In the pitch-black thatched hut, Li Muyang, overcome with fatigue, opened his eyes and stretched languidly.
“There really are other dangers in this rotten stockade…”
He muttered somewhat speechlessly.
Having survived the night without dying, nothing of importance happened in the game instance the next day.
The game character only went to ask the person in charge for some money and grain, which is a benefit due to a Nurturer.
With the remaining time, Li Muyang took Little Wild Grass for a walk around the stockade. Apart from not being able to take Little Wild Grass out of the stockade, there were hardly any personal restrictions, and they could go almost anywhere within it.
Now responsible for nurturing Little Wild Grass, Li Muyang no longer had to work in the mountains and became an idler within the stockade, with meals and lodging provided.
But no one envied him.
Even as he passed by with Little Wild Grass, most people avoided them like the plague, fearing that getting too close to Little Wild Grass would result in the draining of their yang energy.
A day passed without any significant events, and Li Muyang aimlessly wandered around the stockade without triggering any storylines.
At night, Li Muyang chose to sleep, and as expected, he died once more after falling asleep.
When he reloaded and chose to stay awake all night, this time he safely made it to dawn.
Was the murderer only waiting to strike after Li Muyang fell asleep?
The third night, Li Muyang once again chose not to sleep.
But unfortunately, the game character who had stayed up for two whole nights couldn’t hold out and fell asleep halfway through.
Consequently, Li Muyang unsurprisingly encountered the pop-up [You have died, game over].
After this death, Li Muyang opened his eyes and temporarily exited the game.
Gazing out at the pitch-black night through the window and feeling the fatigue in his body, Li Muyang stretched out long and lazily.
“So tired…”
Li Muyang sighed.
He had been awake for two nights and now was overwhelmingly sleepy.
That’s how galgames are, even if the theme and character design are interesting, it’s hard to keep someone utterly captivated—not even “Mirrored Reality” could do that!
At this moment, Li Muyang no longer felt the urge to play through the night like he once did.
He had gathered enough information by now to confirm that some kind of danger was hidden in the stockade, something that would come out and kill his game character as soon as he fell asleep.
This must be the first storyline challenge after adopting Little Wild Grass. Generally, getting through this challenge should bring him closer to Little Wild Grass.
Having clarified this point, Li Muyang exited the game and got up, yawning.
Before sleeping, he double-checked to ensure the front door was locked, and then he lay down to sleep.
Given the “unlimited time” of this game instance, it was clearly an instance that would require a lot of time and couldn’t be solved in a day or two.
Li Muyang had plenty of patience. Now, with an endless supply of Spirit Rice, he wasn’t worried at all. He was free from the pressures of life and could invest lots of time and energy into this nurturing game.
After lying down, Li Muyang quickly fell asleep.
After one night, the first thing Li Muyang did after getting up in the morning was to move the pickled cabbage jar pressing down on the Spirit Rice jar.
The unprepossessing, dirty-looking Spirit Rce jar was now full of plump, top-grade Spirit Rice.
The Spirit Rice in the jar, once depleted, would indeed refill overnight.
Having confirmed this, Li Muyang was completely relieved of any concerns and cheerfully got out of bed to wash and head off to work.
It was still the task of herding a group of bizarre, bipedal sheep up the mountain. After driving them into the valley, Li Muyang casually found a spot to sit down.
The Game with the Fairies, activate!
When Li Muyang opened his eyes again, he was back in the empty Stilted Building.
Then…
[You have died, game over]
…
“What the hell is this sorcery!”
Li Muyang violently sat up at dusk, feeling rather frustrated.
He had spent the entire day exploring in the game, but each time he died inexplicably.
Not only did sleeping at night lead to death, but even dozing off during broad daylight resulted in a quick death and game over.
The murderer who killed Li Muyang specifically chose the moments when Li Muyang was asleep to make his move.
At one point, Li Muyang even suspected Little Wild Grass was the murderer, deliberately locking the little girl in a room, staying far away by himself, and lying down by a busy roadside in the fortress.
He still ended up dead.
Later, he even went to sleep at the entrance of Manager Wu’s place, and still, he died.
—That murderer dared to kill in broad daylight!
He could even kill under Manager Wu’s watch.
This was just too bizarre.
Manager Wu was considered a very powerful expert in the fortress, to kill under his watch… who was so bold?
Li Muyang, who had been dying continuously all afternoon, was feeling somewhat downcast at this point.
“I’m stuck on this level…”
As an experienced gamer, Li Muyang was no stranger to this kind of situation.
It’s easy to get stuck on a certain level for a long time when playing games.
If it were his previous life and he was stuck on a level, he would simply pull out a phone and look up a guide online.
Now, in this other world without computers or the internet, and playing a system game that only he possessed… there was nowhere to find a guide.
While driving a pair of goats down the mountain, Li Muyang let out sighs of frustration.
The feeling of being stuck was so intense that even the Spirit Rice he cooked for dinner didn’t taste as good as the last meal.
However, after eating this serving of Spirit Rice, the growth of his Spiritual Energy didn’t decrease due to Li Muyang’s lack of appreciation for the flavor.
Li Muyang’s cultivation soared once again.
When he finished meditating and adjusted the vigorous Spiritual Energy within his body, the system interface’s experience bar had become [Li Muyang: Qi Refining Stage Second Layer Heaven 43%].
Just yesterday it was at 27%, and the day before yesterday only at 12%… The pace of his cultivation growth was like a dream.
With the progress of around fifteen percent per day, he would soon break through to the Third Layer of Qi Refining Stage.
And after breaking through to the Third Layer of Qi Refining Stage, he could apply to learn the Cloud and Rain Technique.
The Sect was willing to teach not many techniques for free to Outer Sect Disciples, and the Cloud and Rain Technique for spiritual planters was one of them.
After all, if one truly had the talent to become a spiritual planter, the Sect only needed to provide two spirit fields, and a spiritual planter could produce Spirit Rice continuously.
This large Sect needed to be maintained, and a massive amount of Spirit Rice was needed for distribution every month.
Therefore, the Sect was quite generous in nurturing spiritual planters.
Li Muyang planned to learn the Cloud and Rain Technique, and if he could become a spiritual planter, he wouldn’t have to dig into the foul-smelling valleys every day.
Being a spiritual planter was also the most leisurely and cost-effective profession in the Outer Sect.
Thinking of this, Li Muyang took a deep breath, his expression brightening.
“Work hard! Cultivate! Strive!”
With something as great as an endless supply of Spirit Rice, he couldn’t let himself down!
Seeing that it was getting late outside, Li Muyang also locked the door, went to bed, and once again opened the game.
In the empty Stilted Building, Li Muyang smiled at the little girl in front of him with a pale yellow health bar.
“Go to sleep, I’ll take you around the fortress tomorrow.”
And then…
[You have died, game over]