The three of them went to fetch water together, exchanging casual greetings on the way. Xu Huo mentioned that he had come from Granny Yi’s place and talked about the waterproof clothes she had given him.

The young man knew Granny Yi, "When Granny moved away, I was just over ten years old. It’s been almost ten years now, and I haven’t visited her once."

"There are more people here, and it’s safer. Why did she move away?" Xu Huo said, "Wouldn’t it be better for neighbors to look out for each other?"

The young man wasn’t very familiar with the situation and just said, "It’s quite normal for people to move back and forth in the village. Some follow their sons or daughters, while others seek out friends. Staying in one place for too long, it’s good to change locations."

Xu Huo smiled, "Have you ever thought about going out to see the world?"

The young man was very interested in this topic and immediately said, "How could I not? Occasionally, outsiders like you come here, and they say the outside world is vast, not all covered in fog, you can see a thousand meters away at a glance. Unfortunately, we are just ordinary people, and it’s safer to live here since there are aliens everywhere else."

As he spoke, he pointed to the vines growing around a nearby tree, "I’ve heard from people who came before that this kind of grass used to be carnivorous, has become more aggressive in many places. But here, not only does it not eat meat, it evolved its roots and leaves to have a sweet flavor; when thirsty, you can break it off and eat directly." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The girl in the painting walked over and picked a few leaves, and indeed, juice came out. She put it into her mouth without a word, then picked several more leaves to let Xu Huo taste.

Xu Huo casually handed two leaves to the young man, who was much more rough, stuffing the leaves directly into his mouth and chewing them.

Xu Huo sipped the juice, it was indeed sweet, "Then this place is truly suitable for living."

The young man picked up a full bucket of water and placed it nearby, smiling as he said, "It’s all foggy, you can’t even see the sky, do you really think it’s nice?"

Xu Huo understood his meaning, "The environment where I live is not like this; staying here for a few days is fine, but not for long."

"I’ve lived here since I was a child, I’m used to it," the young man said, "But if one day I become a player, I will definitely go out for a walk."

"I see many people in this village, haven’t there been any players?" Xu Huo asked.

"There was one when I was a child, but they never returned after leaving, perhaps they died outside." The young man said with no emotional fluctuation, "It’s a pity that they can’t return home."

As they spoke, the three buckets of water were already filled, and he lifted two buckets in one go, leaving the remaining bucket to Xu Huo.

Xu Huo chuckled, "I’m a player, stronger than you."

"Strength is one thing, and hospitality is another." The young man said, "The elderly in the village are not fond of outsiders, but I actually quite like them; if only you all could tell me more about the outside world."

"I have some videos and holographic files here, if you want to see them, I can give them to you," Xu Huo said.

"That’s not necessary," the young man was quite open-minded, "Just hearing about it is enough."

So, on the way back, Xu Huo shared with him some experiences from the ordinary zone.

When they re-entered the village, they happened to run into Bubble Bean and Yin Yang Master head-on.

The two’s faces changed dramatically as soon as they saw Xu Huo and his companions, holding props in their hands.

Xu Huo smiled at them, "What a coincidence, Bubble Bean."

The two across from him didn’t expect him to still calmly greet them, their faces turning even more unsightly. The young man instinctively sidestepped, while Grandpa He appeared oblivious to the tense atmosphere, cheerfully saying, "So you know each other, that’s good, you can keep each other company."

Bubble Bean and his companion were filled with anger from being previously tricked and feeling even more indignant seeing the "culprit" acting as if nothing happened. But having exchanged blows before knowing Xu Huo isn’t easy to deal with, they could only swallow their anger.

Bubble Bean snorted coldly and entered the house first.

Watching the door close, Xu Huo turned his head and said to Grandpa He, "They have a bad temper, don’t take it personally."

"Young people are energetic, it’s nothing, nothing." Grandpa He sent them off and left.

The young man delivered the water into the yard and left the bucket behind.

When the girl in the painting was filling water to wipe the table in the yard, she saw Yin Yang Master peeping through the window, so she took out the communicator and asked him, "Are you going to do the cleaning?"

Yin Yang Master quickly drew the curtains.

Although the house got cleaned occasionally, since nobody lived there, some spots indeed needed tidying up. Xu Huo originally planned to have the housekeeping robot do it, but the girl in the painting took on the task herself and seemed quite happy about it.

Eating and drinking didn’t require much water, but they still needed it for washing. Here, they didn’t have the privilege they had at Granny Yi’s place and couldn’t use money to settle things, so they had to be self-sufficient.

Seeing Xu Huo carrying the bucket outside again, Yin Yang Master was puzzled, "Is he really planning to stay here long-term?"

Bubble Bean was also unsure what role Xu Huo exactly played, so after making a couple of remarks, he followed him to the creek.

Watching him really filling water honestly, Bubble Bean sneered, "Still acting? Were you an actor before becoming a player?"

Indeed he was.

Xu Huo threw the bucket into the creek and fished out a few colorful stones from underwater, while looking at them, he said, "What brings you here?"

"Did you kill Deng Guang?" Bubble Bean got straight to the point, "I thought it over, the possibility of Deng Guang lying and leaving on his own is very small. You are a Super Evolver and have the natural magnetic field of the forest as a cover, making someone disappear wouldn’t be difficult."

Xu Huo looked at him strangely, "Since you think so, why ask?"

Bubble Bean took a few steps to lean against the tree, "I’m just wondering if your psychic power is really that strong."

He suspected Xu Huo had killed Deng Guang, but was even more afraid that Xu Huo had killed Deng Guang.

After shifting his gaze, he tested, "Are you currently the ’Hidden Friend’?"

"If I killed your companion, you and the other one would probably be dead now too. Likewise, if I were the Hidden Friend." Xu Huo threw the stone back into the water and reiterated, "I’ve told you before, I’m not a player of this instance, and you insisted on causing trouble."

Bubble Bean looked incredulous, "I can’t force you to tell the truth, but if that’s the case, we’d better not interfere with each other; I won’t give you trouble, and don’t you disturb us from clearing the instance."

Xu Huo walked out of the creek, glanced at him lightly, "As long as you don’t look for trouble."

He picked up the bucket to leave, and as he passed by Bubble Bean, his gaze swept over his hand with a light laugh, "No matter what you’re up to, if you cross me, next time it won’t be resolved so lightly."