Deep in the cool cave shrouded in darkness, a dim, warm glow grew closer and closer…
It was the guiding light of a torch and the torch bearer was no other than the Jack leading the party.
“Aight, we haven’t encountered any monsters down here yesterday, but it’s best we check all around. I don’t want to get spooked by the hiss of a creeper behind me. That won’t be fun, right Steve?”
At the rear, Yu Zhiye checked over his shoulder again and grumbled, “Jack, please don’t set any red flags for us.”
Right between them, the pouting little goblin nodded along and poked Jack’s back with her bow. “Eih. Uncle, even if a creeper shows up, this miss will turn it into porcupine! Ehe~”
“Yeah? Then we’ll count on you, little missy. Bwahaha!”
Their little archer sounded overconfident, but they didn’t dampen her enthusiasm.
A few more paces forward and Jack spotted ores in the dark.
“Well, if you’ll look at that. More coal. Just what we need. Haha.”
The party filed up to the ores in the cave wall and Jack switched out his stone ax for a pickaxe.
“Aight. Everybody cover up your faces and try not to breath in the coal dust. Watch my six. I’ll get mining.”
Yu Zhiye didn’t fight for the chance to do the mining.
Health risk aside, his constitution wasn’t exactly made for this job, even with the gains from achievements.
Reality wasn’t a game where you can mine indefinitely just because you own a pickaxe.
At most, he could help chip away at the rocks…
But why bother? He’ll only get in the way.
Just look at Jack. Those muscles fit for a lumberjack wasn’t just for show.
Coal mining was a breeze for him, especially with the game-like rules of the pickaxe making things simpler.
It took only about two seconds to break a chunk of ore into bits of coal, rocks, and XP orbs.
The small coal vein got cleared out in mere minutes.
Jack dusted off the coal dust coating him and beckoned them over to help collect the pieces of coal.
It was messy business. Everybody’s fingertips turned black.
But nobody complained. Just wash it later.
Everybody pocketed a share of coal and Yu Zhiye even pocketed the rocks. Turns out they counted as cobblestone! Why would he miss free construction resource?
“Aight. That’s that. We should have enough to trade for an emerald or two, assuming the village returns.”
“Eih! Uncle, need to rest for a bit?”
“Bwahaha. I’m good, I’m good, little missy. Keep going! We’ll explore as much today as possible! See if we can find any emeralds!”
For them, that’s their hope to survival.
Moving forward, the trio soon arrived at a fork where the cavern branched off into pure darkness.
This choice was pure luck, so… both men looked at their little lucky charm.
“Aight, little missy, pick a side!”
“Eih!” Xiao Shuling puffed her little chest and took out an arrow. She placed it on the floor and did a little spin.
“Whee~”
Surprisingly, the arrow pointed towards the right path on the first try. “Eih! Thataway!”
Nobody objected and went down the fork. The glow from the torch alighted their way…
The unevenly terraced, rocky ground was like steps for small giants… each waist-high step leading higher and deeper into the cavern...
Stalagmites blessed the cave with a cramped yet natural feeling while the light cast eerie shadows all over their winding path...
“Hey, looks like we’re in luck. This side actually has iron ore that hasn’t been touched.”
At Jack’s notice, everybody played iSpy through the flowstones and spotted the iron ore not far ahead.
What are they waiting for? Go mine!
Chink! Thuk! Chink! Ka-Chink!
This time, everybody handed the ores to Jack to conserve inventory space, even Yu Zhiye.
Coal was at least exchangeable for emerald. So he didn’t mind shamelessly keeping a share. But iron? Haha.
“Sheesh. Too bad we don’t got a furnace to smelt these raw ores into ingots. Otherwise, Steve can craft us an iron ax.”
That’s right. Raw iron were kinda useless at the current stage of their game.
Can’t trade in for emeralds. Can’t smelt into anything. Can’t craft anything.
It was just an inventory space clog!
Besides, if Yu Zhiye ever needed iron, with his emerald money printer cheat, he can buy it back whenever!
That’s why he agreed to not take any and went for a split in the loot elsewhere.
After judging the time, Jack announced, “Aight, we should be able to go for half an hour more down this route before heading back. Don’t want to miss the safe train back.”
“Eih! Finally, this miss can go back! Fuu! It’s so boring here! Just mining and mining, not even a little excitement!”
“Be careful what you wish for, little missy! Peaceful mode is always better than having monsters on our back! Ain’t that right, Steve?”
“Uh huh. I prefer easygoing adventures. It’s best if nothing happens.”
The little adventurer pouted but had no argument for that.
But sometimes fate really likes to play tricks on those involved.
Not even ten minutes later, the little goblin’s eyes lit up in excitement. “Eih! Uncle! Big brother! Look! Look! Is that emeralds over there?”
Once the hidden object was pointed out in iSpy, nobody could miss it.
“Well I’ll be damned! Finally our luck is looking bright! Bwahaha!”
Soon, the party surrounded the single ore in the wall.
Though the green gems are so prominent, but the stone pickaxe no longer had the “easy-mining” effect.
Jack cursed. “Damn. Looks like we really can’t mine this without an iron pick. Isn’t this a dead end?”
Yu Zhiye didn’t believe in evil and gave it a try, only to frown.
It felt like… there was some extraordinary rule preventing them from breaking the ore! Just like in the store!
This left them stuck staring at the treasure but unable to take it away!
But a little clever goblin thought outside the box. “Hum? If we can’t mine it, can’t we just mine around it?”
Yu Zhiye and Jack’s eyes lit up in unison!
That’s right!
Can’t mine the emerald ore without an iron pickaxe? Just dig around it and pack the entire chunk away!
Harvest the emeralds once they acquire an iron pick! Simple as that!
“Bwahaha! Little missy, you really are our lucky charm!”
“What a clever little brain. Little Miss Ling is awesome!”
Getting her favorite head pats, Xiao Shuling felt like the darling of the world. “Ehe~”
Without further ado, a pair stood guard and Jack got to mining.
Chink! Chink! Ka-chink! Chink!
The mining sound echoed in the cave and something started stirring in the darkness…
Once the emerald ore came loose, Jack heaved the chunk out and a thought stored the chunk into his inventory. Success!
Just when the ruddy-faced uncle turned around to share the news with the other two, his eyes shrunk into pinpricks.
“Steve! Watch out, 3 o’ clock, above!”
Yu Zhiye reacted instantly and his ax went chopping up to the side!
Pssh! His ax caught a sticky string that almost touched his face—Hisss~!
But almost in sync, a hairy spider bigger than his own head pounced down to eat his face!
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