CHAPTER 148 - RICE AND SHINE, IT'S TIME FOR THE HARVEST!
🙞❤︎🙜
Just one? That was new. Normally, the quests in Adventure Incarnate weren't choice-locked. Sure, there were options during the quest which were multiple choice, like when the player had to choose between which factions to support, but for quests themselves to be multiple choice was strange.
What was the System up to?
Oh well, it was only a bonus quest. Those were easy to do and only gave a small amount of exp anyway. I read the quest descriptions before making my choice.
[Four Joy Meatball Mystery Challenge:
Harvest the vegetables needed for the Four Joy Meatballs: garlic, onion, carrot, and sweet potato.
Give them to the Demon Chef and request a Four Joy Meatball dish.
Find out what the secret ingredient is.
Reward: Farming Exp]
That seemed easy enough, but the other quest seemed more interesting.
[Potato Field Mystery Challenge:
Uncover the secrets hidden beneath the lush potato plants.
Dig under the potato field.
Reward: Farming Exp]
There was something hidden under the potato field?!
I clicked the [Accept] button right away.
Who cared about the meatballs when there was a mystery buried under my feet, waiting for me to uncover it?
Besides, we promised Mo we wouldn’t tease her about the worm meatballs.
Yellow glowing dots and arrows appeared on the ground behind me when I turned on the map quest guide. Since the mystery item was under it, I went to the spot the System indicated and harvested all the potatoes there until my energy ran out. Then I waved to my apprentices who had also finished their work for the day and said, “Guys, come over here!"
When they were at the correct spot, I pointed at our feet. “There! Right there is a mystery item. The System told me to dig there.”
“Is it a treasure?” Lari took out a shovel from his toolbelt and started enthusiastically digging. The System made the ground soft like tofu, so it was easy.
Mo and Kharli likewise started shoveling away.
“What else could it be?” Kharli “accidentally” covered the other two in dirt.
“It could be… your mom!” Mo swiftly retaliated by shoveling soil on Kharli, but the latter dodged it.
Kharli smiled triumphantly. “No, it's your mom.”
Wow, they had “your mom” jokes in this world, too?
We made quick work of the digging and I was the one who found it.
I motioned for them to move. “Wait. Stand back, my shovel hit something.”
This time I dug more carefully in order to not damage the item, which could be valuable.
However, I needn’t have worried because what I uncovered was a large, rectangular wooden chest. It was exactly the type of thing one would expect when one thought of a pirate treasure chest, with weathered, brass-bound edges and a heavy, rusted iron padlock securing its mysterious contents. The wood bore the scars of time and was decorated with intricate carvings of fish, dragons, and crabs. It was around two feet in width and six feet long.
“Help me dig it out, but do it slowly and don’t damage it,” I said.
“I bet it’s full of gold coins,” said Lari.
“Ha! I bet it’s full of [Black Soil],” said Mo.
“I bet it's full of worms,” said Kharli.
“At least it doesn’t look like a coffin,” I said.
The others stopped digging and looked down at the wooden chest.
Me and my big mouth! Did I just jinx it?
The kids whispered amongst themselves before turning to Yinuo as one with pleading expressions on their faces.
My maid got the hint. “My lady, it does appear to be the size of a coffin….”
“No, surely not!” It did look like a treasure chest, except somewhat larger and longer than I would have expected.
“Perhaps we could call a clan member, just in case?”
“Do you think that’s necessary?”
“Yes.”
I threw my hands up in surrender. “Fine, okay, call someone then.”
She left to get a clan member while we continued digging up the chest.
“That was a joke. I’m sure this isn’t a coffin,” I said to my apprentices. Adventure Incarnate was partially developed in China, which meant it was culturally taboo to show skulls or skeletons. “And next time, don’t cover each other in dirt. What will the clan member think?”
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“Ah!” Mo shook her braid, trying to get the dirt off it.
The girls frantically brushed the dirt off each other’s clothes and used their handkerchiefs to clean their faces. Lari also made a desultory effort to clean himself.
A few minutes later, the clan member appeared. Lari beamed and walked over to greet him right away. They exchanged back slaps and jokes. I’d noticed before that one of Lari’s strengths was his ability to easily befriend people.
We all exchanged polite bows and the traditional courteous words of welcome.
“Baroness, I heard you found a dead body?” The clan member raised an eyebrow like Spock from Star Trek. He even kind of resembled the USS Enterprise’s first officer, with his pointy ears and sharp features.
“No, not a corpse. We discovered a secret buried treasure. It’s quite exciting.” I nodded at the chest.
“May I examine it?”
“Certainly.”
The clan member knelt in front of the item and sniffed it. “I don’t smell a dead body.”
“Wonderful. I’ll open it!”
“Allow me.” The clan member ripped off the padlock.
I tried to play it cool, but my hands trembled as I lifted the lid. “Eh? What’s this?”
The others crowded around me and peered at the contents of the treasure chest.
[Vineheart Fairy House:
The home of playful guardian fairies. Farmers who can build a harmonious relationship with these spiritual beings will enjoy increased yields and other benefits.
Status: Inactive]
Whoa! I knew this item!
The fairy house was a late-game item for max level players which they received as a reward for selling every crop to their Farm Guide. It was a tiny wooden item that looked like a dollhouse, complete with a pyramidal stand made of white marble veined with swirls of gold and azure and a glass dome to protect it. The dollhouse was in the shape of a tree with vines winding around it, so I guess I could call it a doll treehouse instead.
“Shall I lift it out of the chest, Lady Violet? The marble looks too heavy for you,” said the clan member.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Shall I carry it to the house?”
“I think it should be fine here.”
They got busy arranging the [Vineheart Fairy House] on level ground. I was going to see if the dollhouse’s roof was detachable when I got another quest notification.
[Fairy Summoning:
Activate the Vineheart Fairy House by preparing a proper environment for the forest spirits.
Plant eight Mini Parasol Trees - 0/8
Plant three Evening Primrose Plants - 0/3
Place nine Spell Stones - 0/9
Reward: Magic Exp]
Magic exp! Quests that give magic exp were few and I was amazed that the requirement for this one was simply to plant the trees, not to grow mature ones. I checked my combat stats.
[Violet
Level 42
HP: 4,200/4,200
MP: 35/35
Strength: 30/99
Attack: 31/99
Archery: 42/99
Magic: 3/99]
My magic level had been neglected in favor of Melee and Archery. I had been training it via Herblaw spells, but it was slow going, so it was a relief that I had a quest that might let me level it up faster. Since the [Vineheart Fairy House] was a high-level item, the quest reward should be substantial.
The [Mini Parasol Trees] were a special decorative quest item that one could get from the village on Peach Blossom Isle for five silver taels. Since I had a boat, it should be easy enough for me to sail there once the harvest and planting seasons were over. The evening primrose plants could be bought in Anwei. I mentally jotted down a reminder to myself to ask Fengying to order some when I was violently jolted out of my thoughts by the grating sound of glass scraping across a marble surface.
“Oh, my ears! Please stop rotating that.” Kharli moved Mo’s hands away from the glass dome.
“Sorry, I just wanted to see if that would activate it.”
“Excuse me, I’ve changed my mind. Would you mind moving it to the house? I think it will be in the way if we keep it here,” I said to the clan member.
We followed behind the clan member who easily carried the bulky marble stand. Mo insisted on carrying the glass dome while Kharli took charge of the dollhouse. Once we got to the house, Fengying offered us refreshments and sent off the clan member with our effusive thanks and a small cotton bag of tea. I anticipated his refusal given the clan's tradition of refraining from both human food and drink. However, it appeared that spirit tea was regarded as a special herb exempt from these precepts.
We placed the new item in the middle of the outer courtyard where all of the staff marveled at both the clear glass dome and dollhouse.
“It's very cute, isn’t it?” I said to my apprentices.
The one side of the [Vineheart Fairy House] could be swung open to allow a view of the interior. Everything was glued quite firmly in its place, and the furniture was exceedingly detailed.
“Look, the tiny little kitchen has a cupboard with tiny little wooden food items! They look so real,” said Mo.
“The bookshelf even has books in them. I can read the titles. They’re storybooks about fairies. ” Kharli tried to remove the books, but they were stuck inside the bookcase.
One of the maids chimed in, "Oh my, even though these chairs and tables are minuscule, I can see the details of the flower carvings. Who could have made this?”
“This wardrobe door opens and there are lots of fancy clothes inside,” said Lari.
“Is it magic?” asked Haoran.
“Should we make some dolls that will fit inside?” Yinuo wondered.
I let them play around for a while before reminding the kids to go and soak in the hot spring facility to restore their energy. “The dollhouse will still be here after you bathe and rest.”
“Yes, Teacher!” they chorused.
I asked Fengying to order the flowers for me and instructed the staff to cover the dollhouse with the glass dome when the household retired for the night. Then I let them be and returned to my [Ranch House] for the day.
During the next few days, we harvested the vegetables and my apprentices and I leveled up. My household eventually got bored of playing with the [Vineheart Fairy House], but not until I took out three different dollhouses from the Cash Shop. They particularly liked the colorful [Fantasy Dollhouse] which was four feet tall, with three levels, three child dolls, and five pet figurines of a dog, cat, sheep, rabbit, and turtle. Crucially, the dolls, furniture, and other items in the [Fantasy Dollhouse] could be removed and played with, unlike the ones in the [Vineheart Fairy House].
Nonetheless, no one forgot about the treasure we had dug up.
“Teacher, why does the item’s System info say ‘Status: Inactive’?” asked Kharli.
We had just finished harvesting the last of the vegetables and stood in the storage room which was packed full.
“It means I have to do something to activate it. When we’re done planting the summer crops, I’ll go to Peach Blossom Isle for the items I need. But first, let’s discuss the harvest,” I said. I waved an arm at the bounty before us. “The chef says we have more than enough food for the summer and autumn season. I’m thinking of planting only rice and tea next time.”
“No vegetables?” asked Mo.
“No vegetables. There’s no point in growing more than we need. I’d rather sell rice and tea which are more in demand.” I picked up an eggplant and admired its plumpness and deep purple, almost black color. It would remain fresh as long as it stayed inside the storage room. “What do you think?”
We all agreed that if the chef said we had enough, it meant we should focus on selling rice and tea.
“Okay, get some rest today and sleep early. Tomorrow, we will harvest the rice.”
We said our goodbyes, and I went to play with Cutie. In the middle of us playing fetch with a sand-filled ball, I felt the ground convulse beneath my feet, sending shockwaves through the earth.