"Xiaobai!" Lin Feng called out, issuing his command with all the gravitas he could muster. "Use Absolute Froststorm!"
"Squeak?"
Xiaobai licked its paw and stared at him from eight hundred meters away with the kind of blank look that said, as plainly as words, that it had no idea what nonsense he was talking about.
"…"
He had already made peace with Xiaobai's less‑than‑stellar IQ, so the lack of response did not sting too much.
Crawling out from his hiding spot, Lin Feng jogged over, scooped the weasel up, and settled it on his shoulder with a sigh.
Forget it. Being physically invincible is not a bad deal either.
Once he had finished consoling himself, he dropped the plan of creating a localized anomaly to draw the forest rangers over, then shadowing them out of the woods.
Instead, he adjusted his grip on Xiaobai and followed the flow of the river downstream.
If there was a human camp nearby, there was no way everyone would be living off wild fruit and nothing else.
Follow the water, and the odds of finding them went up.
He moved as quietly as he could.
Even so, he still drew the attention of the local wildlife.
Jungle tree frogs hopped away at his feet. Iridescent birds watched him from branches overhead. Crystalfly wings flashed as they scattered in a flurry of light. On the far bank, a slime bounced along, minding its own business.
The weak creatures posed no threat to his progress. They simply reacted on instinct to the stranger in their midst.
To Lin Feng, though, each little life was endlessly fascinating.
A genuine, fully alive otherworldly ecosystem.
It was something he had never experienced from behind a screen.
If he did not need to keep his presence hidden, he would have rushed over to study them up close.
He had wanted to poke a slime with his own hands for ages.
After he had gone a bit farther, a few pieces of litter drifted past on the river's surface.
His relaxed muscles tensed in an instant. First, he had Xiaobai check whether there were enemies nearby. When he got a negative, he forced down his excitement, eased back a short distance, and only when he was sure he was well hidden did he send Xiaobai to scout.
By the light of a campfire, three Treasure Hoarders sat sharing a pot of mushrooms. Inside a wooden cage, Fabird could only watch, feeling his heart bleed.
Today, his luck had truly hit rock bottom.
He had been born a forest ranger and had worked as one his whole life, all to one day afford a house in Sumeru City. To get ahead of the competition, he had gotten up at dawn.
The freshest, biggest, most profitable mushrooms only showed themselves in the early morning. Among them, the most valuable of all were those something‑King‑of‑the‑Trees mushrooms—prime treasures among treasures. If he could find even one and get it transported to the city, he would make a fortune.
With visions of riches dancing in his head, Fabird had summoned his courage and stepped into a part of the forest he rarely visited.
—
Staring at the basket now brimming with mushrooms, he had thought his morning self a genius.
He was so stingy that he normally could not bear to eat even a single Rukkhashava Mushroom. Today, he decided to splurge and treat himself. He would use the rare mushrooms he had just picked to cook a proper lunch as a reward.
"Blub, blub, blub."
As the mushrooms rolled in the boiling pot and the rich aroma rose with the steam, Fabird could not help swallowing. Before the mushrooms had fully cooked through, his cravings got the better of him. He ladled out a full bowl and downed it in one go.
The lingering flavor on his tongue was heavenly.
Colorful little figures began dancing in front of his eyes. Fabird, utterly content, slipped into unconsciousness.
"Boss, can we actually eat these mushrooms?"
"You think that idiot over there passed out because he ate them?"
The rookie Treasure Hoarder, face half‑hidden under a grey cloth mask, eyed their leader with suspicion.
"Hey, you don't trust your boss?"
The burly leader with a scar across his face clapped the younger man's shoulder, puffing himself up.
"Back in the day, I worked with the biggest Black Crow gang in all of Sumeru. We had a real mushroom expert in the crew, you hear me? A master picker."
"I heard it straight from his mouth—mushrooms aren't the problem. The problem is idiots who don't cook them long enough. As long as you stew them for plenty of time, you'll be fine!"
"Come on, brothers, drink up!"
"Here's to a good job ahead!"
Night had fully fallen. Wrapped in carefully arranged camouflage, Lin Feng watched the three sorry‑looking Treasure Hoarders and could only hold back a groan. Compared to his midday nerves, he now felt like the biggest fool in the clearing.
When he first noticed signs of human activity around noon, he had meticulously wiped out his own tracks, ordered Xiaobai to confirm the enemy headcount and position, then only after disguising himself had he decided to make a move under cover of dark, planning to strike while they slept.
He had even briefed Xiaobai in advance: if anything went wrong, it was to act without hesitation and wipe the enemy out if necessary to guarantee his safety.
Who could have guessed that the terrifying adversaries he had built up in his mind would turn out to be three rookie Treasure Hoarders, each barely below level twenty. The "cargo" in the cage was so dazed and harmless there was no way he was worth much, and chances were this job would cost more in food than it ever brought in profit.
He had already been silently mocking their amateur hour performance.
When they sat around the fire talking nonsense and then, after a round of some highly questionable mushroom soup, all collapsed in perfect unison, his faith in the average Teyvatian's intelligence wavered.
As a last courtesy, he used probe on the Treasure Hoarder leader.
[Individual Data: Human – Hu San]
Level: 18 (A well‑trained fighter.)
Element: None
Traits: Brawling 2, Sturdy Build 1, Food Poisoning
Mood: Blissful
Affection: 0 (You are strangers.)
The big "Food Poisoning" tag stamped on the trait list sent a stampede of metaphorical horses racing through Lin Feng's mind. All that heightened alertness, all that tension… he suddenly felt like a clown in his own play.
Once he had confirmed there were no other enemies nearby, he stepped out of hiding, used some rope from the camp to tie up the blissfully smiling trio, and headed for the large wooden cage in the center.
"Hero, help! Hero, please help me!"
Seeing Lin Feng approaching after he had dealt with the Treasure Hoarders, Fabird's hope surged back. He shouted at the top of his lungs.
Listening to the captive's cries, Lin Feng realized with some surprise that, while the accent sounded a little odd, he could understand every word. No language barrier—what a relief.
He gave the sorry soul in the cage a once‑over with probe, confirmed he posed no threat, then used the key he had just looted to unlock the door.
Fabird crawled out on hands and knees, eyes brimming with tears as he looked up at Lin Feng.
"By the King of the Trees!"
"I'm finally saved!"
"I thought I was going to vanish into the rainforest with my mushrooms!"
"Little brother, you're my savior. Since the day I was born, I've never been this grateful to anyone. Uuu…"
Watching the flood of snot and tears and the way Fabird looked like he might latch onto his leg at any moment, Lin Feng wrinkled his nose and gently pushed the man back the other way.
"Little brother, you must come back to Caravan Ribat with me as a guest. I, Fabird, swear by the merciful King of the Trees, when we get back, I'll treat the savior of my life to the finest mushrooms in my collection!"
Fabird's face radiated pure sincerity.