Chapter 2: The Mountain-Chasing Trade Game

The sudden vision struck Fang Mingxi with great force, leaving her dazed and confused throughout the entire night.

Sacrifice—who exactly would be the one to sacrifice?

Seeing the sorrow etched on her grandparents’ faces, it was not hard to imagine that the person mentioned in the letter must be a relative.

Most likely, it was her father in this body, or perhaps her uncle or aunt.

Which one of them had made the sacrifice?

A sudden answer surged in Fang Mingxi’s heart, and she found herself inexplicably convinced.

Could it be her father? Otherwise, why would her grandparents hold her so tightly, unwilling to let go?

“Xixi, Grandma is back,” Tong Lingxian said as she entered the room after finishing dinner with everyone outside. Her eyes immediately caught sight of Fang Mingxi sitting blankly on the bed, her favorite pacifier nowhere in sight, her eyes vacant as if her soul had been lost.

Her heart tightened instantly, and she approached quickly, picking Fang Mingxi up. “Xixi, don’t scare Grandma. What’s wrong with you?”

Snapping out of her thoughts, Fang Mingxi clutched at Tong Lingxian’s collar, opening her mouth as if to speak.

But her throat felt as if it had been sealed shut; the words simply wouldn’t come. Helpless, she instead leaned in and planted a kiss on Tong Lingxian’s cheek.

“Bo~”

“Dad, Grandma, where is my dad?”

Startled by the sudden kiss, Tong Lingxian froze for a moment before her tension eased. She slid her hands under Fang Mingxi’s arms and lifted her, returning a hearty kiss.

“Bo~”

“Xixi has learned to kiss Grandma now, such a good girl.”

Fang Mingxi was speechless.

That’s Grandma! I was trying to ask where my mom and dad are.

Fang Mingxi gazed quietly at Tong Lingxian, watching her blink in surprise. Then she turned to Fang Bo Song, who had come in after washing the dishes, and asked, “Bo Song, is there something on my face?”

Fang Bo Song scrutinized her carefully, then shook his head. “No. Why do you ask?”

Tong Lingxian recounted what had just happened, emphasizing that their granddaughter had kissed her.

Fang Bo Song chuckled. At eight months old, it was the first time his granddaughter had kissed anyone.

He stepped forward and took Fang Mingxi into his arms. “Xixi, you can’t favor one over the other.”

Fang Mingxi gathered strength from her throat, focused deeply, and called out a clear word.

“Dad—”

The moment the word escaped her lips, she was stunned, and so were Tong Lingxian and Fang Bo Song.

Tong Lingxian hurriedly said, “Xixi, what did you say? Did you just call me Dad?”

Fang Bo Song’s hand trembled as he held Fang Mingxi, staring at her in disbelief.

Fang Mingxi pressed on, channeling the same feeling, and called out, “Mo... Mo... Mom, Mommy.”

It wasn’t an illusion, nor was it mistaken perception—the little girl could call her parents now.

Tong Lingxian’s eyes reddened instantly. “Xiao Jing, Ruo Ruo, Xixi can say Mom and Dad now.”

Xiao Jing? Ruo Ruo? Fang Mingxi pricked up her ears.

Fang Bo Song fell silent. “Xiao Jing and the others have been missing for so long. We still don’t know the full situation.”

Tong Lingxian said, “Bo Song, do you think they might have...”

“Impossible,” Fang Bo Song interrupted immediately. “Lingxian, Xiao Jing and Ruo Ruo aren’t ordinary people. They held important positions in the military. If something truly happened to them, that group wouldn’t have kept us in the dark.”

“Right now, no news is the best news. We just have to wait quietly. Coming here is a way to temporarily avoid danger. Otherwise, we old folks would only become targets for that group.”

He lowered his gaze to Fang Mingxi, who was staring at him intently, and tenderly stroked her head. “Xixi is still so young; she can’t withstand their methods. If something careless were to happen...”

If she suffered any harm—like another high fever—she might never recover.

Both he and his wife had been underground resistance members and fully understood the complexities involved. Their son and daughter-in-law’s sudden disappearance was most likely due to a secret mission.

If they returned safely but something befell Xixi, Fang Bo Song dared not imagine the consequences.

Tong Lingxian lowered her eyes, smiling bitterly. “Those damned people, even if they target us, it’s bad enough, but to go after an infant too... Our in-laws are probably struggling to survive as well. Let’s just pray they don’t suffer the same fate as us.”

In-laws!!

Could it be that maternal grandparents were also in trouble?

Fang Mingxi looked eagerly at Tong Lingxian, who had stopped mid-sentence. Grandma, what exactly is happening at home? Please finish telling me—don’t leave me hanging.

She tried to get their attention with a few soft calls, but the two seemed to tacitly end the topic. After a quick wash-up, they took Fang Mingxi to bed.

Though she didn’t want to sleep, the lack of baby sleep caught up with her. Once the kerosene lamp went out, her eyelids fluttered shut.

...

The next morning, when Fang Mingxi woke, daylight was already streaming in. The bedclothes beside her were cold; her grandparents had left sometime before.

At the foot of the bed sat the little girl from last night. Through the previous evening, Fang Mingxi had learned her name: Tang Yao.

Tang Yao was quietly weaving a straw rope as before, but today the rope had taken shape—it was a pair of straw sandals.

Fang Mingxi looked at Tang Yao with newfound respect. A six-year-old girl who could weave straw sandals? When she was six, she was still playing in the mud.

Without disturbing Tang Yao, Fang Mingxi summoned her interface again.

Last night’s events had given her a sense of urgency. The sacrifice in the vision was definitely her parents, both soldiers; she just didn’t know which one.

Combined with the information her grandparents provided last night, the Fang family had a hidden enemy. They attacked her grandparents while her parents were away, even targeting her, a tiny infant.

To avoid danger, her grandparents had no choice but to come here under some pretense. But no matter how carefully they planned, they never expected the real Fang Mingxi to die and be replaced by her, a time traveler from the twenty-first century.

Moreover, her maternal grandparents might be facing the same peril, although they had yet to be relocated.

Surrounded by danger, Fang Mingxi felt overwhelmed.

She couldn’t pretend it didn’t concern her. Having accepted someone else’s body, she had to bear the responsibilities that came with it.

And from the vision, her father or mother’s sacrifice would occur when she was around two or three years old—there was still at least two years left; perhaps there was still time.

Right now, the Mountain Driving Trading Game was the only thing she could rely on. She needed to quickly understand its rules thoroughly.

She summoned the interface again, which remained on yesterday’s screen.

Biting her lip, she pressed “Explore” and focused intently, waiting for the next scene.

One minute passed, then two, then a full five minutes without any change on the interface.

Hmm?

Fang Mingxi poked at the interface. What’s going on? Why no response?

She studied the interface carefully again and finally saw a few lines of text at the bottom.

[Please host select a deployment location.]

[Red Leaf Mountain & Cattle Shed]

[Note: Only one exploration choice per day; once selected, it cannot be changed.]

Deployment location!!!

Fang Mingxi’s breath quickened. Deployment? Could the game actually deploy something into the real world?

Suppressing her excitement, she selected a deployment location.

[Host selected Red Leaf Mountain. Deployment location confirmed. The forest is currently being deployed.]

[Deployment complete. Please explore the forest as soon as possible. The time limit is thirty minutes, starting from the moment the host enters Red Leaf Mountain.]

Success!

The forest in the game had been deployed to Red Leaf Mountain, synchronizing the two. Now all that remained was for Fang Mingxi to explore it herself.

She raised her arm in triumph, wanting to jump up and down on the spot.

Mountain Driving Trading Game, I love you.

This mechanism was quite user-friendly—exploring a real forest was far easier than conjuring items out of thin air.

But there was a problem: with her little arms and legs, how was she going to get outside?

Fang Mingxi looked at Tang Yao once more. Perhaps she could take her out?