"What's wrong?" Fang Chen asked in a low voice.

The gentleman glanced around at everyone, his mouth curling up slightly. "Just a little issue. Nothing serious."

The carpenter tapped the tool wall, gesturing toward the dark woods. "Everyone, take an axe. Head to the southern woods, and by nightfall, make sure you’ve chopped enough wood to fill this entire house."

"Fill the whole house? Is this a joke? Even capitalists would shed a tear," Bai Li said, rolling his eyes so hard that, if it weren't for his glasses, they might've rolled right up to the sky.

"Not to mention, we only have one axe each. Even a pro with a chainsaw couldn’t get this much done in a day," he added.

"This is just setting us up to fail," Lu Wanting muttered to Rong Rong quietly.

The carpenter ignored the complaints and continued, "I’ll be back to check at dusk. If the requirements aren’t met, you’ll have to make up the difference with other... materials."

"What kind of materials?" Li Duo asked, feeling that there was a hidden meaning in the carpenter’s words.

"As long as it’s high-quality material, I’ll gladly take it," the carpenter replied, a sinister smile spreading across his face.

"There’s a hanged woman in the attic of this house. Do you know how she died?" Fang Chen asked abruptly.

At those words, a tense silence filled the room. The carpenter’s smile froze, and his eyes, wide and bulging, turned toward Fang Chen in a slow, almost mechanical way, as if they might pop out of his sockets. He paused for a moment, then his face resumed its fixed expression. "Time won’t wait for you, so I suggest you get started," he replied, dismissively, before walking away.

Once the carpenter left, the tool room erupted with nervous chatter.

"We’re not really going to do what he says, are we?" Meng Qiyan asked in disbelief, clearly baffled by the whole situation.

"Why don’t we just take a look?" Yan Xuan said, tying up his shoulder-length curls into a loose ponytail.

Fang Chen nodded, "Sure, beats standing around."

This southern forest was even eerier than it appeared. The temperature dropped several degrees as soon as they stepped into the shadows. Only a few rays of light managed to filter through the overlapping branches, providing faint warmth that quickly dissipated.

Li Duo was the first to get to work, clearing away branches and twigs. He spread his feet apart, gripped the axe firmly, and swung it high. With a single strike, he made a deep notch in the trunk—a smooth, clean movement, all in one fluid motion.

The others tried to imitate him, but their attempts were much less effective.

Fang Chen hefted the axe in his hands, found a comfortable stance, and swung it at a tree beside him. The strike was so fast that it created a slight whooshing sound, causing branches to shake and leaves to flutter down around him. The axe had a decent heft; it felt like a weapon that he could rely on.

As he prepared to join the others, he noticed one person slacking off amidst the group’s efforts.

He walked over and leaned against a tree, mimicking Liu Mang’s posture. "You seem to be enjoying yourself here."

"It’s a pointless task anyway. Why waste energy? Better to conserve it."

"Just make it look like you’re following orders, right? It can’t be as simple as it seems."

"You seem to know a lot." Fang Chen looked at Liu Mang, who was holding a piece of foxtail grass between his teeth. From his relaxed attitude, it was clear he hadn’t swung an axe once.

"I'm not like the rest of you. Being here was actually a relief for me."

"Oh? Why?"

"Family conflicts, let’s say. I’m just here to prove myself—not that you’d understand," Liu Mang said, putting an arm around Fang Chen's shoulder and leaning in to point at a nearby spot.

"See that ray of light? The Tyndall effect is beautiful, isn’t it?"

Following his gaze, Fang Chen saw a large tree bathed in a soft beam of light. Dust particles floated around it, shimmering like delicate specks of light. The scene was peaceful and almost sacred, something rarely seen in the real world. Just one look made it hard to turn away.

If this were a game, this tree’s conspicuous position would definitely make it a side quest marker, at least.

"What are you looking at?" a deep voice suddenly asked from behind.

Yan Xuan walked up, axe in hand, and gave Liu Mang a sharp look. "Move aside. You’re blocking my spot."

"With all these trees, you had to pick this one?"

"Yes, this one."

A subtle tension rose between them. Seeing that Yan Xuan wasn’t going to back down, Liu Mang shrugged and moved aside.

Soon after, the sounds of bickering erupted nearby.

"Really, Liu Mang? You think you’re some young master?"

"I said, don’t call me by my name!"

"Yesterday, you were all about teamwork, and now you’re slacking off."

"Exactly! Rong Rong’s chopped several trees already. Don’t you feel any shame?"

"Alright, alright, fine… don’t pull! I’m joining you, okay?"

"If you want to learn chopping techniques from Coach Li, line up with your little hands up!"

"Lu Wanting, we’re all adults here."

"Oh, occupational hazard, I guess. It’s a work injury, you know?"

The voices grew distant, eventually swallowed up by the wind.

Yan Xuan, who had made such a show of chopping wood, tossed the axe aside and lowered his gaze.

"Find anything?"

"Not yet," Fang Chen replied, pressing his foot into the soil. "But this spot would be great for burying something."

"Want to try chopping some wood? I’ll teach you."

"You? Chopping wood? You don’t look the type."

Yan Xuan smiled, eyes glinting. "I’ve chopped a lot of things in my time."

Not far away—

"Why do I get the feeling those two are just here to play around?" Lu Wanting muttered while keeping an eye on Liu Mang, but she still took a moment to lean toward Meng Qiyan. "You came with Fang Chen, didn’t you? What’s your relationship with him?"

"We ran into each other on the way. I met him just a few minutes before you all did." Meng Qiyan wiped the sweat from her forehead, her back aching so much she could hardly stand straight.

Right now, she didn’t have the energy to focus on anyone else; her full attention was locked on the tree in front of her. She had swung the axe at it dozens of times, yet the tree barely showed a scratch. In her mind, she was determined to live up to her reputation as a paranormal streamer and face off with this tree until one of them gave in.

As the day wore on, everyone’s chopping slowed down. Finally, as dusk approached, they stood by the tool shed, staring at the wood pile, which was barely a tenth of what was needed. They all exchanged glances, fully aware of their own limitations, but still surprised at how little they’d managed.

"I can’t take it anymore. Might as well just put me out of my misery," Zhang Bin groaned as he collapsed onto a chair in the main hall, wailing in agony.

Rong Rong gently lifted his hands, revealing blisters covered in countless water-filled bubbles. Except for Fang Chen, Yan Xuan, and Li Duo, everyone else was in equally bad shape. After all, most of them worked desk jobs from nine to five, their physical fitness was lacking, and a day of hard labor had nearly drained them of life.

But after spending a day working together, they had developed a preliminary understanding of each other. The exhaustion wore down their earlier suspicions, melting away most of the tension. Now, they all shared a common enemy.

As darkness finally took over the sky, the lights in the room flickered a few times before going out completely, just like the night before.

The grumbling complaints that had filled the hall immediately fell silent.

The main door swung open with a sudden bang, and the same eerie, familiar figure entered once more.

The carpenter held his lantern, shaking his head with disappointment. "You haven’t chopped enough wood for me."

"That’s just unreasonable..." Rong Rong mumbled quietly as she huddled close to Zhang Bin in protest.

"As per our agreement, my dear guests, you will need to provide something else to make up the difference."

The candlelight flickered, stretching the carpenter’s shadow tall and thin, as if something dark and ominous was lurking just beyond it.

His waxy smile stretched wider and wider, his mouth pulling back to his ears under the watchful eyes of everyone, forming a truly horrifying sight.

"Human bones are also considered high-quality materials."