The crude earthen kang bed made falling asleep extremely difficult. Mosquitoes circled him endlessly in the dead of night, leaving Chen Xuan deeply uncomfortable.
For a long time, he could not sleep.
A sudden transmigration.
A sudden other world, a sudden Conceptual Ability.
Too much had happened in a single day.
Glancing at Xiao Shitou and his mother, who had already fallen asleep beside him, Chen Xuan quietly climbed out of bed.
But he did not leave.
Instead, he turned his gaze toward the space before him.
"Set!"
With a slight stir of thought,—
the next moment, lines of text appeared.
Objective: Eat a full meal (Pending Confirmation) Setup complete "Loading!" "Loading successful!" "Path One: West City Pharmacy in Green Mountain City is short one Herb Gathering Boy. Arrive in Green Mountain City within two days, join West City Pharmacy, and become a Herb Gathering Boy." "Path Two: Fierce Mountain Hall in Green Mountain City is recruiting members. Arrive in Green Mountain City within twenty-four hours and present one tael of silver to Steward Chen to join Fierce Mountain Hall." "Path Three!"
The same text appeared again, clearly changed from what it had been that evening.
As Chen Xuan watched the lines of text, his eyes flickered. Before long, new words appeared once more.
Objective: Obtain food tomorrow (Pending Confirmation) Setup complete "Loading!" "Loading successful!" "Path One: Tomorrow evening, place a fifty-centimeter Blue Stone two meters from the riverbank. Half an hour later, you can obtain one black carp." "Path Two: Beneath the large pine tree at the foot of the back mountain in Small River Village, a Mountain Chicken will be injured by a wild wolf's attack tomorrow and fall to the ground, unable to move. Arrive within one hour to obtain the Mountain Chicken."
Objective.
Thoughts flashed continuously. Beneath the moonlight, Chen Xuan kept experimenting with his Conceptual Ability.
Until deep into the night.
When the Moonlight Essence gradually spilled down,—
Chen Xuan finally drifted into sleep, exhausted.
Early in the morning, accompanied by the spreading morning sunlight,—
the sun slowly shone in through the cracks in the wall. Chen Xuan felt an itch all over his body. He scratched himself twice without thinking, only for an even fiercer itch to strike. His mind instantly cleared.
He rolled over and sprang out of bed.
Vigorously scratching several swollen red bumps on his body, he could not help looking around.
When the familiar, dilapidated room came into view, Chen Xuan sighed.
Clearly, he could not go back.
"You're up? Hurry and wash your face. Time to eat."
Zhang Chunhua seemed to have heard movement from inside the room as well. Her gentle voice carried in from beyond the door.
"Coming!"
Chen Xuan answered loudly, hurriedly getting out of bed and putting on the straw sandals that were already somewhat damaged.
The straw sandals chafed his feet terribly, but after yesterday, he had grown somewhat accustomed to them.
When he stepped out of the inner room, he found his mother carrying in a steaming bowl of fish.
"Go wash your face. It'll get cold soon."
Zhang Chunhua spoke softly.
"Guoguo, it's time to eat fish!"
His younger brother, Xiao Shitou, followed behind Zhang Chunhua and called out happily to Chen Xuan as well.
"Good boy, Xiao Shitou!"
Chen Xuan smiled and rubbed his little brother's head, then hurried outside.
He began washing up.
Naturally, washing up in the countryside was nothing like in his previous life. There was not even a towel. He simply scrubbed himself a few times with clean water using his hands, and that was that.
As for brushing his teeth, that was out of the question.
Forget toothpaste—even washing with salt was impossible.
In this era that resembled ancient times, salt was similarly outrageously expensive.
Still, after thinking it over, Chen Xuan went to the stove, found some charcoal, and used it to clean his teeth. Better than nothing.
Once he had finished washing, he returned to the inner room.
At this moment, Zhang Chunhua and Xiao Shitou were already seated.
"After we eat, Er Gou, come with me to the Bamboo Forest behind the mountain. Let's see if we can dig up some wild vegetables."
Zhang Chunhua sighed and spoke softly.
"Mother, I want to go check the river again!"
Hearing his mother's words, Chen Xuan fell silent for a moment before speaking seriously.
According to his memories, the village had suffered a great disaster this year. It seemed to have been a Locust Plague.
Wild vegetables? Forget wild vegetables—the bark on the village trees had nearly been stripped clean.
There were still fish in the river only because the fish there were exceptionally vicious, and the river seemed extremely deep. Whoever went in never came back out, which was why there were still fish.
The wild vegetables that had once been everywhere were probably impossible to find now.
"Then be careful. Don't go into the water!"
Zhang Chunhua opened her mouth, as though she wanted to say something. But looking at the fish on the table, she ultimately said nothing more, only softly reminding him.
"I know, Mother!"
Chen Xuan nodded.
The family slowly ate in silence.
Xiao Shitou seemed to sense the atmosphere as well. He merely took small bites and did not speak.
And amid that silence, the meal was soon finished.
Chen Xuan cleared the table.
Meanwhile, Zhang Chunhua slung a bamboo basket over her back, picked up a hoe, and left the house. Clearly, she was going to dig for wild vegetables.
Watching this, Chen Xuan's heart grew even heavier.
Huff!
He slowly exhaled a stale breath, then turned his gaze toward the transparent panel before him, visible only to himself.
Objective: Obtain food (Pending Confirmation) Setup complete "Loading!" "Loading successful!" "Path One: This evening, place a fifty-centimeter Blue Stone two meters from the riverbank. Half an hour later, you can obtain one black carp." "Path Two: Beneath the large pine tree at the foot of the back mountain in Small River Village, a Mountain Chicken will be injured by a wild wolf's attack today and fall to the ground, unable to move. Arrive within one hour to obtain the Mountain Chicken."
The text appeared. This was precisely one of the setups he had tried yesterday.
It was also what he intended to act on today.
Although he had tried many things yesterday, and many of the objectives he set had made his heart race,—
Chen Xuan understood even better that rice had to be eaten one bite at a time, and roads had to be walked one step at a time.
For now, the most important thing for him was to fill his stomach.
Everything else could wait until after he had eaten his fill.
He looked at the sky.
After giving Xiao Shitou a few instructions, Chen Xuan took a basket and headed out as well.
His destination was the back mountain.
That was right, the back mountain.
Though he could still obtain a black carp from the river this time, the problem was that he needed to place the stone farther into the middle of the river. With his skinny arms and little legs, Chen Xuan thought it over and gave up.
He had not forgotten how the previous owner of this body had died.
Compared to the black carp in the river, the Mountain Chicken on the back mountain was much easier to get.
Though the back mountain was also extremely dangerous, he was not going deep into the forest. Chen Xuan knew where that large pine tree was—it was not far from the village at all, so there should be no danger.
And indeed, that was the case.
After roughly half an hour, Chen Xuan found that large pine tree.
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