Chapter 26: The Enchanted Book, Chen Fan in Peril

Before the four of them had taken more than a couple of steps forward, a dozen or so skeleton monsters suddenly burst out from the darkness.

Seeing this, Chen Fan fought while carefully observing the timing of the skeletons’ appearances, deducing that the spawn cage wasn’t too far away.

They began to cautiously advance. At a corner, they finally discovered a 9-by-9-by-9 stone enclosure covered in moss, with a softly glowing spawn cage in the center.

Around the cage, numerous skeleton monsters had already gathered, bows drawn and aimed at them.

“I’ll draw their attention. You guys quickly plant the torches to seal it off,” Chen Fan instructed.

Without hesitation, he deliberately exposed his position and struck one of the skeleton monsters, then dashed toward one side of the cave, successfully attracting the majority of the skeletons’ focus.

“Don’t go...” Yang Keli wanted to stop him, but it was too late. Helplessly, she decided to first eliminate the remaining dozen or so skeletons before rushing to help.

She charged forward first, with Rem and Ram following closely, engaging in a fierce battle with the skeleton monsters.

Rem seized the right moment and planted a torch atop the spawn cage.

Instantly, the cage’s spawn frequency slowed. Rem quickly planted torches on all four sides, completely sealing it.

After a fierce fight, they finally cleared out the skeleton monsters around the cage.

Yang Keli and the others, without delay, ran toward the direction Chen Fan had gone.

As Rem and Ram ran, they suddenly sensed something, their pupils widening instantly.

“This is bad, Master is in danger.”

At that moment, Chen Fan was trapped in a dead-end alley by more than twenty skeleton monsters.

The skeletons relentlessly shot arrows at his iron shield, creating a constant “thud, thud, thud” sound.

His right upper arm had already been struck by two arrows, the pain preventing him from lifting his arm, forcing him to hide behind the shield.

Meanwhile, his health had dropped to only six points, and the shield’s durability was rapidly decreasing; it wouldn’t be long before it broke.

Chen Fan had wanted to use a round stone block to block the arrows, but as soon as he reached to place it, his arm was struck again.

He never expected that the direction he fled to was a dead end.

“What kind of situation is this!” he groaned, clutching his arm in agony, tears welling in his eyes.

Having been in this world for some time, it was the first time he’d been hit by a skeleton’s arrow—and it hurt far more than he imagined.

Just as despair was setting in, Yang Keli and the others arrived just in time.

Some skeletons noticed the three approaching and aimed their bows at them.

“Master, we’re here!” Ram shouted loudly, bringing hope to Chen Fan.

Hearing their voices, Chen Fan’s heart lifted. Gritting his teeth through the pain in his right arm, he switched to his diamond sword with his right hand and swung at the nearest skeleton.

But due to his injured arm, his movements were slow and his attack power greatly reduced, dealing only ten points of damage.

As time passed, the number of skeleton monsters gradually dwindled, and when the last one fell, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The ground was littered with bones, arrows, some experience points, and a few gold coins.

Rem and Ram remained vigilant by their side, ensuring no new threats appeared.

Chen Fan slumped to the ground, gasping heavily. “Good thing you arrived just in time.”

Yang Keli hurriedly took out a healing potion, tears welling uncontrollably in her eyes. Pouring the potion onto his wound, she scolded him,

“You crazy fool, you were practically risking your life just now. You almost got yourself killed, do you understand that?”

Chen Fan gently patted Yang Keli’s head and smiled, “It’s nothing. I didn’t expect it to be a dead end either.”

“Hmph, and you can still smile,” Yang Keli rolled her eyes. “If you keep playing like this, you’re doomed sooner or later.”

“Hehe, what’s there to fear? I’ve got you all with me.”

“What if you were alone? Would you dare play like this then?”

“Of course not. When I’m alone, I’m cautious.” Chen Fan’s eyes glimmered with determination. “But strength lies in numbers, so you have to dare to try. Otherwise, how else can you grow stronger and survive in this world?”

“Go ahead and play around then.” Yang Keli pinched his waist sharply. “The healing potions are all gone. You’re on your own now.”

With that, she turned and walked away, ignoring Chen Fan completely.

Watching her retreating figure, Chen Fan rubbed his waist helplessly. “Why do girls always pinch waists when they’re mad? Is this some universal thing?”

He then tried moving his arm and was pleasantly surprised to find the stabbing pain had vanished, leaving only a faint ache.

Chen Fan stood up, dusted himself off, and with Ram followed toward the spawn cage.

Upon arrival, they saw Yang Keli opening another chest and taking items out.

“Keli, what’s in the two chests?”

“Just five apples, ten iron ingots, an enchantment book, and two healing potions.”

Chen Fan’s face lit up upon hearing about the enchantment book. “What kind of enchantment is it?”

“It’s Double Drops 1,” Yang Keli replied, tossing the items to Chen Fan except for the healing potions.

Then the four of them began repairing the terrain around the spawn cage—filling in where needed, digging where necessary.

Half an hour later, the ground around the spawn cage was level and tidy, fully exposing the entire structure.

After finishing, Chen Fan removed the torches from the spawn cage one by one. Instantly, the cage resumed operation, spawning skeleton monsters anew.

These skeletons would only appear within the designated 9-by-9-by-9 space. Chen Fan had deliberately left a small 1-by-1 hole in each corner for him to stand and repair.

Thus, a simple but effective mob farm was completed. When time allowed, they could build a full mob tower to yield a steady stream of gold coins.

Satisfied with the perfect spawn point, Chen Fan nodded, and the group started farming mobs by standing at the holes.

In this world, the spawn cage produced twice as many mobs as in Minecraft, spawning up to twelve at once.

Of course, to increase mob spawns, the area around the cage could be expanded.

But for now, Chen Fan had no plans to enlarge it, feeling that a moderate supply of bones was sufficient, avoiding unnecessary expenditure of manpower and resources.

...

In another forest, torches were planted all around.

Behind them stood a man-made shelter—simple but functional, enough to shield from wind and rain.

At this moment, four people were gathered in front of the shelter, gripping stone axes, vigorously chopping at surrounding trees. The sharp “thump, thump” of their axes echoed through the woods.

Chen Fan recognized all of them. Among them was a slightly chubby young man wearing glasses—one of the good brothers he had been desperately searching for, Xu Xinjie.

Previously, Zhao Gang and his sister had been chased by a spider and were in grave danger.

Just then, Li Chengdong was walking upstream along a creek and spotted the perilous scene. Without hesitation, he rushed to rescue the siblings.

Xu Xinjie had been found inside a man-made cave.

At that time, his condition was dire—only two health points and one hunger point left, utterly weak.

If not for Li Chengdong and his companions passing by and discovering him, he might have already died.

After replenishing some food and restoring his health, he gradually recovered.

The four of them finally decided to band together and survive in this harsh world.