Chapter 74: Chapter 74

By then, her archery would truly rival her magic as an offensive tool.

“Who’s that? She looks familiar—oh my god, it’s Mu Ying!”

“She’s gorgeous! Her eyes are stunning!”

“Wipe your drool, man. She hasn’t even graduated high school yet. Is she even 18? That’s three years minimum, you know!”

“Tch, that old pre-apocalypse logic doesn’t work anymore.”

“Look at the sword and bow she’s carrying. Maybe you want to end up like Old Mao and the others, getting whipped by those thorny vines? If so, I’ll be sure to help by pouring salt water on you.”

“You guys are so shallow! She’s not just prettier—she’s way stronger now! A beauty with that much combat power? I’m all for it!”

“Hasn’t anyone asked how she changed so much overnight?”

“You want to get skewered like a candied hawthorn? Or whipped? Or—”

“Okay, okay, enough! I don’t want any of that. I’m not a masochist!”

“Then why ask? Why would she tell you anyway? Just behave!”

The territory was buzzing with gossip, which quickly spilled over onto the forums.

A post titled “That Woman from Qingshan Village” started gaining traction, making its way onto the trending list.

Mu Ying was browsing the forums while eating and noticed the words “Qingshan Village.” Curious, she clicked in.

Moments later, her expression darkened.

Top of the list. “That woman.” Great—clearly about her!

She’d been so generous, lowering the entry fee to half that of other camps, and during the food crisis, she’d selflessly helped everyone grow vegetables in the public area. Yet all they remembered was her going on a rampage?

“Master of Skewering,” my ass!

Mu Ying couldn’t help but want to curse.

She glanced up at the people around her, whispering and sneaking glances her way, but not daring to meet her eyes. What else was there to guess?

She couldn’t help but wonder—were those people who’d thanked her and greeted her so warmly in the territory all fake? Or were they just too scared not to be friendly?

Hmph, as if she was that violent.

“Stop posting, stop posting! The thread’s trending—careful or we’ll get exposed!”

“You guys are something else. Mu Ying is so gentle, and you give her such an awful nickname! If it hadn’t trended, I wouldn’t have known! Old Mao, was it you? Want another whipping? Didn’t the salt water last time teach you a lesson?”

“It wasn’t me! I’ve reformed, thanks to Mu Ying’s tough love! I said lots of nice things, but they wouldn’t stop! Don’t blame me!”

“Huh? Who are they talking about? So fierce? Is it really the girl at the top of the rankings?”

“What are you talking about? Mu Ying is a total beauty—like an elf! You know elves, right? If not, spend a copper at the mercenary guild and see for yourself—she’s even prettier!”

...

Reading the flood of new comments, Mu Ying’s mood improved a bit.

See? There were still people with good taste.

The only one in the whole territory who called her “Boss Mu” was Liu Luoluo. Grateful for her support, Mu Ying decided to invite her over for dinner that night!

That evening, Mu Ying picked fresh vegetables from her garden and bought some meat, then cooked herself.

Liu Luoluo arrived as promised, alone.

“Boss Mu, what dye do you use on your hair? The color looks so natural!” Liu Luoluo said enviously. She’d been so excited to be invited that she hadn’t looked closely before. From a distance, she’d just noticed Mu Ying looked paler and her hair was beautiful. She hadn’t paid attention to her eyes.

“...” So all those “she looks like an elf” comments on the forum were just lucky guesses?

Mu Ying shook her head. “It’s not dyed. Don’t ask—I can’t say, and I don’t know how to replicate this change. Just think of it as an accidental makeover!”

“Uh... your eyes! Your ears! I get it, I won’t ask!”

Liu Luoluo covered her mouth, eyes wide, inwardly screaming—she really did look like an elf!

Though curious, she wisely didn’t press further. Now she understood why, when they first met, Mu Ying had so firmly refused her suggestion to be roommates.

Her request had been presumptuous, maybe even a bit opportunistic. But more importantly, maybe it was just... inappropriate to get too close.

Boss Mu really was mysterious. But everyone has their secrets. If you want to be friends, you have to respect that. At least she’d been invited to Mu Ying’s home—that was already amazing!

She pushed down her curiosity and comforted herself."

"“Chirp chirp~”

“Mm, today we’re heading into the forest.”

“Chirp chirp chirp chirp!”

“Ah, you guys don’t need to trouble yourselves this time, Gun Gun will be useful today.”

“Chirp~”

“Goodbye!”

Mu Ying waved farewell to the sparrows and, with Gun Gun in tow, plunged into the depths of the forest.

All the seedlings from her nursery basket had already been planted in the plantation. Planting the same species repeatedly and sensing them was yielding less and less professional experience. It was time to look for some new plants and inject fresh vitality into her plantation.

Ever since that rainstorm, she’d been wanting to search the woods for some mutated plants, but various things kept delaying her. Aside from the ones in her plantation, she’d only found one mutated plant—Mai Dong.

But judging by how popular Grandpa Xiao Mu’s mutated plant collection quest was at the Mercenary Guild, there had to be plenty of mutated plants out there.

Now that the plantation was running smoothly and only needed periodic checkups, and her swordsmanship and archery skills were more or less practiced, it was time to gain some real combat experience.

Both she and the round Gun Gun needed a real battle to hone their newly acquired abilities.

Once they were a good distance from the territory, they slowed their pace.

Mu Ying would pause from time to time, focusing her power into her eyes, using her Nature Sight to observe the natural energy within the plants.

She hadn’t noticed much difference when dealing with the mass of seedlings in her plantation—plants in rapid growth naturally exude increasingly dense and clear natural energy, and the environment was safe, so she’d mostly used a more delicate sense of nature to observe.

But now, as she used Nature Sight to select target plants, she noticed a huge difference.

She had almost reached the level she’d attained right after her Nature Sense upgrade on that rainy day, when she was in a special state.