Chapter 29: Discovering the Salt Mine, The Marvelous Uses of Carrion

Chen Fan halted his steps, carefully examining the two passageways.

The left corridor appeared narrower, while the right one was wider but seemed to be swept by occasional chilling drafts in the darkness.

At that moment, several zombies with green skin, clad in blue trousers and wielding pickaxes, moved stiffly forward, approaching Chen Fan and his companions step by step.

They emitted low, hoarse groans, reminiscent of the roars of famished beasts.

Hearing the sounds, Chen Fan swiftly drew his diamond sword and charged at the zombies.

Naturally, Yang Keli was unwilling to be outdone; she raised her diamond sword and struck fiercely at the nearest zombie.

Each zombie had 40 health points, while the diamond sword dealt 14 damage. With Chen Fan’s "Monster Slayer" title, it only took two strikes to fell one.

As long as he wasn’t surrounded by a horde, Chen Fan’s life was hardly in danger.

Just as he finished off one zombie, another surged forward.

One after another, the influx was overwhelming, yet with his shield, the damage inflicted by the zombies was negligible.

Whenever a zombie scratched at him, Chen Fan would block with his shield and then swiftly thrust his sword.

Sometimes, luck favored him, striking the zombies’ weak spots for instant kills.

After clearing the zombies, Chen Fan watched in astonishment as Yang Keli’s attack speed and movements were extraordinarily rapid.

“???” he thought.

Was this really the speed a normal person could muster?

Her pace was as brisk as Huang Shaotian’s rapid-fire speech.

He had never seen her move this fast before. Since arriving in this world, not only had her personality changed, but her hand movements had quickened as well.

Chen Fan didn’t realize it then, but it was likely due to the many monsters she had slain the previous night; as she grew more practiced and found the rhythm, her actions naturally became swifter.

While Chen Fan stood dumbfounded, Yang Keli finished off the last few zombies and returned with a bright smile.

“Why are you so formidable? I’m truly impressed!” Chen Fan teased.

Yang Keli gently brushed back her silky hair, and bathed in the flickering firelight, she appeared exceptionally enchanting.

“Hehe, it’s nothing special, just a trivial sword technique,” she replied modestly.

“Why not teach me? I want to learn,” Chen Fan said, leaning closer to whisper in her ear.

This casual gesture caused Yang Keli’s cheeks to flush faintly; her eyes darted away, her heart pounding like a startled fawn.

Her reaction made Chen Fan furrow his brow slightly.

Recently, Yang Keli’s unusual behavior had awakened some suspicion in him.

Though straightforward and somewhat blunt, Chen Fan was no fool.

If his suspicions were correct, he had no time for romantic distractions—after all, this was a perilous world filled with danger.

No one could guarantee survival here.

Patting her head, Chen Fan said, “Alright, no more teasing. Let’s focus on mining and gathering gold so we can survive well in this world.”

Yang Keli merely replied with a soft “Mm,” but then seemed to recall something.

“Chen Fan, do you think this world might have three great temples?”

“Maybe. I’ve speculated there might be places like the Twilight Forest or the Nether,” Chen Fan answered.

“That’s impossible!” Yang Keli exclaimed, incredulous. “Building portals would mean traveling to other worlds.”

Chen Fan shrugged. “Why not try? Let’s just treat this like an extreme survival game.”

Seeing his resolve, Yang Keli ceased her questioning. Whatever he decided, she would follow.

This world was too mysterious and unfathomable; nothing could be explained by science alone.

After the brief exchange, Chen Fan and Yang Keli continued exploring the mine shafts, easily dispatching any monsters they encountered.

After some time, they reached a corner where Chen Fan’s peripheral vision caught a patch of white crystals on a rock surface.

“Salt deposit?” he muttered, surprised.

He switched his iron pickaxe for an enchanted diamond one and began mining.

Luck was on their side, triggering a fortune enchantment that yielded extra salt.

With this salt, they no longer needed to rely on the dangerous sea salt.

Moreover, the salt didn’t require extraction; placing multiple salt crystals in the same or adjacent slots would combine them into small pinches.

With small pinches of salt, a variety of foods could be crafted—simplest among them being salt paired with eggs.

The pair pressed on, unearthing plentiful iron, redstone, and coal deposits along the way.

After mining a patch of iron ore, Chen Fan’s eyes lit up—hidden behind the iron was a cluster of emeralds.

He collected them all in one sweep, adding five emeralds to his inventory—a delightful surprise.

Emeralds were rare in this Minecraft world, and in one mod, they could even be crafted into seeds.

With acceleration torches, experience farming was incredibly efficient.

Emeralds could also be traded with wandering merchants and villagers.

Previously, one wandering merchant whom Chen Fan defeated required emeralds for trading.

If fortune smiled upon them next time, encountering a food merchant would mean one emerald could buy a full set of food items.

Securing the emeralds, Chen Fan took out some cooked potatoes to replenish their hunger.

With farmland and a skeleton spawner in place, food supplies were no longer a concern.

Suddenly, Chen Fan conceived a way to make money—selling surplus food for gold coins.

If wandering merchants could run shops, why couldn’t he?

His prices were affordable and his variety abundant.

Survivors had no reason not to choose him over wandering merchants.

Some already knew the crafting recipes, but others who hadn’t checked the chat channel remained unaware.

Besides, mining consumed far more hunger points than killing monsters.

The four iron axes he had listed for sale had just been traded—one for gold coins and the others for food.

Receiving the traded items, Chen Fan’s smile broadened uncontrollably.

He had shared the crafting methods for free at the start for this very reason.

After all, there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world, and now he knew his choice had been wise.

With that thought, Chen Fan suddenly said, “Keli, give me all the ores you have mined. I’ll head home for a bit.”

Yang Keli complied, and Chen Fan quickly made his way back.

Along the journey, his mind buzzed with plans for when he returned, unaware that this would bring about a whole new scene.

Back home, he placed the iron ores into four furnaces and then retrieved two stacks of rotten flesh from the miscellaneous chest.

He put one stack of rotten flesh into a furnace with a stack of coal beneath it.

Just as Chen Fan had anticipated, the furnace ignited and began burning.

Seeing this, he was filled with joy.

“In this world, rotten flesh can also be turned into leather,” he said, placing the other stack into another furnace.

He planned to sell some defensive gear and craft stone weapons and tools—items that were currently in high demand among survivors.