FTTW: Chapter 2 – Exploring the Other World

After finishing the skewers, Cheng Zhou set off to return to his rented room.

Cheng Zhou picked up a package from the express delivery cabinet at the entrance of the estate.

Back in the rented room, Cheng Zhou quickly closed the door and opened the package. There was a stun baton in the package, which was the “artifact” purchased by Cheng Zhou.

Not long ago, Cheng Zhou worked night shifts until later than 11:00 pm. When he came home, it was already early morning, and the road was deserted.

Cheng Zhou saw a meteor landing on the way. Before he could react, a beam of light penetrated his body. After that, he found himself in an ancient forest.

At that time, Cheng Zhou was confused and thought he was dreaming. However, soon he heard the howl of wild animals. A wild animal that resembled a mountain boar rushed straight towards him.

The beast is somewhat similar to a mountain boar. What differs is that it has horns like a ram on its head, which makes it look more ferocious than ordinary mountain boars.

Cheng Zhou runs away in fear. The mountain road is rugged. When Cheng Zhou feels that he is going to be hit by a horned boar and was stunned, he suddenly returns to the road he was taking on his way home.

Walking on the wide road, Cheng Zhou thought he may have been too tired, so he has fallen into a dream.

After returning to the rented room, Cheng Zhou found that his clothes and shoes were soiled and covered with traces of grass and leaves.

Cheng Zhou intuitively thought that he should have encountered a supernatural event. For two days, he just rested. Cheng Zhou couldn’t restrain his curiosity. Recalling his experience that night, he subconsciously thought of going to the other world again. As a result, a light suddenly appeared on him, and then he was swept into the same forest he saw previously.

This time, Cheng Zhou didn’t encounter the wild horned mountain boar again but saw the dung left by it.

When Cheng Zhou wanted to continue exploring the forest, a colorful snake fell from the tree. Cheng Zhou quickly thought back of the rented room in fear, and with a stroke of luck, he return to the room.

It has been eight days since that last exploration of the other world. During this period, Cheng Zhou has been wavering whether to continue the exploration or not, but he can’t make up his mind.

The previous two experiences told him that his body can enter a bizarre world, which is full of opportunities and dangers.

He knows nothing about that world. It would be too unjustifiable for him to die in an unknown world.

These days, Cheng Zhou has been hesitating whether to be an ordinary person or gamble to see if he has a chance to turn over from being a salted fish.

If his job had been smooth sailing, Cheng Zhou might not have made up his mind so quickly. However, now that the job is gone, Cheng Zhou felt that this was a hint from God. Dying from overeating is valiant while dying from hunger is cowardly. He was destined not to be mediocre in his life. He will either achieve success and fame or die in a foreign world.

Cheng Zhou changed into a jacket specially designed for field exploration. Armed with a stun baton and a military knife purchased from Taobao, he thinks silently in his heart to go into that other world.

A green light appeared in the rented room. Cheng Zhou passed through the green light and appeared again in the forest.

Cheng Zhou discovered that he will appear wherever he had disappeared from the last time.

Fortunately, when he entered the forest this time, he didn’t see any wild boar or snake.

Afraid of being bitten by a snake, Cheng Zhou deliberately sprinkled a lot of realgar powder on his body before he came. Although he doesn’t know whether realgar powder will be useful against snakes in this world, it’s always more reassuring to sprinkle some on himself.

Cheng Zhou is trekking in the mountains. This is the third time he has come to this mystical world. Compared with the previous two times, with psychological preparation, Cheng Zhou is much calmer than before.

This is Cheng Zhou’s first formal exploration of the other world. He is both nervous and excited.

After walking in the mountains for more than an hour, Cheng Zhou found a series of footprints. He realized that there should be indigenous people in this world.

A burst of the howling from a wild animal and a string of strange language that he didn’t understand came into Cheng Zhou’s ears.

Cheng Zhou followed the sound and saw several people in sackcloth and straw sandals confronting a huge beast.

The beast confronting several indigenous people looks familiar. It was that horned wild boar Cheng Zhou met the last time.

Seeing Cheng Zhou, the horned wild boar immediately gave up on several of the indigenous people and rushed straight towards him.

Cheng Zhou turned on the stun baton and stabbed the horned mountain boar. A minute later, the mountain boar fell to the ground and was convulsing.

The stun baton bought by Cheng Zhou is actually contraband. It costs Cheng Zhou 800 yuan. The seller advertised that the stun baton can stun an elephant within ten seconds. However, it took a full minute to stun the mountain boar. He did not know whether the seller’s advertisement is exaggerated, or whether the horned wild boar is too bristly and its skin too thick, which even surpasses the elephant.

This minute felt like a long time for Cheng Zhou. Fortunately, a minute later, the horned boar fell to the ground and lost consciousness.

Seeing that the mountain boar was stunned, several indigenous people knelt down and muttered something through their mouths. Unfortunately, Cheng Zhou couldn’t understand a single word.

Cheng Zhou glanced at them and sighed to himself that the language barrier is really a huge problem. Otherwise, he can ask about the situation of this world and save a lot of time.

The several indigenous people stared at the mountain boar with greedy eyes and the stun baton in Cheng Zhou’s hand with awe.

Cheng Zhou talked with several people for a while, but it was like a chicken talking with a duck. A few people helped Cheng Zhou carry the wild boar and returned to the village.

As soon as Cheng Zhou entered the village, he immediately felt like returning to the primitive society.

The houses in the village are dilapidated, and some thatched houses even have poor wind and cold protection at first sight.

The village head greeted Cheng Zhou and warmly welcomed him.

The village head viewed Cheng Zhou in admiration. From time to time, he secretly glanced at the stun baton in his hand and muttered a series of words. Cheng Zhou listened somewhat helplessly and was bewildered.

Seeing that Cheng Zhou didn’t speak, the village head thought that Cheng Zhou had a high status and disdained to talk to him. His attitude towards Cheng Zhou became more and more respectful.

Cheng Zhou wandered around the village and saw a large field.

Wheat should be planted in the fields here, some of which look like rye. The wheat has begun to grow heads (the top part), and the color is dark. Most of the wheat is short, and it looked poorly nourished at first observation.

There is one field of wheat that is an exception. The wheat in this field is unusually tall, and the ears (kernels/grains) of the wheat seemed heavy. It looks like a giant that suddenly appears among a group of dwarfs.

At first, Cheng Zhou thought that the wheat planted in the two wheat fields belonged to different varieties. However, looking around, he only found that there seemed to be no other difference in that special wheat field except that the wheat grew lusher.

Cheng Zhou gazed at the wheat field on the left and the one on the right. It was obvious that the fertility of the land was similar, but the growth of seedlings in the two wheat fields was very different.

The village head looked at Cheng Zhou, hesitated for a moment, and then took out a chubby insect that seemed like a baby silkworm.

The worm was held in the palm of the hand by the village head. Its body bulged up and sent out ripples of green light. Then, the wheat seedlings in the field rose in the blink of an eye.

Seeing this scene, waves of shock suddenly surged up Cheng Zhou’s heart.

Cheng Zhou thought he had arrived in an undeveloped primitive world. Suddenly, he found that he might have arrived in a magical world.

The crops here can grow rapidly by relying on insects, which are better than chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Cheng Zhou peered at the worm in the village head’s palm and couldn’t help but flash the color of envy in his eyes.

It’s amazing that there are such magical insects in this world. If he can bring this worm back to his own world, he wonders if he can use this insect to accelerate the growth of some precious medicinal herbs. If he can use this worm to accelerate the growth of ginseng, saffron, and other precious medicinal plants, will he not be rich?

Noticing the envy on Cheng Zhou’s face, the village head carefully put the worm away. He stretched out two fingers and kept gesturing at Cheng Zhou. Cheng Zhou didn’t understand much but generally understood that there seemed to be an issue with the worm. The village head didn’t want to give the worm to himself.

Cheng Zhou took out his military knife and dismembered the boar. Then he motioned to the villagers that they could barter and exchange with things.

He doesn’t know if it is whether the villagers didn’t understand or were just too poor. There was nothing to trade at all. The villagers stared at Cheng Zhou for a long time and didn’t move.

After a long time, the village head took out a silver coin and Cheng Zhou wielded the knife to cut a pork leg to the village head.

In fact, Cheng Zhou doesn’t really want silver coins. Gold coins may still be acceptable but silver coins are not worth any value. However, Cheng Zhou feels that the village head seems to have made a good start, or he can play the role of throwing bricks to attract jade.

Unfortunately, the crowd fell into silence again. Perhaps the village head was a rare rich family in the village, and other residents in the village couldn’t take out silver coins.

Cheng Zhou peeked greedily at the worm in the village head’s palm. The village head shrugged and smiled.

A seven or eight-year-old child eyed at Cheng Zhou for a while, then took out a wooden box with a worm lying in it.

The villagers looked at the worm taken out by the child, and one by one, they were shocked, with panic permeating in their eyes.

Cheng Zhou was intrigued and said in secret: If you feel sleepy, a pillow is sent. I just wanted an insect, and it was sent to me. But what was with the expressions of the villagers? Are they so reluctant?

The opportunity could not be lost or it would never come again. Fearing that the child would regret it, Cheng Zhou quickly cut off a leg and handed it to the boy.

The boy handed the worm to Cheng Zhou and ran away just as fast as he was afraid Cheng Zhou would regret it.

Cheng Zhou watched the boy run away and said in secret: The boy ran too fast. I initially wanted to cut more pork for the boy. After all, I got a magical insect. I didn’t expect the other party to run away like this.

Several villagers looked in the direction the boy left. In panic and envy, a few villagers couldn’t help but whisper.

The worm reached Cheng Zhou’s hand and bit him. Then it quickly integrated into Cheng Zhou’s body.

After the worm enters the body, Cheng Zhou feels the strength in his body draining quickly.

Feeling the exhaustion of his strength, Cheng Zhou subconsciously clenched the stun baton in his hand. Although these foreign indigenous people were in awe of him, if he fell into exhaustion, these people might attack him. At this time, only the stun baton can give him a sense of security.

Cheng Zhou waited a little longer. Seeing that no one was willing to trade for the pork, he decided to pack up.

Cheng Zhou asked three persons to help move the remaining wild boar meat to the entrance of the forest. After arriving at the forest entrance, Cheng Zhou cut three pieces of wild board meat as a reward and sent them away.

After confirming that the villagers had left, Cheng Zhou silently meditated his thoughts on his rented room, and then returned to his original world smoothly.