Chapter 51 – A Sand-sational Quest!

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The next day, I changed my mind and decided to stay home when I remembered how strange I had felt when I last visited the place. Seeing a large city with thousands of people had made me anxious because, for the first time, I had to come to terms with the fact that I was in a totally different world. Here in the forest, my environment looked pretty much the same as any forest on Earth, except for the occasional Horned Rabbit. The city though…

Maybe I was turning into a homebody? Well, that was fine since I never considered myself the adventurous type anyway.

I told my disciples and the staff to go to the city with Shuye, who provided them with a bag of gold coins that they could use to shop for clothes, food, and whatever items they wanted to buy for their rooms.

Fengying promised to order warm winter clothes for everyone, excluding me, of course, since I had an extensive wardrobe courtesy of the System.

The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon when they left. I made my way to the vegetable field and smiled at the chili pepper plants that had hundreds of tiny, red peppers. Using the [Automatic Harvest] option would allow me to finish today’s task quickly, but I wanted to take my time to savor the pleasure of seeing the fruits of my labor.

Today was yet another fine day. The air was filled with the gentle rustling of leaves as a cool breeze swept through the forest, bringing with it the sweet scent of wildflowers. The warm rays of the sun filtered through the tree branches, casting a warm glow over the forest floor. The sounds of nature were a harmonious symphony, with birds chirping their melodies, leaves rustling in the breeze, and the soothing babble of the nearby stream. The trees stood tall, their branches reaching up towards the sky, their leaves a riot of color as they prepared for the changing seasons. I decided that this was much better than the city.

Since I was all alone today, I set Mr. Bear on [Guard Mode].

The Crimson Fire Chili Peppers plants were shoulder-high, and laden with dozens of bright red-orange peppers, with a few green and black ones sprinkled here and there. I counted more than a hundred in all. We’d saved this one for last because the Demon Chef said that they were best harvested after they had dried a little bit in the sun.

I hung a basket from my neck and used both hands to gently pluck off each pepper and drop them into the basket. There was no rush, so I examined a few of the more interesting ones. Most of them were only an inch long, but a few were rounded and small like peas. Though I was scared of the hotter chilies, I dared to open one up and lick the inside.

Big mistake!

My tongue felt like it was on fire, and the heat quickly spread to my entire mouth. My eyes watered, and my nose started running. I got a glass of water from my inventory and drank it to soothe the burn, but it was no use. The water only seemed to intensify the heat, and I could feel sweat breaking out on my forehead and upper lip. After a few moments of panic, I realized that I should eat a rice ball from the Five-Star Luxury Bento. That seemed to help a little bit.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the heat started to dissipate, and I was able to catch my breath. My tongue was still on fire, but at least the worst of the heat had passed. As I sat there, panting and sweating, I couldn't help but wonder what possessed me to eat that crazy-hot chili pepper in the first place. It was a lesson that I would never forget - always be careful when it comes to spicy foods!

Around one-fifth of the peppers were green, which meant that they were only mildly spicy, but I decided not to try any of them since I’d already had my fill of risky undertakings for the day. The black ones were Demonfire Peppers, which were unthinkable for anyone to eat unless they wanted to experience the feeling of the top of their head being blown open by a spicy explosion.

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It took about two hours for me to leisurely harvest over a hundred peppers, including a long coffee and snack break. Once all of the fruits were picked, I started plucking the tender young leaves at the top of the plants. Chili leaves were edible and had a fresh, crisp, and gentle peppery taste. Gathering the leaves made my mouth water in anticipation as I looked forward to how the Demon Chef’s cuisine would reach new heights now that we had many more spiritual vegetables harvested.

I whistled and hummed while I worked. The kids had tried to teach me a couple of the more popular work songs, but I was just way too self-conscious to sing in public. When I finished the harvest, I went through the three fields and sowed them with the [Wild Seed Mix] that would serve as a cover crop.

According to the System, soil must never be left uncovered, since that would result in the topmost layer of dirt being washed or blown away by precipitation and wind. Planting this mixture of wildflowers, grasses, and legumes would prevent the topsoil from deteriorating and even add more nutrients to it.

By midmorning, I finished everything and returned to my Ranch house in a good mood.

By this time, my home was already fully furnished with all of my favorite items from the Cash Shop. The walls were paneled with gleaming wood and adorned with fine calligraphy scrolls and colorful still-life paintings. The floors were made of gleaming hardwood, and I had placed a few cute rugs here and there. A large bed with a firm mattress was covered in luxurious beddings, and a small but fully equipped kitchen area was tucked away in the back of the room.

I put on a T-shirt and shorts, no bra, of course, and walked on bare feet to my front lawn. The rose garden was really impressive, but I had removed it in favor of a simpler design with plenty of soft grass, two oak trees, and a few flowerbeds. I spread a picnic blanket below an oak tree and laid down on it.

Once I realized that the complete privacy settings that I had used on the house made it impossible for anyone else to see it, I removed the high walls surrounding my property since they were unnecessary. Now I had a great view of the forest and the rest of the farm.

The others said that not only did they not see the house, but they also couldn’t even pinpoint its location. They could only tell that it was there when they saw me going in and out of it. The strangeness of this was the only thing that made Fengying stop pestering me about hiring another maid to take care of the house.

To be honest, I had always been a sloppy housecleaner, but here it was easy since the player-owned houses had a self-cleaning function, and I could just place any mess that I had made in my inventory and then put it in the System trash bin.

I had absolutely no idea where the items I put in the trash went. However, I did experiment a little with it when we went hunting. It turns out that I couldn’t put any living thing in my inventory unless it was a farm animal.

The thought of farm animals made me think of the next step in my farming journey. Playing Adventure Incarnate had made me realize that farming wasn’t particularly profitable. Raising animals and crafting made a lot more money. After one year of farming, I could do a lot more, including non-farming activities.

But did I really want to?

Nope. I liked farming the most!

The next step for me should be to farm more, not less.

Should I travel to the south and initiate the epic quest I had unlocked when I got level 15 farming?

“Hmm.”

Adventure Incarnate players loved the [Greening the Desert] quest, but now that this was my life, I had a few reservations about it.

Hundreds of thousands of years ago (the game wasn’t clear about that), the Southerlands were rendered uninhabitable when a meteor fell on the capital of the Vermillion Bird clan. The impact created a huge crater and killed everyone nearby. Furthermore, the rock that came from outer space was filled with alien lifeforms or “demons” as they were called here.

All the clans banded together to repel the invasion, and the Westerlands, the region where I was living now, successfully drove out the demons from the region they ruled, but not before the southernmost part of their territory was devastated.

[Greening the Desert] was a bit of a misnomer, since the area was only semi-arid, not a true sand desert. Still, reclaiming the area for forestry and agriculture was a task of titanic proportions. It’s not like this was still a game where I could fix everything by clicking my mouse around.

Furthermore, there was the human factor to think of. Wouldn’t people think I was crazy for trying to do something that the clans had failed at? Would they even allow me to attempt it? If I did succeed, would I still be able to enjoy a quiet and peaceful lifestyle?

And yet…

I really wanted to do it!

The forest farm would always be my home, but [Greening the Desert] would give me an enormous space where I could do almost anything that I wanted. Besides, it was a worthy task that would benefit a lot of people, and it seemed almost selfish if I didn’t do what I could to reclaim the clan’s land. This achievement would also mark me as an extremely valuable person, which would be very useful in case we ever had to deal with the demons and the boss like in the game.

Decision made, I went back to the house to write down all the things I should do to prepare for my first epic quest.