Chapter 88
The little spirit’s dance slowly came to a stop.
It hiccupped again, then its wings stopped fluttering, and under Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi’s gaze, it suddenly fell straight down from midair.
Tang Yu’an instinctively reached out to catch it, but unfortunately was blocked by the gray-blue light dust, unable to get close to the refrigerator.
Luckily, the little spirit didn’t fall to the ground. The fine gray-blue light dust supported it, letting it slowly float down onto the refrigerator. Then the little spirit rolled over, hugged the beer bottle, and fell into a deep sleep.
So tiny, even its drunken appearance was exceptionally cute.
Tang Yu’an had been feeling a bit guilty, wondering if he had caused trouble, but seeing the little spirit smiling in its sleep, he felt somewhat relieved.
Zhou Qi watched for a while, then went to the kitchen to make lunch.
He had originally wanted to stir-fry bean sprouts, but the ones he had soaked earlier were mostly gone. Zhou Qi could only give up on that idea. He took out two large plastic basins, deciding to soak more mung beans this time.
After all, with the Portable Warehouse for storage, they would stay fresh no matter how long they were kept.
By the time they finished lunch, the soybean milk was also ready.
Zhou Qi filtered the soybean milk and poured it into a pot, added more water, then brought it to a boil. After turning off the heat and letting it cool for two minutes, a layer of bean skin formed on the surface of the soybean milk.
“Brother Qi, can we also make dried bean curds?” Tang Yu’an asked curiously.
“We can, but I remember we still have some in the shop.”
“Then can we stir-fry dried bean curd sticks for dinner?” Tang Yu’an said happily.
Zhou Qi smiled and nodded, saying “Sure.”
Then he lifted that layer of bean skin, using a spoon to stir the soybean milk while slowly adding salt brine. When flocculent bean curd formed in the soybean milk, he stopped adding the brine.
Tang Yu’an looked at the bean curd in the pot and couldn’t help asking, “Brother Qi, is this tofu pudding?”
Zhou Qi nodded, “Do you want it softer, or more firm?”
“I want to try both!”
The softer one could be made into tofu pudding, while the firmer type could be cut into cubes for braising or stir-frying, both delicious.
Hearing this, Zhou Qi couldn’t help but gently pinch the tip of the young man’s nose.
“Greedy cat.”
Tang Yu’an just grinned.
Without a mold at home, Zhou Qi used scalded cheesecloth laid in a plastic mesh bag, then set it over a basin to catch the water. He poured the bean curd from the pot into the mesh bag to filter out the excess water.
Then he wrapped up the cheesecloth, placed a wooden board on top to flatten it, and added two bottles of water on top to press it and let it set.
As for the remaining bean curd in the pot, he put it back on the stove to let it settle.
“Alright, let’s take a nap first. When we wake up, we can eat the tofu pudding.”
“Mm-hmm!”
Tang Yu’an followed Zhou Qi up to the loft. By the time they finished making the tofu, the refrigerator had completed its upgrade.
[Gray-Blue Refrigerator]
[Level: Lv1]
[Description: An ordinary refrigerator with only 2 years of service life, after being modified by the furniture spirit, its performance has been improved. It can absorb heat and convert it into electrical energy, reducing energy consumption by 50%]
[Special Effect 1: “The Hotter, The Colder” – The higher the ambient temperature, the better the cooling effect. The energy conversion effect is best under scorching sunlight]
[Special Effect 2: “Wine for Today” – Every day at 6:00 AM, 50mL of alcohol will be randomly generated in the refrigerator. Please remember to place a container to collect it]
Yes, this refrigerator triggered two special effects!
One special effect had a chance of triggering originally, while the other… obviously occurred because he once again received BoBo’s five-star rating, thus triggering such an effect.
Although as minors, neither Tang Yu’an nor Zhou Qi drank alcohol, it was still something given for free.
They could collect it and sell it to those who needed it in the future!
Moreover, since BoBo loved drinking so much, they could also collect it to give to it, perhaps earning another five-star rating.
After the refrigerator completed its upgrade, BoBo entered its rest period again and would resume business around noon the next day—because BoBo was also responsible for upgrading the broom, so they could only wait until tomorrow.
Tang Yu’an quickly grabbed a cup and placed it in the gray-blue refrigerator.
He wondered if the alcohol collected tomorrow would be too cold?
When they woke up from their nap, Tang Yu’an clearly felt that the house had become much cooler, even the loft didn’t feel very hot anymore.
He went downstairs to check the clock and found that with the refrigerator, the room temperature had dropped to 26 degrees Celsius, almost the same as having air conditioning on.
This was fantastic!
The tofu pudding in the pot had also set nicely.
Zhou Qi filtered out the excess water, leaving two bowls of tofu pudding.
Tang Yu’an observed the shape of the tofu pudding and couldn’t help saying, “This looks a bit different from what we usually eat?”
Zhou Qi nodded, his brows slightly furrowed, “It’s my first time making it, I didn’t get the proportions and timing quite right.”
Tang Yu’an immediately said, “But I’m sure it will taste great!”
“You haven’t even started eating yet.”
“Whatever Brother Qi makes is definitely delicious!” Tang Yu’an said with absolute certainty.
Zhou Qi looked at him and smiled, “Then you’d better finish it all later.”
“Hmph, I’ll definitely eat it all up!”
Although it had been less than three hours since lunch, they were both at the age of rapid growth and high energy consumption, so they could definitely eat a bowl of tofu pudding each at this time.
They brought the tofu pudding to the table, sprinkled white sugar on top, and started eating.
The fragrant and tender tofu pudding melted in the mouth, tasting sweet, which was absolutely Tang Yu’an’s favorite.
“It really is so delicious!”
As authentic southerners, they had grown up eating sweet tofu pudding, but…
“I saw on TV before that there’s also salty and spicy tofu pudding,” Tang Yu’an said while eating. “Brother Qi, can we try that sometime too?”
“Eating spicy food can easily cause internal heat,” Zhou Qi said.
Especially in this world where the daytime was so hot, even hotter than the summers they were used to, the possibility of internal heat greatly increased.
However, seeing Tang Yu’an’s disappointed little expression, he still said, “Let’s try when the temperature drops.”
“Okay!”
Tang Yu’an smiled again.
As he had said earlier, he ate every last bit of the tofu pudding in his bowl before reluctantly putting down his spoon.
“We can eat braised tofu and stir-fried dried bean curd sticks for dinner, I’m so happy!”
Seeing how easily satisfied he was, Zhou Qi’s heart was also filled with warm emotions. He reached out to pat the young man’s head and asked, “Do you want more? There’s still some in the pot.”
Tang Yu’an hesitated for a moment, then shook his head, “Let’s save it for tomorrow.”
“Alright.”
Zhou Qi then scooped out the remaining tofu pudding from the pot and had Tang Yu’an put it in the Portable Warehouse—because it had leveled up today, unlocking another slot in the Portable Warehouse, giving them extra space.
Afterwards, they took out the Shadow Umbrella and left the grocery store to head to the swimming pool.
Old Li had indeed gone to check on the swimming pool in the morning, but he didn’t go deep inside. He just lingered around the perimeter for a while before leaving and had already gone home by now.
When Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi arrived, they found that the mutant vines had once again sealed off all the entrances to the swimming pool.
Dense and heavy vines wrapped the entire swimming pool tightly, making it look like a small mountain. It was hard to tell when this swimming pool would collapse under the pressure.
“Let me try using the reinforcement technique,” Zhou Qi said.
They wanted to utilize this swimming pool and turn it into a fish pond, and maybe even open a branch store here in the future when they had more Points. Naturally, they couldn’t just sit by and watch it collapse.
The reinforcement technique that Zhou Qi had just learned from Ba Shi came in handy.
“Mm-hmm, then I’ll start clearing out the swimming pool today,” Tang Yu’an said.
The main source of the putrid smell inside the swimming pool was that pool of dirty water. As long as they cleared out the pool, the stench inside the swimming pool would be reduced by at least half.
After circling around and not finding an entrance, Tang Yu’an had no choice but to put away the Shadow Umbrella, and the two of them became visible.
Almost as soon as Tang Yu’an appeared, the vines that had been quietly swaying in the wind suddenly began to shake excitedly, making it feel as if even the ground was trembling.
Seeing this, Tang Yu’an quickly spoke to stop it: “Green Gem, stop quickly! The swimming pool will collapse if this continues!”
The vines that had been excitedly dancing suddenly froze as if someone had pressed a stop button, the entire vine tree becoming rigid.
After a while, Green Gem cautiously extended a thin tendril, coming to Tang Yu’an’s front, somewhat pleadingly tugging at his finger while also conveying emotions of grievance and longing.
Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but stroke that thin tendril, then said, “Green Gem, you’ve worked hard. I’m here to continue purifying you today!”
Upon hearing about purification, the mutant vine transmitted joyful emotions.
Of course, it was worried about angering Tang Yu’an, so it didn’t dare to make any big movements. It just gently swayed its thin tendrils, looking very happy. Despite its enormous main body, its personality was both obedient and adorable.
Tang Yu’an stroked its leaves again, then led Zhou Qi into the swimming pool.
A foul stench hit them in the face.
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi quickly put on their masks, but it only slightly alleviated the smell.
“Green Gem, it’s so dark in here. Can you let some sunlight in?” Looking at the pitch-black swimming pool, Tang Yu’an really lacked the courage to step in again.
The thin tendril holding Tang Yu’an’s finger like a child swayed gently, and then the vines covering the swimming pool’s window positions automatically moved sideways.
Sunlight from outside shone into the swimming pool, finally bringing light back into the venue.
Although the light was still dim, at least they could see things clearly now.
At this moment, a vine extended over, wrapped around Tang Yu’an’s waist, and then pulled him into the swimming pool.
Zhou Qi, who had fallen behind, tensed up and quickly followed.
Suddenly being pulled by a tremendous force and even suspended in midair, Tang Yu’an was a bit scared, but he could feel Green Gem’s emotions through the vine wrapped around him.
It had no malicious intent, just wanting to be close and play with him.
Soon arriving in midair above the venue, Tang Yu’an looked down and saw the mother lizard’s corpse floating in the pool.
Its mountain-like body had been eaten beyond recognition, and the mother lizard’s former food reserves had clearly had a feast.
Looking at the dark, murky pool water, Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but hold his breath.
It was remarkable that these creatures could survive in such dirty water; their vitality was truly tenacious.
He patted the vine wrapped around him and said, “Green Gem, let’s stop here. I’m going to purify this pool.”
The vines truly froze in midair.
Seeing this, Zhou Qi bent his knees and leapt high, his toes finally landing on a vine leaf, somehow stopping right in front of Tang Yu’an.
Tang Yu’an, supported by vines and suspended in midair, watched with eyes wide open.
“Brother Qi, you’re so cool!” he exclaimed.
It was merely the enhancement of the lightness skill.
Zhou Qi thought nothing of it, looking him over with concern, only breathing a sigh of relief after confirming he was unharmed.
Still, he asked worriedly: “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, Green Gem was just playing with me.”
Tang Yu’an waved his hand, “I told it to stop here, I’m preparing to purify the pool.”
This was actually safer.
After all, the creatures in the pool were still quite dangerous to him, and he didn’t know if standing at the pool’s edge would invite attacks.
At this height, plus with Green Gem’s protection, there was less need to worry about safety issues.
Tang Yu’an surveyed the pool below, silently calculating in his mind.
The pool’s dimensions were roughly 50 meters by 20 meters, and after upgrading to v2, the purification spell’s range was about a 10-meter circle.
Theoretically, it would only take 10 purification spells to clean the entire pool. However, since water flows, completely cleaning it in one go might be a bit difficult.
After a quick calculation, Tang Yu’an determined his plan of action.
He first had Zhou Qi leave the vines, then directed Green Gem to use four vines to stretch across the pool, roughly dividing it into five areas.
Tang Yu’an thought for a moment, then asked: “Green Gem, can you divide the pool in half lengthwise too?”
The pool was 50 meters long, and he was a bit worried the vines wouldn’t be long enough.
In response, the little green vine very humanly puffed up its chest, the part wrapped around his finger also conveying a proud little emotion.
Then a green vine separated from the corner of the wall, quickly extending to span the pool, ultimately dividing it in half.
Tang Yu’an smiled, “Green Gem is really amazing!”
The little green vine swayed his finger excitedly.
Tang Yu’an then directed it to move that vine to roughly the center line position, thus dividing the pool into ten approximately equal areas.
Zhou Qi watched his operations, roughly understanding Tang Yu’an’s idea.
He nodded silently, not leaving but standing quietly at the pool’s edge watching him, ready to act immediately if any accident occurred.
Next, Tang Yu’an had Green Gem move him to one side of the pool.
The purification spell lasted about ten seconds.
So as long as he cast purification spells on the surrounding water areas before the first one disappeared, he could maximize effectiveness without worrying about dirty water flowing back in to pollute the already purified pool water.
Tang Yu’an briefly explained the upcoming action plan to Green Gem.
Green Gem conveyed confused emotions.
Tang Yu’an didn’t continue explaining, just telling it to follow his commands, since they’d be coming back to continue purifying tomorrow anyway.
He directed Green Gem to move him above the first area, then…
Purification spell, activate!
A soft light shone from his palm, twice as large as yesterday’s.
With a gentle push, it fell towards the swimming pool.
The murky, nearly black pool water instantly cleared like ink dispersing, becoming crystal clear.
What surprised Tang Yu’an was that the purification spell’s effect seemed to have strengthened in the water.
Originally only about a ten-meter range, but with the water’s flow, areas beyond the spell’s range were also rapidly becoming clear.
Tang Yu’an was stunned for a second, then quickly directed Green Gem to the second designated area.
He dropped a purification light orb every two seconds on average. By the time he reached the last area, the first three purification spells had already disappeared.
The purified pool water was clear to the bottom, even the creatures in the pool had been purified.
Tang Yu’an looked carefully and found that besides fish, there were actually crabs and shrimp, just much larger than any he’d seen before.
Some actively ran towards areas where the purification spell hadn’t disappeared, while most remained in their original waters.
The octopus he saw that day was also in the water.
The black on its body had faded, revealing its original grayish-brown skin. It was waving its tentacles as it swam through the water, looking quite comfortable.
Even the female lizard’s corpse had become clean and tidy, appearing less terrifying.
Soon, the light of the purification spells successively disappeared.
Tang Yu’an was surprised to find that the entire pool had become spotlessly clean, without the situation he’d worried about at the start occurring.
He came to the ground to meet with Zhou Qi, then expressed his confusion.
“Your plan was very effective.” Zhou Qi smiled slightly, unable to resist reaching out to ruffle the boy’s hair.
He had seen clearly from below – it wasn’t that the purification spell strengthened in water, but that the polluted water was purified upon entering the light circle, then spread outwards due to flow.
Before dirty water could invade and spread to this purified area, Tang Yu’an had immediately cast purification spells on the adjacent dirty water areas, protecting the original success while expanding step by step outwards.
Finally achieving purification of the entire pool.
Listening to Zhou Qi’s explanation, Tang Yu’an grinned, proudly puffing up.
“I’m pretty smart!”
This earned him another head pat from Zhou Qi.
At this time, Green Gem’s thin vine also came over. Its leaves once again held a shiny crystal.
After Tang Yu’an took it, it wrapped around his finger, again conveying grateful and joyful emotions.
Tang Yu’an took off his mask, only then realizing the air in the natatorium had freshened considerably. Indeed, the pool water was the main source of the stench.
As for this crystal Green Gem gave him…
He lowered his head, examining this nearly transparent crystal. If looked at carefully in sunlight, one would find a slight greenish tinge inside the crystal.
But overall, it was close to white and transparent.
Tang Yu’an curiously cast a basic identification skill, only nodding in realization when he discovered it was a wind crystal.
So it was wind-elemental, no wonder!
He held this crystal, not knowing why, but somehow feeling reluctant to put it into his Portable Warehouse.
“Brother Qi, look, it’s a wind crystal!” He showed the stone to Zhou Qi.
Zhou Qi nodded, without any special reaction.
Tang Yu’an hesitated for a moment, then put the crystal in his pocket, then stroked Green Gem’s leaves, smiling as he said: “Thank you for the gift.”
Green Gem happily waved its thin vines in response.
“An’an, have Green Gem drag the female lizard out,” Zhou Qi said, pointing at the female lizard corpse in the pool. “Otherwise the pool will start to stink again soon.”
Tang Yu’an nodded.
He had Green Gem remove the vines dividing the areas, then dragged the female lizard’s corpse to shore, placing it in the circle Tang Yu’an had cleared out yesterday.
This way there was no worry of the newly purified lizard flesh being contaminated again.
In a day and night, a third of the giant lizard had been eaten, with bones exposed in some parts.
The weather was stuffy and hot. If not dealt with, it probably wouldn’t keep long before starting to rot, just like that male lizard.
Tang Yu’an thought for a moment, then said: “Brother Qi, should I summon Yuan Bao and the others over?”
Lizard meat and such, they certainly wouldn’t dare eat themselves, but according to Lin Zhan, this was after all a mutant creature close to fifth rank.
They might not eat it, but their pets could.
If their pets’ strength increased, it was equivalent to their own strength increasing.
“Can you summon them from a distance?” Zhou Qi asked curiously.
“Yes,” Tang Yu’an nodded, “though they might have to run here themselves.”
“Hmm… then call Yuan Bao and Black Pearl over first,” Zhou Qi said after some thought.
The general store needed guarding, so Yin Bi and Wang Cai couldn’t leave the shop for now.
“Alright.” Tang Yu’an selected summon on the pet panel.
While waiting for Yuan Bao and Black Pearl, Zhou Qi took out a mutant metal dagger and cut off one of the female lizard’s hind legs, then used his spatial retrieval skill to place it in the general store’s warehouse.
Then he cut off its other hind leg and put it in the super-powered cargo container, before stopping.
This female lizard was five or six meters long, definitely too big for the general store’s warehouse. He just hoped Wang Cai would be clever like before and know to go to the warehouse to eat.
Next, Zhou Qi put away the mutant metal dagger and went to the large hole that the mother lizard had blasted in the building wall earlier.
Then, he placed his hand on the wall.
Earth-yellow energy appeared in his palm as he began reinforcing the wall.
For such a large natatorium, reinforcing it alone would definitely take quite some time. He could only do it gradually.
Tang Yu’an didn’t disturb him, running to the poolside to look at the fish in the pool.
He roughly counted.
There were about a hundred fish in this pool, seven or eight crabs, three or four octopuses, and the shrimp were a bit hard to count clearly.
Would they still be cultivated together in one pool in the future? Would they fight?
As Tang Yu’an pondered future fish pond construction plans, on the map, the light spots belonging to Yuan Bao and Black Pearl almost simultaneously arrived at the natatorium exterior.
“Swish swish swish—”
The vines covering the hole were neatly sliced and fell as flying metal shards cut through them, letting in large patches of sunlight.
At the same time, Tang Yu’an looked up to see a tall figure had appeared beside him at some point – it was the four-eyed giant dog in its original form.
Its cold golden eyes stared at the room where the mutant vine’s main stem was located, baring its teeth fiercely.
Black Pearl, a step behind, also leapt in gracefully, landing in front of Tang Yu’an with a few bounds, similarly glaring coldly in the direction of the mutant vine’s main stem.
Dozens of metal shards appeared in the air around it, flying towards the mutant vine in the next moment!
The originally docile and obedient mutant vine also grew countless tendrils from underground at this time, revealing its ferocious and terrifying side.
A great battle was about to erupt!
“Wait! Stop, stop, stop!”
Tang Yu’an, who had been crouching by the pool counting fish, finally snapped out of his daze. He quickly stood up, shouting loudly to stop their attacks.
“All of you stop right now!”
“No fighting!”
