Chapter 169
“Brother Qi?” Tang Yu’an asked in confusion.
Zhou Qi cleared his throat, trying to mask his flustered state.
“N-no, nothing…” he replied. “Go back to sleep.”
He then turned over, his back to Tang Yu’an, pretending to be asleep.
If the lights had been on, it would have been obvious that Zhou Qi’s face was completely flushed, even his ears were bright red, as if they were about to drip blood.
But in the darkness, Tang Yu’an couldn’t see Zhou Qi’s expression.
Hearing Zhou Qi’s voice sounding normal, Tang Yu’an relaxed. He closed his eyes again, shifted closer to Zhou Qi’s back for warmth, and quickly drifted off to sleep.
Zhou Qi, however, was pressed almost entirely against the tent wall.
He took several slow, deep breaths, mentally reciting passages from his textbooks, math formulas, physics concepts, and even the periodic table.
Finally, he managed to calm himself.
Lying there with his eyes open, Zhou Qi felt like an outsider observing himself.
Why am I having such strange reactions?
His flushed face, racing heart…
Coming from an era of abundant information, Zhou Qi had watched countless movies and dramas with his grandmother. It didn’t take him long to understand what these feelings meant.
I think I might like An’an.
A sliver of moonlight slipped through a gap in the tent’s roof, casting a faint glow over Zhou Qi’s bewildered expression.
Is this… what liking someone feels like?
For Zhou Qi, who was about to turn sixteen, this was an entirely unfamiliar territory. He felt lost and uncertain.
Could I be mistaken?
We’re both boys. How could I like An’an?
The thought felt unnatural to him. Worse, he feared that if these strange feelings ever came to light, Tang Yu’an might hate him.
Zhou Qi’s face turned pale at the thought, like falling into an icy abyss.
No, I can’t let this happen…
Zhou Qi closed his eyes, resolving to bury these inappropriate feelings deep within. Perhaps, with time, they would fade away.
For now, survival and getting back home were the most important things.
The next morning, when Tang Yu’an woke up, he found that Zhou Qi was no longer beside him.
Panicked, he scrambled out of the tent, only to see Zhou Qi boiling water nearby. He let out a sigh of relief.
“Brother Qi, morning!”
“Morning.”
Tang Yu’an took an insulated water bottle from his portable inventory and said, “Brother Qi, there’s hot water in here.”
Thankfully, he had brought the auto-refilling insulated bottle yesterday, and it was now full with 10 cubic meters of water.
Although the area was humid and Zhou Qi could condense water as needed, the ability to always have hot water was a definite luxury.
Zhou Qi accepted the bottle and poured Tang Yu’an a cup. “Go wash up,” he said.
“Alright!”
The night before, Tang Yu’an had used the store message board to let Grandpa Li know they were safe. Now all they needed to do was build a house and set up the teleportation array.
After breakfast, they left the area and headed toward the beach where Tang Yu’an had woken up.
“There are so many crystals there!” Tang Yu’an exclaimed. “The entire beach is covered in them!”
Then he paused, turning to Zhou Qi with concern. “Will you be okay there…?”
Previously, Zhou Qi had been affected by the abundance of crystals, which had triggered the spirit worm inside him.
Zhou Qi took a moment to sense his body before nodding. “I think I’ll be fine. I know my limits.”
Since being parasitized by the spirit worm, Zhou Qi had gained a vague sense of its condition. Currently, the worm was still digesting the energy of the fire spirit worm, so it likely wouldn’t attempt to absorb more energy anytime soon.
“That’s good,” Tang Yu’an said with relief.
Zhou Qi used his lightening spell to dash ahead, while Tang Yu’an flew alongside him.
Yuan Bao, having guarded them all night, was now resting in Tang Yu’an’s pet inventory. Black Pearl, in its kitten form, nestled in Tang Yu’an’s pocket.
Poking its head out, Black Pearl curiously observed the sensation of flying through the air.
The rocky beach where Zhou Qi had woken up the day before was now submerged due to high tide, so they had to follow the cliffside instead.
Fortunately, apart from a few large insects, they encountered no major issues.
The cliff gradually sloped downward, curving around and continuing onward. Whenever they glanced below, the expansive water was always within view.
Tang Yu’an studied the map, which now revealed more of the foggy area. The water seemed more like a massive river.
But could such an enormous river really exist in this world?
The horizon was nothing but water, stretching endlessly.
By evening, they finally arrived at the beach Tang Yu’an had mentioned. Seeing it up close, Tang Yu’an felt an even deeper appreciation for the sheer size of the waterway.
Thanks to their lightening and flying spells, the journey that would typically take hours—even from the ruined city to the Jufeng—had taken them much longer than expected.
The beach was now submerged by the tide, and the crystals beneath the water were no longer visible. Fortunately, the map allowed Tang Yu’an to confirm they were in the right place.
They stopped at a spot above the cliff overlooking the beach.
Before the sun set completely, Zhou Qi scouted the area and declared, “Let’s build the house here.”
This location was close to the crystal-laden beach for convenient collection, had plenty of materials nearby, and was far enough from the forest edge—over a hundred meters—to reduce the chance of encountering insects.
“Okay, let’s build it here!” Tang Yu’an agreed.
They found a pile of rocks, some four to five meters high, forming a natural enclosure with a small opening. The central area, about 20-30 square meters, was densely overgrown with tall weeds that needed clearing.
The weeds were taller than Tang Yu’an, with razor-sharp leaves that could easily tear clothing.
Zhou Qi didn’t let him enter. Instead, he cleared a perimeter around the rock pile and set the weeds ablaze.
As the fire burned, insects hiding in the grass began crawling out—some as large as Tang Yu’an’s foot—making his skin crawl just looking at them.
They pitched their tent nearby, with Yuan Bao standing guard at night while Black Pearl rested during the day. When Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi slept, Black Pearl sneaked into the forest.
Yuan Bao, seeing Black Pearl wander off, didn’t mind and continued its watch over the fire.
Around midnight, Black Pearl returned, dragging a large rabbit in its mouth, which it dropped in front of Yuan Bao.
Yuan Bao sniffed the rabbit curiously and, feeling hungry, tentatively tore off a piece of meat.
Black Pearl didn’t stop it. Instead, it disdainfully rolled its eyes before tearing off a rabbit leg and leaving it at the entrance of the tent.
Now that little cutie can see it first thing in the morning!
After licking the blood from its paws and cleaning its fur meticulously, Black Pearl returned to its kitten form.
The tiny kitten glanced at Yuan Bao, now chewing on the rabbit with blood-streaked fur, and gave it another look of disdain and contempt before swaggering into the tent to curl up beside Tang Yu’an and fall asleep.
Yuan Bao raised an eyebrow, puzzled, before continuing to gnaw on the rabbit and diligently keeping watch by the fire.
*
The next morning, when Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi woke up, the fire in the center of the rock pile had burned out.
Zhou Qi began collecting the scorched vegetation, but—
“Wow! So many wood elemental crystals!” Tang Yu’an exclaimed.
Clearing away the ash, Tang Yu’an uncovered numerous glowing green crystals in the soil, which his appraisal skill quickly identified.
Zhou Qi was surprised too.
It seemed the area’s energy concentration was incredibly high. If even this small patch of grass contained so many wood crystals, how much more could the forest hold?
Tang Yu’an grabbed a plastic basin and carefully collected all the ashes, storing them in his portable inventory and using the item sorting function to extract the crystals.
In the end, he gathered 28 wood elemental crystals.
Although these crystals were small—the largest worth only 100 points compared to the usual 200-point value—Tang Yu’an wasn’t disappointed. Crystals were essential for upgrading furniture, and his current supply had been running low. This discovery was a huge relief.
Remembering something, Tang Yu’an quickly retrieved the green vine from his pet inventory. He placed a wood elemental crystal in its jar and set it on a rock to bask in the sunlight.
The vine unfurled its leaves under the sun, extending its roots further into the water, looking so content that it lifted everyone’s spirits.
With the area cleared, Zhou Qi used his earth manipulation ability to level the ground. He then pulled out paper and pen to draft house plans and calculate dimensions.
Seeing this, Tang Yu’an redeemed a small desk from the furniture shop to make it easier for Zhou Qi to work.
While Zhou Qi focused on drawing, Tang Yu’an, feeling a bit bored, resumed his system courses.
Most system functions were still operational, except for notifications and the seven-day sale countdown. Since they had been swept into this strange place, notifications for employee transactions and point gains had completely stopped, leaving their balance stagnant.
The seven-day sale countdown, meanwhile, had turned into garbled text. Although it was supposed to refresh that day, the shop’s items remained unchanged.
Daily and weekly tasks hadn’t updated either, leaving the system in a strange limbo.
Tang Yu’an felt a pang of frustration thinking about how their long streak of daily achievements had been broken. But this world was unpredictable—just as Grandpa Li had said, chaos was the norm here.
There was also the issue of the Dream Drift Bottles. Since they couldn’t return to the main store, they couldn’t collect the bottles from the dream sea. Fortunately, the dream wishers seemed to be managing well, with people around them now able to exchange for supplies through the shop.
For instance, Gan Lin’s group had plenty of water—8 cubic meters was more than enough for drinking in a drought-stricken area. At one liter per day, the supply could last four people five years. Surely, they wouldn’t waste precious water on bathing, would they?
After finishing a lesson, Tang Yu’an looked up to see Zhou Qi had completed the house plans.
Initially, Zhou Qi had planned to build a wooden house, but after surveying the area, he abandoned the idea. He didn’t have the proper tools, and cutting down trees in the forest was too dangerous for them.
The main reason, however, was his lack of carpentry skills—he worried the house might collapse.
In the end, he decided to build a brick house instead.
“Let’s just construct four walls and add a roof—that should count as a building, right?” Zhou Qi suggested.
Tang Yu’an agreed.
The presence of clay near their chosen site was another factor in Zhou Qi’s decision. It would make brick production more convenient.
Thus began their routine: mornings spent making bricks, afternoons filled with lessons and exercises, and evenings dedicated to collecting crystals and foraging for food.
The only advantage of being in this place was its abundant resources. The air was humid, vegetation lush, and food plentiful.
For instance, the giant crab Black Pearl had dismantled after attacking Tang Yu’an was turned into a delicious meal by Zhou Qi. The crab claws, as large as a person’s head, were steamed to perfection—succulent, juicy, and easy to eat without much shelling. Every bite was packed with meat, making it a memorable delicacy.
Of course, not everything was easy. This world of oversized creatures was rife with danger.
Even ordinary winds—nothing more than a breeze for Black Pearl—could blow the boys off their feet. Zhou Qi, especially with his lightening spell active, often found himself swept away.
Oddly enough, these experiences taught him to harness wind power, and before long, he could fly without relying on Tang Yu’an’s skills.
The tides also presented challenges. On their first visit to the beach to collect crystals, they were caught by the rising tide, which resembled a tsunami. Terrified, they barely managed to escape by flying into the sky—only to be chased by waterbirds.
Yuan Bao eventually rescued them, while Black Pearl shot down one of the pursuing birds.
Their rocky campsite, though set back from the shore, still endured the effects of high tide. Waves crashing against the rocks felt like torrential rain to them, forcing them to stretch waterproof tarps overhead to protect their temporary camp.
The extreme temperature fluctuations between day and night were nothing new, given their experience in the wastelands. What was remarkable, however, was how the local flora and fauna thrived despite such conditions.
Daily visits from mutated creatures were another constant. Thankfully, the boys avoided venturing into the forest, where the wildlife was likely larger and more dangerous.
On the forest’s edge, Yuan Bao and Black Pearl handled most threats with ease. Without these loyal companions, their survival would have been far more challenging.
Most of their time was spent in the rock pile, making bricks. Even so, insects frequently tried to invade their territory. These bugs were unfazed by insect repellents, so Black Pearl often had to step in at night.
While Yuan Bao fought well one-on-one, the swarms of insects were better handled by Black Pearl’s metallic attacks.
The waterbirds, seemingly deterred by the presence of Yuan Bao and Black Pearl, rarely returned.
One noteworthy discovery was an iron deposit near the riverbank. Zhou Qi collected some ore and combined it with limestone and clay to create cement using techniques he’d learned in system lessons.
This homemade cement was much sturdier and easier to use for bricklaying than pure clay.
“Wow, Brother Qi, you’re amazing!” Tang Yu’an exclaimed, his eyes sparkling with admiration.
Zhou Qi cleared his throat modestly. “It was in the lessons. You’ll learn it too.”
Tang Yu’an doubted he could replicate Zhou Qi’s success, but now that Zhou Qi had figured out the formula, he could simply follow his lead.
“Can’t we just use cement to build the whole house?” Tang Yu’an suggested.
Zhou Qi thought about it and shook his head. “In theory, yes, but we’d need a lot more cement.”
The amount they had was just enough for bricklaying. Making more would take too much time, so sticking with bricks was faster.
After two weeks of preparation, they finally began building the house.
Laying the bricks went quickly, especially since the house was small. By the end of the day, the walls were complete.
Using the shadow umbrella for cover, they ventured into the forest to collect wood for the roof.
After eighteen days in this strange world, their house was finally finished.
Though the house was simple—its walls exposed, with visible bricks—the boys couldn’t help but feel a profound sense of accomplishment.
This was their first time building something entirely from scratch with their own hands.
“Watching others build houses in videos seemed so easy. I never thought it would be this hard,” Tang Yu’an said, marveling at their work.
Zhou Qi instinctively raised a hand to pat his head but stopped midway, lowering it awkwardly.
Instead, he looked at the house and said, “Let’s see if we can set it up as a branch store.”
Originally, they had planned to stop at the walls, but the system had flagged the structure as incomplete and unsuitable for a branch store. Now that it had a roof, it should work.
“Got it!” Tang Yu’an walked into the small house and opened the system interface to attempt setting it up as a branch store.
[You are establishing a branch store.]
[You own this building, and it meets the requirements.]
[Do you wish to spend 2000 points to designate this building as a branch store?]
[Yes] [No]
Finally, it worked! Tang Yu’an eagerly selected to set up the small house as the branch store and named it “Peace Grocery Store No. 4.”
He then spent 2000 points to activate the protective barrier. After granting Zhou Qi access permissions, he quickly put the branch store into closed mode.
Their hard-built house couldn’t risk being destroyed by mutated creatures or natural disasters!
After that, Tang Yu’an activated the teleportation array, spending another 2000 points. However, when he tried to link the array to the main store, a system prompt appeared:
[Establishing interdimensional teleportation array connection… Failed due to missing dimensional locator stone.]
Tang Yu’an froze. Interdimensional teleportation array?
“Wait… are we in another dimension?!”
Stunned, he shared the news with Zhou Qi in a panic. “Brother Qi, something’s wrong! We’ve ended up in another dimension!”
Although he had used the appraisal function over the past few days, he hadn’t identified any objects unique to this dimension and had completely missed this fact.
But Zhou Qi didn’t seem particularly surprised. He had already suspected this.
Since the store’s employee earnings and experience gains had stopped updating, Zhou Qi had noticed the anomalies. Moreover, all system records of time had turned into garbled text.
This likely occurred because the system operated based on the main store’s dimensional timeline, which had become chaotic when they entered a different dimension.
“This explains what Xie Zhaori told us,” Zhou Qi remarked.
The reason fortresses sought the center of the Desolate city must be because it contained a passageway to another dimension!
And this dimension, while dangerous, was also rich in resources.
“So the abundance of mutated creatures in the Desolate city is connected to this, right?” Tang Yu’an speculated.
Besides the creatures that mutated locally, some might have originated from this dimension—like the giant fish that appeared after the flood.
Tang Yu’an glanced toward the water. The vortex below this body of water was likely the source, and those fish had probably traveled through it.
With this dimension brimming with energy—so much that elemental stones could be found scattered everywhere—it made sense that some of it would spill into other dimensions. Perhaps even…
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi exchanged a look and simultaneously said, “The spirit worms came from this dimension too?”
It felt like they had uncovered a significant secret, though its full implications were still unclear.
“If we don’t have a dimensional locator stone, does that mean we can’t go back?” Tang Yu’an asked, disheartened.
The name alone suggested the stone would be difficult to acquire.
Zhou Qi pressed his lips together. “There’s a way.”
Tang Yu’an glanced at the seemingly endless water and frowned. “Are you talking about the vortex? That’s way too dangerous!”
The water here was treacherous, not just because of the creatures within but also due to its own powerful currents. Tang Yu’an had once seen a giant crab smashed to death on the beach during high tide. When he and Zhou Qi had been swept into this place, even the green vine had been shredded by the turbulence.
The river held unknown powers, and Tang Yu’an doubted they could safely navigate it and make it through the vortex unscathed.
“Honestly, this place isn’t so bad,” Tang Yu’an said.
They had managed to survive here, even building a house together. While they hadn’t encountered customers to trade with, at least they were alive.
But the thought of their home in the other dimension made Tang Yu’an lower his head in disappointment.
Seeing his expression, Zhou Qi hesitated before finally reaching out and gently ruffling his hair.
“There’s more than one way,” Zhou Qi said.
Tang Yu’an looked up at him, eyes filled with hope.
“This dimension likely has other passages similar to the vortex,” Zhou Qi explained. “Based on what Xie Zhaori and Chi Hao hinted at, it’s possible that some fortresses have access to these passageways.”
Even if they didn’t, they had to know such passages existed.
Tang Yu’an’s eyes lit up. “So we can use another passage to return?”
Zhou Qi nodded. “But for now, our priority is to get stronger.”
After all, if they encountered people from the fortresses again, the encounter might not be as peaceful as before.
“Got it!” Tang Yu’an nodded firmly, his spirits lifting with renewed determination.
At that moment, Zhou Qi reached into his pocket and handed him a slingshot.
Tang Yu’an took the slingshot, examining it curiously. It was lightweight and made of wood, with several small, green wind elemental crystals embedded in it.
The elastic band was crafted from the coagulated sap of a plant they had discovered earlier, known for its remarkable elasticity.
“Happy birthday, An’an,” Zhou Qi said with a gentle smile.
Tang Yu’an blinked, then realized it was his birthday. He’d been so busy building the house that he had completely forgotten.
“Wow! Is this my birthday gift?” Tang Yu’an beamed as he caressed the slingshot. “Did you make this yourself?”
“Yeah,” Zhou Qi nodded.
“When did you make it? I didn’t even notice!” Tang Yu’an exclaimed in amazement.
Zhou Qi smiled faintly. He had worked on it during the nights while Tang Yu’an was asleep, though there was no need for him to know that.
“Want to try it out?” Zhou Qi suggested. “I embedded the wind crystals to help you better harness wind power.”
“Alright!”
Tang Yu’an grabbed a happy marble, loaded it onto the slingshot, and fired.
The marble struck a caterpillar over 100 meters away, making it wriggle wildly on the ground.
Tang Yu’an turned to Zhou Qi, his smile bright and joyful. “Thank you, Brother Qi! I love it!”
