Chapter 35: Long-Term Trade. Absorbing Magic Was Beneficial for Them.

Bai Xi picked up the firewood from the ground.

The weather had been good these past two days. After drying for a few days, the once-soaked firewood was now completely dry. At the very least, their time had not been wasted.

Clasping the wood in her arms, she caught something floating on the sea out of the corner of her eye as she stood up. She looked over curiously, and this time, she really spotted something: “Eldest Sister, Eldest Sister, there is something on the sea.”

“What?” Bai Yu walked out carrying an axe and looked toward the ocean, squinting for a moment. “It looks like a crate. Why would there be a crate on this part of the sea?”

Bai Xi also found it strange, but she quickly thought of the wind from a few days ago. “Could it have been blown over by the wind? Didn’t we see a sail drifting by when that gust of wind blew the other day?”

Unfortunately, the sail had flown too far, and they hadn’t been able to find it on the water. They had no idea where the wind had taken it.

“That is actually possible,” Bai Yu said, looking at the crate on the water before standing on her tiptoes to check the position of their boat. “There is no water under the boat today, so we can’t take it out.”

“But at its current position, a fishing net might be able to reach it. I wonder what’s inside.” Bai Xi was a bit excited. They had been on the island for so long and had yet to see a single ship pass by. This crate had drifted for two days before arriving, and there was no telling how far it had traveled from its original location.

Seeing Bai Xi’s anticipation, Bai Yu smiled and said, “Then go give it a try. We don’t have anything else to do right now anyway.”

Bai Xi hopped in place with a grin and handed the firewood to Bai Yu. She then quickly pulled over Bai Miao, who was currently “exercising,” and took her down to cast the net.

Bai Xi was exceptionally familiar with the reach of the net. After getting onto the boat and estimating the crate’s position, she knew a cast could hook it. However, she had to be precise; if the net missed, it would likely push the crate further away.

She held the net and practiced her throwing motion a few times. Once she was certain of the crate’s position, she cast the net with a sudden burst of strength.

Bai Miao was also watching closely. Seeing the net fly out and accurately cover the crate, she immediately stood up and jumped while clapping her hands. “Second Sister is so amazing!”

“Right? I told you I could do it.” Bai Xi raised her head proudly and pulled with a steady force, letting the crate drift closer with the waves until it reached the shallow water near the shore.

The crate was quite large, so even at the shore, it remained in the deeper section. It was impossible to drag it up with just a fishing net.

Just then, a “splash” sounded from below.

Bai Xi hurried to the front, leaning against the railing and shouting, “Go for it, Eldest Sister!”

Bai Yu approached the crate and grabbed the wooden slats on its side. She looked up and called out, “Change into your diving clothes and come down. This crate is quite big; I can’t drag it alone.”

They always wore the same set of clothes for going into the water. After all, getting into the sea was wet and damp, and sometimes they stayed in for a long while. They couldn’t bear to wear their new clothes in the water.

Bai Xi quickly changed and went into the water to help Bai Yu drag the crate onto the beach.

Once on shore, both were curious about what was inside.

Bai Yu looked up and saw Bai Miao crouching by the railing. She originally wanted her to bring something, but seeing her huddled there like a small ball, Bai Yu didn’t feel comfortable letting her do chores. Instead, she went back onto the boat herself to fetch tools.

The crate was sealed tightly, but because it had been drifting at sea, water had still seeped inside. Once they pried it open, obvious water damage was visible.

“No matter what is inside, I just hope the contents are okay.”

Bai Yu saw what was inside through a gap and smiled. “Getting wet isn’t a problem.”

Bai Xi immediately leaned in to look. “Are these porcelain bowls?”

“The whole crate is full of porcelain bowls, so it doesn’t matter if they got wet.” Bai Yu finally pried the crate open completely. “This is great. We won’t be short of bowls to use from now on.”

“More than that! We can use one bowl for eating and another for drinking,” Bai Xi said, taking two bowls from the crate. She held them up and waved them around, speaking to the crouching Bai Miao. “Miao Miao, you’ll have bowls to use now.”

“Wow,” Bai Miao reached out her hands. “Second Sister, I want one.”

“I’ll give them to you in a bit.”

Bai Xi laughed and set the bowls back down. “With so many bowls, were they meant for trade with foreigners?”

“Maybe,” Bai Yu didn’t know much about such things either. “These bowls look much nicer than the ones I used to see people using on the mainland. If they were shipped to foreign lands, I’m sure many people would be willing to buy them.”

“Oh, speaking of which, would people from the Magic Plane want them?” Bai Xi wondered.

“But we can’t go to the market,” Bai Yu reminded her.

Bai Xi pursed her lips and sighed. “True. If we can’t go to the market, we can’t sell these bowls. Besides, even if we had money from the Magic Plane right now, we couldn’t spend it.”

Discouragement aside, they were still very happy in their hearts to have this crate of bowls that had drifted across the sea.

They couldn’t use all the bowls at once, so they only took a portion to the kitchen and stored the rest in the lower cabin of the boat.

Afterward, they continued with their usual lives.

When the appointed time to go to the Magic Plane arrived, the three of them carried their pre-prepared fish meat over early in the morning and met Nancy once again.

This time, a stack of magic meat was laid out in front of Nancy’s door.

“I am willing to pay a reward,” Nancy said, pulling a large basket out from the cave. “As long as you can help me remove the magic elements from this meat, all of these things are yours.”

The three sisters had absolutely no concept of how much the items in the basket were worth.

However, it was a fact that the magic in this meat could extend the duration of their Transit Passes.

“Should we tell her that we’re actually the ones profiting?” Bai Xi leaned toward Bai Yu and whispered.

“But looking at her expression, this task seems very difficult for them,” Bai Yu replied in an equally low voice. “If we say it’s easy, will she think we’re strange?”

Bai Xi frowned and thought for a moment. “You’re right. We are different from them to begin with. Let’s just accept it then.”

Bai Yu nodded.

Absorbing the magic from the magic meat was simple. Bai Yu realized in hindsight that the people of this plane seemed to find it very difficult, but since they had done it once before, there was no need to be secretive about it.

Thinking this, she still picked up Bai Miao to use the card together.

This way, if any accident occurred, she could immediately carry Bai Miao and run.

Fortunately, Nancy didn’t do anything extra. She even intentionally walked a bit further away, fearing she might disturb their work.

When she saw the color in the meat gradually fade, her eyes shone with the same wild joy as before. “So much meat… can it all be processed so quickly?”

Bai Yu stepped back while holding Bai Miao. “You can check.”

Nancy took only one look and nodded. “There’s no problem. I can feel that there are no magic elements on this meat.”

She then looked at the three of them with expectant eyes. “In five days, you will come again, right? We really need you. You will come back, won’t you?”

Bai Yu looked at her, then at the basket of items.

Absorbing magic was a profitable venture for them with no downsides, and what Nancy wanted was meat that had lost its magic. It could be said that both parties were in perfect agreement.

Bai Yu nodded. “Yes, we will come again.”

“That’s wonderful!” Nancy said happily, then asked, “Then what do you need? If there is anything specific you require, we can help you find it.”

“Anything is fine. Just find whatever you can,” Bai Yu said.

In any case, they wouldn’t lose out.

Nancy nodded. “Alright, we will try our best to find some good things.”

With the trade complete, the three sisters did not linger. They left carrying the basket of items Nancy had given them.

Not long after the three of them left, several people emerged from the hiding spot near Nancy.

“What was that they used just now? To think it could absorb magic so quickly!”

“It must be a magic tool, and a particularly high-quality one at that.”

“Why didn’t they use a flying carpet?”

“There are magic beasts watching this area constantly. Who would dare use a flying carpet here?”

“True enough.”

As they spoke, the group gathered around the meat that had been stripped of its magic elements.

“It looks delicious.”

“Eating meat like this shouldn’t feel uncomfortable, right? I’ve had enough of that burning sensation throughout my body every time I eat.”

“It won’t happen. It’s very tasty,” Nancy said with certainty. “I’ve eaten the meat they brought before. Not only does it not cause that burning sensation, but the flavor is much better than before. It’s far better than meat containing magic elements, and it might even make you forget the pain of losing your magic.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

…

“What is this?”

“What is this used for?”

“And what is this thing?”

The three of them spoke one after another, each followed by a long sigh.

As expected, they still couldn’t understand the items from the Magic Plane.

However, their harvest this time wasn’t entirely without merit.

Bai Xi pulled a roll of parchment made from an unknown skin out of the basket. It was covered in writing, and when she accidentally touched it, the skin actually emitted a sound.

“This can be used to learn literacy,” Bai Xi said excitedly, though she quickly calmed herself. “But we still can’t match the words to their meanings.”

“We can use this to match them,” Bai Yu said, opening a thick book. “Look, there are pictures inside.”

“It’s true! This way, we can compare them and find out what the things from the Magic Plane are,” Bai Xi looked at the drawings in Bai Yu’s hands and waved to Bai Miao, who was playing with a water skin nearby. “Miao Miao, come here. From now on, the book in Eldest Sister’s hand and the one in Second Sister’s hand are both entrusted to you. Once you learn it all, you can teach us.”

Bai Yu laughed and gave her a gentle pat. “You’re going to have Miao Miao teach you?”

“Miao Miao is smart,” Bai Xi laughed, then glanced at the water skin in Bai Miao’s hand. “Why are there still water skins in this basket?”

“Because people in the Magic Plane need to drink water too, obviously,” Bai Yu said, looking into the basket and pulling out a piece of skin made of the same material as the water skin. “We can turn this into a water skin later. That way, when we go to the Forest Plane to find materials, we won’t have to keep coming back for water.”

“This skin is a bit thick,” Bai Xi said, tugging at the material. “The needles I have might not be able to sew through it.”

“We’ll talk about that later. We can deal with it when the need arises. I wonder when the market on the Magic Plane side will open again.”

“Well, it certainly won’t be today. I didn’t see any flying carpets in the sky.”