Chapter 139 Temporary Residence in the Royal City

The Stone House of Yaozhi

Yao Zhi washed the Cloud Mist Vermilion Fruit that Mu Qing had given him with clean water, put it into a mortar and pestle, ground it finely, crushed it into juice, and then put it into a large stone jar. She also took two ice fruits, crushed them, and added them in.

The Cloud Mist Vermilion Fruit is extremely rare and precious.

Yao Zhi couldn't bear to take it himself. He wanted to add the juice to the herbs to make a nourishing medicine for the beastmen who needed it.

Royal City Entrance

Jiaoyou set off with Ying Maomao on a hunting trip.

Since Ying Maomao saved him, Jiaoyou often went to visit him. Knowing that Ying Maomao always went alone, he thought he should spend more time with him.

So, whenever Ying Maomao went out hunting, Jiaoyou would always follow her around like a little tail, chattering away as if he had endless things to say.

Qingshishan Forest

The Green Stone Forest is located next to the royal city, near the Abyss Insect Valley.

The beastmen of the royal city called it the Blue Stone Forest because of a huge blue stone on the mountaintop.

Many giant trees grow in the Qingshi Mountain Forest, with intertwined roots, lush branches and leaves that block out the sun.

Once inside the Qingshi Mountain Forest, it was much cooler than outside. The trees in the forest had lush foliage, and sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows in the forest.

Not long after Mu Qing and Murong Yu entered the Qing Shi Mountain Forest, they spotted a straight and sturdy tree. It was dozens of feet tall and several people could hug it. The trunk was straight, the branches were thin and angular and covered with soft hairs, and the leaves were leathery and oval.

The two men worked together to cut the giant tree down into several short sections, each several meters long.

Mu Qing reached out to take it, but was stopped by Murong Yu.

Murong Yu: "Aqing, you stay here and watch the things."

"I'll take some back first, and then come back for the second batch."

After saying that, without waiting for Mu Qing to refuse, he picked up the four logs and ran away quickly, his figure disappearing from Mu Qing's sight in no time.

Noticing Murong Yu's clumsy concern, Mu Qing felt a warm glow in her heart, a sweet feeling spreading through her. Her gaze followed the direction Murong Yu had gone, her thoughts wandering as she thought, "This person is always like this, silently taking care of me and warming me with his actions."

At Murong Yu's insistence, he carried all the logs back to the wooden house where he was temporarily staying in four trips by himself.

Once they returned to the courtyard, Mu Qing suddenly realized that they could have simply put the pieces of wood into their spatial storage and brought them back, but neither of them had thought of that.

Mu Qing looked down at Murong Yu, who was busy at work, opened her mouth, chuckled softly, and finally decided not to tell him about it.

Murong Yu cut open the giant wood, revealing a bright golden interior with smooth, natural grain patterns that formed natural landscape designs and emitted a faint fragrance.

Mu Qing and Murong Yu spent the entire afternoon processing the wood and building a three-room wooden house in the space, and added some tables and chairs to the house.

By the time the tables and chairs were all finished, the moon was high in the sky.

Mu Qing took out the small wooden table that she had previously put into her space and put it back in the temporary house.

Stretching her aching arms, she said to Murong Yu, "Ayu, let's call it a day."

Murong Yu looked at Mu Qing, who seemed a little tired, and felt a pang of heartache. He said softly, "Alright, Qing, you should get some rest."

After seeing Mu Qing return to her room, he turned around and went back to his own room.

Jiaoyou's Room

Jiaoyou went to bed very early today; he fell asleep as soon as it got dark.

I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night and muttered, "Oh dear, I forgot to invite Brother Mao Mao to come with us to the Misty Forest today."

She muttered to herself, "Tomorrow... I must tell Brother Mao Mao tomorrow, tomorrow... I must not forget again tomorrow..." and then she fell into a deep sleep again.

In the following days, Jiaoyou would come to find Muqing every morning to ask him when he was going to the Misty Forest, earnestly reminding him: "Don't forget to invite him and Yingmaomao along."

In the afternoon, I went hunting with Eagle Feather. On the way there, I talked non-stop to Eagle Feather about what they should be careful of in the Misty Forest…

Seeing how excited and animated he was, Ying Maomao swallowed the words of dissuasion that had been swirling in his mouth.

He secretly made up his mind: "If we really have to go to the Misty Forest, I must protect him."

Mu Qing did not intend to take Jiao You with her to the Misty Forest.

Besides Jiao Xiang, Yao Zhi was also very worried after learning that he wanted to go to the Misty Forest, so she came to tell him that the Misty Forest was very dangerous.

Although Jiao You looked tall and big, he was still a minor and Mu Qing didn't plan to take him on the adventure.

Three days later, one morning, Mu Qing and Murong Yu set off for the Misty Forest early in the morning. Xiao Jin also came out of the space and followed the two of them.

Mu Qing's Courtyard

As usual, Jiao You arrived at Mu Qing's courtyard gate early in the morning. Seeing that the gate was closed, he waited at the gate.

By noon, no one had come out, and Jiao You began to have a bad feeling.

A passing rat named Rat saw Jiao You squatting at the entrance of Mu Qing's courtyard and kindly reminded him, "Are you here to see Mu Qing and Murong Yu? They left early this morning. I heard from my father that they went to the Misty Forest."

"They probably won't be back anytime soon. You should go back first and come back to see them in a few days."

Upon hearing this, Jiaoyou's eyes reddened with grievance, tears welling up in them. He ran away sadly, not going home or looking for Ying Maomao, but instead running straight towards the exit of the royal city.

After exiting the cave leading to the royal city, they headed towards the Misty Forest.

Ying Maomao was worried because Jiao You, who had promised to come to see him early this morning, had not arrived by midday. So he went to Jiao You's courtyard to look for him. As soon as he arrived at the gate of Jiao You's courtyard, he ran into Jiao Xiang, who had come out to look for Jiao You.

Ying Maomao: "Jiaoyou said he would come to find me early this morning, but I didn't see him, so I came to check."

Jiao Xiang: "He probably went to find Mu Qing."

After saying that, he walked towards Mu Qing's courtyard. He hadn't gone far when he met Yao Zhi. From Yao Zhi, he learned that Mu Qing and the others had gone to Misty Valley.

Upon hearing this, Jiao Xiang assumed that Mu Qing had taken Jiao You with her, and thought to himself, "With Mu Qing around, nothing should go wrong." So he led his people out hunting.

Feeling uneasy, Ying Maomao decided to search Mu Qing's courtyard again. On the way, she encountered Shu Naonao, who was out looking for Yao Zhi.

Seeing the person heading towards their temporary lodgings, Mousey asked, "Are you also going to find Mu Qing and the others?"

Upon hearing this, Ying Mao Mao stopped and asked, "Has Jiao You gone to see Mu Qing?"

Mouse Noisy nodded and said, "Yes, I saw him at the gate of Mu Qing's courtyard at noon. I told him that Mu Qing and the others went to the Misty Forest and asked him to come back later. Then he ran away."

Eagle Feather: "Did you see which direction he ran in?"

Mousey: "Yeah, I saw him run straight towards the exit of the royal city."

Eagle Feather: "Thank you."

He immediately turned around and hurriedly chased after them. He had a premonition that Jiao You was most likely chasing Mu Qing and the others into the Misty Forest. Thinking of this, he quickened his pace.