“Sure thing~” Lan Qing responded without any hint of dissatisfaction, happily wagging his tail. “I’ll definitely make sure this place is well-developed!”
Shu Bao nodded in appreciation, touched by how lucky he was to have such a good snake teammate—thoughtful, capable, and even able to hatch eggs. “That’s wonderful! Soon, the miners will be well-fed and plump!”
“No problem at all!” Lan Qing said, thinking that if he could hatch eggs, taking care of people should be just as easy.
And so, this imperial mine was renamed Xiadu Mine. Of course, the name was chosen by the three of them together. In a two-to-one vote, Shu Bao and Lan Qing defeated Fu Qing’s suggestion of calling it Wangcai Mine.
Fu Qing was quite regretful, believing that his name was perfectly fine and had a good meaning too. Lan Qing felt a little guilty; he actually thought Wangcai was a suitable name for the mine, but whatever his fluffy teammate said was always right, so Xiadu Mine it was!
The location of Xiadu Mine wasn’t ideal. There were no oases nearby, and the daily water supply had to be purchased from afar. Moreover, the water they bought came in two different qualities: the clear water was for the management, and the murky water was for the miners. The food situation was similar.
The Empire didn’t offer much support here, partly due to the geographic limitations, and partly because those assigned to this harsh and desolate place weren’t people with much influence. Aside from the fixed annual quotas they had to submit, the Empire didn’t pay much attention to this place.
The only time the Empire would send reinforcements was if someone challenged their authority or seized an imperial mine. But Shu Bao and his companions weren’t afraid of retaliation since they dared to seize the mine in the first place.
“The Thick Earth Crystal is widely recognized as an excellent resource for teleportation arrays, but the Empire isn’t lacking in resources. To them, the Thick Earth Crystal holds more decorative value, and they won’t invest more manpower than the mine is worth,” Shu Bao explained. Losing this mine wouldn’t be a major blow to the Empire, and they wouldn’t go to extremes over it. Besides, with the tavern in the Thick Soil Gobi, they had already established a foothold here.
As for the captured imperial management, Shu Bao left it to Lan Qing to deal with. If they were willing to work diligently, they could stay and mine, or continue their previous duties—it didn’t matter. But if they weren’t cooperative, they’d be sold off to other mines. Manpower was still in high demand in Thick Soil Gobi.
As for the miners, who were numb to everything, the change in management didn’t affect them much. Even though their new leader was a snake, it didn’t cause much of a stir. They were as obedient as puppets, simply waiting for the order to start work, and it didn’t matter who gave the order.
Shu Bao and Fu Qing stayed for another two days, ensuring the stability of the mine before preparing to leave. Before their departure, Fu Qing left behind a large amount of supplies to facilitate the future construction of the base, and Shu Bao also selected many magical beasts to remain behind, along with Jinzi.
Originally, they planned to leave Yinzi behind, but upon hearing this, Yinzi rolled on the ground, wailing so loudly that it nearly deafened the three of them. For the sake of their ears, they decided to leave Jinzi instead. Jinzi didn’t throw a tantrum or roll on the ground; he simply requested that Shu Bao pat his head three hundred times as compensation before leaving.
So, the mouse sat on Jinzi’s large head, patting it for a long time. When Shu Bao reached three hundred pats, he didn’t stop and continued patting. Jinzi, pretending not to notice, kept his eyes closed and continued to enjoy it.
When it was finally time to leave, Shu Bao, sitting on the dragon’s head, kept looking back, reluctant to part with Jinzi and his snake teammate, who were becoming increasingly distant and blurry. After traveling a short distance, he stood on tiptoes and shouted back, “Take good care of yourselves!”
In response, there was a loud dragon roar, and his snake teammate made a circle with his body, a sign that Shu Bao knew meant “OK”.
“Don’t worry, Jinzi is a steady dragon, and Lan Qing’s strength is not to be underestimated. Plus, with so many magical beasts, they won’t suffer any losses,” Fu Qing, who was on another dragon, reassured him.
Shu Bao nodded, “I know. I just wanted to remind them to show that we have a close relationship!”
Fu Qing: “…” There was no need to be so blunt, but looking at his beautiful friend who was in low spirits, Fu Qing understood that Shu Bao really cared.
Seeing this, Fu Qing, who wasn’t good at comforting others, racked his brain and finally found a way to start, “I once had an online friend. We chatted online for a year, got along really well, and were just waiting to meet in person to confirm our relationship. Then one day, we finally met, but that turned out to be the last time we saw each other.”
As expected, Shu Bao’s attention was caught, and he tilted his head to ask, “Why? Was he too ugly?”
After all, Fu Qing was a face-con.
“No, he was very good-looking. I was the ugly one.” Fu Qing thought this would be hard to say, but once the words were out, he suddenly realized it wasn’t so difficult after all.
Shu Bao’s little ears instantly perked up, and he stared in surprise, his eyes widening. “What?” Was this implying that Fu Qing had been rejected?
“That’s right, exactly what you’re thinking. I got rejected. The other person even chewed up the flowers I gave him and quickly bought a plane ticket to leave,” Fu Qing shrugged nonchalantly.
“And then what happened?” Shubao asked, curiosity piqued.
“Then the plane he was on crashed,” Fu Qing replied calmly.
Shu Bao was speechless. That was incredibly unlucky… or maybe… Shu Bao’s suspicious little eyes darted toward Fu Qing, wondering if the butterfly had caused the crash out of anger and humiliation.
“What are you thinking? I’m a law-abiding demon. After he left, I just went home and spun a cocoon. I only found out about the crash after I emerged. I even…” Fu Qing felt his integrity was being questioned and quickly sought to clarify.
“A cocoon?” Shu Bao immediately latched onto the key point. “You mean, when you met him, you were still a caterpillar?”
“Yeah, because his ideal partner was something furry and soft, that could fit in a teacup with him. Oh, by the way, he was a Teacup Bunny,” Fu Qing explained.
Shu Bao was silent. While he thought caterpillars were cute and tasty, he realized that for most people, caterpillars were probably quite terrifying.
“Is there a problem?” Fu Qing asked, noticing Shu Bao’s silence.
Shu Bao quickly shook his head, not wanting to hurt his pretty companion’s self-esteem. “No, no, it’s fine. What happened next?”
Fu Qing sighed. “After I emerged from the cocoon and heard about the crash, I went to the crash site several times. The Bureau of Demon Management also conducted multiple investigations. The final report suggested that he most likely fell into a space-time rift. I initially thought the Bureau’s investigation was flawed until I myself crossed time and space in that area and ended up here. Looking back, that area definitely had issues.”
Although Fu Qing had indeed quit his job and planned to go on a trip, he never imagined that his little getaway would take him to another world. However, this strange and unfamiliar world did manage to divert his attention. “This world is actually quite interesting, though the spiritual energy here is weak, making cultivation difficult. I doubt I’ll have any hope of returning home in this lifetime.”
Shu Bao understood Fu Qing’s sentiment. For most beings, breaking through the limits of space and time was nearly impossible without falling into a space-time rift or pursuing the path of immortality to shatter the void. However, this wasn’t a limitation for a Treasure-seeking Mouse. If they had high talent, they would passively experience their first time traveling shortly after birth. As they grew, they could actively choose to traverse time and space using various natural treasures.
“You don’t need to be so downhearted. You might find it easy to get back home someday,” Shu Bao didn’t mention his own abilities, only offering this comfort.
Fu Qing shook his head, clearly thinking it was unlikely. “I’m telling you this to make a point—distance really does create beauty. Meeting in person isn’t always a good thing, trust me!”
Shu Bao: “…” Though Fu Qing’s reasoning was a bit strange, it was oddly convincing.
The rest of their journey became much more relaxed. Even though the sandstorms persisted, they didn’t dampen their enthusiasm for chatting.
“Were Monarch Butterfly caterpillars really huge?”
“Of course, about as tall as a person.”
Shu Bao licked his lips but only tasted a mouthful of sand. “Were you good-looking as a caterpillar? How many colors did you have?”
“Including the ones I dyed at the hair salon, I had thirteen colors. My favorite was indigo, which I specifically highlighted. Let me tell you, back where I’m from, there’s a demon hair salon run by a Centipede Spirit. The service is top-notch—you can get a haircut while getting a massage…”
Shu Bao: “…” Centipedes were one of the few insects he didn’t like—too many legs, making them tricky to deal with.
Having someone to talk to about his original world was rare, so Fu Qing eagerly continued the conversation. As they talked, he realized that he was naturally letting go of the disappointment from his failed online meet-up.
The two of them chatted all the way to the tavern in Thick Soil Gobi.
Later, when the sandstorm grew too fierce, Yinzi and Laifu retreated into the bracelet space, and the two of them continued on foot. Even then, their chatting didn’t lose any of its energy.
As they approached the tavern, Fu Qing sighed with a bit of reluctance, “We got here so quickly!”
“Indeed!” Shu Bao also sighed with emotion.
The two exchanged glances and smiled, both understanding the meaning in each other’s eyes. They had plenty of time ahead, and there would be many opportunities for chatting in the future. For now, rapid progress was the priority.
This journey into the Chaotic World had solidified a long-term partnership between the three of them. Shu Bao and Fu Qing would focus on developing and expanding in the real world, while Lan Qing would take charge of the Chaotic World.
Because of this, the three of them had also agreed to jointly manage the tavern, giving Shu Bao and Fu Qing the rights to use and operate it. This was why they could now see the tavern in its closed state.
They easily pushed open the tavern door and headed to the second floor, where they were surprised to find that the tavern had already added two rooms for the owners to live in, making it much more accommodating. If it weren’t for their commitments in the real world, Shu Bao would have loved to stay and see how far they could develop the tavern.
“This tavern was truly wasted in the hands of that Qi Erlong. Its origin is definitely not simple,” Fu Qing remarked, looking at the newly added owner’s rooms.
“It’s fine, Lan Qing is running it now!” Shu Bao took out a piece of Thick Earth Crystal and placed it in the teleportation array, which immediately lit up with a glow.
The two of them didn’t waste any time and stepped into the teleportation array one after the other. Shu Bao clicked on the sole glowing dot representing the teleportation point, and the scenery before him distorted. After a moment of dizziness, he found himself standing on solid ground again.
Shortly after, Fu Qing appeared as well. They looked around and confirmed that they were indeed in the tavern near the Chaotic Swamp, which was also in a closed state. No outsiders could see or enter the tavern, and inside, everything was silent.
The second floor of this tavern also had two new rooms for the owners. If they weren’t in a hurry to return, the two of them would have loved to rest in the rooms for a while.
However, considering that they had already spent nearly a month in the Chaotic World and were concerned that problems might arise in the real world, the two of them wasted no time in preparing to head home.
As they left the tavern, the two dragonlings were released from Shu Bao’s bracelet space. Each of them mounted a dragon and waved goodbye.
“Goodbye, my beautiful friend.”
“Goodbye, my cute caterpillar friend.”
With a gust of wind, the two dragonlings soared into the sky, heading in different directions, their figures gradually disappearing into the night.
