"Explorer, it's like this. You've rid us of the greatest scourge in our small town, and you've helped us clear away our biggest threat, the zombies~"
"When the villagers of Little Chicken Town heard about it, they all brought things to thank you~"
Grandpa Xiao Hu explained with a smile towards Ye Feng.
"Explorer, thank you. Our family no longer has to hand over half of our food to Scarface Wolf every day~"
"Sob, us too. Our family of three generations and five people can finally stop drawing straws every day to decide who doesn't get to eat today~"
"Yes, thanks to you, my thirteen-year-old daughter doesn't have to be defiled by Scarface Wolf!"
"Explorer, thank you. We can now go back to farming on Little Chicken Town's most fertile land~"
"Thank you..."
"Thank..."
...
"Explorer, these are the eggs we saved up for the past half month, there are seven of them, please take them~"
"Explorer, these are cucumbers harvested yesterday, they're delicious~"
"Explorer, this is dried field mouse meat we've stored~"
"Explorer, this is our family's..."
...
The villagers brought by Grandpa Xiao Hu excitedly thanked Ye Feng one after another, wanting to give him all sorts of precious food they had reluctantly saved, as gifts of gratitude.
"Stop... listen to me!"
Seeing the crowd's excitement and their insistence on handing over their belongings, Ye Feng shouted.
Ye Feng's words were evidently very persuasive, and within seconds, the crowd fell completely silent.
"I've received your heartfelt gratitude!"
"But I can't take your things. If I take them, I'm afraid you'll have to go hungry yourselves~"
Ye Feng could see that the people of Little Chicken Town were quite simple and honest.
From the items they brought, it wasn't hard to infer that these were the best things they could offer.
"But... but if you don't accept, we won't feel at ease~"
"Yes, yes~"
"Please accept just a little as a token~"
...
An elder voiced the thoughts of many.
"This..."
Ye Feng frowned slightly. "I happen to need your help with something. Does anyone here know about the City of Despair?"
City of Despair?
Upon hearing this, the crowd fell silent again, and several people began to ponder, stroking their chins.
"It's okay if you don't know..."
Just as Ye Feng was about to speak, Grandpa Xiao Hu's voice rang out first.
"You... you're going to the City of Despair?"
Grandpa Xiao Hu looked at Ye Feng with disbelief.
"Yes, you know that place?"
Ye Feng was quite surprised.
"Mm~~!"
Grandpa Xiao Hu nodded, his brows furrowed tightly, and his gaze towards Ye Feng was filled with worry.
"Explorer, over twenty years ago, when I was a waitress in the high-class hotel of a large human survivor base, that place was very famous!"
"Especially among explorers, almost every explorer knew of it, and it was a place every explorer yearned to reach!"
"Legend has it that the City of Despair possesses something that can make one incredibly powerful, a power sufficient to shatter gold and jade, and split mountains and rocks..."
Grandpa Xiao Hu recounted slowly.
"Something that makes people stronger?"
Ye Feng's mind conjured the "Despair Potion" that Yan had spoken of before.
"But... but Explorer, not only is that place a long journey away, but it's also extremely perilous~"
"I'm almost a century old, and I've seen countless explorers heading there, yet I've never heard of anyone who went there and returned alive!"
He paused, and Grandpa Xiao Hu spoke again, his tone quite serious and somewhat reserved.
"This..."
Ye Feng frowned.
"Brother Ye, the City of Despair that Grandpa just mentioned seems to be known as the 'Graveyard of Explorers'!"
At this moment, Xiao Hu spoke up, clearly he also knew about the City of Despair.
"Graveyard of Explorers?"
Ye Feng looked at Xiao Hu with some surprise.
"Yes!"
Originally, Grandpa Xiao Hu was afraid of upsetting Ye Feng by mentioning it, so he hadn't brought it up, but unexpectedly, Xiao Hu blurted it out.
Seeing that Ye Feng didn't seem angry, he continued, "This is also why the City of Despair was very famous over twenty years ago, and then hardly anyone mentioned it later~"
"After all, that place is a terrifying place where even powerful explorers go and never return..."
"Most explorers speak of it in hushed tones!"
Grandpa Xiao Hu said slowly.
"A very dangerous place!"
Ye Feng's expression was quite serious. Since the system had indicated this place, and with a special prompt, he was definitely going to check it out.
"Ex... Explorer, I think I know that place too!"
"Me too, I caught a glimpse of that place from afar twenty-seven years ago~"
"I've heard many explorers talk about it~"
"I wanted to go too at the time, I even drew a map, but I was too scared later... I'll go back and get the map now..."
"..."
Perhaps it was Ye Feng's and Grandpa Xiao Hu's conversation that stirred up memories for these people, and many of them recalled the name "City of Despair."
"One by one, speak slowly!"
Ye Feng took out a pen and paper, intending to record everything they said to facilitate his future actions.
...
It was already dusk.
"Notebooks, pens, and paper actually came in handy at a time like this~"
Ye Feng was quite surprised. He had previously had some reservations about the "Shop" refreshing items.
But it was precisely because of this that he was able to meticulously organize the information provided by the people of Little Chicken Town. A notebook, not too thick and not too thin, was filled to the brim by him.
At this moment, the crowd that had originally surrounded Ye Feng in Little Chicken Town had begun to disperse.
And Xiao Xiao had also drawn a vivid map based on the villagers' memories.
Ye Feng stretched, his joints cracking loudly, and Xiao Xiao also stood up to stretch.
"Explorer, the information we've told you about the City of Despair might be outdated~"
"Especially regarding the climate and terrain. After the Great Cataclysm, this world has become unpredictable~"
"There's a mountain over there, and it might turn into a lake or even an ocean by afternoon~"
"If you are going to the City of Despair, please keep this in mind~"
At this moment, Grandpa Xiao Hu came over with two bowls of cooked sweet poached eggs, one for Ye Feng and one for Xiao Xiao.
These two bowls of sweet poached eggs were something the villagers insisted on giving to Ye Feng, saying it was a custom in Little Chicken Town, symbolizing good wishes for someone about to embark on a long journey!
"Thank you~"
Ye Feng picked up his spoon and happily ate with Xiao Xiao.
After they finished eating, Ye Feng took out two large, heavy bags. These were the high-yield rice seeds and high-yield cabbage seeds he had just bought from the "Shop" that morning.
"Here!"
Ye Feng handed the two bags of crop seeds to Grandpa Xiao Hu.
"Explorer, we have already received so many favors from you, we cannot accept anything more from you..."
Grandpa Xiao Hu was about to decline, but Ye Feng himself pushed the items into his hands.
"These are crop seeds. This bag is for rice, and this bag is for cabbage!"
"These seeds are different from the ones you produce yourselves. They are high-yield, producing several times the yield per mu compared to your current seeds."
Although Ye Feng wasn't entirely sure how high-yield the seeds from the "Shop" were, he was certain they were much better than what he had seen by the roadside when he first came to Little Chicken Town.
"This... Then I will thank you on behalf of the villagers of Little Chicken Town!"
Grandpa Xiao Hu hesitated slightly but finally accepted them.
...