CHAPTER 150 - TURTLEY AWESOME JOURNEY
🙞❤︎🙜
That night, I dreamed of finding a log cabin with my dragon child. When I asked him if he wanted to go on a quest with me to the Cypress town, he was willing to go until I told him about the ghosts. He hated the idea of us going to a place full of dead people and made me promise I would stay away.
He couldn’t pronounce the word “ghosts,” so he kept on repeating, “No goes, no goes!”
I woke up with a strong feeling of contentment as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, grateful for the decision not to venture to the Cypress town. Who cared about the tiny amount of extra exp the quest would give me when I had a 20% bonus from Astrology?
“Say no to ghosts!” I said to Cutie as we ventured into the portal to the Mines. “Let’s enjoy life and forget doing the creepy quests.”
I knew that a lot of my friends from Adventure Incarnate would’ve made a different decision, especially GodIAm, but I was never a completionist. I only liked to play the fun parts of the game and never managed to complete all of the quests or obtain all the items.
The [Mini Hydroponic Farm] wasn’t ready for harvesting yet, so I had to content myself with picking mushrooms from the [Mushroom Cave] instead. Then I played with the slimes for a few minutes before returning to my house in high spirits.
This time, I didn’t bother to put Cutie back in the [Slime House]. The others were used to her presence by now, so I brought her with me to breakfast.
“Oh my gosh, is the chef going to break through to another level again?” I said as soon as I entered the outer courtyard and smelled the food.
The table was full of serving dishes and my mouth watered when Fengying pointed at each one and told me what they were. I sat down and ate chicken with bird’s nest and pine nuts, succulent roast duck with plum sauce, wild herb salad, spinach stir-fried with chicken, steamed rice with lotus roots, and fluffy buns filled with savory minced pumpkin and pork. Dessert was fresh plantains in sugar syrup.
It was extremely heavy for breakfast, but Fengying said one of her husband’s most promising assistants had had a burst of inspiration. It might have been harmful to his cultivation to stop him, which is why we had all these fancy dishes.
“I’ve never had chicken with bird’s nest and pine nuts. I like it!” I gave her the thumbs up, forgetting that it was a rude gesture here, then awkwardly hid my hands under the table when I remembered.
Fengying covered her mouth with a hand to hide her smile and bowed.
“Teacher, have some more of the buns, they’re great.” Lari offered me the last bun.
I waved it away. “No, thanks. I’m full.”
After we finished breakfast, I almost fell into a food coma, but I was able to resist the urge to lie down and rest. We harvested more of the white rice.
The next few days, we kept on harvesting the rice and leveled up once more.
[Player Name: Violet
Farming Skills:
Farming Level 22→24, Fishing Level 12, Woodcutting Level 20→22, Cooking Level 5→6, Herblaw Level 16→22, Foraging Level 7, Hunting Level 7, Mining Level 4]
My apprentices also leveled up Farming and Woodcutting, but not the other skills in the Farming tab since we had been hyper-focused on Smithing and Fletching arrows this entire spring season.
[Apprentice Name: Kharli
Farming Skills:
Farming Level 16→18, Fishing Level 6, Woodcutting Level 11→16, Cooking Level 2, Herblaw Level 1, Foraging Level 7, Hunting Level 5]
[Apprentice Name: Lari
Farming Skills:
Farming Level 16→18, Fishing Level 10, Woodcutting Level 10→16, Cooking Level 1, Herblaw Level 1, Foraging Level 4, Hunting Level 9]
[Apprentice Name: Mo
Farming Skills:
Farming Level 16→18, Fishing Level 4, Woodcutting Level 11→17, Cooking Level 2, Herblaw Level 1, Foraging Level 11, Hunting Level 4]
I looked down at a lone rice plant. “This is the last of it…”
“The rice looks heavy.” Kharli straightened the stalk that was bent under the weight of the rice and then let it droop down again. “Feel this. The rice is heavy like gold!”
“Is it?” Lari crouched down to check it. “You’re right.”
Mo and I also examined the plant. Kharli was exaggerating. Though the rice was heavier than normal, it definitely wasn’t the same weight as gold.
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“Okay, I shall do the honors.” I took out my sickle and swung it at the plant, using the System’s automatic mode.
The others clapped.
I bowed deeply like an actor on stage making his curtain call. “Thank you! Thank you! The banquet will be delayed until after the end of the planting season, but I do have a special treat for everyone. Let’s go on a magical journey by boat!”
“Magical?”
“Teacher, where will we go?”
“Do we need to pack?”
I laughed at their enthusiastic reaction. “I just want to test the ship’s maximum speed. We’ll go out to sea and come back.”
“But we’ll go Fishing?” asked Lari.
“Of course!” I said. “Let’s go get a packed lunch.”
I had already sent word to Shuye's people that I was going on a little trip, but didn't need any guards this time. I simply had to tell them the exact route I was going to take until I went out to sea. They were treating my magical ships like airplanes, asking for a sailing plan just like pilots file flight plans.
“If we go on land, I want to go Foraging,” said Mo.
“Sorry, we probably won’t go Foraging on land,” I said.
Fengying met us at the main house and gave us food, drinks, and spare clothing. We changed into sturdier pants and robes, and I got Cutie from her house.
I picked her up and petted her. “Cutie, baby, we’re going on your first adventure!”
She had no idea what I was talking about but could probably tell from my tone of voice that I was excited. “Chu.”
“Onwards, my crew!” I pointed in the direction of the river that ran across the southern portion of the farm. There I took out a [Viking Longship] from the Cash Shop. “Fold your sleeves and trousers up, it’s time for an adventure.”
[Viking Longship:
A long and sleek wooden ship with a dragon design, it features a single mast that supports a square sail. Suitable for fast river and sea travel.]
Unlike the traditional Chinese ship I had used before, this one was built for speed, not comfort. It had no cabins or any other amenities. It was modeled after a Viking warship, with a red and black dragon-headed prow that looked quite fierce. Long, sweeping oars extend from the sides, with pairs of benches placed for the rowers.
Lari was the first to board. “It’s a rowboat? Teacher, do we have to row?”
I laughed. “No, the System will take care of it.”
Lari sat down on the middle bench. “The other ship was grander.”
“Move over to the other bench, we need to balance it out symmetrically. Two people per bench.” Thanking the System for my waterproof boots, I boarded, the boat swaying alarmingly as I spread my arms out and struggled to balance myself before gingerly sitting down.
The others sat down on the benches based on weight, with Lari and I diagonally positioned, and Kharli beside me. Mo was beside Lari. Cutie was in the middle. She only bounced a little, but each movement made the boat sway from side to side.
“Oh dear, I think I had better put Cutie back in her house. What do you think?” I asked the others.
“I’ll do it,” Lari volunteered.
“Really? Thank you!” I handed my pet to him, and he ran back to the house with Cutie in his arms.
While we waited for him to return, I took out the trade goods I had asked Fengying to prepare beforehand, and Kharli and Mo helped me securely arrange them on the boat.
“Freshly butchered pigs?” Kharli used the rope I gave her to lash them together.
Mo peered into a sack before carefully placing it behind her. “Teacher, why are we bringing three legs of ham? I thought we were fishing.”
“Yep, we’ll be fishing. This is bait for a big sea turtle.” Well, it was actually for the people with the turtle, but I wanted to surprise them. I couldn’t wait to see the expressions on their faces when they saw Peach Blossom Isle for the first time.
“Teacher, I thought you never ate turtles,” said Kharli. “You threw the ones we fished back into the sea.”
“Correct. I do not eat turtles, and neither should you.” The sun was shining quite brightly in a clear blue sky, so I put on big sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat that I tied under my chin with a ribbon. I patted Mr. Bear who was attached to my belt with velcro.
We waited patiently until Lari returned alone and settled down on his spot on the boat.
“Put your hats on and roll your sleeves and pants back down. I don’t want anyone to get sunburned,” I said.
They did as I told them to, and I used the System map to choose our destination.
“Hang on to your hats. We’re off!” I mentally clicked on the [Start] button. “I’ll use the slowest speed setting and gradually turn it up.”
We had traveled by boat before, but this time the boat was much smaller and we were closer to the water. The [Viking Longship] moved swiftly and gracefully through the gentle currents of the river, carving a smooth path as it navigated the waterway. The oars stayed motionless.
“Oh, this is nice. I love the breeze.” I smiled at the way the wind lifted the hair from the back of my neck.
Gradually, the [Viking Longship] picked up speed, its prow cutting through the water with increased vigor as I turned up the settings. The lovely riverside scenery, with willow trees gracefully dipping their branches, white birch trees standing sentinel, stately sycamore trees, and other flora started to meld into a vibrant blur of colors.
“It’s fast!” Kharli looked a little green.
Was she seasick? The boat was moving up and down in a rather nauseating way. I turned the speed down to medium, and Kharli heaved a sigh of relief.
I waited fifteen minutes or so for us to get used to the boat’s motion before saying, “Let’s try going a little faster again, okay?”
The others nodded, and this time I took my time increasing the velocity.
“Look, is that the sea?” Kharli regained her normal cheerfulness and pointed at the wide blue expanse in front of us.
“Yes.” Mo took Kharli’s hand and squeezed it.
I slowed the boat down to let us enjoy the moment as we burst out of the river and into the sea. The transition was like stepping into a vast, sunlit embrace. The sea stretched endlessly in front of us, its sparkling surface gently undulating. The warm breeze set my heart aflame with the scent of salt and adventure. We drifted forward, the sail billowing above us. The sound of its flapping was loud yet oddly soothing.
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes in contentment. “This must be why sailors love the sea.”
“Teacher, may I?” asked Lari.
When I opened my eyes, I saw that he had a [Cast Net] in his hands. I nodded, and he stood and threw it in a circular motion on the right side of the boat while holding onto the handline. The small weights attached to the edge made the net sink down into the water.
“How did you know how to use that?” Mo frowned.
I could tell from her expression she was using the System’s text-to-speech function to read the Fishing tab.
“It’s a net, what else could you do with it?” Lari held on to the handline and peered into the water.
Though I couldn’t see it myself, I knew that the System had sent him a popup informing him that the net was full when he pulled on the line to bring the net up.
Seeing that the net was full, I saluted Lari. “Nice catch!”
The net and fish vanished into Lari’s inventory. “Thank you, Teacher. My energy is almost gone though…”
I smiled. “We harvested crops today, so there’s no helping that we haven’t got a lot of energy left. Today is just a trial anyway. Let’s continue sailing, okay?”
They all agreed, and we set off into the wide blue yonder. I could hardly believe my luck when we caught sight of Peach Blossom Isle less than half an hour later.
Kharli screamed and Mo jumped to her, nearly capsizing us with her swift and forceful movement. I hurriedly took Mo’s place on her side of the bench to keep the boat’s balance while the two girls embraced and stared fearfully at the sight in front of us.
Lari’s face was white as he pointed a trembling finger at the source of their alarm. “That-that-”