Chapter 64: Girlfriend
The difference between Level 10 and Level 67 is staggering. Back when I first left, it took me several days to cover this distance, but now I can finish the journey in less than a day.
Looking up at the weathered plaque bearing the words “Mushroom Village,” Lu Yunxi instinctively used her detection technique.
[Mushroom Village: A small, ordinary village.]
She broke into a wide smile. Mushroom Village—she was finally home!
“Village Chief! Uncles, aunts, grandparents! I’m back!” she cried out, rushing into the village with excitement. However, her voice gradually faded as she realized the streets were completely empty.
She came to a confused halt, her excitement replaced by a growing sense of unease. As she looked around, she discovered something strange: the entire village was encased in a shimmering layer that looked like a translucent bubble.
Startled, she stared at it with wide eyes. When she had approached from the outside, she hadn’t seen this layer at all. And certainly, when she was a child, no such thing existed here.
“Xiaoxi? Is that you?” The Village Chief’s surprised voice snapped her out of her daze.
Lu Yunxi blinked. “Oh! Yes! Chief, I’m back!”
“You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Look at you, you’ve lost so much weight. Life must be hard out there. Come to my house quickly; I’ve got braised meat on the stove.” The Village Chief enthusiastically grabbed her arm to lead her away.
Lu Yunxi followed him reflexively for a few steps before pulling back. “Wait, wait! Village Chief, what’s going on with these bubbles outside? And where is everyone? I didn’t see anyone in the fields!”
“Are you talking about that barrier?” The Chief looked at the bubble and then back at her with a satisfied, prideful expression, as if he were looking at a massive lump of gold. “A while ago, the beast tide was terrifying. Several monsters reached the village and paced around our homes like they were taking a stroll. We were scared to death. We had no choice but to pray for your help. And then, you actually appeared! This bubble manifested out of nowhere and kept the beasts at bay.”
“I… appeared?” Lu Yunxi was floored. What did “manifesting miracles” have to do with her?
It wasn’t until the Village Chief led her to a newly built temple in the center of the village that her jaw dropped in disbelief.
“This… what is this?” she asked, staring at the statue on the altar.
The Village Chief nodded, confirming her suspicion. “Yes, it’s a gilded statue made in your likeness. It’s a shame the village doesn’t have more funds, otherwise, we would have made it out of pure gold. It would have looked much more majestic.”
“Chief, you can’t do this! How can you build a shrine for me?” She was genuinely worried that being worshipped while still alive would shorten her lifespan!
However, the Chief brushed off her objections. “Nonsense. If you hadn’t saved us, this village would have been wiped out long ago. We wouldn’t be standing here today.”
Lu Yunxi argued with him for several days, but it was a losing battle. Eventually, she gave up. she spent her time visiting with the villagers one by one and sweeping her parents’ graves before finally preparing to head back to the sect.
Before leaving, she did a final sweep around the outskirts of the village to clear out any remaining straggler beasts, ensuring the town was truly safe.
It was night by the time she arrived in Jinzhou. The city was alive with activity; some kind of festival seemed to be in full swing. Bright red lanterns hung in long strings from the eaves of every building, casting a warm, inviting glow over the streets.
Lu Yunxi wandered through the crowds and stopped a passerby to ask a question. “Is there a special event happening tonight?”
“It’s you! Hey, wait, why won’t you add me as a friend?” The man she asked started to answer, then froze when he saw her face. He looked absolutely overjoyed.
Only then did Lu Yunxi realize she had run into “Super Powerful Hero”—the same guy she had met during the preliminary rounds of the fishing competition.
“Miss, you helped me so much back then! I’ve tracked down several NPCs since we last talked. Unfortunately, I haven’t decided which one to apprentice under yet,” he babbled happily, sharing his progress.
Lu Yunxi paused for a second, then gave a dry laugh. “That’s great. Congratulations on finding what you were looking for.”
“Haha,” he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Then he remembered her question. “Oh, you were asking about the festival? It’s the Lantern Festival.”
“A Lantern Festival?”
“Yeah! See all those lanterns? Each one has a riddle attached. If you guess the answer correctly, you get to keep the lantern.”
Lu Yunxi nodded. That explained the sheer variety of strange and beautiful lanterns filling the street.
Suddenly, Super Powerful Hero froze in place. Lu Yunxi watched him stand there like a statue and thought to herself: Someone must be sending him a private message.
There was a private chat channel for players, after all. However, this kid was nowhere near as subtle as her own apprentice. When Shen San received messages, she had to watch him very closely to notice even a hint of unnatural behavior.
Lu Yunxi was about to turn and leave when the man beside her suddenly let out a strangled yelp. Startled, she turned back to find him clutching his hair, pacing in distress.
“Oh my God! What am I going to do?!”
Seeing no immediate danger, she rolled her eyes. “What’s got you so spooked? It’s not like there’s a beast tide in the city.”
“This is worse! If I don’t solve this, I’m dead meat!” he wailed. “Today is my girlfriend’s birthday. She said she’s logging on to find me in a bit, and I haven’t prepared a gift yet!”
Lu Yunxi looked toward the center of the street, where the most exquisitely crafted lanterns were displayed. “Why don’t you win one of those for her?”
“Those? You mean the ‘Lantern Kings’?” He looked hopeful for a second, then slumped again. “I already checked. The riddles for those are insanely hard. I can’t solve them.”
He squatted on the ground, dejected. “It’s not just me. I heard a bunch of high-level players tried earlier and couldn’t take a single one down.”
Lu Yunxi looked at the masterfully crafted lanterns and walked toward the display.
Super Powerful Hero remained huddled on the ground until a beautiful, glowing lantern suddenly appeared in his line of sight. He snapped his head up.
“Boss! You actually did it!” He looked at her with pure hero worship. “Having a pro around is the best!”
He was so moved he was practically in tears. “But wait, this lantern is way too rare. I can’t take this for nothing. Let me see…”
“It’s fine. Just take it and stop crying,” Lu Yunxi said, thrusting the lantern into his hands and turning to leave.
“Wait!” he called out.
He hurriedly pulled something from his inventory and held it out to her. Lu Yunxi looked at the item, her eyes widening in surprise.
It was a medicinal herb—and not just any herb, but one of Orange-quality!
“Boss, you’ve helped me so much. This is just a little something in return. I don’t know anything about alchemy anyway. If it weren’t for how rare Orange drops are, I wouldn’t even have kept it this long!”
Since he insisted so firmly, she eventually accepted the herb. However, she made a mental note of Super Powerful Hero. Orange-quality items were incredibly rare, far more valuable than the lantern she had won for him.
Next time this guy needs help, she thought, I’ll definitely go the extra mile for him.
