Chapter 241: 1.5-22*

[Quest Created -The mystery of Qīngchú Niǎo's farm Pt 1]

Information is knowledge, and knowledge is key to cracking this mystery. Now that you have read Song Lingchen's journal and understand how a poor farmer became a rich one, you must figure out how that success turned into ash. The first step is to find out what happened to Song Lingchen and his wife.

[Reward: 100000 EXP/ 10 Silver Coins]

"You read that entire journal already?!" a startled Melting Snow asked as he began to read the quest box that popped up in front of him, blocking the forum post he had been reading. "It's only been thirty minutes."

"What can I say, I'm a fast reader," Xinya replied as he finished reading the quest's contents.

While accepting the quest, Melting Snow let out a small huff. "You can say that again. So what did you learn? Why are we trying to find out what happened to this Song Lingchen person and his wife?"

"Well, Song Lingchen is the NPC who previously owned my farm," Xinya explained as he started to relay everything he learned from the journal to the boy.

"So, you're telling me that the man wasn't drinking that wine but using it to make manure?"

Xinya could only laugh at the appalled look on Melting Snow's face. He should have known that would have been the thing that would have triggered the boy.

"If it makes you feel better, he only did it because the wine tasted terrible," Xinya said. "Plus, from what I gathered, it made the produce extra delicious."

"That's right, you did say that it was so good that the other NPCs were begging to buy it. Man, what I would give to have tasted it. Did you get the recipe on how to make it?" asked a hopeful Melting Snow.

Shaking his head mournfully, Xinya replied, "No, it wasn't in the journal, but I think if we solve this mystery, we will stand a chance of getting it."

"Do you really think so?"

"I do," Xinya replied in a confident tone. "Otherwise, I don't think the journal would have gone on about it as it did."

"I really hope you are right, Drifting Cloud because that would be fantastic. Not only for me, but you will be able to profit off your farm by selling fruits to NPCs," Melting Snow smiled.

Melting Snow was delighted to know that Drifting Cloud might have another way to profit from his farm besides potions. He knew that potions wouldn't net much money, but that and selling some ultra-delicious fruits and vegetables can net him a considerable amount each harvest.

"That would be great, but we need to complete this part of the quest first and figure out what happened to the NPC and his wife. " Xinya said.

"That shouldn't be hard, surely the town's library can help us with that. They should have records going back ages," Melting Snow decreed smartly, before glancing at the time. "How long will it take us to reach town anyway?"

"About another two hours if we keep going at this speed," Xinya replied.

Sighing softly to himself about the long walk he had ahead, Melting Snow said, "You really need to get your cart up and running."

"I know," muttered Xinya.

~

Another half hour went by as the duo continued their walk through the many farmlands. They strolled together in complete silence, each one busy with their own personal activity.

Xinya rereading the journal to make notes of any important details he could find, while Melting Snow was immersed in reading the latest forum posts.

The atmosphere that surrounded the two was quite peaceful until they started walking past some cornfields. That's when Xinya heard a sound that he hadn't heard since he lured that Diamondback Armored Ctenophore out of the water.

Ding!

[A mysterious wind has flown by triggering your luck. Who knows what sorts of unexplainable things could happen, You better be prepared!]

As soon as Xinya saw the notification appear in front of him, he paused dead in his tracks, while pulling Melting Snow to a halt as well.

"What's going on?" asked Melting Snow in a whisper. At first, he was confused as to why the man pulled him to a stop, but when he saw how the green-haired man was wildly glancing around as if he was looking for someone or something, he became more alert.

"I thought I heard something," Xinya replied, not knowing what else to say. He certainly couldn't tell the boy that his godly luck stat was triggered, and he needs to be on the lookout for something that might pop out at them.

Raising an eyebrow at the man's words, Melting Snow appeared skeptical. As the one with enhanced hearing, he knew that if he didn't hear anything, then there was nothing to hear.

Deciding to give his friend the benefit of the doubt, Melting Snow quickly adjusted his settings and turned up his hearing. Initially, he couldn't hear anything, but as the seconds passed, he heard a deep male voice coming from somewhere deep in the cornfield.

Glancing at Drifting Cloud, Melting Snow wondered how the man could hear that person's voice from so far away. 'Does the dryad race have enhanced senses too?'

"I heard it too," Melting Snow said, pointing to the cornfield on the left side. "A man's voice is coming from somewhere deep within it."

"Does the man sound like he needs help?" Xinya asked, wondering if the man in the cornfield is where his luck wants him to go.

Cocking his head to the side, as if he was listening to something that was very far away, Melting Snow said, "Well, he sounds very disgruntled."

"Either way, we should go and check it out," Xinya said while staring at the tall green stalks of golden corn. "Who knows the person might be lost inside of it."

"Like it could be one of those corn mazes? I'm great at figuring out mazes, as you should know, from when we were in that treasure dungeon," Melting Snow told him excitedly, looking forward to the search and rescue.

While giving the boy a fond smile, Xinya said, "Maybe, but we won't know until we go look and see."

"Then let's go see!" Melting Snow exclaimed, about to rush into the cornfield only to be stopped by Xinya's hand.

"Wait! We shouldn't rush into the cornfield," Xinya told him while thinking back to the last dangerous situation his luck got him in. "We should approach this carefully since we don't know if the man is friend or foe."

'What kind of foe would try to hurt us while we are in town?' pondered Melting Snow as he gave a nod of agreement. He sometimes thought his friend's vigilance was too much. 'Like what could try to kill us in a cornfield, an evil scarecrow or something? That's just ridiculous.'

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