Everyone followed step by step to the Bamboo Forest Periphery.
As Yun Miao stepped into the Bamboo Grove, the uncle in charge of the Incense Burner took a step forward, pinching one Incense Stick between his fingers.
Instantly, a spark flared up at the tip, igniting without any fire.
The limping old granny watched the girl’s back disappear into the Bamboo Grove and shook her head helplessly.
“She’s still too young. Just a little provocation and she fell for it. In this season, where would she even find so many Bamboo Shoots to dig up?”
“And on top of that, only two sticks of incense’s worth of time… Making things so hard for a mortal little girl, Tian Laokou, your heart is just too black.”
Tian Laokou rolled his eyes. “Don’t act like you’re any better. You didn’t warn her either. Besides, I’m teaching her a lesson—not to be too greedy, or she’ll suffer a big loss.”
“The Bamboo Shoots she digs up can count as her entry fee.”
Huaxin shot a cold glance at that wily old man who tricked children, thinking to herself: Later, she could pay out of her own pocket to buy Yun Miao a bun to eat—just hoping Yun Miao wouldn’t be too upset if she lost.
Luckily, even if she lost, it was only a few Bamboo Shoots… If Yun Miao could even find any, that is.
Tian Laokou, who had been glared at openly and secretly several times, turned away sulkily: These people are really protective of her.
At the same time, Yun Miao quickly opened her mini-map.
In this game, the mini-map could only remember the roads she had walked—the unexplored areas were all shrouded in darkness, waiting to be lit up later.
Just like how, after a Player Pickup revive, the Poison Resistance +1 she gained before dying wouldn’t disappear but would continue to be inherited, even after a Load/Reload, the Bamboo Grove mini-map she had previously unlocked and the markers she’d set were all still there.
Yun Miao immediately found the nearest marker, slung the sponsored bamboo basket onto her back, grabbed the equally sponsored Hoe, and started digging at once.
That NPC named Tian Laokou was truly insidious—a single Incense Stick was half an hour, two Incense Sticks was an hour, which meant sixty minutes.
That meant she had to dig up a Bamboo Shoot every six minutes to win the bet. If it weren’t for the noble Player’s ability to cheat, she really wouldn’t be able to beat this devious NPC!
Luckily, Yun Miao had Load/Reload, a marked map, and a body far superior to ordinary people!
Poor aptitude didn’t mean a weak body—an eighty-point constitution was enough to make her as strong as any grown man.
The best part was that this game didn’t have a Stamina Bar, which meant players would get hungry, thirsty, and lose HP, but they would never get tired!
So, Yun Miao hummed a tune as she dug—‘swish, swish, swish’—and soon unearthed a Bamboo Shoot buried in the ground.
Digging and digging in the vast Bamboo Grove, digging the most tender Bamboo Shoots, aiming to become the biggest winner!
The people at the Bamboo Forest Periphery couldn’t see the mini-map.
All they saw was that after Yun Miao entered the Bamboo Grove, she didn’t rush to dig, but stopped and seemed to be sensing something.
Just as everyone was puzzled, she suddenly ran forward with clear purpose, swinging her Hoe and starting to dig.
Before most people even saw the tip of a shoot, she had already pulled out a tender Bamboo Shoot deeply buried underground!
This auspicious start left quite a few people, who thought Yun Miao was bound to lose, stunned. Eh… this little girl is pretty interesting.
Still, even with such a good start, no one really thought the little girl could win. It wasn’t that they looked down on her—it was just that the bet itself was absurd, with almost no chance of winning.
How could an ordinary person, in this season, dig up ten tender Bamboo Shoots, all hidden deep underground with only their tips showing, in just two Incense Sticks’ time?
That’s as hard as digging up winter shoots!
In fact, it was impossible for normal people—but for a stubborn player, it was doable.
So, everyone saw the little girl darting around as if she had eyes on the soles of her feet. She barely needed to search; every time, she ran a few steps with clear purpose and quickly dug up a Bamboo Shoot.
“Eh?”
“Huh?”
“Whoa!”
If the first and second shoots could be chalked up to luck, by the third and fourth—when tender Bamboo Shoots, as long as a forearm, kept landing in Yun Miao’s basket—the looks everyone gave her began to change.
“How is she finding them?”
“She must have buried them beforehand, right? Otherwise, how could she be so accurate every time?”
“What’s so hard about this? Use your Spiritual Sense—sweep the ground, and you’ll find every shoot, even the ones not poking out!”
“Don’t brag about using Spiritual Sense to find shoots. I could do it too, but the thing is, that little girl is obviously a mortal who hasn’t even started drawing in qi. Lianqi Realm cultivators don’t have Spiritual Sense, let alone mortals. How is she so accurate?”
Some people focused on different things.
“She’s pretty strong.”
“Not just strong—look closely, even after a whole Incense Stick, her speed with the Hoe hasn’t slowed down. She’s not tired at all!”
“Now that you mention it, you’re right. She looks skinny, but she’s something else. No wonder she dared to take the bet!”
“Weird, really weird… How is she doing it…”
As the crowd discussed, Tian Laokou, who had just been watching for fun, gradually straightened up, eyes wide.
“This… how is this possible…”
“Hey.” The limping old granny glanced at him. “Tian Laokou, don’t you dare try anything. I’m watching you.”
“What are you talking about? Would I do that!”
Tian Laokou muttered, “Okay, maybe I am a little stingy normally, but I wouldn’t actually do anything to a mortal little girl. I’m just curious… Don’t you think it’s strange? How is she doing this?”
The fat old man watched the little girl in the Bamboo Grove with keen eyes. As his Spiritual Sense, at the Nascent Soul stage, swept over the area, nothing could escape.
He saw the little girl’s black hair and a red ribbon woven into a neat braided pigtail hanging over her chest.
She wore an ill-fitting blue dress, the sleeves too long and covering her hands, the skirt trailing over her feet. In her hands was a small Hoe for digging herbs, with a bamboo basket on her back.
Because she had been working in the Bamboo Grove for a while, she looked dusty and dirty, her braid coming loose.
At a glance, she was just a lively, capable farm girl. Other than that, he couldn’t see anything strange.
But for an ordinary mortal girl to do all this… Impossible, absolutely impossible, no matter how you looked at it…
Tian Laokou’s old face wrinkled up, his thoughts in a tangle.
“Yan’er, what do you think?”
The limping old granny—Ge Yan—glared at him. “If you can’t figure it out, how could I? And how many times have I told you, stop calling me Yan’er! It sounds so rustic!”
Tian Laokou: “When you stop calling your senior brother Tian Laokou, I’ll stop calling you Yan’er.”
Ge Yan snorted, “Fat chance. As long as you owe me money, I’ll call you Tian Laokou every day.”
Tian Laokou dug his pinky in his ear, looking shameless. “Go ahead, call me whatever you like—even Tian Deadbeat, I don’t care. I’ve got no money to pay you back anyway.”
Ge Yan rolled her eyes. “No wonder Qian Datou beats you up every other day. You really deserve it! Next time, if you get beaten to death in front of me, I’ll act like I didn’t see a thing!”
Tian Laokou muttered, “Tch, like you’d ever help me when Qian Datou is beating me up anyway.”
***
“Time’s up—two Incense Sticks burned!”
The two Incense Sticks in the Incense Burner burned out in succession, and the onlookers clicked their tongues in amazement as they looked toward the Bamboo Grove.
Under everyone’s gaze, Yun Miao strode out of the Bamboo Grove, took off her basket, and handed it to Tian Laokou.
She declared boldly, “Ten shoots. Not one more, not one less. I win, so all your buns are mine now!”
Tian Laokou stared at the basket full of shoots, as if he could glare them out of existence—or slap himself for craving those Three Delicacy Buns two sticks of incense ago.
Now look, the shoots are gone! The buns are gone too!
Seeing the old man speechless, Huaxin immediately stepped to Yun Miao’s side, her voice chilly. “Old man, you’re not going to go back on your word, are you?”
“Of course not!”
Tian Laokou stiffened his neck and said, “I admit defeat. A few buns, that’s all. Look, my stall’s right there. Go help yourselves!”
Yun Miao happily grabbed Huaxin and called over Granny Hua and the other two.
“Come on, come on, buns are on me!”
Granny Hua, Guan Dahai, and Gao Zhu all laughed and followed along.
“Haha, then I’ll accept your treat and try these meat buns that even the Sect Leader of Xuantian Sect loves.”
“Just in time, I’m hungry.”
“These are five taels per bun—I’ll have to savor them.”
Actually, Huaxin and the others were all curious how Yun Miao managed to find ten shoots so quickly, but they knew they’d only just met Yun Miao less than two days ago.
As the saying goes, ‘Don’t get too familiar too soon,’ so they tacitly avoided the topic. Instead, they joked about everyone’s shock and Tian Laokou’s wrinkled face, chatting and laughing all the way.
As things wrapped up, the crowd gradually dispersed, walking off and chatting animatedly about how that little girl managed to pull off such a reversal.
Everyone was satisfied with this underdog comeback—everyone except Tian Laokou, who slumped onto a roadside rock as soon as the crowd left, hunching over and staring at the ground in despair.
The wind lifted his coat, making his old figure look all the more desolate.
“My buns, my big meat buns that I worked so hard to make this morning… I didn’t even eat many myself, just to sell them… And now… they’re all gone, every last one.”
Ge Yan looked speechlessly at her second senior brother’s bizarre behavior. “It’s just a few buns. Besides, the small change you make selling buns can’t be exchanged for many Ling Shi anyway.”
Tian Laokou protested, “A few buns? That was a hundred and twenty-five big meat buns, thin skin and stuffed full!”
“Five taels each—one hundred and twenty-five is six hundred and twenty-five taels of silver! Not worth much Ling Shi, sure, but that would buy a lot of good herbs in a mortal town!”
Ge Yan jeered from the side, “In the end, your greed got you. You said you wanted to teach the girl a lesson, but you ended up getting schooled yourself.”
Tian Laokou quickly grabbed Ge Yan’s sleeve. “Yan’er…”
“I told you, don’t call me Yan’er! It’s so rustic!”
Ge Yan’s figure flashed, appearing a few steps away. But as soon as she landed, she realized the weight on her sleeve hadn’t lessened.
Turning, she found that Tian Laokou, who had just been sitting on the stone, was now right beside her, his fat hand still clutching her sleeve.
Tian Laokou’s face was all bun-like folds as he grinned ingratiatingly. “Junior sister… My gentlest, cutest, kindest junior sister, you have to keep this a secret.”
“Don’t tell anyone, or Qian Datou and the others will laugh me to death!”
Ge Yan snatched her sleeve back with a cold laugh and kicked Tian Laokou hard before flying off.
“So I’m your junior sister when you need something, and Yan’er when you don’t? Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to tell everyone about this when I get back—loud and clear!”
Tian Laokou fell back on his butt from the kick, reaching out to try and stop the departing Ge Yan.
“Don’t, Yan’er! Let’s talk this over, Yan’er!”