Chapter 171 - 138: Cleaning Up Clutter

Chapter 171: Chapter 138: Cleaning Up Clutter

As the setting sun gradually turned gentle, Huai Yu finally finished planting all the vegetable seedlings she had bought.

When she went to the pond to fetch water, she noticed that the lotus roots she planted earlier had already sprouted tightly coiled, pointed leaves, which now swayed gently with the ripples caused by her bucket. Unable to resist, she touched the leaves one by one, quietly channeling her power into them.

This time, however, she deliberately controlled it. Once she felt the slightly thorny stems grow noticeably thicker, she withdrew her hand. But then, Huai Yu became distressed.

"Actually, I could totally just plant the vegetables right next to the Rose Corridor and only plant one of each kind, right?" she thought. "After all, cowpeas can grow as thick as an anaconda. Planting a three-to-five-meter-tall eggplant or pepper tree would be perfectly normal, wouldn’t it? But... forget it! I’m slowly making more good friends now. It’s best to keep these abilities low-key. Otherwise, while I’d be perfectly safe staying by the Rose Corridor, my friends might end up bearing the risks."

With this in mind, she picked up the water bucket again, water sloshing out along the way, and slowly began watering the newly planted vegetable seedlings.

"I can’t give them too much of my Inducing Ability, but giving just a little to ensure they survive should be fine, right?" she thought.

As scoop after scoop of water cascaded over the somewhat wilted seedlings, wisps of her Superpower gradually flowed in. Watching the rapid unfurling of branches and leaves, Huai Yu let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Finally!" she thought. "I can finally organize that massive pile of junk properly!"

Wait, no! Remembering something, she hurriedly fished two peach pits out of her pocket, dug two small holes at the edge of the vegetable patch, and buried them.

Growing peach trees from pits made sprouting a challenge in itself. Coupled with the fact that peach trees generally took three to five years to bear fruit, Huai Yu was much bolder when imparting her Superpower this time.

Because she let the Superpower surge quite heavily, she could even feel the newly born tender sprouts piercing through their hard shells. The moment they broke the soil’s surface, she swiftly switched to her Purification Ability.

As she channeled it, a sense of pride swelled within her. "I’m as proficient at using these two Skills as a video game character now! Compared to physical training, this suits me way better."

Huai Yu squatted beside the vegetable plot, staring intently at the two tender peach tree sprouts. At some point, Ke Taichiro had quietly crept up beside her, obediently resting on the ground and staring at the sprouts as well.

She gently tapped its antennae. "You can’t eat these. There are only two of them."

But Ke Taichiro was so well-behaved...

She pondered for a moment before painfully compromising. "If you really like them, just wait a bit. Once I finish eating the rest of the peaches, I’ll induce some more peach seedlings for you."

If Boss Tang were to see this doting expression, he would undoubtedly find a lot of common ground with her.

Ke Taichiro fluttered its wings and suddenly pressed its antennae against her finger again.

Huai Yu froze slightly. It had never done this before! What did this mean?

"Ke Taichiro, do you want some of my Superpower?"

"But..." Huai Yu opened both of her hands. "There are two kinds. Which one do you want? So far, I’ve only used a tiny bit of my Inducing Ability on the little chicks, though I used both on Big and Second when they were still in their eggs.

"I’m a bit scared to just give it to you directly," she rambled on. "Inducing is one thing, but purification... I mean, just look at those two; they still haven’t grown a single feather. I’m genuinely worried that using my abilities on living creatures might have side effects."

That explanation was too complicated, and Huai Yu wasn’t sure if Ke Taichiro had understood. After a moment of thought, she simply held out both hands—left and right—each radiating a different power.

"Which one do you—"

Before she could finish, Ke Taichiro quickly scuttled back a few steps, clearly wanting neither.

Huai Yu was speechless.

"Okay, got it," she thought. "I won’t use it lightly on living things next time." ℯ

Just as she was about to withdraw her hands, Ke Taichiro crawled toward her right finger. Its antennae lightly tapped her fingertip, drawing away only the tiniest sliver of the Power of Induction.

As for the purification side, it avoided it like the plague. This minuscule amount of power was incredibly weak—far less than what she had just used to induce the peach sprouts!

Huai Yu stared at Ke Taichiro for a long while, only to see it resting contentedly on the ground, motionless. After a short while, it vigorously resumed chewing on grass shoots. It didn’t seem any different from usual.

She sighed. "Alright then," she reminded herself again. "I shouldn’t use my abilities on living creatures anymore. Especially purification."

As for now...

The setting sun had already dipped close to the distant mountains. The little chicks, having completely lost their fluffy charm to mottled feathers, were scattered across the grass, going CHEEP CHEEP as they scratched and pecked at the dirt.

Big and Second strolled about on their slender, gangly legs, balancing their oversized, sea-urchin-like bodies. Their flat bills continuously poked at the wild grass covering the ground, looking like two utterly bored lawnmowers.

Meanwhile, from the nearby shed, Little Tian—who hadn’t shown its face in a long time—suddenly darted out along the corner, accompanied by a family member of the exact same size.

"Little Tian!" Huai Yu cheered up instantly. She grabbed Little Tian by the tail and lifted it up. "It’s been so long! Turns out you’ve been busy falling in love!"

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!"

Dangling in midair, Little Tian squirmed furiously and cursed at her. Huai Yu couldn’t understand what it was saying, but given how intense the emotions were, it was probably something very foul.

She quickly set Little Tian back down. Looking at the other vole, which was frozen in fright, she said apologetically, "Don’t be scared. I have a lot of points now, so I won’t raid your burrows anymore. Oh, wait—here are your beans back."

With that, she rushed into the house. Not long after, she came back with a huge handful of soybeans, which she had even kindly purified.

"Here, these are for you! Do you want to carry them back to your burrow yourself, or should I help you take them to the entrance?"

However, unlike the younglings at home who completely trusted her, Little Tian remained full of vigilance toward Huai Yu. It stared at her with its beady eyes, showing absolutely no intention of revealing the location of its new home.

"Hmph," Huai Yu wrinkled her nose. "I don’t care anyway! Here, carry them yourself."

She reached into the pile of junk in the shed and pulled out a chipped plate. Plump, dry soybeans cascaded onto it—CLINK, CLANK—looking like a sudden windfall bestowed upon Little Tian by the God of Wealth.

That was, of course, assuming one didn’t think about the treasure trove it had lost at home earlier this spring.

While Little Tian managed to hold its ground, its accompanying family member was already circling the plate—hesitant, drooling, yet too afraid to approach.

Huai Yu chuckled again. "Take them all. Once you finish moving these, I’ll grab some rice for you next time. The quality of these soybeans is way better than the peanuts and mung beans you used to store in your burrow."

Just as she finished speaking, Huai Yu dug something out of the nearby pile of sundries. After examining it closely, she couldn’t help but laugh once more.

"No wonder Chen Xing called these junk. There really is all sorts of random stuff in here," she thought.

What she was currently holding was unmistakably a hamster wheel. Seeing it, she couldn’t even begin to imagine why Chen Xing and the others had kept this when they first started collecting supplies.

But... the shape of this wheel looked exactly like the Water Curtain toy Lin Xuefeng had made for Little Tian by the campfire!