Cellar Key

What was going on? Where had this monster come from?

Neither of them understood, but the red name above the monster's head was no joke.

Whatever the case, they would kill it first.

Xiao Jie raised his shield to meet it, blocking the creature's barrage of slashes. This Demon Person attacked incredibly fast, striking the shield five or six times in a row with booming thuds.

I Want to Become Immortal swung his Battle Axe from the side.

Stone Cracking Slash!

Crack! One blow sent the Demon Person crashing to the ground.

Xiao Jie seized the chance to follow up.

One Cut Two Segments!

The monster, staggered into a stiff state, was completely unable to fight back. This was the best time to deal damage.

Slash! As the blade swept past, it unexpectedly triggered the Limb Severing effect. Tian Li Shi's knife-wielding arm was cut clean off, yet she continued to curse furiously. Twisting her body like a madwoman, she pounced on I Want to Become Immortal, wrapped him tightly in one arm, and opened her mouth to bite him.

-

5! -3! -5! -4!

Red damage numbers kept popping up.

I Want to Become Immortal couldn't shake her off for a moment. Xiao Jie slashed repeatedly at the Demon Person's back, landing seven or eight strikes in a row before finally killing the strange monster.

"Damn, where did this thing come from?" I Want to Become Immortal said speechlessly as he drank a Blood Potion.

Xiao Jie was puzzled too. There had clearly only been Scarecrows in this Wheat Field before. It must have spawned suddenly.

But that wasn't right. No one should have been killing monsters here before them, which meant that if there were any rare monsters, they should have already been present when the area refreshed.

Unless this monster had spawned because the two of them had triggered some kind of condition.

But they hadn't done anything except kill monsters. Right, it was most likely that killing a certain number of Scarecrows caused this monster to spawn.

Xiao Jie searched the monster's corpse, but it had only dropped two white-quality items.

[Sharp Kitchen Knife (Short Blade).

Attack: 9 Slash.

Weapon Effect: Kitchen Sharpener. Skill proficiency gained while cooking +10%.

Item Description: A sharp kitchen knife, an excellent cooking utensil combining slicing, peeling, chopping, and mincing functions. It can increase the wielder's cooking skill proficiency.]

[Cellar Key (Key)

Use: Opens the cellar door of the Tian Family Old House.

Item Description: A rusty key that can be used to open a specific lock.]

Oh, good stuff.

The kitchen knife was nothing special. It was probably a standard tool-type weapon, just like a Firewood Knife or Shepherd's Whip.

But the key caught Xiao Jie's attention.

In games, cellars and hidden doors usually contained some good loot.

"The Tian Family Old House? Could that be the farmhouse over there?"

Xiao Jie looked toward the abandoned farmhouse not far away.

"Come on, let's go take a look."

The two arrived in front of the large house, and Xiao Jie tried pushing the door.

System message: The door is tightly shut and cannot be opened from this side.

Huh, it was locked tight? Could there still be someone inside this farmhouse? No, judging by how dilapidated the house was, no one should have lived there for a long time. Or was there a back door?

The two circled around the house.

Calling it a large house was a bit of an exaggeration. It was only a two-story old-fashioned building, roughly the same size as the Village Chief's home.

After making a full circuit, they still couldn't find an entrance. Forget a back door—even the windows had been nailed shut from the inside.

This was really strange.

After circling around, they returned to the front entrance. Xiao Jie cautiously slashed the door once.

Immune!

Huh, there was a way in!

Xiao Jie immediately perked up. The door should be breakable, because if it were an indestructible building, his blade should have simply bounced off without displaying Immune.

If it displayed Immune, that meant the door could be broken, but his attack type was wrong.

Many tool-type weapons in this game had specialized effects. That suggested breaking down doors probably required a heavy weapon.

"I Want to Become Immortal, you do it. Use your axe."

Boom! The axe struck the door.

-

0! Failed to break defense!

Stone Cracking Slash!

Boom!

0! Failed to break defense!

The door's Health Bar appeared, showing a full 500 durability.

It seemed his line of thinking was correct. Getting -0 instead of Immune meant that the Battle Axe was at least more effective than a knife.

Its power just wasn't enough.

This was really ridiculous. Did they need to use a Siege Hammer to smash the door down?

The cellar door was probably inside the house. But if they couldn't get through the front door, having the key was useless.

Xiao Jie took a few steps back and studied the house before him, constantly broadening his train of thought.

Countless gaming experiences from the past surfaced in his mind.

Did they need to use a Light Body Technique to jump onto the roof and enter through the chimney?

No, the chimneys of farmhouses like this were too narrow for a person to crawl through.

The problem still had to be this door. Maybe they could check the weapon shop when they got back.

"Become Immortal, how much attack and weight does your axe have?"

"Weight 12, Slash 21."

That should have been the heaviest weapon in the weapon shop.

Watching the sun slowly sink in the distance, Xiao Jie sighed helplessly. It was already five o'clock, and it would be dark soon. "Let's call it here for today. We'll head back to the village and try again tomorrow."

I Want to Become Immortal was getting addicted to killing monsters. "Don't, Brother Feng. Let's grind a little longer."

Xiao Jie was itching to keep going too. The main thing was that these Scarecrows were too easy to kill, much better than Mountain Bandits. But he understood that there would be plenty of time later.

"There'll be plenty of time. We've already gained a level today. No matter how much we grind, we won't level up again. Let's come back tomorrow."

"How about we log out here tonight?"

"No, don't take chances. What if monsters surround us when we log back in? You can't log out once you enter combat."

That possibility wasn't nonexistent.

What if a powerful monster spawned nearby, or some Corpse Driver happened to pass through with a group of corpses? Once they entered combat, they would be screwed.

The odds might have been low, but once it happened, it became a hundred percent.

So they couldn't let their guard down.

"We'll come back tomorrow. I have a feeling there's definitely something good here."

Looking back, they had already cleared nearly a third of the Scarecrows in that vast stretch of farmland.

The Crows were perched in the Wheat Field, happily pecking at the wheat.

Come to think of it, they really should thank those Crows. The Scarecrows had been fairly easy to kill. The only thing they had to watch out for was Flame Embrace, but as long as they were at full health, it wouldn't kill them instantly.

Still, it seemed the Crows had led them here so they could eat wheat.

"You lot take your time eating. We're leaving. See you tomorrow."

"Caw caw! Thank you, humans! Thank you, thank you!"

They called out as they continued stuffing themselves, freely enjoying the wild wheat that no one had harvested.

"No need to thank us. We'd be grateful if you could help scout out more information for us in the future."

"Caw caw, no problem! Caw caw!"

After saying goodbye, Xiao Jie headed straight toward the village. I Want to Become Immortal had no choice but to follow reluctantly.

The trip back went smoothly. After passing through the woods and fields, they could see the Stockade Wall of Ginkgo Village from afar.

It immediately gave them the feeling of returning home.

Back in the village, Xiao Jie couldn't help checking the weapon list while repairing his equipment at the Blacksmith Shop. Unfortunately, there were no heavier weapons.

"You two went out to kill monsters today?" Wang Kai looked astonished when he saw that both of them had reached level 3.

"Yeah. What, interested in coming with us to level up?"

"No. I swore I'd never leave the village." Wang Kai didn't hesitate in the slightest.

"You could come along with us, gain a few levels, then come back. Just a few levels would give you dozens of attribute points and directly double your physical abilities."

"Heh, no thanks. If I really gained a few levels, I'd definitely start wanting more. Then I'd want to learn skills and farm equipment. There'd be no end to it, and sooner or later I'd be done for. Only by abandoning the idea from the very beginning can I stay safe." Wang Kai said it, but the sourness in his tone was obvious.

PS: Thanks to reader Ni Xing Zhe for the Alliance Leader donation. There will be an extra chapter tomorrow, and I'll also try to make up the chapter I owed earlier this week.