The light from the cavern ceiling silently changed.
Like ripples spreading across water, it slowly diffused outward from the center.
When Bai Xuan opened his eyes, he almost mistook it for early morning.
Though there was no sun here, the soft, grayish-white light closely resembled dawn on a cloudy day.
It wasn't harsh, yet it was bright enough to illuminate everything around him clearly.
He lay on the blanket, staring up at the glowing ores embedded in the cavern ceiling.
Phoebe was no longer by his side.
Slinging his outer robe over his shoulders, he walked out of the stone house, only to see Phoebe squatting by the vegetable patch, slowly watering the plants with a wooden ladle.
Her silver ponytail hung over her shoulder, her movements gentle and slow.
Ladle by ladle, she poured water over the roots of the vegetables, the sound of water droplets sinking into the soil so faint it was barely audible.
Hearing footsteps, she looked up at Bai Xuan, then lowered her head again to continue watering the vegetables.
Standing at the doorway, Bai Xuan's gaze drifted back and forth between the vegetable patch and her.
The light from the cavern ceiling was brighter than last night, as if a sun were slowly rising, and even the air temperature had warmed up a bit.
“Does the brightness and temperature here change over time?” Bai Xuan walked over and asked.
Phoebe nodded gently, her voice slightly halting. “Day... night.”
As she spoke, she pointed to the bright area of the ceiling, then to a dark corner.
Bai Xuan looked up, and indeed, the bright region on the ceiling was moving slowly, though its pace was much slower than the transition between day and night on the surface.
He was suddenly reminded of the dungeons in fantasy games.
Those caverns with complete day-night cycles hid underground lakes, glowing mushrooms, and even formed their own unique ecosystems.
And this place was clearly far more complete than he had imagined.
“Let me help you.” Bai Xuan took the initiative to walk over, and Phoebe handed the wooden ladle to him.
He mimicked Phoebe's way of scooping water to water the plants, but his first scoop was too rushed. Droplets splashed onto the leaves and bounced back onto his boots.
Phoebe watched quietly without laughing. She simply reached out, gently steadying his hand and tilting the ladle at a lower angle.
Her fingers felt cool as she murmured, “Slower...”
Bai Xuan slowed down. The water trickled smoothly from the edge of the ladle, pooling around the roots of the vegetables and sinking steadily into the soil.
Only after he finished watering two plants did Phoebe pick up another ladle to start watering the patch in front of her.
After watering the vegetables, Phoebe stood up and headed straight behind the stone house.
Bai Xuan quickly followed.
He saw that the thatch on several parts of the roof had caved in, exposing the grayish-white stone slabs beneath.
Several cracks stretched from the corners of the walls all the way to the roof, the widest of which could fit a finger.
Phoebe pointed to the roof, then to the cracks in the corners, uttering just one word: “Repair.”
Bai Xuan nodded immediately to show he understood.
Phoebe retrieved a bundle of dried grass and a small bucket of clay from the storage shed.
The straw had been dried last year; though yellowed, it wasn't moldy.
The clay was mixed with water and chopped grass, stirred into a thick, muddy paste.
She squatted down, scooped some clay onto her fingers, carefully packed it into the cracks at the corner of the wall, and smoothed it out with a wooden stick.
Bai Xuan squatted beside her, mimicking her actions by filling another crack with clay.
But the clay was incredibly sticky, feeling highly unusual on his hands. Before he could get used to it, both his hands and his sleeves were covered in mud.
Phoebe glanced at him, pointing to the wall she had finished smoothing, then to his bumpy, uneven handiwork.
Looking down, Bai Xuan realized the clay he had applied was thick in some places and thin in others, with the edges peeling up slightly.
Compared to Phoebe's smooth wall, which looked almost natural, his work was a far cry from hers.
“Again,” Phoebe said softly, gesturing for him to redo it.
Bai Xuan had no choice but to scrape off the clay he had applied and slowly fill it again.
This time, he deliberately slowed down, packing the clay into the crack bit by bit before carefully scraping it flat with the stick.
After smoothing out a few cracks of her own, Phoebe walked over and gently touched up the edges of his section.
The two worked in silence, the only sound being the faint squelch of the clay being pressed, punctuated by the occasional crisp chirp of birds.
Wait, there were actually birds here? Perhaps they were some kind of flying magical beasts, their chirps sounding like wind chimes.
By the time Bai Xuan finished filling the last crack and stood up, his lower back was already somewhat stiff.
Phoebe, meanwhile, had already climbed onto the roof and was busy laying down the thatch.
She cleared away the collapsed old thatch, then laid the new straw down layer by layer, packing it tight.
Bai Xuan wanted to go up and help, but the roof only had enough space for Phoebe to stand.
He could only stand on the ground, handing up bundles of straw one by one, watching Phoebe take them and lay them out in an orderly fashion.
The light from the cavern ceiling fell upon her, her silver hair intertwining with the gray straw, exuding a touch of softness.
At noon, the two sat at the doorway of the stone house to eat lunch.
Phoebe had boiled a pot of wild vegetable soup, adding some of the leftover wolf meat from yesterday. Though there wasn't much meat, the broth was rich and savory.
Bai Xuan drank two large bowls. Setting his bowl down, his gaze drifted to the yard.
The yard wasn't messy, but it wasn't exactly neat either. Loose rocks were scattered everywhere, the woodpile was lopsided, and a section of the fence lay flat on the ground.
He stood up and handed his bowl to Phoebe.
“I'll tidy up the yard,” Bai Xuan said.
Phoebe nodded, taking the bowl and turning back to clean the hearth, wash the dishes, and organize the firewood.
For the entire afternoon, the two went about their respective tasks, and the yard slowly transformed.
The scattered rocks were carried one by one to the corner of the wall, stacked into neat piles.
The fallen fence was set upright and reinforced with wooden stakes.
Bai Xuan even gathered some small stones and paved a path leading from the doorway to the vegetable patch.
Though it looked a bit crooked, walking on it meant they would no longer get mud on their feet.
Phoebe walked onto the gravel path, looking down at the stones beneath her feet before raising her eyes to look at Bai Xuan.
Bai Xuan felt a bit uneasy, thinking she might say the path was ugly.
But Phoebe said nothing, only taking a couple of steps on it and nodding gently.
Bai Xuan wasn't sure if this nod was in praise of the path's utility, or if she simply felt that having it was better than nothing, but he took it as a compliment anyway.
By evening, the light from the cavern ceiling gradually dimmed, transitioning from light gray to grayish-blue, resembling dusk on the surface.
Bai Xuan picked up his staff, put on the stone crest, and turned to say to Phoebe,
“Come on, let's go check out the edge of the barrier.”
Phoebe stood up immediately, hoisting the double-bitted battleaxe named Rock-Crushing Mountain onto her shoulder.
“Are you ready?” Bai Xuan asked.
Phoebe nodded. “Mhm.”
Her implication was clear: this axe was her weapon of choice for battle.
The two crossed the barrier and stepped into the cold, damp forest.
The mist in the forest was slightly thinner than yesterday, perhaps because the fading light had caused some of it to dissipate.
Bai Xuan walked in front, carefully extending his mental energy to scan their surroundings, doing his best not to disturb any distant magical beasts.
Before long, the first Shadowmane Wolf appeared at a fork in the path.
It was a size smaller than the one they had encountered yesterday, but its level was still Level 7.
Bai Xuan signaled for Phoebe to step back, while he took the initiative to charge forward.
Rate on N.U.
