Chapter 83
Tang Yu’an quickly grew tired of playing, so Zhou Qi pulled him down from the sky.
“Brother Qi, do you want to try going up?” he asked.
Zhou Qi shook his head. “Let’s wait until tomorrow.”
Right now, the levitation spell’s effect on Tang Yu’an hadn’t ended yet. If both of them floated into the sky together and something unexpected happened midway, it would be disastrous.
“Alright then.”
Tang Yu’an nodded and continued, “It seems you were right; levitation isn’t the same as flying after all.”
If the Lightness Technique reduces gravity, then the Levitation Spell makes gravity disappear, causing objects to float mid-air as if they’re in outer space.
If you’re in a suspended state without any external force, you’ll keep floating upward until you stabilize three meters above the ground.
“This skill has great limitations.”
Tang Yu’an imagined some usage scenarios and found that it couldn’t replace the Lightness Technique at all.
Zhou Qi nodded. “But in certain situations, using it might have miraculous effects.”
Tang Yu’an blinked.
He pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up. “Brother Qi, are you thinking we can use it on bad guys?”
“Exactly.”
Zhou Qi curved his lips slightly, pleased with their mutual understanding.
“Hehe, that’s a great idea!” The more Tang Yu’an thought about it, the more interesting it seemed.
If we cast the Levitation Spell on an enemy and then push them, as long as there’s no external force acting on them, they’ll float away far into the distance, unable to stop.
Caught off guard, the person it’s cast upon would have a hard time reacting.
Earlier, even though he was mentally prepared, Tang Yu’an panicked when the wind blew. Let alone other people.
That feeling of having nothing to rely on and being completely unable to control oneself is really awful. Those who get hit will definitely be unable to react quickly.
“Great! We’ve got another attack method!”
Tang Yu’an happily bounced around but almost floated away again. Startled, he quickly grabbed the rope, using its force to return to the ground.
Seeing him flustered, Zhou Qi shortened the rope and tied the other end to himself.
“Now you don’t have to worry.”
“Mm-hmm!”
Tang Yu’an pounced and clung onto his shoulder, hanging onto him with a big smile. “Brother Qi is the best!”
Zhou Qi reached out and rubbed his head, softly saying, “Let’s go back.”
“Okay~”
So Zhou Qi took Tang Yu’an back to the shop and then went up to the attic.
“Can we still get another drift bottle today?” Tang Yu’an looked at the small window on the wall and suddenly remembered.
He opened the panel to check and found it was indeed so.
The bottle they opened in the morning was the one Zhou Qi had caught yesterday, so they still had today’s chance.
“But we’ve used up today’s casting attempts,” Zhou Qi said.
Without casting attempts, the drift bottle you catch can’t be thrown back into the Dream Sea and will eventually disappear.
Tang Yu’an thought for a moment and said, “After it disappears, we should be able to catch it again. The probability might be lower, but it doesn’t seem to affect much.”
After all, there are so many drift bottles in the Dream Sea; we don’t necessarily have to trade with the same dream wishers.
The more wishers we trade with, the more light spots will light up on the map. Now, Linhai Town and Lanhu Town have both dispelled two patches of fog.
The little boy from Lanhu Town has even surpassed, lighting up an area larger than the little girl from Linhai Town.
Zhou Qi nodded. “Alright, then let’s catch another one.”
After all, probabilities don’t seem to matter much when it comes to An An.
“Great!”
Since they were still tied together, Zhou Qi followed as they approached the small window, watching Tang Yu’an reach into the Dream Sea.
Several drift bottles floated and sank in the seawater.
Perhaps because he had cast the Purification Spell many times today, Tang Yu’an immediately noticed that one of the light clusters in a drift bottle seemed brighter than the others.
He carefully reached out and grabbed that drift bottle.
[Catching complete, obtained White Drift Bottle x1]
It was still a white transparent drift bottle, but the light cluster inside was brighter, looking slightly more dazzling than the ones they had caught before.
“Shall I open it?”
“Go ahead.”
Zhou Qi laid out a cushion, then pulled him into the soft nest—although they had the glowing green cabinet for warmth, the attic was still not as warm as downstairs.
Tang Yu’an carefully unscrewed the bottle cap.
The light cluster floated mid-air, but this time the sound seemed a bit special: “Ah wuwuwu—ah wuwuwu—”
Like crying; is the other person crying in their dream?
Tang Yu’an blinked, feeling that the sound seemed familiar. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly looked at Zhou Qi.
“Brother Qi, this sound…”
Zhou Qi’s brows were tightly furrowed. When Tang Yu’an looked at him, he hesitated and said, “The abandoned chemical plant?”
“Right! It’s just like the strange sound we heard at the fork in the road when we came back that day, isn’t it?”
Zhou Qi nodded.
That sound was very peculiar. Old Li had warned them that it was made by mutated creatures that lure travelers into the toxic fog for hunting, telling them not to listen or approach.
But…
“If it’s really a mutated creature, how can it become a dream wisher?” Tang Yu’an wondered aloud. “Can dream wishers be non-human creatures?”
Zhou Qi shook his head, unable to provide an answer.
“Ah ah ah—ah wuwuwu—”
The light cluster continued emitting creepy sounds, making both Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi feel a bit uneasy.
“What do you want?” Finally, Tang Yu’an asked.
When Tang Yu’an spoke, the sound from the light cluster suddenly quieted down.
Then, the light cluster floating mid-air began to flicker unsteadily; just looking at it, you could feel the emotional turmoil of the dream wisher.
[10 seconds until the wisher wakes up. Please state your trade request promptly.]
It’s going to wake up so soon!
Tang Yu’an couldn’t help widening his eyes. “What do you want? Tell me quickly!”
“You… want…”
From the light cluster came a hoarse and awkward voice, like nails scratching on a blackboard—sharp and grating, making people feel very uncomfortable.
Tang Yu’an, not expecting a response, couldn’t help covering his ears, shocked. “You can talk?”
But as the countdown ended, the light cluster floating mid-air disappeared, and the sharp, grating voice vanished as well.
[The wisher has awakened. Trade failed.]
Along with the system prompt, all anomalies in the attic dissipated without a trace, leaving only a transparent glass bottle in Tang Yu’an’s hand.
Tang Yu’an stared blankly at the drift bottle, then looked at Zhou Qi.
“Brother Qi, did you hear that voice just now?”
Zhou Qi nodded.
“So this dream wisher… is actually a person?”
Zhou Qi thought for a moment, then shook his head. “Not necessarily.”
“But…”
“When you subdued the mutated vine this afternoon, didn’t you hear its voice?”
Tang Yu’an paused, then nodded. “That’s true…”
He didn’t think it was the system’s doing because when he was preparing to subdue the mutated vine as a pet, after the prompt failed, he heard Green Gem’s voice.
“And Green Gem didn’t actually speak; it’s just that I could understand what it was conveying.”
But just now, the voice from the light cluster was clearly speaking in our language.
Zhou Qi recalled and said, “Don’t you think… it was imitating you?”
Tang Yu’an was taken aback, then carefully thought back.
“Seems like it…”
The voice from the light cluster said “You want…”, which was the beginning of the first sentence Tang Yu’an had asked.
Old Li had said that the monsters in the toxic fog were good at luring people; if they could imitate human voices, it would make sense.
“Alright then.”
Tang Yu’an shook his head. “We don’t have enough information to draw conclusions now. We’ll see if we can get its bottle again in the future.”
Because the trade failed, the map didn’t display the other party’s light spot, so they couldn’t confirm whether it was the mutated creature at the abandoned chemical plant.
Tang Yu’an was quite curious about this dream wisher, just hoping they could catch its bottle again next time.
Since there were no more casting attempts and still two hours until midnight, the drift bottle in their hands was destined to disappear.
Tang Yu’an reinserted the bottle cap, then carefully examined the drift bottle and found that a string of numbers could faintly be seen at the bottom: MR176349.
Isn’t this the code for a plane?
Tang Yu’an quickly shared this discovery with Zhou Qi.
Zhou Qi took the drift bottle, carefully confirmed it, and also found the string of numbers.
“Does this mean that the Dream Sea connects to other planes? So it needs plane codes to distinguish?” he speculated.
Hearing this, Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but brighten up.
“Then does that mean we might receive drift bottles from our original plane? We can contact Mom and Dad, right?”
Facing Tang Yu’an’s expectant gaze, Zhou Qi naturally didn’t want to disappoint him.
He nodded and said, “It’s very possible.”
But… even if they could catch drift bottles from their original world, what’s the chance it would happen to be from Uncle Tang, Aunt Tang, or Xinxin?
No matter how slim the hope, it’s still a direction to strive for.
“Identifying items at home can’t stop!”
After returning from Jufeng Town, Tang Yu’an still used his fragmented time to cast Identification on things at home, but there was too much plane information, and they hadn’t had time to sort it out.
“I’ll organize the information tomorrow.”
Tang Yu’an shook his head. “We have to build a branch store tomorrow. Anyway, we’ve narrowed it down to three planes; we just need to pay attention to drift bottles with these three codes.”
Only by continuously upgrading and being able to catch more drift bottles at a time can they increase the possibility of contacting family members.
“From now on, we have to work even harder!”
Seeing the boy full of energy, Zhou Qi couldn’t help but curve his lips slightly. He reached out to touch his cheek and said, “Then have a good night’s sleep. You need to take care of your body to have the energy and strength to do more things.”
“Okay!”
Tang Yu’an nodded, and during their conversation, the dream drift bottle in his hand slowly turned into fine light particles and disappeared.
“What a pity we didn’t complete a trade today…”
Tang Yu’an snuggled into the nest, saying, “We’ll continue tomorrow!”
Zhou Qi gave an “mm,” then heard him say, “Ah, how long will this Levitation Spell last?”
As soon as he crawled into the nest and lay down, Tang Yu’an’s body floated up again. If not for the rope still tying him to Zhou Qi, he might have floated up to the ceiling with his quilt.
The scene was quite amusing.
“Seems like there’s still half an hour left.”
Zhou Qi chuckled, pulled the rope to bring him down, then extended his arms to hold him in his embrace, softly saying, “This way you won’t float away.”
“Hehe, yes!”
Tang Yu’an laughed happily, his hands and feet subconsciously wrapping around him. Brother Qi’s body was warm and solid, making him feel very secure.
The two boys hugged each other tightly.
Childhood friends, intimately close.
The night deepened, and the attic quieted down as the two boys embraced and drifted into dreamland…
*
Jufeng Town’s night had yet to settle.
At the Guard Post.
After Chi Hao finished dinner, he had been waiting.
Just when he was about to fall asleep, he finally saw Hong Li’s figure.
He subconsciously straightened up from his slouched posture.
Hong Li saw him and paused to glance over, noticing he was safe and sound. She nodded and continued to sit behind the desk.
“Sis…”
Chi Hao was about to speak, but Hong Li raised her hand to stop him.
“Hei Xiong, you speak first.”
Following behind Hong Li was Hei Xiong, who grinned at Chi Hao before turning serious in front of Hong Li.
Chi Hao glanced at Hei Xiong’s bald head—
In fact, after arriving in Jufeng Town, he found that more than half of the guards sported bald heads, and even a few townspeople did as well. He couldn’t help but find it intriguing.
Is this a trendy hairstyle?
Perhaps his gaze was too direct, as a guard had explained it to him that evening.
Chi Hao then learned that shaving one’s head had many benefits.
He absolutely wouldn’t shave his own head; as a fire ability user, he didn’t have that concern. If he shaved his head and returned to Qingmu Fort, people would laugh at him.
Hong Li was still busy with official matters, so Chi Hao could only wait quietly.
Of course, he didn’t think about avoiding the conversation. Since Hong Li didn’t dismiss him, it meant he could listen and didn’t need to avoid suspicion.
“Have the planting results come out?” Hong Li asked.
Planting results?
Chi Hao, who had been somewhat disinterested, couldn’t help but perk up his ears. What kind of planting results could make his sister so concerned?
“Reporting to the Mountain Lord, the results are in.”
Hei Xiong couldn’t hide the joy on his face. He continued, “We’ve successfully planted them. According to experiments, the temperature and light around seven or eight in the morning and five or six in the evening are most suitable.”
He then concluded, “One soybean yields 12 jin (6kg).”
Hong Li’s reaction was indifferent.
One fruit seed could produce about a hundred jin (50kg); this yield was really too low compared to the fruits she had.
Even Chi Hao, who didn’t know much about farming, shook his head upon hearing the number.
However, Hei Xiong quickly continued, “Our planting masters are fully producing and can yield about 200 jin a day, and moreover…”
His voice carried obvious excitement. “One jin of soybeans can feed a guard for two to three days!”
Hong Li suddenly looked up. “Say that again?”
When her plant-ability users fully produced fruits, they could only get about 1,000 fruits a day. Although the quantity seemed large, the fruits weren’t filling, and those sour ones made you hungry again soon after eating.
There were over a hundred guards, and they basically consumed as much as was produced every day, with nothing left over—and in this weather, those fruits were hard to store for long.
But now, producing soybeans was equivalent to the original day’s work, but the soybeans could last at least three or four days?
“Yes, one jin (500 grams) of soybeans can last at least two to three days!”
Hei Xiong said excitedly, “And it’s not just about feeling full; after eating soybeans, we feel more energetic!”
No matter how many fruits they ate, they couldn’t get that feeling of abundant strength.
After eating fruits, it felt like having a stomach full of water; no matter how many they ate, they were hungry again soon. But eating soybeans was different; eating half a bowl would make you feel full, and the kind of fullness where your stomach feels substantial.
Of course, it’s not as good as eating meat, but meat can’t be grown from the ground.
In any case, soybeans are a very high-quality grain.
“Also, soybeans are more durable for storage,” Hei Xiong continued, mentioning another advantage.
Soybeans have very low moisture content and can be stored in a dry, ventilated place. Although this still needs time to verify, they are certainly longer-lasting than fruits.
“Of course, this refers to mature soybeans. The immature beans…”
Hei Xiong took out a cloth bag, carefully unfolding it to reveal green pods inside.
Chi Hao, who had been completely drawn into their conversation, couldn’t help but lean over. If what Hei Xiong said was true without any exaggeration, the value of these beans was immeasurable!
Hei Xiong peeled open a pod to reveal the green beans inside.
“We call these big green beans. They have higher moisture content and can be eaten raw, also providing satiety.”
“You can even eat them with the pods; they’re fresh and tasty.”
Upon hearing this, Chi Hao couldn’t help but reach out and take a bean.
“May I try?” he asked.
Hei Xiong looked at Hong Li, who rolled her eyes at him but didn’t stop him. She herself took one and tossed it into her mouth.
These big green beans, though raw, tasted quite good when chewed.
Seeing her nod, Hei Xiong continued, “Although they might not be as storable as soybeans, their production efficiency has increased.”
There’s no need to wait until the soybeans mature to harvest, saving some time, allowing them to produce more big green beans.
As for the issue of decreased reproductive capacity after four or five generations, it doesn’t need to be considered for now. After all, Xiao Cao had given them 50 initial soybeans, and one soybean could produce at least 2,000 soybeans.
These 2,000 second-generation soybeans could produce 24,000 jin (12,000kg) of third-generation soybeans. Based on a daily consumption of 50 jin (25kg) of soybeans, it’s enough to support the guard post for a year.
Not to mention, if all these 24,000 catties of third-generation soybeans were used as seeds, producing fourth and fifth generations would result in astronomical numbers… But considering manpower and time, such a production plan isn’t realistic.
“Good! Very good!” Hong Li smiled brightly. “Let the plant-ability users fully commit to production! We won’t have to worry about food anymore.”
For the plant-ability users, this was also great news.
Because the growing times for soybeans were only around seven or eight in the morning and five or six in the evening, totaling four hours a day—maybe a bit more before and after, about five or six hours.
Compared to before, not only had their daily working hours shortened, but production had doubled or tripled. Once the soybean stock was sufficient, they wouldn’t need to produce nonstop every day.
Hong Li wasn’t a harsh manager, but she needed to ensure the normal operation of the guard post, so she had to make the planting masters work tirelessly every day.
With soybeans, that was no longer necessary.
Imagining the future, Hong Li couldn’t help but feel invigorated. Chi Hao, who had listened to all the information, couldn’t hide his joy.
“Sis, where did you get such amazing grain seeds?”
Hong Li gave him a meaningful look, then turned to Hei Xiong, instructing him to keep the matter confidential before sending him off to rest.
Although soybeans, as a grain, couldn’t be completely prevented from leaking out, she could distribute fourth or even fifth-generation soybeans to the guards, maximizing her benefits as the manager of Jufeng Town.
Thinking of those few big shots in town, Hong Li’s eyes flashed with a hint of coldness.
Just wait; when she has a strong army, she’ll deal with those troublesome characters first!
Hei Xiong soon left, leaving only Hong Li and Chi Hao in the room.
Chi Hao was still pondering what that look from his sister meant; he couldn’t quite grasp it. He was genuinely happy for her.
“Sis, as long as you offer these soybeans to the Fortress, you’ll definitely be able to return immediately!” he said happily.
“Return?”
Hong Li paused, then sneered. “I’m not going back.”
Chi Hao couldn’t help but be stunned.
As most people knew, Jufeng Town was backed by Qingmu Fort, and the managers of Jufeng Town were all dispatched from there.
But this wasn’t a good assignment; only ability users who were marginalized or had offended someone would be sent to Jufeng Town, and the local bigwigs were basically connected to forces within Qingmu Fort.
Therefore, every manager who came to Jufeng Town felt stifled and generally didn’t last long—the previous lord stayed a bit longer, and then it was Hong Li.
“Sis, are you serious?” Chi Hao looked at Hong Li, hardly daring to believe it.
“Do I look like I’m joking?” Hong Li restrained her smile and sat back down. “The sky is high, and the emperor is far away. I’m quite comfortable here; why should I go back?”
Chi Hao opened his mouth slightly. He knew Hong Li hadn’t had a good time at the Fortress, but…
“If you don’t return to the Fortress, how will you improve your strength?”
Upon hearing this, Hong Li’s expression became a bit complicated. She looked down at her hands, and after a long while, she said, “If you trust me as your sister, then after you break through to the early stage of the sixth level, stop there.”
“Why?” Chi Hao asked, puzzled.
“There will be a backlash from the power,” Hong Li said flatly.
Chi Hao was startled and stepped forward to grab her hand. “Have you been backlashed?”
However, Hong Li shook him off. “I’ve said enough.”
Seeing the cold expression on her face, Chi Hao slightly opened his mouth but ultimately didn’t ask further. Cultivation was a personal matter; after leaving school, no one would openly share their experiences.
Even in school, aside from the basics, other knowledge required points to obtain.
“Alright, I’ll be cautious,” Chi Hao nodded.
But looking at Hong Li, he couldn’t help but worry. “You’re my only family; please don’t let anything happen to you.”
“Mm.”
Hong Li nodded, then seemed to think of something. She stared at Chi Hao sharply and said, “What’s the deal with those two kids? Did they follow you out of the Fortress?”
