Chapter 17: The First Step in Gathering Rainbow Vegetables—To Take or Not to Take?

Xi Yan smiled at the old man and replied, “Don’t you remember what just happened?”

The old man looked at Xi Yan in confusion and shook his head.

Xi Yan pressed his lips together and merely smiled, choosing not to answer. The old man didn’t continue with that topic either, instead welcoming the two warmly once again.

“Come in quickly, the food is ready.”

Without hesitation, Xi Yan followed the old man into the house, with Qu Ya close behind.

The table inside was laden with dishes, but they were all made from green peppers—no other vegetables, nothing else.

Though Xi Yan wasn’t picky, having every dish consist of a single vegetable was admittedly a bit much.

Nevertheless, Xi Yan hadn’t planned on eating the food laid out. He sat beside the table, pretending to be ready for a meal, but he simply wanted to speak with the old man.

“How long have you lived here?” he asked.

The old man, already eating, paused and put down his bowl and chopsticks, thinking seriously before answering, “I can’t quite remember, but it’s been over ten years since that monster Ayuan appeared in town.”

With that, the old man resumed eating. He didn’t urge Xi Yan or Qu Ya to eat, and neither of them touched a single bite.

Having witnessed the old man’s terrifying side the previous night, Xi Yan felt no need to continue pretending. After all, this was merely a scenario; the “people” here were just NPCs.

Xi Yan turned to Qu Ya and said, “Do you have any biscuits or something like that?”

Qu Ya was taken aback, glancing awkwardly at the old man, but the latter seemed indifferent, continuing to eat as if nothing else mattered.

It appeared that unless spoken to, the old man would eat without pause until he finished.

Qu Ya frowned in puzzlement, then retrieved two boxes of biscuits from the control panel.

There was a “backpack” option in the control panel, allowing storage of various items. However, if one encountered a place where the panel couldn’t be used, it would be disastrous.

Some survivors prepared a physical backpack as a precaution, though this was rare; most simply relied on their digital “backpack.”

Xi Yan took the biscuits and began eating, all the while observing the old man’s reaction.

But the old man showed no response. Driven by curiosity, Xi Yan suddenly asked, “Do you like green peppers so much?”

Only after being addressed did the old man look up and reply, “Yes.”

Then he continued eating.

Xi Yan said nothing more, quietly finished his last bite of biscuit, and stood up to walk to the window.

Qu Ya remained seated, watching to see what Xi Yan intended to do.

At the window, Xi Yan saw that the neighboring house was also dining. He could vaguely make out that the survivors there were eating their own provisions.

The host in that house was a young woman, who, like the old man, paid no mind to whether the survivors ate or not, simply consuming her own food.

Recalling that they needed to collect seven rainbow-colored foods to pass, Xi Yan’s gaze shifted to the table.

He had glimpsed into the next house—it was a potato house, and the food on the table was all potatoes.

Were the foods always matching the house?

Xi Yan left the window and went to the door, opening it to look out onto the street.

Carrots, potatoes, green peppers, celery... poisonous mushrooms? Eggplants, that blue mushroom—it was clearly poisonous, leaving Xi Yan speechless.

But the whole street was painted in these vegetable colors, missing only red.

Red...

Xi Yan’s eyes landed on the tomato house at the street’s end—the residence of Ayuan.

Could it be…?

“What are you thinking about?” Qu Ya came over, following Xi Yan’s gaze, but saw nothing strange.

After all, this vegetable town was odd enough.

“I’ve found the rainbow vegetables, but how do we acquire them? What counts as acquiring?”

Qu Ya rolled his eyes, but didn’t come up with a solution.

“You two finished eating quite quickly. Let me tidy up,” the old man said, smiling as he cleared the table.

Once he had cleaned the table, a fresh green pepper suddenly appeared on it, as if out of nowhere.

Xi Yan and Qu Ya exchanged glances, but neither touched the green pepper.

The old man returned, setting three glasses of water on the table, completely ignoring the green pepper, which struck Xi Yan as peculiar.

After careful consideration, Xi Yan asked, “Sir, your green peppers are very fresh. Where do you usually store them?”

The old man paused, seeming not to understand, but answered nonetheless, “All in the kitchen. They must stay in the kitchen—if they leave it, within a minute they turn into green liquid and can’t be eaten.”

With that answer, Xi Yan was sure—the old man could not see the green pepper on the table; this must be one of the required rainbow vegetables.

But how to take it?

Qu Ya, understanding Xi Yan’s intention, immediately sat beside the old man and said, “Can you take me to see the kitchen?”

Without hesitation, the old man stood up, smiling kindly at Qu Ya. In this moment, he was nothing like his nocturnal self.

Seeing the old man led away, Xi Yan reached for the green pepper, but stopped just short, slowly withdrawing his hand.

Could it really be so simple?

Doubt gnawed at Xi Yan. At that moment, he noticed movement in the house opposite.

There, a survivor reached out and took the potato from the table, which eased Xi Yan’s worries.

He again reached for the green pepper, though a faint unease lingered.

“Xi Yan!!”

Just as his hand was about to touch the green pepper, Qu Ya’s panicked voice rang from the kitchen.

Xi Yan immediately withdrew his hand and hurried toward the kitchen.

At the doorway, he discovered the kitchen was immense—enough to accommodate ten whales.

Inside, Qu Ya and the old man stood facing each other.

Qu Ya had activated a bow and arrow card; the bow was entirely red and flickering with red flames, though the fire did not harm him.

Opposite him, the old man had transformed completely.

He had become a Lost One.

And not just any—this Lost One was missing both arms, with a long tongue.

Drooling, the Lost One grinned at Qu Ya, saying, “Today, none of you will leave! Hahaha!”