It was a village, and not a small one.
Pastures and Farms were all present.
There were at least twenty houses, though they were all simple, block-like structures.
But along the village paths, many Villagers wandered aimlessly.
At the edge of the village woods, Iron Golems stood guard.
A quick glance revealed that many of these outdoor Villagers had professions.
Overall, this village was larger and more complete than the previous one.
And consequently, building upon such a village would yield much better results.
"Jiang Xuan?"
Ganyu's voice drifted from behind him, carrying a hint of displeasure.
Hu Tao startled, her legs, which had been feeling weak moments before, immediately propelled her out of Jiang Xuan's embrace.
Waving her hands, she quickly explained:
"Ganyu, don't misunderstand! I almost fell, and Jiang Xuan just caught me!"
Ganyu nodded gently, then took Jiang Xuan's hand.
Seeing this, Hu Tao inexplicably pouted, a flicker of annoyance on her face.
"This village looks much stronger than the last one."
Zhongli had joined Jiang Xuan's side at some point.
Jiang Xuan turned to speak, but upon seeing Zhongli's appearance, he nearly burst out laughing.
Despite having thrown the fewest Snowballs, Zhongli had suffered the most.
His head, face, and clothes were all covered in traces of snow.
Noting Jiang Xuan's expression, Zhongli cast him a helpless look.
Elemental Power surged, instantly dispelling the snowy remnants.
Zhongli wasn't angry; after all, he hadn't played a Snowball Fight in six thousand years.
It was indeed quite fun.
Though the fun, perhaps, stemmed simply from being with friends.
Xiao hadn't thrown a single Snowball at him, and had even subtly used his body to shield Zhongli from many.
But this was what made Zhongli feel helpless.
Even during a playful skirmish, Xiao still adhered to his principle of protecting him with his life.
While appreciative, Zhongli also wished Xiao could be a little more lively.
If he were willing to throw Snowballs at him too, that would be even better.
Before long, everyone arrived, first removing the snow from themselves.
Then, Keqing enthusiastically counted the rooms.
"This village is so rich! It looks like there are at least twenty Villagers, right?"
"This way, we can keep them confined for a while, and during that time, we can remodel this place into a Base."
"Then, many Villager Technology advancements can be implemented immediately!"
Hearing this, Jiang Xuan chuckled wryly.
He remembered that just a month ago, when Keqing first arrived here, she had wanted to trade fairly with these Villagers.
In just a month, Keqing had evolved into an exploiter rivalling Jiang Xuan himself.
She certainly adapted quickly...
"There are Iron Golems over there. If we directly attack the Villagers, it might provoke the Iron Golems to attack us."
Xiao spoke softly, then drew his weapon.
"Do you want me to deal with it?"
Jiang Xuan gently shook his head, glancing at Ganyu.
She understood, promptly retrieved her Barrett, and from the mountaintop, took aim at the Iron Golem.
The distance was only a few hundred meters; for Ganyu, no calibration was necessary.
She sighted the Iron Golem through the scope and fired a single shot.
The thunderous boom echoed in their ears for the second time.
Almost instantly, the Iron Golem crumbled, turning into Iron Ingots before vanishing.
Jiang Xuan massaged Ganyu's shoulder, speaking softly:
"Thank you, Ganyu."
She smiled gently, unbothered by Jiang Xuan's overt act of familiarity.
With a partial Steve physique, the Barrett's recoil was nothing to her.
But she didn't mind.
By now, what part of her hadn't Jiang Xuan...
With Ganyu on his left and Nahida on his right, Jiang Xuan scanned the path.
"See that well? Later, we'll ring the bell on the well to make the Villagers retreat into their houses. Then we'll pick the largest house and confine all the Villagers together."
Everyone nodded in agreement, then followed Jiang Xuan down the mountain.
A few hundred meters, even with the downhill section, was just a minute or two for them.
By now, everyone was well-versed in the fundamental characteristics of this world.
As soon as they landed, Xiao swiftly drew his Bow and Arrow, taking aim at the warning bell atop the well.
The moment the bell rang, all the Villagers immediately dashed back into their homes as if panicked.
Jiang Xuan chuckled softly, waved his hand, and instructed:
"Let's split up. Xiao and Zhongli, you two go set up a fence to enclose this area and place torches to prevent Monsters from entering at night."
"Keqing and Hu Tao, you go house-to-house, scavenging all valuable resources."
"I want to see if there's a mineshaft beneath this well. We'll rendezvous here later to confine the Villagers."
"And then..."
Before he could finish, Hu Tao looked up at Jiang Xuan, brimming with excitement.
"Then we'll go explore the Snow Mountain?"
Jiang Xuan paused, then chuckled as he ruffled Hu Tao's hair.
"You can look whenever you want. After that, we need to gather Lucky Blocks from the surrounding area and return to the Base."
"We'll send people over to renovate this place and establish a second resource point."
Hu Tao initially wanted to persuade Jiang Xuan further.
After all, it was a rare trip to the Snow Mountain.
But feeling the large hand on her head, Hu Tao merely blushed slightly and nodded.
Noticing Ganyu's gaze, she then playfully swatted away Jiang Xuan's hand, feigning annoyance.
"I know, I know! Don't treat me like a child all the time! I'm not Nahida!"
"?"
Nahida gently lifted her gaze, looking at Hu Tao with a bewildered expression.
Being inexplicably dragged into it made her a little unhappy.
It was already frustrating enough to be treated like a child by Jiang Xuan due to her petite stature.
Hu Tao had just twisted the knife further.
If Nahida weren't so gentle-natured, she would surely jump up and hit Hu Tao's knees right now.
Jiang Xuan smiled, saying nothing.
He waved his hand and turned, walking towards the nearby well.
In fact, many village wells led to Abandoned Mineshafts below.
Though called "abandoned," these places often held far more resources than other mineshafts.
After all, other mineshafts didn't have Rails and minecarts.
Nor did they have bookshelves or similar items.
Moreover, these places actually contained Mob Spawners.
Rather than an Abandoned Mineshaft, it was more accurately described as a dungeon.
Ganyu, Nahida, and Ningguang followed Jiang Xuan, observing him as he swapped out his Frost Walker boots.
Ningguang softly asked:
"Do you have a plan?"
"Is it safe?"
Jiang Xuan chuckled, pointing to his Diamond Set armor, and quipped:
"My defenses are maxed out right now; it's pretty hard to get instantly killed."
A hint of a smile touched Ningguang's eyes.
"I was talking about the mineshaft under the well."
Hearing this, Jiang Xuan shrugged.
"Not entirely sure; not all village wells lead to Abandoned Mineshafts."
"Anyway, let's go down and dig first. I've just enchanted my pickaxe with Aqua Affinity."
With that, Jiang Xuan waved his hand and leapt into the well.
Honestly, this was his first time going underwater.
The previous lakes were infested with Drowned Zombies, so Jiang Xuan naturally had no interest in diving in.
The moment he hit the water, Jiang Xuan checked his personal panel.
Just like in the game, the air bubbles indicating Dive time were present.
Jiang Xuan had specifically brought a door; although he had Aqua Affinity, it was always better to be prepared.
Lost in thought, he soon sank to the bottom.
There was a technique to digging Abandoned Mineshafts under a well.
Apparently, one should start digging from the top-right corner, but Jiang Xuan wasn't sure which side was currently the top-right.
However, that wasn't a problem.
He pulled out his Diamond Pickaxe, activated Vein Miner.
Jiang Xuan swiftly began digging, and in a short while, a large area was excavated.
The current pushed Jiang Xuan to one side.
He quickly found his footing.
But clearly, this time he hadn't hit an Abandoned Mineshaft.
At this distance and depth, one more dig would determine if an Abandoned Mineshaft existed.
Jiang Xuan wasted no time and dug again.
This time, after the stone cracked open, the water's surge intensified.
A glowing gap appeared.
Jiang Xuan's eyes widened slightly, a hint of joy in them.
He hadn't expected this village to actually have an Abandoned Mineshaft.
The faint Growl of Spiders echoed from the mineshaft.
Clearly, the Mob Spawner there was for Spiders.
Jiang Xuan had no intention of exploring it right now.
He quickly threw down some blocks to push himself up and out of the water flow.
Glancing upwards.
Ningguang and the others had already dug open the wooden cover of the well.
Jiang Xuan didn't linger; he pulled out an Ender Pearl, confirmed his position, and immediately threw it.
The next moment, Jiang Xuan was back on solid ground.
A faint pang of pain washed over him, costing him half a Life Point.
This was even with the protection from Feather Falling.
But it was no big deal; he would recover in a moment.
Even if he wasn't well-fed, Jiang Xuan could always grab his Scepter of Vampirism and take a bite from the Pasture.
"Did you find it, Jiang Xuan?" Nahida stepped forward, gently placing her hand on Jiang Xuan, her Elemental Power surging, quickly evaporating the water from his clothes.
Jiang Xuan smiled, ruffled Nahida's head, and softly said:
"Yes, I found it. It's indeed an Abandoned Mineshaft, though calling it a dungeon would be more accurate."
"It seems to be a cave Spider Mob Spawner. Later, when the Millelith and Miners are settled here, we'll let them explore it; the difficulty isn't high."
Ningguang nodded, making a mental note.
Iron was abundant now, and many Millelith in the MC world wore Iron Armor Sets.
A dozen Millelith would be enough to clear out this place.
If any of them faced a life-threatening situation, it would simply mean their training was insufficient.
Just then, Zhongli and the others returned.
Keqing sounded a bit regretful:
"I just checked, perhaps because we've never traded with these Villagers before, they don't have many items to exchange, and their prices are quite high."
"Prices aren't an issue; we have Lucky Blocks."
Jiang Xuan gently shook his head.
"I also found the underground mineshaft here. Let's confine those Villagers to one house, then we'll head back and call people to come develop this place."
This time, Jiang Xuan didn't plan to participate in the construction here.
Ningguang and her companions had mastered many unique technologies, and the Millelith and Miners were already quite familiar with the situation here.
Building a village Base was a minor task for them.
The rest would require them to explore the surrounding mineshafts themselves.
The Snow Mountain, bordering the desert, was destined to be rich in resources, so there was nothing to worry about.
This trip had been quite fruitful.
The only pity was not finding a Woodland Mansion or a Pillager Outpost.
But that wasn't a problem, just as Jiang Xuan said.
They had Lucky Blocks!
From now on, in the MC world, apart from special unique structures and Redstone Technology, everything else would be handled by the Millelith and Miners for gathering and building.
Ningguang and her companions didn't intend to waste their time on resource gathering.
This journey had allowed everyone to witness more of the world.
Deep down, they were more eager to join Jiang Xuan in experiencing more of this world's unique features.
Two days out, and the harvest was complete.
After repairing the village here, everyone finally teleported back to the Manor Villa.
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