Chapter 74
With just 1 point to spend, Tang Yu’an naturally chose “Yes.”
[Name: Unnamed]
[Value: 10 points per 5ml]
[Origin: Plane MR176349]
[Description: Blood from a certain medium-sized mutated spider. Non-toxic, with a unique scent. Applying it to the body can prevent mosquito and insect bites and is an excellent material for making insect repellents.]
“Haha, Brother Qi, you’re really smart!”
The appraisal skill charges a fee based on the value of the item being appraised.
That is to say, this bag of blood is 5ml, so it calculates the value based on 5ml, rather than the smallest unit.
If Brother Qi had just collected 10ml, the system would probably have charged 2 points as the appraisal fee.
Therefore, when appraising, the smaller the quantity and volume, the more cost-effective! After all, they appraise items mainly to get the item’s description.
As for how many points it’s worth, they can infer that through the 10% appraisal fee!
After praising Zhou Qi, Tang Yu’an carefully looked at the description of the spider’s blood and couldn’t help but brighten up.
He recounted the effects of the spider’s blood to Zhou Qi, then said, “Brother Qi, we can collect this blood and take it to Jufeng Town to sell!”
Zhou Qi also thought this was a great idea.
Insect repellents should have a certain market in the wasteland. Although they probably wouldn’t sell as well as food, this is entirely a product of this world.
Even if someone recognizes that this is the blood of a mutated spider, they would only think that they have the ability to deal with mutated spiders, thus being cautious of them rather than coveting it.
They could even bring out other parts of the spider to sell, which would definitely serve as a deterrent and reduce some unnecessary trouble.
Looking at the dark green blood flowing all over the ground, Zhou Qi couldn’t help but feel it was a waste.
But Tang Yu’an just chuckled.
“No worries, we’ll collect these sands and stones later and put them back into the warehouse, and then use the item list function to separate out the blood when we get back.”
With the remote item retrieval skill, they don’t need to go to the trouble of carrying it back.
But to prevent spoilage and deterioration, it’s best to collect what we can and put it into the portable warehouse.
“I’ll give it a name first.”
Because this spider hadn’t been named yet, the appraisal catalog showed a symbol indicating that a name could be given.
Looking at the spider’s appraisal information, the thing that made Tang Yu’an want to complain the most was probably that—such a big spider was only considered “medium-sized”!
Then how big would the “large spider” defined by the system be?
Tang Yu’an shook his head, hoping they wouldn’t encounter one in the future, and then wrote in the name column—”Dark Green Spider.”
Thus, the information of that bag of blood became:
[Name: Dark Green Spider Blood]
[Value: 10 points per 5ml]
[Named by: Mysterious Merchant]
[…]
Unexpectedly, the appraisal catalog didn’t display his real name but still used the nickname “Mysterious Merchant.”
Zhou Qi then picked up the mutated metal dagger and cut off one of the spider’s legs. Originally, he wanted to chop it into shorter pieces but found it impossible.
The hardness of the spider’s leg was actually comparable to the mutated metal dagger; neither could damage the other.
He had to take the entire spider leg to Tang Yu’an for appraisal.
[Do you want to deduct 5 points to use the “Item Appraisal (Basic)” skill on this item?]
So one spider leg is worth 50 points?
Tang Yu’an chose to appraise.
[Name: Dark Green Spider Hind Leg]
[Value: 50 points per leg]
[Origin: Plane MR176349]
[Description: A complete amputated hind leg of a Dark Green Spider, containing a small amount of its blood, with a unique scent. Wearing it can repel mosquitoes and insects. Its blade part is hard and sharp, capable of easily cutting through metal, and is an excellent material for crafting weapons.]
After reading the description, Zhou Qi frowned slightly.
If they had to fight it head-on, he probably wouldn’t be a match for this mutated spider. If it weren’t for the special items, they would have only the option to flee from a distance.
They would have to be more cautious when venturing into the wild in the future.
Fortunately, although the blade part of the spider’s leg was very hard, the part connecting to the body was fragile. Using the dagger and applying force, he could cut it off.
Zhou Qi cut off all eight legs of the Dark Green Spider and stored them. Looking at the two fangs in the spider’s mouth, he painstakingly pried them out for Tang Yu’an to appraise.
The blade part of the fangs was as hard and sharp as the spider’s legs, capable of crushing metal and stone. Perhaps because they were smaller in size, each was only worth 30 points.
He then dug out the silk ball from the spider’s abdomen. This ball of spider silk was wrapped in a layer of transparent film, which he cut open with the dagger.
After the ball of spider silk was exposed to air, it quickly hardened. Zhou Qi tried pulling it and found it extremely tough; the mutated metal dagger had to work hard to cut through it.
He felt this should be valuable, so he cut off a section and had Tang Yu’an appraise it.
[Name: Dark Green Spider Silk]
[Value: 1 point per 10cm]
[Origin: Plane MR176349]
[Description: Silk spun by the Dark Green Spider, characterized by high-temperature resistance, strong toughness, and not easily broken. It becomes somewhat sticky when wet and is an excellent material for making traps and ropes.]
Because this small piece of spider silk was only worth 1 point, which seems to be the system’s minimum charge, it still deducted 1 point instead of 0.1 point.
Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but grumble.
Although his point balance was already quite high, he really didn’t want the system to earn even one extra point!
Zhou Qi roughly estimated that this ball of spider silk was probably several tens of meters long, worth at least several hundred points.
It had to be said, this spider was truly valuable all over.
He had Tang Yu’an store the spider silk into the portable warehouse. Then, looking at the spider’s body on the ground, after extracting the spider silk, they could see more dark green blood flowing out.
“Is there still space in the portable warehouse?” Zhou Qi asked.
They had to take this entire spider back; otherwise, it would be wasted.
However, Tang Yu’an shook his head.
He now had 12 portable warehouse slots. Slot 1 had been cleared, prepared for Chi Hao and Zhou Qi to use. Slot 2 was also shared with Zhou Qi, and to have some room for maneuver, they couldn’t fill it up.
And the remaining 10 cubic meters of space had been stuffed full by him.
After all, there were quite a few perishable items in the Grocery Store. In such an environment where high temperatures and cold alternate, they could easily spoil, so whenever there was space, he would store these items in the portable warehouse.
“There’s no space big enough, but…”
Hearing his “but,” Zhou Qi had a strange premonition. Sure enough, the next moment, he saw Tang Yu’an take out from his portable warehouse—a large red plastic basin with an outer diameter of at least 80 centimeters!
“……”
Last time when An’an took out the pressure cooker, Zhou Qi thought he wouldn’t be surprised by anything An’an could produce anymore.
Unexpectedly, he was still naive.
“This basin…” He hesitated.
Seeing Zhou Qi’s surprise, Tang Yu’an said, “We sell them in the shop.”
These red plastic basins come in different sizes; I took the largest one. Anyway, the portable warehouse is a 1m x 1m x 1m cube, and the largest basin fits.
See, now it’s useful, isn’t it?
However, now that the remote item retrieval skill has improved, Tang Yu’an has decided to clear out the portable warehouse when he gets back. In the future, he’ll use it specifically to store items that need to be kept fresh.
As for these tools, they can be taken directly from the Grocery Store and don’t need to occupy portable warehouse space.
“Alright.”
Zhou Qi nodded and began to move the spider’s body into the basin. Just as he was about to use his hands to scoop up the sand and stones stained with the spider’s blood, Tang Yu’an brought over a broom and dustpan from home.
“Brother Qi, use this!”
“…Okay.”
With tools, collecting the sand and stones became more convenient. Soon, all the parts of the spider were collected into the large red plastic basin, filled to the brim.
“Done.”
“Great!”
Tang Yu’an used the remote item retrieval skill, and the plastic basin, along with the spider’s corpse mixed with mud and sand inside, was transferred to the Grocery Store’s warehouse.
*
At Peace Grocery Store
“Bang—”
Accompanied by a light sound from inside the house, Wang Cai, who had been lying on the ground sleeping, immediately looked alertly toward the tightly closed warehouse door.
Yin Bi, who was lying belly-up on the floor in a daze, also jolted and stood up.
The two little ones exchanged a glance, then cautiously approached the warehouse. When they pushed open the door, a sour and bloody smell spread out.
“Woof woof woof! Woof woof woof!”
Yin Bi looked at the spider’s corpse in the plastic basin, and its fur stood on end in fright, trembling as it barked incessantly.
The little orange cat Wang Cai also bared its teeth, but after carefully sniffing the scent, it didn’t choose to switch into “Guard Dog” mode.
It cautiously approached, stretched out a paw to touch the spider leg protruding from the basin, then quickly ran away.
Finding that the spider didn’t move at all, it approached again, stood up on its hind legs, leaned on the edge of the basin to look inside, and sniffed with its nose.
“Whimper…”
Yin Bi had stopped barking.
It tucked its tail, tentatively took a step closer, and saw its companion stepping on the spider’s shell, lowering its head to lick the dark green blood continuously oozing from the spider’s body.
Seeing it approaching, Wang Cai looked up and meowed at it, as if inviting it.
Yin Bi shook its head repeatedly, backed up, and lay down on the ground, whimpering.
The little orange cat in the basin ignored it and continued to lower its head to lick.
This was the blood of a mutated creature of a higher level than them; it was highly nourishing!
*
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi were unaware of what was happening back at the grocery store. After transferring the spider’s corpse back to the shop, they set off again, continuing to search for the red dots indicating dangerous creatures.
Under the effect of the Lightness Technique, they shuttled between ruins and small groves, quickly arriving near the location of the third dangerous creature.
“It should be inside there,” Tang Yu’an said.
This dangerous creature hadn’t appeared in the wild but was inside a relatively well-preserved building.
The ground around the building had cracked open with various large and small fissures. No one knew what it had experienced in the past or how it had so luckily remained standing.
However, the foundation of the entire building had sunk downward. You could see that the first floor was already filled with various debris and muddy water, overgrown with moss and weeds. Densely packed vines wound upward, climbing all over the building’s exterior walls.
Perhaps due to the scorching weather, many of the vines on the exterior walls had withered and died, leaving only yellowish-brown thin vines hanging down, like ropes, or like camouflaged venomous snakes, lurking and observing passing animals, ready to launch an attack at any time.
Tang Yu’an surveyed the building and looked at the map, unable to help himself from saying, “Brother Qi, could this be the lair of the giant lizard?”
Because this place was already at the edge of the unlocked area on the map; beyond that was a mist-covered region.
“Is there only one red dot inside?” Zhou Qi asked.
“Yes.”
Zhou Qi nodded, observing the building not far away.
This building wasn’t very tall, about four stories. There seemed to be plants growing on the rooftop, with branches and leaves extending outward.
The interior was also filled with plants, making it really difficult to explore deeply…
Using the Shadow Umbrella for cover, they circled around the building to observe and finally discovered a window opening at the back. The plants covering this window were sparse, and there were obvious signs of being cut.
Perhaps this was the entrance Lin Zhen used to enter the giant lizard’s lair?
“Should we go in and take a look?” Tang Yu’an asked.
The densely packed vines, whether withered or green, entwined around the entire building. Under the bright sunlight, what should have been a peaceful and serene scene emitted a sense of danger against the backdrop of the wasteland.
Zhou Qi stared at the deep, dark window hole on the top floor, frowning slightly.
“Does the map really only show one red dot?” he confirmed again.
Tang Yu’an opened the map, zoomed in as much as possible, carefully looked around, and then said, “Yes, the nearest other red dot is about three kilometers away.”
The map didn’t display distances in kilometers; this was Tang Yu’an’s rough estimate.
“That red dot is about to meet another red dot; they might have a fight.”
The hunting behavior of mutated creatures is like what happened before with Black Pearl and Yin Bi. If not for Yuan Bao appearing in time to stop it, Yin Bi would have been either dead or injured.
From the perspective of clearing dangerous creatures, they should avoid getting involved for now.
Zhou Qi hesitated for a moment, then looked at the window hole and said in a low voice, “Then let’s go in and take a look.”
This might not necessarily be the giant lizard’s lair. With the cover of the Shadow Umbrella, as long as they didn’t disturb the mutated creatures inside, they should be able to retreat safely.
Thinking of something, he looked down at Tang Yu’an. “Are you afraid?”
Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but straighten his chest. “I’m not afraid at all, Brother Qi. Don’t underestimate me.”
Zhou Qi smiled, reached out to rub his head, and reminded him once again, “Once we’re inside, don’t run around. Stay close to me at all times, okay?”
They were about to explore the interior of a building with unknown conditions; he wouldn’t be able to carry Tang Yu’an anymore, or their movements would be restricted, possibly causing more trouble.
“Okay, I’ll hold onto the Shadow Umbrella and follow you closely.” Tang Yu’an wasn’t annoyed by Zhou Qi’s incessant reminders that bordered on nagging but promised repeatedly.
At this critical moment, he couldn’t be a burden to Brother Qi.
So, Zhou Qi stepped forward, grabbed a vine that looked very sturdy, pulled hard to ensure it was strong enough, and then climbed up to the window hole in a few moves using the vine.
He first looked inside the hole.
Probably because the vine coverage blocked the sunlight, the room where the window was located was dimly lit, and his vision was blurry.
Although he had a flashlight, out of caution, Zhou Qi didn’t take it out. After his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he vaguely saw many cabinets piled up inside the room.
These cabinets had toppled over on the ground, abandoned for who knows how many years, already rusty and broken.
The debris on the floor was also buried in dust and mud, making it unrecognizable as to what it originally was.
Zhou Qi squinted slightly.
He felt that his ability to see in the dark had improved considerably. Soon he saw several human footprints that didn’t fit with the surrounding environment.
Seeing those footprints, he could basically confirm that this was the lair of the giant lizard and that Lin Zhen had entered through this window.
It had to be said, Sister Lin was truly bold.
Zhou Qi turned back and waved to Tang Yu’an, who was still waiting below, then jumped into the window hole first, making room for him.
He waited only a moment before Tang Yu’an’s agile and light figure appeared at the window, and then he jumped down to join him.
The Shadow Umbrella followed closely behind him but got stuck at the window. Without needing Tang Yu’an to put it away, it folded its canopy slightly, turned sideways, and smoothly flew in through the window.
Upon entering the room, the Shadow Umbrella unfolded again in mid-air, slowly descending over the two boys’ heads, once again erasing their traces.
“Brother Qi, there are so many cabinets here.”
With the cover of the Shadow Umbrella, Tang Yu’an finally dared to speak, though his voice was still instinctively lowered.
“Why is there so much silt?” He looked at his feet.
After just a few steps, his shoe soles were covered with a thick layer of mud, somewhat damp and slippery, making him feel a bit unsteady.
This window was located more than ten meters high, meaning this room was at least three or four stories up. The weather was hot; logically, it should be relatively dry.
“Maybe it was flooded before,” Zhou Qi said, taking his hand and heading toward a doorway ahead.
After they passed through the doorway, they saw rows of bathrooms. The pipes were mostly rusty and damaged, and some partition walls had collapsed. The walls and floors were covered with moss and some unknown plants.
“Is this a bathhouse?” Tang Yu’an muttered.
Zhou Qi shook his head. With the limited information, he couldn’t determine yet, so he continued to lead Tang Yu’an forward.
They had already turned on the flashlight. Although the beam would be blocked once it left the range of the Shadow Umbrella, at least they could see the path beneath their feet.
Occasionally, they could see some footprints left by Lin Zhen on the ground, which could guide them in the general direction.
The windows in the corridor were tightly covered by vines and leaves, allowing only faint light to filter in. The deeper they went, the more they could smell a musty odor.
It was very hot inside the building, but not the kind of scorching heat from direct sunlight that seemed to roast people, but a humid, sticky stuffiness, coupled with an unpleasant smell, making every second they stayed there feel like torture.
One person and one umbrella explored the interior of the building, already able to see some traces of animals crawling on the floors and walls.
But these traces looked like they were left by smaller-sized lizards, possibly juvenile lizards that once lived here.
The musty odor gradually turned into a foul stench.
Tang Yu’an finally couldn’t bear it. He took out a mask and put it on his face, also handing one to Zhou Qi.
Although it couldn’t completely block out the smell, at least it felt better and was somewhat safer.
The environment around them gradually showed more sticky liquids, and different animal bones began to appear on the floor. Tang Yu’an accidentally stepped on one, and when he looked down, he found himself staring at what appeared to be a human skull, almost scaring him to death.
If not for the protection of the Shadow Umbrella and Zhou Qi accompanying him, Tang Yu’an might have lost control of his fear and fled.
In the cold, damp corners, besides scaly moss, various colorful mushrooms were also growing.
These mushrooms, which Tang Yu’an had seen at Lin Zhen’s house, were similarly vibrant and beautiful but each contained deadly toxins.
He and Zhou Qi carefully avoided them.
However, as they walked, Tang Yu’an suddenly found his field of vision becoming bright and open.
They seemed to have completely walked out of that dark and terrifying world, arriving at a place with birds singing and flowers blooming, sunshine and warmth. The temperature here was not only comfortable but also…
He saw his father and mother, and his sister Tang Yuxin!
Could it be that the system had brought them over too?
Tang Yu’an was stunned and couldn’t help but stop.
Ahead, those three familiar figures stood on a grassy field full of blooming flowers. Xinxin happily waved at him, and his father and mother smiled at him with satisfaction.
Tang Yu’an gazed at them almost greedily.
Come over…
Come quickly, An’an…
They were calling him, asking Tang Yu’an to come over quickly and reunite with the family.
However, after staring at them for a while, Tang Yu’an finally shook his head and didn’t approach, because he had realized—these three people were fake!
They weren’t his family!
Because…
He found that he had grown taller.
He, who was originally short, had suddenly grown to be as tall as Brother Qi beside him!
Although this had always been his wish—he envied Brother Qi’s height—Tang Yu’an clearly knew that he wasn’t at this height.
At least not yet.
He would definitely grow taller in the future, but not now.
This sense of incongruity brought him back to his senses.
When he realized that all this was fake, the birdsong and floral scents around him instantly disappeared. He returned to that damp, dark environment, surrounded by a foul stench.
And directly in front of him was a pit. If he had continued walking just now, he would have definitely stepped into it.
This place was more than ten meters above the ground; even if there were other floors below, falling down like this would cause injuries!
Tang Yu’an felt a burst of fear and quickly looked at Zhou Qi beside him.
Zhou Qi had also come to his senses. A red glint flashed in his eyes, and a dagger appeared in his hand, which he threw toward the corner covered with mushrooms.
“Ah!”
A sharp scream abruptly sounded in the quiet environment, making it especially frightening.
Under the gaze of Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi, a blue-green figure suddenly jumped out from the corner, actually dodging Zhou Qi’s dagger.
“Ah! Ah!”
It shrieked strangely and ran off at full speed.
