Chapter 11: Slacking Off, Day Eleven
Wen Ying’s head didn’t hurt. True Qi protected her; her skull was probably harder than the dungeon’s stone walls.
The saying goes, “If I’m not embarrassed, then it’s the other person who’s embarrassed.”
As long as Wen Ying didn’t look at Xiao Hei, she could pretend Xiao Hei hadn’t woken up yet.
Therefore, there was nothing more to explore in this dungeon.
To say she wasn’t disappointed would be a lie. She’d finally reached a new map, only to have it end before it even began.
Just as Wen Ying was about to turn around, a faint “crack” came from the stone wall with the painting.
As Wen Ying had said, her skull was indeed harder than the dungeon’s stone walls. Hard enough to crack them.
Tiny cracks spread rapidly from the point of impact, covering the entire wall in moments. The next instant, the surface layer of the stone wall collapsed with a thunderous crash, turning into a pile of rubble.
Wen Ying had headbutted her way through a wall. …The original owner’s skull must have been extraordinarily hard; a unique talent, indeed.
However, behind the collapsed stone wall, Wen Ying discovered something: a strange box embedded in the inner wall.
“Take me away—” A highly seductive voice came from the box.
Wen Ying instinctively reached out—but stopped just before touching it.
Wen Ying suddenly smiled. “Sorry, I’m not interested.”
With that, she withdrew her hand and turned to walk back to her cell.
Something so strange, located in such a strange place, even employing such high-level alluring techniques, couldn’t be simple.
“You… you didn’t fall for my alluring technique?” An incredulous voice came from the box, muttering, “This… this is impossible. Even my ancestor never failed…”
Compared to the deliberately lowered seductive voice just now, the voice in the box now sounded like a child, perhaps seven or eight years old.
Wen Ying ignored it. If it hadn’t used the alluring technique, she might have taken it.
Wen Ying wanted to explore new characters, but she didn’t intend to add new major problems for herself.
“Please, please take me away… I’ve been trapped in this damn stone wall for hundreds of years… I spent so much effort painting that wall, hoping that one day someone would mistakenly break it… but no one ever comes to this dungeon… I finally waited for you…” The voice in the box was now sobbing, even pleading.
…Wow, so the painting was its doing. It was actually designed to lure someone into smashing the wall—truly unscrupulous.
Therefore, Wen Ying was even less likely to take it.
Wen Ying continued walking back to her cell. Just as she was about to close the barrier, an object flew in from outside, landing in her arms. It was the box.
“I don’t care, I don’t care, I’m sticking to you! Even if you don’t take me, I’m going with you!” Wen Ying could imagine a child throwing a tantrum on the ground, just from the sound.
Even for a new character, a stereotypical bratty kid was more than she could handle.
Wen Ying picked up the box with obvious distaste, just as she was wondering where to throw it, she heard sounds from outside the dungeon.
It seemed her happy exploration of the new map was nearing its end. Before that, she needed to clean up the mess in the dungeon.
As for the box… Wen Ying could only temporarily stuff it into her sleeve and throw it away after leaving the dungeon.
Wen Ying quickly removed the anti-animal barrier, closed the ancient barrier around the cell, and restored the damaged wall.
Thus, when the elders entered the dungeon, they saw a peaceful scene. Wen Ying was standing normally in her cell, and the dungeon was as usual, unaffected by her presence. After all, she was sealed in a barrier and couldn’t get out, so how could anything change?
Zhi Jian stepped forward again and opened the barrier Wen Ying had just closed.
“Come out.” Zhi Jian’s tone wasn’t very good. “The Grandmaster wants to see you.”
…
Wen Ying returned to the familiar hall. This was her first time facing a second trial, and she was secretly excited. She wondered how the Grandmaster planned to punish her. Hopefully, they would expel her from the sect, so she could unlock a completely new plot.
The hall had the same lineup as before. The only difference was that Elder Zhi Fa had returned, finally gathering all five elders.
“Wen Ying, regarding the matter of you releasing the ferocious beast, after Old Master and Zhi Fa’s deliberations, a verdict has been reached,” Grandmaster Ru Song looked at Wen Ying below, slowly speaking.
“Mm-hmm!” Wen Ying looked at Ru Song with anticipation.
“The verdict is—” Ru Song stroked his beard, pausing slightly.
Not only Wen Ying was waiting, but Zhi Jian, who was also eagerly anticipating the result, stretched his neck.
“It is… innocent!” Ru Song’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was extremely authoritative.
Tsk. While saying she wasn’t disappointed would be a lie, Wen Ying didn’t really care. She would continue to slack off.
“Why?!” It was Zhi Jian, who had been stretching his neck, whose eyes widened like copper bells. His impatient nature prevented him from hiding his words, and he blurted out the question.
“Because, at the time, Wen Ying was carrying delicacies made by a peak-level Culinary Cultivator. Zhi Jian, you’ve practiced Spirit-Controlling techniques; you should know how fatal it is to carry such items while controlling spirits,” Ru Song explained calmly to Zhi Jian, sighing, “During our investigation, someone must have tampered with it, causing the source of the Spirit-Controlling technique’s True Qi to point to Wen Ying…”
Culinary… Cultivator? Wen Ying had heard of Sword Cultivators, Talisman Cultivators, Daoist Cultivators, and Demon Cultivators… but this Culinary Cultivator was her first time hearing about it. As expected of a world with 52 overlapping stories, adding some outrageous settings didn’t seem so outrageous anymore.
No wonder those foods were so attractive to Xiao Hei and Elder Zhi Fa.
“This… indeed, carrying peak-level delicacies would definitely cause backlash…” Zhi Jian muttered softly, then asked as if confirming, “But Grandmaster, how can you be sure she was carrying such precious items?”
“You can ask Zhi Fa about this,” Ru Song said leisurely, “If Zhi Fa hadn’t seen it with his own eyes and presented the evidence to me, I’m afraid I would still have wrongly judged Wen Ying…”
Ru Song lightly stroked his beard apologetically and said to Wen Ying, “Wen Ying, we made a mistake in our investigation and wrongly convicted you, even imprisoning you in the dungeon… it was our fault. I apologize to you on behalf of all the elders. In the future, we will surely make amends.”
In previous cycles, Wen Ying didn’t know much about Ru Song, only that he wasn’t a bad person, but he was opinionated and always acted decisively on matters he believed in. Now, it seems he has another side. At least, he is worthy of the title of Grandmaster.
“If that’s the case, then…” Zhi Jian’s brows were furrowed like a twisted rope. After a long silence, he gritted his teeth and stomped his foot, saying to Wen Ying, “I’m sorry! I treated you as a criminal; it was my fault!”
It seemed that this volatile Elder Zhi Jian was indeed only volatile in temperament.
“Also, about the melon seeds, I also want to thank Wen Ying for giving them to Zhi Fa,” Ru Song smiled slightly, “The melon seeds fried by a peak-level Culinary Cultivator are truly extraordinary. I had the fortune of eating three; the taste…”
Saying this, Ru Song narrowed his eyes, as if lost in a delicious memory.
“Really?!” Upon hearing this, Zhi Jian’s eyes lit up, “Brother Zhi Fa, do you… have any more…”
The other three elders, while not as impatient as Zhi Jian, also showed varying degrees of change in expression. Clearly, they were also very interested in the melon seeds the Grandmaster mentioned.
“I have, I have,” Zhi Fa smiled and raised his hand. “Wen Ying gave me 48 seeds last time, and I carefully stored each one. I will give you one each later.”
“Thank you, Brother!” Zhi Jian’s joy was evident.
After thanking Zhi Fa, Zhi Jian unexpectedly turned to Wen Ying with a cheerful expression, “And, I also want to thank Wen Ying!”
“Ah… you’re welcome,” Wen Ying touched her nose. It… wasn’t really necessary to go that far, was it?
Wen Ying subconsciously looked at her sleeve. Last time, the system gave her five kilograms of raw melon seeds; she should still have at least four and a half kilograms left in her sleeve’s spatial pocket…
Author’s Note:
Ah, ah, ah, I haven’t had any comments lately, I don’t know if anyone is still reading!
The foreshadowing in the recent chapters is a bit much (covering mouth). Is it a bit bland?