Chapter 159: Settlement on the Thirty-Second Day |
"Is this the Healing Spring? It looks completely different from the buildings in my Home!"
"Captain, let me be the guinea pig!" Yuan Ming stepped forward without hesitation.
"Haha, alright." Qin Ziwen found a clean porcelain bowl and scooped up a bowl of the spring water.
Yuan Ming took it and drank it all in one gulp.
"How do you feel? Is the wound area itchy?" Zhao Pu inquired.
Yuan Ming frowned, concentrating on the sensation, even gently pressing his wound with his hand. "It doesn't itch, but I can feel a warmth there, like a hot water bottle was placed on it."
The others exchanged glances. Li Yue suggested, "Why don't you take the bandage off?"
Without hesitation, Yuan Ming removed the bandage wrapped around his abdomen.
The wound was covered with a thick layer of scab, surrounded by faint redness and swelling.
Qin Ziwen used Insight on the Healing Spring.
[Level 1 Healing Spring: Level 2 External Injury Healing, Level 2 Fatigue Elimination] (Special Effect: The effects of the Healing Spring can stack. The more you drink, the faster you recover.)
"I do feel... more energetic, though?" Yuan Ming scratched his head. "Like I drank several cans of coffee."
Qin Ziwu guessed, "Could it have fatigue-eliminating properties?"
"But what's the use of eliminating fatigue? We still have to sleep, right?" Yuan Ming was puzzled, but the warm feeling in his abdomen hadn't disappeared; it continued to spread. The Healing Spring should genuinely be effective for the wound.
"Captain, may I ask for some of the Healing Spring?" Wang Yun said.
Qin Ziwen glanced at the spring's effects: treating external injuries and eliminating fatigue. It might not be very effective against pneumonia, but sometimes what family members need is psychological comfort. "Alright."
He personally filled a large bucket for Wang Yun.
Afterward, everyone present received a bowl of Healing Spring water.
Qin Ziwen said, "The effects of this Healing Spring should be stackable."
Hearing this, everyone looked at Yuan Ming.
"Why are you looking at me... You don't expect me to... Wait... Gulp, gulp..."
"Burp—" A long while later, Yuan Ming let out a lengthy, watery burp.
Feeling his swollen, round belly, Yuan Ming was filled with grief and indignation.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the wound on his abdomen visibly, bit by bit, slowly reduced swelling and healed. The red scab on the surface gradually turned black, hardened, and then fell off.
In the end, only his fair, clean belly remained, with three faint pink marks of tender new skin.
The wound-healing effect was exaggerated and could be life-saving at critical moments, of course, provided you drank enough.
Li Yue clicked his tongue. "Kid's belly is pretty white."
"For rapid healing, you need to drink a lot of spring water. The cost-effectiveness isn't high. But if you're not in a hurry, you can drink less and let the wound heal on its own," Zhao Pu analyzed, adding at the end, "By the way, your belly is quite white."
Yuan Ming, "..."
Amidst the laughter, everyone gradually dispersed.
Deng Guang stayed behind last. After the others left, he said to Qin Ziwen, "Captain, I obtained a card, but it takes up too much space and I can't use it. Do you have extra cards to trade with me?"
"What card?"
Deng Guang carefully took out a grey Building Card from his chest.
"Captain, look."
[Building Card] Level 1 Tavern.
Qin Ziwen was somewhat surprised. "Brother Deng, this card has a certain value. Are you sure you want to trade with me?" He explained the Tavern's uses to Deng Guang.
Deng Guang seemed tempted upon hearing this, but after thinking for a long time, he finally gritted his teeth. "Trade!"
Qin Ziwen took out a Micro Blank Expansion Card. "Alright, but I only have this right now."
Deng Guang was delighted. "This is perfect."
His home had no extra space; even if he obtained a building, he couldn't construct it. The Blank Expansion Card was the most suitable card for him at this stage.
He understood a principle: sometimes, what's suitable is the best.
After obtaining the card, Qin Ziwen went to the Tavern and chose to upgrade it.
After the upgrade glow faded.
The exterior walls didn't change much; it was still a rustic-style small tavern. However, the exterior walls changed from mud-plastered earth walls to small brick-and-tile houses.
Inside, the tables and chairs in the front hall became large square pear wood tables, clean and tidy.
In the back kitchen, the cooking utensils were brand new. Two gleaming butcher knives stood on the large round chopping board, with all kinds of spices and seasonings readily available.
Du Yu followed behind Qin Ziwen. Qin Ziwen asked, "You're the waiter after all. Don't you have anything to say?"
Only then did Du Yu remember he had this identity. He immediately smiled and said, "I wish the master's shop prosperity and booming business!"
"Is the proprietor here?" An old man's voice came from outside the hall.
Qin Ziwen lifted the door curtain to see a disheveled, shabbily dressed old man standing outside.
Upon clearly seeing Qin Ziwen's face, the old man plopped down, kneeling on the ground, weeping bitterly. "Please, Manager, save me."
Qin Ziwen stopped walking, looking puzzled at the old man before him. "Have you met me before?"
The old man raised his head. His face seemed vaguely familiar.
"Are you that scholar from back then?" Qin Ziwen tentatively asked.
The old man bowed deeply. "I am old and decrepit, while the Manager's elegance remains unchanged. I did not wish to involve a noble person, but my family of eight has a blood feud. If I were to die in vain, I would surely carry hatred to the grave!"
With that, the old man took out a cloth bundle from his chest, unwrapping it layer by layer to reveal its contents: a card emitting a blue glow.
Qin Ziwen almost thought he was seeing things. "You... where did you get this?"
The old man gave a bitter laugh and heavily kowtowed. "It was precisely because of this object that disaster befell my entire family."
Then, the old man fully revealed the events.
According to him, half a month ago, a Taoist priest suddenly arrived in the city, claiming to have a rare treasure for destined individuals to view.
That Taoist priest said this rare treasure was like flowers in a mirror or the moon in water; only those destined could touch it.
Many commoners in the city went to try but couldn't touch it.
He passed by the market and, out of curiosity, tried. Surprisingly, he actually picked up this blue-glowing card and even heard a mysterious voice. Overjoyed, he took the card home.
That very night, a group of people stormed into his home, slaughtering wildly. He barely escaped with the help of some mysterious people. According to those who saved him, the ones who killed his family were secret agents from the Imperial City Department under the current emperor. Since the founding of the dynasty, the imperial clan had been hunting down descendants with mysterious bloodlines across the land. The characteristic of this bloodline was the ability to touch these things called Destiny Cards.
The most significant feature of a Destiny Card was that upon holding it, one could hear the voice of heaven.
Destiny Card...
"Do you know what this is?" Qin Ziwen asked.
"I know. Destiny Card, also an Advanced Building Card. When I held it, a voice emerged in my heart, telling me this is the Advanced Building Card: Blood Sand Gladiator Arena."
Hearing this, Qin Ziwen believed him a little.
Simultaneously, a thought surfaced in his mind: Du Yu could touch this card. Could Du Yu also be part of this mysterious bloodline?
What exactly is this mysterious bloodline? Why is the Great Yong imperial clan secretly hunting them?
Could it be... that a Home had once descended upon their world?
Are Du Yu and the others perhaps descendants of those Home members?
Qin Ziwen speculated inwardly.
Seeing the old man still kneeling on the ground, Qin Ziwen said, "Get up."
The old man struggled to stand up. Qin Ziwen gave him a hand.
"Take a seat first."
While they were talking, hurried footsteps came from outside the door.
Two soldiers clad in iron armor, holding long spears, lifted the door curtain. Seeing the old man, their eyes lit up, and they shouted, "Found him!"
"Harboring bandits, kill!"
The two soldiers moved swiftly, raising their spears to stab.
"How dare you!" Du Yu shouted loudly, stepping forward sideways, grabbing a spear shaft with one hand, pulling, then pushing.
He flung the two men into a collision, breaking their attack.
With another leaping step, he closed in, transforming his palm into a fist, striking one man's throat.
Swinging his left arm, he blocked the other's grappling attempt, kicking out with the tip of his foot, flipping him to the ground.
Hooking his foot, he kicked up the fallen long spear and stabbed one man to death with it.
The other man, clutching his throat, tried to retreat but was grabbed by the back of his collar by Qin Ziwen and thrown to the ground.
Matching skills might not be their forte, but matching strength was still easy.
Du Yu smiled. "Master, we just happened to need armor, and here they delivered two sets."
Qin Ziwen looked at the old man behind him. "If you have nowhere to go, you can stay here. I'm short a Cook, a Manager, and a Waiter here. What can you do?"
The old man's eyes lit up. He heard an invitation sound in his mind. After a moment's thought, compared to the high-profile Waiter, he felt the Cook in the back kitchen was safer. "I am willing to be the Cook."
[You have successfully recruited a member]
[Please assign him a position]
The little glowing ball floated out, and a selection frame appeared before his eyes.
Level 2 Tavern: [Manager (0/1) Waiter (1/2) Cook (0/2)]
Qin Ziwen assigned him the Cook position.
Then he used Insight on him.
[Ordinary · Human (Jia Liangcai): ☆]
Qin Ziwen said, "Regarding revenge, I can't make any promises. But stay here from now on. Feeding one more mouth isn't a problem."
Jia Liangcai bowed deeply. "Thank you, benefactor."
Keeping him was partly due to the fate of three meetings at the tavern, and partly because Jia Liangcai seemed quite fortunate—last time he gave five taels of gold, this time he brought an Advanced Building Card.
What Qin Ziwen was most curious about was that in Great Yong, cards actually existed.
When asked, Jia Liangcai and Du Yu shook their heads, both saying they had never heard of cards before this.
Qin Ziwen guessed that the top echelons of the Great Yong court must be deliberately suppressing the information.
Then Du Yu lifted the two corpses on the ground, stripped off the lamellar armor they wore, and collected the long spears.
Lamellar armor was made by piercing iron plates and connecting them with ropes into armor strips.
It provided good defense against slashes and direct stabs.
Qin Ziwen took the card.
Holding the card, he automatically received its information.
[Advanced Building Card] Level 1 Blood Sand Gladiator Arena.
Construction Requirement: 80*80 meters.
Afterward, Qin Ziwen arranged accommodation for Jia Liangcai, letting him share the secondary bedroom with Li Tieshan. He also instructed Li Tieshan to brief Jia Liangcai on the current situation so he could understand the environment.
Seeing Jia Liangcai was old, Li Tieshan simply gave up the bed, letting Jia Liangcai sleep on it while he himself took the floor.
This moved Jia Liangcai deeply.
...
Waking up the next day, he checked the settlement as usual.
「You have successfully survived safely in the wilderness for the thirty-second day, obtained three cards, successfully hunted the Giant Hyaenodon King... Comprehensive Score: 265 points」
「Rewards obtained: [Breakthrough Card] Limit Breakthrough Card1, [Building Card] Level 1 Field1, [Enhancement Card] Animal Constitution Enhancement Card (1 Star)*1」
Qin Ziwen took out the green Enhancement Card obtained from hunting the Giant Hyaenodon King yesterday.
The reason he didn't use it yesterday was that this card was special—it wasn't for humans or animals.
[Enhancement Card] Ordinary Building Enhancement Card*1
The effect was domineering: it could unconditionally increase the level of any ordinary building below level 5 by +1.
It did not include level 5; it could only be used on buildings up to level 4.
This card was most cost-effective when used on a level 4 building, so he kept it for now.
Then there was the Medium Grassland Expansion Card.
It could expand a 50*50 square meter grassland terrain within the Home.
Currently, the Home's total area was 2698㎡. The increased area from just the grassland was already close to the original total area of the Home.
It could almost double the Home's area directly!
Qin Ziwen went to the edge of the open space and used the Grassland Expansion Card first.
The grey mist at the edge continuously dispersed, large areas were expanded, revealing vast stretches of lush green grassland.
The originally somewhat crowded Home instantly became spacious.
Qin Ziwen pondered. Now he had three large cards unused.
Two Advanced Buildings: the Martial Training Ground and the Blood Sand Gladiator Arena, and one Moso Bamboo Forest.
Advanced Buildings had powerful effects, but the Moso Bamboo Forest was also a scarce resource he lacked at this stage, especially for arrows.
He could only guess the uses of the two buildings from their names.
With a bamboo forest, he could mass-produce arrows.
Seeing Qin Ziwen's worried expression, Jia Liangcai stepped forward. "Why is the Master concerned?"
After hesitating for a moment, Qin Ziwen told him about his dilemma.
Jia Liangcai pondered briefly. "May I ask, Master, how many bows and crossbows do you currently have? How many soldiers are in your force?"
Qin Ziwen rubbed his temples. "We don't use such formal language here when communicating."
"Understood." Jia Liangcai clasped his hands in salute.
Qin Ziwen paused for a moment, then shook his head. "We have two compound bows, but compound bows can only use specialized arrows. Using bamboo arrows can easily cause them to explode. The other bows are still being made. As for soldiers... you can roughly understand the core fighters as about ten people. But if we need to boost morale and numbers, gathering several dozen to a hundred people wouldn't be a problem."
Jia Liangcai understood and continued asking, "Then, Master, is morale currently high? Are they all brave and willing to fight?"
Qin Ziwen thought of the members in the core Hunting Team. Counting himself, about three had reached peak physical condition. But as for whether they were elite warriors, Du Yu probably counted. He himself and Cao Biansheng still had room to grow.
"That's precisely it." Jia Liangcai nodded slightly. "Master is wise. The advantage of a bamboo forest lies in weapons. Even divine weapons require fierce warriors to wield them to defeat enemies. Therefore, in my humble opinion, first solidify the foundation, then consider the details!"
"Wait, wait." Qin Ziwen looked suspiciously, carefully examining Jia Liangcai.
Compared to his disheveled appearance when they first met yesterday, after washing up today and tidying his hair, this old fellow looked somewhat dignified.
"Before that incident happened, what position had you reached?"
Jia Liangcai said modestly, "Replying to Master, merely a Prefectural Chief Clerk, not worth mentioning."
Chief Clerk?
If he could reach that position, then temporarily acting as the Home's steward, managing a few dozen people, shouldn't be too difficult, right?
...