Fifteen. Fifteen.
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Night-Bright Sand is a medicinal herb.
Bats can accurately navigate in the dark without ever getting lost, so ancient people believed that bat guano had miraculous effects in treating blindness. They collected and dried it, resulting in Night-Bright Sand.
As a modern individual, the player of course knew that bats use echolocation to determine direction.
But what to do when the game has bizarre settings? Of course, follow the game’s lore!
Besides, Night-Bright Sand was the first recipe the player learned... it had to be useful in some way!
Upon meeting Yuan Suiyun, a special dialogue was triggered, and the player suddenly understood!
So that’s what “milk teeth” meant... it was waiting here all along! A subtle clue woven through the storyline like a hidden thread spanning thousands of miles!
The player was delighted, acted decisively, and confidently gave the Night-Bright Sand to Yuan Suiyun!
She also typed a warmly enthusiastic comment.
[Jiu Li]: “Night-Bright Sand is a specialty of Bat Island. You must try it—eat more! Eat more!”
The pixelated figure in white did not move...
The restless, wild-looking pixel figure Hu Tiehua jumped in surprise.
Pixel Chu Chu began to rub his nose again, methodically and stiffly, a cold sweat bubble appearing above his head...
[Chu Liuxiang]: “Young Master Yuan... Miss Jiu is naturally pure and innocent, not very worldly-wise...”
Hey, what do you mean by “pure and innocent”?
The player was not very pleased, feeling this sounded like being called a fool.
[Yuan Suiyun]: “No matter, Miss Jiu’s kindness is appreciated... Miss Jiu also came to Bat Island with Commander Xiang?”
The white-clad pixel figure spoke casually, appearing unoffended and courteous.
However, above his head appeared a knife symbol emoji, with a few drops of bright red pixels dripping from the blade—clearly meant to represent blood.
...He seemed like he wanted to stab the player.
After accepting the player’s gift, he wasn’t grateful but instead seemed intent on harming the player...
Outrageous!
The player immediately grabbed the keyboard and typed passionately:
[Jiu Li]: “You little scoundrel, why do you have two faces!”
Forget about affection points—they were zero anyway. Barefoot doesn’t fear the slipper; just enjoy the moment and raise them later!
[Yuan Suiyun]: “......”
[Yuan Suiyun]: “Miss Jiu, what do you mean by that?”
The bloody knife symbol emoji still floated above him, but his words matched his sly, scheming character—just pretending to be oblivious.
The player wasn’t concerned; as the story progressed, this NPC’s personal plot would unfold. No one could escape the player’s sharp insight, so there was no need to rush.
Ignoring the NPC’s feigned ignorance, the player controlled pixel Jiu Li to run around the deck, clicking furiously... but useless, none of the sailor-dressed NPCs were interactable.
Yet, this was a ship.
Ships have cabins.
There must be interactable NPCs inside the cabin... Otherwise, making such a finely crafted ship for only two new NPCs would be a waste.
Pixel Jiu Li, undeterred, prepared to charge into the cabin!
Two sailors guarding the cabin door stepped aside slightly but stood like a bronze wall, blocking the player’s path!
[Sailor 1]: “Who goes there?!”
[Sailor 2]: “Without the Young Master’s orders, no entry allowed!”
They wouldn’t let her in...
ORZ...
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But these two lines contained a hint—the keyword: “Young Master’s orders.”
And that Young Master was, of course, Yuan Suiyun who had just accepted the player’s gift. So the player needed to return to Yuan Suiyun and speak with him.
What? You say they just had an unpleasant exchange? Haha, NPCs don’t have memory.
Pixel Jiu Li ran back without any psychological burden, stood before Yuan Suiyun, and clicked to talk.
[Jiu Li]: “Am I not allowed into the cabin?”
[Yuan Suiyun]: “......”
That knife symbol emoji wanting to stab someone popped up over Yuan’s head again...
Tch, this guy is so dark and brooding, always ready to stab someone. Let’s call him the “Dark Crawler.”
But Jiu Li chose to forgive him.
Jiu Li chose to be straightforward!
[Jiu Li]: “Aren’t we friends?”
She had given him a precious herb that cures blindness, so they were obviously friends! If not, no worries—the player wasn’t embarrassed; someone else was.
Sure enough, a string of ellipsis bubbles appeared above Yuan Suiyun’s head.
Cold sweat drops appeared above Hu Tiehua and Zhang San’s heads... and even a cold sweat appeared above a distant pixel figure named Yidianhong, who had boarded silently and stood aloof...
Were they eavesdropping?
Ha, how interesting.
But the most amusing was Chu Liuxiang’s reaction—his head showed a thumbs-up emoji.
[Yuan Suiyun]: “..............”
Alright, time to assign a quest.
The player patiently waited in place.
Games always need twists and turns.
This “no entry” stage would require completing a quest first, like collecting a certain amount of wood, before passing through smoothly. This step-by-step progression gives players a sense of purpose and is a clever way for developers to extend gameplay time.
But Yuan Suiyun said: “...All guests are welcome. Bring Miss Jiu into the cabin to rest.”
Huh?
No quest?
The player was stunned.
She earnestly typed on the keyboard:
[Jiu Li]: “You’re a good person.”
[Yuan Suiyun]: “......”
Three more stabbing knife emojis appeared above Yuan’s head.
The player laughed, pounding the desk.
Charging into the cabin! Like entering a realm with no one else around! Oh yeah!
Wow! The scent of humans! The scent of trash bins! The scent of rummaging!
The new DLC had actually added some classic RPG elements—once inside an NPC’s house, you could freely investigate: open drawers, chests, touch cupboards... no longer limited to trash bins!
This was fantastic!
The player enthusiastically started rummaging!
[Obtained: Aged Liquor *1]
[Obtained: Kettle on Boiler *1]
[Obtained: Honey-Glazed Roast Chicken *1]
[Obtained: Mackerel Dumplings *1]
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[Obtained: Copper Coins *13]
[Obtained: Sailor Suit *1]
Letting the player into the cabin was like letting a mouse into a rice jar.
No problem! No problem! No problem!
Jiu Li transformed into a boldly honest little mouse, rummaging through the cabin like it was empty. Strangely, all the NPCs who had been moving about suddenly stopped and turned to look at her, exclamation marks of surprise appearing above their heads.
Player: “?”
What’s the big deal? Never seen a player wreck a place before?
The player snorted.
In perfect sync with the game’s author, pixel Jiu Li’s head also displayed a strong “Hmph” speech bubble!
Keep grabbing, keep grabbing.
Ah... backpack full.
Only 12 slots—so limited.
Better upgrade the backpack soon. A 24-slot backpack is sold in the Echo Shop for 100,000 copper coins.
...That’s basically impossible for the player to afford now, even if she sold herself.
Or 50 pieces of ███ treasure coins.
That was something to look forward to. So the main task next would be combat—finding more wild monsters, accumulating the mysterious currency only obtainable through battles.
Very well.
But the player knew the current problem couldn’t be solved right now: too many items, can’t carry them all.
But isn’t this when NPCs come in handy?
Never forget, the three NPCs living on the Divine Water Palace farm had already forged strong bonds with the player and were willing to serve as mobile storage!
Pixel Jiu Li ran out energetically, heading straight to Chu Liuxiang!
She handed the Aged Liquor to Chu Liuxiang for safekeeping.
[Chu Liuxiang]: “...”
Then the Mackerel Dumplings.
[Chu Liuxiang]: “......”
Then the Honey-Glazed Roast Chicken.
[Chu Liuxiang]: “............”
Huh? He wouldn’t take them.
Had he reached his limit?
Alright, alright, he still carried all sorts of farming tools for the player, so three extra slots was already impressive.
Next.
Jiu Li, unfazed, held up the Honey-Glazed Roast Chicken and marched toward Yidianhong.
[Yidianhong]: “.............”
Before she could reach him, the black-clad pixel figure turned and jumped into the sea.
Player: “...............”
Huh?
Huh?!!!