25 - Dungeon Growth Log

Xia Ge was awoken by the incessant chirping of sparrows. Although she didn’t open her eyes, she was definitely awake. ...This didn’t seem to be her bed. The quilt was incredibly soft, emanating a light sandalwood scent. It was warmer and more comforting than the quilt she had spent days airing out. Xia Ge lay there with her eyes closed, feeling a bit disoriented. How long had she been asleep? When did she fall asleep? Has the effects of the soul-stealing technique worn off? ---She didn't know. Surprisingly, she didn’t feel panicked. That calming scent lingered around her. For a moment, Xia Ge felt dazed, but then she began to remember. Skipping classes to drink, getting caught by Senior Sister, encountering the demonic sect’s ambush outside, Senior Sister’s Heaven Punishment Ribbon... ---"You can close your eyes until dawn, no harm will come to you from evil spirits." The girl's voice was cool and calm, yet extraordinarily gentle. "Little puppet, little puppet," Xia Ge silently called out in her mind. After a long pause, the system's lazy voice finally responded, "Present, what's up?” "Are the effects gone?" System: "…What?" Xia Ge: "The soul-stealing technique." The system sounded quite surprised: "The soul-stealing technique has been upgraded. If you don't use it intentionally, its effects can dissipate in just three minutes." Xia Ge: "..." For a fleeting moment, Xia Ge felt an embarrassing sense of shame reminiscing about her excessive drama in front of Senior Sister the previous day. Xia Ge still didn't open her eyes. She smacked her forehead with the back of her hand, "Heavens..." Previously, she thought she couldn't open her eyes due to the soul-stealing technique. Now, she felt embarrassed to see anyone. Stifling. System: "Serves you right. Who told you not to read the skill description." Xia Ge: "I don't want to read it. Reading it makes me want to use it, and using it might expose me." The system paused for a moment, seemingly unable to comprehend: "…That sounds quite logical." Xia Ge turned over, silently thinking, of course, it makes sense. A lazy fish always finds ways to justify slacking off. She played dead on the bed for a while, but no one came in. Feeling rather bored, Xia Ge finally opened her eyes and found that someone had changed the bandage on her left hand. She touched her neck, now wrapped with a soft and clean bandage, also faintly scented with sandalwood. She then looked around. Warm sunlight filtered through the carved window lattice, brightening up the neat and orderly room. A pearwood table stood by the window, with a small porcelain vase holding a delicate peach blossom branch. Obviously, this wasn't her room. The quilt covering her was exceptionally soft. Xia Ge lifted it up, looked down at her clothes, and breathed a sigh of relief. Her clothes were still on. System: "Even if they had taken them off, they wouldn’t find anything unusual..." Xia Ge: "..." You just have to talk, don't you? Xia Ge got up with a blank face, casually ran her fingers through her hair, and realized her hair was loose. Her green hair tie was nowhere to be seen. The system seemed to remember something: "Host, you let those two demonic sect people go yesterday." "My hair tie," Xia Ge ignored, "where is it?" "You gave the glass puppet to that Bai Ren person... What are you planning?" After putting on her boots, Xia Ge turned the room upside down but still couldn't find her hair tie. "Where has it gone..." "Host, I must warn you, don’t try to alter the plot---" "You’re very annoying." Finally, Xia Ge found her hair tie on the pearwood table. Held in place by a paperweight next to some blank paper, the corner of the hair tie had been cut by a paper blade. The noon breeze caused the emerald green cloth to flutter, lifting her spirits slightly. "I won’t change the plot." Xia Ge lazily tied up her hair. "The plot can unfold however it wishes." "Then why..." "I heard the scenery in the demonic sect is splendid. Is it wrong to let my little glass puppet experience it?" System: "..." You’re full of nonsense. The atmosphere grew a bit dense. The system felt it had been overly harsh just now. To preserve a friendly working relationship with Xia Ge, it decided to offer her a concessions: "Oh, by the way, Host, the points shop recently got stocked with lots of quite practical and cheap items. Interesting functions, too. Check them out when you have time..." The system’s reminder sounded unusually tactful and gentle. Xia Ge: "I don't want to." She knew they just wanted to trick her out of her points. She was in a bad mood and didn’t want to get swindled. Out to make a cheap profit? System: "Suit yourself, hmph." In the mortal world, April’s beauty has faded, but the mountain temple's peach blossoms just began to bloom. The sunlight was just right. Xia Ge glanced at the blooming peach branch outside the window, her eyes slightly lighting up. The plot may be rigid, but people are flexible. ...Ye Ze. Just as Xia Ge was lost in thought, the creaking sound of the bamboo door opening quietly reached her ears. A girl's voice gently broke the silence, "Awake?" Xia Ge turned her head to see Gu Pei Jiu standing at the door. A myriad of chaotic thoughts flitted through her mind, eventually landing on that mixed scent of peach blossom liquor and sandalwood. "...Good morning, Senior Sister." Xia Ge heard the well-behaved tone in her own voice. This was the maestro who could defeat over a thousand puppets in a single stroke!! "Pack up and let’s go. We’re going to Suxi. I’ll teach you alchemy." Gu Pei Jiu glanced at Xia Ge, her gaze unintentionally sweeping over the white bandages on her left hand and neck. Xia Ge: "..." Gu Pei Jiu stepped out the door, but didn't see Xia Ge following her. She raised an eyebrow, "Hmm?" A rather pained voice came from inside the room. "Si-Senior Sister, I seem to have a condition that prevents me from doing alchemy..." Gu Pei Jiu: "..." "Can you play the pipa? The bamboo flute? Any other instrument? Or perhaps teach me calligraphy and painting..." Gu Pei Jiu’s voice remained cool, "Our Danfeng entrance exam only tests alchemy, Xia Wu Ying. Don’t forget your words." Xia Ge: "..." The system, deciding to give her the cold shoulder, sneered: "What are you struggling for? Just go." Truly despairing. Xia Ge followed Gu Pei Jiu all the way to Danfeng’s Suxi, but she didn’t stop chattering along the way— "Hey, Senior Sister, look at the purple butterfly here—" "Wow, the patterns are so pretty!" "Senior Sister, there are mulberries here too!" "..." Gu Pei Jiu walked ahead with no visible expression. She turned a corner, but then noticed an unusual quiet behind her. Turning back, she found that the mischievous boy, with the green hair tie, had vanished. Gu Pei Jiu paused, retraced her steps around the corner—it was a rugged mountain path, dense greenery shielding the route, yet the boy was nowhere to be seen. "Xia Wu Ying." Frowning, Gu Pei Jiu slightly tilted her head, reached out, and caught several small objects that were seemingly sneaking up on her. A purple butterfly flew past her eyes, its ornate patterns delicate and beautiful, like a painting of butterfly immortals. The boy’s cheerful laugh came from above, "Senior Sister, isn’t the butterfly beautiful?" Lifting her head, Gu Pei Jiu saw the boy sitting on a thick tree branch, holding a bunch of green hawthorns, a dogtail grass clutched between his teeth, grinning as brightly as the sunshine of April. "Come down." Something stirred within Gu Pei Jiu, though her face showed no change, "Let’s go." "So cold." Spitting out the dogtail grass, Xia Ge deftly rolled off the tree and followed behind Gu Pei Jiu, grinning, "Senior Sister, alchemy is so dull. How did you create that array yesterday? I want to learn, can you teach me?" "Pass the entrance exam, and I will." Gu Pei Jiu walked ahead, her wide sleeves embroidered with exquisite red maples concealing her hands, her tone indifferent. "But I really don’t want to learn the fasting pill..." Xia Ge’s voice sounded very aggrieved, "It must be incredibly hard! I saw Ye Ze go broke just trying to pass!" Gu Pei Jiu’s voice hesitated slightly, "…It’s not hard." Xia Ge's eyes gleamed, she tried to hint, "Then will you cover the material costs, Senior Sister?" Gu Pei Jiu: "..." Tears welled up in Xia Ge’s eyes, "You said yesterday..." Gu Pei Jiu: "I’ll cover the materials." Xia Ge’s mental abacus started clicking away, calculating how much profit she could make from selling the fasting pill ingredients. "You have half a month until the seventh exam. You must learn it within this time." Gu Pei Jiu led the way, not looking at Xia Ge’s expression, but vaguely aware that this money-minded little weasel was scheming something, "One set of materials a day. I’ll supervise." Xia Ge: "..." ...Ah, heartbreak. She felt like she had lost a small fortune once again. System: "..." The boy behind her seemed quite dejected, with no sound for a while. Gu Pei Jiu walked ahead, slightly lifting her sleeve with red maple embroidery, glancing at what she had been holding. Three or four bright red hawthorns contrasted with her fair hands, beautifully complementing the red maples on her sleeve. Gu Pei Jiu’s gaze shifted subtly, then she quietly slipped the hawthorns into her sleeve. Such a... little trickster. To the Suxi Alchemy Pavilion. "Hmm, three parts of glasswood. Why is there charcoal in the ingredients list..." Xia Ge squatted in the farthest corner, lamenting over an alchemy book. Gu Pei Jiu glanced at her and Xia Ge immediately sat upright, holding the alchemy book, reading in a solemn, rhythmic tone, “Ah, Senior Sister, the book says I need three catties of silver charcoal…” Gu Pei Jiu: "…It’s three qian." Xia Ge glanced quickly, “Ah, yes, three qian, three qian.” Gu Pei Jiu's emotions were slightly complicated, "Xia Wu Ying, read the ingredients to me." Xia Ge glanced at the alchemy book filled with an incredulous number of obscure characters: "...Huh?" Seated on a fiery red cushion in the alchemy hall, her back straight and her posture elegant, Gu Pei Jiu’s expression was as serene as a painting, "Read." Xia Ge: "…This…" Looking at the character 【啠木】 on the alchemy book, Xia Ge fell into deep contemplation. How on earth was this pronounced...? "…Senior Sister, I just think, some characters, as long as we recognize them, it’s fine. Why do we have to pronounce them? Maybe they’re designed to be so obscure because they don’t want anyone to know their name, so we shouldn’t force them..." Under the cold, expressionless gaze of the girl dressed in a plain red and white robe, Xia Ge’s words grew softer and softer until they were almost inaudible. Finally. {Little puppet, how is this character pronounced?} The system sneered: "Don’t ask me. We’re on a break." Xia Ge: {...} Were we ever really on a break? What kind of stance does one take for a break... No, no, it's not the time to think about that. Feeling entirely out of sorts under Gu Pei Jiu’s gaze, Xia Ge finally slapped the book shut and tossed it aside. For the first time, her normally invincible thick skin felt hot with embarrassment, "I don’t know this character!" ...All those sixteen years of compulsory education and four years of college seemed a waste. Shameful.jpg Gu Pei Jiu looked at her with inscrutable black eyes, "You don’t know it, so why did you close the book?" Xia Ge responded seriously, "When I close it, it can’t see me." System: "..." "This way, I don’t know it, and it doesn’t know me." Gu Pei Jiu: "..." System: "...Host, you should probably exit the group; I bet Lingxi Peak doesn't want you anymore." Author's Note: Special thanks to Chai Gui for throwing 1 landmine at 2018-05-24 08:05:52 Special thanks to Xue Li for throwing 1 landmine at 2018-05-24 08:44:53 Special thanks to the masses for throwing 1 landmine at 2018-05-24 12:37:37 Special thanks to Qin Duo for throwing 1 landmine at 2018-05-24 20:13:56 Special thanks to Everlasting Harmony for throwing 1 landmine at 2018-05-25 00:43:26 Special thanks to Everlasting Harmony for throwing 1 landmine at 2018-05-25 00:43:33 Special thanks to Everlasting Harmony for throwing 1 landmine at 2018-05-25 00:43:36 Special thanks to Everlasting Harmony for throwing 1 landmine at 2018-05-25 00:43:56 Special thanks to Mudfish Demons for throwing 1 landmine at 2018-05-25 08:10:51 Special thanks to Snow Clearing Sky for throwing 1 landmine at 2018-05-25 08:11:05 Special thanks to Haitang Tang for throwing 1 rocket launcher at 2018-05-25 08:15:28 Special thanks to Drama Drama for throwing 1 landmine at 2018-05-25 08:21:55 Special thanks to Wild Vines for throwing 1 landmine at 2018-05-25 12:47:45 Thanks to the big shots for the landmine! Reader "Not Returning," irrigated with nutrient solution +10 2018-05-25 21:24:27 Reader "Hey," irrigated with nutrient solution +11 2018-05-25 21:22:47 Reader "Zero," irrigated with nutrient solution +1 2018-05-25 21:03:04 Reader "Long Long," irrigated with nutrient solution +10 2018-05-25 16:51:08 Reader "c06," irrigated with nutrient solution +50 2018-05-25 12:50:39 Reader "One Family’s Words," irrigated with nutrient solution +10 2018-05-25 12:07:49 Reader "yiliya_0o0," irrigated with nutrient solution +5 2018-05-25 11:47:56 Reader "Wood Again," irrigated with nutrient solution +5 2018-05-25 11:35:18 Reader "Grey Pants," irrigated with nutrient solution +3 2018-05-25 10:50:14 Reader "Forgot to Change Nickname, Haha," irrigated with nutrient solution +10 2018-05-25 01:09:55 Reader "Bookworm," irrigated with nutrient solution +1 2018-05-24 23:35:27 Reader "Bookworm," irrigated with nutrient solution +1 2018-05-24 23:35:24 Reader "Bookworm," irrigated with nutrient solution +1 2018-05-24 23:35:21 Reader "", irrigated with nutrient solution +5 2018-05-24 22:29:40 Reader "Passing By," irrigated with nutrient solution +70 2018-05-24 09:40:58 Reader "Bookworm," irrigated with nutrient solution +1 2018-05-24 08:37:38 Reader "Bookworm," irrigated with nutrient solution +1 2018-05-24 08:37:33 Daily thanks for the big shots’ nutrient solutions! == I went to get the legendary princess cut. Writer: This hairstyle is extraordinarily beautiful =v= (taking a mirror selfie, happily.jpg). Friend: Yup, all you need is a different face. Writer: "..." Let’s end this friendship. (cold.jpg)