The riverbed

Lu Heng put the basic workbench, packaged bread, and purified water from the wooden treasure chest into his bracelet's storage slots one by one. The empty chest was useless now, so he tossed it beneath a bush, covered it with dead branches and weeds, and left it alone.

He had just fought several desperate rounds against the Coldspine Badger and the Cold Stiff. All that maneuvering and close combat had left his muscles stiff with tension. His breathing gradually steadied, but he had already used up most of his stamina. He now had the blueprint for forging a bone dagger, the workbench, and all the materials obtained from dismantling monsters. There was no need to keep running blindly deeper into the woods, farther from his cave shelter, and waste his strength.

He stopped detouring in the opposite direction to evade potential pursuers, turned around, and cut diagonally through the woods, intending to take a shortcut back. Earlier, afraid of being followed, he had avoided taking a fixed route and had only carved scattered, shallow marks into tree trunks along the way. The marks were spread here and there, enough to guide him without getting lost even when he cut diagonally through the forest.

With his direction settled, Lu Heng tightened his grip on the wooden spear and headed deeper into the woods. His earlier decision to take a long detour to avoid danger had turned out to be the right one.

After he walked a little over a hundred meters, the ground gradually dipped, the trees on either side grew sparser, and a broad, long-dried river channel appeared before him.

The channel was deep. Although it had dried out long ago, the patterns worn by years of flowing water remained clearly visible on the steep rock walls along both banks, making it possible to imagine what it had looked like when water was plentiful. The entire riverbed lay exposed, covered in rounded pebbles of all sizes. The silt had dried completely and split into deep, crisscrossing cracks.

Quite a few whitened fish bones lay scattered in the cracks in the mud and between the stones. They varied in length, and most were so brittle that a touch of a fingertip crumbled them to bits.

Lu Heng stood and watched for a moment, gaining a clearer picture. Water was not scarce everywhere in this forest; there were definitely still pools farther in. But those would all be stagnant, with no running water circulating through them to cleanse them. Silt and rotting debris would keep accumulating, so there was no guarantee the water would be safe to drink directly. Even if he ran short of drinking water later, he could not rashly use it. He would note this clue for now and return to inspect the area when he had time.

He stood quietly with his wooden spear in hand and listened to his surroundings. There was not a sound from the rock hollows, fallen trees, or grass along the banks. No wild beasts lay in hiding, and the entire dry channel was quiet and free of danger.

Once he had confirmed it was safe, Lu Heng looked at the stones covering the ground and thought he might as well gather some building stone while he was here, saving himself a separate trip later.

There were plenty of stones in the riverbed, but their quality varied greatly.

The small stones exposed on the surface had endured wind and frost for years. Their structure was loose, and a light tap of a finger knocked off crumbs. They were not hard enough for expanding the shelter or building a stove, so he had to reject them all.

A few large chunks of raw stone were solid and dense, with little surface weathering, making them suitable for use. Lu Heng bent down and picked them up one by one, storing them in his bracelet as he went. Before long, he had gathered 15 units of stone, exactly half the total needed for the upgrade.

Most of the remaining stones hard enough to qualify were buried in hardened, dry silt, pinned firmly in place with only a small portion exposed. He could not store them directly in the bracelet and would have to dig them out.

Lu Heng crouched and tried levering the stones loose with his wooden spear. The thoroughly dried silt had hardened solid, and every thrust took considerable effort. Clods of mud kept falling away, and his arms soon began to ache. He had thought gathering materials along the way would save him trouble, but that hope had fallen through.

His stamina was already nearly spent after the two fights. If he forced himself to dig out enough remaining stone to reach 30 units, he feared he would not last long enough to walk back to the cave. Lu Heng simply stopped and kept only the 15 units of stone he already had. He was still short by half, but he could return for the rest after recovering his strength.

He raised a hand to wipe the thin sheen of sweat from his forehead. Just as he was about to head back, he caught a dull metallic glint out of the corner of his eye, in a gap between two large rocks on the inner side of the riverbed.

Lu Heng stopped in his tracks and immediately went over. He brushed aside the dead grass and dry mud fragments blocking it, fully revealing a heavy metal chest. Its body was solid and weighty, with a thin coating of mud on the outside, and he could not determine its grade by sight alone. Not daring to touch it rashly, he circled the chest and inspected each seam and its underside, confirming that there were no concealed mechanisms or traps.

The moment his fingertips touched the chest wall, the bracelet on his wrist suddenly lit with a faint blue glow. Scanning patterns swept rapidly over the chest's surface, and a line of text appeared on the light screen: [Unknown treasure chest detected. Identifying... Grade determined: Black Iron-Level Treasure Chest. Unlocking automatically.]

After a faint click from the latch, the lid flipped open to one side on its own. Only then did Lu Heng realize that he had stumbled upon a Black Iron-Level Treasure Chest, a grade far above an ordinary wooden chest.

Four items lay neatly inside: an iron axe, a pair of durable, thick-cloth hiking shoes, a metal lighter, and a small, neatly folded piece of waterproof fabric.

The iron axe had a sharp edge and was made of hard material. Whether he used it to split wood or chip stone, its efficiency and durability far surpassed those of the stone axe that had already broken; the thick-cloth shoes had deeply treaded soles that protected against sharp gravel underfoot and scratches from thorns, shielding his feet well while walking through woodland and riverbeds so that long journeys would no longer keep rubbing his skin raw; the metal lighter was completely intact, sparing him the effort of making fire with a wooden drill and making it much easier to light fires for warmth in the cave and roast food; the waterproof fabric took up little space when folded and could cover the cave entrance to keep out rain and damp, wrap supplies to protect them from moisture, or provide a simple temporary covering.

All four items were survival supplies he urgently needed right now. Not one was useless dead weight. Lu Heng took them out one by one and stored them all in the bracelet's storage slots.

The instant the chest was emptied, the bracelet's light screen automatically lit up with a prompt: Empty Black Iron-Level Treasure Chest can be dismantled without material loss. Reclaim materials?

Lu Heng immediately tapped confirm. The heavy iron chest dissolved in an instant, leaving no residue, while a notification updated in the bracelet's storage at the same time: Obtained 5 units of black iron. No other materials produced.

Black iron was a scarce metal that would be useful later for crafting advanced tools and reinforcing the shelter. It counted as an unexpected haul of extra resources.

Immediately afterward, a second system notification appeared, its lettering considerably more prominent than an ordinary prompt: First Black Iron-Level Treasure Chest opened. Milestone reward achieved. Bracelet storage space permanently expanded. 5 additional storage slots added.

Lu Heng could clearly feel that the bracelet's previously cramped storage space had suddenly become much roomier. His supplies had been packed tightly together before, and the difficulty of not having enough slots vanished in an instant. From now on, he would no longer have to carefully squeeze out space when storing building materials, food, and tools.

The two surprises in succession swept away all the frustration he had felt while digging out stones.

He walked over to a conspicuous rock wall on the outer side of the channel and used a stone to carve his personal mark, indicating that stone could reliably be gathered here. He also made a mental note that he still needed 15 units of stone and would return for the rest later.

After briefly tidying up the traces he had left, Lu Heng tightened his grip on the wooden spear again, located the trail marks carved into the tree trunks, and set off without further delay, walking steadily back toward the cave shelter.

The wind blew gently through the woods, and the journey passed safely without disturbance. This short exploration on an impromptu detour had yielded far more than he had expected.