CHAPTER 125 - WORM-BRACE THE PRESENT AND GOO WITH THE FLOW

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I returned to the [Ranch House] in good spirits. My day got even better when my apprentices excitedly swarmed me the moment I showed my face at the main house and told me the news.

“The worm box is full!” said Kharli.

“We can harvest it now, but we waited for you, Teacher,” said Lari.

Mo simply took me by the hand and tugged me outside to where the [Worm Bin] was.

[Worm Bin:

Status: Healthy

Vermicompost: 3/3]

“Awesome, I’ll get the [Vermicompost] right now.” Putting my words into action at once, I mentally clicked on the [Worm Bin] and selected the [Yes] option when the popup asked me if I wanted to harvest it. I showed the others the three brown paper packages with the [Vermicompost] inside.

[Vermicompost:

Also called Nature’s gold. It’s a mixture of decomposed organic matter and the waste products of earthworms. Boosts plant growth.]

“Nature's gold? I like it,” said Lari.

Kharli took the package from my hand and opened it, revealing a dark, almost black crumbly soil-like substance. “It’s still moist and it smells very earthy. I thought it would stink more.”

“That’s worm poop. Don’t touch it,” said Mo, who was keeping her distance from the [Worm Bin] due to her phobia.

“Okay, here’s where the magic happens.” I put the open package of [Vermicompost] on the ground and added [Goo] to it. The [Goo] was quickly absorbed by the [Vermicompost] which glowed bright green for a second and then was dissolved.

We all looked down at the resulting [Mysterious Goo] that was a bright, fluorescent green.

[Mysterious Goo:

An extraordinary blend of slime excreta and worm-made compost, this potent fertilizer fuels flora with a potent cocktail of nutrients. Can only be applied to soil once a year. Do not touch with your bare hands.]

Mo gave it a suspicious look. “Teacher, it dissolved the soil? I knew that slime [Goo] was dangerous!”

“Shhh, the slime is right here.” Lari pointed to Cutie. “She heard you.”

Kharli grabbed Mo and the two of them slowly retreated without turning their backs on my slime pet. Meanwhile, Cutie bounced over to the open brown paper package and used her slime strand to probe the contents.

“Chu~” Cutie lost interest after a few seconds and bounced away in the direction of her home, the [Slime House].

“This is great. Now that I’ve made [Mysterious Goo], I’ve unlocked the ones in my inventory. It’s too late for the spring planting, but this will definitely boost our summer harvest,” I said.

I also had two of the three things I needed for my quest.

[Curing Infertility Part 2:

Plant the Crimson Pearl Peony seed.

Requirements: Black Soil, Spirit Water, and Mysterious Goo.

Reward: Farming Exp]

Once I had [Black Soil], I could finish the quest and hopefully get enough exp for another Farming level.

***

The next day, when I opened the gate of my [Ranch House], I was engulfed in a warm embrace.

“I hate this!” said Prince Baiyu into my ear. “I wish I could just elope with you and leave everything else behind.”

“Mmm.” My brain had short-circuited so all I could do was make a soft sound of pleasure as I hugged him back. I barely stopped myself in time from saying “Oh yes, muscles!” out loud. The brush of his fingers against my back sent ripples of warmth that spread through my body, and I could feel the steady rise and fall of his breath, a calming cadence that slowly synchronized with my own. We stayed like that for a few minutes until we heard the sound of people giggling.

I reluctantly pulled away from Prince Baiyu’s embrace and gave my three apprentices a warning look. “Good morning.”

Smirking, the three of them bowed to us, and we exchanged polite greetings.

“Please go to the house and let Fengying know that we have a visitor. Prince Baiyu, would you like a tour of the fields?” I looked up and winked at him.

“I would love a tour,” he said.

The prince was dressed in a set of white and blue silk robes and pants embroidered with a wave motif. His long white hair was tied in a high ponytail held in place by a silver crown with a hairpin, both items decorated with iridescent blue kingfisher feathers. Tiny silver and pearl pendants hung down from the hairpin and made pleasing tinkling sounds whenever he moved his head. His bangs partially covered the purple lotus in the middle of his forehead.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

I was glad to see that his blue eyes were bright and his skin had a rosy glow since I was always a little worried about his health because of his qi overload problem. Thankfully, it had been mostly cured last winter.

Though I was hungry, breakfast could wait. I wanted to spend at least a few minutes alone with Prince Baiyu. Also, this delaying tactic would give my household staff time to prepare to receive royalty. Even though the prince didn’t insist on the formalities, I was sure that Fengying would appreciate the advance warning so that she could tidy up and set a more impressive table. The staff would probably put on finer clothes, too.

The vegetable garden was a fine sight, with lots of spiritual plants that were now a vivid green with a slight glow around them.

“Impressive, as usual,” said Prince Baiyu.

“You know about the fish?” I asked.

“Yes, I remember it from your letters.”

“Tada! Here it is.” I led him to the nearest rice paddy and proudly waved an arm at the Rice-Fish integrated cultivation method I had going on.

The rice plants were not the same as regular ones. Rather, they were striped blue and pink with golden edges. They were still small at the moment, but they still looked very mystical. The [Cleaner Shrimp] were too small to be visible from above, but we could see a few of the [Rice Carp] which were small but had brown and gray scales that flashed gold when the sunlight hit them at the right angle. I couldn’t quite see it from where I stood, but I knew that the fish should have whisker-like barbels protruding from both sides of its mouth.

“This is quite extraordinary.” The prince knelt at the edge of the paddy, heedless of his fine robes, and bent down to peer into the muddy water. “The mulberry farms we grow for our silkworms also have fishponds with carp, but this is the first time that I’ve seen demonic carp.”

“What?! Demonic? Nooooo, these are just regular spirit carp, right?” I knelt beside him, trying to see what he was talking about, but no matter what I did, I simply couldn’t figure out what made these fish “demonic.”

Prince Baiyu stood, pulling me up, too. “Sometimes I forget that you can’t see qi. These carp have quite strong demonic qi.”

“What does that mean? How come some animals are called demonic, anyway?” I’d always wondered about that. For example, the demon pigs from the Southerlands looked exactly the same as the regular pigs the Demon Chef bought from the Anwei market.

He smiled and bent down to brush some dirt away from my trousers. “Don’t worry, it’s not bad.”

We spent a few moments shaking the dirt from our clothes.

I frowned down at the rice paddy. “It’s not? Wait, that’s not true, is it? I’m pretty sure demonic animals are bad.”

“Perhaps you’re not aware of the different forms of qi?” When I nodded, Prince Baiyu explained what he meant. “Classifying the different types of qi isn’t easy. According to philosophers, there are thousands of forms that it can take. However, the common folk simplify it into two basic types: spiritual and demonic. Your rice paddy contains spiritual plants and demonic fish.”

“I don’t get it. If the fish are bad demonic ones, should I remove them from the water?”

“The two types of qi can work together. They are opposing forces that can spur each other’s development.”

I still didn’t get what he meant.

Seeing as I was still confused, he continued his explanation. “Think of it this way. The plants have a gentle qi while the fish have an aggressive qi. The fish stimulate the plants while the plants calm the fish down. It’s beneficial for both of them. I’ve rarely seen such a good blend of qi.”

“Oh, that does sound good!”

“Yes, a lot of people who work with qi like to pair opposing forces such as creation and destruction, birth and death, growth and decay, and so forth. For example, they say that the legendary fountain that contained the Water of Life was surrounded by the True Celestial Flame.”

I giggled. “This is just a rice paddy, not a mythical land of enchantment.”

We turned away from the field and started walking to the main house.

Prince Baiyu took my hand in his and said, “To me, this is a paradise because you’re here.”

“Ha! I suppose that’s why I haven’t seen you for such a long time?” I pouted. “Don’t you think it’s rude to kiss a girl on New Year’s Eve then disappear for weeks at a time?”

“I’m sorry! I had to catch up on my work because I was away during winter fixing my qi overload problem.”

“How have you been? No more overloading?”

“Yes, the therapy seems to have worked. I haven’t had any problems, but I still have to be careful.”

“Do you need more potions? Here, take this.” I tried to hand him a [Rubber Chicken].

[Resilient Rubber Chicken:

This rubber chicken toy is no ordinary chicken! It’s a super fun, interactive toy that will keep you entertained for hours on end. This chicken has a movable head and wings and makes realistic chicken sounds when you squeeze it. It’s also durable and easy to clean, making it the perfect toy for both indoor and outdoor play.

Magic -1 (every three seconds)]

“No, thanks.” He gave the toy a baleful look.

It was a joke item that players could equip in Adventure Incarnate to play fight each other. Its effect of draining qi was helpful with Prince Baiyu’s qi overload, but it looked extremely goofy. I squeezed it, activating the bwak bwak bwaaak sound effect.

Unfortunately, the joke was on me as I forgot to put on gloves before handling it.

“Oops,” I said as I swayed a little, dizzy from the rubber toy’s magic-draining quality.

“Drop it!” Prince Baiyu grabbed me by the waist.

I put the item back into my inventory.

“My bad, I didn’t think it would work so quickly.” The item description said it only drained 1 Magic level every three seconds, and I’d only held it for a very short time. “I’m fine.”

“You look pale,” said Prince Baiyu. He lifted me into his arms and ran to the house before I could reply.

We were met at the gate by my maid, Yinuo, who made a huge fuss over me even though I said I was all alright. I was carried to my bedroom in the inner courtyard and told to lie down. I was vigorously refusing to drink a foul-smelling herbal concoction that Yinuo offered me when one of the prince’s guards came to inform him that it was time for them to leave.

“Already? It hasn’t even been an hour,” I said.

Prince Baiyu sighed. “I have a morning meeting with my parents and some of the clan elders. I only stopped by to see your face.’

“Aw! I know you’re busy, but when will you have time to visit me again?”

“In a few days, the Spring Hunt will start. I should have a bit of free time after that.”

“How much time?”

“Not a lot,” he admitted. “I haven’t finished my training, and I have to catch up on a lot of paperwork.”

In addition to helping his mother, the ruler of the Westerlands, he also had his own territory to govern, and he hadn’t finished his education. Prince Baiyu was roughly the same age as I, and if I were to compare it to human terms on Earth, he was basically in college, in that he had finished basic education and was now being given more advanced training.

I sighed. “Why don’t you move in here after the Spring Hunt?”

Yinuo dropped the cup of herbal medicine.

The bodyguard stepped backwards so fast that he stumbled over his feet and fell in a heap on the floor.

Prince Baiyu turned red as a tomato and stammered out a few incoherent words. “You-You- I…”