CHAPTER 197

🙞❤︎🙜

The next day, I was less busy so I gave myself more time to enjoy the scenery. The sky was an endless expanse of cerulean blue as I stepped down from the boardwalk and onto the powdery black sand of the beach. I inhaled deeply, the salty sea air filling my lungs and invigorating my senses. The crystal-clear turquoise water stretched as far as the eye could see, occasionally broken by the graceful leaps of playful dolphins in the distance. The island’s palm trees swayed gently in the breeze, their fronds rustling softly overhead.

Prince Baiyu was having breakfast with his parents, so I walked up the narrow dirt path to the farming site alone, to the rhythmic sound of waves lapping at the shore and the cries of the seabirds. I was halfway there when the kids and Scholar Wu appeared and I waited for them to join me before continuing my walk.

We were all wearing our lightest summer clothing because of the tropical heat. Lari, Kharli, and Scholar Wu had chosen sleeveless cotton tunics and pants, while Mo and I were in breezy long skirts and high-necked, wide-sleeved tops. My skirt wasn’t the most practical outfit for farming, but it was cooler than pants and the sleeves protected my skin from the intense sunlight. I had on a big floppy straw hat and Scholar Wu was bareheaded, as were the kids.

When we arrived at the right place, we were shocked to see that the crops had grown over a foot tall during the night. However, so had the weeds!

Scholar Wu took out a measuring rope and took notes on the plants’ unusual growth rate. “You say these will be ready to harvest in five days?”

“Four days,” I corrected her. “Yesterday was day one.”

“Coffee plants grow up to fifty feet,” she said. “Any idea how tall these will be by that time?”

“Fifty feet?! No way, surely it won’t be that tall.” I put on my gardening gloves and started weeding.

“This is fascinating.” Scholar Wu wandered off to take measurements of the other plants.

“Teacher, why don’t you rest? We can tend to the plants,” said Mo when she saw that I was frowning.

“It’s fine! I can do it. I just hate that these weeds are so tough!” I said as I tugged on the deep-rooted plants.

The weeds were really difficult to remove, but with all of us working hard, we managed to finish the chores in an hour. I noted that the weeds and the crops were the only ones exhibiting unusual growth rates since the other plants around the farming patch seemed normal.

“That was harder than I expected, but everything seems to be good,” I said. “Has anyone noticed any plant that looks out of the ordinary compared to the others here?”

Since they were three different plants, I expected them to look different, but weirdly enough, they all looked the same, with brownish-gray main stems, silvery branches, and dark green heart-shaped leaves. I could only tell which was which by using the System information.

“Look, this plant grew one inch from the time we arrived.” Kharli pointed at a [Mermaid's Kiss Cacao] plant. “It’s the same as the others, but it’s growing faster.”

Lari dusted his hands off. “I wonder how tall they will be tomorrow.”

“Their growth is highly accelerated. It must be because this was a god’s island. Do you think this is the god’s own garden plot?” I asked the others.

“I think it’s because this land was fertilized by the flying pigs,” said Kharli.

Lari looked up at the clear sky and made a face. “Do you mean we have to watch out for huge droppings?”

Mo and I laughed.

“Yes, if you hear oinking from above, run away!” said Kharli.

We all looked up. Thankfully, the skies were clear of divine flying beasts.

My lips twitched. Based on the flying pigs we saw earlier, it was entirely possible that this place was right under their usual flight path when they hunted seabirds. “You know what? Kharli’s probably right! I think we should stop talking about that though, since I want to go back to the central villa for some snacks.”

That very same afternoon, the pigs flew above the beach and deposited some of their digestive byproducts very near the farming patch. Thankfully, the droppings were very magical and disappeared into the earth mere minutes after they landed, in the same manner that the [Mysterious Goo] did when we used it.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

That night, before we went to sleep, Scholar Wu measured the plants again and discovered that they were already four feet tall.

The next day, the crops grew seven feet tall and grew white flower buds. The day after that, flower buds opened and the white blossoms released a soft, sweet scent like jasmine. The day after that, the fourth day, we woke up to find that the flowers had fallen and fruits were already starting to develop. Scholar Wu frequently measured the crops and took copious notes as well as cuttings which she asked us to store in our inventories so that they would be preserved.

On the fifth day, everyone gathered to watch us harvest the fruits which all looked identical despite the System identifying them as [Dragonfire Pepper], [Mermaid’s Kiss Cacao], and [Ocean’s Heart Coffee].

I had the honor of picking the first fruit from our crop. Reaching up on tiptoes, I plucked a big, juicy-looking fruit from one of the [Ocean’s Heart Coffee] plant’s lower branches.

“Thank you. Thank you.” I bowed to the royal couple and to the others.

The teardrop-shaped fruit was the size of two of my fists and had a hard pink outer skin. When Prince Baiyu broke it open for me, we found that their insides were full of transparent globes of pulp that contained the coffee beans that I was looking for.

The kids each plucked a fruit from a different plant and we found that the identical fruits contained either cacao beans, coffee beans, or bright red peppers inside them.

“Strange, very strange,” said Scholar Wu.

Actually, in terms of weirdness, I thought this was pretty tame compared to the fact that we had discovered a huge island in the shape of the Black Tortoise. I smiled and said, “It’s fun! Maybe the god of these islands liked it this way? It’s like a lottery; you don’t know what you’ll get when you cut open a fruit.”

“I’ll have to study the plants more, but my hypothesis is that these three are hybrids,” said the scholar.

“Yes, that does seem reasonable,” I said.

Fully harvesting a plant using the System made it wilt within the day, so we took a lot of cuttings before that. They should sell for a good price, and I was sure that the people in the Northern and Western lands would greatly enjoy these newly rediscovered foods.

Fengying had informed me that Deming thought that the [Dragonfire Pepper], [Mermaid’s Kiss Cacao], and [Ocean’s Heart Coffee] were the ingredients for the mythical Ahoma, a mythical spicy elixir or brew that the Black Tortoise and his follower gods loved. I was really looking forward to the spicy mocha drink the Demon Chef planned to make for us. We handed over the ingredients to the chef, who once again proclaimed that they were all low-grade and that it would take him three weeks to process the chocolate and coffee beans.

“These seem high-grade to me.” Scholar Wu held up a [Dragonfire Pepper] to the light.

Kharli sighed. “Our chef has extremely high standards.”

Lari and Mo nodded their agreement.

I held up half of a broken fruit to Prince Baiyu, who closely examined and sniffed the item before handing it over to his parents who politely pretended to be interested in it, too.

Grinning, I moved closer to my boyfriend and whispered, “Wow, your parents look so happy. Their faces are glowing. It must be all those early nights and late mornings in bed.”

He elbowed me on my side and I elbowed him in return before I went back to harvesting the rest of the crops. Since the farming patch was small, I only got a small amount of exp, but because we could plant and harvest every five days, the total amount of experience we would get this winter season should be a lot more than what we would have if we had stayed in the desert like last year.

“We got a lot more fruit than I expected,” I said to the prince.

In Adventure Incarnate, fruit trees only gave twenty-eight fruit each, but each of the special trees here yielded forty to fifty-five.

Kharli approached me with a halved fruit in her hand. “Teacher, can we try eating the fruit? The chef says it's edible.”

“Sure, why not?” I took out a wooden spoon from my inventory and scooped up some of the flesh. The beans and pepper inside the fruits had System uses, but the outer fruit itself was normally discarded. It was nice to know it was edible. “I’ll go first!”

The fruit’s soft and juicy flesh was absolutely delightful, with a sweetness balanced by a slightly acidic tang that reminded me of papaya and mango. It was as if the best qualities of both fruits had been combined into one perfect bite.

“It’s amazing! Try this!” I scooped up another spoonful and fed it to Prince Baiyu.

He made a face. “It’s very sweet.”

The White Tiger clan were descended from carnivores, so one could expect them to greatly prefer meaty or savory dishes, but this wasn’t a universal preference. Scholar Wu, for example, had a sweet tooth.

Lari, Kharli, and Mo tried the fruit next.

“The prince is right. It’s too sweet” said Lari.

“Oh? Give me that fruit then.” Mo tried to take Lari’s fruit, but he refused to relinquish it.

“Stop it, don’t fight. We have plenty of fruit.” I laughed good-naturedly. “Fengying, let’s offer our guests a taste if they want to try it later. For now, let’s toast!”

I took out a table and put the bottles of wine and pitchers of iced tea that we had prepared beforehand, along with crystal goblets. The kids helped me pour the drinks which Yinuo and the other maids distributed to our guests and the staff. I waited until everyone had their drink in hand before saying, “Lady Yuying, would you like to propose a toast?”

The Lady of the West lifted her glass of iced tea and said, “May we always be grateful for the blessings of the land and the bounty it provides.”

“Cheers!” I lifted my glass in salute and drank the sweet tea.

The kids and I were receiving everyone’s congratulations when a group of flying clan members were spotted in the northern sky. It was Prince Muyang and his men, back from exploring the mainland.

“Time for the next phase of your plan,” said Prince Baiyu as he looked up at the sky in the direction of the clan members.

“Yes.” I checked the System Quest tab. “Let’s talk to the prince and suggest that we find the Snowcrest Mountains tomorrow, after my apprentices and I finish planting.”

[Finding the Fertile Fields Enchanted Enclave:

Craft a Thunderbolt Scepter and Bell and get it appraised. - done

Sell it to the Black Tortoise clan. - done

Ask the Duke of the North for permission to explore the Snowcrest Mountains. - done

Locate the fabled lost secret garden of the Black Tortoise clan.

Plant 12 different Frost Flowers in the garden.

Reward: Farming Exp]