Chapter 9 Grocery Store

In the thin morning mist among the woods, the birds were the first to awaken, chirping non-stop.

Mu Ying's habit of sleeping in had been cured without need for medicine in the urgency of the apocalypse, and the chirping that woke her did not make her feel drowsy; instead, she felt full of vitality from head to toe.

Overnight, Gungun's fur seemed to have grown denser, already roughly covering his skin completely.

After filling her belly, Mu Ying tucked Gungun into her arms, took a bucket, and stepped out. She glanced at Tree House No. 3 next door; there was no movement, probably they hadn't woken up yet.

It was still early, just beginning to lighten, and breathing in the moist air of the forest made one feel wholly comfortable, casting the illusion that yesterday's zombies were but a mere dream.

Mu Ying fetched a bucket of water from the lake and added a few drops of Recovery Spring to it.

Carrying the water back to the campsite, she began her daily rituals of practice.

Her hands touched the trees, she closed her eyes and felt the natural power within them, and finally scooped up some water and poured it at the roots of the trees.

The trees growing by the lake certainly didn't lack water, but the advantage lay in the Recovery Spring mixed in; because the quantity was so small, the effect wasn't significant, which was just as well as it wouldn't attract any attention.

"Luoluo, look, what is she doing?"

Cheng Wei had just woken up and saw Mu Ying standing motionless in front of a tree, with several sparrows perched on her shoulder.

Liu Luoluo glanced over and then looked away, "Who knows, if you want to find out, go ask yourself."

"Well, I'll ask myself then," Cheng Wei huffed, slamming the door angrily as she left; Liu Luoluo had been snarky since yesterday because Mu Ying refused to let her share the Tree House, so why take it out on her.

As Cheng Wei approached Mu Ying, the little sparrows all turned their heads in unison, their dark little eyes intently watching her.

"What's with these sparrows, aren't they afraid of people?"

The closer she got, the biggest sparrow gently pecked Mu Ying's shoulder.

Mu Ying awakened from her natural sense; these sparrows were attracted by the water in her bucket, particularly bold, and not at all afraid of humans.

She had an idea and used Wilderness Identification to coax them to watch the environment around her while she was immersed in her natural sense, with water mixed with spring water as their payment.

After the little sparrows finished drinking the water from Mu Ying's palm, they flew away under the lead of Sparrow Mother.

"Have these sparrows become spirits?" Cheng Wei was astonished.

"Ah? No, it's just because I'm a Druid that I'm closer to nature, and that's why they behave this way," Mu Ying explained, having made some effort to reach an understanding with them.

Cheng Wei felt envious of Mu Ying's profession again, "When I chose my profession, there wasn't an option for Druid at all. You just mentioned Druids can heal, are they similar to Priests... Eh? What's moving in your pocket?"

Mu Ying reached into her pocket and pulled out a ball of restless fluff, "It's my animal companion."

"A panda?" Envy nearly spilled from Cheng Wei's eyes as she quietly hid her magic pet in her pocket—a slippery toad, commonly known as a toad.

"Yes, it's too small, just knows how to eat and sleep, can't really help with anything," Mu Ying stroked Gungun's fur.

"Creak—"

Mu Ying and Cheng Wei looked over at the sound, just in time to see the door of House No. 1 slowly opening, revealing an old man draped in a tattered robe interspersed with various plant roots and stems, his hair white, hunched as he walked out.

He placed a seed by the wall, lightly tapped with his fingertip, and lush green vines gushed out like flowing water, intertwining to form a sign: "Oak Grocery."

The old man stepped back, looked at the sign seeming quite satisfied, and then went back inside.

"Is he the owner of the grocery store? An NPC?" Cheng Wei murmured, "Feels almost like a wanderer."

"It must be," Mu Ying was dazzled by the old man's move.

At that time, the others from Tree House #3 also came out with Li Wei being the most eager. Being a game enthusiast, he thought the grocery store owner might have a quest for them.

"Is the tree house this big inside?" That was everyone's first impression.

The tree house they rented was only as big as it appeared from the outside, but this one was several times larger.

Only Mu Ying knew that all tree houses were supposed to be the same size; this one had definitely been expanded. The counter and shelf area alone was almost as big as the original size of the tree house, not to mention there was a small resting area and another room that was hard to see into.

The whole place was filled with a natural vibe, vibrant plants everywhere.

The old man was nowhere to be seen; instead, a black bird actually running the business. It wore a colorful little outfit and had a gemstone ring on its claw. Seeing people enter, it hopped off the cushion on the counter and pointed with its wing to a small blackboard on the counter.

"Welcome to Oak Grocery. I'm the shop assistant, Wuyaya. For purchasing adventure items, please check the product catalog at the counter. For selling plant seeds or saplings, please go to the back room and find Old Man Shom."

"The crow can actually talk!" Xu Shan exclaimed from the front.

Wuyaya gave this easily amazed individual a sideways glance and sarcastically remarked, "How strange indeed. Humans can talk too! And this customer with poor eyesight, I am a raven, not a crow."

Embarrassed, Xu Shan scratched his head; he had been presumptuous.

"Mr. Wu, is there anything we can help you with?" Li Wei, confident as ever, used the universal phrase for initiating quests.

"Help?" Wuyaya's eyes shifted as it stuttered, "Old Man Shom isn't even human, poor me, a minor raven, hungry and cold every day, yet still needing to work for money, so could you help by spending all your money here?"

"..." Xu Shan was silent for a moment, thinking maybe this animal NPC needed money to improve their relationship, assuming giving something to get something. He gritted his teeth and pulled out a copper coin, "Here, use this money to buy some food."

"Is that the only copper coin you have?" This person is too poor, even worse off than it, Wuyaya thought sympathetically as it looked at Li Wei.

Li Wei thought the NPC might need more money to give out a quest. He turned around, "Do any of you have money? Let's pool what we have; maybe we can get a decent quest."

"Forget it, we don't have extra copper coins, and I think this raven—I mean, raven doesn't seem like a rigid NPC. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a person inside," Xu Shan said hesitantly.

"..." Wuyaya took a deep breath, reminding itself that it needed to make a good impression on customers since the Doomsday Game had been online for less than two days. It was normal for people from rural areas to be poor and unworldly.

Suppressing the impulse to drive them out, Wuyaya impatiently flipped open the product catalog. Customers without money weren't worth Wuyaya's service, "Just look for yourselves."

A few copper coins could only buy some less useful small items. Li Wei wasn't interested in them, obsessing over improving the NPC's favorability, "This is the only copper coin I have left. I'll give it to you; can we be friends?"

"Thanks, but I, Wuyaya, a hardworking worker, only befriend gold coins, I'm not a beggar, okay?" Wuyaya eyed Li Wei's head skeptically.

Was this person a bit off? Despite its earlier pitiful act, with its beautiful gemstone ring and precious silk clothes, was it someone who would lack a few copper coins? It wouldn't even bother to pick them up if they were on the ground.

Li Wei's face turned from green to white, clutching the copper coin tightly. This damned raven was too foul-mouthed; he wanted to leave a negative review!

Cheng Wei tugged at the corner of Li Wei's clothes, signaling him to endure, "Mr. Wuyaya, your ring is very beautiful, is it a ruby? I have a jade piece here; does your store buy these?"

She took out a Jade Guanyin pendant from her pocket and placed it on the counter. The pendant was of excellent quality, picked up from a classmate, and she remembered it was valued no less than the ruby on Wuyaya's ring.

Wuyaya toyed with it disdainfully with its claw. "What jade? It's devoid of energy, as lifeless as a rock. We definitely don't buy such things! Look at this gemstone; it embodies the rich magic of the Fire Element," Wuyaya boasted, raising its foot proudly.

Mu Ying flipped through the product catalog, "Flour 1 copper coin per pound, candles 1 copper coin each, torch 1 copper coin each, dark bread 2 copper coins each, … oil lamp 10 copper coins each, ordinary meals 10 copper coins each..."

These appeared to be common sundries available elsewhere; they didn't seem worth the money to buy, but the information about buying plant seeds caught her interest.

However, with nothing on hand for now, she decided to leave that for later.