Everything sold in the Wilderness Kitchen was food and seasonings.On top of that, there was a processing service —players could hand over ingredients to the chef for cooking in exchange for 20% of the finished product as a processing fee.But the dishes produced were random, and the effects weren’t necessarily as good as the items for sale.Still, if you were lucky, you might get a delicious high-grade dish.“Want to buy something?” the NPC asked her, blinking wide eyes.Yun Luohe didn’t trust her own luck. She decided to just check the finished goods and seasonings instead.Not that she had any sand coins on her right now anyway.“Since I’m here, might as well take a look.”The light screen displayed the available items:Portable Meat Broth Pack (70 sand coins/serving): Quickly replenishes stamina and water; restores 30 stamina in 10 minutes, increases max stamina by 10, shelf life 30 days.High-temperature Sterilized Camel Milk (60 sand coins/bottle): Restores nutrition and hydration, reduces chance of heatstroke, can be used to make dairy products.Seasoning Pack (15 sand coins/pack): Includes various seasonings — scallions, ginger, garlic, chili powder, cumin powder.Brown Sugar (20 sand coins/pack): Twenty jin of sugarcane boiled down into one jin of brown sugar. Long-term use strengthens constitution. Usable in various dishes.Yun Luohe was interested in all of it, but with an empty purse, she was about to leave and look for Liu Mazi elsewhere.Suddenly, a man rushed in.When he saw Yun Luohe, his expression shifted slightly. He then stood off to the side in silence, as if waiting for her to finish with the NPC and leave.Yun Luohe understood and told the NPC, “I’ll come back for you later,” before walking out.Once outside, she noticed that the man had stayed inside the Wilderness Kitchen.She had a feeling there was something a bit unusual about him.Still, the priority now was finding the prize wheel.“There’s a gift I want to give you,” she heard the man inside say just as she was about to walk farther away.Yun Luohe’s step paused.That was possible?The NPC said, “Oh? A lamb leg? Looks good. I can’t just take your gift — tell you what, you can take whatever you like from here.”Yun Luohe blinked. She’d thought NPCs only had a few fixed lines, but apparently under certain conditions they could trigger new dialogue.So gifting was a viable option.No wonder he’d waited for her to leave before talking to the NPC.In any case, she would be back later — no rush now.She still had one purple tent left to check. Inside was the Intelligence Exchange, and she figured whatever was sold there would be intel, likely expensive.Just then, she spotted a crowd gathered up ahead. When she went closer, it turned out to be the very prize wheel she was looking for.The prize wheel game was basically roulette.This was the busiest spot around, packed with players.Most came here hoping to win more sand ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ coins to exchange for resources.A sign to the side explained the rules:The wheel was divided into four sections — Food, Tools, Weapons, and Medicine.Players could bet an item to spin the wheel.If the pointer landed on the corresponding section, they would receive sand coins worth double the item’s value.For example, if you bet ten pieces of roasted meat, the pointer had to land on Food to get the reward.Land on a different section, and your bet was confiscated.The four sections had different weights: Food 30%, Weapons 40%, Tools 20%, Medicine 20%.It was pure gambling — entirely luck-based.Winning once or twice wasn’t hard, but keeping a streak going was nearly impossible.And yet, the game was addictive. Many players who won once or twice just kept going.The especially lucky ones thought they could keep winning, so even after three consecutive wins, they wouldn’t stop.Yun Luohe had no interest in roulette — her goal was Liu Mazi.When she spotted a middle-aged man with pockmarks on his face, she immediately went over to talk to him.Before she could speak, Liu Mazi’s gaze swept over her and he actually came forward on his own.“Here to play the Lucky Wheel? Now’s the perfect time,” he said.“That backpack of yours looks good — want to put it up as a bet?”Yun Luohe replied, “I want to trade for some sand coins.”Liu Mazi stroked his goatee. “Oh? Let’s see what you’ve got. If it’s that backpack, I can offer 500 sand coins.”Yun Luohe took out the dried meat she’d prepared in advance, showing him two pieces first.“Will you take these?”His eyes lit up.“This… isn’t anything special, but I’ll take it — 20 sand coins a piece.”Yun Luohe’s face didn’t change.This one was different from the NPCs she’d dealt with earlier. The others were rigid and mechanical in their speech — no real haggling.If she didn’t already know portable dried meat was a desert trader’s favorite, she might have been tricked.“That low? Forget it. Maybe I should find someone else to trade with,” she said coolly.Liu Mazi hadn’t expected someone to refuse his opening price — most players who came to him just agreed outright.But time was passing, and she still wanted to check other places. Liu Mazi was proving to be more trouble than she liked.Still, she needed sand coins.She held up a hand and named her price: “Fifty sand coins per piece. Even a Portable Meat Broth Pack in the Wilderness Kitchen costs 70.”She didn’t believe dried meat was worth much less than broth packs — it had a long shelf life, after all.Though getting 70 per piece probably wasn’t realistic.Liu Mazi made a show of hesitating before agreeing.If not for the name hovering over his head, Yun Luohe might have had trouble thinking of him as an NPC.She traded two pieces of dried meat for 100 sand coins.The sand coins came in a small cloth pouch, packed full — special iron tokens about the size of copper coins.Next, Yun Luohe pulled out a basket containing 50 pieces of portable dried fish.Each piece was a rich golden color, fragrant and appealing.“These are deep-sea saltwater fish dried meat. Will you take them?I also have freshwater fish jerky — those can be cheaper.”“How do you have so much jerky?” Liu Mazi said, clearly excited.“I’m giving you all of it. How many sand coins can you offer?”“How many pieces in total?”“Fifty,” Yun Luohe replied — she’d counted twice last night.Stars all but appeared in Liu Mazi’s eyes, and the way he looked at her changed noticeably.She could tell he was almost too excited.“All of it for 2,000 sand coins. How’s that?”It was a good price — lower value than crocodile meat, but still higher than she’d expected.She thought he might try to lowball her, but judging by his mood, he must have been in high spirits.She handed over all the fish jerky.One deal later, she had 2,100 sand coins.She still had some portable ostrich meat jerky in her pack, originally meant for trade, but decided to hold onto it for now.After the deal, two heart icons appeared above Liu Mazi’s head — his favorability toward her had jumped by 30 points.She didn’t know exactly what higher NPC favorability did, but it was definitely better than nothing.Now that she had sand coins, she could buy things —but she planned to use this as capital, earn more at the event center first.Roulette wasn’t in her plans — it was pure luck, and she wasn’t interested.“Wait,” Liu Mazi said, lowering his voice. “You seem pretty capable. If you want to earn sand coins, try the shooting range. That’s more your style. Don’t bother with the wheel.”Yun Luohe nodded and flashed an OK sign. “Alright, I’ll give it a shot.”More and more people were gathering at the Lucky Wheel. Most didn’t have much in the way of sand coins and saw it as a quick way to try to earn more.The night market was getting crowded — players from all zones had come.Since it was the first time the night market was held, everyone was new here.Nobody knew anyone else yet, so no one was scheming. The focus was on learning the rules and making as many sand coins as possible.Pushing through the noisy crowd, she reached the southwest corner and found the shooting range.The NPC at the entrance pointed at a wooden board with the rules:Stage One: Moving Target ModeEvery five consecutive hits increases target speed by 20%, up to 3× speed.Each hit earns 10 points; consecutive hits grant bonuses — 5 hits +50%, 10 hits +100%.Stage Two: Sandstorm Simulation ModeVisibility reduced to 5 meters, difficulty doubled, points doubled.“Entry is 50 sand coins. Bows sold separately — wooden bow 20 sand coins each, iron arrows 5 sand coins apiece,” the NPC said, holding up a sign and a hand for payment.Yun Luohe handed over 120 sand coins, buying a wooden bow and ten iron arrows.The NPC didn’t even count before letting her through.She’d just taken two steps inside when someone called her from behind.Turning, she saw a familiar face — Yu Chenjin.His hair had grown longer. He wore a gray-brown ramie robe, still carried his Zen staff, and now had a string of obsidian prayer beads on his wrist.His expression was cool, but lit with surprise when he saw her.“You’re here too!” Yun Luohe said in mild surprise.He moved to come over, but the NPC stopped him.When he tried to pay the entry fee, the NPC said, “Only one person may enter at a time. Others can watch from outside.”Yun Luohe smiled. “Why don’t you go look around first? When I’m done, I’ll meet you here at the entrance.”Yu Chenjin said, “I’ll watch from outside. I’m going to try it later anyway.”She teased, “Alright. Then watch closely — I’ll show you what I can do.”With that, she stepped into the range.They really did have a strange sort of fate — by now they’d crossed paths quite a few times.Later, they could exchange information. She could give him the coordinates of the oasis and the spring she’d found — a small favor. He probably had his own opportunities. They could trade and both come out ahead.…Inside was an indoor space. A white line marked the firing line, twenty meters from a row of moving-target tracks clattering along.Drawing the bowstring, Yun Luohe narrowed her eyes and took aim at the first target.The targets moved laterally along the track — slow enough, but still requiring prediction to hit.With each arrow costing five sand coins, missing was wasteful.But Yun Luohe had [Perception] for prediction, and her archery had been honed in the game to a high level. At this speed, it was child’s play.Her first arrow struck dead-center — 10 points.The second arrow also hit true, the consecutive-hit bonus bringing it to 15 points.The first five shots all landed.The crowd outside was growing.Then the targets abruptly sped up.The spectators began debating whether she could still hit the bull’s-eye.“If she makes this one, that’s 100 points!”“100 points can trade for 300 sand coins, right?”“Yeah — huge profit. But at this speed? I doubt it.”“True, I haven’t seen anyone hit more than five in a row — they always fail here.”“I think she’ll nail it.”Yu Chenjin had barely finished speaking when Yun Luohe loosed her sixth arrow—

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