3: Chapter 3 The Wonderful Uses of Incense

Lu Bei's consciousness sank into a warm darkness, as if soaking in a hot spring during the freezing lunar months; every inch of his remnant soul felt comfortable.

To him, the 'incense' produced by the players' offerings was the world's top-tier tonic.

Although the scent of the smoke was mixed with the strange smells of rotten wood, hay, and even spider webs, the pure mental energy contained within was repairing his soul body, which had been on the verge of dissipating, thread by thread.

He could 'hear' the movements inside and outside the ancestral hall.

That group of 'Filial Sons and Virtuous Grandchildren' had been successfully fooled by him... no, guided to go work.

Inside the ancestral hall, a few female players remained to handle the cleaning.

"This dust is way too thick! It's choking me!" The girl with the ID 'Appearance is Justice' covered her nose and mouth with a rag, waving another rag with a face full of disdain as she tried to wipe the offering table.

She wiped it once, and the rag turned blacker, but only a single streak appeared on the table.

"Give up, this needs to be washed with water." The girl ID 'Skillful Hands Mending' was more practical; she was holding a broom found from who-knows-where, meticulously sweeping the dust and wood chips from the floor, even sorting and piling them into corners.

Meanwhile, the girl with the ID 'Gossip Reporter Little Trumpet' wasn't working at all.

She was sneakily circling the spirit tablet on the offering table that belonged to Lu Bei, her large eyes sparkling with a light called 'desire for exploration'.

"Hey, Ancestor, are you still there?" she whispered toward the tablet.

The tablet gave no response.

Refusing to give up, she reached out a finger and cautiously poked the base of the tablet.

Still no response.

"Little Trumpet, what are you doing? Talking to a tablet, aren't you afraid of being seen as a pervert?" Appearance is Justice complained.

"What do you know! This is called NPC interaction!" Little Trumpet retorted righteously. "This is our faction's ultimate boss. If we grind his favor high enough, there's bound to be hidden plotlines! Look at how cool he was when he issued the quest earlier. Even though he was just a projection of light, that 'weak but holding on' vibe was absolute perfection!"

As she spoke, she pulled out a withered wildflower from her backpack—the one found in the corner that had already received a buff once—and respectfully placed it in front of Lu Bei's tablet.

"Ancestor, look, this is a flower offered to you by your filial granddaughter. Take a sniff, does it smell nice?"

The tablet remained silent.

Just as the girls were going about their business, a suppressed, aged cough came from outside the ancestral hall.

"Cough... cough cough..."

The sound was very close, appearing to be just outside the door.

The three girls immediately became alert. They looked at each other and simultaneously gripped their 'weapons'—the rag, the broom, and a small wildflower.

"Who is it?" Little Trumpet asked in a low voice.

Squeak—

The weathered wooden door of the ancestral hall was slowly pushed open, and a hunched figure walked in against the light.

The newcomer was none other than the Lu family's old blacksmith, Grandpa Li.

He had been resting in a side room, but hearing too much noise from the ancestral hall—banging doors and shouting—he couldn't rest easy, so he hobbled over with a wooden cane to investigate.

When he saw the scene inside the hall, he was completely stunned.

The ancestral hall... though still dilapidated, seemed much cleaner?

The accumulated dust on the floor had been swept into piles, most of the cobwebs were gone, and most importantly, there were more than a dozen energetic young people in the hall, though most of them had run outside for now.

And the three girls before him, though wearing strange hemp clothes, had clear eyes, lacking any of the numbness and despair seen in the last generation of the Lu family descendants.

"You... you are?" Grandpa Li's voice was hoarse and hesitant.

"Whoa! A live NPC!" Little Trumpet's eyes lit up. She immediately abandoned Lu Bei's tablet and, like a marmot discovering a new continent, scurried in front of Grandpa Li.

A sweet smile instantly appeared on her face, and her voice became soft and sugary: "Hello, Grandpa! We are helpers summoned by the Ancestor, we're the family's... um, distant relatives!"

A flash of confusion crossed Grandpa Li's cloudy eyes.

The Ancestor manifested?

He looked at the girl smiling prettily before him, then at the other two, and his guard lowered slightly.

At least they didn't look like bad people.

"You... are here to help the Lu family?" Grandpa Li's lips trembled with excitement.

"Yes, yes!" Little Trumpet nodded repeatedly, taking the opportunity to support Grandpa Li's arm. "Grandpa, who are you?"

"My name is Li Zhong, I am the Lu family's blacksmith..." Grandpa Li sighed. "And now, I am also the Lu family's only remaining servant."

Once the conversation started, Grandpa Li recounted the Lu family's current plight and the threat of the Black Wind Stockade once again from the beginning.

His words were full of reminiscence for the past and worry for the future, which moved both Skillful Hands Mending and Appearance is Justice.

Appearance is Justice whispered, "The immersion in this plot is really well done. This grandpa's voice actor must be a veteran performer."

Little Trumpet, however, keenly grasped the keyword: "Blacksmith? Grandpa, do you know how to forge? Can you make weapons and armor?"

Grandpa Li gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "I'm old, my eyes are blurry, and I have no strength left. Most importantly... there are no materials. What little iron we had was long ago looted by those godforsaken bastards from the Black Wind Stockade. Even the hammer I use to make a living, only a small one is left."

As he spoke, he seemed to remember something, and a faint light flickered in his cloudy eyes.

"However, you are the people invited by the Ancestor, you are the Lu family's hope. According to the rules, the contributions you make to the family should be rewarded."

As soon as he finished speaking, a brand new interface popped up in front of the three girls simultaneously.

[Family Contribution Shop (NPC: Grandpa Li) has been opened]

The interface was very simple, with only a few items available for exchange.

[Crude Iron Nail]: Requires 1 contribution point, Stock: 27.

[Moldy Dry Rations]: Requires 2 contribution points, Stock: 13.

[Damaged Wood-Cutting Knife]: Requires 5 contribution points, Stock: 1.

[Grandpa Li's Hug (Special)]: Requires 10 contribution points, Stock: 1/1.

(Effect: Obtain 'Elder's Blessing', Luck +1, duration ten minutes)

"..."

Looking at this appallingly shabby shop list, all three girls fell silent.

"This... is what we can buy with the 10 contribution points we worked so hard to get from cleaning?" Appearance is Justice felt insulted. "We can't even afford a whole knife? And what the hell is this hug? It's way too expensive!"

Little Trumpet's eyes, however, were shining as she chose to exchange without hesitation.

[You have consumed 10 contribution points to exchange for 'Grandpa Li's Hug'.]

She giggled and gave the dumbfounded Grandpa Li a big hug. Then, a tiny golden text saying "Luck +1" floated above her head.

"See that! Hidden benefits!" she showed off proudly.

This scene gave Appearance is Justice and Skillful Hands Mending a new understanding of this game's 'unconventional' nature.

...

Meanwhile, at the Lu family's back mountain.

Demolition Office Director took the lead, shouldering a relatively sturdy wooden pole dismantled from the ancestral hall, followed by a group of players also carrying various 'weapons'.

They were howling like a pack of released huskies, filled with enthusiasm for exploring this brand new world.

"Holy crap, this air is incredible! The negative oxygen ion content is higher than the primeval forests in my hometown!"

"These trees are growing so strong. Infrastructure Maniac, come take a look, how's the quality of this wood?"

The player ID 'Infrastructure Maniac' was crouching under a large tree, rubbing the soil with his fingers and knocking on the trunk, analyzing with a serious air: "Hmm, the soil is compact, the trees are hardwoods with high density. Good material for making roof beams! Much better than that rotten wood in the ancestral hall!"

"Then let's do it!"

At Demolition Office Director's command, the players immediately sprang into action.

Lacking axes, they used stones to smash, their feet to kick, and even teamed up to push.

The scene was extremely primitive for a time.

Just as everyone was struggling with a large tree, a 'rustling' sound suddenly came from the nearby bushes.

"Something's coming!" an alert player shouted.

Everyone stopped their actions and looked nervously toward the bushes.

The next second, a wild boar the size of a small calf, covered in black bristles with two snow-white tusks protruding from its mouth, suddenly burst out of the bushes!

[Encountered Monster: Tusked Wild Boar (LV.3)]

"Holy shit! A wild mob!"

"Finally, some action! Brothers, kill it! Get the loot!"

Instead of being afraid, the players' faces turned red with excitement.

The Tusked Wild Boar clearly hadn't expected that just coming out for a stroll would lead it to encounter a dozen 'two-legged beasts' with glowing eyes and howling voices.

It instinctively felt danger, but as the little overlord of this area, its pride wouldn't allow it to retreat.

"Awoo—!"

The Tusked Wild Boar let out a roar, lowered its head, and charged straight at the player closest to it!

That player was Demolition Office Director.

"Come at me!"

Demolition Office Director didn't retreat but advanced, letting out a roar as he swung the wooden pole in his hand fiercely down onto the boar's head!

Thump!

The wooden pole struck the boar's head squarely.

[-3]

A negligible damage number floated up from the boar's head.

The wooden pole... snapped.

The Tusked Wild Boar merely shook its head, its speed undiminished, as its sharp tusks slammed hard into Demolition Office Director's chest.

Pfft!

[-42!]

A massive red damage number caused everyone to gasp.

Demolition Office Director flew backward like a broken sack, his health bar instantly evaporating by more than half.

"Holy crap! Such high damage!"

"Don't just stand there, all together! Don't let him get instakilled, we don't have the resources to respawn a second person!"

Someone in the crowd shouted, instantly waking everyone up.

The fear from War God Number One's death transformed into extreme caution and unity in this moment.

Infrastructure Maniac shouted: "It's charging in a straight line, scatter! Attack its eyes and belly from the sides!"

"I'll tank it!" A burly player dropped the stone in his hand and directly opened his arms, roaring as he met the charge, trying to block the boar with his body.

"Tank my ass! You're not even wearing plate armor!"

"Quick, use stones to hit its legs!"

The scene was a chaotic mess, but it was surprisingly effective.

Some players climbed trees and dropped rocks down.

Some players circled to the boar's side and rear, using sharp branches to poke its butt.

The Tusked Wild Boar was completely enraged by this group of 'two-legged beasts' who fought without honor. It charged and swung its head wildly, but the players were as slippery as loaches, refusing to face it head-on.

After ten minutes of 'death by a thousand cuts' style ganging up, and with several players reduced to low health, the poor Tusked Wild Boar finally let out a mournful wail and crashed to the ground.

[Ding! You have successfully killed the [Tusked Wild Boar]!]

[Obtained Experience Points +5!]

[Loot Dropped: [Wild Boar Meat] x20, [Wild Boar Tusks] x2, [Damaged Wild Boar Hide] x1]

Looking at the pile of light orbs on the ground, all the players involved in the battle cheered.

"We won! It dropped stuff!"

Demolition Office Director clutched his chest, grimacing as he climbed up from the ground. Seeing only a sliver of his health bar left, he said with lingering fear, "Damn, I almost became 'War God Number Two'. In this game, you really can't just be stubborn and charge blindly."

Everyone scrambled to pick up the loot and worked together to cut down several large trees, completing the quest to collect 100 units of [Quality Wood].

When they returned to the ancestral hall in a grand procession, carrying the wood and hauling the nearly two-hundred-pound boar carcass, the girls staying behind were stunned.

"You... you went hunting?" Little Trumpet's mouth hung open.

"You bet!" Demolition Office Director said with a proud face, setting the loot on the ground. "A mere wild boar is nothing!"

Skillful Hands Mending's gaze, however, was immediately drawn to that damaged but intact wild boar hide.

She walked forward quickly, squatted down, and reached out to gently stroke the coarse, tough skin, her eyes growing brighter and brighter.

She looked up at everyone, her tone carrying a hint of excitement and uncertainty.

"Do you think... this skin could be made into clothes?"