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Mist enveloped Shang Bao's corpse again, and the "workbench" began random synthesis.

This synthesis clearly took longer than the previous ones. Song Xiaozhu stared fixedly at it, silently counting her heartbeats. A full two minutes passed before the mist dispersed and the notification sounded:

"Obtained

'Fertilizer' ×1."

"Evaluation: a bag of reasonably nutrient-rich fertilizer.

"Effect: doubles plant yield after application."

Fertilizer?

It took Song Xiaozhu quite a while to accept this "setting." Turning a corpse into fertilizer was unexpectedly logical, yet all the more bizarre!

Whatever the case, Song Xiaozhu had achieved her goal.

Shang Bao's corpse was gone.

"You... you inherited Master Bai's Awakening Stone..."

Qiu Shuyu's voice rang out, giving Song Xiaozhu a fright.

Song Xiaozhu had been careless.

She could hardly help it. A day on the garbage mountain had left her exhausted, and after coming back, she had been overwhelmed by this crisis. Then, after making it through to nighttime, something unexpected had happened, leaving her alone with this murder scene...

The fact that Song Xiaozhu hadn't buckled under the pressure was impressive enough. How could she have had any energy left to notice whether Qiu Shuyu had returned?

Qiu Shuyu couldn't see the "workbench." When she arrived, all she saw was Song Xiaozhu struggling to move Shang Bao's corpse.

The bloody, bizarre sight made Qiu Shuyu freeze, leaving her unable to react. By the time she recovered, silently cursed her own uselessness, and was about to step forward to help, a cloud of mist had enveloped Song Xiaozhu's palm. At the same time... Shang Bao's corpse vanished.

Qiu Shuyu stood rooted to the spot, staring wide-eyed at Song Xiaozhu as countless emotions surged through her: astonishment, suspicion, and a measure of understanding.

Song Xiaozhu had heard what Qiu Shuyu said.

Awakening?

Master Bai's Awakening Stone?

Bai Jing really was no ordinary person.

But Song Xiaozhu had never received any Awakening Stone from Old Man Bai. She didn't think this "Damaged Synthesizer" had anything to do with Bai Jing.

Song Xiaozhu wasn't in a hurry to ask questions. She took the "fertilizer," put away the "workbench," strode past Qiu Shuyu, and propped the wooden door behind her back into place.

Qiu Shuyu's expression was exceedingly complicated. Clearly, countless thoughts had run through her mind in this short time.

Song Xiaozhu poked her head outside, then turned to her once she was sure it was safe. "Sister Shuyu, why did you come back?"

"I was worried..." As she spoke, Qiu Shuyu felt her worries had been somewhat unnecessary. She sighed softly. "I didn't know you'd already awakened. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to handle it..."

Song Xiaozhu had guessed as much. Qiu Shuyu had clearly been frightened at first. Presumably, once she recovered, she couldn't stop worrying and hurried back.

Since that was the case, Song Xiaozhu didn't waste words. Rather than risk alerting others by going back and forth, they might as well make the most of their time and work together to

clean everything up.

Song Xiaozhu pulled over a strip of cloth and handed it to Qiu Shuyu. "Come on, let's wipe up the blood first."

Qiu Shuyu took the soaking-wet strip of cloth and answered dazedly, "All right."

Although Qiu Shuyu was a little distracted, two people were still more efficient than one. They soon wiped away every visible trace of blood in the shack.

As for the smell, there was no need to worry. This little bit of blood couldn't overpower the stinking ditch outside. Unless someone had specialized detection equipment, it would be difficult to discover that there had been a large amount of blood in the shack.

The only things left that could serve as "physical evidence" were the jacket Qiu Shuyu had worn and the two rags in front of them.

Qiu Shuyu looked at Song Xiaozhu. "What should we do with these?"

Song Xiaozhu took the rag from her hand. "I'll dispose of them."

Qiu Shuyu remained where she was, watching her without moving.

They had worked for a while and broken a sweat, and their emotions had settled as well. Although Qiu Shuyu's feelings remained complicated, she had accepted the fact.

Song Xiaozhu had awakened.

She was a little curious about what "class" Song Xiaozhu had awakened.

Song Xiaozhu happened to want to run a test, too. Since Qiu Shuyu had already witnessed it, she would do it again and see what the process of summoning her "workbench" looked like to someone else.

Song Xiaozhu summoned the "workbench" right in front of her. The snow-white "workbench" appeared directly between them, but Qiu Shuyu's gaze didn't shift. Clearly, she couldn't see it.

Song Xiaozhu had her answer-only she could see this "workbench," just as she had thought.

She bundled the rags and bloodstained jacket together and placed them on the workbench. Qiu Shuyu's gaze followed them, clearly settling on the bundle.

Song Xiaozhu knew that, to Qiu Shuyu, the bundle was floating in midair.

-Other people couldn't see the "workbench," but they could see the items.

She would still have to avoid people when performing synthesis.

Of course, if the item she was synthesizing was very small, it would be easy to conceal.

The notification sounded: "The corresponding recipe has not been unlocked. Random synthesis attempts remaining: zero. Please purchase attempts with Quantum Coins."

Song Xiaozhu reluctantly spent one Quantum Coin to purchase an attempt, then performed her second random synthesis of the night.

This time, Song Xiaozhu watched Qiu Shuyu's eyes. Reflected in her round, dark eyes, she saw a cloud of mist spill from her own palm and envelop the large bundle of cloth. The bundle vanished into thin air.

The notification sounded:

"Obtained 'Ginger Candy' ×1."

"Evaluation: a piece of poor-quality ginger candy.

"Effect: edible."

Song Xiaozhu: "?"

One Quantum Coin for a piece of "edible," poor-quality ginger candy?

She nearly lost her composure.

Thank goodness she hadn't gambled her life on "random synthesis."

Otherwise, she would have exploded with anger on the spot!

Of the five Quantum Coins awarded by the Growth Quest, two were gone in the blink of an eye. Song Xiaozhu's back teeth ached.

It really wasn't that she was stingy. These Quantum Coins were simply too hard to come by.

She had risked her life for every single one of them!

Qiu Shuyu noticed the change in her expression. Thinking of the limitations of low-level awakened, she simply assumed Song Xiaozhu had overexerted herself. "Don't overdraw your Force. It'll cause irreversible damage to your body."