Chapter 31: Don’t Pick Up Wild Men by the Roadside

Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Don’t Pick Up Wild Men by the Roadside

Qiao Suluo’s eyes widened when she heard the system’s words. "You want me to pluck his feathers? Don’t forget that one of his wings was chopped off. Both his wings and feathers are bound to trigger his trauma. Are you afraid he won’t turn dark fast enough?"

She still remembered the undisguised disgust and murderous intent in Que Hongjin’s eyes when she first transmigrated here.

Doing this would be no different from plucking whiskers from a tiger.

"I’m merely suggesting that the host give it a try," the system replied. "Que Hongjin’s attitude toward you has softened quite a bit now. You can try mentioning it to him. It’s not like you’re plucking his feathers by force, so it should be fine."

Knowing her place, Qiao Suluo said, "Their attitude toward me has only improved because we live under the same roof. It’s not out of any actual affection. We can’t be at each other’s throats forever."

"Host, you’re way too calm and rational," the system said helplessly. "I think Que Hongjin feels differently about you now. He’s been helping you out these past few days. When your neck was strangled, his anxious care definitely wasn’t faked."

"That’s just because he’s a genuinely good person," Qiao Suluo countered. "He’d treat anyone like that."

A naturally good person would be kind to anyone around them. He treated Bai Qianluo well, too. The two of them always looked very harmonious together on a regular basis. They loathed her, which made it even more impossible for them to develop any sort of rivalry over her. They were all Beast Husbands in name only.

"Or do you honestly think he’d just hand over a Peacock Feather if I asked? You think too highly of me.

"Besides, our relationship has only just begun to thaw. If I pull something like this, they might end up hating me even more."

Although she didn’t know exactly how painful it was for Que Hongjin to have his wing chopped off, plucking a Peacock Feather would undoubtedly hurt, too. It might even trigger memories of his amputation. Furthermore, doing so would be detrimental to her mission. Qiao Suluo was absolutely not going to take that risk.

"I’d rather use these three hundred points to exchange for a small weight loss medicine."

Three hundred points could help her lose about three catties. Combined with eating less and exercising over the past few days, she had lost two catties on her own. That made a total of five catties.

After making the exchange, Qiao Suluo immediately popped the medicine into her mouth. The items from the Space Mall were truly effective; it worked instantly, rapidly shedding three catties off her frame. She even saved a few points to exchange for sweet wine yeast.

With the exchanges complete, she prepared to exit her space.

"Host, there’s ointment in the medical kit I gave you earlier," the system reminded her. "Applying it to your neck will reduce the swelling and relieve the pain."

Qiao Suluo had almost forgotten about her medical kit. Coming out of the space, she checked the kit and found a variety of medicines inside. There was indeed an ointment specifically for swelling and pain relief.

She picked it up, squeezed out a small amount, and applied it to her neck. An immediate, soothing coolness spread across her skin.

"The ointment from the medical kit is the best."

By this time, the glutinous rice and peach blossoms had cooled down enough. After pouring in the sweet wine yeast, she mixed everything thoroughly by hand and placed it into a large, pre-prepared clay jar.

The jar was completely free of water and oil to facilitate fermentation. Once everything was inside, she pressed the rice down firmly. Using a rolling pin that had been sterilized with boiling water, she pressed a small dimple into the center of the mixture before sealing the jar.

In just over a day, the fermentation process would be complete, yielding Peach Blossom Brew.

After finishing her chores, Qiao Suluo strapped on her bamboo basket and headed for the mountains.

Bai Qianluo, a piece of cloth blindfolding his eyes, seemed to hear the rustling. "Are you going to the mountains, wife?" he asked.

Qiao Suluo nodded. "Yeah, just going for a walk around the mountains to take a look."

She simply wanted to find items that the Space Mall would accept, hoping to sell them for points to buy more weight loss medicine.

Recalling how, when he accompanied his wife up the mountain over the past few days, she had been terrified of snakes and insects, Bai Qianluo fell silent for a moment before offering, "I should accompany you, wife."

Qiao Suluo politely declined. "It’s fine. I’ll just go for a walk by myself today. Don’t worry, I won’t go deep into the forest. I’ll just look around the outskirts."

With that, she headed out the door and made her way to the mountains.

This time, she deliberately chose a path she hadn’t taken before. She hoped to discover some valuable mountain goods or items favored by the Space Mall to earn more points.

Without realizing it, Qiao Suluo ventured deeper into the mountains. "Are these pigeon leaves? There’s actually Pigeon Leaf growing here?"

The pigeon leaves could be used to make Immortal Tofu. It was a delicious cold dish that cost absolutely nothing to make.

Qiao Suluo quickly began picking the pigeon leaves.

Just then, the system exclaimed excitedly, "Host, Host! There’s Lingzhi! wild Ganoderma!"

Hearing the system’s voice, Qiao Suluo hastily looked at the ground. "Where?"

"In the grass to the left of your feet. I just detected it."

Abandoning the pigeon leaves, Qiao Suluo hurriedly parted the tall grass. Sure enough, she spotted a piece of Lingzhi.

"This is wild Ganoderma. It’s worth at least a few thousand points!"

Her eyes immediately lit up at those words. With a few thousand points, she could shed dozens of catties of fat. Qiao Suluo’s eyes practically gleamed with excitement.

She hurriedly used the mall’s scanning function. "DING. Detected wild Ganoderma weighing one catty and six taels. One tael is worth one hundred points. Would the host like to sell?"

Seeing this point value left Qiao Suluo thrilled. Since one catty consisted of sixteen taels, that meant a total of twenty-two taels, which would yield her two thousand two hundred points.

She immediately tapped to sell it. In an instant, two thousand two hundred points were credited to her mall account.

"Hurry and buy a weight loss pill," she urged herself.

"Host, it will be very obvious if you suddenly lose over twenty catties right now," the system warned.

Qiao Suluo knew she currently weighed about one hundred and ninety catties. Even though her base weight was quite large, dropping twenty catties all at once would definitely attract attention.

"Then I’ll just buy enough weight loss medicine to lose ten catties for now."

Spending one thousand points, Qiao Suluo quickly swallowed the medicine and soon dropped ten catties.

She couldn’t help but marvel, "The medicine from the mall really is useful, and the effects are fantastic."

Having lost so much weight, she felt noticeably lighter and far more agile when she moved.

"I’ll wait a few days before buying another ten-catty dose of the weight loss pill. Then I can lose another ten catties."

In truth, she wished she could just drop down to a normal weight all at once. But if the change was too drastic, people would treat her like some kind of monster.

It was better to take things one step at a time.

Forgetting all about picking Pigeon Leaf, Qiao Suluo kept her head down and continuously searched for precious wild herbs. She kept searching, unaware of how long she had been walking. Gradually, the sky began to darken.

By the time she realized it was getting dark, thunder suddenly boomed overhead.

RUMBLE RUMBLE.

As the thunder rolled, dark clouds began to gather in the sky.

"Is it going to rain? I’d better hurry home."

Staying out in the wild on a rainy day was dangerous. Qiao Suluo quickly packed up her things and started heading back. As she walked, a light drizzle began to fall.

Her footsteps quickened. She needed to get home before the heavy rain poured down.

Perhaps because she was moving too fast, she tripped over something unknown and plummeted face-first into the dirt.

CRACK.

Qiao Suluo felt a sharp, agonizing twist in her ankle, as if a bone had just fractured. The pain was excruciating.

Frowning, she looked back and suddenly spotted a tall, slender man lying on the ground dressed in red. The fabric of his clothes was luxurious, shimmering with subtle dark patterns that immediately spoke of his noble status. His hair obscured part of his face, revealing only a perfectly sculpted jawline.

"Is... is this a Beastman or some kind of demon?"

Steeling her nerves, Qiao Suluo looked over. She couldn’t help feeling a bit curious, but then she seemed to remember something. Enduring the pain in her foot, she decisively turned around, picked up a sturdy branch to use as a crutch, and hobbled away.

"Curiosity killed the cat," she kept muttering to herself. "As the saying goes, don’t pick wild flowers by the roadside, and definitely don’t pick up stray men by the road."