Chapter 5: Manor Level 5

Ai Ling dragged the man back to camp and carefully settled him in the only shelter she had that could block the wind and rain — a crude little thatched hut.

The man was really tall. Once he lay down, there was no room left to even stand. So that night, Ai Ling had no choice but to sleep up in a tree again.

The night wind was still pretty chilly, and now her T-shirt only had the top part left — just enough to cover the essentials — exposing her fair, slender waist. When the dew-laced breeze brushed past her, it felt bone-deep cold.

At least the night sky was beautiful. Ai Ling shivered as she gazed at the dazzling stars above, trying to spot a shadow of Earth. If only she’d just been transported to a new place and time hadn’t changed… was her dear grandmother thinking of her right now?

Early the next morning, Ai Ling, physically and mentally exhausted, jumped down from the tree. She hadn’t slept well — understandable, really. After all, who could sleep peacefully with a man that handsome suddenly in their life? It wasn’t right.

She went inside the hut to check on him and found the man still unconscious, his face flushed red and body trembling slightly.

She hurried to touch his forehead — oh no, he was burning up.

Looks like his injuries were too serious. The herbs from yesterday hadn’t been enough.

Ai Ling couldn’t help but steal another couple of glances. He was just too good-looking. How could someone this handsome even exist?

Those long eyelashes, the high nose bridge, the tightly pursed lips… absolutely flawless.

Cupping her round little face, she sighed like a fangirl for a good while. But when she saw the flush on his face deepen more and more, she smacked her own head. “Aiya! Hurry up and gather more herbs!”

She took out the seeds, vines, roots, and such she had collected yesterday. Then she remembered — to plant them, she’d need a hoe from the system shop.

Ever since the little Fluffy Ball had been tapped by the man yesterday, it hadn’t responded once.

Ai Ling patted her forehead, trying to summon it again. But no matter how she patted or what gestures she tried, the Fluffy Ball stayed silent.

Weird… did it break? Was that guy’s finger really that powerful?

She felt a little disheartened. Sure, the Fluffy Ball was noisy and annoying, but it had been her only companion this whole time. And the system shop really was a good thing. Losing it just like that was painful.

Well, no use crying over it. She’d have to rely on herself. While looking for herbs, she’d also keep an eye out for something she could use as a makeshift hoe.

After washing her face with warm water and forcing down some cooked fruit despite the nausea, Ai Ling grabbed her little basket and headed out.

This time, she had to go east. There were more rocks and rushes over there — good for building another thatched hut. Plus, some of the little wetlands had fish. She’d seen them before but hadn’t dared to try catching any, afraid she’d run into more of those alien-looking monsters from the first day.

But now, with a patient to care for, fruit alone wouldn’t be enough. He’d need protein to recover.

She gathered herbs first — that was easiest. Ai Ling realized this place was actually a paradise for studying traditional Chinese medicine. Rare herbs she’d only ever heard of before could be found without much effort.

The reason was pretty simple — in a place where poisonous creatures were common, there’d naturally be more detoxifying and healing herbs too.

Passing through a rocky pit, Ai Ling began seriously searching for a stone she could use as a hoe.

She remembered learning in school how primitive humans used stones that were thin on one end and pointy on the other, tied to a sturdy branch to make tools.

She searched and searched, and finally spotted one at the bottom of the pit that fit the description. She crawled over, grabbed one end of it, and gave it a hard tug—

“Ahhhh—”

As soon as she pulled the stone out, a small creature with the head of a cow, the body of a fish, and even wings popped out from underneath.

Without thinking, Ai Ling raised the stone in her hand and slammed it down hard.

“Moo!” The little thing was instantly flattened, and weirdly, it let out a cow’s moo.

Ai Ling was still in shock. She stood there frozen for a long while before she dared move again. Picking up a stick, she poked at the strange little fish-creature… Whew, it was definitely dead.

She picked the stone back up and placed it in her basket. Just as she was about to leave, she paused and looked back at the strange fish thoughtfully for a while. In the end, she gave a firm nod:

“No poison. Not like I’m eating it anyway. Taking it.”

And so, Ai Ling headed home with her haul of herbs, the weird fish monster, the stone, and a big bundle of rush grass.

She rushed all the way back, feeling hyped just thinking about how — as a ^[1]“half-baked” is an English expression that means incomplete, not fully developed, or lacking proper training or experience. In this context, Ai Ling calls herself a “half-baked little … Continue readinghalf-baked apprentice of traditional medicine — she actually had the chance to treat and save someone. The idea alone filled her with excitement.

Huh?

Ai Ling suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Right outside the thatched hut, there was a huge gorilla holding a giant stick, poking it cautiously inside.

She instantly tensed up, her hands and feet turning cold — was that… was that… the Demon King?

Just as she was trembling and torn between saving the man or saving her own life, she noticed a little rabbit beside the gorilla, bouncing up and down while urging him:

“Hurry up, hurry up! Just stab the wound really hard already!”

“Ugh! Did you not eat? Put your back into it! Do you even know what force means?”

“Are you giving him a back scratch or something?!”

“……”

“Are you even a man? You—”

Uh… just like the Fluffy Ball. No doubt — this wasn’t the Demon King. It was one of the Xi Slayers.

Then, thinking about how this fuzzy gorilla was trying to attack one of its own kind, Ai Ling got so angry her face turned red. She clenched her fists and shouted at the top of her lungs:

“What do you think you’re doing?! Don’t you people have any professional ethics?!”

The rabbit let out a squeak and vanished instantly. The gorilla turned around and saw a pretty round-faced girl standing there, showing a bit of her slim waist. For a moment, he panicked, stumbling over himself — one hand trying to cover his eyes, the other trying to cover down there, stammering:

“M-My apologies! Forgive my offense, young lady, I meant no disrespect!”

Then he crouched low and ran off in a flash.

???

“Young lady”? “Forgive my offense”?

Why did that sound… so awkward and out of place?

Ai Ling shook her head. She didn’t expect that even Xi Slayers would fight among themselves. These people really would do anything to compete for control over the planet.

Truly disgusting. Ugly!

She put down the things in her hands and quickly went inside to check on the man.

After inspecting him from head to toe, she let out a breath of relief—fortunately, everything was fine. The only issue was that his wound had been poked by the stick and split open a little, causing some fresh bleeding. Other than that, nothing was out of the ordinary.

Looks like that hairy gorilla actually had a soft heart—it was that little rabbit who was the real menace.

Once she had more time, she’d have to fence in the campsite. She couldn’t let these people keep killing each other.

After cleaning the wound again and applying freshly gathered herbs, Ai Ling started dealing with the strange fish she had brought back.

Ugh, this thing was really a headache. The body was fine, no different from a regular fish, but the little head with two cow horns… no matter how she looked at it, it was just wrong. Would it be inhumane to make soup with it?

After thinking it over, Ai Ling eventually brought the fish to a stream on the east side, trying to figure out how to remove its head.

Although she’d cooked before, she’d never killed a chicken, duck, or fish in her life.

Gritting her teeth, she found a rock that looked sharp enough and, eyes squeezed shut, began smashing the little monster fish’s head with it.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

As the sound of the stone hitting echoed, bits of crushed meat and bloody foam splattered all over Ai Ling’s body and face—some even got into her mouth.

“AAAAAAAHHH— cough cough cough— ptoo ptoo ptoo!”

Ai Ling screamed and gagged violently. It was just too disgusting. The smell—heavens, why was everything in this place so nasty?

If this were any other time, she would’ve turned around and run away. But this time… thinking about the injured man… Ai Ling could only fight through the nausea, gagging as she kept smashing. By the time she finally knocked the little monster’s head clean off, she was a total mess.

Covered in blood and gore, reeking to high heaven—if she appeared like this in a modern Earth society, people would think she had just come back from dismembering a body.

Clenching her teeth, she washed her face, gutted and cleaned the fish, and gagged all the way back.

She really wasn’t the type to make a fuss over everything, but this time… oh, dear god, it was just so damn disgusting. She really couldn’t hold it in.

She gagged while starting the fire, gagged while boiling the water, gagged while putting the fish in, gagged while feeding the fire… and while she was still gagging—

—the man in the hut came out.

He was very weak, needing to hold onto a nearby tree just to stay standing. But the medicine was working fast—Ai Ling stopped gagging immediately and just stared at him blankly.

“You… how did you…”

That couldn’t be right. With an injury like his, he should’ve been lying down for at least ten days to half a month!

The man slowly walked over, supporting himself with the tree, and sat down on a large rock across from her. He glanced at the weird fish boiling in the pot, then looked at her and asked,
“What’s wrong?”

His voice was low and a little hoarse. Gentle, but cold.

That simple question completely unraveled Ai Ling.

“It’s this fish. It got blood all over me, and it smells like a rotting corpse. I… I only have this one outfit… ugh, why are things here so gross… And my Fluffy Ball—something’s wrong with it now. How am I supposed to trade for stuff anymore… My hoe, my fridge—ugh—and all that good food I had… I…”

Before she could finish, the man reached out across the fire and gently tapped her forehead.

Ding!

The cool sensation vanished as quickly as it came, and suddenly Ai Ling didn’t feel so nauseated anymore. Then, her Fluffy Ball popped back out.

Ai Ling froze for a second before immediately grabbing the Fluffy Ball and rubbing it furiously.
“You little thing, you’re not broken?!”

The Fluffy Ball flew away with a disgusted expression.
“So gross, what is that smell on you?”

Before Ai Ling could answer, it caught sight of the cold-looking man across the fire and froze.

“Holy sht—y-y-y-you… Number 5, how could you bring him back?! H-h-h-he… he’s &**&&%%￥@￥&—what’s going on, he’s really &%&%￥…&&…!”

“You—what did you do to me?!”

Sensing something was off, the Fluffy Ball flew straight up to the man, glaring at him fiercely.

The man just lifted his gaze slightly—and with a sudden pop, the Fluffy Ball dropped straight to the ground.

Ai Ling jumped in fright and hurried over to pick it up. It was twitching in her hands. She rubbed it for a good while before it finally came back to its senses.

“What’s wrong with you? Don’t tell me you really are broken? This is our guest—you can’t act like that.”

The Fluffy Ball, now recovered, clamped its mouth shut and didn’t dare look at the man again. It quietly hid behind Ai Ling.

Feeling a little embarrassed, Ai Ling gave the man an awkward smile and said, “It’s not usually like this. Maybe it saw you and… got shy.”

The Fluffy Ball immediately slammed into her from behind in protest.

The man kept his eyes on the fire and said nothing.

Ai Ling stuck out her tongue playfully.
“Um, may I ask—how should I address you?”

A summer breeze drifted by, lifting his long, straight black hair. The white, blood-stained warrior robe fluttered with it in the wind.

The steam from the boiling pot blurred her vision, and Ai Ling saw a few loose strands of hair brush past the corner of his cherry-colored lips, from which he quietly uttered two words:

“He Xi.”

Bullet comments:

【As expected of He Xi, even now he dares to report his real name out loud.】

【Yeah, and for what? Look at Number 5—does she look like she’s suddenly enlightened?】

【This show is better than a weight-loss program. I’ve been so stressed I can’t eat or sleep, thinking how the hell someone like Number 5 could exist—an epic failure at everything. To be honest, I don’t even hate He Xi anymore. I just want Number 5 gone. Whoever kills her, I’ll give 500 bottles of nutrient solution.】

【Heh~】

【Okay, I’ll admit it… for the first time, I kinda get why people are into ancestor He Xi’s looks…】

【Yeah… finally starting to understand why that old witch was so madly in love with him back then—nearly let him destroy the whole starship.】

【Ugh! This is a public space, ladies—have some self-control!】

【Mind your business. Scram!】