◎Finish Picking Yours, Pick Yours.◎
By the time Nangong Yu left the kitchen, it was already past ten.
Earlier, she had guessed that something would happen sometime between 22:00 and 02:00. She brought some food with her and returned to the Spirit Beast Garden.
At first, nothing happened at all. Nangong Yu finished her meal and lay on the bed, playing with her lightbrain until she was nearly asleep.
She was beginning to think that nothing would happen that night when a faint, unsettling sound drifted out of the darkness.
“Ah—roar—”
It sounded partly human and partly beast, filled with an agonizing, heart-rending pain that bored straight into her ears. The hairs on Nangong Yu’s body stood on end.
She quickly shut off her lightbrain and sat up. After listening in silence for a moment, she slipped out of bed and walked to the door.
She did not go outside. Instead, she pressed herself against the door and strained to hear the sounds beyond it.
The direction of the noise was impossible to determine. It seemed to come from somewhere far away, but Nangong Yu did not think it was really distant. Without some kind of amplification device, the sound could not have traveled very far. Its source had to be nearby.
As she considered this, she applied several talismans to herself: Breath Concealment, Lightness, Invisibility, Defense, and others.
Then she gently opened the door, stepped outside, lightly tapped the ground with her toes, and leaped onto the roof.
The bamboo house was not tall, but the Spirit Beast Garden stood on relatively level ground, giving her a broad field of vision.
Nangong Yu slowly surveyed the surroundings. Behind the bamboo house lay the Spirit Beast Garden, shrouded in night. In front was a relatively narrow open space used for drying and preparing food, along with storing bamboo baskets, shovels, and all sorts of other tools.
Farther ahead were paths leading away from the entrance to the Spirit Beast Garden, extending toward corridors, gardens, and various courtyards.
Most of the area was cloaked in darkness. Not a single light could be seen.
That included the Spirit Beast Garden where Nangong Yu was staying.
As a result, the mournful cry emerging from the darkness sounded even more bizarre and terrifying.
Nangong Yu listened for a full three minutes, yet still could not determine its location. Then the sound abruptly vanished.
“It’s gone?” she said in surprise.
Ruo Zhu had warned her repeatedly not to go outside, so she had imagined that there might be eldritch gods or tentacles waiting out there, whispering until she lost her mind or suddenly dragging her away.
Was that all? Nothing had happened at all.
She did not immediately jump down from the roof. Instead, she waited another ten minutes or so.
Then, all at once, a human cry rang out. She could not make out the words, but the voice was filled with fury and final resolve. It lasted only two seconds.
The cry came quickly and disappeared just as quickly, so sudden that it seemed like an illusion.
During the next half hour, Nangong Yu heard nothing else. It was as though the entire incident had already ended.
“This is so hard to understand.” Nangong Yu hugged her head, feeling as though she had been deliberately given a difficult problem.
“Forget it.”
She was not taking the mystery-solving route anyway.
After checking the talismans on her body and adding a few more, Nangong Yu began leaping along the rooftops, setting out on that day’s exploration.
Nangong Yu was still rather lucky. This time, she found her way to Miss Lin Qi’s residence.
Miss Lin Qi was an especially unusual person. She did not even eat in the main kitchen, having a small kitchen of her own.
Nangong Yu wanted to take a look inside. The food from the main kitchen was already quite good, so who knew what delicious things might be prepared in a private kitchen?
However, there was a formation arranged around Miss Lin Qi’s courtyard.
None of the small stones Nangong Yu tossed inside managed to get through. Every one of them struck an invisible wall and fell to the ground.
“Can’t get in?”
Nangong Yu walked around the courtyard wall, but could not find a weak point.
She sent her miniature mechanical bees flying around above the courtyard, but they failed to find even a crack they could squeeze through.
“How large is the area covered?”
Nangong Yu recalled the mechanical bees and stored them away. Standing beneath the wall, she lightly tapped her cheek.
Did the formation envelop the entire courtyard? Did it include the ground beneath it as well?
If she began digging a tunnel from the base of the wall, would she be able to dig her way inside?
“I’ll try it another day.”
It was already close to two in the morning, and she still had to get up and work the next day. Nangong Yu decided to leave.
As usual, she took a different route back.
On the way, she passed through an empty courtyard that seemed not to have been inhabited for a long time. Dust covered everything.
Nangong Yu jumped inside and looked around.
The candlestick was nice. Into storage.
The incense burner was distinctive. Into storage.
The writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone? The scriptures? The Thousand Character Classic? Into storage.
The clothes were a little small, but brand-new. Into storage.
What was in the box? It looked like hawthorn pills. They tasted awful. Bleh. Into storage.
Huh? A glowing feather? Pretty. Into storage.
…
She collected a whole pile of miscellaneous things. Before leaving, Nangong Yu put the sturdy-looking tables, chairs, cabinets, beds, and everything else into storage as well.
Finally, she even removed the roof tiles. She had scattered several handfuls of small stones earlier and needed to replenish her supply.
Halfway back, Nangong Yu encountered someone familiar.
More precisely, it was the freewheeling young man she had met only the previous night—the one who had leaped out of the shadows.
His senses must have been exceptionally sharp. Nangong Yu was wearing Breath Concealment and Lightness talismans as she moved across the rooftops, yet he still noticed her.
“Who’s there?!”
His voice came from below, dark and threatening, and Nangong Yu recognized him.
She stopped and slowly crouched down, listening to the movements inside the building.
It was already past two in the morning. Why was he still awake? What was he doing?
“Who could possibly be there?” A woman’s soft, coquettish voice sounded from inside, carrying a hint of reproach. “You and those sharp ears of yours…”
That voice…
Had he changed partners?
Sounds of intimacy rose from the room below, leaving Nangong Yu utterly stunned.
She had only given this wild-route NPC a dose of aphrodisiac powder the previous night. How was he still able to fool around today?
Were cultivators’ bodies really that robust?
Nangong Yu was far too curious. This time, she wrapped ten times the usual amount of aphrodisiac powder in Breath Concealment and quietly scattered it on the wind.
She did a good deed without leaving her name, then returned to the Spirit Beast Garden.
The night passed without incident.
The next day, Nangong Yu got up a little late. When she turned on her lightbrain, it was already past nine.
“Brother Ruo Zhu, why didn’t you wake me?” she asked, stepping outside and stretching.
Ruo Zhu looked displeased. “If you’re up, hurry and get to work.”
“Oh.”
Nangong Yu slung the bamboo basket over her back and picked up the shovel.
“You don’t need that,” Ruo Zhu said. “I’ve already finished cleaning up.”
Nangong Yu’s eyes widened. “What?”
Was it really what she thought it was?
This lousy dungeon did not even let her pick up the poop anymore?
“Today, you’re doing something else with me.” As he spoke, Ruo Zhu took a wooden chest from inside the house and strapped it to his back.
Nangong Yu followed behind him. “Brother Ruo Zhu, how did you finish so quickly today?”
The two of them usually needed an entire morning to complete the work, yet he had finished it all by himself before she even got up.
“Didn’t you sleep?”
Ruo Zhu said nothing, pressing his lips tightly together.
Nangong Yu tilted her head and studied him. There were dark circles beneath his eyes.
“You really didn’t sleep?”
“You talk too much!” Ruo Zhu snapped.
Nangong Yu immediately fell silent.
People who did not get enough sleep were always irritable. It definitely had nothing to do with her getting up late.
After entering the enclosure, they did not follow their usual route. Instead, the two of them headed deeper into the Spirit Beast Garden.
“What are we doing today?” Nangong Yu asked.
Ruo Zhu did not answer. Instead, he asked, “Did you hear any strange sounds last night?”
Nangong Yu nodded. “I did. Brother Ruo Zhu, what was that sound?”
There was no fear or unease in the girl’s voice—only simple curiosity.
Ruo Zhu frowned. “You really heard it?”
“I heard it!” Nangong Yu nodded firmly. “It sounded so horrible. Brother Ruo Zhu, what was that sound?”
“You heard that, and you’re not afraid?” Ruo Zhu was momentarily stunned. He couldn’t help giving her a meaningful look.
She had said before that she had wandered here, but looking at her clear eyes and her perfectly intact limbs, he hadn’t believed her.
Now, however, he was beginning to. This girl might really be a little dim-witted.
Only someone dim-witted could have eyes so pure.
“It’s nothing,” Ruo Zhu said. “Did you go outside?”
“No.” Nangong Yu shook her head. “You told me not to.”
The tension in Ruo Zhu’s expression eased somewhat. “It has nothing to do with you. Remember that, all right? Don’t be curious. Just mind your own business.”
“Got it.” To show that she wasn’t interested, Nangong Yu changed the subject of her own accord. “What are we doing today?”
He had already shoveled up all the manure first thing in the morning. What else was there to do?
“Collecting.” Ruo Zhu stopped and set down the wooden box.
They had arrived at the Thousand-Eyed Bees’ enclosure.
“We’re collecting honey today?” Nangong Yu understood. She tilted her head back to watch him climb the tree with practiced ease. “What about me?”
“Stand there. Don’t move.”
Am I supposed to be the bait? Nangong Yu said, “Brother Ruo Zhu, if the Thousand-Eyed Bees try to sting me, I’m going to run.”
Ruo Zhu laughed. “They won’t sting you.”
As long as she wore his sachet and didn’t attack them first, she would be safe inside the spirit-beast park.
The young man climbed the tree with practiced ease, going higher and higher until the branches and leaves concealed most of his figure, making it impossible to see what he was doing.
The Thousand-Eyed Bees circled him again and again, but not one of them attacked.
Nor did any of them attack Nangong Yu. Just as Ruo Zhu had said, her task was simply to stand there and not move.
“What’s the principle behind this?” Nangong Yu asked, puzzled. “Is this what I’ll be doing from now on? Just standing still?”
The corner of Ruo Zhu’s mouth twitched. “No.”
Their next stop was the Dragon-Patterned Koi.
Despite being called koi, they actually lived in a lake. Even the smallest among them was over two meters long, while the larger ones reached four or five meters. With a sweep of their tail fins, the currents they stirred up were strong enough to knock a person off their feet.
“Get in the water.” Ruo Zhu went first. He removed his outer clothes and shoes and socks, then jumped into the lake.
He didn’t hurry to move, instead floating on the surface as he said, “Once we’re in, there’s only one thing you need to do: pick up the scales.”
“Don’t pay attention to the fish,” he warned her. “Even if one attacks you.”
Nangong Yu followed his example, removing her outer clothes and shoes and socks before jumping into the water. “All right, Brother Ruo Zhu.”
Dragon-Patterned Koi shed their scales. The golden scales, each about the size of a palm, shimmered with crimson patterns, and no two were alike.
Legend had it that if someone pieced the scales together in the shape of a dragon, they could summon an ancient divine dragon.
But the Dragon-Patterned Koi clearly wouldn’t allow anyone to steal their scales. The scales were far too beautiful. Once shed, the koi piled them together in one place—their mating nests.
“Don’t pay attention to the fish!” Ruo Zhu’s voice rang urgently in her mind.
A koi swam toward Nangong Yu, baring a terrifying set of sharp teeth as it opened its mouth and lunged for her calf.
“Pick up the scales—quickly!” His voice sounded even more urgent in her mind.
The moment Dragon-Patterned Koi realized someone was trying to take their scales, they would destroy them before anything else.
On the other side of the lake, Ruo Zhu was clutching a sackful of scales. Kicking his legs, he was swimming rapidly toward the shore.
His eyes had taken on a dark green hue beneath the water. His expression was anxious, and he seemed to regret what he had done.
Fortunately, Nangong Yu was quick. She gathered the scales and ran, her calf narrowly scraping past the fish’s teeth without being bitten.
She made it safely back to shore.
Scales that dazzled the eye lay piled across the ground. Nangong Yu sat beside them, tilting her head to one side as she wrung out her wet hair.
“How are you?” Ruo Zhu came over carrying a sack of scales, water dripping from him all over. His lowered gaze swept over the girl’s bare calf.
“Me? I’m fine.” Nangong Yu looked up at him.
Indeed, her leg was uninjured. There wasn’t even a mark from the fish’s teeth.
Ruo Zhu said in a low voice, “If you regret it, you don’t have to go back into the water.”
“What if I keep going in?” Nangong Yu asked.
A streak of dark green light flashed through Ruo Zhu’s eyes, so swift it might have been an illusion. He curled his fingers and said softly, “Then you can have a portion of the scales.”
A portion.
At the bottom of the entire lake, the scales lay piled up in heap after heap, too numerous to count.
How much did he mean by “a portion”?
“More importantly…” Nangong Yu tossed her dripping hair aside and looked up at the young man. “Why does your voice keep appearing in my head?”
