The village remained silent; not a single sound could be heard, only a foul stench that permeated the air.
Ye Mian stopped at the entrance of the village. “Let’s split up and search. If there’s danger, make some noise before using your skills. I’ll send Da Hei to help you.”
“Alright,” Xue Kai nodded, then headed straight down the right side of the village road.
Once he was out of sight, Ye Mian took Da Hei and entered the village from the left.
The village was truly small; she could see all the way to the end at a single glance. In total, there were probably fewer than fifty households.
Retracting her gaze, Ye Mian took out the list Xue Kai had drawn up. Aside from a flexible water hose, which was specifically circled as an essential item, the rest were basic household necessities. The former was to make watering easier in the future, while the latter were immediate requirements.
Ye Mian surveyed the houses and, without a second thought, chose a relatively new-looking two-story small building with a courtyard. Having been poor before, she knew that people only bought and used basic necessities as needed; they rarely hoarded them. Therefore, if she had a choice, she would naturally pick the best of the bunch.
Just as she stepped inside, her footsteps faltered. The courtyard was a chaotic mess, as if a fierce battle between beasts had taken place. In front of the ajar door of the building, dark red mottled stains trailed inside, looking like blood. It was impossible to tell if it belonged to a beast or a human.
If it was a Variant and it’s still inside… Ye Mian’s expression grew solemn. Beside her, Da Hei smelled the heavy scent of blood and arched its back, its fur standing on end, its six eyes filled with alertness.
According to Ye Mian’s memories, the combat power of a Variant was generally higher than that of mutated beasts or mutated plants. The latter two could only gain strength by consuming their own kind, but Variants were not picky. This meant they not only possessed intelligence but also multiple methods of attack. Although Da Hei had evolved once, it wasn’t invincible or immortal. They still had to be careful.
“Shh, stay quiet.”
Ye Mian stepped forward slightly, keeping Da Hei at her side and slightly behind as they cautiously approached the main door.
Creeeeeak.
After pushing the door inward slightly, Ye Mian stepped to the side and peered through the widened gap. What she saw left her stunned.
The interior was even more chaotic. Large pools of dark red blood were everywhere, and she could vaguely see pieces of rotting flesh scattered about, emitting waves of stench.
Did a Variant and an Evolver encounter each other in this house at the same time?
From the looks of it, the former had been the victor.
Ye Mian frowned slightly. Even though she possessed the original Ye Mian’s memories, seeing this scene with her own eyes gave her a visceral sense of the cruelty of a world undergoing an apocalypse.
After waiting for a moment and confirming there was only deathly silence inside, Ye Mian stepped closer and pushed the door fully open. Variants still retained human senses; if such a loud noise didn’t trigger an attack, it had likely fled long ago.
Covering her nose slightly, Ye Mian walked a few steps into the stench-filled room. Standing in the middle of the living room, she scanned the surroundings and then gestured to Da Hei. “Guard the door. Alert me if anything is unusual.”
“Woof~”
Da Hei responded and obediently sat at the entrance, looking outside.
Ye Mian moved quickly, searching the first floor first. However, the first floor had been through a fierce fight, and almost no corner was intact. After opening a door to what appeared to be a storage room and seeing it reduced to rubble, Ye Mian decisively closed the door and went straight to the second floor.
The situation on the second floor was better. Although there were bloodstains and rotting flesh in the hallway, the rooms—aside from being a bit messy—remained mostly as they were.
After a thorough search, Ye Mian managed to find a few things: a pack of unopened tissues, some partially used bottled toiletries, several brand-new bars of soap, an unopened pack of toothbrushes, and half a tube of toothpaste.
She put them all into the warehouse, silently offered her thanks, and then went downstairs to regroup with Da Hei to check the other houses.
Although there were a few similar small buildings in the village, they were either empty or had been destroyed by Variants, resulting in essentially no gains. The other houses were in such a tragic state that she didn’t even need to enter to know there was nothing left.
Just as Ye Mian was about to make one last effort to find a hose, she heard Xue Kai call out to her, “Ye Mian, over here!”
Because they had agreed to call out if anything happened, Ye Mian instinctively thought he had encountered danger. She immediately let Da Hei run ahead to support him.
When she arrived, she saw Xue Kai cowering in a corner with his hands raised, looking terrified yet trying to appear calm. Da Hei was huffing at him while wagging its tails; the scene was somewhat comical.
“…Da Hei,” Ye Mian called the intimidating three-headed dog to her side. She looked around. “Are you okay?”
Xue Kai coughed lightly and lowered his hands. “I’m fine. I just wanted you to see this.”
“Hmm?” Ye Mian looked at what he was pointing at. It was a tool made of two large circular stones with a wooden handle on top; it looked like it could be rotated.
“Oh, you probably don’t recognize it. This is called a stone mill. It’s used to grind flour. Once we grow wheat and rice, this will be very useful.”
As Xue Kai spoke, he felt somewhat relieved. “Fortunately, this place is quite remote, so it’s well-preserved. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know how to fix it.”
Ye Mian understood his intention for calling her over. She stepped forward and placed her hand on the stone mill.
【Do you want to pick up “Stone Mill” x1?】
After she clicked “Yes,” the stone mill, which was so heavy it seemed rooted in the ground, vanished into thin air.
Although he had seen her store and retrieve items several times, witnessing it again made Xue Kai feel deeply moved. It’s so good to have a system!
“By the way, I found some other things too.”
Xue Kai walked to the side and showed his findings to Ye Mian: a few dishes mixed with dry straw, a bucket of golden oil, and several bags of white granules labeled “Table Salt.”
“I found these in a locked cellar. Luckily, there were no rats inside.”
Ye Mian nodded and silently put them into the warehouse. “You didn’t find a hose either?”
“No, even the ones I saw were broken.”
Xue Kai was a bit frustrated. “We might have to check a factory or the city, but places like that…”
He didn’t finish his sentence, but Ye Mian, possessing the original body’s memories, understood. Places where people used to congregate would definitely have wandering Variants, perhaps even more than one or two.
“Then let’s go back. We’ll discuss going into the city later.”
“Alright.”
As soon as they returned to the farm, Xue Kai headed straight for the vegetable plot they had just finished planting. To his surprise, he found clusters of green leaves already poking through the soil.
“I’ll give them some more water. At this rate, we should be able to harvest very soon.”
With that, he trotted into the house and soon came out carrying a filled watering can.
Seeing him water the vegetables, Ye Mian remembered the one hundred portions of Premium Fertilizer she had gotten from the gift pack. Before taking them out, she instinctively clicked to view the details.
[Premium Fertilizer: Improves soil quality, significantly increases yield, and has a certain chance to trigger random events.] (Instructions: Please use before sowing and do not over-apply.)
Ah. It was useless for now.
As for what these random events were, Ye Mian looked at the bare grass roots surrounding the vegetable plot; she would probably find out after planting another wave of crops.
But before that, there was something else.
Ye Mian closed the warehouse and clicked on the “Quests” tab. After completing the Beginner series, the quest interface had changed. It now had “Main Quest” and “Side Quest” options. Several tasks were already listed, accompanied by descriptions and hints.
Ye Mian studied them carefully and quickly reached a conclusion: Main Quests were mandatory. New ones wouldn’t appear until the current ones were completed. Side Quests, however, were optional. You could abandon them after accepting them, and you had one chance to refresh them every day.
Ye Mian ignored the side quests for now and accepted all three main quests.
【Plant and harvest some crops (0/10)】
【Obtain twenty special harvests (0/20)】
【Trigger a random event (0/1)】
“Alright, let’s start planting.”
Closing the system interface, Ye Mian called over Xue Kai, who had finished watering, and assigned him a task to dig up grass roots and turn the soil in a specific area. She picked up a hoe herself and went to another area. Da Hei was still tasked with a sickle, continuing to cut weeds in other places.
They worked until the sun began to set. Just as Ye Mian straightened her back to rest and stared at the excessively vibrant sunset clouds, she heard Xue Kai shouting joyfully, “They’re ripe! They’re ripe!”
Ye Mian dropped her hoe and ran over to look. She immediately understood why Xue Kai was so excited. Clusters of vegetables were growing vigorously, completely filling the entire plot with no gaps left.
“Let me see… there’s Chinese cabbage, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, and wait—carrots too!”
Xue Kai’s eyes grew brighter and brighter. “We can have a vegetable feast tonight!”
Ye Mian had these names in her memory, but she couldn’t immediately match them to the plants. She silently rolled up her sleeves. “Should we pull them up or cut them?”
“Hmm,” Xue Kai thought for a moment before pointing at a cluster of tall, slender plants. “Pull the carrots out by the roots. For the others, let’s pick them from above the stems first.”
“Got it.”
Seeing Ye Mian start pulling, Xue Kai also squatted down to pick the vegetables. His movements were skilled, and his strength was greater, so he quickly began harvesting.
Before Ye Mian could even successfully pull out a single carrot, text boxes began popping up continuously.
【Extra Reward: “Chinese Cabbage Seeds” x10!】
【Extra Reward: “Lettuce Seeds” x10!】
【Extra Reward: “Jade Fruit” x1!】
【Extra Reward: “Vegetable Salad Recipe” x1!】
It can even drop recipes?
Ye Mian was stunned. Just then, the carrot seedling in her hand loosened, and she successfully pulled it out. She lost her balance for a moment and sat right down into the dirt.
【Extra Reward: “Cilantro Seeds” x100!】
?
Xue Kai turned to look at her when he heard the noise. He didn’t know she was dazed by the system pop-ups and assumed she just didn’t know how to do farm work. He said straightforwardly, “Let me do it. You go rest and, while you’re at it, organize the things we collected.”
“…That works too.”