"Uh... what I mean is, was it just him who saved me?" Richard Thompson hurriedly laughed it off, but thought to himself, I didn't expect there to be someone even more annoying than him here?

　　George Baker said, "We were all there. At the time, we were hunting over there. When we heard you shouting for help, we went over. But it was 赤将 who killed that beast."

　　Richard Thompson was secretly delighted and said, "So you know where I was rescued?"

　　George Baker nodded.

　　Richard Thompson quickly asked, "Then where was it?"

　　George Baker said, "It was right in front of that patch of woods!"

　　Damn! There are so many woods, how am I supposed to know which one! Richard Thompson smiled and said, "Can you take me there?" He didn't expect George Baker to be able to give him directions just by talking.

　　George Baker's expression changed, and he lowered his voice: "Of course not. We can't just leave the valley whenever we want, unless we're going hunting over there... Why do you want to go there?"

　　Richard Thompson pondered for a moment and said, "Because I dropped some important items in those woods."

　　"In the woods?"

　　"Yeah."

　　"Not outside?"

　　"No."

　　George Baker immediately shook his head vigorously and said, "We definitely can't go into the woods. That's not Blackstone Valley's territory. We rescued you outside the woods."

　　Richard Thompson's expression tightened, and he quickly asked, "Are there other people living in those woods?"

　　George Baker shook his head: "I don't know. I've never been in those woods. We can't leave our own territory, that's the rule."

　　Richard Thompson smiled and said, "But it seems like you were breaking the rules earlier."

　　George Baker shook his head: "That's different. If you get caught sneaking food, you just get punished with more chores. But if you leave your own territory, at the very least you'll be kicked out, or you might even be executed."

　　"Exe... executed?" Richard Thompson was shocked. You could be executed just for going out? He asked, "Why is that?"

　　George Baker said, "Didn't Taba tell you? If we leave our own territory, it could bring a huge disaster to all of Blackstone Valley."

　　You actually believe that? Richard Thompson saw that he seemed genuinely afraid and couldn't help but frown inwardly. No matter what, I have to find a way to go back there. Sigh... it's all that damn beast's fault. I had just arrived, and it chased me right away, not even a little reserved. So annoying, it deserved to be torn apart and eaten alive.

　　"George Baker!"

　　Suddenly, someone by the campfire shouted, "Time to come back!"

　　"Oh."

　　George Baker quickly responded, but looked longingly at Richard Thompson one more time.

　　Richard Thompson clutched his chewing gum tightly and said, "Don't be so greedy, I didn't bring much with me."

　　George Baker glanced at the little box, then suddenly pointed at the fruit in Richard Thompson's hand and laughed, "Didn't you say you didn't like eating it?"

　　This misdirection left Richard Thompson completely dumbfounded. He had truly never seen someone so shameless, but he still nodded and handed the fruit to George Baker, thinking, Greed isn't always a bad thing. If everyone were like 融, I wouldn't even bother playing.

　　George Baker quickly took it, grinning, "I'll head back first."

　　"Let's go together."

　　As the two of them returned to the cave entrance, Richard Thompson suddenly heard a swoosh behind him. He turned around, but George Baker had already disappeared. Then he heard a miserable cry from above, "George Baker, you stepped on my finger!"

　　"That was your finger? I thought it was a bug."

　　...

　　Damn! Why does everyone here like to climb up and down so much? Damn it, I have to make a ladder, or I'll break my leg sooner or later. Richard Thompson was deeply troubled by this. Then he heard loud snoring coming from inside the cave, like thunder, making him even more reluctant to go up. He saw the four night watchmen staring blankly at him, so he cleared his throat and said, "I don't want to rest yet. I'll keep watch with you guys."

　　The four night watchmen didn't say a word, just looked at Richard Thompson with a hint of wariness.

　　Richard Thompson ignored them, sat down with his back against the stone wall, and slowly relaxed. Suddenly, he felt a wave of hunger in his stomach and realized he hadn't had dinner. He quietly reached into his clothes, fumbled for a while, took out two capsules—one yellow, one blue—popped them into his mouth without a word, swallowed, and let out a quiet breath. Staring at the firelight, thinking about everything that had happened today, a trace of anger flashed in his eyes. He thought, If I ever find out who's messing with me like this, I'll make sure they die a horrible death, whether they're a god or a ghost.

　　It turned out this was already Richard Thompson's third time traveling through time. On October 25, 2012, after getting drunk, he found himself back in the Song Dynasty hundreds of years ago. Just like in those online novels like "The Little Chef of the Northern Song" and "The Idle Man of the Tang Dynasty," he used his advanced knowledge to help the Song Dynasty become stronger, sweeping across the land and turning it into a super empire.

　　But then, something unexpected happened again. During a tsunami, he suddenly returned to hundreds of years later, and the date was once again October 25, 2012. He was even back to being 25 years old.

　　It was as if he had just woken from a dream.