Chapter 64: Boiling Water
With the trade completed, Illya and the others prepared to return home.
Chu Feng held the painting in his hands, marveling at it again and again.
“What a beautiful painting!” he sat at the edge of the grassy field, reluctant to part with it even for a moment.
In ancient China, some famous paintings could sell for billions. This painting, created by an ability-user, might be worth a fortune.
Seeing Chu Feng smiling like a fool, Illya asked curiously, “You look… excited?”
Chu Feng nodded. “I am!”
“Is this painting… valuable?” Illya asked, a bit puzzled.
Chu Feng thought to himself, It probably is.
Though valuable, it would be hard to sell. Still, he’d take it back first and think about how to handle it later.
Glancing at the bag of gold coins beside him, Chu Feng thought, Illya really is clever—using pepper to trade for goods saved us a lot of gold.
“This painting doesn’t seem very useful,” Illya said.
“Not useful?” Chu Feng looked at the beautiful artwork, confused.
Illya nodded. “Winter is coming. Instead of trading for something you can’t eat or wear, it’s better to get something practical.”
Chu Feng thought to himself, Only once basic needs are met can people think about spiritual enjoyment. Next time, he’d bring warm clothes and blankets—even though they weren’t worth much, they were bulky and not easy to transport in large quantities. Fortunately, the dimensional passage had expanded a lot.
“I wonder how long it takes that ability-user to paint something like this,” Chu Feng mused.
“Not long,” Illya replied.
“You know?” Chu Feng asked, glancing at him.
“I’ve seen this painting in many places,” he said. “That painter awakened her ability after fleeing a disaster in her homeland. She never found her way back, so she painted her hometown from memory. It’s the only painting she knows how to create. In the beginning, she could paint one or two a day. Later, five or six. Three years ago, it was said she had painted hundreds. No one knows how many exist now.”
Chu Feng rolled his eyes. “So it’s not rare after all.”
As the saying goes, rarity creates value. The more of something there is, the less it’s worth.
Illya nodded. “Exactly. If it were unique, Gu Nan wouldn’t have been so willing to part with it. Still, since it’s from an ability-user, it’s not something easily acquired.”
Chu Feng: “…So all painting-type ability-users can only paint one painting?”
Illya shook her head. “Of course not. There aren’t many of them, but each has different skills. Some excel at portraits so lifelike they resemble real people. Some are great at drawing beasts so realistically that viewers feel they’re face-to-face with them. Some can paint anything at all.”
“There’s even a special one who paints houses.”
Chu Feng looked puzzled. “Paints houses? What do you mean?”
“I once saw a painter who could change the color of an entire wall,” Illya said. “Nobles would hire him to repaint their homes. His ability allowed him to change the color of one tall wall per day. The houses he painted looked smooth and beautiful.”
Chu Feng: “…That sounds like a natural-born house painter! A real talent! If only we could recruit someone like that.”
—
After Illya and Chu Feng left, several managers from the caravan gathered.
“It’s definitely pepper. With that, it doesn’t matter if there’s no Hundred-Fruit Brew.”
“Crescent Moon Village has changed a lot lately—looks like they no longer need salt stone.”
“Gu Nan, has Crescent Moon Village become wealthy?”
Gu Nan shook his head. “I don’t know.”
He felt Illya had changed a lot. He had always admired him and had once invited him to join the caravan, but he refused.
As an ability-user with decent power, he could have done well on his own. But Gu Nan sensed that he carried a heavy burden. Every time he saw him, there was a dark weight about him.
But this time, the half-elf seemed completely different—brighter, more cheerful, like he had encountered some great hapPyness.
Gu Nan instinctively felt that Illya’s transformation was related to the human traveling with him.
“He traded that painting and the pearls for that human, didn’t he? Could he be… falling for him? I thought he hated humans.”
Gu Dong chuckled.
Gu Bei shook his head. “That’s how elves are. They may hate humans, but they’re emotional by nature and easily swayed.”
Historically, many elves had fallen in love with humans—only to be deceived and exploited. Ever since relations between the races soured, elves had become much more guarded.
Gu Nan changed the topic. “The Highland Tribe still hasn’t arrived.”
“Maybe those big oafs got lost on the way!”
“The Highland Tribe isn’t our concern anyway—not much profit from them. But even the dwarves haven’t shown up yet…”
“Why didn’t the Dwarf Tribe come?”
“No idea!”
“If the Dwarves don’t show up, we’re in trouble. Our deal with the Tianyue Weapon Firm will fall through. Weapons are already in short supply—if something happens on their side, the situation will get even worse.”
“If they don’t come in a few days, we’ll go visit them ourselves.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
*
Crescent Moon Village.
“Big Brother, you’re back early!” said Gray.
He was surprised—usually, when Illya attended a trade fair, he’d stay for a couple of days. This time, he came back in less than a day.
Illya smiled. “There wasn’t much to see.”
Gray nodded. “True.”
Most of the really good stuff had come from Chu Feng. Even the nobles probably hadn’t seen anything like it.
Sometimes human caravans brought rare treasures, but those guys were ruthless and hard to deal with.
“Brother Feng, what good stuff did you bring this time?”
Chu Feng had just arrived and got pulled into trade matters before even unpacking. “Not much food this time,” he said.
Gray nodded. “That’s fine. The shaman recently harvested lots of sweet potato and corn—food’s not a problem in the village.”
He paused, then asked, “If you didn’t bring food, what did you bring?”
“Nothing special, just a small generator.”
Chu Feng had bought it off Taobao. He thought to himself, Online shopping is so convenient—no idea where I’d even find this thing otherwise.
The generator’s power was limited, but once the castle was built, he planned to install a large generator there.
He hadn’t even unpacked it when it arrived—he just brought it straight over.
It took him some time to figure out how to use it. Gray watched as Chu Feng used the generator to boil water in an electric kettle.
Within minutes, the water began to boil with a gurgling sound.
“There’s no fire at all, but the water’s boiling! How is this possible?” Gray squatted beside the kettle, fascinated.
Illya stood nearby, equally puzzled.
“Is it using electricity?”
“Electricity? What’s that?”
Chu Feng thought for a moment. “It’s like lightning from the sky.”
Gray scoffed, “You’re telling me people from your world can catch lightning and use it to boil water?”
Chu Feng: …
Now that Gray said it like that, he suddenly felt like boiling water with electricity did sound kind of awesome.
“This is the ‘on’ button, and this is ‘off.’ Now the water’s ready—we can make instant noodles.”
Gray stared at him incredulously. “You’re using such an amazing treasure… to make instant noodles?”
Chu Feng: …
Is an electric kettle really a treasure? That’s literally what it’s made for.
“Can it do anything besides boiling water?”
Chu Feng shook his head. “Not really.”
Gray cupped his face in disbelief. “That’s it?”
Chu Feng gave a couple of dry laughs. Well, it’s just a kettle—what more do you want it to do?
He waved his hand. “I’m heading to the shaman’s place. Don’t touch anything. Getting electrocuted is no joke.”
Gray nodded. “Got it.”
When Chu Feng returned, he found over a dozen kids crowded around, staring at the boiling kettle in awe.
He sighed to himself. These people really are too easily entertained. Just watching boiling water had them totally absorbed. Earlier, Gray even said the kettle was boring.
Looking at all the teacups on the table, Chu Feng guessed Gray must have been boiling water nonstop since he left. How many pots has he boiled already?
“You’re back, Brother Feng!” Gray said a little sheepishly.
Chu Feng glanced at him. “You didn’t cause any trouble, did you?”
Gray shook his head. “Nope.”
Chu Feng’s eyes landed on a guilty-looking Pyne. “Pyne, are you okay?”
Pyne quickly hid his hands behind his back and shook his head. “I’m fine.” (He had just burned himself a little.)
“Did you scald your hand? Should we get the shaman to treat it?”
Chu Feng looked at him with concern. This little bear is just as clumsy as Shaya.
Pyne quickly shook his head. “No need, really—I’m fine. Besides, I want to stay and eat instant noodles.”
Chu Feng guessed that Pyne had touched the hot kettle by accident and burned his paw a bit. Fortunately, it wasn’t serious. If it were a modern-day kid, they’d be crying their eyes out by now. But here? All he cared about was getting his share of noodles.
