Farming Games are All About Grinding

After finishing the Kui Niu business, Han Qiwu leisurely strolled into the miniature All-Tree Forest and started chopping wood. Gotta say, the variety of trees refreshed today was quite extensive—cutting them down one by one yielded some decent gains.

Sipping on some sweet, chilled tree sap, Han Qiwu walked into the room, turned on the TV, and took a look.

Honestly, he was pretty curious about what the horoscope had to say today.

[Weather Forecast]

Sunny day tomorrow.

[Life Tips]

The course of events often diverges from your expectations. Learn to embrace change.

[Horoscope]

Good for shopping, bad for staying home.

[Shennong's Recipes]

[Shennong is on break]

Well, what do you know? The horoscope actually did say shopping is auspicious. No wonder so many good things happened while shopping today.

But speaking of shopping, Han Qiwu couldn't help but think of Mr. Tang.

The two were in the heat of their romantic phase, and the pain of separation was like little flames poking at their hearts.

Thinking of this, Han Qiwu picked up his phone and made a video call to Mr. Tang.

"Home yet?" Tang Qingying was lounging on her small bed, playing with a pair of rosewood sunglasses. In the video, her hair was slightly tousled, and she was in a snug camisole—an entirely different look from her usual style.

For Han Qiwu, it was his first time seeing Tang Qingying's casual, homey appearance.

"If we ever live together in the future, I might get to see her like this every day. By then, I'll definitely have to learn hairstyling—give her some gorgeous hairdos." These thoughts flashed through Han Qiwu's mind, and the moment he heard Tang Qingying's voice, his lips curved into a crescent smile.

"Hey, hey, classmate Han Qiwu, what are you daydreaming about? Spaced out, huh?" Tang Qingying saw him dazedly grinning for several moments and waved her hand to call him back.

Han Qiwu snapped out of it and chuckled, "I was just thinking about doing your hair for you in the future."

"Pfft. Then you'd better also learn how to draw eyebrows and whatnot, so that I can wake up and head straight out each day! More sleep every morning sounds great to me." Tang Qingying gleefully envisioned it, "Oh, by the way, my parents loved the gift you gave them. Just now, my dad even went out of his way to praise the purple clay teapot, saying the red tea brewed in it has a uniquely rich flavor."

"Glad Uncle liked it. Next time, I'll gather some red tea and bring it over for him to enjoy." Han Qiwu smiled.

Tang Qingying immediately tensed up, "Make sure you're careful. Don't go picking wild tea leaves—stick to the tea gardens, safety first."

"Don't worry." Han Qiwu nodded reassuringly, "By the way, since you ate so much delicious food today, did you work out after coming home? How about you turn on the video and show me a round of exercises?"

Upon hearing those words, Tang Qingying instantly transformed into a news anchor, intentionally pausing for a few seconds before responding with a confused look: "Huh? What did you say? Asking me if I'm full? Oh no, I haven't even eaten yet! Ah, my mom's calling me to dinner, gotta go!"

Player Tang Qingying used Lag Dodge and successfully avoided one workout session.

"Eat a lot, and make sure you're full before exercising." Han Qiwu shook his head helplessly and hung up the call.

Glancing at the sky, thanks to his teleportation scroll, the time was still quite early.

After a quick glance at the map, he planned to head to Mist Forest to chop some wood.

Suddenly, he noticed a new location had appeared on the map.

[Pollution Zone]

"What's this place? Never seen it before." Han Qiwu pulled out a small notebook and calculated the timing.

Oh, now he got it.

This was the new zone unlocked after his historical earnings surpassed fifty thousand.

The name sounded pretty strange, though.

But since he didn't have much else to do, why not go explore for a bit?

Grabbing his supplies, Han Qiwu walked to the stables and led out his little horse.

"Neehehe!"

The horse had missed Han Qiwu too—it sprinted out eagerly the moment the door opened, prancing in circles and jumping around.

"Remember, you're a Ferghana horse, not a husky. Be more dignified."

The Pollution Zone was located in the northeast corner of the town, so Han Qiwu sauntered casually over, following the map's instructions.

Upon arrival, he finally understood why it was named Pollution Zone.

Turned out—it was a sewer!

Even from a distance, he could detect a faint sour stench in the air.

"Thank goodness I brought a mask." Han Qiwu had already prepared the moment he saw the words "Pollution Zone."

With the mask on, he felt like the aroma of flowers was floating his way.

Sweet and refreshing.

Taking advantage of the mask's duration, Han Qiwu approached the entrance of the Pollution Zone.

The entrance was simply the cross-section of a large concrete pipe, with moss growing all over its edges.

[Time Remaining: 2 hours]

[Note: The Pollution Zone is a combat setting. Equipment can be used, but teleportation scrolls are invalid. You can only exit through the entrance.]

Similar to the secret zones, this one displayed a timer that automatically appeared upon entry.

After quickly reading the notes, Han Qiwu eagerly equipped his Wind-Fire Wheels.

That slimy feeling from stepping on moss was seriously disgusting.

Wind-Fire Wheels were so much better—they automatically isolated grime.

Carrying a torch, Han Qiwu bent down and cautiously advanced through the pipe.

After moving about ten meters forward, the pipe suddenly ended as if sliced off abruptly.

Jumping down from the pipe, Han Qiwu found himself standing on a patch of black soil. Scanning the surroundings, he noted shallow, murky waterways every ten meters or so, trickling sluggishly. Occasionally, something alive would wriggle within and splash up once or twice.

"What's the deal here? Combat setting? Where are the enemies?" Han Qiwu tentatively walked a few steps to his left.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, several green worms lunged at Han Qiwu.

"Scram." Han Qiwu whipped out an ice stick and performed a reverse baseball swing, batting them away.

Upon hitting them, their attributes were revealed.

[Pollution Worm]

[Level: None]

[Attack Methods: Collision, Hatch]

[Note: You'd better deal with these quickly.]

"Level-less creatures?" Han Qiwu furrowed his brows, swinging his wrist horizontally and attacking incoming Pollution Worms with an ice sword.

The defenses of these Pollution Worms weren't too high. But perhaps due to their liquid-filled bodies, their elasticity was off the charts. Their skin was also incredibly tough; even the ice sword couldn't easily slice through it and merely sent them flying.

As more and more Pollution Worms were batted away, Han Qiwu started feeling that something was off. He stepped on his Wind-Fire Wheels and proactively went in for a follow-up strike.

Just as he stabbed the first Pollution Worm he had knocked away, a message popped up.

[This unit is immune to damage.]

Han Qiwu: "???"

He suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.

"Crap, are they about to hatch?" Without hesitation, Han Qiwu stepped on his Wind-Fire Wheels and dashed straight back to the entrance.

Better to delay and regroup for now.

Time to dip.