Big Charles said gloomily, “I haven’t joined a gang…”

　　Lame Old Man burst out laughing, “Then just kneel here and wait for them to come over and kowtow to you! If you’re too thin-skinned to ask, I’ll say a word for you for the sake of all the mushrooms you’ve brought me.”

　　Are you kidding me!

　　The regret and fear that had just sprouted in Big Charles’s heart were instantly swept away by anger. “I’d rather starve or die penniless than join!”

　　Lame Old Man chuckled, “Kid, how much money do you have left?”

　　Big Charles was startled, patted his pocket, “Thirty coins left, why?”

　　Lame Old Man reached out his hand, “Hand it all over! You’re a dead man anyway, might as well give all your money to me before you go!”

　　This old fox! Big Charles was so angry he couldn’t speak!

　　Lame Old Man laughed heartily, “If you’re afraid to even give up thirty coins, it means you still have hope. And you dare say you’re not afraid of dying?”

　　At this, Lame Old Man’s expression turned grim. “Kneel down and beg honestly, and you’ll have a way out! In the face of real power, pride is worth nothing.”

　　To hell with kneeling and begging! What kind of power is it to keep borrowing money with tricks!

　　Big Charles was so furious he laughed, “I’ve got a cart that’s worth even more, Lame Old Man, want it?”

　　Lame Old Man’s expression turned strange, “If you dare give it, I dare take it!”

　　Big Charles was taken aback—what’s with that look? Fine, so you’re a hidden master, huh? I’m going all in, even if I mess up and have to delete my account!

　　Big Charles gritted his teeth, took out the remaining copper coins and the pouch with medicine and sweat cloths. “Here! Take it all! Lame Old Man, it’s all yours!”

　　Lame Old Man laughed and tossed the pouch back, “Don’t need that, but the cart is worth a few months’ wages to me! While you’re at it, go up the mountain and tell Little William to bring back ten pounds of mushrooms for the festival. You know Little William, right?”

　　Big Charles replied blankly, “The one who chops firewood, sings the crudest mountain songs.”

　　Lame Old Man waved cheerfully, “Go on, go on!”

　　Still alive, but all the money’s gone…

　　Big Charles felt completely drained. “A-and then?”

　　Lame Old Man said impatiently, “Then you can go die wherever you want!”

　　What the hell! Gave away everything I had and didn’t even trigger some hidden quest? Was I… just scammed?

　　Big Charles truly regretted it. “Lame Old Man, I… I don’t…”

　　Lame Old Man’s face turned cold, “Don’t what? You made a promise, you keep it, or I’ll kill you right now!”

　　Big Charles was stunned on the spot! He’d only been acting out of anger before, not really wanting to die. After all, as long as you’re alive, no matter how hard or bitter, you don’t really want to die. But now, after messing up like this, he really did feel like dying!

　　Just then, a thunderous, unified chant came from the city: “Today’s hard work, tomorrow’s victory! As long as we don’t die from working, we’ll work ourselves to death…”

　　Big Charles glanced over—it was that zero-spender at the front of the cart, leading the chant.

　　Big Charles wanted nothing more than to avoid them, and was even more afraid of being mocked.

　　Run! Now that he had no cart, he felt light as a feather.

　　But after running a few hundred steps, Big Charles could still hear laughter from the city gate in the distance. That group was gathered around Lame Old Man asking questions. Clearly, the wheelbarrow left there had caught their attention.

　　Big Charles felt like he was having a breakdown! Why did I transmigrate to this world anyway? Was it to slap my former arrogant self in the face?

　　It’s just too bitter to have transmigrated and achieved nothing. Not only had he never met Lady Zhurong, he hadn’t even seen any proper Three Kingdoms generals, or even a single monster. He made up his mind: after delivering the message, he’d head straight for the deepest mountains—at least see a monster before it’s all over. And… hopefully, this transmigration was just a dream…

　　Big Charles wandered in a daze, running and stopping for six or seven miles, until he reached the firewood mountain. The sound of axes rang out, and mountain songs echoed as always.

　　“…Sister whispers sweet words to brother, sister’s fair hand lets brother touch, ah le le, ah le le, ah le ah le le…”

　　Judging by the sound, that’s him!

　　It was only here that Big Charles truly realized that among firewood, rice, oil, and salt, firewood was actually the most important. Because the consumption of firewood for burning far outpaced the consumption of grain, a city of tens of thousands needed so much firewood that it really tested the surrounding environment. City dwellers would go out to collect firewood whenever they had free time. For example, the noble lady Miss Xiahou was carried off by Zhang Fei to be his wife while she was out gathering firewood. So basically, the area around any big city was barren.

　　Because firewood was so important, there were dedicated woodcutters. Dead trees and old branches could be cut, but not whole trees or saplings. Once an area was mostly cut, the mountain would be closed off and they’d move to a newly grown one.

　　One of Big Charles’s previous jobs was transporting the firewood they chopped. Among the players, there were even rumors that these woodcutters, who always carried blades and had ranger tattoos, were actually hidden masters of swordsmanship…

　　But now, Big Charles was so disheartened he didn’t care about any rumors. The real secrets never get out; what spreads are just setups. And here he was, about to die, not even sure if he’d ever been part of any setup.

　　Big Charles climbed up to the hill where Little William was chopping wood and listened blankly as he finished his song.

　　Little William was a sunny, strong young man in his twenties, with a crudely drawn green dragon and broadsword tattooed on his arm, like something a middle schooler would poke in with pen ink. Normally, Big Charles found it ridiculous, but now, it seemed to him that with every swing, that crude dragon leapt off Little William’s arm.

　　Big Charles wondered if he was seeing things, and rubbed his eyes.