Everyone's breathing quickened when they heard what Su Yu Niang had said.
A group of child disciples and lolis stared at Eye Flower with burning eyes, making the ghouls of this world lose all dignity.
For example, the wolfish, tiger-like gaze before him made "Eye Flower" shrink back.
How terrifying!
Was this game actually the Yin Ghoul Manor?
"Eye Flower" kept retreating in fear, thinking to himself, Could it be that all the blacksmiths in the manor died and turned into ghouls last night? They're all sinister and evil, leaving me as the only living person with a normal brain?
He also wondered whether he had crossed into a parallel world. After staying up all night playing the game and sleeping, the style of yesterday's Sword Forging Manor had become completely different!
Sure enough, urban legends were all true. One absolutely must not stay up late at night, or one might cross into some parallel world.
At that moment.
Everyone was indeed extremely excited.
This was clearly a newly discovered mechanic.
Of course, they would have to wait until the real Eye Flower was revived. Only when the two Eye Flowers, the real and the fake, stood face-to-face could they figure out what was going on.
Soon, they spent another ten Magic Coins to revive Eye Flower.
It did not take long.
Eye Flower appeared at the entrance of the Mountain Villa.
When he saw another version of himself, his entire body went numb!
As the real Eye Flower, he was just as timid as his ember. At that moment, he was completely dumbfounded.
The "Eye Flower" standing before him seemed to have no reaction at all. He merely took the real Eye Flower, who had appeared at the entrance of the Mountain Villa, for someone who looked very much like him—a regular blacksmith.
"He doesn't recognize me?" Eye Flower was somewhat surprised, and his nervousness eased a little.
"This is an ember's cognitive defect."
At that moment, Su Yu Niang had everyone calm down and explained:
"Embers have no souls. All that remains is a damaged soul shell. They only possess behavioral logic and believe they're still alive. When something exceeds their cognition, they simply ignore it."
For example, if you told him he was dead, he would ignore it.
Likewise, if another version of himself appeared, he would instinctively ignore the incongruity.
After conducting a round of research, everyone enthusiastically tested all sorts of characteristics.
After all, this was the Mountain Villa's first time encountering such a thing, so everyone was quite enthusiastic.
Now this was what a new gameplay mechanic from a game update should look like!
As for the kind where Jiu Cai Rong wrote "Fixed a small number of bugs" in the update log?
Best not to mention it.
After quite a while, the real Eye Flower was no longer afraid either.
Seeing that he had another self made him extremely happy. He was about to achieve the accomplishment of becoming the first blacksmith with a pet!
He had somehow become the first rich, handsome man in the Mountain Villa.
Happily, he dragged "Eye Flower" along as if he were his brother and chatted with him. Before long, the two became very familiar with each other.
After all, no one understood himself better than he did.
Some of the more perverted blacksmiths had already begun shoveling dirt and clearing away Crow corpses nearby while secretly watching them. They had even started shipping the two of them as a couple.
She had no choice but to remind Eye Flower. In a solemn voice, she warned him:
"An ember's flesh-and-blood shell isn't its true body. It's a mental bubble. By instinct, they absorb flesh and blood to replenish the shell. At the same time, they possess obsessions in certain areas. If provoked, they will kill. Be careful."
"That terrifying?" Eye Bag and the others had thought they were simply gaining a new member.
Su Yu Niang nodded. The information she had obtained gave her a thorough understanding of these common-sense matters from the cultivation world. She said, "That's right. Most have the same combat strength they possessed in life, but there are special individuals who accumulate yin energy and gradually grow into great calamities."
"Then it's fine."
Anyone could take a swing at Eye Flower.
If someone triggered his killing rule, they only needed to beat him up and be done with it.
Without a doubt.
"Eye Flower" was one of the weakest ghouls in the world.
After everyone studied him for more than ten minutes, their enthusiasm soon faded. They began repairing the Mountain Villa again, each returning to their own tasks.
After all, they had just finished a battle, and there was plenty to do today.
After each team roughly cleaned up their respective areas, they began reclaiming their spoils of war. They were busy breaking down the Crow corpses. Crow feathers, beaks, and bones were all excellent materials.
They even began preparing the meat for air-drying and smoking so they could store it. After all, it would rot.
This was where the Mountain Villa's head chef—Food God—would be put to the test.
Although he was merely a deliveryman who had grown up eating takeout, not some five-star chef, he had stayed up late long ago to secretly study techniques for air-drying cured meat, all to preserve the boast he had made. Now he used them to teach everyone how to process the Crows.
With the help of the roasting oven, the cured meat turned out fairly decent.
If they had not vomited whenever they ate meat, they would have already held a Crow barbecue party to celebrate such a bumper harvest.
The entire Mountain Villa instantly took on the air of a slaughterhouse, and everyone was steeped in the joy of their harvest.
Meanwhile.
Jiu Cai Rong and the others went to the Steward's Room to discuss important matters and their future daily development.
After all, with the "Crow Calamity" expansion pack complete, they had taught those arrogant, vile Crows a lesson. The Crows would not dare air-drop onto their heads again for the short term, returning clear skies to this land!
Next, they should be able to develop steadily for a while, quietly forge some weapons, and cultivate.
There were just two matters to focus on.
1. Cultivation: Open the Opening Three Flowers on Crown and change class to an enchanter.
2. Death: There was a chance of producing an ember.
In truth, these two matters could be summed up as one: cultivate, open the Opening Three Flowers on Crown, and most likely fail and die, with a small chance of producing an ember.
In short, they were beginning to cultivate enchanters!
Jiu Cai Rong remained vigilant even in times of peace and said, "The next main quest should be selling goods, right?"
"That makes sense. According to the classic progression, we've already fought monsters, collected materials, and begun forging weapons. Next, we should sell a batch of weapons."
Su Yu Niang said, "After all, the Mountain Villa used to sell artifact blanks. Now we're beginning to sell artifacts. This is the first sale after the Mountain Villa's transformation."
"Our Mountain Villa seems to be in the mountains outside Pingchang City."
Jiu Cai Rong analyzed the situation. "Next, someone from the city may come to purchase them. I heard that our Mountain Villa has a teleportation array connecting it to the city. We not only need to bring out our flagship products, but also have someone negotiate with them and haggle over the price. We need to find someone who knows how to negotiate."
"Will Old Steward come up to help preside over the first transaction?" Su Yu Niang asked.
"He should," Jiu Cai Rong said. "In any case, we'll develop the Mountain Villa first. We'll set up the Blacksmith Shop and enchanters first. As for outside NPCs coming to purchase them, that's still a long way off."
Before that, however, they decided to begin the next test.
They would once again probe the boundaries of the Manor Map.
The obvious subject for the test was "Eye Flower."
They told "Eye Flower" that there was a hidden quest: to leave the Mountain Villa and collect materials.
As a result, "Eye Flower" eagerly asked Jiu Cai Rong how many Magic Coins he could earn.
That greedy look was exactly the same as the real Eye Flower's.
"Three Magic Coins. Make the trip down the mountain and find some good things, such as fruit, ore, or even things we've never seen before. Enrich the item compendium, then come back. This money's easy to earn." Jiu Cai Rong issued the quest.
"Eye Flower" quickly slung a basket over his back, went straight down the mountain, crossed beyond the Mountain Villa, and disappeared into the forest, making the others wildly excited:
"Holy crap, he really left! He's made it down the mountain!"
"Travel Frog's first expedition—good luck! Bring back some postcards and materials!"
Halfway down the mountain, "Eye Flower" was utterly powerless. No matter how he thought about it, he could not understand: We're all players, so how did I end up looking like their pet?
Before you continue