corporation; it was just that the company had a long history of misconduct. Moreover, with his memories of working there, he understood Hongxing Corporation’s tactics all too well.

They were opportunists, bullying the weak and destroying what they couldn’t obtain.

Still, after some thought, Ying Yuanxing dismissed the idea. Regardless, he couldn’t deal with such matters right now. His priority was figuring out how to make money.

If he hadn't discovered the air wall, he might have let it go. But now that he knew about it, the thought of land that should rightfully be his being out of his control made him restless—even if he hadn’t fully utilized his current plot yet.

Money—that’s all it was. He just had to earn it.

But before focusing on earning money, given all the differences he’d noticed between the game and reality since arriving in Taoxi Village, Ying Yuanxing decided to investigate further.

He opened the map and studied it carefully. In the morning, only a small portion had been revealed, but now most of it was visible. He scanned the buildings one by one: his next-door neighbor, the Yuan family on the back hill, the village doctor in the southwest, the village chief’s house at the entrance, and a livestock farm. The remaining houses hadn’t been introduced by Yuan Xiu.

Then Ying Yuanxing spotted a problem—the blacksmith’s shop was missing. In the game, the blacksmith was crucial for upgrading tools. Without it, how was he supposed to improve his equipment?

A small farm was manageable, but if the area expanded, the thought of tilling every plot with a basic hoe made his vision darken—he’d literally work himself to death before finishing.

And the fishing gear shop seemed to be gone too. Without fishing equipment, how could he fish for profit? Ying Yuanxing felt his vision darken again.

Just as he was brimming with ambition to earn money, he realized the village lacked everything he needed.

After a brief slump, Ying Yuanxing sighed silently while gazing at the farm outside the window.

The game had become reality—how could it be exactly the same? He’d just been too lucky earlier, making the current setbacks harder to accept. But now, all he could do was tackle problems as they arose.

Ying Yuanxing decided to ask the village chief again. But before leaving, he quickly planted all the seeds and watered them.

Shortly after he left, a loud *thud* came from the farm’s fence, as if something had crashed into it.

…

When Ying Yuanxing arrived at the chief’s house, the family was preparing dinner. Seeing him, the chief cheerfully invited him to join them.

Ying Yuanxing initially wanted to decline, but considering his empty pantry, he figured he might as well take the free meal—otherwise, he’d be stuck drinking beverages for dinner.

As Ying Yuanxing sat down, the chief happily asked his wife to set a place for him.

Ying Yuanxing glanced curiously at the chief’s wife, noting yet another deviation from the game’s setting. But after his earlier realizations, he accepted it naturally. Still, he couldn’t let an elder serve him, so he rose to help bring the dishes to the table.

“Xiao Ying, what brings you here?” the chief smiled.

Ying Yuanxing blurted out his question: “Chief, does our village… not have a blacksmith’s shop or a fishing gear store?”

The chief looked up at him and replied, “There used to be…”

Ying Yuanxing froze. That line sounded all too familiar—wait, no. The blacksmith and fishing shops shouldn’t have had any business conflicts with Hongxing Corporation, right?

“Later, the blacksmith’s shop caught fire, and the blacksmith burned to death.”

“The fisherman was dragged underwater by a big fish and drowned.”

The chief spoke slowly, the amber evening light casting a sallow yellow hue over his face, adding a touch of eeriness.

But Ying Yuanxing paid no attention to the chief’s expression. Instead, his thoughts raced—had he been transported into some bootleg version of the game? The similarities were spot-on, but the differences were completely unrelated.

“Still, it’s not like you’ll never see them again. Rumor has it that after midnight, their restless spirits return to their old shops. If you go then…” the chief said.

“What time is ‘midnight’?” Ying Yuanxing asked.

“After twelve.”

Twelve?

Then tonight, he’d test whether staying out past two would still force him to sleep. If not, he could pull an all-nighter.

As for the chief’s mention of restless spirits, Ying Yuanxing clenched his fists. Even if they were ghosts, if they could work, he’d make them work.

Seeing Ying Yuanxing’s keen interest, the chief said, “After dinner, I’ll take you to see.”

Ying Yuanxing agreed immediately.

As they talked, the final dish was ready in the kitchen. Ying Yuanxing hurried in to help bring it out.

When he first arrived, he hadn’t been hungry, but after sitting for a while, his appetite had grown. The smell of the food made him pick up his bowl and take a bite—then he paused.

This flavor…

“Xiao Ying, what’s wrong? Does the food not suit your taste?” The chief’s wife stared at him intently, her gaze piercing.

Faced with her question, Ying Yuanxing fell silent, unsure how to respond. After all, he was a guest—he couldn’t exactly say it was terrible. But claiming it was delicious would be a blatant lie.

The flavor was hard to describe. It had the texture of vegetables, but none of the expected flavor. Compared to this, that stick of bread he’d eaten earlier in the day tasted like a gourmet meal.

The chief eyed Ying Yuanxing suspiciously. He had invited him to stay for dinner as a test, even instructing his wife to use their treasured premium Weird Food for the meal. Most supernatural beings would experience some fluctuation in their Weird Qi after consuming it.

Yet Ying Yuanxing showed no such reaction—either his abilities were so strong that he could instantly absorb premium Weird Food, or he was completely incapable of absorbing it, making him just an ordinary “human.”

If Ying Yuanxing was just a normal person, the chief’s eyes slowly turned green, his expression turning hungry.

Meanwhile, Ying Yuanxing stared at his energy gauge in shock and delight—it had increased! Not only had his current stamina gone up, but the maximum limit had also risen by one point. And this was just from one bite!

His eyes swept over the dishes on the table. He was so thrilled he might pass out.

“Xiao Ying?” the chief called.

“Chief, your wife’s cooking is incredible! I’ve… I’ve never tasted anything so delicious. Mind if I have seconds?” Ying Yuanxing exclaimed excitedly.

The chief was briefly taken aback, then nodded automatically. Soon, he would come to deeply regret both this test and that nod.