Chapter 26: So Frightening

The area was suddenly filled with chaos.

“This stone is a material.”

“This soil is also a material.”

Bai Yu returned with a basket of soil, motioning for Bai Miao to hold the Kitchen Upgrade Card nearby. All the soil in the basket vanished, and one of the materials on the Upgrade Card became fully colored, indicating that the material had been successfully collected.

Thirty Upgrade Cards may seem like a lot, but the same item can be upgraded multiple times, so in practice, it might not be enough. Thus, they decided to use it on large constructions like the kitchen. As for smaller items like tables, chairs, and shelves, using Upgrade Cards felt a bit wasteful. Bai Yu and Bai Xi both agreed not to use them on minor items.

With the two materials successfully collected, Bai Miao put the card back into the bag hanging around her neck.

As the number of cards increased, Bai Xi made her a bigger bag, and also a smaller one specifically for holding Shell and cards.

Upgrade Cards in one bag, Transit Passes in another.

Bai Miao secured the Upgrade Card, opened another bag, and took out a Transit Pass. After examining it for a while, she raised her hand, “Eldest Sister.”

Bai Yu grasped her hand, about to say “let’s go back,” when she suddenly noticed something wrong with the color on the card. Alarmed, she asked, “Is the time left on the Forest Plane’s Transit Pass running out?”

Bai Xi immediately looked at the Transit Pass as well. “The color’s off.”

“Let’s head back first!” Bai Yu quickly suggested.

Moments later, the three returned to the island. Bai Yu took the Transit Pass and examined it closely. “It’s really off, much lighter. We’ve spent too much time in the Forest Plane these past few days.”

Bai Xi frowned in thought. “This card was renewed once before, with over thirty hours.”

Bai Yu nodded. “Only a little over thirty hours. We spent a lot of time gathering firewood, dug traps, and have been in the Forest Plane for half a day almost every day these days to gather materials. If you calculate it, this Transit Pass only has three or four hours left.”

Both were a bit troubled.

At that moment, Bai Miao stepped in front of Bai Yu, raising the card in her hand, “Upgrade?”

“Upgrading the Transit Pass? Is that possible?” Bai Yu hadn’t considered this option.

“Let’s give it a try.” Bai Xi crouched down. “Miao Miao, try upgrading the Transit Pass. It might work.”

“Okay.” Bai Miao nodded, took out a Blank Upgrade Card¹ from her bag, stacked it with the other card, and pressed the button on the Upgrade Card.

[Selection confirmed—Transit Pass. Please prepare the following upgrade materials.]

“It really works?” Bai Yu was momentarily excited, but her excitement quickly dissipated when she saw the unfamiliar materials listed on the card. “What are these things?”

Bai Yu did not recognize them, and neither did Bai Xi or Bai Miao.

Even more troubling, when they returned to the Forest Plane to search for the indicated materials, they saw extremely fine lines. Based on their experience over the past few days, the finer the line, the farther the distance.

With lines this fine, who knows how long it would take to find the materials on foot, and the passage through this kind of Transit Pass might close after just a short walk.

Not daring to waste any transit time, the three returned to the island once more.

“Let’s check out the Magic Plane tomorrow,” Bai Yu suggested. “Our batch of Fire Starters is nearly completed, and we can sell them at the market over there. Recently, we’ve been spotting lines there too, so we can find materials on that plane as well.”

“Our current batch of Fire Starters is large. Maybe we can buy some materials at the market.”

However, without enough materials, they won’t be able to spend much time in either the Forest Plane or the Magic Plane.

In the afternoon, the two worked hard and managed to produce another batch of Fire Starters.

This time, there were altogether six hundred and fifty Fire Starters. Although each one wasn’t very big, the quantity was substantial, filling the backpacks of all three.

Having visited the market twice before, they arranged with Qiqi to meet there without having her come inside. As they stepped out of the small grassland, they saw Qiqi and her mother waiting outside.

“If you need to buy roof tiles, you can rent a Flying Carpet on your way back,” Qiqi’s mother suggested. “Don’t share it with others, or there won’t be space for anyone else.”

After some time communicating, Bai Yu and Bai Xi were slowly getting used to understanding what Qiqi’s mother meant.

Roof tiles were how they understood it, which could also mean shells or leather, all sounding the same.

“For now, do we really need to buy roof tiles?” Bai Xi whispered. “Once we finish collecting materials to upgrade the kitchen, we can build a simple roof over the space for the Flammable Grass and then upgrade it using the Upgrade Card.”

“You can store the Flammable Grass in the cabin for now; there’s no rush with the shed,” Bai Yu whispered into Bai Xi’s ear as she leaned over. “Once we get to the market and sell Fire Starters, let’s see if we can find materials for an Upgrade Card.”

“You’re right, that’s more important. Otherwise, we can’t reach here and the Forest Plane, so where would we find materials?” Bai Xi realized, tilting her head. Seeing the height from the carpet, she was startled and clung to Bai Yu’s arm.

Including this trip, it was her fifth time on a Flying Carpet, yet she still wasn’t used to the heights.

Fortunately, they were almost at the market.

The carpet slowly descended. Just as everyone on the carpet was about to stand up, the person in front suddenly turned and shouted. Everyone, as if understanding what was to occur, remained seated firmly on the carpet.

Bai Yu held onto Bai Miao, covering her mouth just as Bai Miao let out a surprised yelp.

“Shh—”

Bai Xi also saw the scene not far away. She pressed closer to Bai Yu, watching the sudden appearance of a swirling vortex and the people emerging one by one. She whispered, “They appeared suddenly.”

Bai Yu nodded.

This time, their shock wasn’t as significant.

After all, they themselves could travel from another world to this magical world. It wasn’t surprising for such a peculiar place to have something connected to Transit Passes.

Bai Yu opened the pack on Bai Miao, speaking into her ear, “Miao Miao, where’s the Upgrade Card? Tap it to gather materials.”

Bai Miao nodded, opening the pocket wide, sticking her head inside, and retrieving the Upgrade Card. She pressed the button to collect materials on the card.

After clicking, lines indicating the materials needed for the transit upgrade simultaneously appeared before the three of them.

Unsurprisingly, a thick, long line stretched around the vortex from which someone emerged.

However, that belonged to someone else, so they couldn’t just take it.

Thankfully, lines of different colors also appeared in the direction of the market.

Once everyone had exited the vortex and it disappeared from sight, it resembled the empty scene they had seen during previous visits. If not for this chance encounter, they would never know such a phenomenon existed in this Plane.

Bai Miao and Qiqi were chattering away.

“Take Qiqi with you; I’ll go shopping.” Qiqi’s mother handed Qiqi to Bai Xi, then quickly headed into the market.

“Qiqi said the place they transited from is very expensive; it costs lots and lots of copper coins,” Bai Miao relayed after chatting with Qiqi, looking up at Bai Yu and Bai Xi. “Those people also came from a faraway place.”

“How far is far?” Bai Yu asked curiously.

Bai Miao looked down and continued speaking with Qiqi.

After a while, she looked up again and said, “Qiqi said it’s very far; she doesn’t know where.”

“I see. Does Qiqi know why they’re here?” Bai Yu inquired, lowering her head, as she and Bai Xi were still hesitant to speak freely with locals. They relied on Bai Miao to gather information from the young Qiqi.

“Qiqi doesn’t know, but her mom does. She went inside,” Bai Miao responded. Only then did Bai Yu notice that besides them, many people were rushing into the market. Some who arrived late, upon hearing people talk about the vortex, also hurried inside.

As more people headed into the market, Bai Yu and Bai Xi, with the two children, avoided going in. Instead, they set up their usual stall to sell Fire Starters.

This time, the Fire Starters took longer to sell, partly because they brought more than usual. It wasn’t until the crowd began to disperse and people started browsing the market that their Fire Starters gradually sold out.

“Eldest Sister, are we still going shopping today?”

“We might not have enough time,” Bai Yu glanced at the sky. “Isn’t it time for the Flying Carpet to return?”

“It might be a bit later today?” Bai Xi looked toward the Flying Carpet’s parking spot.

Bai Yu looked inside and noticed a familiar figure: “Qiqi’s mom is back.”

“We didn’t get any meat; what a pity,” Qiqi’s mother said as she lifted Qiqi into her arms. “Although High-level Magic Beast Meat is expensive, it’s delicious. Its Magic Elements are pure and easily absorbed. If Qiqi could eat a piece, the Magic Elements she awakens in the future would be very pure.”

As they spoke, a piercing scream sounded from afar.

“Oh no, run!” Qiqi’s mother exclaimed, turning to flee toward the Flying Carpet with Qiqi in her arms.

Bai Yu and Bai Xi were a bit slower. By the time Bai Yu lifted Bai Miao, a violent tremor had already struck beneath their feet. In the distance, several monstrous creatures, as tall as buildings, were charging toward the market.

For a moment, the surroundings were filled with flying carpets darting about.

They were about to head toward the area where the flying carpets were concentrated when a monster suddenly appeared there, raising its claws high and swatting down several flying carpets nearby.

The flying carpet Qiqi and her mother were on took the opportunity to soar, slipping past the monster’s side and quickly flying away.

This also meant they could no longer use this flying carpet to leave.

Bai Yu made a snap decision, holding Bai Miao in her arms, grabbing Bai Xi’s wrist, and rushing into the nearest alley. She swiftly retrieved a Transit Pass from Bai Miao’s bag.

“Go.”

“Return.”

The Transit Pass activated, removing them completely from the chaotic environment and bringing them back to the calm island.

Gasping for breath, Bai Xi said hurriedly, “That scared me to death, how could the Magic Plane be so terrifying?”

“Yeah, and those monsters are so big, one slap from them could kill a person,” Bai Yu replied, also out of breath. “I hope Qiqi and her mom are okay.”

“They’ll be fine, that flying carpet was really fast,” Bai Xi replied, then suddenly patted the bag on her shoulder in frustration. “The coins I just exchanged, why couldn’t it wait until we finished shopping before something happened!”

Bai Yu was still a bit dazed from the tension. “Hopefully, in a couple of days, the market over there will be calm again, right?”

Translator’s Notes