Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Chapter 27 - 27: Copper Treasure Chest, Underground World?

At this moment, Xu Xinʼs heart was still pounding. On the fourth day in this world, Xu Xin finally experienced for the first time what it felt like to brush past Death God; it was not a pleasant feeling.

He sprang up from the ground at the fastest speed possible, grabbed the stunned Keke sitting on the ground, and quickly moved ten meters away, hiding behind a tree while watching the vine ahead, which now formed an ”n” shape. He took out a stone spear from his backpack, staying highly alert while checking the map.

He was afraid there wasnʼt just this one vine, fearing that other plants might attack him again.

After waiting for ten minutes, the vine that had entwined and attacked him remained motionless.

”Mmm~” Keke whimpered weakly in his arms.

Xu Xin swallowed and tightly gripped the stone spear in his hand.

Initially, because there were no red dots around, Xu Xin thought he wouldnʼt need the stone spear. It was too long and cumbersome in hand, so he put it in his backpack. He never expected such an incident to occur.

He approached slowly, and the vine still didnʼt move. Xu Xin kept his eyes on the map and reached out with the stone spear to stab at the vine.

”Crack!” To Xu Xinʼs surprise, the previously tough and strong vine seemed to have dried out, pierced straight through with one stab. Cracks began to spread from the pierced point, and a small portion of the vine fractured and fell to the ground.

”Whatʼs going on?” Xu Xin was puzzled as to why the vine, which had appeared incredibly tough, suddenly turned into onion rings.

Thatʼs when he noticed the place where the vine emerged from, essentially the root of the vine. Since the part that emerged was very long, it seemed to have brought a swollen root out with it.

”Could it be...”

Xu Xin jabbed the root, which resembled a sweet potato, with the stone spear in his hand.

The exterior of the vineʼs root cracked open, revealing a hint of bronze color to Xu Xinʼs eyes.

”Calcium oxide, the location of this treasure chest is hellish!” Xu Xin couldnʼt help but utter some profanity.

Indeed, stuffed inside the root of the vine was the bronze treasure chest Xu Xin had been searching for.

At this time, part of the bronze treasure chest peeked out from the fallen root of the dry vine. The coppery metallic texture emerging from within the vine created a strong sense of discord for Xu Xin.

Mustered up his courage, he jabbed once more at the vine, which had now become as fragile as an egg roll. Seeing no further reaction, he began to frantically attack, turning the entire vine into debris on the ground. The complete bronze treasure chest was finally revealed.

As the mysterious voice had mentioned before, the bronze treasure chest had no keyhole and should be able to open directly.

But Xu Xin became cautious.

After the ambush by the vine, he was now quite on edge. He seriously suspected that something dangerous might be inside the chest, ready to attack him once he opened it.

On the map, the red dot representing the vine had disappeared, and there were no other red dots around, yet Xu Xin still felt uneasy. After all, before the vine appeared, there had been no red dots either, and it wasnʼt until the vine was about to emerge from the ground that the red dot slowly appeared.

Why would the red dot representing the vine slowly appear?

Could it be that this vine had drilled all the way up from deep underground?

Xu Xin suddenly remembered the giant anaconda in the lake beside his treehouse, which also caused its red dot to gradually fade and disappear once it dove into the lake.

What secret lay hidden underground?

Why were all these bizarre creatures, defying common logic, emerging from underground?

Xu Xin suddenly felt uneasy about being on the ground. He was inclined to return to his treehouse. Being ten meters high in the air, and particularly with his third level being some sixteen or seventeen meters high, provided him with a sense of security.

Wait!

On the first day of entering this world, that mysterious voice had warned them, ”Remember, never abandon your treehouse; itʼs your only refuge,” emphasizing it multiple times afterward.

Now Xu Xin had sensed the danger lurking underground.

Xu Xin felt he had discovered something, but not completely.

Forget it, time to focus on the treasure chest.

Like a startled bird, Xu Xin circled around to the back of the treasure chest. He suspected something might spring out of the chest, giving him time to react by opening it from the back.

But he was overthinking it. There was nothing extra inside the treasure chest.

After opening the treasure chest and seeing that nothing jumped out, Xu Xin finally looked inside.

The topmost item inside the chest was a bag of something. From the looks of it, is it fertilizer?

[Natural Organic Fertilizer (Green): Fertilizer that can transform barren land (White) into ordinary land (Green) and accelerate plant growth on green land, with 50 portions remaining.]

A fertilizer that can alter the fertility of the soil!

The survivors who planted their treehouses in barren areas could finally have some hope. Xu Xin had previously noticed that soil could not be traded, so this fertilizer should be their only means to improve soil fertility at present.

It can accelerate the growth of plants on ordinary soil? It doesnʼt seem too useful for him, though.

Casually placing this bag of natural organic fertilizer into his backpack, the contents beneath in the treasure chest appeared.

”Birch seeds? Pine seeds?” Xu Xin picked up two bags of seeds.

[Birch Seed: Can grow into a birch tree in just 10 days, and felling the tree yields fine wood]

[Pine Seed: Can grow into a pine tree in just 10 days, and felling the tree yields logs]

New tree species, new types of wood, new resources!

Xu Xin felt a bit lucky to have found this treasure chest. The mysterious voice had indicated that the resources in this chest were limited resources; if he missed them, he might lose the chance to obtain such resources and perhaps could only buy from others.

Using them together with the fertilizer, he could quickly gain new materials.

This chest proved to be considerate, with compatible resources provided.

”Mmm!” Keke clamored at the edge of the chest, its short little paws pointing inside the chest.

Underneath the two bags of seeds lay a silver compass and a silver key.

The key should be for the silver treasure chest, but what about this compass? Xu Xin picked up the compass.

[Silver Chest Compass (Green): Spin the needle to determine the general direction of the silver chest, with a two-hour use interval.]

”Whoa, this is a great item!”

Picking up the compass, Xu Xin was about to use it when he suddenly thought, if itʼs about determining the general direction, wouldnʼt it be better to use it back at his treehouse? The treehouse was located in the center of the entire area, which would allow him to maximize the narrowing of the search range.

”Keke, letʼs go back to the treehouse.”

”Mmm!”

Returning to the treehouse, it was already high noon.

Xu Xin had left the treehouse around nine in the morning, and now it was already one in the afternoon. It had only taken four hours to find the first treasure chest, and Xu Xin was quite satisfied with his speed.

He brought the bronze treasure chest back with him. After all, it was a bronze tool, and perhaps, in the future, he might be able to disassemble it into materials.

Sitting down on the chair, Xu Xin immediately took out the silver compass and placed it on the table, then spun the needle.

The needle felt heavy as he spun it. The spun needle did not gradually slow down; instead, it spun faster and faster, finally letting out a crisp ”ding” before it slowly began to slow.

Ultimately, the needleʼs direction stopped at the west of the treehouse.

”Huh, isnʼt that the direction I came from?”

The west, precisely in the direction of the stream.