CHAPTER 80 - A SAND-TASTIC DAY IN THE DESERT
🙞❤︎🙜
Today Lord Yulin was wearing gorgeous crimson robes, and, in the light of day, I could see his face more clearly. He was definitely better looking than I thought, and more mature and muscular compared to his son.
Even though I was sure that my face had turned as red as a tomato, I played it cool and exchanged greetings with Prince Baiyu’s father.
Once we finished courtesies, Lord Yulin took his son aside and they spoke for a few minutes before the Prince returned to me and said, “He’s leaving now.”
“Oh.” What a pity.
Prince Baiyu handed me a large jar. “I almost forgot, he told me to give this to you. Make sure everyone in your household spreads this on any wound they get, no matter how small.”
[Tiger’s Ten Thousand Golden Herb Balm:
An extremely effective topical medication that prevents infection. Made using ten precious spirit herbs, the formula for making it is a highly-guarded secret of the White Tiger clan.]
“Thank you,” I said.
We watched as Lord Yulin took the skies and flew off like Superman.
“Wow,” I said.
“What’s with that reaction?”
“When you grow up, will you look like your father?”
“I’m already grown up! And I’ll definitely be better looking,” said Prince Baiyu.
“Has anyone ever told you that you look cute when you pout?”
“Only you.”
Just as I was going to continue our banter, the direction of the wind changed and we both pinched our nostrils shut. I took out a veil from my inventory and tied it behind my head. Then I stuffed my nose with wads of cotton cloth soaked in water and a little perfume.
Prince Baiyu looked pained. I suppose he felt it was beneath his dignity to follow my example. “I’ll go and inspect the trees.”
“Why can’t you just turn off your sense of smell again?”
“The elders warned us not to do that. Apparently, if you do it a lot it might cause side effects,” he said.
“Okay, I guess I don’t blame you, and you shouldn’t soil your fancy robes with [Lizardwing]... wastes,” I said.
He made a face at me and then flew off.
When I got closer to the pen, I saw that three clan members were waiting for me in addition to my apprentices. They handed me six cages which I put in my inventory.
“I hope it's working. How is the grass?” I asked them.
To my surprise, all three of them beamed.
“Everything stinks, but it’s been very effective.”
“It’s nothing short of miraculous!”
“We could hardly believe our eyes when we saw it.”
I opened the gate to the walled-off area and was extremely pleased with what I saw inside. The short, stubby brown grass that used to cover the [Lizardwing] habitat had turned a bright green and had grown knee-high.
“This is great,” said Mo.
Kharli bent down and touched the grass. “It looks quite healthy.”
“Teacher, how are you going to catch the [Lizardwings]?” asked Lari.
“When you get close to one, you can just put it in your inventory. Try it,” I said.
My three apprentices scattered in order to catch the spirit animals. I walked over to the closest [Lizardwing]. It now had the [Young] status and was one handspan tall. Looking around, I noted that the animal’s scales were now a darker orange, and their wings were feathered blue. They still looked a lot like dinosaurs.
I put the closest one in my inventory and waited for the others. When my apprentices had collected all of the animals, I moved a little away from the clan members and gave them instructions on what to do. “Here. Take these cages and put them in your inventory. Now, look at the space where the cages are. Think the command [Use] then wait for the pop-up that says [Use With…]. When you see it, select the [Lizardwing].”
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Kharli managed to do it on her first try while Lari accidentally used the cage with a log, which made him panic when he got the message [Error: Item use failed - the selected item cannot be used with the target item]. Mo claimed she couldn’t call up the [Use] command at first.
I waited patiently until all three of them successfully managed to put the animals inside the cages. Most items could only be used outside the inventory, so they had never done this before.
We returned to the gate where the clan members were waiting and handed them the six [Lizardwings]. “These are [Young] animals. They should reach the [Adult] life stage in around a month, and breeding should occur right after that.”
“Thank you very much!”
“Thank you, this will really be helpful.”
“Thank you. May I take a look at the eggs?”
The request took me by surprise. “The eggs? Okay, but you can’t buy them. I can only use them because of my bloodline inheritance. Other people can’t touch them.”
When I showed them a [Lizardwing] egg, they reacted with shock and not a little apprehension.
“What an incredible cursed aura!”
“It looks like a demon egg…”
“At least it doesn’t stink.”
None of them attempted to touch it.
“It’s only ‘cursed’ for people who aren’t authorized to use it.” As proof, I handed the egg to Lari.
“This is heavier than normal eggs. Can I crack it open?” asked Lari.
“No! This is extremely valuable.” Kharli took the egg from him.
“But is it edible?” he asked.
“You want to eat it?!” Mo gave him a shocked look. “But they stink! I bet the egg will stink if you crack it open.”
The eldest of the clan members coughed. “Young master, it’s better not to eat spirit eggs. The qi inside them is quite fierce and could harm humans like yourself.”
“Oh.” A grin spread across Lari's face, and he bounced on the balls of his feet as he reveled in the thrill of being called “young master.”
“Yes, I don’t think these are edible,” I said. “Let’s go. I think I’ll make a bigger habitat for them.”
The clan members said their goodbyes, and we parted.
“Shall we select a place that’s farther away?” I asked them.
“Nearer is better,” said Lari. “I don’t want to walk a lot every day.”
“If they're too near, we’ll smell them from the house.” Kharli's face twisted in disgust and her nose wrinkled at the thought.
“Maybe we should choose a place that has more grass,” said Mo.
“Hmmm.” I consulted the System map and found the place that was at the very edge of the land that I was allowed to use. “Okay, I’ve decided. Follow me.”
My apprentices kept up a lively chatter while we walked. When we were now far enough from the [Lizardwings] old habitat that the smell was no longer noticeable. I took off the veil and the wads of cotton in my nose. A few minutes later, Prince Baiyu dropped down from the sky and casually fell into step beside me.
“Hello, nice to see you again,” I said.
“It’s always a pleasure to see you,” said Prince Baiyu.
“We’re going off to the new [Lizardwing] pen,” I said.
“And I must once again bid you a good day and goodbye.” He stepped to one side and flew off again.
“I’m placing the eggs, which have no smell!” I shouted up at him.
He stopped in mid-air and then flew back down to land beside me. “Hello again.”
“Hi.”
The kids stared in open-mouthed shock at us. I guess they weren’t used to seeing the prince’s humorous side.
He pretended not to notice the others’ reaction and said, “What’s your plan?”
“I sold the [Lizardwings] to the clan, and now I’m going to place the eggs in a new place and wait for them to hatch.”
“Where?”
I pointed at the horizon in the direction I had chosen. “There.”
“Isn’t that too far from the house? You'll have to spend an hour just walking there every day,” he said.
“Do I? We can just put enough food for seven days in the pen. I was thinking we could ask the observers to keep an eye on the animals. They can just call us if anything seems wrong,” I said.
“I see.” He looked down at me then back at the horizon. “It seems to me that you’ll get really tired today. Why don’t I carry you there?”
“Thank you, but no. I don’t really like flying that much.”
“That’s not a problem, is it? I can walk.”
I burst out laughing. “What? You’re gonna walk there, carrying me in your arms?”
“Why not?” He bent down and whispered in my ear, “Wouldn’t we both enjoy that?”
“Shhh!” I gave my apprentices a nervous look.
They were obviously listening closely to the two of us.
Prince Baiyu sighed. “Very well. I’ll behave.”
“Thank you.” I changed the subject to something that all of us would be interested in. “Anyway, did I tell you that I plan to go on vacation a few times this winter?”
“Oh?”
“I’d like to go to the Lake of Clear Ripples and Emerald Cove for a few days each. I’ve also got some business in the towns of Hongzhen and Wukan.”
“Where? I know the Emerald Cove, but not the other places.”
“I’ll show you a map later.” I turned to my apprentices and said, “Do you guys want to go on vacation?”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
“No, I want exp. Teacher, can I stay here when you guys go on vacation?” That was Mo.
“Unfair! We should take turns!” said Lari.
I let them quarrel while I told the prince the dates of my planned trips.
“Winter is a slow season for us. I won’t be that busy, and I’ll try to match my schedule with yours,” he said.
“Great!”
We talked about the details while we walked. He was right. The place that I had chosen was quite far, and I had second thoughts when my legs began to feel tired before we even got there. “I think this is probably far enough…”
“Why don’t we walk back a little?” he said.
“That might be for the best.” I turned around and we walked back the way we had come. When we reached a suitable distance that wasn’t too far from the house, I placed a small pen on a piece of level ground then placed six eggs inside. Then I built a six-foot high circular fence a hundred and fifty feet away from the pen since I figured that they might like a bigger space to wander in this time.
“Those are just as demonic as I remember,” said Prince Baiyu. He eyed the eggs warily.
“Relax, they don’t bite.”
I supervised as the kids filled the water and feed tanks.
“Teacher, how long will it take them to hatch?” asked Kharli.
“They should hatch two days from now,” I said. “We’re done here. Let’s go back and rest.”
“Oh good, I’m so tired!” said Lari.
I didn’t say anything but, unfortunately for him, he was doomed to do even more work today.
He wasn’t the only one who was in for a surprise. When we got to the house, I was greeted with an unexpected sight.
“What’s this?” I said when we entered the outer courtyard.
A large round table had been taken from the dining room and placed in the middle of the open space, and it was now piled high with wooden boxes lacquered in red and gold.