Redemption Gold

What is the difference between this and a finishing blow?

Cheng Shuili shook her head and tucked the card into the Abyss Ring.

The ring seemed to burn her finger slightly, as if it were a silent mockery.

Cheng Shuili: "....."

She twirled the ring and muttered to herself, "You had better be careful as a ring, don't you think? I have plenty of other choices besides you."

No sooner had Cheng Shuili finished speaking than the Abyss Ring gave a sudden, slight tremor, as if expressing its dissatisfaction.

"..." Cheng Shuili was speechless, too lazy to argue with a mere ring.

She sighed and turned her attention to the last item in the Gold Supply Crate, the irregular black stone.

【Abyss Stone】

【Description: The most miraculous creation in the abyss. It looks like an ordinary stone, but when you crack it open, you will obtain a seed. Living things are wrapped within the dead, and vitality is contained within silence.】

A seed?

Cheng Shuili was somewhat curious, but not enough to actually crack it open.

Once broken, this stone would surely be useless. It was probably just another one of the system's ploys to bait the player's curiosity; the system was a habitual offender, after all.

Cheng Shuili shook her head, confirmed that everything in the crate had been collected, and got back into the car.

Su Rui had been waiting in the car, and seeing that she had finally climbed in, she immediately stepped on the gas.

Cheng Shuili paced around the carriage a few times, still unable to set her mind at ease regarding the territory. Since she had gone through so much trouble to get a little chick, those people should have understood what she meant, right?

Cheng Shuili thought it over and over, unable to feel at rest. Since she was just sitting there anyway, she simply decided to make another trip.

Teleporting to the territory took time. Before her vision had even cleared, she heard the familiar "clucking" sound, and beyond that, a chorus of incessant screaming.

"It's on the roof again! Quickly, get the broom!"

"Don't step on my seedlings!! I just planted them in the ground!"

"Cluck—cluck!!"

She saw a pale yellow ball of fluff flapping its wings and circling wildly above the territory, chased by five or six human servants waving spatulas.

The hem of the Guide's clothing was splattered with mud, and his short figure was half-crouched, futilely stretching out his arms to try and intercept it.

As for the Consultant, her braids were half-unraveled, and she held up what might have been an antique insect net. It had a massive hole in it, and the moment she managed to net the chick, it would just crawl right back out.

"Everyone, move aside!" Yu Bing snatched up a bamboo clothes-drying pole and took a running start. The pole whistled through the air as it swept past the chick's tail feathers, only to puncture a quilt that was hanging out to dry, sending cotton batting flying like snowflakes.

"My quilt!" a servant wailed in heartbreak, only to be struck squarely in the forehead by a piece of chicken poop falling from the sky in the next second.

In the midst of the chaos, Egg Boss suddenly dived, its pale yellow wings brushing past the tip of Cheng Shuili's nose before it made a sharp turn and landed steadily on top of her head.

The moment its tiny claws gripped her hair, the entire territory fell into a deathly silence.

Yu Bing, still holding the broom, trembled with indignation: "Boss... wuwuwu, you've finally come!"

The Guide silently patted the hem of his clothes; clearly, it had been a long time since he had been this unrefined.

The Consultant stood to the side, saying nothing, but the look she gave Cheng Shuili was clearly that of someone who had just seen their savior.

Cheng Shuili slowly raised her hand and pinched the trembling ball of fluff on her head.

The chick's black-bean eyes instantly filled with tears, and it let out a weak "cheep," with half a blade of wild grass still stuck in its down.

"Are you... looking to die?" Cheng Shuili's voice was colder than ice.

Yu Bing lunged forward to start complaining: "We don't know where this thing came from! It just suddenly appeared! At first, nobody paid it any mind, and it stayed quiet on its own! Then, it found a little wooden stick from somewhere, stood on it, and started clucking. It was so loud and noisy—everyone could tolerate that much, but then!"

Yu Bing took a deep breath, gnashing her teeth: "It suddenly started flying around and pooping everywhere! Who could stand that? Him! Him! Her! And him!"

Yu Bing pointed at several people in one breath. Cheng Shuili looked where she was pointing and understood instantly; these were all victims.

"I just finished cleaning it up, Boss! Boss!! I almost got hit! Luckily, Old Li pushed me out of the way. Wuwu, Boss, you must stand up for us!"

It wasn't enough for her to shout alone; the victims she pointed to couldn't help themselves either.

A servant who looked big and burly actually frowned, and a few tears fell: "It was too stinky... I've never smelled anything that stinky before..."

"Wuwu, me too!"

"Even after washing it all off, I can still smell it, wuwu..."

Cheng Shuili: "......"

She looked down at the little culprit in her palm. Egg Boss immediately flopped onto its back, exposing its down-covered belly, its claws curling into a cute little ball. That was, if one ignored its beak, which looked somewhat gloating and refused to close.

"I'll add a side dish for you all tonight." Cheng Shuili revealed a nuclear-smile: "Stewed chicken with mushrooms."

"Cluck-cluck?!" Egg Boss jolted upright, flapping its wings and shaking its head frantically. Suddenly, it shook something out of its down, and an egg gleaming with golden light rolled into Cheng Shuili's palm. It was warm—clearly just laid.

How the chick managed to lay an egg in the first place was a question for another time.

Cheng Shuili didn't let go of it, but instead used her other hand to pick up the glowing egg.

【Screaming Chicken's Redemption Gold】

【Description: When the Screaming Chicken realizes it is about to become chicken soup, it has a probability of erupting with potential to lay a miracle egg. Consuming it permanently increases agility by 3 points (effective only once).】

After reading the information on the item, Cheng Shuili looked up again, only to find that the chick had already broken free from her grip. It had even found a piece of rope from somewhere and was biting onto it, tying itself into a "ready to be slaughtered" pose, its black-bean eyes blinking with starlight.

It was clearly playing the victim.

Cheng Shuili: "......"

She didn't hesitate to lift the knot and shake it, threatening it while staring into its black-bean eyes: "If there aren't two eggs tomorrow..."

"Cluck! Cluck-cluck!"

The upside-down ball of fluff nodded frantically, its pale yellow down standing on end, looking like a fuzzy dandelion.

Yu Bing watched from the side, her heart breaking: "Boss... it wasn't like this just a moment ago, it really wasn't like this before!"

The Guide and the Consultant nodded in unison, their expressions still looking somewhat displeased no matter how one looked at it.

Cheng Shuili coughed twice, cleared her throat, and poked the chick's forehead with her fingertip: "Since that's the case, I'll sentence it to lay two eggs every day as penance. If it doesn't lay enough, I'm really making soup."

She turned to look at the disheveled crowd: "Alright, that's it for today. Everyone get some rest, and we'll continue working tomorrow. As for the quilt..."

Cheng Shuili glanced at the cotton batting filling the air, "I'll have a new one sent to you in a moment."