Finally, a map change!
It hadn't been easy!
Nan Zhi almost cried tears of joy.
Even though the starting map had exquisite graphics where every frame was worthy of being a screenshot, staring at such a tiny map for three whole days would make anyone want to throw up, wouldn't it?
Stepping out of her room, she finally got a complete view of the small courtyard:
Three tiled cottages stood side by side, their dark gray tiles stretching across the roofs and speckled with patches of moss. In the courtyard, an apricot tree flourished, its blossoms delicate and charming.
A stone mill stood in the corner, covered with a spread of dried leaves of unknown purpose.
Beside the stone mill, two long benches were stacked together, the bloodstains soaked so deeply into the wood that they looked like a polished patina.
To the side stood a thatched shed. Neatly stacked piles of firewood sat behind a stove, where Chen Jingui was seated, tending the fire and cooking.
The courtyard wasn't large, but it was kept in neat and orderly shape.
After turning it over in her mind, Chen Jingui still felt uneasy and hurriedly stood up:
“No, I still can't rest easy. Second Daughter, watch the fire. I'll take Eldest Daughter out for a walk.
You're young and thin-skinned; if you run into those loudmouthed hooligans who wag their tongues, you'll definitely get bullied.”
Nan Ye naturally agreed. As for Nan Zhi?
To her, as long as she could go outside, it made no difference who accompanied her.
Following the cautious Chen Jingui out the door, Nan Zhi was greeted by the sight of a wide alley that stretched from east to west:
“Candied fruits for sale! Medicinal papayas! Orange melon slices! Euryale seed candies! Pickled melon slices in vinegar! Sweet plum ginger—five wen a bag! Delicious and cheap!”
“Travelers from north and south, whether stopping for a bite or staying the night, come on inside and have a look! Our inn can water your horses and feed your cattle!”
“Fine satin from Bianjing! Lady, care to step inside and take a look?”
“Honey pastries for sale! Delicious, inexpensive sweet honey pastries!”
“Hey, fellow! Go fetch some blended wine from the tavern ahead! Weigh out a few good appetizers to go with the wine, and bring over some dried fruits and candied snacks!”
There were pedestrians leading mules and horses, bare-chested porters carrying shoulder poles weaving through the alley, itinerant monks carrying bamboo baskets on their backs, peddlers carrying baskets hawking fruits, and women sitting before their doorsteps chatting and laughing...
At the end of the alley was the marketplace, filled with physiognomists, fortune-tellers, teahouses, clinics, cloth shops, and eateries—a truly bustling and prosperous scene.
Though called a wide alley, the lively hustle and bustle of people coming and going made it no different from an open market ward.
“Tang? Song? Or Ming? The scene design is remarkably realistic too. They even included the detail of a transmigrator not knowing the official language. The developers really put a lot of thought into this!”
Nan Zhi stared at the passersby on the street for a moment and found that they would actually smile back at her.
She followed Chen Jingui through the alley, taking in the bustling scenery.
There were even NPCs along the roadside gossiping about her!
“Is that the Nan family's eldest daughter? She really looks like she was carved from the same mold as her father!”
“She does seem different from before, though. There's life in her eyes now.”
“I heard she still can't speak the official tongue, though. She can't even call out ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mommy.’ Even if she's recovered, she's probably still a simpleton.”
“Shh, keep your voice down. If Chen Jingui, that tigress, hears you, she's bound to make a scene.”
“What's there to fear? We're so far away. She doesn't have Far Hearing Ears; how could she know what we're saying?”
No, even without walking over, she could tell what they were saying.
After all, the dialogue bubbles floating above their heads were far too obvious.
Nan Zhi remained completely unbothered.
Seeing Nan Zhi looking at the street, Chen Jingui felt a surge of joy.
Seeing her stare intently at the fruit peddler, Chen Jingui assumed she wanted some fruit and waved to call the peddler over:
“Qi-ge'er, come here. Wrap up some plum ginger for me. Be careful, and don't try to fool me with anything sour or rotten.”
“Auntie Nan, who doesn't know that my Brother Yi works at the yamen, and Uncle Nan is one of the most capable men around? Go ask anyone on this street—who would dare fool you with bad goods!”
The peddler looked only thirteen or fourteen, but his eyes were sharp and clever, and flattering words rolled off his tongue effortlessly:
“Yo, this must be your eldest daughter! She looks so spirited; she really has recovered completely.
—Today's plum ginger is freshly made, and there are some pear-meat sweets too. They're very sweet. Why not buy a few more to sweeten your mouth!”
Hearing her eldest daughter being praised, Chen Jingui was so pleased that the wrinkles on her face smoothed out quite a bit, and she indeed picked out several good fruits:
“Let me ask you, has anything new happened on the streets these past few days? Tell us so my eldest daughter and I can listen.”
“Eldest Sister wants to hear some news? That's easy! I walk these streets and alleys all day long; I even know how many mouse holes are under each family's walls.”
Seeing how much she was buying, the smile on Qi-ge'er's face grew a bit more genuine, and he spoke vividly to Nan Zhi:
“Scholar Wang in the east of town took in a concubine a few days ago who looks like a heavenly fairy, supposedly just like the celestial maidens at temple fairs.
And the Xu family who sells tea—they say he dreamed of a snake as thick as a bowl coiled in his backyard. When he hired someone to dig it up, they dug up a jar of shimmering silver ingots instead!
Outside the city, there's an Old Man Niu. His grandson broke off half of a weasel's tail, and the very next day, Old Man Niu went lame in the leg and couldn't even walk!”
Nan Zhi listened with great interest without feeling the least bit bored. When she saw Qi-ge'er pause, she even urged him to tell a few more strange tales.
Qi-ge'er was naturally talkative, and many people found him annoying. Seeing that the Nan family's eldest daughter loved listening, he couldn't help but puff up with pride and tell another:
“There's another strange matter. Not far from here, at the entrance of Lingbai Alley, there's a family surnamed Qiao.
They run a tofu-grinding business. For the past half month, Lady Qiao has heard someone sighing under her window every night.
By the next day, their tofu turns sour and foul-smelling, and they can't sell any of it. Ha, Lady Qiao is so worried she's nearly pulling all her hair out.”
Village ghost tales, folk paranormal stories.
Now this felt like a cultivation game!
Nan Zhi listened with great satisfaction, nodding repeatedly, and took the oil-paper-wrapped candied fruits to stuff them into her inventory.
Beside them, Chen Jingui, afraid of scaring her daughter, scolded with a chuckle:
“You little monkey, talking about ghosts and gods all day long. Watch out or Yama will send little ghosts to take you away!”
“Lord Yama is very busy; he doesn't have time to bother with the likes of me—”
Qi-ge'er had just started speaking when he suddenly noticed Nan Zhi's small action, and his eyes widened in disbelief.
When Chen Jingui turned her head, the smile on her face froze instantly, looking like a clump of congealed lard.
Nan Zhi's several packages of fruit vanished one by one from her hands. Then, shifting from her left hand to her right, they were replaced with a few stalks of jade-green grass, just like a magic trick.
【candied fruits*3: Ordinary candied fruits. Mood +1 upon consumption】
“There's even a Mood stat setting...”
Nan Zhi stuffed the hemostatic grass back into her inventory and looked up, only to be met with two utterly shocked faces.
It was as if she had just committed some heinous crime.
Nan Zhi: “...”
What kind of broken game was this where NPCs reacted even when a player used their inventory?
...
...
“I saw it with my very own eyes! Eldest Daughter held those three packages of fruit in her hand, and then the paper packages just vanished!”
“Qi-ge'er, the fruit peddler, saw it too. I gave him a piece of broken silver and told him not to go around blabbering.”
As soon as Nan Dazhuang returned carrying a fat chicken, he saw his wife and Second Daughter waiting at the door, talking all at once about what had happened today.
“Truly? Eldest Daughter made those three packages of fruit disappear?”
Chen Jingui nodded like a pecking chicken, pointing at a handful of jade-green wild grass on the table:
“Of course I didn't see wrong. Eldest Daughter even pulled out a handful of jade-green grass from nowhere and held it in her hand. When Second Daughter asked for it, she even gave it to her.”
Nan Dazhuang was still somewhat skeptical. He turned to look at Nan Zhi and lowered his voice coaxingly:
“Eldest Daughter, how did you do that magic trick? Can you show Daddy one more time, okay?”
He was built very burly and fierce, with a full beard surrounding his face, thick eyebrows, large eyes, an aquiline nose, and a tiger-like mouth. Even without speaking, he looked terrifying enough to stop a crying child in the night.
Seeing such a hulking brute lowering his voice now only felt jarringly out of place.
Again?!
Nan Zhi felt somewhat helpless, but she still dutifully opened her inventory, took out the three packages of candied fruit, and with another wave of her hand, made the three packages vanish once more.
“Hiss—”
Nan Dazhuang's face twitched, wearing the exact same bewildered shock as the mother and daughter.
Rate on N.U.
