So Plain and Crude?

After waking up and washing up briefly, Chen Fan stood at the doorway of the wooden cabin, looking out at the continuous drizzle. Today the rain was not too heavy. In his understanding, a rainy season simply meant heavier rainfall, but in this world, the rainy season literally rained non-stop, twenty-four hours a day. At best, it was a persistent drizzle like this; at worst, a torrential downpour. "..." He looked toward the cracked ground outside the cabin. Even after raining for days, far from any flooding, the ground remained parched and cracked. The narrow fissures, resembling the weathered soles of a peasant farmer's feet, swallowed every drop of rain like bottomless monsters. Not even a puddle of standing water could be seen. In his memories, aside from the rainy season, the weather in this world was quite normal. But such continuous precipitation during the wilderness rainy season was clearly unnatural. Especially with the rainy season arriving early, ghost creatures tended to become exceptionally irritable and violent. Putting those thoughts aside, he looked down at the two remaining exotic treasures in his hand. These had been left behind the day before yesterday by the flesh worm ghost tide—three in total, with the other exotic treasure being the building module blueprint for the copper pipe. The one in his hand right now was a pocket-sized knife. It looked like a keychain trinket. - [Exotic Treasure Name]: Broadsword. [Exotic Treasure Quality]: White. [Exotic Treasure Effect]: Deals significant damage to low-tier ghost creatures. - "..." Chen Fan stared at the exotic treasure in his hand, his brow furrowing slightly. This was not the first time he had obtained a weapon-type exotic treasure; the spear Quehou always carried was one as well. It was just that Quehou's exotic treasure had an overwhelmingly domineering name: God-Slaying Spear. How did this exotic treasure end up with... Broadsword. Was it really that plain and crude? Moreover, it lacked any special traits—the God-Slaying Spear at least had the attribute to shrink and grow at will. Forget it. He set the exotic treasure aside, intending to give it to Zhou Mo once he returned. At least it was a weapon-type exotic treasure, and the damage it dealt to ghost creatures was still stronger than ordinary weapons. As for the other exotic treasure, it was rather special. A cluster of tiny black specks wrapped inside a thin membrane, it was a seed-type exotic treasure. - [Exotic Treasure Name]: Flesh Ghost Mother-Child Seed. [Exotic Treasure Quality]: Green. [Exotic Treasure Effect]: Must be planted in "Level 2 Farmland." Maturity cycle is seven days. Once ripe, it yields mother and child fruits. When two people each consume one, they can communicate telepathically within a hundred li. Effect lasts for one month. [Planting Conditions]: Must be watered with ghost creature blood every two hours, and ghost creature carcasses must be used as fertilizer. - "Good stuff." Chen Fan quietly tucked the seeds into his robes. This exotic treasure resolved a major dilemma he was facing: the lack of communication methods. For instance, right now, if he wanted to contact Zhou Mo out in the field, he had no means whatsoever. It was just that the planting conditions were rather troublesome. Someone would have to be assigned to keep watch on a regular schedule. Still, that was fine. He had his dynamic farming duo, so there was no need to worry. With the two taking turns keeping watch, they could handle it flawlessly. This was the first Green-quality exotic treasure he had obtained. Its effect was even better than he had imagined. Once ripe, the Flesh Ghost Mother-Child Fruit would probably be a hot commodity even if brought to Jiangbei Market. ... Exiting the wooden cabin, he immediately noticed the change on the wall: a crude little shack built of wooden planks had been added atop it, with several discarded garments draped across the roof. It wasn't large, but it could offer some shelter from the rain. He had told the dynamic duo to put it together before he went to sleep. It looked pretty good. Otherwise, having to stand guard in the rain all night every time was something no one could endure; their bodies weren't made of iron. "Stationmaster." As Chen Fan walked past the wall to the outer perimeter of the camp, Qi Chong, who had been bustling about doing who-knew-what in the farmland, hurriedly jogged over at once. "They're all harvested!" "The ten lion's mane mushroom seedlings produced a total of ten lion's mane mushrooms." "The eight ghost stone vein plants grew eighty ghost stones." "They've all been placed in the warehouse." "Mm." Chen Fan nodded slightly and walked toward the warehouse outside the camp. Pushing the door open, he saw a neat row of lion's mane mushrooms and a layer of ghost stones arranged on the shelves. The yield wasn't massive. He picked up a lion's mane mushroom and held it to his nose, sniffing gently. He took a bite. An earthy tang mingled with sweetness rushed across his palate. "Huh?" A glint of surprise flashed in Chen Fan's eyes. Before long, he had finished the entire lion's mane mushroom. The taste was surprisingly good, but more importantly, it felt warm in his mouth, like a scalding heat current, without the texture of eating raw food at all. And after it entered his stomach, he could vaguely feel his physical constitution indeed strengthening by a sliver. Truly not bad. There were still nine left. There happened to be ten people in the camp. "Take the remaining nine and distribute them, one for each person. This rain is going to keep falling for a while, and a boost to physical constitution will also help prevent illness." The slight enhancement to physical constitution would hardly affect combat prowess, but it could certainly reduce the likelihood of falling sick. Glancing at the eighty ghost stones sitting on the shelf, Chen Fan pulled the Flesh Ghost Mother-Child Seed from his robes and handed it to Qi Chong. "In a moment, I will upgrade the farmland to Level 2. From now on, you and A'le will take turns looking after these seeds." "They're rather delicate." "They need to be watered with ghost blood every two hours." "Quehou buried quite a few ghost creature carcasses in the ground. Dig some up when the time comes." "Understood!" Qi Chong answered in high spirits, then carefully took the membrane with both hands and cupped it in his palms. "..." Chen Fan gave Qi Chong a somewhat strange look. How had his sense of identification with farming suddenly become so strong? Yesterday, he could still clearly sense that Qi Chong wanted to go out on field duty like Zhou Mo and harbored some resistance toward farming. Chen Fan had even planned to have a chat with him later to ease his aversion to farming, so how had that resistance vanished completely today? It was difficult for someone to figure out such things on their own in such a short time. Had someone had a talk with him? He looked at the stubble-faced, burly A'le following behind Qi Chong, nodded thoughtfully, and then patted Qi Chong on the shoulder with a smile. "Work hard." "In the future, we'll have even more farmland. When that time comes, you'll miss how easy it is now." "Heh heh." Qi Chong grinned. "Don't worry, Stationmaster! I'll definitely take care of this plot down to the last detail!" "Go on." ... Facing the overcast rain, Chen Fan walked up to the farmland, spent ten ghost stones, and upgraded this plot of farmland on the camp's perimeter to Level 2. A panel surfaced before him. - [Farmland upgraded to Level 2.] [This structure has no upgrade paths.] - "It seems not all structures have optional upgrade paths." Chen Fan didn't say much else, merely gazing at the farmland before him. After the upgrade, the soil had turned from yellow earth into black soil, looking noticeably richer and more fertile. Though the farmland was small, he didn't have many seeds anyway. For planting merely a dozen or so seeds, this plot of farmland was more than enough. ... Only after finishing all this did he walk over to an open patch of ground on the camp's perimeter. With the presence of Heating System 1.0, he had slept rather comfortably during the day; the cabin was much warmer. However... the hot water inside the copper pipes didn't flow automatically after all. He had been woken up by the cold twice, getting out of bed both times to replace the hot water in the copper pipes. It was rather troublesome.