Chapter 125: Plant Pet Cao Cao (Part 1)

Chapter 125: Chapter 125: Plant Pet Cao Cao (Part 1)

"What good are you, anyway? You didn’t change at all in my last life. This time, you finally produced some dewdrops, but they turned out to be completely useless. And to think I got my hopes up, happily eating them for three days straight, all for absolutely nothing." Even though she knew it was pointless, Gu Nuan Nuan couldn’t help but complain to the little plant with her thoughts.

"Waaah, who said Cao Cao is useless? Master, those aren’t dewdrops! That’s Cao Cao’s Plant Essence, and it’s super useful! It’s Master who’s using it wrong and blaming poor Cao Cao." A hurt, child-like voice instantly echoed in Gu Nuan Nuan’s mind.

"Who is that? Who’s speaking? Come out—" Gu Nuan Nuan was seriously spooked. If not for the composure she’d gained from her past life, she might have bolted right out of the space and given Zhang Minzhen a heart attack. Still, she nervously scanned her surroundings.

"Master, Cao Cao has been right in front of you the whole time," the hurt, child-like voice rang out again.

"Cao Cao?" Gu Nuan Nuan watched as the nameless little plant in front of her began to sway as if caught in a nonexistent wind. Just as she rubbed her eyes, thinking she was seeing things, the plant seemed to sense her thoughts and began swaying even more dramatically. The movement was so vigorous that the dewdrops on its leaves rolled and bumped against each other, yet not a single one fell off.

"So you’re Cao Cao? You can read my thoughts? Where did you come from?" Gu Nuan Nuan stared in disbelief at the nameless little plant that called itself "Cao Cao" and was apparently talking to her.

"Cao Cao can only communicate with Master. I can’t read Master’s thoughts." Cao Cao swayed, its joy evident from the rhythm and breadth of its movements. At the same time, the child-like voice piped up cheerfully in Gu Nuan Nuan’s mind again, "Master, don’t be afraid of me! Cao Cao would never hurt you. In fact, it’s thanks to me that you were reborn." The last part of the sentence was laced with a thick, sycophantic tone, clearly fishing for praise.

"You’re the one who brought me back?" Gu Nuan Nuan was stunned again. Then, a question occurred to her. "How did you manage that? And if you can talk, why did you ignore me before?"

"It wasn’t Cao Cao ignoring Master! It was Master who never talked to Cao Cao!"

The child-like voice was full of hurt, carrying a cute sort of resentment that momentarily gave Gu Nuan Nuan the illusion that this was all her fault.

’Ugh, but could you really blame her? Who goes around talking to a plant for no reason?’

"So tell me, how did you bring me back?"

"Um, Cao Cao used the energy from the Spirit Stones in this space to activate the Retrospection Array. But the Retrospection Array uses up a lot of Spirit Stones, and now they’re almost all gone. Cao Cao has to be more frugal and can only produce two drops of Plant Essence a day. I have to use one to nourish my own body, so only the other one is for Master." As it spoke of the depleted Spirit Stones, Cao Cao seemed sullen, but it quickly perked up again. "But the good news is that Master has started talking to Cao Cao now, so I can chat with Master without any restrictions! If we come across any energy that’s good for me to absorb, I can tell Master right away, and we can get our hands on it together! Hee hee hee—"

’Ugh, why do I get the feeling I’m about to be stuck with a chatterbox?’

The world suddenly seemed a little less wonderful to Gu Nuan Nuan. She thought for a moment before cautiously probing, "Is there a price I have to pay for all of this?"

"A price?"

Cao Cao first repeated the word in a confused tone, then answered cheerfully, "Master, Cao Cao needs energy. Lots and lots of energy. Does that count as a price?"

"..." Gu Nuan Nuan’s face darkened. ’There really is no such thing as a free lunch. I wonder if I can even get my hands on the ’energy’ it’s talking about.’

"What if—and this is just a hypothetical—I can’t get any energy? What happens then?"

"Nothing will happen to Master, but Cao Cao will enter a long period of dormancy, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to wake up again! This isn’t the Chu Mountain Continent. The Spiritual Energy here is too thin. Even though Master has a Wood Spirit Root, you can’t practice Cultivation. If you can’t practice Cultivation, you can’t provide me with Wood Spiritual Energy, so I can only survive by absorbing energy from Spirit Stones. But to bring Master back, the Spirit Stones in the space are almost all gone, and what’s left won’t last long... Waaah... Master, Cao Cao is already your Plant Pet! I don’t want to go to sleep! I want to stay with Master forever..."

All of Cao Cao’s leaves drooped, except for the ones holding up the Plant Essence. It looked so utterly dejected that Gu Nuan Nuan felt her own mood sour in response.

It was a lot of information, and her mind was a mess. She stared blankly for a long moment. "When you say ’dormancy,’ does that mean this whole space will disappear along with you?"

"That’s right. This is Cao Cao’s Companion Space. If Master could practice Cultivation, then I could absorb your Wood Spiritual Energy and grow along with you. Or I could use Spirit Stones to cultivate on my own, but alas—"

"Companion Space? Wood Spiritual Energy? Spirit Stones? Cao Cao, what kind of plant are you, exactly? And what is this Chu Mountain Continent? You’re just a plant, how did you inexplicably appear inside a rock? And energy—what kind of energy are you talking about?"

The revelations were overwhelming. Frowning, Gu Nuan Nuan fired off every question that came to mind. "And how am I supposed to use the Plant Essence? Right, how many masters have you had before me? Can you just switch masters whenever you want? And when you say ’won’t last long,’ how long are we talking about?"

"Master, you have so many questions! Which one should Cao Cao answer first?" The plant rolled up one of its leaves and brought it to its main stalk, looking just like an adorably confused baby sucking its thumb. It was an incredibly cute sight.

Gu Nuan Nuan was captivated for a moment before shooting it a glare. "Stop trying to be cute. Just hurry up and answer my questions."

"Waaah... Master is so mean. So scary."

Cao Cao whimpered, but it obediently uncurled its leaf, straightened its stalk, and began to answer the first question very seriously. "Cao Cao is a special High-level Spirit Plant! Among all Spirit Plants, only our kind has a Companion Space. Plus, we can grow, which means we can get stronger right alongside our master. That’s why, even on the Chu Mountain Continent, our kind is the Plant Pet that every Cultivator with a Wood Spirit Root dreams of obtaining."

After finishing, it glanced smugly at Gu Nuan Nuan, only to grow dejected when it saw her blank, unexcited expression. ’This isn’t right,’ it thought. ’Master’s reaction is completely different from what my inherited memories described. She seems completely unimpressed to have me at all.’

It extended a leaf toward its stalk, which bent down slightly in an attempt to strike a pensive, chin-stroking pose. Halfway through the motion, it remembered its master’s warning not to act cute and quickly dropped the leaf. Pouting with a nonexistent little mouth, it straightened its stalk and complained with a hint of resentment, "Master, aren’t you happy to have Cao Cao as your Plant Pet? You aren’t even a little curious! You’re not asking any more questions!"

’Ask me! Ask me! Ask me why everyone dreams of having me!’

Cao Cao looked at Gu Nuan Nuan with eager anticipation.

"I was waiting for you to tell me yourself," Gu Nuan Nuan said, her voice a mixture of exasperation and impatience. "Can you stop being so dramatic? Just spit it out. Tell me everything, including the things I haven’t thought to ask. I want to know it all. Hurry up, don’t waste any more time."

"Waaah..." Sensing Gu Nuan Nuan’s impatience, the devastated Cao Cao wanted to cry, but its "tears"—today’s two drops of Plant Essence—had already been shed. Or rather, spat out. Without enough Spirit Stones or energy, the Plant Pet didn’t even have the resources to "cry." It let out a few mournful, dry sobs to show just how sad it was.