Magic Farm 175
by CristaeChapter 175: Treasure-Seeking Silver-Grey Mouse, Mithril Mine
Watching fireworks alone was delightful.
Watching them with Shan Xingyu was even more comfortable.
“Jindong City has a moon at night. It’s not as dark as the Forest of Stars,” Qi Yu said.
The hazy moonlight, the glow of distant fireworks, and the lanterns lining the roads—though dimmed by the late hour, still illuminating the paths below.
A night like this wasn’t scary at all.
“Do you really like Jindong City?”
Qi Yu nodded. “Mm!”
Actually, it wasn’t just Jindong City. Every place he’d been—Winter Tundra, even Ophelia Royal City where he’d once been troubled—he liked them all.
Of course, his favorite was still the Forest of Stars.
“The world of the Survival Game is truly beautiful.”
Shan Xingyu thought again of the question that had circled in his heart all night, but seeing the bright, joyful light in the little mage’s eyes as he watched the fireworks, he smiled and let it go.
Forget it.
It didn’t matter.
No matter where he came from, Qi Yu was Qi Yu.
.
The next morning, Qi Yu woke in the dawn light, the sky a lovely pale blue.
He found himself and Shan Xingyu leaning against each other, heads touching, snuggled close together—they’d actually slept the whole night on the rooftop like that.
Shan Xingyu was still asleep.
A glance at the survival panel: it was 6:30 in the morning.
He had no memory of when he’d fallen asleep last night. He only remembered the fireworks kept going and going, and he kept watching, too reluctant to sleep even when he grew tired. Anyway, with a mage’s constitution, sleeping outdoors wouldn’t make him sick.
Even his dreams were filled with brilliant fireworks.
At this hour, the Forest of Stars was still shrouded in night.
Feeling a rare burst of interest, he used the survival panel to take a photo of Jindong City in the morning light.
He posted it in the Zone 01 Survival Squad chat.
[Don’t Dare Open My Eyes: Whoa, it’s morning! Is it already light outside?]
[ILoveSurvivalGame: You’re up so early?]
Remembering a certain trait, Qi Yu added:
[ILoveSurvivalGame: Or did you never sleep?]
[Don’t Dare Open My Eyes: I slept, I slept. I’d been up too late the past few days, so I crashed hard last night. Slept so much I can’t sleep anymore.]
[Don’t Dare Open My Eyes: Game Boss, are you all coming back soon?]
[ILoveSurvivalGame: Mm, yes.]
After replying, Qi Yu turned to find Shan Xingyu awake and watching him.
“Shan Xingyu, you’re awake too?” he greeted earnestly, “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” Shan Xingyu replied. “Let’s go down and get ready. Jin Qian and the others should be back soon.”
As soon as he finished, Qi Yu sensed the other two approaching. Soon, he saw Leslie yawning widely.
Jin Qian, on the other hand, was full of energy, showing no signs of having stayed up all night.
The group greeted each other and went to wash up; the cook had already prepared breakfast.
After eating, Leslie took them to pick up the goods they’d ordered yesterday, and then it was time to say goodbye.
Jin Qian was reluctant to leave—twenty-four hours just wasn’t enough; he hadn’t had nearly enough fun.
Qi Yu told him that after exploring, the map would unlock. If he wanted to come back to Jindong City, there would be plenty of chances.
This was something Shan Xingyu had told him: whether you used an exploration scroll or teamed up with friends, as long as you’d been to a place, the map would be lit up.
For explored areas, you wouldn’t need to spend another exploration scroll—just pay a certain amount of gold coins for teleportation.
Still limited to once a month.
Qi Yu chose “Go Home” and summoned the Wilderness Carriage.
Soon, the carriage stopped at the gate of his territory.
By then, dawn had come to the Forest of Stars as well.
Perhaps detecting that the player had returned, the Survival Game system ruthlessly gave Jin Qian no time at all to tour the territory. Almost the moment he landed in the Forest of Stars, a white light flared, a portal appeared, and he was prompted that the team-up was over and he must immediately return to his own territory.
Jin Qian: “Damn! I wanted to see Boss’s territory!”
The survival panel popped up a reminder to go home.
Jin Qian shouted, “Boss, wait for me to get ready—I’ll bring a scroll and come visit you!”
As soon as he finished, the white portal swallowed him up.
Only two people were left in the territory.
Shan Xingyu could barely wait to ask, “Do you have anything urgent to do right now?”
Qi Yu thought for a moment—no.
He’d planned to open the two new exploration chests and the reputation blind box, but clearly that could wait a bit.
Seeing him shake his head, Shan Xingyu said, “Then come with me first.”
So Qi Yu followed him through the portal to the Golden Sand Desert.
The familiar balcony.
They passed through the bedroom and corridor, arriving at a room on the first floor.
Shan Xingyu glanced around and called, “Come out!”
Since he was in a friend’s territory, Qi Yu didn’t use his mental power.
He heard a faint sound, and then, from the smooth floor ahead, a tiny figure poked its way out.
Amazingly, after it emerged, the floor returned to perfect smoothness, as if it had never been disturbed.
What crawled out from underground was a gray mouse, about twenty centimeters long.
Its fur was a warm, silvery gray—at first glance, it looked quite ordinary, nothing special. But if you looked closely, you’d see a glint of gold at the center of its beady black eyes. And from its mouth hung two long golden whiskers, longer than its body.
“Squeak.” It let out a pitiful little cry.
The moment he saw it, Qi Yu’s survival panel automatically displayed its information:
[Treasure-Seeking Silver-Grey Mouse (Purple): An evolved breed of the Treasure-Seeking Mouse clan. Innate skill: treasure-seeking. Can sense valuable objects.]
Qi Yu had thought the gray mouse looked a little ugly, but after reading the description, he immediately realized how narrow-minded he’d been.
Who said the Treasure-Seeking Silver-Grey Mouse was ugly? That silvery fur was understated luxury itself.
Shan Xingyu said, “Yesterday, when I was out exploring, I accidentally fell into a pit and ran into a group of these guys.”
Qi Yu: “That thing you said you were busy with yesterday—was it this?”
“Mm.” Shan Xingyu nodded. “Don’t be fooled by how small it is—it’s fierce. If I didn’t have some skills of my own, I’d have been eaten clean.”
In the literal, physical sense.
“But you don’t have to worry now. I’ve already made a contract with it.” Shan Xingyu thought of something and asked, “You’re not afraid of mice, are you?”
Qi Yu shook his head. “Not at all.”
Shan Xingyu was reassured, and said cheerfully, “Its talent is really useful. From now on, I’ll bring it to your place in the mornings, and you can take it into the forest—every treasure chest, it’ll find without fail. In the afternoons, I’ll bring it back here to search the Golden Sand Desert.”
The mouse on the floor squeaked in protest: “…”
After that, Shan Xingyu took Qi Yu to the next room.
All four walls were lined with cabinets, each divided into display compartments. At the moment, the entire left wall was filled with fist-sized lumps of material.
Silver, giving off a faint glow.
[Mithril (Purple): Epic rare material with a variety of uses.]
Purple-quality material. Qi Yu swept his gaze over it—an entire wall of the cabinet was filled.
“You found a mithril mine?” he blurted out.
Then he saw Shan Xingyu’s smile.
Qi Yu: ?
He exclaimed, “Shan Xingyu, you really found a mithril mine!”
Shan Xingyu nodded. “Yeah, discovered it yesterday—not far from the pit.”
If it weren’t so precious, he wouldn’t have been able to relax until he dug it up and brought it home. Otherwise, he’d have gone to Jindong City with Qi Yu as soon as he was invited.
“Amazing.” Actually, Qi Yu didn’t know exactly what mithril was, but he knew it was valuable!
According to the price list Duojü had given him, mithril’s price was enough to scare anyone.
He said enviously, “Shan Xingyu, you’ve struck it rich.”
But he was still a bit puzzled. “Why are you keeping them here?”
“Even though it’s safe in the territory, it’s more convenient and reassuring to keep it in my backpack.”
Shan Xingyu: “…”
He admitted, “I just called you over to show off. Now that you’ve seen it, I’ll put it away.”
“Oh.” Qi Yu understood.
He cooperated perfectly: “Well, you’ve succeeded, Shan Xingyu. I’m so jealous I could die.”
Shan Xingyu burst out laughing.
“It’s all right, you don’t have to be jealous—what’s mine is yours.”
He told Qi Yu that mithril could be used to craft equipment, or smelted into existing gear to upgrade its quality.
“But forging mithril is complicated. I can’t use it for now,” he said regretfully. “I’ll just keep it for now.”
Qi Yu finally realized, “So this was the surprise you mentioned before?”
Shan Xingyu nodded, then said mysteriously, “There’s more.”
This time it wasn’t just the next room—he led Qi Yu on a long walk, all the way to a basement room in the palace.
Qi Yu followed him for quite a distance, thinking only: Shan Xingyu’s house is really huge.
Down a dim stairway, at the end, a heavy door.
Shan Xingyu pushed it open.
The sudden brightness made Qi Yu, just out of the gloom, instinctively close his eyes.
When he opened them again, his eyes widened.
What a huge room.
What a dazzling room.
Gold coins, gold and silver vessels, golden jewelry, all kinds of glittering ores and crystals—piled everywhere, forming a carpet of golden light.
In the very center of the room was a large nest.
As he got closer, Qi Yu realized it was a dragon’s nest, crafted from gold.
A miniaturized little dragon, curled up into a ball, slept contentedly in the nest.
The nest was also filled with sparkling minerals.
At the moment, those minerals were slowly melting, being absorbed by the dragon’s scales.
Qi Yu: “What’s this?”
Shan Xingyu said, “He’s growing. Once this evolution is over, he should officially enter his growth phase.”
He knew Qi Yu liked the little dragon, so he said, “Once he enters the growth phase, his body and strength will stabilize. Then I can take him to the Forest of Stars to play anytime.”
He thought for a moment. “He could even stay overnight in the Forest of Stars.”
Knowing the little dragon was fine, Qi Yu relaxed and focused on admiring the beautiful room.
He praised sincerely, “Shan Xingyu, you’re so rich.”
So many gold coins, so many crystals.
He envied the little dragon—he wanted to sleep in a room like this, too.
Shan Xingyu could clearly see what Qi Yu was thinking.
He fell into thought: My crush, who looks and carries himself like an immortal, actually has such a simple love and aesthetic?
That’s perfect.
If there’s one thing the Golden Sand Desert has in abundance, it’s mines.
He blinked and offered, devilishly tempting, “You like it? Then I’ll build you a golden house in the palace—how about it?”
[Author’s Note]
[food][food][food]
Can’t pull an all-nighter for another update today. Good night, bosses [heart]