Tomb raiding: following the plot while tearing up the script

"This...is this a village???" Wu Xie pointed to the obviously dilapidated wooden house in front of him, or rather, it shouldn't be called a wooden house; it looked more like a shack.

Lao Yang looked extremely embarrassed. "I...I also misread it. At least we have a place to stay tonight."

As Lao Yang was saying this, he was about to push the door open, but Wu Xie stopped him.

"It's not really appropriate to just walk into someone else's place without even knowing whose it is."

"No, it's alright. This person is obviously here to hunt or gather herbs in the mountains. People who gather herbs can use this place. When they leave, they can leave behind supplies or some money."

As Lao Yang spoke, he pushed open the door and went inside.

After scanning the room, he turned back with delight and called out to Wuxie.

"Quick, come and see! There's still a stove and bedding here. It's better than in the village."

Wu Xie pulled Su Li inside.

This is a wooden shack with two floors.

Above is a simple loft built from a few large wooden planks, connected by a crude ladder. There is no furniture; it is probably used to store tools or game.

In the center of the room below is a pit filled with charcoal ash from burning firewood, which was probably used for making fires for warmth.

The area on the inner side of the pit, where the flooring is clearly made of better materials than the others, is probably where people rest.

The bedding Lao Yang was referring to was the quilts and blankets piled up in this corner, wrapped in transparent plastic sheeting.

It's clear that the owner of this place is a very meticulous person.

Lao Yang walked around the house once and then went outside to gather firewood, not giving Su Li any time to cry.

Su Li was also happy to stop whining, nudged Wu Xie with her elbow, and asked in a low voice, "So, are you going to follow him tonight to watch him dig the hole?"

Wu Xie shook his head. He'd been exhausted for days. Why was he making a fuss instead of getting some sleep? He knew exactly what the other guy was up to. He wasn't going to follow him. He absolutely wasn't going to follow him.

Su Li nodded in understanding, then squatted down next to Wu Xie and watched Wu Xie slowly perform the hand seals.

Unlike Su Li, who was so skilled that she could use the Cleanse spell to refresh like in a game, it was still quite strenuous for beginners to simultaneously perform hand seals, recite incantations, and mobilize spiritual energy.

Wu Xie tried to use the cleansing spell twice, but each time he got a bit out of breath halfway through. It wasn't until the third attempt that he successfully used the cleansing spell to clean the place where he would sleep that night.

Then they took out a few more blankets from their storage space and laid them out. It was quite cold here at night, and they weren't comfortable in their sleeping bags yesterday. Now that they had the option, they wanted to be as comfortable as possible.

When Lao Yang came in, all puffed out, carrying firewood, he saw two 'young masters' sitting on thick quilts chatting, already dressed in clean pajamas!

These two really came for a picnic!

Lao Yang looked at his dusty, grimy self, then at the two clean-looking people in soft pajamas, gazing at each other with a sweet fragrance…

It almost broke through my defenses, okay?

When Wu Xie saw him return, considering that he was still using his brother's identity and was now diligently gathering firewood, he pointed to the basin of water and clothes placed to the side.

"Lao Yang, you're back! Hurry up and wash up. You've been walking in the mountains for two days, and you're covered in dirt and sweat. It must be uncomfortable. Those clothes are mine, but they might be a little tight on you. Just make do with them."

These clothes are his old ones. Ever since they got the robes made by their senior brother, they don't even need to prepare clothes anymore.

If you have a vivid imagination, design your own styles. If you lack imagination, simply fill your space with photos of the latest fashions—it's incredibly convenient.

Seeing that he also had some, Lao Yang finally felt a little better. He put down the firewood and went to wash up. Although there wasn't much water, it was good to wipe himself down a bit.

Wu Xie wanted to give Lao Yang a cleaning spell, since they would be sleeping together soon and it would be unpleasant.

However, it's a bit embarrassing for the young master to only manage to get one proficiency level after struggling for so long. It's too unrefined and would damage his image.

Su Li felt that Wu Xie's idol image was becoming more and more like Da Zhang Ge's. Da Zhang Ge was the same; he would never use a skill in front of others before he had learned it, and his idol image was welded on tightly.

Seeing that Lao Yang had gone to wash up, Wu Xie picked up the firewood piled to the side and started a fire.

The fire quickly warmed up the shack, which had been a bit chilly because of the darkness.

Wu Xie then took out a large clay pot from the ring, along with ingredients that were carefully selected to suit Wu Xie's less-than-stellar cooking skills.

Wu Xie then arranged the ingredient packets, each marked with a number, in numerical order.

Package 1: Pour a bag of washed and dried rice into the pot.

Package number two: Pour a certain amount of water into the pot.

Package number three: Pour a little cooking oil into the pot.

Package number four: Various kinds of cured meats, neatly prepared with knives, are carefully arranged.

Cover the pot with the lid, put it on the stove, and you're all set!

Looking at the time on my hand, all I have to do is wait thirty minutes and then add the vegetables from packet number five and the sauce from packet number six, and this claypot rice will be a breeze!

口水……吸溜……(?0?5?0?4?0?8?9?0?0?4?0?8?0?5)

By the time Lao Yang finished washing up and came over, the aroma of cured meat from the pot had already spread throughout the shack, and the irresistible fragrance made his stomach rumble.

But he still looked worriedly at the casserole dish still bubbling in the fire in front of him.

"Old Wu, this, this smells so, so good..."

"It smells good, right? This is my current skill level, brother." Wu Xie said, giving himself a thumbs up.

Old Yang waved his hands anxiously. "No, no, no, this smells too, too good! It's not safe in the forest! It will attract wild animals!"

"Uh..." He really didn't expect this. He had eaten whatever he wanted in the Lu Palace and the underwater tomb. There were no large wild animals in those two places. He did see a large sea monkey, but it was sold off by Ali right away.

This time, deep in the mountains and forests, I still didn't want to go hungry...

But speaking of which, does Ali take in large wild animals? It would be nice to lure them over and sell them.

Su Li: Little innocent, don't you want to see what you're thinking?! Trafficking in protected wild animals is illegal! Who among us has been a law-abiding citizen for the past twenty-odd years?!

"What should we do? Throw it away?" Wu Xie pointed at the clay pot that was emitting a wonderful aroma.

Lao Yang stared at the clay pot, swallowing hard. Who would bear to throw this away?

"Wait, wait..."

After saying that, Lao Yang ran out.

About ten minutes later, thick smoke billowed from the open space outside the shack, carrying a very strong aroma of mugwort.

An overbearing aura permeated the area around the shack, seemingly masking the aroma of the claypot rice. (This is just something the author wrote randomly, so please don't take it too seriously.)

Wu Xie gave Lao Yang a thumbs up when he came in and pulled him over to eat. The claypot rice had been cooked in the short time that Lao Yang had gone out.

The oily aroma of cured meats begins to fade as the temperature drops, and it should soon be completely overshadowed by the scent of mugwort.