Chapter 23: The Wandering Merchant

A moment later, Yang Keli came skipping over, her face glowing with a touch of excitement. "Chen Fan, I just dug up five diamonds! My luck isn't too bad, is it?"

"Holy crap!" Chen Fan stared at her, wide-eyed with astonishment. "Your luck is absolutely heaven-defying. I’ve been working my tail off mining iron, and you just walk away with five diamonds."

Yang Keli giggled, holding out the diamonds to show him. Chen Fan shrugged helplessly; sometimes, comparing yourself to others just makes you want to die. He told her about checking the trading platform, and Yang Keli blinked, saying, "Who would be foolish enough to trade food for iron? Food is the scarcest resource right now."

"Believe it or not, there are people trading, and the volume is quite high."

They made their way back along the path they had come, moving much faster than when they had descended. This was precisely why Chen Fan had laid stone steps while digging down—to avoid having to jump the whole way.

Upon returning to the wooden cabin, Rem and the others were already waiting. Seeing Chen Fan and Yang Keli, Rem stepped forward and asked, "Master, how was your haul?"

"Not bad. We have enough iron ore to craft a full set of gear, plus we found some diamonds and other minerals," Chen Fan replied with a smile.

Just then, he noticed Rem bustling about on the first floor. Looking closer, he saw that a chandelier and several bookshelves had been added to the cabin.

"Rem, what are you doing?"

Rem looked toward Chen Fan with a smile and said, "I’m decorating the room. Doesn't it look better with the bookshelves and the chandelier?"

Chen Fan was surprised. The lamp required iron nuggets and torches, but they had no iron in the house. How did she craft it?

"Where did you get this lamp? We don't have any iron at home."

Rem gave a faint smile, her two small dimples appearing, and whispered, "Master, I exchanged the logs I cut down today with a wandering trader for these items."

"A wandering trader? For logs?" Chen Fan frowned slightly, his heart full of doubt. In his memory, wandering traders rarely accepted raw logs as currency; they usually dealt in emeralds, dirt, or diamonds.

He had played Minecraft for years and had lost count of how many times he’d dealt with wandering traders. They were a specific type of NPC in the Minecraft world, alongside luxury goods merchants and mysterious vendors. They were no different from village NPCs, except for the often-absurd items they carried.

Every wandering trader’s inventory was different; for instance, one selling food would only carry food, while one selling saplings would only have saplings. It was essentially like setting up a street stall. In this world, however, these wandering traders were real. They left early and returned late every day, hustling for their own and their families' livelihoods. They, too, needed to eat and sleep.

The trader Rem had encountered seemed to deal mostly in miscellaneous goods. He likely came from the desert, where trees were scarce, making it difficult to craft items out of logs.

"Has that wandering trader left yet?"

"No, he set up a small shack on the other side of the slope and has already started selling things."

Just as he had suspected. Chen Fan looked at Rem and pressed on, "How many logs did you trade for these items?"

Rem thought for a moment. "One lamp cost thirty-two logs, and one bookshelf cost forty."

Chen Fan glanced at Rem, realizing instantly that she had been fleeced. The materials combined didn't cost anywhere near that much. He lowered his head, contemplating whether to take out that wandering trader—the guy had two leads and two llamas in tow.

Elsewhere, Li Chengdong had finished felling a few trees and was waiting for apples to drop. His hunger bar had already plummeted to five points. Watching the leaves slowly vanish, he sighed in frustration and continued forward.

Just after pushing through a thicket, he spotted a four-by-four shack in the distance. The exterior was built from birch planks, with a birch door at the front. The structure looked like an oversized telephone booth. Standing in front of the door was a man wearing a tattered, dull-colored robe. The man was tall, thin, and slightly hunched, looking to be in his forties or fifties, and he was holding the leads of two llamas.

Li Chengdong approached curiously and asked politely, "Excuse me, sir, could you tell me where this is?"

The man turned and shot him a glance, his eyes filled with disdain, before returning to tidying his wares. "A stack of cobblestone or ten emeralds for one furnace. You buying?"

"A furnace?" Li Chengdong’s mouth twitched. *What a profiteer.* If Chen Fan hadn't told him that a furnace could be crafted with eight pieces of cobblestone, anyone who didn't know better would have been royally ripped off.

"Besides the furnace, do you have any food for sale?" Li Chengdong was hungry; he already knew how to craft the other items, so there was no need to buy them.

The man looked up at Li Chengdong and waved his hand impatiently. "No. If you aren't buying, get lost. Don't waste my time."

Li Chengdong was infuriated by the man's vile attitude, but he was so starved that he couldn't afford to lash out. If he sustained any injury, he wouldn't be able to recover his health. Gritting his teeth, he decided that finding food was the priority. He turned and left the shack, continuing on his way.

As Li Chengdong pondered his situation, several messages on his constantly active operation panel caught his attention.

"I found a native who actually does barter trades! One stack of cobblestone for one loaf of bread."

"I'm jealous! I met a native too, but he doesn't trade food; he wants ten diamonds for one emerald."

"Are these natives just trying to scam us? Is a stack of cobblestone for one loaf of bread really worth it? The cost to mine that is more than the value!"

"Just chop a few trees; if you're lucky, an apple drops. Isn't it easy to survive?"

"We were workhorses back on Blue Star, and now we're just trying to survive by moving less."

Looking at the world chat, Li Chengdong realized that these merchants were quite common in this world. That was fine; knowing there was another way to obtain food, he stopped fretting over the issue.

As he walked, he heard the faint sound of babbling water. A surge of joy welled up in him, and he hurried toward the sound, discovering a clear, small stream. He rushed to the bank, knelt down, and cupped his hands to drink deeply, temporarily quenching his thirst.

Although the stream provided limited hydration, it was better than nothing. His thirst meter, which had been blue, turned yellow—likely because the water wasn't entirely clean, which meant his thirst would deplete faster under such conditions.

After drinking, he stood up and looked around, trying to find something to eat. Suddenly, he spotted some wild fruit hanging from a tree nearby. He approached the tree cautiously, and after much effort, managed to pick a few. Although the fruit looked sour and astringent, to him, it was like a gourmet feast.