Chapter 51: Chapter 51

Mu Ying arrived at the main gate of her territory. Aside from the even lusher plants, nothing seemed different from yesterday.

She couldn’t help but wonder if she was overthinking things.

Maybe the end of the rain didn’t mean anything?

She browsed the forums, but found nothing new, so she turned her attention back to the plantation.

Either way, whether it was today or not, she wasn’t planning to venture out before figuring things out.

She continued transplanting the saplings that were ready into the seedling baskets.

Ever since she’d learned the benefits of rainwater, she’d prioritized planting all kinds of fruit trees.

Most of the soil in the seedling baskets was now packed with fruit tree saplings, and she’d almost used up all her stored fruit tree seeds.

She took out some more seeds, activated them, and planted them in the ground.

After tidying up her big vegetable garden, she picked the ripe fruits and vegetables—some she stored in her pouch, the rest she put in a basket for the old ox.

The old ox was living the good life in the plantation. Mu Ying had even planted a patch of pasture grass just for it.

The rain had mutated this grass, too. As long as the roots weren’t dug up, it would keep growing back, batch after batch.

The old ox loved it.

Mu Ying suspected that eating so much of this fast-growing grass had made the ox grow as if it were on hormones—it was now nearly twice its original size.

Now, when it lay down, it was a bit of a struggle for Mu Ying to climb onto its back.

Its horns were now curved like hooks.

It hardly looked like a harmless plow ox anymore.

But its temperament was the same as ever—give it food and water, and it would stay in one spot all day, perfectly content.

Its intelligence had improved, too.

She hadn’t tied it up in ages, but every day it stuck to its assigned patch of grass, ignoring the sweet fruits and vegetables in the garden.

After harvesting most of the produce, Mu Ying waved to the old ox under the treehouse.

The old ox, which had been watching her, gave a silent bellow of delight and trotted over.

As for why it was a silent bellow, that was because Mu Ying had specifically told it, using animal communication, that the white mist in the plantation didn’t block sound.

If it made noise and someone outside heard it, she wouldn’t be able to keep it.

The old ox was very obedient. Especially after realizing Mu Ying hadn’t ridden it out in a long time and had only used it for plowing once, it started to worry that it was just being fed for nothing—either it would be slaughtered for meat, or kicked out.

It couldn’t bear to leave the good food its new owner provided, but it didn’t want to be eaten either, so it was quite conflicted.

Luckily, Mu Ying explained things clearly: as long as it behaved and didn’t cause trouble, it wouldn’t be driven away or killed for meat.

It had to be good—only then would it deserve such good food without having to work!

Mu Ying had no idea about the old ox’s inner turmoil. She just noticed its eyes were becoming more and more expressive, and it had remarkable self-control.

It clearly loved the things in the garden. Every time she came by, she’d see ox hoofprints near the edge, but nothing had been eaten. Who knew how long it had been secretly drooling over them.

Luckily, the yields were high. Mu Ying and Yuan Gungun couldn’t finish it all, so she stored some in her pouch and gave the rest to the old ox once they were fully ripe.

While the old ox and Yuan Gungun ate, Mu Ying sat on the steps of the treehouse in the plantation, practicing her spells.

She was already working on her third second-circle spell.

After Tree Skin, she’d learned a sonic attack spell called Thunderwave, and now she was learning Flame Blade.

Unlike the small-area fire attack of Ignite, Flame Blade was much more precise and controllable, though it still dealt fire damage.

Even in a forest, she didn’t have to worry about starting a fire.

Flame Blade allowed her to summon a blade made of condensed fire element. Not only did it have impressive attack power, it could also burn enemies.

And since the blade was conjured out of thin air, once she got faster at casting, it would be great for surprise attacks.

Unfortunately, her spell learning speed still hadn’t improved.

After casting over and over, nearly exhausting her mana, she realized it was almost noon and decided to go out for lunch.

Just then, a familiar light streaked across the sky.

Mu Ying frowned tightly. This light was exactly like when the zombies first arrived—except this time, there was no advance warning.

Of course—noon. Strictly speaking, this was the exact one-month mark.

What could be in that light this time?

The plantation was the only spot in her territory not covered by big trees, so she had a clear view of the nearby “meteors’” trajectories.

Most landed elsewhere, but one came down with a crack, hitting the territory shield right above the plantation.

Ripples spread across the transparent barrier, but the shield was unharmed. The “meteor” slid down the shield toward the edge of the territory.

Mu Ying grabbed her piercing spear and ran toward where it was landing."

"“Hey? Why is Mu Ying in such a hurry?”

Someone noticed Mu Ying rushing past and exclaimed in surprise. In their memory, Mu Ying was always a quiet and gentle girl, never in a rush for anything—except when she was in battle, where she became swift and decisive.

“Could something have happened?”

The group exchanged glances and followed after her.

The further they went, the stranger it felt—this wasn’t the direction of the territory’s main gate, was it?

“She’s stopped!”

“What’s she doing here?”

“Look, what’s that thing?!”

Outside the low wall of the territory stood a humanoid creature, only slightly taller than the wall itself.

It had pointed ears, red eyes, a hooked nose, green skin, a short and stocky build, and thick limbs that looked oddly out of proportion.

It wore dull, grayish leather clothes, holding a small wooden round shield in one hand and a spiked club in the other. Coupled with its solid, muscular frame, it looked like something you wouldn’t want to mess with.