There were two task rewards: 100 points and three bottles of “Dream-brand Corn Juice.”
While a main quest only gave twenty points, this side quest had yielded five times that amount, which was a genuine surprise.
Feeling a sense of relief, Ye Mian felt the aches in her body subside slightly. She pulled out a bottle of the corn juice. Printed on the bottle was a slogan: Dream-brand Corn Juice—clears fatigue in a second and restores your vitality!
“Could it really be that magical?” she wondered.
Ye Mian unscrewed the cap and took a tentative sip.
The taste was sweet and rich. Although the texture wasn’t as good as the boiled corn she’d just eaten, the effect was immediate. After just one mouthful, she felt her exhaustion vanish. Her body felt light and energized, as if she could go out and snap off another few hundred ears of corn right now.
“Phew…” Taking a refreshed breath, Ye Mian took two more small sips before screwing the cap back on and returning it to the warehouse.
The item’s name in the storage slot had changed to “Opened Dream-brand Corn Juice.”
The system was quite flexible with its labeling.
Ye Mian smiled and took out a fresh bottle. Xue Kai was expected to do farm work all day and cook as well; she couldn’t afford to let her only employee collapse from exhaustion.
As she stepped out of the warehouse’s external door, she heard a familiar “woof.” From a distance, she saw Da Hei sprinting back, dragging a large, furry creature in his mouth.
Upon closer inspection, the creature was a massive grey rabbit with six legs. Its neck was bloodied, looking as though it had been killed instantly by a single bite. Da Hei hadn’t inflicted any unnecessary damage.
[Swift Six-legged Rabbit: Low-level mutant beast. Non-toxic and edible (delicious meat). Weakness: Neck.]
Ye Mian realized what had happened. “You brought this back for us to eat?”
With a heavy thud, Da Hei dropped the rabbit. He panted happily, his tongue lolling out in a goofy manner, and nudged the rabbit toward her feet with his paw. His meaning was unmistakable.
She hadn’t expected him to be so effective at hunting. Furthermore, he had managed to resist eating the prey himself, bringing it back perfectly intact.
Was it because he had evolved once and now looked down on low-level mutant meat?
Working in the vegetable patch, Xue Kai watched the situation from a distance. Once Da Hei lay down, he approached cautiously. He stared at the grey rabbit, which was only slightly smaller than the dog itself, and stammered, “Is this… our dinner?”
He said “dinner” because it was nearly noon. If they started preparing it now, they probably wouldn’t be able to eat it until dark.
Ye Mian looked at him. “Can you handle this?”
Xue Kai sounded uncertain. “I’ll… I’ll try my best…”
Knowing that most mutant beasts had sharp fur and tough hides, Ye Mian didn’t push him. “If you can’t, just leave it outside the kitchen for now. It shouldn’t spoil anytime soon.”
It was unrealistic to expect Xue Kai to drag the heavy carcass alone. Ye Mian handed him the corn juice first and then commanded Da Hei to drag the giant rabbit over to the kitchen area. She rewarded the dog with a carrot.
“Eat up. After you’re done, you’re coming out with me again.”
She patted Da Hei’s large head and walked back to the main entrance of the living room. She left the necessary seeds and fertilizer there, then went to the bathroom to wash her face. She tied her long hair into a tight, secure bun at the back of her head.
Time was ticking, and she didn’t know how far she would have to walk or what she would encounter. It was best to leave as soon as possible.
Xue Kai, being quite perceptive, saw she was ready to go. He dug a clean eco-bag out of his pack and packed some of the corn he had boiled earlier.
“Take this to eat on the way. Also… stay safe.”
Ye Mian took the bag. “Thanks. Hard work this afternoon.”
She stuffed the bag into a warehouse slot, grabbed her machete, and called for Da Hei, who had finished his carrot in just a few bites. As she walked out, she opened the mission interface and accepted the exploration side quest.
A line of text immediately appeared before her eyes: Distance to target: 4088 meters.
“There’s guidance…” Ye Mian breathed a sigh of relief. She had never explored the wilderness before and couldn’t tell latitude from longitude. Without a direction to follow, she probably wouldn’t have found the coordinates even by nightfall.
“Let’s go, Da Hei!”
After confirming the direction, she let Da Hei lead the way while she followed at a brisk pace. Before long, the silhouettes of the person and the dog grew smaller against the wasteland until they were swallowed by the tall weeds.
Xue Kai stood at the door and watched for a while. Although he knew Ye Mian would return, he felt a strange sense of being left behind. Thinking back, it seemed he had nothing left in this world—no family, no girlfriend, no career, and no home.
If all he had left was this body, what was the meaning of continuing to live?
“Sigh…” He absentmindedly opened the corn juice Ye Mian had given him. After one swallow, he felt his muscles relax instantly and his mind become exceptionally sharp. His eyes widened. “Holy crap…”
As expected of a system product!
“Back to work!” Xue Kai felt fully recharged and charged toward the cornfield.
As the sun began to tilt toward the west, Ye Mian and Da Hei successfully crossed the wasteland and entered a mountain forest located behind the farm.
The atmosphere here was completely different from the small woods she had visited yesterday. The vegetation was so dense there was nowhere to step, and the thick canopy above blocked out the sky. The bright day instantly turned into a dim, chilly gloom.
Whether it was her persistent bad feeling or the occasional rustling sounds, everything reminded Ye Mian that this dense forest hid many dangers. However, likely intimidated by the fierce-looking Da Hei at her side, no mutant beasts or plants showed themselves for the time being.
Ye Mian didn’t want to cut down trees today, so she maintained a policy of “I won’t move if the enemy doesn’t.” She walked straight toward her destination.
While she was somewhat looking forward to meeting a slightly stronger mutant beast, mid-level mutants were likely rare. Besides, in a place filled with hidden threats, it was hard to fight at full strength; one wrong move could lead to a coordinated ambush.
Thinking of this, Ye Mian whispered, “Stay alert. Wait for my command.”
Da Hei gave a low, understanding bark. His ears stood tall, and his tail began to twitch slightly.
After walking cautiously for a while longer, the distance indicator finally disappeared, replaced by a prompt.
[Target coordinates reached. Please begin exploring.]
Ye Mian stopped and looked around. This was a rare clearing. Beneath her feet was damp, dark soil and gravel. Several thick, ancient trees surrounded the area, while the shorter bushes seemed unable to spread further, stopping a short distance away.
If not for the familiar [Attack Immunized] prompt that popped up, Ye Mian would have thought this place was truly quiet and safe.
Looking both at the ground and into the canopy, she couldn’t see the source of the attack. However, she noticed Da Hei wrinkling his nose strangely, as if he were about to sneeze.
“Huh?” Was it a gas attack?
Ye Mian waved her hand and focused on the air. Just as she discovered fine powder drifting in the shafts of sunlight, a sharp, piercing shriek sounded from above.
A fierce wind rushed at her face, and a pair of massive, steel-like talons flashed before her eyes.
[Attack Immunized]
Ye Mian acted instantly. “Da Hei, get him!”
“Woof!!” Da Hei barked at the owner of the talons and lunged forward with his jaws open.
“Gah—!”
A black shadow circled into the air. A pair of tiny, beady eyes stared intently at Ye Mian and Da Hei on the ground.
Ye Mian finally saw its full appearance. Aside from those oversized talons, it had massive black wings and a bird-like head, but it possessed a neck like a snake. It looked incredibly grotesque.
[Mutant Osprey: Mid-level mutant beast. Inedible. Weakness: Tail.]
“Da Hei, bite its back!” Ye Mian stepped back and pointed behind the giant bird. However, she also saw the thick, curved feathers there, which were clearly meant to protect the weakness.
Additionally, because the bird could fly, even with Da Hei’s impressive jumping ability, it was difficult to reach the tail. He could only try to dodge and counterattack when the bird dove.
After several rounds, useless black feathers littered the ground. Da Hei had sustained a few pecks, but the wounds were slowly healing and regenerating.
Ye Mian held her machete but couldn’t find an opening to intervene. The enemy was too agile; by the time she swung, it would be far away. She could only silently cheer Da Hei on.
The giant bird was quite smart. After its first failed attempt on her, it had sensed something was wrong and stopped trying to target her directly.
Ye Mian turned her attention back to her main reason for being there—exploration.
She had the [Insight] skill. If the thing that had released the powder earlier was a mutant and the target of her exploration, she would find it if she looked carefully.
Earlier, she had been worried about Da Hei’s safety, but now that he was holding his own, she began to inspect the surrounding bushes and grass personally. She used her machete to push aside tangled branches.
Suddenly, her hand holding the machete felt a nearly imperceptible resistance. She had to use a bit of force to pull it back out.
“?”
Ye Mian looked down at a cluster of grass by her feet that seemed to have twitched. She decided against using the machete to probe further and instead reached out to pull it apart with her hands.
[Attack Immunized]
“Ugh.” Ye Mian looked at the pale green liquid that had sprayed onto the back of her hand from the bushes. She suddenly felt a bit reluctant to keep looking. This weak attack made it seem unnecessary to either kill or tame the thing.
But since she was already here, she had to finish the quest. With a burst of strength, she ripped away the thick grass that served as cover. A vibrant, flaming red color entered her vision.
[Wild Sanqi: Contaminated and mildly toxic (not suitable for medicine). Weakness: Flower stem.]
[Exploration complete. Reward: 100 Points, Flame Fruit x3!]
?
Ye Mian didn’t have time to look at the rewards. She was busy struggling with the Wild Sanqi.
Although its attacks were soft—either spraying liquid or releasing powder—its stems and leaves were even denser than purslane, and its flowers grew in thick clusters. She struggled for a long time without even seeing a glimpse of the flower stem.
In frustration, she called for backup. “Da Hei, over here!”
Hearing her call, Da Hei immediately abandoned the giant bird and dashed over. Simultaneously, the mutant osprey had no intention of letting Da Hei go and continued its pursuit with a screeching shriek.
But this was exactly the situation Ye Mian wanted.
Faced with two mutant beasts charging at it at once, the Wild Sanqi became flustered. Its leaves and flowers trembled, and the flower vines hidden in the grass began to flail about chaotically in an attempt to resist.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Ye Mian reached in and firmly gripped the slightly exposed flower stem with precision and speed.
At the same time, she commanded Da Hei to turn back and catch the osprey off guard.
In an instant, the scene was pure chaos. The surprise and the breakthrough happened at the same time.
[Successfully tamed Wild Sanqi!]
“Gah—!” The mutant osprey seemed to have been struck by something. Its body suddenly lost balance. Its wings flapped frantically, but instead of flying higher, it began to plummet. Da Hei seized the opportunity to lung forward and sank his teeth firmly into its tail.