Peaceful Development of the Manor

Everyone listened to Su Yu Niang, their breathing becoming rapid.

A group of boys and girls looked at Yan Hua with fervent eyes, completely disregarding the ghouls of this world.

For instance, the current pack of hungry wolves staring at "Yan Hua" made him shrink back.

This is too terrifying!

Is this game called "Eerie Manor"?

"Yan Hua" fearfully retreated, thinking to himself, Could it be that all the blacksmiths in the manor died last night and turned into ghouls, leaving only me with a sane mind in this incredibly sinister and evil place?

He also wondered if he had transmigrated to a parallel world. After staying up late playing games and falling asleep, the Sword Forging Manor from yesterday was completely different!

It turns out urban legends are true. You absolutely shouldn't stay up late at night, or you might transmigrate to some parallel world.

At this moment.

Everyone was indeed very excited.

This was clearly a newly discovered game mechanic.

Of course, everything would only become clear after the real Yan Hua was resurrected and the two Yan Huas, the real and the fake one, faced each other.

Soon, another ten magic coins were spent to resurrect Yan Hua.

Not long after.

Yan Hua appeared at the manor's entrance.

Seeing another version of himself, he felt a bit numb all over!

As the real Yan Hua, he was just as timid as his [Ember], and at this moment, he was completely stunned.

The "Yan Hua" in front of him seemed unfazed. He treated the real Yan Hua, who had appeared at the manor's entrance, as someone who looked exactly like him, just an ordinary blacksmith.

"He doesn't recognize me?" Yan Hua was somewhat surprised, and his tension eased slightly.

"This is an awareness defect of the Ember."

At this point, Su Yu Niang calmed everyone down and said:

"Embers have no souls, only a fragmented soul shell. They possess behavioral logic and believe they are still alive. When something exceeds their comprehension, they will ignore it."

For example, if you tell him he's dead, he'll ignore it.

For example, if another version of himself appears, it will instinctively ignore the incongruity.

After some research, everyone excitedly continued to test various characteristics.

After all, this was a first for the manor, and everyone was quite enthusiastic.

This was what you called new gameplay from a game update!

As for the kind of "minor bug fixes" Jiu Cai Rong wrote in the update log?

Best not to mention it.

After a long while, Yan Hua himself was no longer afraid.

He was also very happy to see his other self, realizing he would achieve the accomplishment: the first blacksmith with a pet!

He inexplicably became the first rich, handsome, and powerful person in the manor.

He happily pulled "Yan Hua" along, treating him like a brother, and they chatted. Soon, they became quite familiar.

After all, no one understood himself better than himself.

Some perverted blacksmiths were already shoveling dirt nearby, cleaning up crow corpses while secretly watching them, already starting to ship the two of them as a couple.

She had no choice but to caution Yan Hua, sternly warning him:

"Ember, the flesh and blood body is not the true self; it's a psychic void. They instinctively absorb flesh and blood to replenish their bodies, and they also have certain obsessions. If provoked, they will kill. Be careful."

"That terrifying?" Eye Bag and a few others thought they had just added a new member.

Su Yu Niang nodded. The information she had made her very knowledgeable about these common cultivation world principles. She said, "Yes, most of them have the same combat power as when they were alive. However, there are special individuals who accumulate Yin energy and gradually grow into great malevolent beings."

"Then it's fine."

Anyone could fight Yan Hua's combat power.

If you provoked his killing pattern, you could just beat him up and be done with it.

Without a doubt.

"Yan Hua" was one of the weakest ghouls in this world.

After about ten minutes of research, everyone's enthusiasm waned, and they began to reorganize the manor, each returning to their own tasks.

After all, they had just finished a battle, and today was very busy.

After their respective teams did a rough cleanup, they began to collect their spoils of war, busy dismantling the crow corpses. The crow feathers, beaks, and bones were all excellent materials.

Even the meat was being prepared for drying and smoking for storage, as it would rot.

At this point, it was time to test the manor's head chef—the God of Cookery—and his skills.

Although he was a delivery driver who grew up eating takeout and was by no means a five-star chef, to uphold the boasts he had made, he had already stayed up late to secretly learn this kind of cured meat drying technique, which he would use to teach everyone how to handle the crows.

The cured meat turned out alright with the help of the oven.

If they didn't vomit when eating meat, they would have already held a crow barbecue party with such a bountiful harvest.

The entire manor instantly transformed into a slaughterhouse, everyone immersed in the joy of the harvest.

Meanwhile.

Jiu Cai Rong and the others went to the steward's room to discuss important matters and future development.

After all, the "Crow Calamity" expansion pack had concluded, and they had taught those arrogant and wicked crows a lesson. They wouldn't dare to airdrop anything overhead for a while, bringing clear skies to this land!

Things should settle down for a period of stable development, quietly forging iron and cultivating.

There were just two things to focus on.

1. Cultivation, opening the three flowers on the crown, and transferring to become an Enchanter. 2. Death, with a chance to yield embers.

In reality, these two things could be summarized as one: cultivation, opening the three flowers on the crown, with a high probability of failure and death, and a small chance of yielding embers.

In short, they were starting to cultivate Enchanters!

Jiu Cai Rong, ever cautious, said, "The next main quest should be selling goods."

"That makes sense. According to the classic progression, we've already fought monsters, collected materials, and started forging weapons. The next step is to sell a batch of weapons."

Su Yu Niang added, "After all, previous manors sold magic artifact blanks. Now that we're selling magic artifacts, this is the first order since the manor's transformation."

"Our manor seems to be located in the mountains outside Pingchang City."

Jiu Cai Rong analyzed, "Next, people from the city might come to purchase. I heard our manor has a teleportation array connected to the city. We not only need to present our flagship products but also have someone to negotiate with them and haggle. We need to find someone good at negotiation."

"Will the old steward come to help oversee the first transaction?" Su Yu Niang asked.

"Probably," Jiu Cai Rong replied. "In any case, let's develop the manor, the blacksmith shop, and the Enchanters first. It's still a long way off for external NPCs to come and purchase."

However, before that, they decided to start the next test.

They would once again probe the boundaries of the manor's map.

The subject of this test was, of course, "Yan Hua."

They told "Yan Hua" about a hidden quest: to go outside the manor and collect materials.

As a result, "Yan Hua" eagerly asked Jiu Cai Rong how many magic coins he could get.

This greedy demeanor was exactly like his real-life counterpart.

"Three magic coins. You go down there, find some good stuff in the mountains, like fruits, ores, or even things we haven't seen before, to enrich the item compendium, and then come back. This money is easy to earn," Jiu Cai Rong assigned the quest.

"Yan Hua" quickly put on a basket on his back and descended the mountain, crossing beyond the manor, disappearing into the forest, much to the delight of the others:

"Holy crap, he's actually leaving! He's at the foot of the mountain!"

"Good luck on your first trip, Traveling Frog! Bring back some postcards and materials!"

Halfway down the mountain, "Yan Hua" felt utterly defeated. He couldn't understand it at all: "We're all players, so why am I being treated like their pet?"