Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

Chapter 746: 746 Chapter Bell World (Part 1)

“Doggie! Doggie!”

One call after another roused Doggie from his sleep.

He turned over on the hardwood bed, rubbed his eyes, and scrambled to his feet.

Licking his lips, Doggie felt something was off.

Last night, he had a very long and strange dream, but now he couldn’t recall any of it.

The calls from outside the house forced Doggie to stop trying to remember and hurriedly put on his outer garment to go out.

...

A middle-aged man was sharpening a knife in the courtyard. Hearing Doggie’s footsteps, he spoke without looking up, “Breakfast is on the table. After you eat, go work in the fields. Today, your dad is going out hunting with the Hunting Team.”

“Yes!”

Doggie unconsciously responded, then felt something was wrong again.

But he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.

“What are you dawdling for?”

The rugged-looking middle-aged man scolded, “Don’t miss the time, our next year’s food supply depends on those three mu of land!”

Panic struck Doggie’s heart, and he quickly ran back inside the house.

On the small table, there was a bowl of boiled yams and a dish of pickled vegetables.

Taking a yam, he skilfully peeled off the coarse skin and, with the tang of the pickled vegetables, wolfed it down.

As his rumbling stomach was gradually filled, many past memories began to surface in Doggie’s mind.

His name was Chen Ergou. He had just turned fifteen this year. His mother had passed away early, and he had been living with his father, Chen Qiaoshan, ever since.

Little Stone Village, where he and his father lived, had over a hundred households and four to five hundred villagers—it was quite a large village.

Chen Qiaoshan was a member of the village’s Hunting Team, often venturing deep into the mist to hunt Desolate Beasts.

Chen Ergou, on the other hand, started working in the fields when he was five or six years old.

Now, he was a qualified farmer.

Stuffing the last yam from the bowl into his mouth, Chen Ergou swallowed it hastily, then quickly cleaned up and picked up the hoe resting in the corner of the wall and left the house.

Chen Qiaoshan was waiting for him at the door. Without saying much, father and son headed towards the village entrance.

The houses in Little Stone Village were all built from large blocks of stone, with gaps filled with yellow mud mixed with sand and stone, and the roofs topped with stone slabs—quite primitive and rugged.

Though these stone houses had poor lighting and ventilation, they were sturdy, firm, and safe.

In the early morning, the whole village was enveloped in a thin mist. Looking up, the sky was gray, and the sun could only be seen as an outline.

But this already counted as good weather!

At the village entrance, they met the fully equipped Hunting Team.

“Qiao Shan, brother!”

Someone called out to Chen Qiaoshan, “Come over here!”

“Coming!”

Chen Qiaoshan waved his hand and then, touching Chen Ergou’s head, said, “Doggie, go home after you finish your work. Don’t run around the village. Wait for me to come back, understand?”

“Mm!”

Chen Ergou nodded vigorously.

Ever since he became sensible, he had never set foot outside Little Stone Village.

Inside the village was safe enough, but the world outside, shrouded in mist, was dangerous for those unfamiliar with it. Venturing out recklessly almost guaranteed not returning alive.

Because Fierce Beasts roamed the mist, consuming people without leaving bones behind!

Unlike other mischievous children in the village, Chen Ergou didn’t have that intense curiosity and always remembered his father’s warnings, never doing anything rebellious.

Carrying the heavy stone hoe, Chen Ergou made his way to the village’s eastern fields.

The arable land of Little Stone Village was all here—over five hundred mu in total. Apart from a few large families, each household had around three mu on average.

A family’s basic grain supply had to come from these three mu of land.

Chen Ergou was already surrounded by numerous men and women, young and old, engaged in farming activities like tilling, weeding, fertilizing, and watering when he arrived.

Everyone was so busy that nobody paid attention to his arrival.

Chen Ergou made his way to his own field, and seeing the weeds that had sprouted overnight, he spat on his rough palms before grabbing the hoe handle and starting to work.

The weeds would compete with the yams for nutrients, growing fast and being notoriously difficult to remove, quite a nuisance!

Chen Ergou, being an experienced farmer and young and strong, managed to clear all the weeds in the field in no time after a period of hard work.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling a sense of satisfaction well up inside him.

Next, he needed to water the yams.

Although yams are drought-tolerant, they grow best when there is plenty of water, and with careful cultivation, one mu could produce several hundred jin of usable tubers, which were a daily staple for the villagers.

Therefore, it was necessary to water them twice a day, morning and evening.

At that moment, Chen Ergou unconsciously rubbed his fingers together, his thumb, middle finger, and little finger forming a strange gesture.

Hmm?

Chen Ergou, having completed the gesture, suddenly found himself at a loss.

He didn’t understand why he had made such a gesture. If it was just a whim, it wouldn’t feel so familiar and effortless!

Unable to help himself, Chen Ergou scratched his head, feeling like he was going mad.

Something had been off since he woke up this morning!

The fifteen-year-old boy hit his face hard, and in a flurry, he grabbed a bucket and headed to the river to fetch water.

Near the farmland, there was a small river with clear water that never dried up all year round, which was the most important water source for Little Stone Village.

Chen Ergou filled his bucket to the brim at the river’s edge, but just as he was about to head back, he sensed something odd.

He spun around abruptly but saw nothing but the mist floating over the surface of the river.

Seriously, I’m going crazy!

Shaking his head, Chen Ergou hoisted the heavy bucket and started the trek back.

“Doggie!”

But just halfway there, he was stopped by several youths roughly his age.

“Give me the bucket!”

The leader of the youths, burly and aggressive in appearance, triggered an instinctive fear in Chen Ergou, who subconsciously thought about handing over the bucket.

However, he suddenly remembered that he had been forcefully relieved of his bucket by the person in front of him before, and although it was always returned, it had delayed his watering schedule and negatively affected the yam cultivation.

Which led to a decreased yield!

Chen Ergou pulled back his hands, blurting out, “No, you’ll have to fetch your own water!”

The burly youth’s eyes widened in shock.

He had been bullying Chen Ergou for more than just a day or two, and today was the first time he saw Ergou resisting him, which felt like an insult.

“You’ll give it to me one way or another!”

The burly youth clenched his fists menacingly, “Or I’ll beat you up!”

But Chen Ergou had made up his mind and picked up the bucket, attempting to walk past him.

Enraged, the burly youth swung at Chen Ergou without a second thought.

He had just learned some martial arts moves from an elder at home a couple of days ago and used them instinctively, landing a punch right on Chen Ergou’s head.

Bang!

Chen Ergou didn’t dodge in time and took the punch squarely, his head spinning, his vision blurring, and a severe pain seeming to trigger something in his brain.

Suddenly, countless memories burst forth, taking over his mind.

His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud!

———

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