◎She took out the 3D printer and began manufacturing.◎
Nangong Yu raced back to the Spirit Beast Garden at breakneck speed, arriving at half past nine.
The sun hung high in the sky, and Ruo Zhu smiled at her.
The young man sat in the courtyard, his handsome face covered in dark clouds. “Where have you been?”
Nangong Yu slowed to a stop, shallow dimples appearing in her cheeks. “Brother Ruo Zhu. Didn’t you have something to take care of today? Why haven’t you left?”
Ruo Zhu had indeed had something to take care of.
But he had returned to the Spirit Beast Garden before dawn. Just as he was about to enter the house, a premonition had suddenly surfaced in his heart.
Remembering all the suspicions he had accumulated along the way, he had changed direction and gone to Nangong Yu’s door instead. “Little Yu, get up and start working.”
He knocked, gradually raising his voice enough to wake a sleeping person. Yet no response ever came from Nangong Yu’s room.
Heaven knew how close Ruo Zhu’s heart had come to leaping out of his throat. Steeling himself, he pushed open the door—and sure enough, the room was empty!
“Where did you go?” Ruo Zhu demanded sternly.
Nangong Yu slowly shuffled inside. “I had diarrhea.”
“I stood guard here for nearly two hours,” Ruo Zhu said harshly. “Where exactly did you go?”
What kind of diarrhea could last two hours?
Nangong Yu glanced at him, gave a huff, and took steaming soup and fragrant dishes out of her spatial storage. “I went to the kitchen!”
She snapped, “What are you yelling for? I was squatting in the kitchen before dawn, all for your sake!”
The moment he saw the food, guilt welled up inside Ruo Zhu. He hesitated. “Really?”
“Why would I lie to you?” Nangong Yu carried the dishes into the room. “You’re the strange one, getting up before dawn and lying in wait for me. What’s going on in that head of yours, Brother Ruo Zhu?”
She set the food on the square table. “Brother Ruo Zhu, you must be hiding something!”
Meeting her suspicious gaze, Ruo Zhu’s heart tightened. “You’re still a child. Don’t stick your nose into adults’ business.”
“Then adults shouldn’t eat food brought by children!” Nangong Yu slammed her hand on the table.
Ruo Zhu’s expression softened. A porcelain bottle appeared in his palm. “I’m leaving. Eat your breakfast, then go do your work. Don’t waste time.”
Nangong Yu took it, pulled out the stopper, and recognized the smell of honey. “Oh.”
“If Butler Huang calls for you, do not go. Understand?” Ruo Zhu continued warning her, his expression turning stern again.
Nangong Yu’s eyes rolled, but she said, “He’s the butler. Isn’t it better to curry favor with him than to offend him?”
“Why would you curry favor with him?” Ruo Zhu frowned.
“I don’t even know whether I have a spiritual root. If I win him over, maybe he’ll be willing to steal the spirit-testing array plate from the storehouse and let me use it.”
Ruo Zhu froze. “But you—”
His brows drew tightly together. In the end, whatever he had intended to say became, “Curry favor with him all you like; it won’t help. He may be the butler, but he can’t take things from the storehouse without permission.”
A faint light flashed through Nangong Yu’s eyes.
Ruo Zhu’s words had revealed two pieces of information: Huang Hu was authorized to enter and leave the storehouse, and he could handle the items inside.
“All right, then.” She nodded quickly. “You’d better hurry and take care of your business. If you don’t leave now, you won’t make it back for lunch.”
Ruo Zhu glanced at the sky outside and finally hurried away.
Nangong Yu finished the food on the table, wiped her mouth, and went off to work.
She slung the bamboo basket over her back, picked up her shovel, and entered the enclosure.
Scoop poop. Scoop poop. Scoop poop.
The droppings she hadn’t picked up yesterday had doubled today.
There was no way she could finish all this work alone, so she might as well do a halfhearted job.
If anyone asked, she would say the spirit beasts had been disobedient and had kept relieving themselves while he was away.
At last, Nangong Yu reached the Dragon-Patterned Koi’s habitat. She set down her basket, removed her outer robe, and dived into the water.
So many fish! So many fish!
Fish this enormous would be perfect for surviving a famine!
Nangong Yu swam beneath the surface and glanced around casually. All the scales on the lakebed had already been picked clean; there was nothing left.
She paid it no mind and withdrew her gaze, pursuing a four- or five-meter-long fish. With the tranquilizer gun in hand, she pulled the trigger and fired a dart.
The Dragon-Patterned Koi had been swimming with a powerful sweep of its tail, but it soon lost all momentum. Nangong Yu hauled it toward the shore.
The intrusion of an outsider drew more and more enormous fish toward her. Some recognized Nangong Yu as the person who had stolen their scales and opened their mouths to bite.
Their sharp teeth sank into Nangong Yu’s calf without leaving so much as a mark.
Instead, it was the Dragon-Patterned Koi that seemed to have bitten a solid stone. It swam away sulkily.
One. Two. Three…
Nangong Yu caught twenty Dragon-Patterned Koi—large, medium, and small—before finally stopping.
She knocked each one dead and stored them in her spatial storage. The space couldn’t hold living things; otherwise, she wouldn’t have needed to go through all this trouble.
“Huh?”
A small fish swam past in the distance. It was truly tiny. Compared with the Dragon-Patterned Koi, which were usually four or five meters long, it looked like a mere fry.
Wouldn’t that be perfect for grilled fish?
Nangong Yu swiftly plunged back into the water and swam after it.
Half an hour later.
“Mmm~~”
A half-meter-wide iron pot was filled with vivid red bird’s-eye chilies, plump chili peppers, green and red Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, doubanjiang, and more, all covering the fish.
The rich, bubbling aroma assaulted the nose.
As expected of a spirit beast, the Dragon-Patterned Koi had tender, fragrant flesh. Under the sunlight, it seemed almost translucent, and each bite melted in her mouth.
Nangong Yu ate the entire fish, leaving not a scrap of meat behind. Only then did she contentedly rub her stomach.
The Spirit Beast Garden was vast and tranquil. The breeze swept over the shimmering surface of the lake, reflecting scattered golden rays of light.
Now this was what she called a proper dungeon!
After eating her fill and resting, Nangong Yu buried the kitchen scraps on the spot, put away the iron pot, and continued working.
She trimmed the spirit cranes’ feathers.
She brushed the armor plates of the golden-armored rhinoceroses.
She helped the spirit monkeys give up alcohol.
She told the snakes to stop hoarding gemstones and asked the players to teach them the art of decluttering.
…
After making the rounds, it was time to prepare dinner.
Dinner was easy enough.
Feed the spirit rabbits to the three-eyed wolves.
Feed the treasure-seeking mice to the golden eagles.
Feed the Dragon-Patterned Koi to the spirit cranes.
Feed the curved-horned antelopes to the spirit tigers.
…
It wasn’t as if she hadn’t worked. She had taken care of every kind of spirit beast!
Dusting off her clothes, Nangong Yu rubbed her neck and looked up at the sky. Dense branches blended into the darkening heavens. It was already getting late.
“Still not back?” she murmured curiously before leaving the enclosure.
If Brother Ruo Zhu had returned, he should have come in and worked alongside her.
“Brother Ruo Zhu?”
She walked to the door of Ruo Zhu’s room and knocked.
When no one answered, she reached out and pushed the door open.
It swung inward. The room was empty, without a trace of him.
Nangong Yu entered, her eyes shifting as she looked around.
The room contained almost nothing: a bed, a square table, several small bamboo stools, a washstand, and some clothes and bedding.
That was all.
Nangong Yu thought of Ruo Zhu himself. He dressed simply, using only a bamboo twig to tie up his hair, with no other accessories.
Where did he keep the honey, the scales, and everything else?
Nangong Yu couldn’t help wondering whether he was a player too, with a system storage space of his own.
As she pondered this, she left the room and turned toward the outside.
“What’s there to eat today?”
A familiar customer had arrived at the kitchen.
“Lady Little Fish is here.”
“Welcome, Lady Little Fish.”
Today, the kitchen servants were exceptionally respectful toward her.
“We’ve prepared several dishes for you.” One of the servants carried over a food box and handed it to Nangong Yu with great deference.
Since she was going to come anyway, and wouldn’t leave empty-handed, it was better to prepare something for her in advance, lest she cause any unexpected losses.
“Oh?” Nangong Yu raised an eyebrow. “You’re being rather sensible today.”
She looked over the crowd and saw denial written across the faces of two people. They hadn’t given her away.
“No matter whose time we delay, we can’t possibly delay your meal, can we?” the servant who handed her the food container buttered her up.
Nangong Yu shot him a glance. “Did you poison it?”
The servant was so frightened he nearly fell to his knees. “How could this lowly one dare?!”
The others also pointed to the heavens and swore that they hadn’t tampered with anything.
At first, everyone had struggled to accept the change in her identity and had treated her rather rudely. But several days had passed. How could they still dare to give her attitude?
“Good, then.” Nangong Yu put away the food container and began strolling around the kitchen.
She ordered another three or four dishes and took them all with her.
No one dared make a sound, letting her come and go as she pleased. After all, they had already told Liu Shun, but he didn’t believe them, and there was nothing they could do about it!
“You, stop!”
Nangong Yu had just reached the halfway point when someone called out to her. She turned around and saw Huang Hu approaching from another path.
“Butler Huang.” Nangong Yu stopped, looking at him expectantly.
She was waiting for this special NPC to provide her with a clue, and he did not disappoint her.
“From now on, deliver meals every day at noon.”
His brows and eyes darkened. “You know where I mean, don’t you?”
“Yes, my lord.” Nangong Yu agreed readily.
Huang Hu seemed to want to say something, but in the end he merely let out a dark hum, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked away.
As he passed Nangong Yu, the ornament at his waist swayed. Its delicate pattern caught her eye.
She tapped her left wrist and quietly scanned it.
When she returned to the spirit beast garden, Nangong Yu immediately placed the food container on the table and took out the 3D printer.
The 3D printer connected to her optical brain and soon began working. Nangong Yu ate her meal while watching the identity token take shape.
At the center of its intricate patterns was the character “Lin.” This should be Huang Hu’s identity token.
He was the steward. If she took his identity token, would she be able to enter the treasury?
After finishing her meal, she found that night had already fallen completely.
Nangong Yu planned to take a short nap and wait until the dead of night before making her move. But the moment she lay down, she heard footsteps, uneven and unsteady.
Who could be coming at this hour?
“Brother Ruo Zhu?” She had just reached the doorway when she saw a disoriented figure. “What happened?”
Wasn’t he supposed to be out handling a task? How had he returned in such a state?
“Little Yu.” Ruo Zhu stopped and turned his dazed gaze toward her, his expression filled with confusion and helplessness.
Nangong Yu looked him over. His hair and clothes were in a complete mess, as if he had struggled with someone, yet he bore no injuries.
“Weren’t you out handling a task?” Nangong Yu pulled him inside. “Why did you come back so late?”
Ruo Zhu walked to the table in a daze and dropped heavily into the empty space. Nangong Yu tugged him aside just in time to keep him from falling.
She pressed him down onto a stool, only to see his eyes remain vacant, as though he were trapped in a dream.
“Little Yu, I didn’t go out, did I?”
He grabbed her wrist, his expression fearful and desperate. “Why is it dark? It isn’t dawn yet, is it? I didn’t leave today. I was just getting ready to go out, wasn’t I?”
