"Chirp chirp chirp!"
The air after the spring rain was refreshing, and small birds sang on the branches. Filled with curiosity about the Market, Jiang Yuan started chopping down the wild trees growing by the roadside as soon as he left his house.
Firstly, it was close by, so cutting them down to make up the numbers was convenient;
Secondly, sooner or later the bluestone road at the entrance would need to be cleared, so it was better to chop them now for convenience.
"Crack crack crack!" The tattered axe often needed thirteen swings to fell a big tree, and the remaining stump required another seven swings to uproot it completely, randomly turning into wood or planks before being stored in the Storage Bag.
"Crash!"
After the large tree fell, it shattered into a brilliant green light and disappeared instantly, leaving a wide and open space before him, giving a spontaneous feeling of strong satisfaction and achievement.
The Physical Strength Bar on the personal panel showed a value of 200. After leveling up the Woodcutting Skill to level 1, stamina increased by 5 points, slightly extending endurance, which meant he could chop about half a tree more before needing to rest.
One swing consumed 1 point of Physical Strength. Currently, chopping down ten trees was the limit, and he had to take a short break before continuing to wield the axe. During his rest, he looked at the Skills Bar and thought that if the Woodcutting Skill continuously increased Physical Strength as it leveled up, wouldn't his endurance become frighteningly long-lasting when it maxed out?
He walked while chopping trees all the way to the forest's edge. After the storm, the forest appeared even more secluded, and Jiang Yuan always felt it was unsafe in the gloomy woods, so he kept busy by the roadside.
"Rustle rustle!"
While immersed in the fulfillment of cutting down several large trees, he suddenly heard movement in the nearby grass!
Jiang Yuan instinctively grabbed a jujube wood stick and cautiously approached to see what it was.
"Crunch crunch!"
Along with the faint sound of grass being nibbled, a pair of large rabbit ears poked out from the grass, and Jiang Yuan's eyes lit up with joy— a wild rabbit!
The two were less than two meters apart in a straight line, and without thinking, he casually cast a flame attack straight at the plump wild rabbit.
The Heaven-Burning Flame clearly had a more lethal effect on ordinary animals than on wilderness creatures. The rabbit took a hit on the side, immediately fell to the ground, its thigh twitching a few times, unable to stand up.
Jiang Yuan approached and landed a solid blow -110, then scooped up the hefty wild rabbit into the Storage Bag.
[Wild Rabbit +1]
[Ordinary wild rabbit, edible]
"Monster, monster! He's a rat spirit in human form!"
"Run, there's a monster!"
The sudden shouts and hurried fleeing startled Jiang Yuan.
He turned around and saw that he had been too absorbed in his first hunt to notice several villagers coming from the bamboo forest. They must have accidentally seen him releasing flame similar to that of a rat spirit, and the villagers, traumatized by the rat spirit, instinctively also took him for a monster.
However, Jiang Yuan wasn't worried; they were nothing more than a bunch of irrelevant NPCs.
He just wanted to clear land, farm, and barter to make some money for self-sufficiency without needing to interact with NPCs for tasks.
Besides, if anyone screamed and turned to flee, would they even listen or believe if he chased and explained?
People tend to believe what they want to believe. If he really chased after them, they might even think he was trying to kill and silence them, scared out of their wits. Moreover, after chopping wood, his Physical Strength wasn't enough; seeing those two sprint away with such intensity, he felt sure he couldn't catch up.
Actually, having them scared off wasn't bad; at least his fierce reputation would keep him unbothered while farming, and besides... he looked at the three varied figures by the roadside, weren't there still three who hadn't run?
When he saw the young man suddenly release a flame identical to that of the rat spirit to burn a rabbit to death, and the large rabbit vanish into thin air in his hands, Lin Chunxi was also scared.
She couldn't understand why it was such a coincidence, nor could she understand why someone could emit flames.
But she didn't run; she felt that the young man wasn't a bad person, even if he could breathe fire, he hadn't used it to harm anyone, and on the contrary, he was everyone's savior.
Moreover, the rat spirit was ugly, with sneaky eyes, while the young man was handsome with sword-like eyebrows—nothing like a rat spirit.
Wan Mingchuan, on the other hand, was so excited that his palms were sweating—I knew it! He's truly capable!
If he could unleash such fierce flames, if I could learn from him, it'd be easy to break the clan's shackles and avenge grandpa!
Lin Chunsheng also couldn't help but tremble, but he still stood firmly beside his sister, whispering, "Sis, should we run?"
The other two villagers came over as instructed by the village chief, mainly to check if the little blind boy was alive after the haunted incident.
If he was dead, they could bury him to repay a kindness; if alive, they intended to thank him and invite him to stay in Riverfront Village. Nowadays, manpower was needed, and although blind, he was clever and smart.
If he joined the group, he might get some help and avoid the wilderness's threats; with more manpower, Riverfront Village could collect enough resources sooner for a ritual.
They were already somewhat afraid of the haunted Shuiyun Lake, needing others for courage.
However, when they saw the blind boy alive and well, chopping down trees in the forest, their worry finally eased. But the next moment, they realized he could use the same tricks as the rat spirit that nearly killed them!
Without much hesitation, they understood immediately why the blind boy wasn't afraid of ghosts; he was even scarier than ghosts!
"Hello…" Jiang Yuan recognized Wan Mingchuan and Lin Chunxi, and the boy who looked a bit like Lin Chunxi must be her brother, so he greeted them and explained, "I'm human, not a monster. You don't have to be afraid."
"You're actually a cultivator, right?" Wan Mingchuan excitedly gestured, "My grandpa told me, some people can cultivate magic, even fly, and move mountains and seas. They can even turn a piece of paper into a human!"
Lin Chunsheng and his sister exchanged glances. Isn't that just a legend? Why does he take it seriously?
Riverfront Village has always had strange stories passed down, mostly brought by drifters from outside. Even though everyone could tell a few, nobody really believed that there were humans so powerful they could rival monsters, because they had never seen it with their own eyes.
"Sort of." Jiang Yuan replied perfunctorily. He just wanted to farm, pick fruits, and quietly make money, without wanting too much interaction with these in-game NPCs.
But he still had a side mission to inquire about clues, so he pretended not to see and used the jujube wood stick to point as he walked over, asking, "What brings your group here?"
Lin Chunxi suddenly remembered their purpose and quickly explained, "We all heard the haunted happenings at Shuiyun Lake last night, but it rained so hard since morning that we couldn't cross the Cat Hill. When it stopped in the afternoon, the village chief sent them…"
She looked around, unable to see the scared villagers, and could only press her lips into a wry smile, "He sent them to check on you and try to persuade you to stay in the village.
My mother said you're our savior and that our family is too poor to properly thank you, so we brought some wild vegetable pies."
If you're willing to come stay with us in Riverfront Village, you won't have land or a harvest for a while. If you don't come, here you'd have to gather wild vegetables and fruits anyway, so we prepared some food for you."