Chapter 35 Part 2

So, Suer, where exactly did that evaluation of “dragon eggs” come from?

The middle-aged couple received a response: these two people were indeed from Green Sand City. They had heard about the couple’s deeply moving love story and had specifically come to deliver wedding gifts. As to who they specifically were, best not to ask. Their elders felt their behavior was too childish and were unwilling to reveal their identities.

The middle-aged couple didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Their hearts full of gratitude, they accepted the gifts.

“Is our love story really that deeply moving?”

“Shouldn’t be, right? Didn’t we fall in love and get married quite normally?”

The couple ate the sweet pastries, faces full of confusion.

Already far away, Xia Xifeng was still wiping his tears. “Seeing them still alive is so wonderful.”

Qin Lang handed Xia Xifeng a tissue. “We’re going to see many more people who are ‘still alive.’ Are you planning on crying every time you see one?”

Xia Xifeng scrubbed furiously at his eyes. “Absolutely not!”

Qin Lang said seriously, “Next time you’re about to cry, remember to warn me first. I’ll get far away.”

Xia Xifeng asked, puzzled, “Why?”

Qin Lang said, “I don’t want anyone mistaking me for the companion of a lunatic.”

Xia Xifeng: “…” Well, the tears stopped.

He really wanted to kick Qin Lang off the carriage, aaahhhhh!

Are you not the least bit moved?! Is being moved to tears by a game’s story not completely normal?!

Qin Lang felt a tiny bit moved, but he maintained that crying in front of strangers really made one look like a lunatic.

Cat One and Cat Two jumped forward, sitting on the horse’s back, keeping their distance from the two masters who were quarreling again.

The two cats meowed quietly. The Black Flame Horse snorted in response, agreeing with the cats’ meowing.

Who knew what they were communicating.

Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang’s quarrel came to an abrupt halt when they passed a lake.

“Stop, stop, stop!” Xia Xifeng, flailing his limbs, jumped off the carriage.

Falling from a height—ha! I have a passive skill for protection. No damage!

“This safe zone actually doesn’t look much different from its post-apocalyptic scenery!” Xia Xifeng pointed at the tiny little island in the middle of the lake and bounced.

Even Qin Lang was surprised. “It really is almost the same.”

“Come on, come on, let’s take a photo to mark the visit!” Xia Xifeng controlled the image-capturing magic device.

This was the “camera” he had specially modified before leaving. It was also the first magic device he’d modified by himself without relying on the System.

Even the face-conscious Qin Lang, who didn’t like doing anything out of line, agreed to the photo without a moment’s hesitation this time.

Finding a scenic spot that barely differed from the game—a screenshot group photo was indeed necessary.

Cat One lifted the camera. “Meow, masters, smile!”

Xia Xifeng showed a brilliant smile. Qin Lang tugged at the corner of his mouth.

With a click, the famous site visit was recorded.

Xia Xifeng sent the photo to their friends and to Mr. Suer.

Mr. Amuruo… forget it.

Mr. Suer told them to stay in touch often. Amuruo indicated that unless they were in danger, they shouldn’t bother him.

Leo and Perila were in a tavern drinking when they heard the special notification sound from their communicators. They thought Xia Xifeng had something important to say.

When they saw the photo of Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang by a perfectly ordinary lake, both were completely baffled.

“What are they doing?”

“Taking a photo…”

“Is this scenery that beautiful? Isn’t it extremely ordinary? Feng alone is bad enough—he often does incomprehensible things. How come Lang is also doing strange things now?”

“Taking a photo isn’t that strange, is it?”

“No, we need to take a photo too! Come on, take one!”

“Ah?”

Dragged by Leo, Perila took a group photo right there in the tavern and sent it to Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang.

After that, Xia Xifeng often sent friends photos. Leo always responded with a competitive streak.

He and Perila also developed the “bad habit” of taking photos to show their friends wherever they went that was remotely interesting.

The drudge Damon was not to be outdone.

He frequently sent photos of his work, condemning his friends who were out having fun.

What? Business trip? I’m not listening, I’m not listening!

“Ah, only my photos are solo shots.” Damon muttered to himself.

Today’s Damon almost wavered in his resolve to stay single again.

Green Sand City and Blackstone Town weren’t too far apart.

Even without using magical beasts, an ordinary person riding an ordinary pack animal would arrive in a single day at most.

If Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang’s carriage was allowed to go all out, it wouldn’t even take half a day. Yet these two had taken three whole days.

The Hope City business delegation heading to Blackstone Town was already eating dinner and negotiating with the Blackstone Town Mayor when they finally arrived late.

Their friends and elders truly couldn’t understand: how could the two of them have so many places worth photographing?

Even a bare, shiny rock was worth stopping for?

In his heart, Xia Xifeng refuted them.

Don’t look down on this rock! In the post-apocalypse era, this rock would be connected to a dungeon that dropped rare materials. Every time we players ran the dungeon, we had to first bow before the Stone God, hoping it would be merciful and grant us more good stuff.

Qin Lang touched the rock several times, praying for the dungeon to appear as soon as possible.

He had originally thought that after clearing one story dungeon, the System would open up repeatable dungeons to grind.

Grinding wild monsters on the map was too inefficient. And in reality, wild monsters didn’t respawn on a timer, making leveling efficiency even lower.

Every day, Qin Lang worked diligently at grinding monsters. No matter how busy the knight domain’s miscellaneous affairs were, he always made sure to set aside time for leveling. But they had only just passed level 70, and most of that experience was from the rewards of two System quests.

The thought that there might be no repeatable dungeons in the future, that leveling up would only come through story quests, sent chills down Qin Lang’s spine.

For players who only liked combat, was there a crueler punishment than forcing them to do long, drawn-out story quests where you couldn’t skip the dialogue or cutscenes?

“Open dungeons early. Drops don’t matter. Just having experience is good,” Qin Lang prayed.

“Drops matter a lot. Don’t listen to Qin Lang’s nonsense,” Xia Xifeng prayed.

Harboring expectations, the two left what was currently just a truly ordinary large rock, the “Stone God,” and continued on their way.

“Qin Lang, does this count as a pilgrimage to sacred sites?”

“It does.”

“Hehehe, so looking forward to the next sacred site. Wonder what the next sacred site will be?”

“Next up: Blackstone Town.”

“Tch, you are so boring.”

The two descended from the carriage and let the gate guard check their identification documents.

They simultaneously looked towards the gate guard’s house by the city gate.

In front of the gate guard’s door, an apple sapling swayed its branches in the wind, its leaves gently rustling.

“That’s no ordinary apple tree!” the gate guard boasted. “Love Apple, have you heard of it? Besides the original source, only our Blackstone Town has successfully planted it!”

Xia Xifeng asked, “May we take a photo with that tree? If you don’t mind, we’d like to take one with you as well.”

The gate guard puffed out his chest. “We will accommodate every visitor’s proper requests.”

Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang took a photo with the gate guard beside the small apple tree.

In the dungeon, that ghost with its dull expression, covered in bloodstains, endlessly replaying the memory of its death—right now, he was just an ordinary, lively young man.

His greatest wish at the moment was simply that when the apple tree bore fruit, he could find a beloved sweetheart and give the first batch of apples from the tree to them with his own hands.

After taking the photo, Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang drove the carriage into the city.

Xia Xifeng leaned close to Qin Lang’s ear and whispered, “He stayed single his whole life. The first batch of apples were given to the Town Mayor’s daughter as a wedding gift. Even after death, he was still muttering about how no one ever fancied him.”

Qin Lang couldn’t help but look back at the gate guard.

The young gate guard was stroking his apple tree, grinning foolishly.

He firmly believed the legend was true. Once the Love Apple Tree bore apples, no effort was needed. His beloved would appear on her own.

Qin Lang: “Wish him luck.”

Xia Xifeng nodded. “Right. As long as you live long, there’s always hope.”

May the gate guard soon get his wish and escape singlehood. Don’t end up a ghost, still muttering, “Where is my beloved?”

He really was pitiful, but the players would only edit him into absurd meme material.

Players were just that obnoxious.

“Wow, so Blackstone Town is actually this pretty,” Xia Xifeng exclaimed in admiration.

Small, orderly houses in a distinctly European style lined both sides of the streets. Every little house had pretty gardens in the front, back, and on the roof, with the walls covered in various blooming vines. In the distance, atop the bell tower, the great golden bell reflected the dazzling sunlight, like a lighthouse guiding the way ahead…

The celebration was approaching. On the broad, clean streets, townsfolk dressed in beautiful, uniformly styled clothes were putting their best efforts into showing the warmest smiles to the visitors, hoping they would grow to like this former mining town that was about to undergo a transformation.

A bard was playing and singing beneath the bell tower. A traveling dancer, perhaps his companion, was gracefully dancing to the rhythm.

The surrounding crowd clapped, laughter and joy unceasing.

“Come on, photos!”

“First, find an inn and stable the Black Flame.”

“No rush… Ow!”

Xia Xifeng had been kicked by the horse again.

Qin Lang gave Xia Xifeng a disdainful glance and led the Black Flame away.

Xia Xifeng dusted the hoof print off his pant leg and trotted after him, grinning cheekily.

As he walked, he kept up a running commentary on the scenery, his mouth never stopping.

Qin Lang parked the carriage and bought a bag of fruit from a street vendor. He shoved one into Xia Xifeng’s hand. “Shut up. Be quiet. You’ve been yapping the whole journey.”

Feeling his mouth was indeed dry, Xia Xifeng munched on the fruit, aggrieved.

Seeing Blackstone Town before it was ruined—wasn’t getting a little emotional normal? Getting emotional was normal!

Xia Xifeng finished the fruit and kept talking.

Qin Lang covered his ears and let out a deep sigh.

If this were before, Qin Lang would have gotten up and walked away, leaving Xia Xifeng to mutter to himself as much as he wanted.

Now, the two couldn’t leave each other’s side. It really was torture.