Ye Feng and Xiao Xiao casually found a resting spot in the corridor of a family’s house. The owners of the corridor were a middle-aged couple with three children, all around seven or eight years old.
The couple treated Ye Feng with great courtesy. Despite Ye Feng's repeated assurances that it was unnecessary, they still brought him fruit and water, expressing their gratitude in various ways.
This left both Ye Feng and Xiao Xiao quite perplexed.
Meanwhile, the couple’s three young children gathered around Ye Feng, curiously observing him and Xiao Xiao.
One of the older girls was even using a drawing tool to sketch on a piece of scrap paper.
Upon closer inspection, it was a drawing of Ye Feng and Xiao Xiao!
“Explorer brother, please tell us the story of how you defeated the goblins and monsters!~”
Under Ye Feng’s astonished gaze, a boy dressed in coarse cloth spoke to him.
The other two children also nodded, looking at Ye Feng with curiosity and admiration.
“Uh… Goblins? Monsters? What’s going on?”
Ye Feng was completely bewildered.
“Explorer brother, you led all the explorers in our village to defeat the ferocious goblins and monsters, saving us!”
“Yes, tell us, explorer brother~”
“Mhm!~ I want to record explorer brother’s portrait and deeds, to pass them down from generation to generation~”
“That’s right, we want everyone to remember explorer brother’s great kindness!”
…
The three children spoke excitedly to Ye Feng.
“This… Goblins and monsters… I’ll tell you a story then~”
Looking at their innocent eyes, Ye Feng felt a stirring in his heart.
“Goblins are….”
Soon, Ye Feng began to recount the various traps he had encountered the previous day and his encounters with killing various goblins.
The three children listened intently, occasionally jotting down notes.
Time ticked by.
Besides goblins, as Ye Feng spoke, he also shared some of his adventuring experiences, like defeating some monsters, which captivated the children, leaving them enthralled and lost in wonder…
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, Ye Feng frowned slightly.
A large crowd was approaching in the distance, and the leader seemed to be the old man named Da Li.
“Grandpa Da Li, explorer brother is over there!~”
The voice of the young boy, which Ye Feng had heard not long ago, rang out.
Ye Feng focused his gaze and immediately noticed that among the many people following the old man Da Li, besides the boy, there were quite a few familiar faces.
They were the explorers who had been following him yesterday, undertaking exploration tasks, and searching for and killing goblins outside the goblin lair.
“Oh, it’s you~”
Ye Feng greeted the old man Da Li. “Right, I almost forgot to tell you, I’ve almost killed all the goblins. The most powerful one, the Goblin Shaman, has also been dealt with. You can go back to farming now!”
“Even if there are one or two goblins left, they’ll just hide in caves. You just need to be a little careful.”
“The reason the goblins suddenly became cunning and difficult to deal with half a year ago was due to the presence of the Goblin Shaman,” Ye Feng added after a pause.
He had learned from the system earlier that Goblin Shamans were extremely rare among goblins who could migrate and move independently; ordinary goblins only moved as the larger population expanded.
“Okay, okay~ Thank you~!”
The old man Da Li nodded repeatedly, his face beaming with a smile.
“Mr. Ye, I heard you are leaving soon?”
“Won’t you stay a few more days? The villagers haven’t had a chance to thank you properly yet!”
Then, the old man Da Li spoke to Ye Feng again, his tone very polite and filled with reluctance.
“Uh, thank you? What’s going on?” Ye Feng was a little confused.
“Mr. Ye, please don’t be modest. It was you who led the explorers and villagers of Taoyuan Village to reclaim our home!”
“Yes, and you helped us destroy the goblin lair and kill the most troublesome goblins!”
“Exactly, our exploration team can testify, Lord Ye Feng intentionally slowed his pace yesterday to let us catch up!~”
“That’s right, those powerful and tricky goblins were all killed with Lord Ye Feng’s help. There were many Rank 1 and Rank 2 goblins. If it were us, we definitely wouldn’t have been able to defeat them…”
“I can also testify!”
“Me too!”
“And me!~”
…
At this moment, the explorers who had arrived with Da Li spoke up one after another in support of Ye Feng.
“Ugh…”
Ye Feng scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.
He had slowed down yesterday not to specifically wait for the explorers and villagers behind him, but to search for and kill more goblins, and also because he encountered goblin traps that took time to clear…
“An unintentional act yielding an unintended result…” Ye Feng muttered to himself.
“Mr. Ye, our Taoyuan Village doesn’t have much, so we can only give you this!~”
At this moment, the old man Da Li spoke again.
After speaking, he beckoned behind him, and immediately four strong men carried over a large flowerpot with a sunken center.
Instead of soil or anything similar, the center of the large flowerpot contained a liquid emitting a faint white glow.
In the very center of the flowerpot grew a plant that resembled a Ganoderma lucidum, with leaves radiating a multi-colored glow.
“Such a rich fragrance!”
Ye Feng twitched his nose. Even from several meters away, he could smell the alluring fragrance emanating from the plant!
Moreover, this fragrance was peculiar; after smelling it, one felt refreshed and invigorated!
Especially mentally, Ye Feng felt his mind become clearer!~
“Mr. Ye, this is a rare plant from Taoyuan Village. Legend has it that it comes from Zuzhou and possesses mysterious properties. It is called the Zuzhou Undying Grass~”
“It is our village’s most precious treasure. When the goblins invaded our village before, that Goblin Shaman seemed to have come looking for this plant, but I managed to hide it.”
“Since Mr. Ye is leaving, we will give this plant to you!”
Saying this, the old man Da Li instructed the four strong men to place the plant and the large flowerpot in front of Ye Feng.
“Zuzhou? Zuzhou Undying Grass?”
Hearing this name, a chill ran down Ye Feng’s spine, and his face was filled with shock.
“Zuzhou, located in the Eastern Sea, has the Undying Grass. The grass resembles *gu* [a type of grain], growing three to four feet tall. If a person has been dead for three days, covering them with the grass will revive them at that moment…”
Ye Feng couldn’t help but recall a book he had read called *Records of the Ten Continents within the Seas*, which mentioned this.
“Zuzhou Undying Grass grows in Qiong Tian, also known as the Spirit Nourishing Ganoderma. Its leaves resemble *gu*, it does not grow in clumps, and one plant can sustain a thousand people…”
If Ye Feng remembered correctly, Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of China, had discovered this very thing. It was a legendary medicinal herb capable of resurrecting the dead.
“Beep!~ Special notification: Spirit Nourishing Ganoderma detected, located 1 meter to your front right~”
At this moment, the system's alert sounded.
…