◎Mysterious Cave Dwelling◎
“So excited, finally, our chance to turn things around!”
“I hope the dungeon is easy. Please don’t mess with me!”
“Amituofo, Guanyin Bodhisattva, please bless us!”
For this dungeon mission, all the players had gotten up early and were waiting eagerly, chattering nonstop in the group chat.
Yan Lan’s mood was also lifted by the players’ excitement. She even added an apple to her breakfast as a special treat.
“Xueqiu, are you full?”
“Jii jii~”
“Alright then, let’s get ready to go!”
She did a final check of the water, electricity, gas, and windows inside the RV. Only after confirming everything was in order did she step out of the RV and close the door behind her.
She held the Frost Moon Bow in her hand, with the quiver slung across her shoulder, her gaze sharp and focused.
Xueqiu perched on her shoulder, mimicking her serious expression, his black beady eyes staring straight ahead.
At 8 o’clock sharp, the system chime rang out on time.
【The dungeon is about to begin. This dungeon is a supply search type. The map is random, and the dangers are random. Dear players, please enjoy yourselves~】
As soon as the voice faded, the dungeon card in her hand transformed. An ancient, vermilion-red door appeared before her.
The door looked as if it had been plucked straight off the card, identical to the picture. Yan Lan stood for a few seconds, then turned the doorknob, pushed it open, and stepped inside with Xueqiu.
When she turned around again, the door behind her had vanished.
She found herself in a map that was a deep, remote mountain forest. She was standing under a massive pine tree. The temperature here was pleasant, forming a stark contrast to the freezing cold she had just left behind.
She scanned her surroundings. Within sight, there were only towering trees, fallen leaves on the ground, a few thick wood ear mushrooms, and a few mushrooms by her feet that were just about to push through the soil.
A material-gathering type dungeon, was it really going to turn her into a little girl picking mushrooms?
Yan Lan’s mouth twitched. In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to leave the mushrooms behind.
She crouched down, picked up a random twig, and loosened the soil around the mushrooms. Once the ground was soft, she reached out and pulled them up by the roots.
She casually tossed them behind her, and the mushrooms landed neatly in her backpack inventory.
She had to admit, where there were lots of trees, there were lots of mushrooms. She spotted another large cluster of chanterelles.
The chanterelles were trumpet-shaped, bright yellow in color, each one the size of a palm. Even before she got close, a rich, buttery aroma filled the air.
Xueqiu was even more excited than she was. He darted ahead, plucked the chanterelles, and eagerly handed them to Yan Lan.
Yan Lan took the big bundle of chanterelles, rubbed his fluffy little head, and praised him: “You’re so helpful. Tonight, I’ll make you some mushroom soup.”
Encouraged by the compliment, Xueqiu immediately went back to picking mushrooms without missing a beat.
With Xueqiu’s help, the mushrooms in that spot were soon completely cleared out, about a basket’s worth. Yan Lan stored them all in her backpack.
“Alright, let’s walk further in and see what other supplies we can find.”
At Yan Lan’s instruction, Xueqiu returned to her shoulder, and the two of them continued deeper into the forest.
At the same time, she opened the game panel and entered the group chat. It was unusually lively.
“Did you see? The world channel is open!”
“Really? So many people have been brought into this game!”
“Sisters, I’ll talk to you later. I need to go find my boyfriend.”
“I wonder if my parents are here. I hope they’re doing well.”
Yan Lan also made her way to the world channel. Sure enough, it was no longer grayed out, she could enter it.
Unlike the regional channel, the world channel wasn’t in a chat group format. It was more like a blog or bulletin board.
Players could post threads on it, while other players could view and reply to them.
Most of the content consisted of people searching for their loved ones. Having grown up without family or relatives, and not being particularly close to any of her classmates, Yan Lan scrolled through but found nothing useful.
She returned to the regional group chat, where everyone was now talking about the dungeons.
“This is so nice, it’s so warm here!”
“The temperature is 26°C. It’s just that my frostbitten hands are a bit itchy.”
“My dungeon is a coal mine. Are they really going to make me mine coal?”
“Mining coal is great! You can make coal briquettes, which can be used for heating and cooking. You’ve hit the jackpot!”
“But it’s not ready-made coal. I have to dig it out shovel by shovel!”
“Be grateful. My dungeon is just a coconut grove.”
“A coconut grove is great! You can drink coconut water and eat the coconut meat.”
“Damn, that’s what I thought too. But do you know how hard those coconut trees are to climb? They’re tall and slippery. I’m a girl! I tried several times, fell flat on my face, and almost got bitten by a snake!”
“Haha, that’s still worse than mine. I’ve got tree branches everywhere. No need to cut down trees, just pick them up, and each one counts as a piece of wood.”
“Oh man, I’m so jealous.”
“Hurry up and gather wood then! Our charcoal supply depends entirely on you!”
“Don’t worry. Trust me, I’ll carry back a lot of wood.”
“Help! My dungeon is a fish pond. Is there any fishing expert out there who can teach me a few tricks?”
“Me! Me! Me! I loved fishing before the game. But you’ll have to share some with me.”
“No problem. Private chat!”
“Am I the only one with nothing here? So miserable!”
“Don’t worry. Dungeons like ours usually have hidden resource spots. Search carefully.”
“Really? Then I’d better take a look right away.”
…
“Jii jii~”
“What’s wrong, Xueqiu?”
Hearing Xueqiu’s call, Yan Lan quickly closed the game panel.
“Jii jii~” Xueqiu hovered in mid-air, his little paws gesturing anxiously.
Yan Lan: “Are you saying you need to go to the bathroom?”
“Jii jii~” Xueqiu shook his head vigorously.
Yan Lan narrowed her eyes and looked at him dangerously. “Then are you hungry and want something to eat? But you already had two meat buns and an apple this morning!”
“Jii jii~” Xueqiu’s little black bean-like eyes actually rolled.
She couldn’t really be blamed, Xueqiu’s biggest hobby was eating. Most of what he did every day revolved around eating, drinking, and relieving himself. It was natural for her mind to go there.
Seeing that Yan Lan still didn’t understand what he meant, Xueqiu simply grabbed her clothes with his mouth and tugged to one side.
“You want to take me somewhere?”
“Jii jii~” Xueqiu’s eyes lit up.
“Then lead the way.”
Yan Lan eyed the little snowball flying ahead with suspicion. Could it be that this little spirit had a nose like a bloodhound and could sniff out something unusual?
Noticing they were going further and further off the main path, she couldn’t help asking, “Are you sure this is the way? There’s no trap, is there?”
Xueqiu turned around, flapped his little paws, and continued flying forward without looking back.
Yan Lan was speechless. She had a nagging feeling that letting a little spirit who couldn’t talk lead the way was pretty foolish.
But Xueqiu had already flown far ahead. She had no choice but to quicken her pace and follow.
Xueqiu was deliberately leading her deep into the thicket. Worried about potential dangers around her, Yan Lan put the Frost Moon Bow back into her backpack and took out an iron rod, swinging it left and right to clear a path.
The undergrowth was over a person tall, growing densely, with thorny brambles hidden here and there. She walked cautiously, afraid of getting scratched.
After another continuous half-hour of walking, Xueqiu finally stopped.
Yan Lan pushed aside the bushes in front of her and stepped out.
“Huh? There’s a cave here?”
“Jii jii~” Xueqiu, apparently tired from flying, landed on Yan Lan’s shoulder and pointed proudly ahead with one short, chubby paw.
“I know, you clever little thing.” She gave Xueqiu’s fluffy head a firm pat and walked toward the cave.
As soon as she entered the cave entrance, a wave of cool, damp air hit her. Yan Lan couldn’t help but hug herself.
The entrance was narrow, barely wide enough for one person, as if deliberately designed that way. The further she went in, the quieter it became, but the space also seemed to open up.
It was pitch black inside; she couldn’t see a thing. Yan Lan had no choice but to take out her flashlight from her backpack.
The first thing that caught her eye were the colorful stalactites hanging overhead, reminiscent of the underwater dragon palace from animated tales.
“Ripple… ripple…”
Yan Lan looked down at the sound. At the edge of the cave ran a small stream. Clear spring water flowed around the rocks, and droplets occasionally fell from cracks in the ceiling above, producing crisp echoes. No wonder the cave felt so cool and refreshing.
There was flowing water, which meant there had to be a spring somewhere in the cave.
Yan Lan pressed forward excitedly.
Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks, staring in awe at the sight before her.
Oh my god! Was this a place where immortals cultivated?
At the far end, an opening in the cave ceiling let in sunlight, illuminating everything inside.
Before her stood a towering cavern dwelling. The inner walls of the cavern were embedded with tens of thousands of crystals, radiating colorful, shimmering light.
In the center of the cavern dwelling was a wide pool, its surface emitting cold vapor, it was actually a cold spring. The small stream she had seen earlier also flowed out from here.
Sunlight streamed down, surrounded by misty vapors and the multicolored crystals, making the entire cavern look like a paradise on earth.
Without a second thought, Yan Lan took out a small homemade pickaxe and was about to go dig out the gemstones, when Xueqiu, perched on her shoulder, fluttered.
“Jii jii~”
Xueqiu flew off her shoulder and landed by the cold spring, stretching out a tiny paw.
Yan Lan pointed at herself. “You want me to take a bath?”
“Jii jii~” Xueqiu stood on the ground, chest puffed out, looking very serious.
This was a material-gathering dungeon, and she was supposed to take a bath here? No matter how she thought about it, it seemed a bit absurd.
But Xueqiu had found this cave, and there must be a reason he wanted her to do this.
So Yan Lan went to the cold spring. Before taking off her clothes, she hesitated for a moment, then turned to glance at the fluffy snowball playing by the water. It had no distinguishing features, there was no way to tell whether it was male or female.
Xueqiu felt a chill run down his back. He turned around and saw Yan Lan staring at him coldly. He let out a frightened “Jii!”
He’s just a little spirit, maybe he doesn’t even have a gender. Reassuring herself with that thought, Yan Lan quickly stripped off all her clothes and stepped into the pool.
“Hiss, it’s really cold!” The moment her toes touched the cold spring, the chill spread through her entire body like ice.
Yan Lan gritted her teeth and submerged herself completely.
After enduring the initial cold, her body gradually adapted, and her tense muscles began to relax.
“Ah, this feels amazing!”
She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt a strange change happening in her body. Every pore seemed to breathe, and even her internal meridians started to feel invigorated.
She unconsciously touched her face and was almost startled by how smooth and soft it felt. After surviving in the freezing snow for days, her skin had become rough and chapped from the wind. How could it be this smooth and delicate now?
A flash of inspiration struck her. She pulled up her personal attributes.
【Player: Yan Lan
Age: 21 (nominal age)
Balance: 0
Strength: 80 (upgradable)
Agility: 80 (upgradable)
Intelligence: 95 (upgradable)
Health: 95 (energetic)】
In less than 10 minutes of soaking, her attributes had already increased significantly. The place Xueqiu had found was truly a treasure!
She soaked in the cold spring, happily humming “Little Donkey,” occasionally scooping up water to pour over her arms.
Just then, a strange noise sounded.
Yan Lan jolted upright. She grabbed her clothes from the edge of the pool and held them against her chest, then snapped coldly,
“Who’s there?!”