I, the screenwriter, have experienced a resurgence of inspiration.

Orchid Garden Secret Realm.

As dawn broke on the horizon, the entire Songjiang County was still shrouded in a hazy morning mist.

The night watchman, carrying his clapper, turned out from the west street and symbolically struck it twice.

"Bang—Bang—"

People were already walking on the street.

The steamer baskets of the pancake stalls on the street were lifted, and large wisps of white steam rose up. The wonton vendors had also set up their stalls, and the owners were grabbing dough wrappers and cooking them one by one in the pot.

The aroma of oil mixed with the smell of firewood made the night watchman's stomach rumble with hunger.

He walked up to the breakfast stall, peeked inside, and shamelessly begged for a bowl of water. The kind-hearted owner didn't pour him water, but instead ladled out a bowl of hot soup from the stove, sprinkled some chopped coriander into it, and handed it to him.

"Hey, just squat there and drink, then bring the bowl back when you're done."

The night watchman repeatedly said "Hey," carefully took the rough porcelain bowl, squatted down in the corner, and took a sip.

The hot, meaty soup rolled down his throat, dispelling the chill from his body. Just as the night watchman was about to take a second sip, he heard a whoosh of wind overhead.

"Thump!"

A grown man jumped down from the wall.

"Oh!"

The night watchman was terrified; his hand trembled, and half a bowl of hot soup spilled all over him, the rough porcelain bowl shattering with a "crash."

"You! You..."

The watchman looked at the man, then swallowed back the words he was about to say. The man in front of him was about twenty years old, fair-skinned, and wearing clothes he had never seen before.

The material was neither silk nor cloth; instead, it shimmered with an extremely fine light in the morning light.

They're obviously not from this county.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

The young man, seeing the broken bowl, felt somewhat embarrassed and casually took out a gold ingot from his pocket.

gold.

A gold ingot.

The gold was a deep, heavy yellow, shining in the morning light as if it had just been pulled from oil.

The night watchman's eyes widened immediately, and the wonton vendor, who was carrying out the second bowl of soup, also saw it.

Their mouths were agape, each one wider than the last.

gold.

He broke a rough porcelain bowl, and the other party casually stuffed a gold ingot into his hand.

Why are all these outsiders so rich and powerful?

Even the wealthy Hu in town didn't give out rewards like this!

"Take this and buy another breakfast."

Seeing that the watchman didn't respond, the man grew increasingly anxious, his brow furrowing, and he muttered to himself for a long time:

"Oh no, I shouldn't get wanted for damaging NPC property, right? I haven't been here long!"

How could the night watchman dare to answer?

He feared this was some new trick these privileged children had come up with, and that they might accept the gold one minute and report him to the authorities the next.

The wonton vendor finally came to her senses. Having seen quite a lot these past few days, her eyes darted around, and she quickly leaned closer, lowering her voice to the night watchman:

"Take this home quickly. This is gold given to you by a 'player,' a stranger. No one dares to steal it. If you don't take it, he might even be unhappy!"

The night watchman exclaimed "Ah!" and looked at the young man, who indeed became even more anxious, muttering to himself:

"What's wrong with this NPC... Could it be that I violated some player city law...? No, I only have so many points left, if I lose any more, I'll be out of points..."

As he spoke, he hurriedly shoved the gold ingot into Xu Gengfu's hand, turned and ran, but after a few steps he remembered something and turned back to add:

Have a good day.

Then, with a leap, the person jumped onto the opposite rooftop and disappeared in a flash.

The night watchman and the boss seemed to be frozen in place. Many people around looked up and glanced at them before reluctantly continuing with their own business.

—Since a while ago, when a lot of people from other places came to visit, Songjiang County has become quite lively.

These people were all dressed in strange clothes, and they came from all ages. Some wore long robes, some wore leather coats, some had their heads shaved, and some had their hair dyed grass green, making them look like monsters.

Some people have bells hanging all over their bodies, making a jingling sound when they walk.

Some people are very generous and casually throw down a gold ingot.

Some people can scale walls and roofs, but they prefer to avoid the main roads and venture into hidden corners and alleys.

What's even stranger is that everything is new and exciting to these people, just like monkeys coming down from the mountain for the first time.

Some people, once they arrive, start asking locals about Lanyuan, from those selling candied hawthorns to those cleaning outhouses, leaving no one out.

Now even three-year-olds in Songjiang County know where ghosts have haunted places and foxes have been haunted.

Some people would sit by the moat all day with a fishing rod, only to throw all the fish they caught back into the water.

Some people, like locusts passing through, squatted by the roadside pulling weeds, specifically picking wild hemp, bitter greens, and foxtail grass, until their backpacks were bulging.

Someone climbed to the top of the stage at the City God Temple and shouted at passersby, saying crazy things like "This map is so big," "The optimization is bad," and "The NPCs are ignoring me."

The county magistrate sent his constables to arrest the man, and even after he was thrown into jail, the man kept asking the constables, "Is there any hidden mission?"

"These people, these people are like they fell from the sky."

The night watchman clutched the gold, biting and gnawing at it, and after confirming it was real, he beamed with delight: "Truly a living Buddha!"

"Take it, these outsiders are quite generous! A while ago, the Hu family was haunted by evil spirits, and it was these chivalrous people who dealt with it."

The shop owner smiled, wiped his hands, and tossed a few more wontons into the pot.

"Take this money back and buy a few acres of land, a cow, and live a good life. Isn't that better than anything else? Who cares if it came from the sky or sprang from the ground!"

……

……

……

The Hu family's pharmacy was not open yet.

Hu Sanniang sat behind the counter, clicking the beads on her abacus.

Through the curtain of the pharmacy, you could vaguely see countless little foxes running around behind it, some pounding medicine, some bottling it, and running back and forth between the medicine cabinets.

The wooden cabinets in the pharmacy were polished to a shine, and next to the newly set up glass display stand, there was a small wooden sign that read "Automatic Points Settlement".

The wooden sign was square, with a number embedded on it that changed; it was currently displaying "0 points".

Behind the booth, rows of medicine bottles were neatly arranged:

[Blood-Replenishing Potion (Today's Inventory: 999)]

[Mana Replenishment Potion (Today's Inventory: 999)]

[Healing Pack (Levels 1-15): Restores 30% of external injuries upon use (Today's Stock: 999)]

[Low-Tier Talisman Paper - Exorcism (Today's Stock: 999)]

[Low-Tier Amulet (Today's Inventory: 999)]

【Mixed Grain Pills (Today's Inventory: 999)】

[Detoxifying Licorice Pills (Today's Stock: 999)]

……

Hu San Niang paused her abacus-wielding, looked up at the sun outside the shop, and then glanced at the door panel.

The pharmacy's doors hadn't been removed yet, but the sounds of a dense crowd outside could already be heard, like waves crashing against the store door as the tide rose behind a dam.

Hu Sanniang picked up her teacup and gently blew on it, her voice steady: "Men, open the door."

The little foxes responded and sprang into action.

As the barriers were removed one by one, the morning light streamed in, and visitors immediately poured in—the queue stretched all the way to the end of the street.

The guests lined up one after another, their faces full of eagerness.

"Hurry up, I need to finish this game!"

"Exactly! I was only an hour late yesterday, and there were only a little over a hundred healing kits left. I almost missed out."

"Healing packs? Didn't you see the post? Yesterday someone bought 999 bottles of healing potions in one go, and there are no more potions for sale in the entire dungeon."

His words were like a powder keg ignited, and the ranks erupted in chaos:

"999 bottles? Who's so unethical! Trying to monopolize this place?"

"Forget about it. There are definitely too many points for an individual to buy. It's probably some kind of company that made the purchase."

"I heard that several companies related to dungeons officially went public yesterday, openly recruiting 'dungeon hunters,' which are players who specialize in finding information about new dungeons around the world. The pay is much better than working a regular job."

"These days, even gold-farming groups have started their own companies."

"Stop talking nonsense, the leaderboard will be refreshed soon. Let's hurry up and buy the medicine and get into the dungeon. I'm waiting for the pros to release a dungeon guide."

The players chatted amongst themselves, while Hu Sanniang sat behind the counter, her fox-like eyes half-closed, and simply pushed the abacus aside.

The small wooden plaque inlaid with points numbers flashed by.

One by one, the players walked up to the booth, pressed their hands on the wooden sign, and the medicine bottles flew out automatically and landed in their hands.

At the same time, the points in their accounts will also be deducted.

Suddenly, Hu San Niang's gaze stopped and fell on a player wearing a gray-blue jacket.

The man kept his head down, his eyes constantly darting furtively towards the little foxes beside him. Hu San Niang pretended not to notice and continued working on her abacus.

The next second, the man suddenly rushed over, raised his short hammer without saying a word, and smashed it down on the display stand!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The people around were startled, but who knew that the large, glass-like display stand, which looked thin, didn't even leave a mark after being hammered a few times.

—The surrounding players all looked at this guy as if he were an idiot.

Seeing that he couldn't get the medicine, the man cursed something, turned around, grabbed the herbs from the bamboo sieve, hugged them to his arms, and ran away.

"They only steal worthless things; someone will have to bring them back later."

Hu Sanniang sighed and called out behind her without turning her head:

"Da Ni, didn't I tell you to put the herbs in the backyard to dry? You're slacking off again! No chicken legs for dinner tonight!"

A small yellow fox peeked out from behind and squeaked pitifully.

Hu San Niang ignored her and continued working on her abacus.