[After investigation by your friend, the demon hunter Theresa Delina, it turns out the Goat Tavern on Undead Street is holding a human compatriot from Earth just like you. Since the owner of the Goat Tavern, the ‘Barrel Butcher,’ happens to be her bounty target, she has decided to issue you the quest ‘Cooperation’.]
[Quest Rewards: Experience +700, Ghost Coins ×5000, Big Stomach Bag, Soul-Extracting Knife.]
Roughly four hours remained until Long Night fully descended.
After briefly parting with the demon hunter lady and agreeing on a meeting point, Bai Tang returned to the general store at No. 111 Undead Street. To ensure nothing went wrong, she made thorough preparations.
“Flesh Recovery Potion, Spiritual Power Recovery Potion, Red Rash Plague Potion, Spiritual Meme Virus…”
Like counting treasures, she packed every potion she had made while assisting the Witch teacher — whether poisonous or not — into a prepared small cloth bag.
As she walked, the potion bottles inside the bag clinked against each other with a constant dang lang sound.
That was not all. She also took out the Demon Hunter Revolver, flipped open the cylinder, and polished every single bullet until they shone. She checked them repeatedly to eliminate any possibility of iron casings rusting and jamming at a critical moment.
Bai Tang was not being overly cautious.
According to the information given by the Eye of Breaking Delusions, only when Long Night fully fell would the Barrel Butcher reveal his true terrifying strength at the Blood Robe Level.
Unlike clearing random wild monsters on the map, this time they were dealing with one of Undead Street’s minor elites.
If she did not prepare supplies in advance, she really could end up dead!
After finishing her preparations, she looked up at the old wall clock.
19:45.
After a moment of thought, Bai Tang walked into the kitchen. She planned to use the remaining ingredients to prepare dinner early for the Witch teacher who was still resting in her room.
Soon, the sound of running water came from the kitchen.
The noise was not small and naturally woke the Witch teacher resting inside her room.
“Haaah~~” The Witch teacher yawned and asked in confusion, “Eating so early today?”
“Mm. Teacher, I might have to go out tonight and don’t know if I’ll be able to come back in time, so I wanted to make dinner in advance.”
Bai Tang’s hands never stopped. She skillfully handled the slippery eel with a cleaver, slit open its belly to remove the innards, and washed away the strongly fishy blood water.
“You’re going out tonight?”
The Witch teacher subconsciously frowned and slowly walked to Bai Tang’s side, watching the girl skillfully prepare the ingredients that would be used later.
Claire had considered that Bai Tang would eventually try to set foot into the Long Night, which was hundreds of times more dangerous than White Day. She just had not expected that day to arrive so soon. She did appreciate Bai Tang’s courage.
But blind, reckless confidence could not really be called courage.
With her strength restricted, even she herself needed to stay fully alert when venturing into Long Night, facing crises that could appear without warning at any moment.
“Mm. There’s a compatriot I need to save!”
Bai Tang had no intention of hiding anything. If the Witch teacher truly wanted to harm her, she would never have survived until now.
Rather than being secretive, it was better to say it openly.
Perhaps out of concern for her student, the Witch teacher would even offer help!
“Since it’s your own decision, if you want to go, then go do it.”
After a moment of silence, Claire spoke.
She had no reason to stop Bai Tang from going out. Since the girl had something she wanted to accomplish, she should do it without hesitation.
Face danger head-on and give everything she had, no matter the outcome.
The [Kind]-aligned Bai Tang would always need something she wanted to protect. Even if it was only to prevent future regrets from turning into obsessions and causing her to lose her mind, completely becoming a [Chaotic Evil] being.
“Be careful. After we finish dinner later, leave a bit later. I’ll do a divination for you.”
Bai Tang was stunned for a moment. Then a smile returned to her face and she replied crisply, “Okay, Teacher!”
Since she was already awake and at her most energetic time, and had nothing else to do anyway, Claire casually helped Bai Tang prepare the ingredients on the side.
“How do you handle this?”
Watching the Witch teacher roll up her sleeves and pick up a lively, jumping eel, Bai Tang subconsciously answered:
“Oh, for handling eels, Teacher, you just need to help rinse off the mucus on their skin. That layer of secreted mucus is mainly to reduce friction. If you don’t wash it off before cooking, it’ll taste very fishy.”
Bai Tang had actually discovered long ago that, unlike her overwhelming strength in potion-making, the Witch teacher was completely clueless when it came to cooking.
The kind of person who would stew soup using the same mindset as brewing potions!
But Bai Tang was different. Back on Earth, she had occasionally helped her parents run a small restaurant. She was not bragging — when it came to ordinary home-cooked dishes, she was quite confident!
Perhaps it was only when cooking that Bai Tang, as the student, could take the lead and have the Witch teacher assist her on the side.
Her small chest unconsciously puffed up with pride.
“Aiya, it’s so slippery.”
Just as she was proudly fantasizing, she suddenly heard the Witch teacher’s surprised exclamation from beside her. The small eel, wrapped in transparent mucus, nimbly slipped out of the Witch teacher’s tightly gripped hand. As if in a stress response, it fell into the sink and began thrashing wildly.
The Witch teacher blinked and opened her hands, which were covered in transparent mucus. Even the spaces between her fingers had not been spared. Her fair, pink knuckles glowed with a tempting, jelly-like luster under the light.
The Witch teacher rubbed her fingers together and said with some surprise:
“It’s so slippery and smooth… even slipperier than your Bai Tang’s that night.”
“Why did you suddenly say something so mean-spirited with such a serious face, Teacher!”
Bai Tang was so embarrassed she almost fainted. A large flush of red spread across the girl’s face like strawberry cake melting.
“No need for Teacher to help anymore, I’ll do it myself!”
She dragged the Witch teacher’s hands under the faucet and scrubbed them until she no longer felt any slippery sensation. For a long time after this, Bai Tang would probably never be able to look at eels with a normal gaze again.
“But it really is very similar to the mucus on eel skin…”
“Yes, yes, yes, I’m really sorry for accidentally making Teacher’s hands all slippery and smooth. So can you please stop talking about it?!”
Unable to endure any longer, Bai Tang unceremoniously pushed the troublesome Witch teacher out of the kitchen.
“Teacher, just wait outside. Leave the cooking to your student.”
Raising her wet hands to pat her burning cheeks, images that could not be broadcast kept flashing through her mind. For a long time afterward, even while cooking and eating, Bai Tang spent the time in self-reproach.
Her head was full of those kinds of bad images. Was she really not a good girl?
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