63 Pocket Book

With only half a month left before the day she had perished in her past life, Rong Xianxian brought her two children and returned to her home alone.

A while ago, many covert sentries had lurked around this building, only quieting down a little over half a month ago.

The sound-transmission talismans crafted by Rong Xianxian had achieved an effect comparable to wiretaps in detecting the movements around the building.

Because this building had been under constant surveillance, no adventurers had dared to move into it or any of the surrounding buildings.

Cui Lie and Jiang Jie lived on the sixteenth floor, directly below the apartment where Rong Xianxian resided.

Wang Lin, Xia Kai, and Wang Quirui still lived in the villa area.

The two sides communicated through sound-transmission talismans, and Rong Xianxian had plastered the surroundings of both residences with these talismans to monitor movements at any time.

They had harvested a good haul during their previous monster-hunting expeditions in the wild. Following Rong Xianxian's acquisition of the spiritual weapon Thousand-Silk, they had dropped another spiritual weapon: a gleaming broad saber with a straight blade, an upturned curved tip, multiple sharpened edges from the spine to the tip, and several blood grooves along the blade.

This broad saber was given to Wang Lin, who practiced the *Frost Saber Technique* and had always used a large machete.

An overly excited Wang Lin plunged into the joy of charging into battle in the days that followed, the long saber flashing with a cold light like glittering ice and snow.

Wang Lin named the saber the Glacier Saber himself.

Their team's efficiency in hunting monsters skyrocketed, and all the surplus fresh meat was made into jerky, dried meat, and smoked bacon.

Aside from obtaining an ample supply of meat, the treasures dropped also increased drastically.

Xia Kai newly acquired a plum-blossom sleeve arrow, and Wang Quirui obtained a rigid, cold long whip made of an unknown metal with a tapered, razor-sharp tip.

Jiang Jie, who was accustomed to using a spear, chose a heart-protecting mirror.

Cui Lie and the others had previously strongly opposed Rong Xianxian's insistence on returning home to live alone with her children.

However, Rong Xianxian was extremely stubborn, claiming she had a premonition that news might arrive immediately, that she would be leaving this place and probably never returning, and that she simply had to go home to live for a couple of days.

Thus, they settled on a compromise where Cui Lie and Jiang Jie lived on the sixteenth floor.

Should any real emergency occur, given their current strength, breaking through the ceiling would be an effortless task for Rong Xianxian and her group.

It was not much different from living together.

Of course, Rong Xianxian's insistence on returning home to live was not for the BS reason she had given; she was not that finicky.

She was waiting for the giant bird that had destroyed her home in her past life.

In her past life, she had only thought of that hateful giant bird as the bringer of her catastrophic doom; in this life, she was waiting for its arrival with eager anticipation.

This was because the treasures dropped by that giant bird were her true trump card, allowing her to escape death time and time again in her previous life.

Amidst Rong Xianxian's ardent expectations, the giant bird—whose wingspan could cover a two-meter-wide window—arrived right on schedule, mirroring the exact timing of her past life.

The giant bird's sharp, hooked beak cracked the glass instantly. The reinforced stainless steel glass with an inner interlayer held together by a thread, showing nothing more than an ever-increasing web of water-like fractures.

Having spotted the prey inside the room, the giant bird let out a sharp screech and slammed its massive body directly against the glass, denting the already fractured pane inward.

Rong Xianxian silently counted, "One, two, three," and ran, leading the enraged giant bird into the study along the path she had preset. Squeezing its folded wings through the wooden door into the study, the giant bird could not even fully spread its wings. The study, with its solid walls twice as thick as ordinary ones, became a cage for the giant bird.

Blinded by fury, it slammed against the walls until it saw stars, but the walls remained completely unmoved.

As reason returned to the giant bird, it folded its wings and turned around, attempting to retrace its path. Rong Xianxian, who had already climbed up to the rooftop skylight, ignited a piece of wolf skin and tossed it down.

With a muffled *bang*, the room burst into flames instantly.

Flames rapidly licked every corner of the room with fierce intensity, burning fiercely until the quilts soaked with water produced billowing clouds of thick smoke.

Seeing that Xiao Luo had pushed a wooden floor-to-ceiling wardrobe to block the study door, Rong Xianxian closed the small skylight with peace of mind.

The fire inside the room was fueled by alcohol and the quilts Rong Xianxian had placed there.

This combat plan was an upgraded version of the one from her past life. Having planned it for a long time, it turned out to be flawless. Compared to her disheveled and utterly wretched state in her previous life, this battle could be said to have left her completely unscathed.

Unable to spread its wings, turn around, or hide anywhere, the giant bird's wings were soon engulfed in raging flames. Its miserable, piercing screeches were deafening, and the entire room shook violently from its thrashing.

A solid wood large bed had been wedged behind the wardrobe at the entrance of the study, propped directly against the opposite wall. The wardrobe rattled loudly under the impacts, and bursts of thick smoke drifted out from the gaps.

Cui Lie and Jiang Jie knocked on the door of Rong Xianxian's apartment, but Rong Xianxian refused their help. She was determined to secure that treasure and would never share it with anyone.

Whether the giant bird had died or fainted, the commotion inside the room gradually subsided. Wearing a protective mask, Rong Xianxian quietly opened the small skylight and channeled the Soul-Suppressing Bell to attack the lethargic giant bird. The giant bird dazed for a moment, and the Thousand-Silk in Rong Xianxian's hand swept toward its neck.

The Thousand-Silk was at its sharpest when used in a sweeping motion. Despite the giant bird's tough skin and sturdy bones, after a brief stalemate, the Thousand-Silk finally breached its defense and severed its neck.

Rong Xianxian obtained the thick, heavy book she had hoped for: the *Illustrated Codex of Spirit Plants*.

In her past life, it was precisely by relying on this book that she skillfully utilized various spirit plants in the wild to escape life-and-death crises time and again.

Rong Xianxian pierced her palm and let a drop of blood fall onto the book title. The huge, heavy *Illustrated Codex of Spirit Plants* transformed into a speck of light and burrowed into her palm.

In her past life, Rong Xianxian had scraped cuts all over her body amidst the chaos of battling the giant bird, and her blood had accidentally dripped onto the book, leading her to discover that the book could merge into her palm.

Checking and consulting it had proven extremely convenient.

She called out to Xiao Luo to move the large bed and wardrobe away and drag out the giant bird.

The study was still shrouded in smoke, so she quickly blocked the door again.

Having obtained the treasure she desired, Rong Xianxian excitedly flipped through the pages over and over.

The little bird that Xuanxuan kept chirped noisily, pounced onto the giant bird, and began pecking at it incessantly with its tender yellow, hooked beak.

Rong Xianxian was stunned. Judging by its eager demeanor, it looked as though it were starving—clearly, it had just eaten roasted meat last night.

This bird had been raised for over two months, yet its body size hadn't changed at all. Its appetite, however, was growing larger by the day, almost matching that of an adult human. With such a tiny body, she had no idea where all that meat went. If not for their frequent hunting trips, they probably wouldn't have been able to afford to feed this bird.

The giant bird's skin was tough and its defense high, to the point that even the Thousand-Silk couldn't pierce its defense all at once, yet the little bird Yaoyao persevered relentlessly in tearing at the giant bird.

*Rip!* The little bird Yaoyao actually tore open the giant bird's skin, burrowed its entire body into the giant bird's heart cavity, and precisely pecked out an inner core—an inner core not much smaller than the little bird's entire body.

Rong Xianxian watched in utter astonishment. What had just happened? How had that little bird sliced open the giant bird's skin?

A wave of regret washed over her; in her past life, she had only taken the book away and foolishly wasted such a massive inner core.

Just as Rong Xianxian wanted to walk over and retrieve the inner core, the little bird dragged the inner core along and ran toward Xuanxuan.

"Mommy, let Yaoyao eat this, okay? Maybe Yaoyao will grow up after eating this, okay?" Xuanxuan coaxed, acting spoiled.

Rong Xianxian smiled faintly...

Of course not.