◎Someone died again yesterday. Send her up to take their place.◎
Ruo Zhu’s reminder appeared in Nangong Yu’s mind rather than reaching her ears.
They were in the water. They had just been underwater, and no one could possibly open their mouth and speak there, much less transmit a voice clearly through the water.
Ruo Zhu couldn’t even offer an explanation.
On land, a person might not be able to tell. But underwater, there was only one possibility.
“Are you a cultivator?” Nangong Yu asked, looking at him.
Only cultivators knew how to transmit their voices. Ruo Zhu was not an ordinary servant—he had been hiding his identity.
Under the clear, curious gaze of her bright eyes, Ruo Zhu’s face was as pale as white jade.
“I’m not.” His jaw tightened as he spoke.
Nangong Yu nodded and changed the subject. “How much can I take?”
She simply shifted the topic and did not press him any further, which left Ruo Zhu surprised and unable to believe his ears. “You…”
“Brother Ruo Zhu, I won’t ask about your secret.” Nangong Yu tilted her face up. Her wet, broken strands of hair still clung to her forehead. “You just need to give me a little hush money.”
NPCs having secrets was perfectly normal!
The right moment would come, and the event would trigger naturally. If she insisted on forcing it, the NPC might turn hostile!
Ruo Zhu stared blankly. His lips pressed into a line, and the arm holding the scales tightened. “Eighty-twenty split.”
“I can take twenty percent?” Nangong Yu’s eyes lit up.
Ruo Zhu watched her warily. “That’s the maximum. No more.”
“Deal!” Nangong Yu nodded and agreed at once. “Brother Ruo Zhu, you’re the best!”
Her obedient and easygoing manner left Ruo Zhu dazed. Even after they went underwater again, he still couldn’t quite believe it.
Each time he gathered a pile of scales from the water, his gaze would chase after Nangong Yu’s figure.
She moved with nimble, vigorous grace. Her legs kicked through the water as swiftly as a fish’s, carrying pile after pile of scales to the shore.
The body of water was vast. The two of them worked for more than two hours before finally finishing the collection.
“That’s all!” Nangong Yu sat on the bank, exhausted and gasping for breath. “Brother Ruo Zhu, hurry and give me my share.”
She was drenched from head to toe, with strands of waterweed clinging to her body. She did not even have the strength to pull them off. Her shoulders slumped, and the fact that she had not simply lain down was the last bit of pride she had left.
Ruo Zhu pursed his lips. “I can give you your share, but how are you going to take it away?”
The piles upon piles of scales had already been heaped into a small mountain, and Ruo Zhu had stored them away.
At the time, he had said, “I’ll put them away first, so no one sees them later.”
Although hardly anyone visited the spirit-beast garden normally, Ruo Zhu had been shaken by the sight of that glittering mound of scales. If someone discovered them, he would have no choice but to die.
“Just give them to me, Brother Ruo Zhu.” Nangong Yu raised her head, shallow dimples appearing at the corners of her cheeks. She patted the spot beside her leg.
Ruo Zhu hesitated. “Fine. Hurry.”
If they delayed too long and someone saw them, it would be difficult for Ruo Zhu to explain himself.
“Mm-hmm.” Nangong Yu nodded.
Ruo Zhu nervously glanced around. He reached out and swept his hand across the air. In the next instant, a small pile of iridescent scales appeared beside Nangong Yu’s legs, growing higher and higher.
The dragon-patterned koi was an exceptionally beautiful spirit beast. Even if its scales could not be pieced together into the shape of a dragon, they still offered sturdy defensive properties and vivid colors, making them a highly sought-after material.
As the mound continued to grow, Ruo Zhu’s expression visibly tightened. He almost stopped breathing.
The next moment, the mountain of scales rose above Nangong Yu’s head—and then suddenly vanished!
Ruo Zhu froze, even halting the motion of his hand as he released the scales. “You—you’re a cultivator?”
Nangong Yu smiled brightly and shook her head. “I’m not.”
Not a cultivator? Then how had she made all those things disappear? Only cultivators could store objects inside a mustard-seed space.
Or perhaps…
When Ruo Zhu looked at her again, his gaze held a little more scrutiny and curiosity. The two of them—one releasing the scales and the other taking them away—soon completed the transaction.
“I’ve given you your hush money.” Ruo Zhu’s expression was wary and distant. “Once we leave this place, I’ll deny ever knowing you.”
This NPC was so adorably naive!
Nangong Yu’s favorability toward him shot up. She nodded. “Brother Ruo Zhu, you’re helping me make a fortune. I won’t hurt you!”
Was there really such a good thing in the world?
A trace of derision appeared at the corner of Ruo Zhu’s eye. “Let’s go.”
Their task for the day was to gather honey and collect the scales of the dragon-patterned koi.
“Brother Ruo Zhu, how did you make this sachet?” Most of the moisture on Nangong Yu’s body had been dried by a fire-element spirit beast.
She tied the sachet back around herself. “Why don’t the spirit beasts attack me when I wear it?”
She had been attacked by the dragon-patterned koi earlier because she had taken off the sachet before going into the water.
“I blended the spices myself,” Ruo Zhu replied with a sidelong glance.
Nangong Yu looked at him and said sincerely, “Brother Ruo Zhu, you’re so capable!”
She walked along with light, springy steps, even reaching out to tease the gentler spirit beasts as she passed them.
It was as if their audacious theft of the dragon-patterned koi’s scales moments ago had never happened at all!
Ruo Zhu became increasingly convinced that she might be missing a few screws.
“What are you planning to do with them?” he asked quietly.
Nangong Yu looked up and thought for a moment. “Trade them for spirit stones? Have armor forged?”
Ruo Zhu said under his breath, “Save up some spirit stones and find a healer at Huichun Hall to take a look at you.”
“Take a look at what?” Nangong Yu asked, puzzled. Did healers handle this sort of thing? Shouldn’t she be looking for an artifact cultivator instead?
Ruo Zhu pressed his lips together. “How did you store those scales just now?”
Nangong Yu blinked. “Just like that. Whoosh. They were stored away.”
Ruo Zhu nodded slowly. “You might be a cultivator, but you’ve forgotten how to cultivate. Save up some spirit stones and have a healer from Huichun Hall examine you.”
Nangong Yu: “…”
So that was what he meant by “take a look.”
The girl beside him suddenly burst into helpless laughter, leaving Ruo Zhu momentarily stunned. He looked at her in confusion. “What are you laughing at?”
Nangong Yu tried to hold it in. She glanced at him, then laughed even harder.
After spending so long in the Infinite Flow, this was the first time an NPC had ever told her to see a doctor.
And he wasn’t even mocking her.
“I will, Brother Ruo Zhu.” Nangong Yu lifted her head, the amusement still shining brightly in her eyes.
Ruo Zhu noticed that she clearly had no intention of taking his advice and schooled his expression. “Suit yourself.”
This girl was full of secrets.
But Ruo Zhu could barely manage his own troubles. He had no time to concern himself with anyone else’s. “Don’t betray me. I’ll take you to collect other things next time.”
Nangong Yu immediately nodded again and again. “Okay, I promise I’ll keep it secret!”
There were other things too?
How could there not be?
Why else would the Lin family raise such a huge garden full of spirit beasts? Surely it wasn’t just for fun.
Once they left the enclosure, Ruo Zhu said, “Go to the kitchen and get something to eat.”
“Okay.” Nangong Yu nodded and started to leave.
She had just reached the entrance when she ran into someone coming inside. The man was more than a head taller than her and seemed not to notice her at all, walking straight in. Nangong Yu had no choice but to move aside.
“Are the things collected?”
The gloomy, arrogant voice made Nangong Yu stop with one foot already outside the courtyard gate.
She turned around in surprise and stared at the newcomer’s back.
Wasn’t that Brother Wild Combat?!
At that pause, she heard Ruo Zhu’s tense voice. “Butler Huang.”
Her eyes shifted, and Nangong Yu quickly headed outside. Then she slipped beyond the courtyard wall and hurriedly slapped on an Invisibility Talisman, a Breath-Concealing Talisman, and a Lightness Talisman.
With a gentle tap of her toes, she climbed onto the wall and peered inside.
Almost in the same instant, her gaze met Butler Huang’s.
Nangong Yu’s scalp prickled, and she nearly fell off the wall!
This NPC was incredibly perceptive!
I wonder if killing him would make him drop anything? Nangong Yu’s heart burned with anticipation.
Huang Hu glanced suspiciously at the top of the wall. For some reason, he had felt for the past two days that something was lurking in the shadows.
Finding nothing, he turned his gaze back to the person in front of him. “Is everything packed?”
Ruo Zhu’s voice was taut as he replied, “It’s all packed. Everything is here.”
Nangong Yu found it rather strange. When dealing with Liu Shun, Ruo Zhu had always been distant and indifferent. But in front of Butler Huang, he was like a chick facing a cat.
Butler Huang took the wooden chest and opened it to inspect the contents.
Inside were three small vials of honey from Thousand-Eyed Bees. Their bellies were two sizes smaller than the one Nangong Yu had obtained.
There was also a small stack of Dragon-Patterned Koi scales, piled more than ten centimeters high. That was only a tiny fraction of what they had harvested today.
Ruo Zhu looked like an honest man, but he sure had some nerve!
Clinging to the top of the wall, Nangong Yu quietly watched what was happening inside.
“Who was that who just went out?” After finishing his inspection, Huang Hu closed the chest and picked it up.
Ruo Zhu answered honestly, “She’s a new servant who works with me.”
“Mm. Have her come find me later.” Huang Hu turned and began to leave.
Ruo Zhu hurried after him. “What does Butler Huang want her for?”
“What else? Someone else died yesterday, so she’ll take their place.” Huang Hu’s face filled with irritation. “One after another, they act like they’re tired of living.”
Ruo Zhu’s mind went blank with a loud buzz, and his scalp nearly split from fear. He didn’t dare let any of it show, and merely said respectfully, “She’s new and doesn’t know the rules. I can go in her place.”
Huang Hu shot him a glance and sneered. “You? Have you fallen victim to it too?”
“Brother Ruo Zhu, I’m back!”
Suddenly, a lively figure ran inside.
Nangong Yu held up two steamed buns—taken from her spatial storage, of course. Who would care where two steamed buns had come from?
“Oh? This lord hasn’t left yet?” She cast a curious glance at Huang Hu.
For some inexplicable reason, the moment Huang Hu saw the girl, she seemed familiar.
He frowned and examined her twice, but still couldn’t remember where he had seen her before.
“What’s your name? Come with me.” He gestured toward her, then walked out.
Nangong Yu looked puzzled, but let out an “Oh,” and followed him while biting into a steamed bun.
Then someone tugged at her sleeve.
She turned her head and saw Ruo Zhu. His forehead was covered in sweat, and his eyes held an emotion she couldn’t quite identify—terror or panic, anger or hatred.
“Listen to him!”
His voice was pressed low. “Don’t look up! Don’t look around! Do whatever Butler Huang tells you to do. Above all, don’t do anything extra!”
He spoke quickly, but Huang Hu walked even faster. By the time Ruo Zhu finished, Huang Hu had already reached the doorway.
“Are you coming or not?” he urged impatiently.
Nangong Yu looked at Ruo Zhu’s frightened, anxious gaze and gave a slight nod. “Brother Ruo Zhu, make sure you eat well. I’m leaving.”
She turned and followed Huang Hu. “My lord, wait for me!”
