Stardew Valley

Inside the Scar-faced Man's battle suit were a full thirty-six golden whiskers.

That meant six adult Golden-Bearded Mastiffs had lost their whiskers to him. As valuable materials, these whiskers were also crucial for establishing status within the pack and for courtship.

"We have enough for the two of us, and there's this too," Guen said, stuffing the golden whiskers into his own clothes before pulling out three slender transparent crystal tubes filled with purple liquid. "This is a Life Potion. Use it on the unicorn."

Chen shot Guen a grateful look, then fed the Life Potion to the unicorn.

The wound on the unicorn's chest and abdomen healed at a visible rate; within half an hour at most, the gash would close completely.

The Life Potion, said to save anyone as long as they weren't dead on the spot, truly lived up to its extraordinary reputation.

"What do we do now?" Chen asked.

Guen thought it over. "We two have enough golden whiskers. The problem is we still haven't seen Uncle Jack and the others. Let's wait half a day tomorrow. Someone might have noticed us by now. If we get surrounded and attacked, it'll turn dangerous. We can only wait half a day more."

Chen agreed.

After the unicorn's injuries improved, Guen and Chen retreated far away, carefully concealing their tracks.

The night's frenzy didn't subside with the complete fall of the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs. Instead, it quietly burrowed into every nerve of those still alive.

Fewer warriors died directly under the claws of the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs; far more perished in the ensuing fights and skirmishes.

Some fought for golden whiskers, others for wealth.

By the next day, Guen, carefully gathering information, still hadn't found Uncle Jack and his group.

This result left Guen and Chen exchanging bewildered glances. Could it be that out of that original group, only the two of them had made it here alive?

Guen and Chen even waited an extra half day, until the sun set, with nothing to show for it.

As the remaining people began organizing raids on other Golden-Bearded Mastiff packs, Guen and Chen mounted the unicorn—now mostly recovered—and left the gathering point, heading for their destination: Stardew Valley.

Nine days later, at the edge of Stardew Valley, a unicorn and a Mountain-Walking Ape cautiously appeared on the valley's rim.

It was Guen and Chen. Their bodies bore far more scars than before, and their eyes were sharp and cold.

Along the way, they'd encountered all kinds of Ferocious Beasts that caused them great trouble. The most dangerous time came when they traveled with three warriors from Leiquan City. Halfway through, those men, coveting Guen and Chen's golden whiskers, lured them into the territory of Red-Tailed Scorpions.

Though only Tier 7, Red-Tailed Scorpions had a reputation that surpassed even the Golden-Bearded Mastiffs. A swarm of them could easily poison a Tier 9 Ferocious Beast to death.

Only by relying on the unicorn's ability to fly did they narrowly escape with their lives. They killed the three Leiquan City warriors and took another twenty-three golden whiskers from their bodies.

Every warrior heading to Stardew Valley carried at least some golden whiskers.

Those who didn't have enough simply ambushed others along the way.

Scheming, plotting, ambushes, deception...

And all kinds of high-tier Magic Beasts filled the path. Even Chen, under this immense pressure, advanced from Tier 6 to Tier 7.

The surplus golden whiskers in their hands now numbered thirty-six—more than what they'd won from fighting the Golden-Bearded Mastiff pack itself.

The latter half of the route was a third shorter than the journey from Double Moon Town to the Golden-Bearded Mastiff gathering point, yet it took just as much time and proved far more perilous.

During one fight, Guen didn't kill his enemy but did seize his mount—a Tier 5 Ferocious Beast, the Mountain-Walking Ape.

Staring at Stardew Valley not far ahead, Guen and Chen hesitated.

On this final stretch, would someone be lying in wait, ready to strike when their guard dropped?

Guen and Chen were worrying needlessly.

"Is that you? Come over." A familiar voice rang out.

"General?!" Guen and Chen were both surprised and delighted. "What are you doing here?"

The general of Double Moon Town smiled at the two. "If I weren't here, you'd be second-guessing yourselves on this last leg. Come on over."

Guen and Chen hesitated, then walked over.

Though their expressions relaxed, their muscles remained taut—clearly, they hadn't fully let down their guard.

These two.

The Double Moon Town general was flanked by several other generals. Seeing this, they all chuckled silently but didn't take offense. Most first-time trial participants acted this way.

"Congratulations. You're the seventy-first and seventy-second from Double Moon Town to make it here," the general said casually once Guen and Chen were close.

"That many?" Guen and Chen were startled.

"Many?" The general shook his head. "Half of them gave up outright. Another chunk didn't gather enough golden whiskers. Only two have actually entered the Inner Valley! If you have extra whiskers later, feel free to help them out. Go on. Remember, fighting is forbidden inside. If you're caught, a Super Tier expert will kill you on the spot."

With that, the general dismissed them.

In his view, Guen and Chen, first-timers, were lucky just to survive. Having extra golden whiskers on top of that?

Unlikely.

He was just going through the motions.

Curious, Guen and Chen walked into the valley. What they saw were clusters of people standing apart, many bearing wounds, glaring at each other with hatred.

The moment Guen and Chen entered the valley, people immediately swarmed toward them.

"Brothers, got any extra golden whiskers? I'll pay five thousand gold coins for one."

"I'll offer fifty-five hundred. If you can give me five, I'll throw in an extra ten thousand gold coins."

But under Guen and Chen's forbidding gazes, most people only shouted with restraint, not daring to get too close. Guen and Chen ignored them entirely, pushing straight through the crowd to find the people from Double Moon Town.

"Tch, without Golden Whiskers, what's there to be cocky about? Let's go."

"Ah, I'm just one short. Kind soul, please give me one—I'll do anything you say."

But Guen and Chen remained unmoved. They finally found the Double Moon Town group, and unexpectedly spotted Uncle Jack and Setti as well.

Uncle Jack was badly injured. He had apparently taken a Life Potion—his life was saved, but the wounds were too severe to heal quickly.

As for Setti, he was directly unconscious.

"Uncle, how are you here?" Guen pushed through excitedly, giving only a brief nod to the others.

Uncle Jack saw it was Guen and smiled happily. "You're still alive—thank goodness. I'm sorry, we dragged you into this."

"Uncle, what really happened back then?" Chen pressed.

Uncle Jack sighed. "There's no point hiding it now. Setti and I have some old grudges with a certain Prince. The first two times, he interfered and kept us from completing the trial. This time, he struck directly. Setti and I failed you. I'm sorry. After we lured the Vajra Ape away, we've been hunted all the way here. Everyone else is dead. It's our fault—we ruined you."

Uncle Jack took a breath. "But since we didn't pass this trial, we can't become senior members of those organizations. There'll be trouble ahead."

Guen and Chen exchanged a glance.

Setti—they didn't know him well.

But Uncle Jack had looked after them since childhood, a mentor and a friend.

Guen asked, "Uncle, did you forfeit to get here?"

Uncle Jack shook his head. "No. We wanted to forfeit and leave the trial zone, but the pursuers were too close—they didn't give us a chance. We just kept running until we got here."

"In that case, let's go, Uncle. We're heading to the Inner Valley." Guen helped Uncle Jack up.

"The Inner Valley? You're..." Uncle Jack felt a sudden sense of unreality.

Chen smiled brightly. "That's all Guen's doing. You'll see when we get there."

With that, Chen hoisted Setti onto his back, and together with Guen, they pushed through the crowd toward the Inner Valley.