Chapter 86: The Ancestor Stones

Aunt Meifang, standing to the side, grinned even wider when she heard the broadcast.

Respecting the elderly and caring for the young—wasn’t that a virtue tailor-made for her? After all, she was “old,” wasn’t she?

Ah, she felt like life would be even more secure from now on. She’d better work harder to save up some family assets.

Just now, Village Chief Yun had said that the wooden houses needed to be bought with spirit coins, and that would take a hefty sum. For now, they could only rent, at one spirit coin per month—that’s a hundred energy coins. Even if their whole family pooled their savings, they could only afford two months’ rent. They really had to earn some spirit coins.

“You’re from the Black Bear Tribe, right? I have an old thick coat here—do you want it?” Meifang looked warmly at Lai San, who was shivering and blue-faced from the cold. He licked his dry lips and said, “I’m out of energy coins. I just spent the last of them.”

Meifang didn’t mind. “That’s fine, as long as you can earn some. You’re a big guy, I bet you’re good at hunting monsters. Let’s sign an e-contract—you just have to pay me the energy coins within three days.”

As she spoke, she turned and shouted toward her clansmen, “Kuke! Kuke! Bring that old coat you brought—there’s a sucker—uh, I mean, there’s a tourist here who wants to buy it!”

“Alright, coming!”

Lai San: …He heard her. He definitely heard her call him a sucker.

But he couldn’t not buy it. If he didn’t get warm soon, he’d freeze solid. And there was no way to leave the village—not just because he didn’t know if tourists were allowed to, but just looking at the gray sky outside and the huge rampaging beasts wandering around, it was clear going out was a death sentence.

If he left Earth Village, those beasts would snatch him up for sure.

As a native, his fear of those berserk beasts was much greater than most.

“Young man, here’s the coat. That’ll be one thousand energy coins,” Aunt Meifang said bluntly.

Lai San was dumbfounded. “What? This thing is so ragged, the cotton’s sticking out, and you want a thousand? Why don’t you just rob me?”

Aunt Meifang’s face fell. “Now, now, if you talk like that, I won’t be happy. Sure, the coat’s a bit worn, but it’ll keep you warm, won’t it? And you don’t have any clothes. Village Chief Yun said this is called a ‘buyer’s market,’ you know?”

She was totally unapologetic, with a “Yeah, I’m taking advantage of you, so what?” attitude.

“Take it or leave it. If you don’t want it, I’ll ask someone else. You won’t find a coat for a thousand energy coins anywhere else,” Meifang muttered, then glanced at the four other tourists. “Any of you want it?”

Lai San hurriedly snatched the ragged coat from her hands, tears streaming in his heart as he gritted his teeth. “Fine, I’ll take it. Where do I sign this e-contract?”

When you’re under someone else’s roof, you have to bow your head. After that punishment earlier, he didn’t dare try anything funny. Life was just too hard!

Aunt Meifang gave him a satisfied look, her face blooming with joy. “Smart young man! Wait here, I’ll go ask Village Chief Yun.”

At that moment, Yun Qimu was leaning against a danmu fruit tree, happily sipping fish soup that Yun Xiaoyu had handed her, while chatting with the “aloof” main system.

“I’ve overachieved on this population expansion task. Where’s my reward?”

The main system gritted its teeth and stayed silent.

Yun Qimu was in a great mood and didn’t get annoyed. She smiled and continued, “What, still not coming out? After taking so much energy, if you don’t give me a reward, I’ll file a complaint! Next time there’s a good thing, I won’t come to you. You’ll have to keep hanging around that golden thigh who never gives you anything.”

Main system: …Ouch, right in the feels!

The main system stomped its little matchstick legs in frustration and finally spoke up, [What reward do you want?]

Yun Qimu grinned, her smile growing wider. She knew the system couldn’t squeeze much out of Wu Xingyu, the stingy one, so in the end, it had to rely on her.

So she didn’t hold back: “At the very least, give me a hundred wooden houses, a clothing shop, a restaurant or two… Oh, and since there are more and more people, we can’t just rely on me to announce tasks. Set up a mission hall so villagers can take and complete tasks themselves. It’ll also help them learn about Earth Village. Oh, and I promised them a marriage registration office…”

She rattled off her requests, and the main system felt like its little matchstick avatar was about to burst into flames.

[No way—]

[You’re being unreasonable. There’s no way I can give you that much. I’ll give you ten wooden houses, a clothing shop, a mission hall, and a marriage registration office.]

“That’s way too little! Come on, don’t be so stingy—”

After another round of haggling, the main system was left sobbing in its space, and the reward issue was finally settled.

Yun Qimu won a complete victory once again, securing a hundred wooden houses, a clothing shop, a mission hall, and a marriage registration office for Earth Village.

Five minutes later—neither long nor short—wooden houses sprang up all over Earth Village. The mission hall stood across from the pharmacy workshop, a palace-like building with a gleaming black jade finish and a plaque reading “Earth Village Mission Hall.” It was about the same size as the pharmacy workshop.

It was just as grand and beautiful, but with an added sense of weight and history.

Next to it was the clothing shop.

The clothing shop couldn’t compare to the pharmacy workshop or the mission hall. It was just a bit bigger and fancier than the wooden houses.

Built from plain white stone, it had a simple white interior, rows of display racks and wardrobes, and a cashier counter.

At the back was a Schrödinger’s compression warehouse, capable of storing an unlimited number of clothes—no matter how much you put in, it could take it all.

But aside from clothes and clothing materials, nothing else could be stored there. Yun Qimu sighed, unable to use it to stash all the random loot from treasure chests.

This time, the main system had won—the clothing shop was clearly the most basic, bare-bones kind, but it still counted as a shop.

As for the marriage registration office, it was even more perfunctory. In the middle of the village square, the system simply placed two big stones together. Where the stones met, three indentations on each side formed a shape like two people kissing.

The main system called them the “Ancestor Stones.” According to legend, Nuwa and Fuxi were married here, so they were also called the “Marriage Stones.”

As long as a couple—one man and one woman—placed their hands on the stones, the system’s marriage certification interface would pop up. They just had to click “Agree,” and they’d be officially recognized as a married couple by the system.

So basically, the main system just found two rocks, cleared a little space, and called it the marriage registration office—didn’t even bother with a roof.

Yun Qimu gritted her teeth. She’d been outplayed!

Good night, good night~"