"Honey, quickly come here!" Mu Han wiped the beads of sweat rolling down the sides of his face on his arm before taking out a bottle of water from his inventory. He took a small sip just enough to moisten his lips. Then, he handed the bottle to his wife who was helping him chop of the trees.
[You've got unit of wood…+1]
"Husband, what is it?" The middle aged woman named Wei Hua dressed in a tang suit for elderly approached him and took the water bottle from his hand.
"Look at the trade market. Someone is trading happy fat water and one unit of lime stone for random equipment. Isn't there a stream nearby? We can exchange them for lime stones or possibly food and water." Mu Han smiled at possibility of their problem being solved.
"Husband you're not joking, are you? Who would exchange such a precious thing for something useless?" Wei Hua frowned, feeling his words were scamming her. After all, the people on the global chat had clearly stated the importance of gathering equipment because it's one way to boost stats and if the player's stats increase, their chances of survival will also increase.
"Honey, I'm not. Come on, open your interface and tried to talk to the one offering the deal." Mu Han urged her.
Wei Hua sighed, didn't want to dampen his tired husband's enthusiasm. She called her interface and tapped on the trade market's icon.
"Search for Baozi." Mu Han said.
Wei Hua typed Baozi's characters and her eyes went straight after she saw the post written in red fonts under Baozi's name. She was stunned and quickly took out the only thing in her inventory besides the wood, a Happy Fat Water. She agreed on the exchange. The can of Happy Fat Water disappeared on her hand and a vest made of white pelt appeared.
Wei Hua checked the item.
[You've got white-quality rabid vest pelt +1Defense if equipped.
Complete rabid equipment series to activate additional effects.]
"Husband!" Wei Hua spun her eyes on her husband filled with shock.
Mu Han nodded and the edge of his eyes reddened, "Honey we're saved."
Wei Hua also had an urged to cry but suppressed it. "I'm going to try asking Player Baozi. Maybe we could get exchange the lime stone for water and food."
"Alright Honey." Mu Han nodded with expectation.
Wei Hua nervously sent Baozi a message.
Li Chunhua was in the middle of counting the Happy Fat Water when she received Wei Hua's message.
[System Notifcation:
Hua: Baozi, can we exchange the lime stone for food and water instead? ]
Li Chunhua stopped after seeing the message popping from her personal chat box. There were a lot of players sending her either thanks or threats, some teams wanted to discuss some shady deals, some beg her to provide free equipment and started cursing her moral integrity the moment she refused.
Although she was a cultivator on the path of dao, she was no saint or fool. After the messages on her inbox reached 999+, Li Chunhua was no longer in the mood to check each and filter them using the keyword 'lime stone'. So far, she received only a dozen useful messages, probably because the others were busy cutting down trees to build their territory.
Seeing the player's request was different from the other, Li Chunhua raised her brows before replying. Her leveling and storing food was effortless that she forgot other players were struggling in the early stage. The player's message made her think that besides equipment, she should also hang food on the trade market.
[Baozi: You can.]
[Hua: There's a stream nearby our spot. We could get lime stones for you. Is there a limit for exchange?]
[Baozi: There's none. You can exchange as much as you want.]
[Hua: Thanks]
"Husband, let's continue later. With food and water we could erase the debuff on our status boards and our speed in chopping woods will be faster."
"Alright Honey."
The two middle aged couple quickly walked briskly towards the stream, took off their shoes, dipped on the shallow water and started searching for the grey lime stone digging out the edge of the stream with their hands.
Wei Hua was familiar with this stone because her brother works on the construction and often told her a lot of things. Her eyes scanned the water and spotted one just a few feet away. She hurriedly picked it up.
[You've got unit of lime stone…+1]
Soon after, Mu Han also got one and handed it over to his wife.
[You've got unit of lime stone…+1]
Wei Hua quickly exchanged it.
[Hua: Baozi, I found two lime stones.]
Wei Hua tapped on the exchanged button and hung the grey lime stones on her hand on her personal exchange panel with Baozi's pseudonym on the side.
[System Notification:
Player Hua requests for exchange.
Item: 2 units of lime stones
Required barter: Food or Drinkable Water]
The Player Hua didn't indicate the amount of food and water she needed to exchange, in this case even if she only place one berry and one bottle the exchange would be successful and she could walk away freely. This Player Hua trusted her so much making Li Chunhua pondered about an idea.
Just a few seconds after waiting for Player Baozi to accept, Wei Hua was suddenly startled with the amount of food being sent to her inventory.
[System Notification:
The exchange was successful!]
[You've got Kung Pao Chicken (Whole)…+2]
[You've got a bowl of sweet and sour pork…+3]
[You've got Spicy Chicken drumsticks (8 in 1 pack)…+2]
[You've got Fresh Spring Water 1L…+5]
She immediately sent Baozi a message.
[Hua: I think this is too much. I'm only taking two bottles of water and a bowl of sweet and sour pork.]
Wei Hua gulped after taking note of the items in her inventory. Player Baozi actually has so many cooked foods. It only indicated this Baozi has some capabilities.
[Baozi: It's not for free. Do you know how to cook?]
Wei Hua tilted her head in confusion before answering.
[Hua: Yes, I cooked my family's at home.]
Li Chunhua jumped in joy. "I don't need to eat pig food anymore!" She immediately sent some of the items to Wei Hua.
[Baozi: I'll hire you as a cook for a week and provide you with the ingredients. You can decide on the salary.]
[You've got salt 1kg…+1]
[You've got pepper 250g…+1]
[You've got…]
Wei Hua grabbed her husband's arm for support, too dizzy from the system's notification of her inventory being filled up.
"What's wrong Honey?"
"I think I met an Immortal." She dazedly said.
Li Chunhua was in the middle of sending Player Hua some seasonings and woods when she heard sounds coming from in front. She quickly hid behind the tree and enhanced her sense of hearing with qi essences.
"Deputy Captain Yan you're here. We already cleared the opposite path. This area is densely covered by foliage making my team have difficulties searching every corner."
"Deputy Captain Yan? Is that the Villain's right man hand, the Dark warlock who like to curse Players with his crow mouth?" Li Chunhua mumbled and snuck a quick peek. She saw two men and two youths in the middle of discussion. Li Chunhua infused her eyes with qi essences and there she saw the youth wearing spectacles with his hair combed neatly on the side of his scalp. A condescending look painted on his face while engaging on a conversation with other people.
It really is!
Suddenly, her eyes flashed with hatred and her heart throbbed painfully.
Hold on! What's happening to her?
For a second there, she wanted to kill that man.
(A/N: If you're enjoying the story so far, leave a comment, vote or review and help Author win Oct-Nov WPC Contest! Go on Baozi, bribe them with your cuteness!
Baozi: Pretty please? *blinking eyes and throwing hearts* *ten thousand times crit damage* (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)
Reader: *dead*
A/N: Oh no Baozi!
Baozi: *stares and runs off* It's not my fault that I'm too strong!)