22 Preparations for the Hunt

The first destination was the garden outside the main house, where Bella had first sighted it.

Tonight, the moon was still a perfect jade disc, hanging just above the horizon. The warm orange streetlamps flickered to life, illuminating the garden alongside the cool, silvery moonlight.

The creature’s last known location was at the corner of the roof. The damaged decorations there had since been repaired, leaving no trace of the incident.

"There wasn't much damage on the ground, just a few lightweight ornaments. We suspect it can fly," Garcia added, gesturing toward the high rooftop corner.

"They all say the thing is huge?" Cen Jiu confirmed the doubt once more.

Garcia shuddered, giving an immediate and precise answer: "Yes! The footprints it left on the road outside are massive, a full ten inches long..."

Every witness used only the word "huge" to describe it. As for the rest, they seemed too terrified to provide any details, making it impossible to piece together a coherent image. It was like a thick fog shroud over the estate, with no one catching a glimpse of its true form.

"...I see. Let’s head to the next spot."

The subsequent locations radiated outward from the main house, covering almost every area where servants had reported sightings of the unknown creature. The furthest point reached the crossroads leading to the church.

"This is where it was first discovered, about three or four years ago. A maid returning alone from town at midnight saw it," Garcia said, looking toward the rocky outcrops by the road. "It was clinging to this massive white rock, causing the horses to bolt and get injured."

After walking a long circle with Garcia, Cen Jiu noticed that the creature primarily destroyed man-made objects. In other words, it should have been hostile toward living beings, yet there were no reports of anyone being harmed.

Cen Jiu looked up at the sky. The night was clear, the stars were sparse, and the moon had not yet reached its zenith.

"I understand. It’s still early, isn't it? I’ll go back and rest for a bit; I haven't had dinner yet," she said, turning to Garcia, who was waiting for her instructions.

Garcia checked his pocket watch. Seeing it was only eight o'clock, he dared not refuse and nodded repeatedly. "Of course, it is still long before midnight. I apologize, I didn't realize you hadn't eaten. I shall have the kitchen prepare something for you immediately."

...

"Bella! I’m here to see you!" Cen Jiu said, knocking on the door while carrying a tray of food.

"Creeeak—" The door opened. Bella, dressed in a nightgown, poked her head out and saw the tray—a plate of savory roasted pork knuckles, a pot of steaming tea with a fresh aroma, and two wooden cups. The roasted knuckles were fragrant, accompanied by a side of palate-cleansing pickled vegetables.

She sniffed the captivating aroma of the food. "It smells so good. Come in, quickly..."

An oil lamp burned on the desk, illuminating a piece of stationery with a few drops of undried ink. Cen Jiu placed the food on the nightstand and told Bella, "I heated up some ingredients from the kitchen and brewed some mint tea. Should we add lemon slices?"

"Let's try it," Bella said, giggling as she looked at the platter of meat. "You actually managed to get the meat the guards wanted. Most of it usually goes to them; we barely get any."

Working in the kitchen, Bella knew that the leftovers from the masters usually went to the higher-ranking servants. As a newcomer, she often got nothing but bland, watery broth.

"Try it, I'll pour the tea!" Cen Jiu invited her to sit, filling the wooden cups—each containing a slice of lemon—with hot tea.

Thanks to the hot towel Cen Jiu had thoughtfully provided, Bella picked up a knuckle and held it out toward Cen Jiu.

"I might have had a hand in preparing this dish, so try it," Bella laughed, having just finished her kitchen shift.

There were several knuckles, more than enough to fill them both up. Accepting the gesture, Cen Jiu took a bite of the roasted meat. The carefully controlled heat had removed any gamey smell, and the reaction between the high heat and vinegar had rendered the skin crispy. With each bite, a satisfying "crunch" echoed. The aroma of the fat, the melt-in-your-mouth texture, and the succulent meat combined into a triple sensation that satisfied the most primal human hunger for meat.

Cen Jiu ate two, finally feeling satisfied. By now, the tea had cooled; the refreshing mint and lemon perfectly cut through the greasiness of the meat.

[Consumed Roasted Pork Knuckle: Strength +3%, Power +7% (Duration: 5 hours)]
[Consumed Mint Lemon Tea: Perception +3% (Duration: 59 minutes)]

"I didn't expect hot tea with mint and lemon to taste this good," Bella said, taking a sip. She was full, too.

"I saw mint growing in the garden, so I picked some," Cen Jiu recalled the guard who had wanted to say something but held back when she was picking it. He must have figured no one else saw, so he turned a blind eye.

"The kitchen staff also picks plants from the garden for herbal tea, but the master loves tea from the Eastern Continent best. What we usually get are these common floral teas," Bella laughed, revealing a bit of old Ortega's preferences.

[Eastern Continent: A place very far from Elias. Its goods often sell for astronomical prices in Elias. Currently, there are no direct shipping routes to El Dorado.]

The dialogue triggered a new entry. Cen Jiu immediately realized that this "Eastern Continent" was modeled after where she lived in reality, concluding: *A rich old man who loves overpriced tea.*

*He must have a lot of gold coins. How can I get him to drop them?*

After eating, Cen Jiu took the leftovers back to the kitchen. A servant eagerly offered to take the tray, giving her no chance to increase her housework skill. *Being treated too well is a burden in itself...*

Back in her room, Cen Jiu flopped onto the bed. Even with only her upper body on the mattress, it triggered the system's "Rest" state. She saved the game, then put on a troubled expression, murmuring just loud enough for Bella to hear: "...Now that it’s coming to this, I’m suddenly a little scared. It hasn't hurt anyone, so why do we have to kill it?"

Bella, sitting on the opposite bed, hesitated for a few seconds before responding with concern: "We have to kill it? That sounds dangerous. Such an elusive creature... maybe we should call it off!"

Cen Jiu sat up, sighing as she denied the suggestion. "I'm just a little nervous. Don't worry, they said no one has been hurt yet, right? I can't back out now that I've promised!"

"Is that so? But..." Bella seemed to want to say more, but eventually shook her head and smiled. "Since you've said so, I’ll have faith in you. You’ll be fine!"

"Yeah, that's why I need to rest. I'll be quiet when I get up!" With that settled, Cen Jiu set her wake-up time for 11:00 PM and drifted off to sleep.

When she woke, her character was in good condition. Bella was still at the desk, seemingly reading.

"You're awake. If you come back to rest, just use your key. Remember to bolt the door," Bella said, closing her book and walking her to the door. "Be careful. If something feels wrong, just run."

"Don't wait up for me, get some sleep. I'll bring back good news," Cen Jiu said with a smile, then left.

...

Cen Jiu sat alone in the garden gazebo. In this season, a few fireflies danced around her. She fiddled with the bone whistle in her hand; it was so exquisitely carved it looked like a collector's item. If she hadn't tested it and found it emitted a piercing sound, she would have assumed it was just a decoration—the kind meant solely for selling.

The plan discussed with the guards was simple: if Cen Jiu found any tracks, she would blow the whistle to stall the creature, and a group of guards armed with muskets and ammunition would rush in to ensure it had nowhere to escape. However, they couldn't guarantee it would appear tonight, so they asked her to keep watch for a few days.

Waiting was boring, but she didn't dare switch to another window for entertainment, fearing she might miss a detail. Cen Jiu reflexively yawned, then felt confused. Her stamina bar was nearly full; did characters in the game have biological clocks?

"Dong—ding-dong..." The midnight chimes from the house and the distant clock tower rang out simultaneously. It was the time they said it would appear.

Did it come? No.

"Achoo!" A cold breeze blew, and she sneezed, scattering the fireflies. The temperature difference between day and night was large here; the menu indicated that at midnight, her current attire would cause the character to feel chilled.

Cen Jiu rubbed her arms, pulled her cloak tighter, and scanned the surroundings. There was no movement. The garden was silent, and the flames in the streetlamps were steady.

But something was different. Cen Jiu gripped the hilt of the dagger at her waist.

It was the mist. A cold fog was rising from the ground—the source of the chill she felt. The mist appeared out of thin air like a dome, isolating the area from the outside world. The breeze and the fireflies vanished into the fog, leaving only the streetlamps burning silently.

At first, it was just an imperceptible black dot on the open ground, but it began expanding at an alarming speed, its edges rippling like water.

"Gurgle, gurgle..."

Cen Jiu looked up, toward the courtyard, toward the sky. That wasn't a black dot, nor was it crawling out of the ground; it was the shadow cast from above.

Glowing with a faint red light, it stained the environment in a bloody hue. In a daze, fragments flashed before Cen Jiu's eyes. A sea of blood, symbolizing death, her eyes filled with crimson.

A watery sound echoed from within it. It descended onto a streetlamp, enveloped it, and then floated back up, taking the flame with it. The orange light glowed inside its bloody body like a sea of stars.

Cen Jiu watched the scene, her pupils dilated, staring at its every move as it fed on the flame. There was no fear in her eyes, only a fervent, burning intensity.

"...So it was you, Herb Slime? But it seems more appropriate to call you a subspecies of the Herb Slime—a Blood Slime, wouldn't you say?"