novelraw Chapter 612 - 611: The Granary of the World and Special Time-Limited Mission
Chapter 612 - 611: The Granary of the World and Special Time-Limited Mission
"The rain at Golden Chicken River Market is really heavy!"
Jiang Yuan pushed open the door of the Cloud Grocery Store, and a humid mist blew in, confirming yet another drizzly day.
The dark sky made the candlelight of the bustling shops in the market seem even brighter and warmer; the humid mist added a layer of visible fog to the light. With shadows looming and voices booming everywhere, yet everything seemed to be demon rather than human, the entire market felt oddly strange to him.
The regulars of Golden Chicken River Market were clearly used to the rainy days—sipping tea, listening to music, chatting away without noticing someone coming out from the shop next door.
[You have a new order, please check and collect]
As soon as he descended a staircase corridor, the system notification popped up, and Jiang Yuan promptly opened the courtyard communicator for remote control.
The order required only daily farm produce, nothing unusual. He glanced at it and clicked submit directly.
[Achievement: Completed five thousand public service orders. Reward: Special Tool—Universal Granary]
Accompanied by the familiar sound of "clang clang clang" of gold coins arriving, a grand and dazzling electronic firework lit up in his view along with the random reward distributed into his Storage Bag, followed by a new achievement prompt.
"I actually completed so many orders?!" Briefly stunned, Jiang Yuan shifted his gaze to the achievement reward.
[Universal Granary: Special tool, only for storing agricultural products, no time limit, capable of infinite preservation; no quantity limit, can store a large amount of grain during abundant years for future needs]
An infinitely preserving, infinite reserve divine artifact!
He was grinning from ear to ear. Previously concerned about insufficient warehouse capacity, thinking of asking Pavilion Master Cang to find some storage box type of Magical Treasure.
Unexpectedly, diligent order completion brought a pleasant surprise, suddenly solving the grain storage problem entirely. Jiang Yuan wished he could rush back to the courtyard and place the newly acquired reward, then store all the farm produce inside.
With the space-consuming farm produce storage problem solved, the warehouse could be used to stack more other materials. In the future, expanding the courtyard range and planting more fields wouldn’t be a bother for storage!
Delighted, he suddenly froze, thinking "store a large amount of grain during abundant years for future needs"? Could it be that future disaster years might still threaten the Human World or the Wilderness?
The idea of eventually having to open granaries for disaster relief suddenly made Jiang Yuan feel a sense of crisis. But currently, all arable land was fully planted; aside from the regular farmland, other tiered farm plots weren’t idle either.
The number and yield of farm plots were limited. Though finishing public service orders left surplus, supplying "all under heaven" was far from possible!
"Hopefully I’m overthinking; everyone living safely and steadily is ideal—no disasters, please." He thought, having already come so far. First getting the name card to hurry home tidying, and see if any adjustment to the farm plot areas was necessary. As for contacting Qu Luming... let’s tackle these tasks first.
Following the corridor all the way down, the flying eaves and corners of the market shops let out torrents of water cascading down like dragon-spouting waterfalls. Upper-level corridors and buildings remained unaffected, but the ground inevitably had waterlogged potholes.
Therefore, the pedestrians became fewer, making the street appear emptier compared to the lively upper-level corridors.
Reaching the street corner, Jiang Yuan heard Jin Lang’s voice, "Ah, the guest is punctual indeed, right on time for the appointment. But, could you wait a moment? I need to say a word to the old lady downstairs."
After speaking, he leapt down the stairs, knocking on the firmly shut door of Huang Family’s shop.
Last night was peaceful, and tonight just as the shop opened, several customers hurriedly arrived to customize Magical Artifacts. Jin Lang hadn’t had time to go downstairs and greet, thinking there wasn’t any sound indicating issues.
Finally finishing with a sliver of spare time, he descended halfway and seeing the distinguished guest approach, he felt the opposite party was quite reasonable—two words of delay shouldn’t cause annoyance.
"Bang bang bang!"
Muscle-bound Jin Lang’s knocking was loud enough to make the ancient wooden door visibly shake.
"Old lady? Madame Huang?!"
After calling twice, a foreboding feeling arose—at this hour, why hadn’t Madame Huang opened for business yet? The loud knocking surely should have prompted a response.
Thinking so, he braced a shoulder against the door, breaking the uncrafted wooden door without Array protection straight open!
"Old lady? Are you home?"
Inside, no lights were seen, street’s dim glow seeped through the broken wooden door into the cramped small shop.
Puppet wooden bird still flapped its wings; puppet frog on the table stretched its tongue in mechanical motion. No signs of struggle, nor an indication of departure—Madame Huang’s toolbox, used for years, lay open on the table.
[Special Timed Mission: Rescue Puppet Master Huang Hanying; ensure her survival. Countdown: 14:59:59 Reward: Puppet House Blueprint +1]
[Puppet House: Decorative item for placement inside a house, requires Puppet Master’s crafting—successful placement can increase agricultural product yield by 20%]
Without figuring what truly transpired, at the instant of the opposing party charging through the door, a system interface with overwhelming pressure popped up.
Its flashing blood-red border, countdown ticking continuously, planting the special timed mission atop the view occupying one-third of the "screen," inexplicably intensifying his tension. He too rushed forward in a swift move.
"Damn! Something happened to Madame Huang!" Jin Lang, having scoured the cramped area confirming the elderly lady’s disappearance, hastily took out a pendant, covering it with both hands to activate Spiritual Power.
A ray of light shone within his sea of consciousness, he "saw" a town in a very distant area from Golden Chicken River—a large compound where Madame Huang, wounded and bound inside a dark chamber, lay critically injured.
"Darn it, what is this place? It’s too far—I’ve never been there, what should I do?" Jin Lang was momentarily flustered.
He vowed earnestly but failed to safeguard the old lady’s safety;
She entrusted the pendant to herself, clearly able to see her in mortal danger, yet completely unaware of her whereabouts!
How to rescue her? Who can help?
"Don’t panic, can you roughly determine Granny Huang’s location? I can take you there!" Jiang Yuan knew that the more critical the moment, the more one must remain calm.
The other party was clearly flustered, and he needed to gather useful clues in the shortest possible time.
Saying this, he took out the teleportation scroll from his storage bag.
As long as there’s a place name, this thing is a Divine Artifact for traveling!
"I don’t know... Using spiritual power to activate it can sense, but I don’t know what kind of place it is!" Jin Lang, in his anxious state, heard the guest’s inquiry and grasped at the last straw, trying to describe: "It’s just a small town in a black forest..."
Time is of the essence, Jiang Yuan couldn’t bother guessing riddles, locked onto the pendant to use it, and a flashing icon immediately popped up on the system map.
"Camel Peak Mountain, Zhao family town, Zhao family estate!"
He quickly found the destination on the teleportation scroll, immediately took the artifact refiner, and vanished from the puppet shop in a flash.
The next second, the two of them landed in a huge courtyard.
Jin Lang’s head buzzed, completely bewildered, wondering where they have suddenly landed.
Looking around, he realized — isn’t this the courtyard he "saw" where Granny Huang was imprisoned?
"Th-Thank you, honored guest; sorry for troubling you..." Speechless and unable to express his gratitude, he thought that the seemingly refined guest turned out to be someone who would immediately act against injustice.
Hearing about someone missing, he promptly aided in the rescue and could pinpoint the location accurately, far surpassing him. What a good person!
Jiang Yuan had no time for courtesies, as the countdown roared like a death knell. Rescuing the person was priority, and plenty of time for talking later.
"Clear Wind Bright Moon!"
The Mandarin Duck Swords responded to the command, left and right, intercepting the guards who came rushing.
Worried it wasn’t enough, with a wave of his right hand, twenty Yu Hu warriors emitting strong evil energy stepped forward, leaving Jin Lang dumbfounded, rubbing his face persistently questioning if he was dreaming.
"Who dares to break into the Zhao family estate!" Zhao Gui’s father, the patriarch Zhao Yongxiang, shouted with a powerful voice, his figure flashing into the courtyard.
Even before making a formal appearance, Jiang Yuan’s glance swept through detailed information revealing the impactful red fonts — "Evil Cultivator," instantly invigorated.
Instant Teleportation Technique!
Soul-Devouring Demon Skill!
[Lifespan +1 Year]
[Lifespan +1 Year]
...
"Who are you?" Merely making face-to-face contact, without even seeing the visitor’s appearance clearly, Zhao Yongxiang suddenly felt seized by a terrifying Yin Fiend aura, unable to circulate his spiritual power or break free, even his life force rapidly dwindling!
"Where is Huang Hanying imprisoned?" Jiang Yuan could spare a moment to use Devouring Mountains and Rivers against him, just by locking onto the target and pressing the skill; it required no technical prowess.
Zhao Yongxiang, a peak transformation realm evil cultivator, found himself utterly defenseless.
Each time he attempted to forcibly circulate spiritual power to resist, the opponent unleashed a massive light yellow magic enveloping him, not to mention within himself, even all surrounding spiritual power was devoured!
The estate guards were beaten into retreat by the Clear Wind Bright Moon swords, with the Yu Hu warriors not having enough to spread around. Among them, one row followed Jiang Yuan’s command, searching each room for secret doors leading to the hidden chamber.
"Huang who? Who exactly are you looking for? Fellow Daoist! Fellow Daoist, surely it’s a misunderstanding!" Zhao Yongxiang, feeling the terror of life slipping away, hurriedly shouted: "Please stop, it’s a misunderstanding! All a misunderstanding!"
Jin Lang, in his life, had never seen a cultivator so fierce and powerful.
From hearing about Granny Huang’s incident to instant teleportation, then to battling the opponents away like fallen leaves, everything happened in the blink of an eye.
If he didn’t know the inside story, he’d indeed believe that the kidnapped Granny Huang had deep connections with Mr. Jiang.
"Misunderstanding your ass! Where did you guys tie Granny Huang up?" With the backing of an honored guest, Jin Lang boldly shouted: "Quick, speak up!"
Granny Huang?
Zhao Yongxiang suddenly recalled the old woman his son brought back.
The Zhao family genuinely dealt in human trafficking business, but who would pay a high price for an old woman? He couldn’t understand why his son mysteriously brought back an old and young pair, but didn’t inquire further.
Upon hearing they’re here searching for that old woman, Zhao Yongxiang’s rage blazed uncontrollably. Damn brat, why would you bind someone unwanted, capturing a worthless old woman only to provoke a formidable figure, getting your father beaten for no reason, infuriating me!
"The pavilion! Under the pavilion in the hidden chamber!"
Unable to withstand it, he had to speak the truth; anyhow, there were heavy traps below, difficult to escape, potentially capturing both individuals, maybe even profiting handsomely from selling them!