Li Ziran's Cabin

Anfuni had never seen such a dilapidated house before. The roof was covered with Thorn Grass, which is unique to the Wasteland, and the pillars were made of bare mountain trees, which are also unique to the Wasteland. The door panel had cracks as thick as a calf, as if it had been abandoned for decades.

In her opinion, the Blackwind Pass Town was dilapidated enough; the houses on both sides of the street could hardly be considered houses at all, except for simple dwellings. But this one in front of her was even more dilapidated and completely uninhabitable.

However, beneath the notice board at the entrance, there were many sheepskin letters, piled up thickly and tightly, one after another, very neatly arranged, clearly indicating that there were many visitors on a daily basis. Moreover, the sheepskin at the top showed signs of weathering, suggesting that it had been placed there a long time ago.

"Alright, we're home!" Li Ziran smiled at Anfuni, walked to the doorplate, erased the words on it, and then tossed it aside like a piece of scrap wood, which meant he was home. Then he bent down, picked up the thick stack of sheepskin letters, and casually flipped through them.

Anfuni, curious, stood on the head of the Copper-Yellow Frog and looked inside.

"Mr. Li Ziran, I am Ailewei, the leader of the Redfire Corpse-Carrying Troupe. I recently lost my hearing, and a friend introduced me to this group. As you requested, I have released 126 Frog into the pond at the back. I hope you can return home soon, and I wish you a safe journey in the Wasteland. I will visit you again in six months."

"Hello, Mr. Li Ziran, I am a Minotaur from the Grasslands. My hooves are starting to become diseased and cannot be tempered by Elemental Tide. I have consulted many people, but unfortunately, nothing has worked. The shaman in the tribe recommended that I try my luck here. I will be staying at the Mill at the village entrance for the time being. No matter how long it takes, I will wait for your return. I have already released the Frog as requested; they are all Grasslands species, 182 in total."

"Mr. Li Ziran, you haven't returned yet? What a pity. This is my third visit to you, but each time I've encountered you out on business. This time I prepared thirteen Frog. Although the number is a bit small, they are all different species. In order to see you, I specially asked my distant cousin to find a Black-Striped Frog in the swamp. I put it in the small pond on the far left. I hope I will be lucky enough to see you next time. This headache has been bothering me for three years."

"Mr. Li Ziran, I'm fine. I just wanted to thank you. My stomachache is gone. I specially prepared a female forest frog for you. You saved my whole family. Every time I come to Blackwind Pass, I will prepare a Frog for you."

"Still not back? Could he have died in the Wasteland? Ugh, ugh, ugh, look at my jinx! Mr. Li Ziran, please come back soon, I'm dying! This damn leg is rotting away! This is the third time we've released Frog, 126 each time, and I guarantee not a single one is missing."

Anfuni watched quietly, growing more and more puzzled; these people all seemed to have come seeking help.

One hundred and eighty-two Frog —what kind of rule is this?

I couldn't help but look towards the pond behind the dilapidated house. I could vaguely see ripples formed by some kind of creature leaping up. There were many ripples, and they seemed to be very active.

She's starting to have some doubts about who she's following.

Li Ziran glanced through a few letters, then suddenly stopped at a sheepskin letter.

"Mr. Li Ziran, I am Rhine warrior from the Beast Race. I need you to save a girl. I will wait for you at the Mill in Blackwind Pass for half a month. I hope she is lucky."

This letter is very formal, somewhat like an official document.

However, Li Ziran usually dealt with corpse transporters in the Wasteland, and the letter did not mention the illness, nor did it follow Li Ziran's rules to release Frog.

However, it was just out of curiosity; he didn't take it seriously. There was only so much of a thick stack of letters that he could process.

Call a Rainbow-tail Girl over and instruct her, "Select all those who are individuals, and write down what is needed for each person on parchment. Circle any mentions of special Frog in red, understand?"

The girl seemed to know Li Ziran's rules very well, and nodded firmly.

Li Ziran wasn't worried about the girl; she was sent by Jili, and had at least been with him for a while.

After explaining everything, Li Ziran called over another girl and handed her a letter he had with him.

This is a visiting card.

Now that he's back in Blackwind Pass, he needs to put the matter of Necromantic Magic on the agenda. Although he's quite familiar with Gegwu, the latter is Archmage, and time is precious, so he must visit him beforehand.

The girl doesn't need to do anything; she just needs to deliver this letter to Gegwu's Corpse Mountain. She can write down almost everything she wants to say in the letter.

Having taken care of the most important matter on his mind, Li Ziran walked up the stairs and pushed open the wooden door that he hadn't touched for half a year.

Creak!

The wooden door slowly opened, revealing a long wooden table with two long benches placed neatly beside it. A red carpet was also placed under the benches, adding a touch of elegance to the rather dilapidated room.

This could also be considered the only truly luxurious part of the room. In the vast hall, only rattan beds remained, placed side by side, extremely close together.

But it's very clean here; you can't even see a trace of dust.

In the corner of these beds, there is a staircase leading to the second floor, the entrance of which is blocked by a half-person-high wooden door.

The instant Li Ziran looked over, a Rainbow-tail Girl ran over and opened the wooden door. Her movements were fluid, indicating that she was a regular visitor.

The staircase was so clean you could almost see your reflection in it; not a speck of dust could be seen in the corners. Such a clean room was a rare sight in the Wasteland, especially with such narrow gaps, which made Anfuni frown.

Elves are a very clean race, but they're not this meticulous. The edges and corners look as if they've been licked clean with a tongue, and this is Wasteland!

She jumped directly off the Brass Frog and hopped up the stairs. She preferred this place; at least it was clean, and the lingering smell of lime in the air completely neutralized the stench of corpses that permeated Blackwind Pass.

Upon arriving on the second floor, it was noticeably cleaner than the first floor. Six Sunstone were embedded in the ceiling, illuminating the wooden bed in the center. The entire room was covered with canvas, seemingly creating a closed space in the simplest way possible.

In the corner was a medicine shelf filled with palm-sized bottles containing solutions of different colors. Next to the solution bottles was a coat rack, which was empty, but on the wooden cabinet below, three white coats were neatly folded.

Li Ziran glanced at it casually and was very satisfied. Jili was definitely a capable and dedicated woman.

"You two stay here." Li Ziran casually pointed to two girls, then pushed open the door on the second floor that connected to the pond. "The rest of you, come with me."

This was a door to a separate room, and outside the main door were two more doors. Anfuni followed behind, as if they were entering some secret room.

The moment the second door opened, she suddenly heard croaking sounds, and through the mesh door frame, she could clearly see Frog sunbathing on the edge of the pond.

It was a meadow, densely packed together, basking in the sun.

But even denser than the Frog were the mosquitoes above the pond. These black dots buzzed around, and every time a forked tongue would stick out, a few mosquitoes would disappear. However, for the vast number of mosquitoes, it was just a drop in the ocean.

The surface of the pond was covered with tadpole-egg-shaped ripples, but there were many more Frog lying belly up, clearly dead.

But the Frog seemed oblivious to the deaths of their kind, still crowding together in the lake, fighting desperately, as if they were fighting for their own territory.

When the last door opened, dozens of Frog hopped toward her in an instant.

Anfuni hurriedly backed away. She disliked these creatures at all. Fortunately, the mosquitoes didn't fly down; instead, they were kept out by a thin film.

This is an arched path separated by a thin membrane, but unfortunately, some corners have broken open, allowing Frog to jump in.

The path is now covered with Frog, making it impossible to step on it.

She didn't know what to do, but the multi-tailed girls who followed Li Ziran unexpectedly rushed out, bent down, picked up the Frog's hind legs, walked to the small isolation window next to them, and threw it out.

Quack quack quack quack quack quack!

The moment the isolation window opened, Anfuni realized just how terrifying the Frog here were; their chorus of croaks seemed to be blasting her eardrums.

"So... did they catch all the Frog in the Wasteland?"

While she was still wondering, the Rainbow-tail Girl had already skillfully cleared a path that was barely passable. Anfuni hurriedly followed, with the Rainbow-tail Girl leading the way. Before she knew it, they had arrived at the corner of the huge canvas tent.

Here, small tents, about half a person's height, were set up. Each tent had a vent that connected directly to the top floor, through which mosquitoes flew in and swarmed onto the tent walls.

Below, a rubber tube about the thickness of a finger is currently hissing as it pours water into the pool to keep it fresh.

However, unlike the crowded scene around the pond outside, this pond only had one Frog inside.

Li Ziran only glanced at it before the Rainbow-tail Girl reached in, grabbed the Frog, flipped it over, and spread its two hind legs towards Li Ziran.

"A male! Useless!"

After receiving instructions, the Rainbow-tail Girl threw it into the pond behind her and then walked towards the next small tent.

This is a rare Wasteland Big-Bellied Frog, but he already has one.

These little tents are his treasures. Whenever his clients want his help, they send special Frog to the tents in advance.

These small sheds have two openings: one facing outwards, allowing outsiders to push it open and let the Frog in; and the other facing inwards, for Li Ziran to retrieve. This was designed by Dwarf.

As for the pond full of Frog, they were basically prepared by people who came to ask for help; they weren't really customers, and whether or not Li Ziran paid attention to them depended entirely on his mood.

I glanced at the swarm of black mosquitoes overhead and was quite satisfied. Raising frogs in Blackwind Pass is definitely the most cost-effective place. There's no need to worry about these guys' food at all. It's just a pity that it wastes water.

This pond cost almost all of our savings, and it's still far from perfect.

Fortunately, this is already on the edge of the Wasteland, and the influence of the dry Magic Tide has been greatly reduced.

He flipped through four in a row, somewhat disappointed, as they were all shapes he could already transform into. But when he saw the fifth small pool, his eyes lit up.

The water in the pool turned completely black. In the very center of the pool, a black Frog the size of a palm was swimming slowly, and with each stroke, a layer of ink-like ripples spread out.

"This is... a new variety?" Li Ziran was immediately overjoyed.