Chapter 12

    After realizing her own condition, the girl could no longer bear it. Liu Yi You and Liu Tan decided to discreetly head to the river to avoid attracting too much attention. Once they were out of sight, they threw out a portable toilet and quickly bathed with Tong Tian standing guard nearby.

    Because the grandfather and granddaughter pair had been eating only durians, their noses had become accustomed to the strong smell, making them unaware of the strange odor clinging to them both.

    After bathing and changing clothes, they looked somewhat more like young nobles from a distinguished family rather than beggars, except for the persistent stench that wouldn't wash off. This was because the durians had grown from spiritual and vital energy, which didn't have many beneficial properties other than producing a very strong odor.

    Liu Yi You wasn't sure if she had been right or wrong to punish Mao Tong and Ta Gui as she did. When the worm and the turtle abstained from eating, she had to abstain as well. The only fruit left in her vegetable patch was durians other than beasts from time to time, resulting in everyone—humans and mythical creatures alike—eating durians instead of regular meals for two months.

    So the result was as follows...

    The village chief still covered his nose and spoke in a whining tone,

    "There are no vacant houses in the village. The only available house is too dilapidated to be habitable. You can stay in my house, but you'll have to sleep in the outer hall. Can you handle that?"

    Hearing this, Liu Yi You declined. Preferring the wilderness to a cramped house, she chose to sleep near the river since Tong Tian, who never slept, would watch over her throughout the night.

    Thus, the two adults and one child moved away from the village but not too far, choosing a spot near the river to rest. Despite her exhaustion, Liu Yi You did not immediately sleep.

    At that time, she summoned the three beasts from the Underwater Palace. Having been in the village area before, she had hidden them away, fearing that people would panic. Now that there were no people around, she would not allow them to comfortably stay in the Underwater Palace any longer.

    "Go find some herbs for me," she commanded.

    Although two months had passed, Liu Yi You hadn't let go of the matter. She didn't want to plant new herbs frequently, so she felt they needed to understand the hardship involved.

    The little girl scanned the surrounding area. There were no herbs left in the village area; the locals had probably harvested them to sell. However, she spotted some valuable herbs scattered throughout the forest.

    "Master, I’m tired and hungry," the little turtle looked at its master with pitiful eyes.

    Hearing this, Liu Yi You took out a durian for it.

    Xiao Gui looked at the durian with despair. It had been eating nothing but durians for two months, and no matter how delicious, it had grown weary of them. All they could do now was drink water from the Underwater Palace to stave off hunger—a true case of using water to fill the stomach. Xiao Gui drank the water mournfully, swearing to itself that it would protect its master's vegetable patch with its life.

    Even Mao Tong could no longer maintain its usual arrogance, having never experienced such prolonged deprivation.

    The two turtles and one worm had no choice but to accept their fate and search for herbs, while Liu Yi You and Liu Tan slept peacefully.

    The Floral Jade bees from the Underwater Palace were then summoned.

    Seeing each bee so emaciated, Mao Tong could not bear to put them to work and ordered them back into the Underwater Palace.

    The next morning, Liu Yi You was particularly refreshed, having not slept on the ground in a long time. She was very satisfied with this rest.

    After packing up their blankets and pillows into the cosmic ring, they went out to hunt beasts for food. The two grandparents sat down to a pleasant breakfast. After eating, seeing that the three troublemakers had not yet returned, Liu Yi You told Liu Tan to sit tight. She then snuck out with Tong Tian,

    …warping to get the herbs from her father.

    At the Liu family manor, Liu Fuzhen was hurriedly brewing liquor. Recently, the Liu family's liquor was selling exceptionally well, so he had to work even faster.

    "Father," the sweet voice of the young girl nearly made Liu Fuzhen blush.

    The young man raised his eyebrows in surprise, "You're back already? Why so soon?"

    "Father, I’m not back yet. I’m just here to ask for the herbs in your box,"

     Liu Yi You said. The young man's face was filled with surprise, but he kindly handed over the box of herbs.

     "What happened?"

    Liu Yi You, having taken the box, responded, "What else could it be? Mao Tong has burned down my entire herb garden." The girl frowned in annoyance.

    Liu Fuzhen scratched his head, at a loss for words to comfort his daughter.

    Liu Yi You was ready to leave after taking the herbs, but she heard the young man call out just in time,

    "Yi You, I made this for you." The young man handed her a bracelet.

     It was a cosmic bracelet containing cores of high-tier beasts, making it much larger than her previous cosmic ring and capable of being visible or invisible.

    He gently slipped it onto her wrist.

    Since he no longer had to chase after Liu Yi You, who had sneaked off with Xiao Meng for adventures, he had time to create something for his daughter. Xiao Meng was still too young to need anything, but Yi You had grown up to this point, so he made her a large storage bracelet.

    Liu Yi You looked at the bracelet and couldn't help but smile. Liu Fuzhen was not good at expressing himself or handling issues, but she could feel the sincerity of her father. If he didn’t love her, he would never have given her such a precious treasure. Even now that she had returned the water calabash to him, he still found something else to compensate her.

    The only thing that annoyed her about her father was his attempts to keep her and Xiao Meng apart.

    What was wrong with siblings loving each other? She was just having a little fun with her brother.

    "Thank you, father," the girl smiled broadly.

    After a short conversation, Liu Yi You asked Tong Tian to warp her back to her grandfather.

    However, when she returned, a beautiful young woman was sitting next to the young man known as her grandfather.

    Liu Yi You was about to call out to her grandfather, but Liu Tan, having spotted Liu Yi You first, quickly spoke up,

    "Little sister, you're back."

    Liu Yi You frowned. Since when had she become his little sister?