Chapter 19: Treasure Chest in the Mosquito Swarm

Lin Yifan's face was full of puzzlement — why had the number of blueberries differed so drastically between the two harvests?

The result revealed that the Blueberry Tree had actually grown two new branches; no wonder it bore more fruit.

Meanwhile, the Mugwort on the other side had also exploded in growth, densely packed — there were probably several dozen plants.

Each cluster was nearly half a person's height, covered in densely packed seeds.

Lin Yifan, as before, pulled up all the Mugwort that had already flowered and seeded, leaving only the small Mugwort below knee height.

Then he planned to plant the Mint on the other side of the Mugwort.

Just then, a Light Screen suddenly flashed before Lin Yifan:

【Warning: One portion of Cultivation Soil can only grow two types of plants. If a third type is planted, one of the previous two will be randomly selected to serve as flower fertilizer!】

Lin Yifan stared at the message and got a terrible fright.

He truly hadn't expected that the number of plant types per portion of Cultivation Soil was fixed.

Fortunately there was a prompt — otherwise he would have lost a precious plant.

Never mind that he didn't seem to like eating blueberries now; this stuff was a genuine fruit, and a highly nutritious one at that.

So he couldn't afford to lose the blueberries.

As for Mugwort, it was even more indispensable — despite having accumulated quite a lot from his two harvests.

But this was the kind of thing where you could never have too much.

After agonizing for a moment, Lin Yifan finally decided to dig up the Blueberry Tree for now.

The Blueberry Tree was easy to keep alive and tough — once dug up, a spray of water every so often would keep it alive for a long time.

Moreover, the Blueberry Tree was a native plant; it wouldn't die even if planted in ordinary soil outside.

So Lin Yifan dug up the Blueberry Tree, carried it outside the Shelter, found a patch of fertile soil — Jiangnan hadn't been transplanted here yet.

Then he immediately took out the two Mint plants and planted them in the Cultivation Soil.

Seeing the previously wilted Mint instantly perk up, Lin Yifan knew the day of a great Mint harvest wasn't far off.

After planting the Mint, he added a few more pieces of Wood to the fire before setting out once more to search for supplies.

But following the path he'd cleared that morning, he'd barely taken a few steps when he spotted a White Treasure Chest hidden among the fallen leaves at the side.

He hurried over, picked up the Treasure Chest, tossed it into his spatial storage, and planned to open it together with the others in the evening.

After spending another 40 minutes, he had just returned to the spot where he'd eaten lunch, then picked up his axe and continued clearing a path to explore.

But this time, he hadn't gone far before a frenzied "buzz buzz" reached his ears.

That sound — Lin Yifan knew it all too well.

It was exactly the sound made by the swarm of mosquitoes he'd heard in the western forest last night.

Frenzied, chaotic — enough to make anyone irritable and restless upon hearing it.

At the same moment, Lin Yifan suddenly felt a sting on his arm.

He looked down and saw a mosquito as big as a spider perched on his arm, rapidly sucking blood.

The exaggerated speed of its bloodsucking made Lin Yifan's heart run cold.

He quickly slapped the mosquito dead, only to see the bitten spot rapidly swell and turn red, burning with pain.

Even worse, Lin Yifan saw that, he didn't know when, over a dozen mosquitoes had already gathered around him.

If he hadn't been wearing his full Camouflage Uniform, with only his right arm's sleeve rolled up out of habit.

These mosquitoes would surely have already swarmed all over him to suck his blood.

Looking at these mosquitoes, his heart went cold wave after wave.

He'd assumed the mosquito swarm was concentrated in the western forest, never expecting them to be here too.

If all mosquitoes were like the ones before him, how terrifying would the swarm's eruption be? Lin Yifan didn't even dare imagine it!

He quickly snapped two photos of the mosquitoes, then rapidly retreated, preparing to leave the area.

Because he noticed the mosquitoes swirling around him were growing more numerous, even making a concerted rush straight at his face.

He had to keep waving his arms to drive them off, just to avoid being bitten.

However, after he'd walked back nearly a kilometer, the mosquitoes surrounding him still hadn't dispersed.

With no choice, he had to stop in his tracks and kill every last one.

At the same time, he finally discovered where the daytime mosquito swarm actually was.

He raised his head, looked at a banyan tree before him, and his face kept twitching.

The banyan tree was tall, its branches thick and dense.

And those mosquitoes were all perched on the branches at the top of the banyan tree, densely packed, covering every single branch.

Lin Yifan felt his scalp go numb. While traveling earlier, he'd never looked up closely, assuming those were all brownish-black branches.

Now he understood — the mosquitoes weren't in some distant forest at all; they were right here before his eyes!

Lin Yifan stared at those mosquitoes and could only slowly retreat. The 【Strong Mosquito Repellent】 hadn't been crafted yet; he didn't dare disturb them.

But just then, he suddenly noticed that right in the middle of the top branches of the banyan tree, there was a Treasure Chest.

And it was a — blue Treasure Chest.

Up to now, this was the first blue Treasure Chest he'd ever seen!

However, this blue Treasure Chest was surrounded by a dense mass of mosquitoes; to retrieve it, he would inevitably alert the swarm early.

What to do?

Just give up like this?

Lin Yifan frowned, genuinely reluctant.

This was a blue Treasure Chest!

And he still had the Critical Hit buff active today. As long as he could get this Treasure Chest, even if the Critical Hit buff only doubled the haul, it would be a massive profit!

No way, I have to get this chest down!

But how?

Lin Yifan thought for a moment, and immediately had an idea.

To take the chest out of the mosquito swarm, the only options were to kill them all, or drive them all away.

【Strong Mosquito Repellent】— yes! That's exactly what I need — 【Strong Mosquito Repellent】!

Only this way can I kill the mosquitoes and take out the chest!

However, the Shelter is still seven or eight kilometers from here, and a round trip would take at least over an hour.

Lin Yifan hurriedly pulled open the Light Screen to check the time — it was already 2:30 PM, and at 4:30 it would be getting dark!

He only had two hours!

Should he really take this risk?

Lin Yifan frowned and thought for a few seconds, then finally decided — he had to get the Treasure Chest!

Once his mind was made up, he didn't delay any longer, and sprinted toward the Shelter at almost a hundred-meter dash speed.

In the end, on a road that normally took 40 minutes to walk, he made it back to the Shelter in only 20 minutes.

In the Cultivation Soil inside the Shelter, the two Mint plants had grown quite a bit, with many slender branches and leaves sprouting from the main stems.