Chapter 1827 - 1826: Treasure Map? Bamboo Raft!

The woodcutter seemed not to notice the arrival of Qin Feng and the others, still vigorously chopping bamboo, drenched in sweat, looking utterly exhausted.

"Sigh, it seems there’s nothing here, wasted so many magic artifacts." Jiu Jie sighed, "Now we’re back to square one, just like before liberation..."

After observing the surroundings, Ding Lan and Shuang’er couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

This island is too small, not even the size of a soccer field. Apart from this woodcutter chopping bamboo, there aren’t any treasures.

Qin Feng stepped forward and tentatively asked, "Uncle, do you recognize this Jade Pendant?"

He took out the Jade Pendant given by the old lady he met while passing through the jungle checkpoint to deliver to her son.

The woodcutter’s eyes lit up upon seeing the Jade Pendant and said, "This is my mother’s pendant! How did... it end up in your hands? That’s wonderful! How is my mother doing now?"

"Uh, she’s fine. When we passed by your home, she asked us to bring the pendant to you,"

Qin Feng said.

Increasingly convinced in his heart that the old lady and this woodcutter were similar to NPCs in games.

"I really can’t thank you enough, brave warriors." The woodcutter excitedly wiped his sweat and then took out a rustic-looking sheepskin scroll, saying, "I don’t have much to offer as a reward, but I’ll give you this map! I found it recently, thought it might be useful."

Rewards have arrived!!

Qin Feng was thrilled as he accepted the map, "Then we won’t stand on ceremony."

Jiu Jie, Ding Lan, and Shuang’er gathered around excitedly.

"Is it a Treasure Map?"

"Fantastic!"

"We’re going to strike it rich!"

"..."

However, after looking at it for a long time, they couldn’t figure out what the map actually depicted.

It seemed to be an ancient city, with markings in the four directions, southeast, northwest, but it didn’t look like a Treasure Map at all; they couldn’t even tell what it was supposed to represent.

Jiu Jie couldn’t help but ask the woodcutter, "Uncle, is this a Treasure Map? Where’s the treasure hidden?"

"I don’t know either, just found it unintentionally," the woodcutter said as he continued to pick up his rusty knife, enthusiastically chopping the bamboo. With each chop, he’d weary himself enough to have to thump his waist, looking extremely anxious, "I must collect enough bamboo soon to make a raft to go home..."

Jiu Jie couldn’t help but ask again, but the woodcutter still repeated the same phrase, urgently chopping bamboo to head home.

"..."

Ding Lan and Shuang’er were also speechless and said, "Let’s move forward then!"

"Yeah, there’s no point lingering here." Jiu Jie said.

However.

Looking ahead, the sea domain in front is vast and a thick white fog has arisen.

"We’ve almost used up our magic artifacts and now there’s white fog, it’s really tricky!" Jiu Jie sighed.

Ding Lan and Shuang’er also sighed in frustration.

They fought their way through earlier, especially using nearly all their artifacts to deal with the Octopus Beast, while they didn’t even know how much further this passage would go.

Qin Feng pondered for a moment and walked over to the woodcutter, asking, "Uncle, which route allows crossing this sea area quickly?"

The woodcutter seemed not to hear him, wiping his sweat as he said, "Ah, the sun is setting soon, I must hurry to chop bamboo, make a raft to go home, otherwise my old mother at home will worry..."

Just as Qin Feng was about to speak again, Jiu Jie said, "Brother Feng, seems like there’s no point in asking him, that guy is just ungrateful, the Jade Pendant’s given to him for nothing."

Qin Feng smiled slightly, saying, "That’s the best outcome."

The woodcutter’s actions were very much like NPCs in games, existing purely for players’ quests, with simple dialogues.

Now the woodcutter kept saying he needed to rush to chop bamboo, indicating he was indeed an "NPC"!

If he’s an NPC, there must be something to ask!

"Uncle."

Qin Feng suddenly thought, seeing the rusty sickle barely able to chop a single bamboo stick, said, "Let me help you chop!"

Speaking.

He retrieved his longsword, swiftly "swish swish swish" cutting down a large batch of bamboo, neatly placing them in front of the woodcutter.

The woodcutter was moved as he saw this, saying, "Thank you so much, brave warrior! I have nothing else to offer, so let me make an extra bamboo raft for your use!"

Before Qin Feng could speak, Jiu Jie urgently said, "We don’t need a raft, just tell us which direction to go for quickly passing through the sea domain!"

The woodcutter smiled and said, "The bamboo raft I make is not an ordinary raft, have a look at this?"

The woodcutter took out a glowing stone.

Qin Feng and the others looked, completely puzzled about what it was, but could feel it contained a very peculiar power.

The woodcutter further explained with a laugh, "With this stone, paired with the raft I made, you can directly cross the sea domain; plus, with this stone’s protection, none of the predatory birds or beasts in this area will dare attack you."

"What?!!"

Jiu Jie, Ding Lan, and Shuang’er were immediately wide-eyed with surprise.

Qin Feng smiled, indeed his guess was right!

This guy was exactly as he thought, an NPC. Helping him definitely yields various rewards; he just didn’t expect this substantial reward, equivalent to directly sending them out of the sea domain.

This made the earlier use of numerous magic artifacts to defeat the Octopus Beast very worthwhile.

"Thank you so much!! When I return, I’ll pray for you daily, asking the Buddha to bless you!!" Jiu Jie was moved, gripping the woodcutter’s hands almost to the point of tears.

Ding Lan and Shuang’er also expressed gratitude in various ways to the woodcutter.

Soon.

By sunset, the woodcutter had finished making the bamboo raft and placed the magical stone on it, letting them depart aboard the raft.

Just as the woodcutter said.

The raft seemed to come alive on the water, able to navigate directions and move quickly autonomously.

While the surrounding skies no longer threatened with crow attacks.

The journey was very smooth!

"Brother Feng, how did you know the woodcutter would help us?" Jiu Jie and the others sat on the raft, still excited.

Qin Feng shrugged and said, "Because I am a kind-hearted person."

"..."

The three of them were speechless.

Qin Feng couldn’t really explain the concept of NPCs with them, as they wouldn’t understand, and he didn’t want to waste his breath.

"By the way, how many stages do we need to pass?"

Qin Feng asked Ding Lan and Shuang’er.

Ding Lan shook her head and said, "I don’t know where the final point is, but everyone seems to have headed to the ’Heavenly Termination Domain.’

"What’s the Heavenly Termination Domain?"

Qin Feng asked skeptically.

"I don’t know, but I’ve heard Master Sister mention that no matter who it is, ultimately the place to go into is the ’Heavenly Termination Domain,’ she’s there now."

Ding Lan said.