Chapter 60: Old Habits Die Hard

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When Ye Da tapped open the light screen to check the announcements, he noticed, to his surprise, that he had ninety-nine private messages. This meant, in reality, there were more than ninety-nine; but since only two digits could be displayed, all further messages were lumped together under the plus sign.

“Who could it be, so many people missing me?” he said with a hint of arrogance, opening his message box. Most of the messages were requests for food, inquiries about whether Ye Da had any meat or bananas left to sell.

Unfortunately, Ye Da couldn’t open his wooden cabin now, let alone upgrade it. It was impossible to retrieve anything from it. All he could do was express his regrets—replying to each message was out of the question, so he simply changed his status to:

“The landlord’s house has no surplus grain.”

Those who understood would nod knowingly, and those who didn’t—let them eat dirt.

Just as Ye Da was about to close his messages, he noticed two special messages that made him raise his brows.

Well, well.

Messages from Wu Liang and Liu Yanyan.

Their names rang a bell. At first, Ye Da couldn’t recall who Liu Yanyan was, but seeing Wu Liang’s name brought it all back. These two idiots had previously tried to unite the players against Ye Da.

And now they dared to contact him?

He first opened Liu Yanyan’s message: “Eek eek, mighty Bear Slayer, do you still have matches for sale? I’m willing to trade one unit of high-quality timber for a matchstick. Please reply when you see this, kitty face!”

Now she was willing, but where was she before?

Humph.

Ye Da sneered and ignored her.

Liu Yanyan seemed glued to her messages, waiting for Ye Da’s reply. Noticing he had read but not responded, she sent several more messages in a panic.

“Sir, what happened before was my fault. I apologize! Please forgive this ignorant girl!”

“If you forgive me and sell me a match, I’ll show you where babies come from!”

“No one has seen it yet. You’ll be the first, so shy!”

“……”

Ye Da finished reading, feeling only speechless.

Was this woman an idiot?

Who didn’t know that babies came from the belly?

Trying to use such tricks on him—truly, a dog cannot change its habits. Blocked!

Ye Da promptly added her to his blacklist.

Previously, he’d only blocked her in the trading channel, but somehow she’d managed to contact him directly. Now, he added her to his general blacklist; from now on, she couldn’t message him unless he released her.

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Clearly, that was never going to happen.

He opened the other idiot’s message, curious to see how the clown would perform.

Wu Liang: “Ye Da, about yesterday… I hope you didn’t mind?”

“After thinking things over, I realize I was wrong and acted impulsively. I said things I shouldn’t have.”

“I promise, I wasn’t deliberately targeting you. I’d just collected too few dead branches that day, couldn’t gather enough to exchange for firewood, so I was frustrated and said what I shouldn’t have.”

“I sincerely apologize to you. Please forgive me.”

Wu Liang’s lengthy apology stretched to five hundred words, enough to almost convince Ye Da he was truly repentant.

But when he reached the last line, Ye Da nearly burst out laughing.

Wu Liang: “It’s raining today, everything is damp, many people’s campfires have gone out. The trade group is full of complaints. If you still have matches, we could cooperate on selling them. I’m confident I can help you get two units of fine timber per matchstick. What do you think? Please reply.”

Well, well.

Wu Liang clearly had an agenda.

He never mentioned needing matches himself, making it sound as if Ye Da was begging him to cooperate. What a character!

It was simply raining, Wu Liang’s fire had gone out, and he wanted to buy matches. But afraid Ye Da wouldn’t sell, he put on this performance.

A true clown, with endless tricks.

But Ye Da had no intention of wasting words on such people.

No matter how elaborate his messages, Ye Da ignored him as usual.

That’s right—just ignored him.

This guy wasn’t worthy of Ye Da’s emotional investment.

Wu Liang: “Sir, please don’t block me yet!”

Just as Ye Da was about to blacklist him, Wu Liang sent another message: “Sell me a match, I beg you. Otherwise, I won’t survive tonight’s ghost knock.”

“What’s that got to do with me?” Ye Da couldn’t help replying.

Wu Liang: “How can you be so cold-blooded! I’ve humbled myself and apologized, and you’re still so heartless! Even if I spoke to Buddha or Jesus, they’d forgive me—how can you refuse?”

Ye Da: “Oh, then wait for the ghost to take you tonight and complain to Jesus and Buddha about me.”

Wu Liang: “You’ve lost your conscience! If something happens to me tonight, I’ll haunt you, and if nothing happens, I’ll find you and make you pay, never letting you rest in peace.”

Faced with Wu Liang’s frantic threats, Ye Da replied with only two words:

“Panicking?”

Wu Liang: “How could I not panic? I…”

[Ye Da has enabled friend verification. You are not yet his friend. Please send a friend request. Only after approval can you chat.]

Wu Liang: “Damn you, curse your whole family…”

[Ye Da has enabled friend verification. You are not yet his friend. Please send a friend request. Only after approval can you chat.]

Wu Liang: “……”

A punch landing on cotton—the most infuriating impotence.

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Ye Da guessed this fool was about to throw a tantrum, so he blocked him outright, leaving him to rant at the wall.

Perhaps such a prolific essay-writer would be driven mad.

Ha!

We’re all ancient monsters, and you’re trying to play ghost stories with me? Bah!

After dealing with these two pests, Ye Da glanced at the time—it was already half past ten at night.

He wondered if there would be any signal here.

Quickly, he pulled out his phone to check. No signal, but he had received replies from Da Li and Ning Qingcheng!

Da Li: “I got your text. I’m fine, and I’ve awakened an incredible power! I’ve become a swordsman, Ye Da, can you believe it? Somehow, I’m a swordsman now and can even perform sword dances! If you were here, I’d show you Li Bai’s sword dance!”

Da Li: “I tried to find you in the communication channel today, but only got a reply saying no such person in this area. Is it possible we’re in different zones?”

Da Li: “Damn, my phone’s almost dead, can’t chat anymore! Ye Da, I’m in a forest near the gray stone mountains, full of tall, straight trees, at least fifty meters high! If you find such a forest, stick close to the black stone mountains and look for me there!”

Ye Da: “Got it! I received your reply! I’m fine too, but I’ve entered another area. Tomorrow I’ll see if I can return; if I can, I’ll come find you!”

But when Ye Da pressed send, he got this response:

[Send failed!]

“Not working again?” Ye Da sighed, then checked the time Da Li had sent his message—nine o’clock sharp.

Could it be that there’s signal at nine o’clock at night?

Ye Da made a mental note of the time, deciding to try again tomorrow.

After reading Da Li’s messages, he opened Ning Qingcheng’s reply.

Ning: “I can’t add you; it says no such person in this area. If I’m understanding correctly, we may not be in the same zone. I’m beside a volcano, and there’s a huge hot spring pool here.”

Ning: “My phone doesn’t have much battery left. If you receive this reply, I’ll turn it on at five in the morning to wait for your reply!”

Ye Da stubbornly replied with a simple “Okay,” but again, sending failed.

He had missed the best window for contact, but it didn’t matter—there would be other chances.

Ye Da had spent the whole day running and was already weary. Lying on the bed now, the exhaustion washed over him, sinking him deep into the soft mattress, his limbs limp.

Despite the inn’s shabbiness, its amenities were surprisingly complete—even bedding was provided.

It felt light, likely filled with down feathers.

Warm and comfortable.

Just as Ye Da’s eyelids grew heavy and he was about to drift off…

“Knock knock!”

A strange knocking sounded at the door!