Chapter 93: Return Gift
A wave of dizziness washed over him.
Chu Jiu’s eyelids fluttered twice before he finally managed to open his eyes.
He lowered his head and, not surprisingly, found that his hands had turned into small, pink paws.
Hamster paws.
He raised a small paw and scratched his furry little face.
When he had just raised the mirror to look into it, he had noticed: the image reflected in the mirror was not his own face at all, but clearly that of the golden hamster!
At the same time, he also heard the little hamster in the mirror squeaking rapidly: [You can now go to a place where you can find the answer through the small mirror, but your time is limited] [Remember to return here before your spiritual power is exhausted, otherwise no one will be able to save you this time, and you will be stuck in the rift forever]
[Go quickly!]
…”A place where you can find the answer.”
But where exactly was here?
Little hamster Chu Jiu raised his round head, even straining to stand on tiptoes, trying hard to look around.
As far as the eye could see, there was only a blinding white light.
Nothing else.
Chu Jiu tried, but found that he couldn’t even summon the background panel, nor could he see the rate at which his spiritual power was draining.
Could it be… this was the so-called “rift”?
Chu Jiu scratched his cheek again, thinking that just stopping here was definitely not the way.
He simply chose a random direction and started running forward.
Perhaps it was because his body had turned into a hamster, but Chu Jiu felt like he was running exceptionally fast.
As he ran, a small silver-gray door actually appeared ahead!
Chu Jiu ran to the small door, reached out with his paw, grabbed the handle, and pulled!
The door opened!
At the same time, his feet went out from under him, as if the flat ground had suddenly turned into a deep abyss, and the entire hamster was falling!
The intense feeling of weightlessness made him instinctively close his eyes, wanting to reach out his paws to protect his head, but because his arms weren’t long enough, he could only cover his face…
Oh no, oh no! Where on earth was he going to fall!
Little hamster Chu Jiu cried out inwardly.
Just as he was falling down spinning three hundred and sixty degrees, “thwack,” he landed face-down on a firm and warm cushion.
The little hamster laboriously flipped over, rubbed his slightly sore face, and looked up—Lu Qingyan?!
Had he fallen into Lu Qingyan’s hands?
He, he was really here?
The little hamster’s eyes and mouth turned into circles, and his little paws were frozen in front of his chest.
At the same time, with a “ding,” the system, which he hadn’t been able to awaken no matter what, started the countdown for the depletion of spiritual power.
Chu Jiu instantly sobered up.
He didn’t have time to talk to Lu Qingyan and first looked at the countdown:
Fifteen minutes left before his spiritual power reached zero.
Only fifteen minutes!
How could he find the “method for making penicillin” in such a short time?
Chu Jiu anxiously looked at Lu Qingyan and squeaked, “Lu Qingyan, I’m looking for the method to make penicillin, oh right, you might not even know what penicillin is…”
Lu Qingyan interrupted the little hamster: “I know.”
“I also know you can’t stay here long.”
“The thing you’re looking for, I’ve already prepared it.”
Lu Qingyan held him, his hand gesturing in the air—
A “screen” made of light and shadow appeared out of thin air before Chu Jiu’s eyes.
On the screen, it simply and clearly listed how to make penicillin with the most basic tools, including the specific process for each step and the required materials.
It had to be said that this explanation was very practical.
If a certain type of material was something Chu Jiu had already made before, it was just briefly mentioned.
If it was something Chu Jiu had only heard of but hadn’t made yet, it would list the steps clearly, what materials could be used for the first step, how to collect them…
[Penicillin Recipe]!
According to this explanation, as long as he gathered the materials and had the dwarf orcs produce various shapes of funnels, test tubes, and petri dishes, he could definitely make it!
Chu Jiu was stunned for a few seconds, staring blankly at Lu Qingyan: “You, you… this, this…”
This screen, this process explanation, was definitely not at the technological level of the Carrot Continent!
…Could it be that Lu Qingyan, like him, had also transmigrated from Earth?
Lu Qingyan lifted him higher, until he was at eye level with himself: “Once you remember the recipe, I’ll explain it to you.”
Chu Jiu shook his head, suppressing all his doubts, and turned to look at the instructions on the screen.
After reading each screen, he swiped with his paw, scrolling down.
After swiping like this more than ten times, he finally finished reading all the instructions.
With so much information suddenly crammed into his brain, Chu Jiu glanced dazedly at the countdown: five minutes left.
He raised his paws at Lu Qingyan: “I’ve finished reading! I’ve finished reading!”
Lu Qingyan: “Good.”
“Before the countdown ends, try to recall the badge I gave you—and with the badge as the center, recall the Pioneer Cabin, recall Bean Village.”
“That way, you can return to that world.”
Seeing the little hamster’s eyes circling in confusion, Lu Qingyan explained further, “That badge is the ‘anchor point’ I left in that world.”
“With the ‘anchor point,’ plus that mirror of yours, your spiritual body—you in hamster form—can come here.”
The little hamster’s mouth opened and closed, finally asking the question it had wanted to ask from the beginning:
“Lu Qingyan, are you, like me, also transmigrated from ‘Earth’?”
“Is this Earth? Do you also have a system?”
Lu Qingyan: “I transmigrated from another world outside of ‘Earth’.”
Chu Jiu: …
Suddenly a bit of hamster brain overload.
Looking at the little hamster whose mouth had turned into an O-shape again, Lu Qingyan’s tone suddenly became a little subtle: “Chu Jiu, I didn’t deliberately hide it from you.”
“In that world, there were some restrictions that prevented me from saying these things.”
Chu Jiu blinked, remembering Lu Qingyan’s words, “I really can’t tell you yet.”
He scratched his head, not finding it particularly strange—after all, the system still had strange restrictions on him, so it was normal for Lu Qingyan to be restricted as well.
Seeing that the little hamster showed no signs of being angry, Lu Qingyan’s voice returned to its previous steadiness:
“There are a few important things I must tell you now.”
“First, it’s about the ‘disease’ of the ability users…”
Lu Qingyan spoke steadily and quickly, and Chu Jiu kept nodding his head, remembering everything one by one.
After he finished speaking, Chu Jiu glanced at the time again, one minute and thirty seconds left.
Lu Qingyan held the little hamster in his left hand, and gently stroked the little hamster’s head with the palm of his right hand: “How much time do you have left?”
Without waiting for Chu Jiu to answer, Lu Qingyan continued, “Recall the ‘anchor point’ at least fifteen seconds in advance.”
Chu Jiu glanced at the time, looking into Lu Qingyan’s ice-blue eyes: “Can’t you go over there?”
Otherwise, why would he be explaining these things with such urgency?
Lu Qingyan: “I can’t go over there as Lu Qingyan for the time being—”
“As ‘Little Can,’ however, I can.”
Chu Jiu was stunned for a second, and an idea, from who knows where, popped into his head, and he blurted out, “Is it because ‘Lu Qingyan’s’ body consumes too much ability energy?”
Lu Qingyan’s eyebrows twitched slightly, and his fingertip gently touched the little hamster’s cheek: “Smart.”
Chu Jiu subconsciously turned his face and rubbed it against the other’s finger.
He had only rubbed against it twice when he realized: Ah, what am I doing! I’m really treating myself like a hamster!
Stop, stop.
He immediately stopped this clumsy rubbing, straightened his plump little body, and continued to look at Lu Qingyan with his round head and round eyes.
He actually had many, many questions in his heart.
For example, why Little Can had transmigrated to his side.
For example, whether Lu Qingyan, like him, also had “missions.”
But he knew that he didn’t have enough time left at all.
Thirty seconds left.
What was the thing he most wanted to say to him in this short time?
Chu Jiu met those ice-blue eyes, gasped for breath as if he couldn’t breathe, and whispered:
“That, the gift…”
“Your, your return gift…”
Whether it was an illusion or not, Lu Qingyan’s expression became unprecedentedly tense.
Even his lips tightened into a line.
His Adam’s apple also slid down a little.
Chu Jiu’s breathing became even heavier.
“I, I don’t know…” the little hamster murmured softly.
The corners of Lu Qingyan’s lips twitched slightly, as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t.
Nineteen seconds left.
Chu Jiu took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and rushed forward, “paji” (onomatopoeia for a soft, smacking sound), kissing Lu Qingyan’s face.
“I don’t know what to give!”
The little hamster’s face was flushed red, and it didn’t dare to open its eyes, its speech faster than Rawr Rawr Rabbit’s.
“I-I-I-I’m going back, I’ll make penicillin, goodbye!”
Fifteen seconds.
Following what Lu Qingyan had taught him, Chu Jiu began to recall the badge, recall the pioneer outfit, recall the lively pioneer cabin…
Another wave of dizziness, accompanied by a sudden feeling of weightlessness.
When Chu Jiu opened his eyes again, he was already sitting in the workshop of the pioneer cabin, with the mirror still on the table.
He reached out to grab the mirror but recoiled as if burned: the small mirror was scalding hot, like it had just been taken out of a furnace.
Daring not to touch the mirror again, Chu Jiu leaned forward to look at the surface:
The mirror surface was pitch black again, with no image at all.
The system also popped up a notification: [Mirror overused, cooling down, temporarily unavailable.]
…It can’t be used again?
A hint of disappointment flashed in Chu Jiu’s eyes.
No, no, he didn’t have time to think about other things.
He shook his head, looked at Little Can who was obediently waiting beside him, picked up the little guy and placed him on his lap: “Little Can, I’m back.”
“Did I scare you just now when I collapsed here?”
Little Can: “Meow, meow?”—”I wasn’t scared. Did you see Lu Qingyan?”
Chu Jiu: “I saw him. Did you… know I went to see him just now?”
Little Can: “Meow!”—”He came by once before and asked Rawr Rawr Rabbit and the others to give me a message, saying that if they ever saw you suddenly faint while facing a mirror or something similar, it meant you had gone to see him.”
So that was it.
So Lu Qingyan had even considered such details.
But… if Lu Qingyan transmigrated from another world, and Little Can is his “summoned beast,” then do the other spirit beast babies also have their own masters?
Would their masters also transmigrate like Lu Qingyan?
Realizing this, Chu Jiu decided that he must ask next time he had the chance.
As for now—
Of course, he had to seize the time and prepare to make penicillin!
*
Arsa Star.
Lu Qingyan was still sitting in the chair.
His hand was still in the same position as before. Only, the small golden figure was no longer in his palm.
Lu Qingyan withdrew his hand and pressed it against his left cheek.
The cheek that the little hamster had just kissed.
His face was actually a little flushed.
At this moment, the optical computer received a communication request from Doctor Sun and the engineer.
Lu Qingyan’s expression quickly returned to normal, and he connected to the optical computer.
The engineer was beside himself with excitement: “Marshal! It really works! The plan you proposed is really feasible!”
Strengthening the “existing spiritual power channel,” adding an anchor point in WT0906, and achieving “mutual visits” between Arsa Star and WT0906—this was Lu Qingyan’s idea.
During this short period, the engineer had been improving their spiritual power connection equipment according to this idea.
Today, this set of equipment finally worked!
Doctor Sun’s expression was much more serious: “Marshal, your hypothesis has been verified.”
“But as I have repeatedly warned, ‘leaving an anchor point’ and ‘strengthening the channel’ both use your spiritual power!”
“Your spiritual power—huh?”
Seeing the latest data, a hint of doubt flashed in Doctor Sun’s eyes.
Strange, Marshal Lu’s spiritual power had been rapidly overdrawn, about to break through the critical value.
But how come just five minutes ago, there was a significant recovery? Although the magnitude was small, it was definitely a recovery?
Doctor Sun withdrew his gaze from the data and looked at Lu Qingyan again, saying urgently, “Marshal, I need to know, five minutes ago, when you came into contact with the S-level spiritual power user from WT0906, did anything unusual happen?”
Lu Qingyan: “…We had physical contact. Slightly intimate contact.”
Doctor Sun: “…Excellent!”
Lu Qingyan: “…”
Doctor Sun: “It seems that your contact with the other party has a very positive guiding effect on the recovery of your spiritual power!”
“Although I can’t see the other party’s spiritual power data, I believe that this positive guidance must be mutual!”
“The other party’s spiritual power will definitely also recover!”
Lu Qingyan: “…That’s good.”
Doctor Sun: “For the sake of your and the other party’s spiritual power, please be sure to have more contact! Intimate physical contact!”
Lu Qingyan: “…”
Marshal Lu coughed lightly and calmly switched to another topic.
*
Bean Village.
Following the production instructions he had seen from Lu Qingyan, Chu Jiu began to prepare the materials.
Various substances that might contain Penicillium, such as moldy oranges, rotten bread, mildewed leather shoes, spoiled cantaloupe… Chu Jiu had collected a large pile of these before.
Culture medium, using thick rice paste as a culture base and food for the bacteria, plus gelatin extracted from pig trotters to solidify it.
Weak acid liquid, lemon juice would suffice.
Staphylococcus, could be collected from patients with external injuries. Of course, wiping it on doorknobs and similar places might also yield some.
Soda, which is sodium carbonate, could be obtained by burning seaweed and collecting the ashes from the sea creeks.
As for other things like oil, carbon powder, distilled water, Chu Jiu already had them readily available.
Having prepared the materials and asked the little squirrels to produce various glass containers, Chu Jiu activated the [Virtual Production Line].
Chu Jiu knew that preparing penicillin using this method was actually extremely inefficient, and the purity of the finished product was very poor, let alone any stability.
If he were to do this in reality, the time required would be measured in “years.”
But these problems were not problems at all with the [Virtual Production Line] and [System Determination].
What Chu Jiu had to do was to try countless times until he found a suitable strain and obtained the [Penicillin Recipe] recognized by the system.
And Chu Jiu had done this kind of “constant trial and error, constant restart” many times before.
From the very beginning with soy sauce, to later gunpowder, then sugar making, papermaking…
Chu Jiu had figured it all out step by step through trial and error.
Now, even if he heard the system announce [Failure] for the hundredth time, he could still smile and start over with a new batch of Penicillium.
Chu Jiu stayed holed up in the workshop for almost a month without leaving the house.
Fortunately, the little chestnut sprites came every day to cook for everyone, the little gray bird would tell him jokes during meals, and Tata would help him organize his notes…
As for the spirit beast babies, without Chu Jiu’s instructions, they would plant the fields, herd the animals, and help the big beaver repair the riverbank every day…
At night, Little Can would come to urge Chu Jiu to sleep.
If it was too late and Chu Jiu still refused to get up and leave the workshop, Little Can would bare its teeth and growl fiercely at him.
A month passed just like that.
One day in December, after who knows how many failures, Chu Jiu finally heard the prompt he had been longing for day and night:
[Using 2 points of spiritual power, you can obtain the “Penicillin Solution for Direct Injection” recipe X1]
[Do you want to use it?]
Chu Jiu, with dark circles under his eyes and bloodshot eyes, chose “Use.”
He was so tired now that he wished he could lie down and sleep for ten days.
But he just hugged Little Can, pressed his face against the other’s face, and murmured as if in a dream with his eyes closed:
“Little Can… I made it…”
“We can… go and bring the doctor back.”
Thank you, black big cat… who I can’t see for now.
*
Twenty days later.
Chu Jiu once again crossed the Sunny Plateau, passed through the rose flower wall, and arrived at the [Uninhabited Secret Village].
This time when Chu Jiu stepped into the village, many fluttering bed sheets were still drying in the village.
The little skeleton itself was flying back and forth among the bed sheets, as if playing hide-and-seek alone.
Seeing Chu Jiu, it landed on the ground a little awkwardly and then jumped over expectantly:
“Y-you’re here?”
“Did you make that medicine?”
Chu Jiu took out a wooden box from his backpack: “We made it.”
“The medicine you mentioned is extracted from Penicillium, so we call it ‘penicillin’.”
He opened the box and handed the glass tube containing the transparent liquid to the little skeleton.
The little skeleton held the glass tube and looked at it very seriously, then handed it back to Chu Jiu: “You really made it. You’re really good.”
Chu Jiu was slightly surprised: “Don’t you need to verify if this medicine will have the effect you want?”
Little Skeleton: “I, I can feel that this liquid has a very peculiar efficacy.”
“And,” the little skeleton added, “my master said that if you deceive people with this medicine, then only you yourselves will suffer.”
“So… I don’t think you would lie.”
Chu Jiu thought to himself, that made sense.
Patients who are anxious to see a doctor actively providing fake medicine to the doctor? That’s like thinking their own lives are too long.
Over here, the little skeleton straightened its body, its posture solemn:
“Pioneer Chu Jiu, my name is ‘Xiao Ku’.”
“You have completed the request my master spoke of.”
“I will leave this village and go to the human world with you to treat and save people.”
Hearing Xiao Ku’s words, the worry that had been hanging in Chu Jiu’s heart finally completely settled.
A bright smile, rarely seen on his face recently, appeared: “In that case, shall we set off now?”
“I’ll tell you on the way what a magical and interesting place our Bean Village is…”
Xiao Ku took a few steps back, looked up at Chu Jiu’s face, but didn’t answer.
It circled Chu Jiu once, and even flew into mid-air, saying in a doctor’s tone, “Rotate your eyeballs.”
Chu Jiu didn’t understand why, but still did as he was told.
Xiao Ku shook its head: “We can’t set off now.”
Chu Jiu was startled: “Why?”
Xiao Ku: “Haven’t you rested properly for a very, very long time?”
“You are now, severely fatigued.”
Chu Jiu: !
During this period, indeed…
After making penicillin, he hadn’t rested for a moment and had ridden the Bodo bird out immediately.
Xiao Ku: “Stay in our village for one night.”
“A good night’s rest will restore your energy!”
Chu Jiu looked at the sky, thinking that even if he forced himself to set off now, he wouldn’t be able to go far before having to stop to camp. Instead of that, it would be better to get a solid night’s rest.
So he nodded: “I’ll listen to the doctor.”
*
That night, one human, one skeleton, and four spirit beasts sat together to enjoy a steaming hot [Lamb Spine Hot Pot].
Lamb spine is actually the spine of a lamb. After cleaning it, spices are added for stewing. The stewed meat is tender and juicy, with a rich and endlessly satisfying taste. Even the potato chunks and radish pieces in the pot had absorbed the flavor, and their texture was in no way inferior to the lamb.
Whether it was Rawr Rawr Rabbit and Little Can who ate meat, or Kakaba who was vegetarian, they all ate heartily and happily.
As for Gulp-Glup, who ate neither meat nor vegetables, it held a fresh [Rose Honey Water] and drank it with great joy.
Even Xiao Ku, who ate nothing, praised this dinner endlessly—
Xiao Ku couldn’t eat, but it could sense the “aroma.”
During this meal, it lay on the edge of the pot, not afraid of the heat or the scalding, constantly muttering:
“So fragrant, so fragrant…”
“Xiao Ku hasn’t smelled such fragrant food for a very, very long time…”
Since Master left, no one had cooked food anymore.
Chu Jiu smiled and said, “Once you get to Bean Village, you’ll be able to smell such wonderful aromas every day!”
Xiao Ku turned its head to look at him, its dark eye sockets seemingly shining: “Really? That’s great!”
It could use its medical skills to treat and save people, it could play hide-and-seek with Glup-Glup and the others, and there was such wonderful food!
Bean Village must be a very, very good place!
*
Late at night.
Chu Jiu chose a clean room, spread out his sleeping bag, and fell asleep holding Little Can.
However, he had only just lain down when he clearly saw—
A white shadow passed through the wall and stopped in front of him.
Chu Jiu was very certain: this shadow was definitely not a bed sheet!
…Was he really seeing a ghost?
