RIIDMDR chapter 73

 

Nan Xu watched Tingchuan disappear at the end of the road. Then, he rolled up his trousers, took off his socks, and waded into the stream. He was lucky today. Three or four fathead carp had flown into his trap, all of which were longer than his palm. He threaded a straw rope through the fish’s gills and mouths. Carrying the fish, he slowly walked toward the inn.

The sun rose directly overhead. Even though he was walking through the jungle, sheltered by the leaves, Nan Xu was sweating profusely. The fish in his hand, nearly out of breath, twitched stubbornly twice. Nan Xu sighed and said to the fish, “Hold on a little longer, fish. Wait until I get home before you die. At least I can eat something fresh.”

Whether the fish was offended by Nan Xu’s words or the weather was truly scorching, it remained motionless.

When Nan Xu reached the stream beside the inn, Guan’er came running out at the sound. Nan Xu told Guan’er to fetch a knife and sat on a stone by the stream to wait.

At that moment, the system in his head suddenly chimed in. Nan Xu opened it, only to see a few lines of text on the screen:

[Main Quest 2 reward has been issued.]

[Current environment stable. System upgrade package loaded. Proceed with upgrade? (Time required: 24 hours).]

Nan Xu wondered why there had been no activity since the last mission was completed. As it turned out, the system was silently downloading the upgrade package. But is it really necessary to upgrade such clunky, laggy software?

Complaints aside, if he didn’t upgrade, he wouldn’t receive new missions or rewards. Nan Xu understood this clearly and immediately clicked the confirmation button.

The screen instantly went dark. Only then did Nan Xu remember the faint message he’d seen earlier. Usually, rewards came with a list, but this time, nothing was written down. It reminded him of the side quest reward that had never been delivered.

Was the system… trying to cheat him?

Nan Xu didn’t understand. Just then, Guan’er came running up to him, his mouth empty. Nan Xu patted the dog’s head and asked, “Where’s the knife?”

Guan’er looked back, then continued rubbing against Nan Xu’s leg affectionately, staying close as if he couldn’t get enough.

Following Guan’er’s gaze, Nan Xu finally saw Zhixing walking down the slope, holding a kitchen knife. He arrived a bit late.

When Zhixing got closer, he handed Nan Xu the knife with a smile. “I saw Guan’er go into the kitchen to fetch a knife, so I knew the owner must have returned.”

Nan Xu asked, “I went down to the lower stream and caught a few fish. Have you all eaten lunch yet?”

He’d gone quite far. Though he was much stronger now than when he first arrived and could walk faster, he still missed lunchtime on the round trip.

“We’ve eaten. Maybe it was too hot at noon. Guan’er didn’t have much of an appetite and barely touched the food I poured into his bowl,” Zhixing said.

Nan Xu crouched down and saw a shadow flash by in the water. He smiled and said, “The fish in the stream beside the inn have gotten smarter. They’re harder to catch now. The ones farther down the mountain are still foolish.”

Zhixing couldn’t help but laugh. The fish in the nearby stream had gotten smarter thanks to the owner himself. Looking at the motionless fish in Nan Xu’s hand, Zhi Xing said regretfully, “The fish farther down are easier to catch, but they’re no longer fresh by the time you bring them back.”

Nan Xu looked down and didn’t mind. Even if the fish had stopped breathing, it had only been half a day. Adding more seasoning would mask the smell. He reached out to gut one of the fish, but suddenly froze.

Zhixing was still smiling and talking, but when Nan Xu didn’t respond for a while and his expression didn’t change, Zhi Xing sensed that something was wrong. “Owner, what’s wrong?” he asked.

Nan Xu didn’t answer. He remained silent as Zhixing called to him several times. After a while, just as Zhixing began to panic, Nan Xu finally withdrew his hand and looked at him. “Zhixing.”

Zhixing leaned forward slightly. “Hm? Owner, are you all right?”

Nan Xu shook his head and said, “This fish isn’t dead.”

Zhixing: …

Zhixing felt completely numb. Had the owner really stood there for three or four minutes just to determine whether the fish was dead? He stood frozen for over ten seconds, then nodded. Zhixing waited for Nan Xu to say something else, but when he heard nothing, he asked, confused, “And then?”

Nan Xu blinked. “What do you mean, ‘and then’?”

Zhixing replied, “It’s alive, so…then what?”

Nan Xu replied, “Then nothing. It just means we can eat fresh fish.”

Zhixing looked up at the sky, starting to suspect that when Senior Ting Chuan left, he took part of the owner’s sanity with him. Otherwise, how could his usually normal owner start acting so strangely?

After speaking, Nan Xu put his hand back on the fish. Two seconds later, he hurriedly grabbed the knife beside him. “It’ll be dead in two minutes. I have to kill it quickly.”

What a sly trickster.

After Nan Xu finished cleaning the fish, he washed his hands in the stream with soap. Then, he eagerly went to pet Guan’er’s head. Guan’er enjoyed it, looking content.

Nan Xu savored the sensation in his palm. It was a novel experience. Even through the thick fur, he could sense the vibrant vitality within Guan’er’s body and a subtle, almost elusive feeling like the refreshing moisture in the air after rain.

He couldn’t help but focus his mind, drawing it closer to the nearly transparent mist, just as he normally did with the system within his mind. Disappointingly, he saw nothing.

After petting the dog’s head, Nan Xu moved on to pet Zhixing. Zhixing didn’t understand what Nan Xu was doing, but he felt dependent on the owner and didn’t object to his touch.

Thankfully, Nan Xu knew it wasn’t appropriate to pet Zhixing’s head after petting the dog’s, so he simply held his hand. The subtle, refreshing aura he’d felt around Guan’er was noticeably thicker around Zhixing, like smoke or haze. From this simple touch, he could tell that Zhixing’s health wasn’t as good as Guan’er’s.

The contrast was bizarre, yet Nanxu reveled in it. He had a daring thought: Perhaps that mist-like substance was the spiritual energy that demons often spoke of. Just now, while fishing, he had sensed a faint sense of life force, but not a trace of that mist. Nan Xu was thrilled; he had finally felt the presence of spiritual energy.

Could this be a reward from the system? Now that he no longer needed to worry about food or clothing, this reward was certainly more to Nan Xu’s liking than a basket of sweet potatoes.

Zhi Xing lowered his head and watched the owner manipulate his hand playfully. Only one thought crossed his mind: Thank goodness Senior Tingchuan isn’t here, or he’d be in trouble.

After half an hour, the fish that Nan Xu had cleaned were nearly dried out in the sun. Zhixing’s face was flushed red from the heat. Though he didn’t understand what Nan Xu was doing, Zhixing obediently went along with it, which made Nan Xu feel guilty afterward—what a well-behaved kid!

Carrying the fish back to the inn, Guan’er was inexplicably excited and kept circling around Nanxu, more affectionate than ever.

Zhixing went to make goat milk for Nanxu while Nanxu sat in the courtyard watching Guan’er, who seemed a bit odd. Staring into those dark eyes, he seemed to read something.

Perhaps… Had Guan’er noticed when he used his spiritual power to approach the mist? Did he think it was a greeting? That could explain his excitement.

However, that activity was exhausting, so Nan Xu didn’t try it again when he touched Zhixing.

Guan’er jumped and danced, occasionally calling out. He was so lively that he seemed incapable of tiring. Nan Xu’s gaze slowly shifted to the loquat tree in the yard. The tree, sensing his gaze, swayed its branches despite the lack of a breeze. Nan Xu smiled and stood up to touch the trunk.

Sure enough, he saw that mist again—hazy and faint.

He tried to direct his spiritual power toward the loquat tree to greet it. The mist actually swayed. Nan Xu was so surprised that he couldn’t help but linger a moment longer.

When Zhixing returned with a cup of hot goat’s milk, Nan Xu was sitting under the tree. He looked exhausted, yet he had a foolish smile on his face.

“Owner, would you like some goat’s milk?” Zhixing asked hesitantly.

Having tasted the difference between the demon world and the human world for the first time, Nan Xu’s joy nearly overflowed, but he didn’t know how to share it. If only Tingchuan were here, he would surely notice the change.

Nanxu stood up, took the goat’s milk from Zhixing’s hand, and took a sip. Its rich flavor filled his mouth, and he suddenly missed the dessert cakes he used to enjoy in the human world. Before, he could buy them at any cake shop, but now he couldn’t even use them for a celebration. It was too bad that Tingchuan’s chickens hadn’t started laying eggs yet; otherwise, he could try making some.

Since he couldn’t make sweets, he decided to have a barbecue instead. Though mentally drained, his body was full of energy. Before the sun set, he got to work.

He chose an open space in the yard, went outside under the scorching sun, and fetched some square stones to set up a simple barbecue stove. Zhixing watched him work and helped move stones and dirt. As the sun set, Nan Xu finished building his stove. He went to the warehouse, found the wire reward from the system, and wove a net over the stove.

After the hardware was ready, Nan Xu realized that he hadn’t prepared any food. Since he and Zhixing wouldn’t have fun barbecuing alone, he asked Zhixing to call Zhuang Si and Zhuang Wu for help with the hard labor.

As dusk fell, Nan Xu prepared the sauce, and he lit the charcoal fire in the courtyard barbecue stove. Zhuang Si and Zhuang Wu were busy skewering dishes; a large pile was already stacked high on the nearby table.

Nan Xu had only told them to prepare food for everyone’s appetites, but they had made an enormous amount of food—clearly eager to feast like rich men for once.

Nan Xu was in high spirits today, so he didn’t bother with them. He took a plate of vegetables and placed them on the stove to grill. The fat crackled as it cooked on the charcoal, and the aroma of the sauce filled the courtyard and wafted further and further away. Zhuang Si and Zhuang Wu continued working, but their mouths watered.

Zhixing wasn’t much better; he turned to look every half minute. Nanxu had done this before with his colleagues during team-building activities. While he wasn’t very good at first, he eventually became quite adept. Seeing how much Zhixing was enjoying it, Nanxu smiled and handed him a bunch of grilled vegetables. Zhixing eagerly tried them. He had eaten many vegetables before, but these had a unique flavor that was new to him. They were truly delicious. Even though they burned his tongue, he gestured with his finger in praise.

Zhuang Wu’s eyes widened. It was a shame he didn’t receive Nanxu’s favor. Luckily, the charcoal fire grew stronger, so they didn’t have to wait long for the first batch to finish grilling.

Several people gathered around the stove, waiting to eat, unbothered by the heat. Zhuang Wu’s mouth was covered in grease. When Nan Xu told him that they were having a barbecue to celebrate, he vaguely asked, “Is the owner celebrating Senior Tingchuan’s descent from the mountain?”

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Author’s Note:

Nan Xu: Guan’er is stronger than Zhixing!

Zhixing: The owner must have had his reasons for touching my hand.

Zhuang Wu: The owner finally chased that old fox down the mountain.

Tingchuan: Are you all this happy when I’m gone?