Chapter 29: The Innkeeper Despises Our Illiteracy

“I can’t see clearly.”

“I can’t see clearly either.”

“An upgrade?”

“It is not an upgrade,” Bai Yu said as she picked up Bai Miao, who had asked the question. She turned back to speak. “Xiao Xi, hold onto my clothes. Let’s not get separated.”

“Okay.” Bai Xi immediately grabbed Bai Miao’s clothes and looked around, trying to see the surroundings. But no matter how hard she tried, she could not see anything even a short distance away. Everything was covered in a thick white fog.

However, aside from the fog being so dense that it made visibility impossible, there seemed to be no other problems.

Just as she was thinking this, Bai Yu stopped walking.

Bai Xi poked her head out to look and saw a mess of wooden planks in front of Bai Yu. “What is this?”

“It looks like… a collapsed house,” Bai Yu guessed. “Let’s follow the planks and walk along the edge. If it is a collapsed house, there should be other things nearby.”

Bai Xi gave an acknowledging sound and continued to follow Bai Yu’s lead. After walking for a while, a corner appeared. Past the corner was another mess of debris, making the place look even more like a collapsed house.

They didn’t know what the situation was like beyond the white fog in the distance, but since this place was originally a house, the danger of standing here was not that high.

“This plane is entirely filled with white fog. We can’t find our way out.”

In the previous two planes, one was a Forest Plane and the other was a Magic Plane. Although the latter had initially made them think it was a grassland, there was at least a field of grass. In this current plane, everything the eye could see was white fog. The only tangible thing was the trace of this collapsed house in front of them; there was nothing else.

“We won’t go any further,” Bai Yu said as she set Bai Miao down and squatted down herself. “Miao Miao, try using an Upgrade Card.”

Bai Xi squatted beside her. “Oh, right! If we turn this place into a house, will we be able to see everything inside it clearly? Miao Miao, hurry and take out an Upgrade Card.”

“It is an upgrade,” Bai Miao muttered as she reached into her bag.

Bai Yu knew what she was thinking and explained with a smile, “Although there is fog during an upgrade, the fact that this entire area is covered in fog isn’t because of an upgrade. Sometimes there is fog in the distance on our island too, and it isn’t upgrading then.”

“I see.” Bai Miao realized her mistake and took out a Blank Upgrade Card, placing it on a piece of broken wood in front of her.

[Selection Confirmed – Ruined House. Please prepare the following upgrade materials.]

The card changed color, and various materials needed to upgrade this ruined house appeared.

Perhaps because the house was simply too dilapidated, the materials required for the first upgrade were not many. The materials appearing on the card were mostly things Bai Yu and Bai Xi were familiar with.

Driven by curiosity about the new plane, they decided to upgrade this ruined house first. After leaving this plane and returning to the Forest Plane, they used the Upgrade Card’s collection function, and lines connecting to various materials immediately appeared.

They needed some trees.

When the card was pressed against a tree, the massive trunk made a creaking sound.

Shortly after, the tree fell to the ground. Its bark and branches began to shed one after another, stripping away the trunk needed for building the house, which was instantly sucked away by the Upgrade Card.

Even though this was not the first time they had collected logs, they were still filled with wonder at the sight.

Looking at the Upgrade Card in their hands, they could not fathom how such a small card could contain such large logs.

But ever since they obtained the Check-in Shell, they had encountered many bizarre things. A common single-deck boat could turn into a double-deck boat after being shrouded in white fog for a while, making the act of siphoning away tree trunks seem less shocking by comparison.

Once the trunk was taken, the remaining bark and branches would not go to waste. They could be gathered later and brought back to the island to start fires for cooking.

After finishing the trunk of one tree, they started on the second without pause, their expressions shifting from slight surprise to calm.

It was normal. Everything was very normal. The Upgrade Card could do anything.

“That’s enough wood,” Bai Yu said, looking at the completed count on the card. “Next we need soil. There are different colors of soil listed.”

“We can find most of them here in the forest,” Bai Xi said, carrying a hoe. “Come on, let’s go dig some dirt.”

The Upgrade Card’s method for collecting soil was also simple. As long as they dug it up and piled it together, then placed the Upgrade Card on top, it would automatically take the soil. This step was a bit more difficult than collecting logs, but since this Upgrade Card was for building a house, they only needed to dig the dirt, which was incredibly easy.

They spent a day gathering all the materials required for this upgrade on the card, then returned to the new plane with the Upgrade Card.

During the upgrade, they stood just two steps away from the house.

In this fog-shrouded plane, being two steps away already made it hard to see clearly. However, when the house began to upgrade, they could easily distinguish the difference between the upgrade fog and the surrounding fog.

Both were white fog, but the upgrade fog was not just white. Against the backdrop of the surrounding fog, a golden light could be seen in the center of the upgrade fog. This light was very faint; if they hadn’t had a comparison this time, they might have ignored it.

But the fog from an upgrade was bound to be different from normal fog. After all, it wasn’t normal fog to begin with.

“Is it finished?” Bai Xi squinted her eyes to look closely. “The white fog doesn’t seem to have the golden light anymore.”

“Let’s walk over and see.”

Bai Yu held Bai Miao and pulled Bai Xi along, taking two steps forward.

Originally, this place was just a ruin with traces less than knee-high. Now, the three of them simultaneously bumped into a solid house. It was clear that this upgrade had been successful.

The only problem was that the surrounding fog was too thick. They still had to find the main door to enter the house.

Fortunately, they were right up against the house. As long as they circled around it, finding the door wasn’t difficult.

“Found it!”

Bai Xi used her strength to push the door open.

Bai Yu quickly walked inside while carrying Bai Miao.

“The white fog can’t get in?” Bai Xi also stood at the doorway, looking at the fog outside and then at the clear interior. “It really can’t! With fog this thick, if it could enter, it would definitely fill the room instantly.”

“It’s just that this white mist is too thick. We still can’t see what’s outside.” Bai Yu set Bai Miao down, letting her walk around the room on her own.

“You’re right. I wonder what this plane is even for,” Bai Xi said, scratching her head.

Bai Yu shook her head as well, turning her attention to the interior of the building.

The place had just been upgraded and was currently just an empty shell. There was a massive living room in the center, and directly across from the main entrance were three doors, positioned left, center, and right.

Of course, even if those three doors were opened, there was nothing inside.

“This house looks a bit strange,” Bai Xi said as she walked around in a circle. “Is this what a normal house is supposed to look like?”

“It looks a bit like an inn,” Bai Yu remarked. “I’ve only ever seen what an inn looks like. I’m not sure what a normal person’s house is like, but could there even be people in this plane?”

“Probably not,” Bai Xi said, looking out through the open front door. “With mist this thick, you can’t even see your hand in front of your face. If there really were people here, how would they live?”

As the two were talking, Bai Miao suddenly cried out from nearby, “Eldest Sister, Second Sister! The Shell is moving!!!”

“The Shell?” The two immediately looked over and saw Bai Miao desperately clutching her bag, while the Shell was darting around frantically inside it.

Before they could do anything, the Shell squeezed out of Bai Miao’s bag and hovered in the air above the center of the three girls.

Once it settled, the Shell spun around a few times in mid-air.

When it stopped again, three invisible lines extended from the Shell and attached themselves to the three sisters.

[Landlord Binding Confirmed]

[Owners: Bai Miao, Bai Xi, Bai Yu]

The complete Shell suddenly shattered, then slowly transformed into a board pieced together from shell fragments.

Subsequently, a string of text appeared on the board.

[Plane 0325: Inn * 1]

[Operating Hours: 18:00 – 06:00]

[Guest Room Rate Ratio Confirmed]

[Please Select Guests – ***]

An image appeared on the board made of shell fragments, marked with dots of various colors. Some dots were dark, some were light, and they were labeled with text and numbers.

The three sisters stood in a row, staring at the image for a long time.

A long time.

And a long time more.

The image on the board vanished, turning back into text.

The confusion in their eyes grew even deeper.

After all, none of them knew how to read.

A few small dots appeared on the board, their meaning unknown.

The Shell spoke once more.

[Use two Blank Upgrade Cards to construct a classroom?]

Having mastered the “Yes/No” technique, Bai Miao immediately replied, “Use them!”

[Return?]

“Return.”

The moment Bai Miao spoke, the three of them were back on the deck of the ship.

Unlike Bai Miao, who had shouted fearlessly, Bai Yu and Bai Xi were both a bit dazed.

“What does it mean?”

“Wait, Miao Miao didn’t even press the Transit Pass just now.”

“The Shell… is the Shell still here?”

Just as Bai Miao reached for her bag, the Shell appeared before them, split into three. It flew into their bodies, and a faint, shimmering Shell pattern appeared on each of their palms.

“We have them too?”

“Shell?”

Following their cries, a transparent board appeared in front of each of them. It made no sound, but the transparent boards were covered in words, leaving the illiterate sisters completely bewildered.

Bai Yu and Bai Xi realized after the fact, “Is this… looking down on us for not knowing how to read?”

Realizing this, both of them didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“But it would be better if we could read,” Bai Yu said, looking up to see a building standing next to the kitchen. “That must be the classroom. Come on, let’s go to class.”

“I wonder if this classroom teaches the language of the Magic Plane. It would be great if it did.”

“If there’s a teacher to teach us, we won’t have to guess the meaning of those words. Maybe it’ll be easier to learn their language.”

None of the three were opposed to the idea of learning. After getting off the boat together, they walked toward the classroom.

The space inside the classroom wasn’t large, but it was more than enough for the three of them to sit down.

Just as they were wondering where the teacher was, an image suddenly appeared on the board at the front of the classroom. It was the same text that had appeared on the Shell board back in the White Mist Plane.

This time, along with the writing, a voice accompanied it, explaining the meaning of the characters and the sentences.

It successfully allowed Bai Yu and Bai Xi to understand the core message.

“We’re going to be innkeepers?!”