Isn't This a Game? Why Are You All Cultivating for Real!

Chapter 85: Chapter 85: A Heavy Snow

"Hello. We’re here to check the water meter."

Zhen Weida, who was at home preparing to make instant noodles: "..."

He went to the door and peeked out.

Great. It was his acquaintance from last time.

He opened the door to find Liu Wen Yu standing there, smiling. "Apologies, Mr. Zhen, for disturbing you so late."

"No bother. It’s not like I have a job." Zhen Weida glanced at the time and sighed faintly. "You government people work overtime this late, huh?"

Liu Wen Yu: "..."

His normally placid expression seemed to crack for a moment.

Then, Liu Wen Yu smiled again as if nothing had happened. "My apologies, Mr. Zhen. I have to go back on my word. We’ve come to find you again after all."

"It’s fine. Come on in and talk."

Behind Liu Wen Yu were the same three silent soldiers as before.

Zhen Weida didn’t dare entertain any funny ideas. It was one thing not to be afraid, but in the face of such upright individuals, he couldn’t help but feel his own presence diminish.

"You don’t need to be nervous. Our visit this time is actually good news for you." Liu Wen Yu got straight to the point. "From what I understand, Mr. Zhen, you’re currently unemployed, is that correct?"

Zhen Weida said proudly, "I do some freelance work online occasionally. I have some savings, so I’m not planning to find a job for now."

’And after this game came out, I wanted to even less.’

’I’m working hard at it now. As long as I earn points, I can sell them later on. If I put in the effort, I shouldn’t have to worry about an income.’

"Here’s the thing. We’d like to propose a collaboration with you, Mr. Zhen. I wonder if you’d be willing? Of course, we will offer very generous compensation."

Zhen Weida was stunned for a moment. "What do you want to collaborate with me on? About this game?"

Liu Wen Yu nodded. "The information provided by that player named Han Tian alone is not enough. We hope to establish a partnership with you. We can provide you with assistance; for example, we found that you’ve researched how to implement an industrialization model in ancient times. Are you planning to take the Longevity Sect down an industrial path?"

"That is my current plan," Zhen Weida admitted. "But I almost got into trouble last time. I plan to wait until it’s safer, after I reach the Middle and Late Stage of Qi Refining, before I continue."

"We just need you to provide us with information from inside the game. You can play your game as you normally would, and we will do our best to help you wherever you need it. We can sign an external consultant contract and give you a fixed monthly payment. What do you think?"

Zhen Weida was genuinely tempted.

’Play the game normally, provide a bit of information, and get a steady salary.’

’Where else could I find a deal this good?’

In any case, Zhen Weida agreed in a heartbeat!

*

Inside the game, it suddenly began to snow in Wang’an County.

A blizzard, no less.

The weather on the Yunzhou Continent was very different from Blue Star.

It didn’t have four distinct seasons.

Because of the abundant Spiritual Energy, it was as warm as spring all year round.

But that was under normal circumstances.

Extreme weather could still occur.

And when it did, it was usually because a Great Power Cultivator somewhere had run into trouble—either from a fight, or because some kind of Magic Treasure had malfunctioned and changed the ecosystem.

After all, Cultivation was just that unreasonable.

This snow brought with it an extreme, bitter cold.

In the game, a massive cold front hit the moment dawn broke, and the temperature came with a certain degree of magical attack.

The players whose cultivation levels weren’t very high were frozen stiff.

One can only imagine how the mortals felt.

"The county town is all closed up today. This cold isn’t normal."

A Wu came back after buying some things, rubbing his small face, which was red from the cold.

He went, a little worried, to find Fan Guzhou, who was still in the Sect inspecting the land. "If it stays this cold for a few days, our Spirit Grass will be affected."

Alarm bells went off in Fan Guzhou’s head. "Will it affect the Spirit Grass yield?"

A Wu nodded. "If it gets serious, they could even be frozen to death."

This kind of weather came with an energy attack, so even the Spirit Grass was affected.

Ordinary mortal crops would die off in droves.

Fan Guzhou started to panic a little too. He had just taken on ten mu of land, and now this weather was showing up. ’I hope nothing goes wrong...’

Seeing Fan Guzhou’s panicked expression, A Wu comforted him, "It’s okay, Junior Brother. Maybe it’ll end soon."

A Wu added, "Oh, right. The Little Flower Beasts are also very afraid of the cold. Don’t let them come out."

Fan Guzhou was raising all of the dozen or so Little Flower Beasts he had bought.

This was mainly because the other players were too poor to afford them.

Chen Miaomiao, on the other hand, had bought one.

The Little Flower Beasts could eat anything that grew from the soil, so they were quite easy to raise.

Of course, feeding them Spirit Grass was even better.

But at this stage, Fan Guzhou wasn’t yet that extravagant.

Fan Guzhou nodded. "I gave them fresh bedding this morning. They’re all huddled up in their nests."

There were plenty of blanket sellers in Wang’an County.

Fan Guzhou asked, "How many times a year does this kind of thing happen?"

A Wu said, "Not too often. Maybe once every two or three years, or maybe a few times in one year. It’s not just snow, either. There are also gales and abnormally hot weather."

Fan Guzhou was a little puzzled. "Why does this happen?"

’Weather changes are usually related to some factor, but they couldn’t leave the Yunzhou Continent right now, so he couldn’t apply modern knowledge to explain it.’

"Who knows?" A Wu didn’t know either. "The Old Sect Master used to say it might be related to changes in certain Secret Realms."

"Secret Realms?"

Fan Guzhou thought he had heard some important information, but A Wu just said, "Yup. But I don’t know if it’s true. I’ve never been outside."

Fan Guzhou didn’t press further and changed to a topic he was interested in. "The Old Sect Master? Senior Brother, do you know when our Sect Master arrived? How did she become the Sect Master of the Longevity Sect instead of joining the Feique Sect?"

’There had to be a main quest in the game, and their main quest was to strengthen the Longevity Sect.’

’But why?’

’Faced with a better environment, shouldn’t Song Jiulai have gone to the Feique Sect?’

’She could have chosen to strengthen the Feique Sect, too.’

Many thoughts flashed through A Wu’s mind before he said, "I don’t know. The Old Sect Master just passed the position on to her, that’s all."

’A Wu knew he couldn’t reveal that Song Jiulai was the Daughter of Destiny.’

’He was a smart one!’

"Oh..."

Seeing he couldn’t get an answer, Fan Guzhou didn’t insist.

Just then, Su Daqiang logged on.

Even as a Cultivator, he had wrapped himself up like a ball and shivered. "Dammit, this godforsaken weather."

’In reality, the sun was shining brightly, but logging into the game was like being transported to the North Pole.’

’It was a good thing their bodies were different; otherwise, the drastic temperature change would have definitely given them a cold.’

Su Daqiang said to Fan Guzhou, "Wu Dahu and the others are planning to come back. This snow is huge and really weird. They’re afraid something might happen."

Fan Guzhou said, "What about Mu Qiu? She’s out there all by herself. Who knows how she’s avoiding demon beasts after logging off at First Mountain."

Su Daqiang replied, "Don’t know about that. She’ll probably head back soon."

There was a hint of envy in Fan Guzhou’s voice. "I want to see what her Magic Treasure looks like, too. She’s so lucky."

"Yeah, she’s so lucky."

When Mu Qiu was mentioned, everyone now gritted their teeth in frustration.