Chapter 19: The Monster Merchant and the Expensive Eiderdown
“Thank you, boss! I just received this much material, and there’s exactly one extra part for the secondary condensate cooler.”
Pure-hearted Cockroach quickly sent another message.
Yu Jiang replied to both at once: “Alright, if you get more materials later, I’ll process two pieces for you free of charge.”
The upgraded parts for the condensate cooler were something she needed as well!
Erba Dagang and 188 Man Da said they were still short on some materials and would send them as soon as they received them.
Yu Jiang also asked them to collect a few extra sets to offset the processing fees.
She was going to collect items now, but many would raise prices, so filtering trades was too troublesome.
Thunderbolt Law King said, “Thanks, boss! I heard wild cotton can be gathered, but I haven’t even seen a shadow of it here. I’ll go collect some immediately. Or if you have extra finished products, can I trade directly? What kind of Chinese herbs do you need to gather?”
Yu Jiang thought it over, sensing a good connection—this was a psych doctor turned supplier of radically improved medicinal ingredients.
“Calamus, aconite, ageratum, gardenia, licorice, talc, honeysuckle—all of those work.”
Among them, talc was a mineral; since it appeared in the basic guide, it must exist in the game too, though whether she would encounter it was another matter.
‘X’ had previously given 15 portions of each material, enough to make a set of thermal clothing, leaving 10 pieces of fabric and 5 of cotton.
She had just finished making a set herself, leaving exactly 15 cotton portions, which combined made two complete sets.
There wasn’t much style variation for these basic cold-weather clothes, just the color of the fabric.
Yu Jiang first sent a set to Thunderbolt Law King.
Then she took out materials for a qi-replenishing drink: mutated calamus, bamboo leaves, and turmeric.
She still had a scavenged interface that worked; plugging the health pot into the front power supply was enough.
Strictly following the recipe ratio—550ml of water plus one portion of material—yielded two portions of the qi-replenishing drink.
She had enough of all materials except calamus, which only had two portions, so she made four drinks in total.
Looking at the slightly greenish color, it felt somewhat ominous.
She decided to have her friend try it first.
Excitedly, Yu Jiang opened her friend list and messaged, “Are you asleep? The stuff is ready; I can send it over.”
After a few seconds, the reply came: “Not yet.”
“Then bring an empty bottle over, I’ll give you half.”
After receiving a mineral water bottle, Yu Jiang pulled out a stainless steel funnel she had cleaned while cooking dinner and used it directly.
She filled two portions of the qi-replenishing drink and sent them along with the two sets of thermal clothing as a gift.
The two drinks were accounted for in the scroll crafting fee, and the thermal clothes effectively waived the processing charges.
For a long-term collaboration, such small profits didn’t matter; as long as she got the snake venom and scrolls, she wasn’t losing out.
“Try it and let me know how you feel,” Yu Jiang sent a friendly emoji.
‘X’ replied, “...Did you poison me?”
This person actually joked with her for once; Yu Jiang responded, “Not at all, I just guarantee the effect, not the taste.”
“Okay, got it.”
Finishing the conversation, Yu Jiang sent all the thermal clothes to her friends on the list, tidied her things, dimmed the camping lamp to the lowest setting, and placed it in the corner.
She rested her head on a pillow, unfolded a blanket, and layered it with a four-piece quilt set—so it wouldn’t be cold at night.
She only had one down comforter, which wasn’t needed in this weather.
On such a rainy night, with an apocalyptic highway and a small warm-lit camper, Yu Jiang almost fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.
She slept soundly in the first half of the night, but in the latter half, the rain pounding on the roof and the wind blowing made noise that woke her once.
She checked everything inside and outside the vehicle, found all was normal, then lay back down and resumed sleeping.
At six in the morning, the sky was faintly brightening.
The storm was fierce; the windshield had become a cascade of water.
Yu Jiang woke and shifted her position.
With such heavy rain, the three-wheeled vehicle wouldn’t travel well; better to rest a while longer.
Today’s mission update: 50 kilometers.
Weekly total distance required: 700 kilometers.
An average of 100 kilometers per day.
If she failed, she would lose the night protection status for the next three days.
Last night when she woke, she saw shadows outside, but since night protection prevented approaching the vehicle, she ignored them.
After washing up, she half-leaned against the back seat, pulled the display screen to the front, and checked her stats.
Thanks to recent boosts in attack and agility, her stamina and health had improved somewhat.
[Nickname: The King Told Me to Patrol the Mountains (No Morals)
HP: 100
Health: 78 (Healthy routines in the game have improved your vitality!)
Fatigue: 0
Overall Stamina: 10 (After all, you’re a poison master, not a laborer)
Agility: 12+5 (Still can’t snatch eggs in the supermarket)
Attack: 15+5 (Barely acceptable)
Defense: 1+5 (Can’t expect much defense from a poison master)
Combat Rating: F]
[Vehicle: Brand-new electric three-wheeled pickup (Battery 95%, mileage 120km)
Wear Level: 0 (+5% shield value)
Defense: 22
Attack Bonus: None]
[Wealth Value: 0.9]
Without comparison, Yu Jiang didn’t know if this wealth value was good or bad.
At least the description after the number sounded nicer.
Today’s temperature and weather were not favorable; the light rain icon on the screen had changed to heavy rain.
[Survival Time: 5 days
Weather: Heavy rain, Temperature: 16°C, Humidity: 100%, Northeast wind level 6.]
Level 6 wind was considered strong; outside, sparse grass and fog-shrouded woods had branches bending in the gusts.
Just one night, and the weather had changed so drastically; it was only the second day after the novice period.
If the wind increased further, the three-wheeler might be overturned.
Yu Jiang grabbed a piece of milk bread for breakfast. Thankfully, when gathering supplies yesterday, she had planted the rooted plants in pots.
Otherwise, in this weather, doing anything would be inconvenient.
The three-wheeler’s body was mostly plastic shell, and a strong wind made it feel unstable.
While opening the window to clean the rearview mirror, suddenly, a glowing green monstrous face appeared close.
“Damn!”
Yu Jiang shouted in surprise and immediately stepped back, grabbing her weapon and preparing to exit through another door.
Before she could open it, the monster spoke, “Want some mutant goose-down?”
Only then did Yu Jiang notice the name above its head and the burlap cloak.
[Monster Merchant: Appears randomly. Meeting me means you’re lucky! Never try to anger the merchant; consequences are severe!]
Wow, that startled her. Outside, zombies with greenish skin were elite monsters in Silent Town.
“How much?” Yu Jiang didn’t seem too eager to buy.
But she really wanted it.
Goose-down! The most expensive down material in the world, windproof and waterproof, incredibly warm; a single quilt was said to cost nearly 200,000.
The monster merchant’s eyes flickered. “450 grams, 600 crystal coins.”
This wasn’t his first player encounter, but previous ones couldn’t afford it.
Players haggled, tried to halve the price, some claimed to be students hoping for freebies.
They were all blacklisted. Though monster merchants on the road might look different, they were all from the same group.
Blacklist one, blacklist all.
Some even tried to rob him and got beaten half to death before being blacklisted.
“Can you make it cheaper? We just came here to survive, we don’t have that many crystal coins.”
Yu Jiang smiled warmly. Noticing the merchant’s lingering gaze on the car’s pastries, she immediately offered, “Want a piece?”
[You’re the first player to offer a dessert to a monster merchant; he now sees you in a new light. Favorability +20!]