Chapter 13: Manor Level 13

After drinking a bellyful of plain water under the moonlight, Ai Ling not only couldn’t get out of bed the next day but also had an upset stomach.

After managing to heal herself with some herbs, she reflected deeply and decided to build an open kitchen with a roof, along with some water storage containers.

Relying on the unreliable system wouldn’t do. She would have to do it all herself, constantly working non-stop to get things done.

In addition, she needed to gather materials, turn the unredeemed cards into tangible objects, plant crops, graft plants… Thinking about all the tasks she had to tackle herself, Ai Ling immediately felt overwhelmed.

But after all, she was a highly energetic girl with strong action skills. After less than a minute of feeling down, she quickly made a plan:

First, gather materials, then plant the crops, build the kitchen, and then do the grafting.

She definitely couldn’t go to the western mountains again. Since there was one white leopard, there must be ten more. Until she had a suitable weapon to protect herself, she wouldn’t go there.

The same went for the south. As for the east, it was all lakes and marshes, not likely to have any ores.

So, Ai Ling set her sights on the barren northern region. The snow-capped mountains over a hundred kilometers away were pure and noble, like a goddess dressed in white gauze, their quiet beauty exuding an indescribable sense of sadness and desolation.

From the snow mountains to her estate, the land was mostly barren wildflowers, weeds, and scattered rocks. What she needed now was all sorts of stones, and the north seemed perfect for that.

Before setting off, Ai Ling gathered the materials she would need: iron ore, copper ore, dye, quartz sand, borax, boric acid, barite, barium carbonate, limestone, feldspar, as well as steel, nickel, chromium, molybdenum, and many others that she didn’t even recognize.

The most ridiculous thing was the salt. Didn’t she already redeem a bag of salt? But the materials required were: crystallized salt!

She sighed. If she could find crystallized salt, why would she bother redeeming this broken card?

However, the card did remind Ai Ling that if she could reach the base of the snow mountain, the salt issue would likely be resolved.

Wasn’t there a ^[1]“Chaka Salt Lake” (茶卡盐湖, Chákǎ Yánhú) is a real place in China! It’s a famous salt lake located in Qinghai Province. It’s known as the “Mirror of the Sky” … Continue readingChaka Salt Lake on Earth? Since there were snow mountains here, maybe there was also a salt lake.

But with her current abilities, she couldn’t travel that far.

Forget it, she’d deal with the salt issue later. As for the materials she didn’t understand, Ai Ling decided to bring Fluffy Ball along and feed it various stones while walking. Eventually, she’d stumble upon the right ones by chance.

As it turned out, Ai Ling’s idea was pure genius. With this method, within half a day, she had gathered most of the materials, including iron, copper, and steel. The only thing left was a bit of dye to color the clothes.

So, she pressed on and walked a few more kilometers. Finally, she found many colored stones near a hollow. Ai Ling fed them all to Fluffy Ball, and sure enough, they could be used as dye.

With all the required materials gathered, Ai Ling took advantage of the early evening light and dug up many wildflowers to take back.

This area had few trees, but the flowers were plentiful and varied. Although each flower was small, Ai Ling didn’t mind and dug up a bit of each type.

In addition, she discovered many plants resembling wild onions or wild garlic in the fields. After tasting them, she found they had a similar flavor, so she hurriedly dug up more to take back.

Inspired by the onions and garlic, she tasted various other wild plants that seemed non-toxic.

Bitter, spicy, sour, fishy… After tasting no less than fifty types, she finally found a small plant that looked like a needle-leaf and tasted a bit salty.

Ah, this is great!

Ai Ling had been here for almost a month. Every day, she ate boiled fruit, and her taste buds were nearly dulled to nothing. This little bit of salt was like a magic pill, saving her sense of taste.

She immediately dug up a lot of this herb and also gathered a big bundle, planning to bring it back as a substitute for salt.

Ai Ling was busy and full of energy, while Fluffy Ball remained listless and unhappy.

During a break, Ai Ling couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong with you today? Look at all the things we’ve gathered! Don’t be so down!”

Fluffy Ball drooped its fur and stayed silent.

Ai Ling thought for a moment and then slapped her forehead. “Ah, I know! Is it because I kept shoving all kinds of stones at you? You’re not happy about it, right? Oh come on, don’t be so petty. Look at me today, I’ve been like ^[2]Shennong (神农), the “Divine Farmer,” was said to have personally tasted hundreds of different plants and herbs to discover which were edible and which were poisonous. He helped teach … Continue readingShennong tasting herbs! You eating a few stones won’t hurt, right? And the extra ones fell out anyway!”

Fluffy Ball still didn’t say anything.

After guessing several other possibilities and getting no response, Ai Ling grew frustrated and finally glanced sideways at it, saying, “It can’t be, right?”

Fluffy Ball, caught off guard, lifted its head and asked suspiciously, “Can’t be what?”

Ai Ling immediately smiled mischievously and leaned in with a gossiping look, “Could it be that after seeing the moon last night and hearing me recite all those romantic poems, you got sentimental and want to find a girlfriend or something? Hahaha! I didn’t expect you to be like this, Fluffy Ball! You should’ve said so earlier!”

Fluffy Ball’s white fur almost turned black with anger, but Ai Ling pretended not to notice and continued teasing,  “To be honest, I actually have seen a female system before — the little bunny of Number 1 Xi Killer. She’s a bit fierce, but…”

Fluffy Ball exploded, “No, no, no! I’m not unhappy because of that! It’s because of you! You, you, you, don’t blame others for your nonsense! What girlfriend, what bunny? If your assassination skills were as good as your nonsense, the Demon King would’ve died long ago.”

Ai Ling went “Oh” and then quickly realized what she had said. She took a step back, clutching her chest in terror:

“Because of me? You… you… don’t tell me you have improper thoughts about me? Fluffy Ball, you can’t do this! I’m your host! This is… this is… messing up the hierarchy!”

Pfft~ Fortunately, Fluffy Ball couldn’t spit blood, otherwise it would have died from blood loss by now.

It really had no idea how to deal with this idiot. The fur it had raised in anger softened, and after choking for a while, it could only look up to the sky and ask, “What should I do? My upgrade mission, what should I do? My nearly ten-thousand-year life—do I have to bury it in this woman’s hands?”

“Sigh~”

A deep sigh echoed, and Fluffy Ball saw Ai Ling suddenly raise a large stone and look at it helplessly, saying, “You little creatures, you always have to force me to see blood!”

Then, it watched helplessly as her eyes gleamed with malice, and she swung the stone down with all her might.

Fluffy Ball, terrified, tightly shut its eyes and screamed, “Ai Ling, no! Let’s talk things through! I’m still young, I don’t have a girlfriend yet, I still have dreams to fulfill! I can’t just…”

Before Fluffy Ball could finish, there was a loud bang from behind, followed by the sound of “crack crack.”

Turning around, Fluffy Ball saw Ai Ling’s big stone hit a small animal right on the head. The animal let out two screams and died on the spot.

Fluffy Ball exhaled in relief: “You scared me! I thought you were going to commit murder for profit!”

Ai Ling gave a weird smile: “Who was it just now saying they were still young and didn’t have a girlfriend? And who said I was spouting nonsense? Hm??”

Fluffy Ball blushed: “No, no, I… I was just startled and said something random, hehe.”

Ai Ling raised an eyebrow: “Hmph, I’m in a good mood today, so I won’t hold it against you.”

After saying that, Ai Ling ran over to the small animal and saw that it was a yellow cow-like creature with fur on its joints, but much smaller than a regular cow, about the size of a small goat.

Ai Ling picked up the little yellow cow and, with a rare serious expression, said to Fluffy Ball, “I know you’ve been feeling down these days. I’ve been tired too, so I’ve been thinking about how to make everyone happy. As for me, I’m not that capable. I just love eating and making things, but unfortunately, this planet… it’s complicated. I haven’t had the chance to show my talents. Fortunately, today I met this fat cow or fat goat, and now we have knives. Today, I’m going to treat ourselves properly, let you taste what real food is, and let you see what your host is capable of.”

The duo, with their hands full, returned to the estate, and the first thing they did was turn all the cards into actual items.

So, Ai Ling’s orchard gained new peach trees, pear trees, cherry trees, and grapevines. Ai Ling even made a simple frame for the grapevine, just waiting for it to grow big.

Wheat and sweet potatoes were neatly planted in the ground, and tools like axes, toolboxes, and a bath tub were placed in the thatched hut where He Xi lived. Since he wasn’t staying there, it was now used as a tool room and bathroom.

The glass cups were carefully stored in her own hut, so she no longer had to worry about a shellfish-like smell when drinking water.

There was also an adorable T-shirt with a cat print that Ai Ling didn’t dare touch with her hands. She planned to carry water back tomorrow, take a bath, and change into it afterward.

And now, the most necessary set of knives could finally be used.

Ai Ling took the little yellow cow to the creek, processed it, and cut the most tender parts into thick steaks, cleaning them thoroughly before bringing them back home.

The discarded organs were buried carefully in a hole, as the green hills and clear waters must not be polluted because of her.

After going through this whole process, Ai Ling was exhausted. After all, it was her first time doing this, and she wasn’t very skilled.

Also, ever since the last time she used a stone to process that extremely disgusting fish, Ai Ling had developed a psychological aversion to handling meat. Even though she kept reminding herself that it wasn’t much different from the pigs, cows, and sheep she ate back on Earth, she still felt a pang in her heart every time she cut into it.

But there was no way around it. People are made of iron, and food is steel. She had to overcome it. When conditions allowed in the future, she’d think of other ways.

【How did someone so hesitant with cutting meat get chosen to be a Xi Slayer? Is killing He Xi easier than cutting meat?】

【I don’t care, I just want to see what delicious food she’s making. That fish soup last time looked pretty good.】

【Speaking of fish soup, I went back and tried cooking soup with synthetic fish meat, and… don’t be fooled by her, it won’t kill you.】

【Can synthetic and natural be the same? If you don’t know, don’t talk nonsense.】

【Sorry, I’ve never experienced the organic plant era, so I’m a little curious. Can’t the fruits of plants be eaten? I saw Number 3 eating those big fruits with great enjoyment.】

【Thanks for the invitation, I’ll answer based on experience: you can’t eat them. If you eat too many, you’ll lose the will to live. Number 3 needs food but can’t cook, so no choice but to eat them like that. So… now you know why we’re fans of Number 5, right? She’s always working hard to make her life better!】

【Damn, there are really Number 5 fans? I can’t believe it, the younger generation is really lost.】