3

[Blood Value: 8]

[Merge Cost: 5]

Looking at the blood value recovered from six to eight, Lin Kai sighed in relief. It seemed that the blood value was perhaps connected to the state of his body. He wasn't completely sure about it, but he had a rough guess.

"Combine." Throwing the distracting thoughts away, he combined the two inferior rice plants. 

The moment he clicked on 'combine', a feeling of exhaustion even greater than before overtook him. Lin Kai was sure that even after working in the field for an entire day, he wouldn't feel as exhausted as he was feeling right now. 

If not for his willpower, he would have surely fallen asleep. 

Struggling even to open his eyes, he looked at the '!' just above the new rice plant icon. 

[Common Rice: Eating cooked rice can greatly restore energy and can recover a small blood value.]

Filled with exhaustion, Lin Kai didn't even bother to take it out. Blowing out the candle that he had just lit, he fell onto the bed before slumbering into a deep sleep. 

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Perhaps it was due to the excitement of getting the panel, but today Lin Kai woke up earlier than usual. Walking out with a yawn, he looked at the pitch-black sky which was beginning to turn bright. The walls in front of his eyes were acting as a mountain range, preventing the sunlight from falling too early. 

At this time, Lin Kai looked at the transparent panel in front of him. 

[Blood Value: 7]

After a night's rest, it had somewhat recovered, but it was still far from what Lin Kai needed. 

Looking at the newly formed rice plant, he raised his hand before pulling it out from the screen.

Compared to the 'Gradeless' and 'Inferior' quality, the changes this time were much more obvious. 

The size of the grain of rice changed from twice the size of a pearl to the normal size of the pearl. After thinking about it, Lin Kai separated the grains from the husks. It wasn't that he didn't want to combine it further. But at the moment, there was no need to. And even if he wanted to, he didn't have the luxury of spending Blood value as he wished. 

After a while, Lin Kai was holding twenty round and shiny rice grains in his hand. He had seen the rice grain in the fields while the servants were separating them, but none of them were even comparable to the ones he was holding in his hands. 

Compared to them, the difference was akin to heaven and earth. The rice grains in his hand were almost glistening with every grain as smooth as silk. 

"Try it." Walking back to his room, he searched for a while before taking out a small black iron pot. Filling it with some water, he lit up a fire outside the house. As soon as the water began to boil, he put in the rice grains he was holding.

Lin Kai didn't know how much water was needed to cook the rice. But seeing the water instantly absorbed by the rice, he kept on adding more water. 

It wasn't until the jar inside his house was almost empty that the fragrance of the cooked rice began to waft in the air. 

"Gulp." Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Lin Kai looked at the cooked rice before rubbing his eyes. Every single grain of rice has now expanded to the size of a bun.

After waiting for it to cool down, Lin Kai picked one rice grain which was now almost the size of his palm before looking at it. 

"Can I combine it further?" The first thought that came to his mind wasn't to eat it, but to combine it to make it even better. 

Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't put it inside the screen in front of him.

"Forget it." Shaking his head, he chewed the rice before swallowing it down. 

If he had to describe it in one word, it would be bland and tasteless. Thought the rice was soft, but that was all there to it. It was like eating a meat bun without any meat in it.

But at this moment, Lin Kai didn't have the luxury to think about the taste. Even though he had dinner last night, he was still feeling hungry. This was the first time that something like this happened.

Often one wouldn't go hungry in the morning after having dinner. The servants would only be given meals in the evening. Only the people working on the farm would get meals at noon. 

Not bothering to think any further, Lin Kai kept on gulping down the rice one piece after another. 

Within moments, the entire twenty cooked rice seeds which were the size of a palm were eaten by him alone. 

"Ugh..." Nodding his head in satisfaction, Lin Kai felt his hunger diminish before he walked towards the fields to do today's work. 

[Blood Value: 10]

Looking at the full blood value, he just kept quiet. The so-called ordinary rice that he got after synthesizing, again and again, seemed absolutely worthless in his eyes.

Other than filling his stomach and recovering his blood value, it didn't provide him with anything else. Perhaps, it would have some effect if eaten daily for a prolonged period, but unfortunately, it was completely meaningless.

"How can I make use of it?" Now that he knew the function of the transparent screen in front of him, Lin Kai thought of ways to make this thing useful. 

But even after thinking for a while, he just couldn't come up with a solution. He wanted to do many things, but he needed to know more about the world before he began to proceed with his plans.

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Just like the day before, Lin Kai and the four other servants began to work in the fields. Compared to yesterday, the other four servants beside Lin Kai would occasionally speak a few words to each other before going completely silent. They were still not completely familiar with each other, hence the hesitation. 

"Thought about the future?" 

Eating his meal in silence, it was the voice of the servant that brought Lin Kai back. 

Looking at the same man who was talking with him yesterday, Lin Kai didn't immediately reply but thought for a moment. Right now he needed to learn more about this world, so perhaps it would be a good idea to try to have a conversation even though it was the last thing that he wanted to do. 

"Did you?" Answering his question with a question of his own, Lin Kai finally put down the bowl before shifting his position and facing the man.

It was now that he carefully looked at the person sitting in front of him. Aged in his late twenties, the man had a rough skin. There was nothing special about him. He was as ordinary as one could be. Couple this with his worn-out clothes, his identity as a servant was clear to all.

"I did..." The young man gritted his teeth before speaking further. "But how am I supposed to do it while stuck in this godforsaken place?"

"We work for almost fifteen hours a day, be it rain or sun. We can't even ask for a day off. And even after doing all this, we are paid five coppers..."

"FIVE COPPER COINS."

He almost screeched. 

"I can't even eat a full meal with this money." Throwing the empty bowl to the ground, the man gritted his teeth, "And this is my life now. I have to stay here till I die..."

"HOW... HOW CAN I?" 

Listening to the man, Lin Kai sighed with helplessness. He didn't pity the man in front of him. After all, he too was in the same situation as him.

"Why don't you just quit?" Lin Kai asked the question. This was the first thought that came to his mind after working here for a month. But before acting in any way, he wanted to make sure about some things. 

"QUIT, heh?" As soon as he heard it, the man gave out a hollow laugh. "Once we sign the deal with these bastards, we are bound to them forever. Unless they let go of us, we can not quit."

The moment Lin Kai listened, his eyes narrowed into slits. Holding the bowl, he shook his head, like he couldn't understand what the man was trying to say.

"I don't understand. I mean if we can not quit, then can't we just run away?"

"HUSH...." Before Lin Kai could even finish his sentence, the man grabbed the bowl from the ground before hastily covering Lin Kai's mouth while looking around. With beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, he looked around carefully. 

Looking at the three other servants in the distance who were busy talking with each other, he sighed in relief before removing his hand from Lin Kai's mouth and exhaling a mouthful of cold air.

"Damn it, have you gone crazy?" Wiping away the cold sweat, he shook his head while looking at Lin Kai in front of him. "If you don't want to live, then just kill yourself. No need to implicate me."

"..." Lin Kai didn't expect such a severe reaction from the man in front of him. With a face filled with confusion, he tilted his head before asking again. 

"I don't understand."

"....."

The man was now looking at him quietly. After a few minutes, he let out a sigh before shaking his head. 

"Never mention about running away ever. Not to mention you will not be able to run away even if you wanted to. But if by any stroke of luck, you escape from here, you will be hunted down. And in this place inside the walls... there are not any places that you can hide. 

Within a week, you will be caught and never seen again."

As Lin Kai listened to the man, he narrowed his eyes. It seemed that escaping from here was going to be much more difficult than he had initially imagined it to be.

Still lost in his train of thought, Lin Kai wanted to ask some more questions, but the bell behind him tolled, signaling the end of their break. 

Shaking his head, he walked towards the fields once again to do his daily work. But the conversation that he just had with the man was still echoing in his mind.

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"Here, your tokens." 

Grabbing his meal tokens, Lin Kai began to walk towards his house. Perhaps it was because of the rice eaten this morning and the meal during the noon, he wasn't feeling any hunger. On the contrary, he was feeling full, like he had eaten to his heart's content. 

Lin Kai didn't light up the candle today but just sat on the bed quietly. The conversation that he had with the other servant was still echoing in his head. 

"Let's just wait for now." If things were as difficult as the guy said, then he needed to come up with a plan. And it wasn't something that he could do within a span of a few days. 

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The night passed and Lin Kai found himself on the fields once again. Other than the man who had been talking to him for the past two days, he was practically invisible in the eyes of the other three. 

After working till noon, Lin Kai was sitting in his usual place having a meal when the man sat beside him once again. However, contrary to the last two days, he didn't seem as angry as before. On the contrary, he had a grim expression on his face. 

So much so, that he didn't even speak, but just sat there in silence. 

Lin Kai hesitated for a moment. Were it any other time, he would have been glad with this, but now that he needed to learn more about this world, he had to engage in a conversation, no matter whether he liked it or not.

"You seem upset!" Gulping down the mouthful of that bland slimy mixture, Lin Kai spoke.

"Did anything happen?"

"....." The man hesitated before shaking his head with a helpless smile. "Something did happen."

After a brief pause, he spoke further "Something big."

"Oh!?" Gulping down another mouthful of pottage, Lin Kai asked again "What is it?"

The man hesitated for a while before exhaling a mouthful of air. Nodding his head, he looked at Lin Kai before speaking slowly "I am getting married."

"Huh...." Lin Kai looked at the man before patting him on the shoulder. "Congratulations... Ain't that something."'

"So, when and where?" 

The man put down the bowl on the ground his eyes darted around before he slowly moved near Lin Kai. It wasn't until the shoulders of the two almost touched that he stopped and spoke in a low voice, almost whispering.

"About three weeks later." 

Lin Kai looked at him before narrowing his eyes. He could feel the helplessness of the man on his face. Perhaps it was due to his current status that he was hesitating. 

"I can feel your hesitation." After a brief pause, Lin Kai spoke again "You think you can't have this life?"

As soon as the man listened to Lin Kai, he shook his head "It's not about the fact that I am getting married. 

It's about who am I getting married to."

"Eh!?" The more Lin Kai listened to the man, the more he felt there was some drama going on. And in this world, where he had nothing except work and rest, this was something that piqued his interest greatly.

If by now he was only having this conversation due to his necessity to know more about the world, then after hearing the man, he was even more interested in knowing his side of the story.

"Really!?" Straightening his ears, Lin Kai moved his head towards the man "Who are you going to marry?"

"Sigh." With a sigh, the man paused briefly "It's the Lady Wang. She is the owner of one of the largest restaurants in this area."

"How is that a bad thing?" As soon as Lin Kai heard it, he asked further "Is it because of your status as the servant that you are afraid?"

"Do you think that the marriage will be broken once she knows about your status?"

As soon as the man heard it, he shook his head. "It's not about that. 

Even if I am a servant right now, I will be free after my marriage."

Lin Kai's eyes narrowed for a moment before he looked at the man beside him. 

"Then what is the problem? You are getting married to a wealthy woman and changing your servant status. This is a godsend opportunity for you. Why this hesitation?"

The more Lin Kai spoke, the stronger the doubts in his heart grew. If this chance was given to him, he would have gladly jumped on it. As for what comes next, he would have had plenty of time to think about it. 

"Yeah... Would have been a great deal if not for the fact that the woman had already married four times before and all four of her husbands went missing within a year."

As soon as he finished speaking, the bell tolled, signaling the end of their lunch break. 

The man didn't speak further but was seemingly lost. Lin Kai on the other hand was still processing what the man had just told him.