"I could raise her in the well, couldn't I?"
Ning Jiaojiao looked at the adorable Money Girl, Su Yu Niang, and hearts instantly filled her eyes.
Ning Zheng fell silent for a moment. "Isn't that a little inappropriate?"
Ning Jiaojiao liked living in water.
Judging by appearances, she was an amphibian.
Sometimes she slept in bed at midnight, sometimes in the cellar, and sometimes in the well.
The well simply wasn't very safe. River Monsters occasionally harassed her, which was why she often slept inside the house.
The moment she entered the water, a mermaid tail would emerge.
Even when she didn't often go into the water, she frequently washed her tail with water to keep it moist.
Ning Zheng guessed she was now a specter. She no longer needed water at all, but she had retained the habits and daily routines from when she was alive.
But Ning Jiaojiao was half-human and half-fish. She could happily live in the well water. To her, water was paradise. But as for the Money Boy—
It seemed she could too?
She even had the identity of a specter, so she couldn't be drowned to death. After all, she was already dead.
"There's a little corner beneath the well where someone can live."
Ning Jiaojiao recognized the Money Boy and said seriously, "The soil there is delicious, and the earth energy is very strong. It'll help her a lot. She'll live more comfortably than on the surface. It's the best place to entertain guests."
Ning Zheng realized he had misunderstood her.
This girl Ning Jiaojiao was actually quite nice—warm and hospitable, preparing the most comfortable environment for her guest.
Although from a human perspective, the whole scene was a little too bizarre, among monsters, inviting a guest to live in a water cave was perfectly reasonable.
"There's actually a whole other world in the well. Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Ning Zheng asked.
"You never asked." Ning Jiaojiao looked a little aggrieved. "It's just a small cave beneath the well, barely big enough for one person. I wanted her to help me gnaw it larger, then move in some furniture."
Ning Zheng felt that her little scheme was ringing loud as a bell. The Money Boy was an expert at digging pits and building structures, and Ning Jiaojiao had immediately set her sights on her.
Ning Zheng pondered. The Crow Calamity had already been dealt with, while the River Monster horde was still unknown. After all, the underground waterways were intricate and tangled. Since they were right outside his own home, perhaps he had to find a way to deal with them too.
Fishing for River Monsters was indeed imperative.
Su Yu Niang really was a social powerhouse.
Before Ning Jiaojiao could go over and strike up a conversation, preparing to trick her into coming home, Su Yu Niang had already walked over of her own accord.
Su Yu Niang looked like a refined young lady from a noble family, wearing a gentle and dignified smile.
"Hello! I'm a traveler passing through this mountain village. I saw that the festival here was quite lively."
"Could you help me find an inn where I can stay? I'd like to look around and experience the local customs. Are there any beautiful sights nearby?"
Seeing how enthusiastic the other party was, and that she had come over without any need for coaxing, Ning Jiaojiao became even happier.
"There aren't any inns in our village, but Old Du's family lets passing travelers stay over. You can come to our house too. We have an empty room! I guarantee you'll stay nice and comfortably! I'll prepare a really, really good room for you!"
"Then thank you so much." Su Yu Niang gave a polite smile. Her target from the very beginning had been these two people.
Compared to the other farm households, these two clearly came from wealthy families at a glance.
Their skin was fair and their looks were extraordinary. They clearly didn't do farmwork.
They were obviously high-level NPCs—the kind with story quests!
As an experienced player, Su Yu Niang thought to herself:
"The village beneath Sword Forging Manor is clearly a new map, and one of the main maps at that."
"Because our very first stop after leaving town is here. There's no way around it!"
So she had chosen to try to blend in.
She might even become a resident of the village. These two people before her were excellent points of entry.
In fact, Su Yu Niang's judgment was correct.
The two really were among the village's wealthy households. Leaving Ning Zheng aside, Ning Jiaojiao was fair-skinned and beautiful.
After all, she was a Merfolk hybrid, and her appearance was indeed excellent.
Moreover, Ning Jiaojiao's family while she was alive a hundred years ago should have been quite well-off.
They lived in a luxurious mansion with a well. Almost no household in the entire village could reach that level.
From another perspective—
Could anyone who could afford to "play with merfolk" possibly be poor?
Although no one knew whether they had played with merfolk snakes, merfolk fish, or some other kind of merfolk, they were definitely one of the village's wealthy gentry!
"We're going to the bookshop. We'll go home afterward."
Ning Jiaojiao said, "There aren't any particularly scenic tourist spots in the village. It's very ordinary here, so you may be disappointed."
Su Yu Niang had intended to strike up a conversation anyway. Following the opening, she smoothly climbed up the pole. "Can I go look around the bookshop too? I'll stay at your house for the time being afterward. Don't worry, I'll pay."
Su Yu Niang was good at conversation.
She quickly hit it off with Ning Jiaojiao, an innocent village girl who had grown up in the countryside. The two chatted as they walked.
Su Yu Niang thought she was the hunter, never realizing that she was the prey.
The more Ning Jiaojiao looked at her, the happier she became. "Yu Niang, your name is wonderful. It suits you perfectly! Open your mouth and let me have a look."
"Look at what?" Su Yu Niang was a little dumbfounded, but she still opened her mouth wide.
"Mm, not bad. Very good." Ning Jiaojiao grew happier the more she looked. "Your teeth are so neat, and your tongue is so pretty."
Su Yu Niang: "."
Why did she suddenly feel a little uneasy?
Before long—
They arrived at Bamboo Bookshop.
Inside the shop, a handsome, mature middle-aged Confucian Scholar was copying books.
Most books in this world were handwritten copies, and the bookshop owner added to his household's inventory every day.
Under Ning Zheng's Spiritual Eye, his entire body was made up of exquisite book puppets, one book after another. He was also someone who didn't have flesh to eat.
"Uncle Bamboo." Ning Zheng walked through the door.
"What are you here for again?"
The middle-aged man glanced up at Ning Zheng, waved his hand, and said with extreme distaste, "You've already read all the books here. There's nothing else."
How could there be nothing else?
The books on the shopkeeper's body were probably the rare editions he didn't sell.
Unlike the cloth puppet in the tailor's shop and the bamboo puppet in the bamboo-weaving shop, this book puppet's books were truly valuable.
Because they had no flesh to eat, whenever they needed to fill themselves with something, instinct made them stuff the most precious thing they possessed—the thing they were most fixated on—into the "empty bubble" first.
Unfortunately—
This bookshop owner had no idea that there were books on his body.
Ning Zheng had tried to sound him out indirectly, but he had nearly angered the bookshop owner. The man had thought Ning Zheng wanted to strip off his clothes and behave improperly, and had nearly called for help.
Ning Zheng had almost ruined his reputation among the neighbors.
Using force was out of the question too.
This man was one of the most terrifying known entities, and was a great deal more frightening than Ning Jiaojiao.
And that was while he had no physical body. His entire body was made of books. If he had flesh to eat, the consequences were unimaginable!
At this moment, Ning Zheng didn't dare act rashly. He merely browsed the books at the side.
He had originally come to buy some books as gifts for the blacksmiths on the mountain, but now that Su Yu Niang was here, he naturally wouldn't do that anymore.
Su Yu Niang, meanwhile, looked at the books with bright, sparkling eyes, as if she had discovered a treasure trove!
"There are so many books." Su Yu Niang felt as though she had discovered a new continent.
"There aren't many books here." Ning Jiaojiao argued back.
The three of them failed to trigger the bookshop owner's killing intent.
That was because, in his eyes, none of the three were living people.
Ning Jiaojiao and Su Yu Niang were indeed not truly alive. Specters generally coexisted peacefully with one another, and only a small number of special individuals would actively attack their own kind.
As for the living Ning Zheng, he had a Shadow spiritual root, with Yin energy swirling around him. The specters mistook him for one of their companions.
Back then, he had asked for the Spiritual Root that suited him best. Thus he had ended up with this Yin-aligned attribute, allowing him to call the terrifying entities in the Spirit Manor his brothers, all while they believed he was one of their kind.
Ning Zheng read for several minutes. In the end, he still coveted the books on the bookshop owner's body, but ultimately refrained from making a move.
He walked around and bought several miscellaneous essays. Su Yu Niang also took out a Magic Coin, asked about the price, and bought two elementary readers for children.
They began making their way back to the village along the mountain path.
Before long, they arrived outside the residence and opened the door.
"I'm going to cook." Ning Jiaojiao ran to the cellar to cut some meat.
Su Yu Niang hurriedly said, "I'll help too. My cooking is pretty good."
"No need. Don't go into the cellar casually. Just go gather firewood." Ning Zheng gave her a reminder.
Soon, the pot heated up, and they began cooking the meat.
The flavor was incredibly delicious.
The Spirit meat nearly made Su Yu Niang's tongue fall off. This game really is Food Mountain!
"Don't rush. Eat some more." Ning Zheng glanced at her hair. Eating more would replenish her nutrition, allowing her to grow more Spirit Rice.
"Mm-hmm." Su Yu Niang felt that these two were so nice.
After they finished eating and cleared away the bowls and chopsticks, Ning Jiaojiao was about to carry out her family's customary after-dinner fishing activity. "Sis, could you help me with something?"
"What do you need me to help with?" Su Yu Niang asked curiously.
There's a hidden quest.
The thing I, Su Yu Niang, can never refuse in this life is a hidden quest!
Bring it on. Your ancestral expert player is ready!
"Fishing." Ning Jiaojiao pulled out the large iron hook used to hang pig carcasses.
"I'm good at this. I've never come back empty-handed." Su Yu Niang declared that she was a professional. It was just that this hook was thick and huge. What kind of fish was it for? Something that big?
"Bite down on it. Come to the well mouth quickly. I'll lower you down."
Ning Jiaojiao was extremely happy. She hadn't expected that she, too, would one day enjoy leisurely moments drinking tea with her brother at the well mouth while fishing for big fish.
Huh? Huh? Huh?
Su Yu Niang was so shocked that her mouth fell open.
"You're so clever! That's exactly how you should open your mouth."
Delighted, Ning Jiaojiao stuffed the fishhook into her mouth, gave it a hard tug, and directly hooked it through her lower jaw.
Before Su Yu Niang could react, Ning Jiaojiao swept her up in a princess carry and tossed her straight into the well with a splash.
Before you continue