Chapter 133: Restoration

The boss brought its axe down, cleaving only half of the rooftop and reducing its defense to 5/10. The force of the blow struck a simple wooden cabinet inside the villa; from the corner of her eye, Yun Qing saw the cabinet shatter, spilling charcoal that vanished as it touched the ground.

The boss raised its axe again, swinging toward the remaining half of the roof.

Reaching the final moment, Yun Qing was determined to succeed in her defense, even at the cost of grievous injury. She stopped worrying about whether the boss would unleash a powerful ultimate move, abandoned all caution, and ceased trying to dodge. Popping a few Qi-replenishing pills into her mouth, she pulled out her mosquito swatter, activated both the adhesive and internal energy buttons simultaneously, and pressed it firmly against the wound on the monster's left leg.

"Smack!"

Critical hit -200;
Combat experience +600;

The boss had no armor protecting its wound, allowing the mosquito swatter to deal damage. Yun Qing had avoided using the swatter earlier because she usually struck and immediately fled; a single counterattack from the boss would have been devastating.

"Smack!"

Critical hit -200;
Combat experience +600;

The boss's health bar was down to a sliver. Irritated by the object stuck to its leg, it thrashed its limb violently, trying to shake it off.

The swatter’s adhesive function was engaged, and its grip was incredibly strong. As the monster thrashed with immense power, Yun Qing’s entire body was lifted off the ground, swinging wildly with the leg. Ignoring the discomfort, she gripped the swatter tightly, keeping the adhesive active while pouring her internal energy into it frantically.

Even as it swung its leg, the boss continued to hack at the roof. One blow, two, three—it seemed to be burning its final strength to destroy its target.

"Smack!"

Critical hit -120;
Combat experience +3200;

With another surge of internal energy, Yun Qing saw a different system notification—the sign of a final blow. She looked at the boss; its name and health bar were gone, and its corpse toppled backward.

Yun Qing, still attached to the flailing leg, was sent flying backward uncontrollably. Her fingers remained locked on the adhesive button, but as she glanced at the swatter, she noticed its durability had dropped to zero, nullifying its stickiness.

She tried to perform a roll to dissipate the momentum, but perhaps due to the total exhaustion of her stamina, spiritual sense, and internal energy, she failed to execute the move.

"Thud!"

-10;

She landed heavily within the combat zone, losing ten points of health.

Obtained: Communication Scroll *1; Gold *10;

Liu Liu helped her collect the boss’s loot. In the air, the countdown for the monster siege on her dwelling reached zero. Yun Qing, who wanted to lie there and rest, was forcibly stood up by the system.

"Congratulations. You have successfully defended against the monster siege. Monsters breached the cabinet 8/10. Obtained: Level 1 Energy *200; Combat experience +12000; Crafting experience +12000; Gathering experience +12000; Qi-Gathering Cushion *1."

"Congratulations. Your combat level has increased to 41."

Since her gathering and crafting levels had not reached 41, she did not rank up overall.

Forced to her feet, Yun Qing glanced at the intact Spirit-Repelling Tree in the field. Ignoring the ruined fences, she dragged her battered body into the damaged villa. Disregarding the piles of items needing repair, she found the simple wooden bed in the corner.

The bed remained intact. She collapsed onto it; the sensation of overtaxed spiritual sense caused her head to throb. She closed her eyes and drifted into sleep almost immediately.

...

With the mother insect dead, the Mayor of Sunshine Town dispatched a large group of warriors. Several uninjured members of the merchant caravan joined them, clearing out the mosquito nest while searching for the caravan’s missing cook.

The clearing of the nest proceeded smoothly, but after searching every corner, they found no trace of Yun Qing. Everyone assumed the worst.

...

The supposedly doomed Yun Qing rested on the wooden bed for three hours. She awoke feeling fully refreshed, her headache gone. As she opened her eyes, she was met with a flood of notifications:

"This wooden wall is damaged. Repair requires Level 1 Energy *100, Level 2 Energy *20. Repair?"
"This floor is damaged. Repair requires Level 1 Energy *100, Level 2 Energy *20. Repair?"
"This simple wooden cabinet is damaged. Repair requires Level 1 Energy *3. Repair?"
"This roof is damaged. Repair requires Level 1 Energy *100, Level 2 Energy *30. Repair?"
"..."

The stairs, fences, and more also required repairs. Many items had reached zero defense and vanished into thin air, leaving nothing to repair—they would have to be crafted anew. Looking at the costs, she realized that repairing a single floorboard or wall was much more expensive than before.

"Liu Liu, why is the repair cost so high?"

Liu Liu, having gorged itself on meat, was in a great mood and explained patiently, "That’s because you didn't reinforce them before. This time, you did. Using energy to repair now preserves the reinforcement effects. This is still much cheaper than crafting and reinforcing a new Level 1 structure."

"Fair enough!"

It was true that she had reinforced them. If she hadn't, the siege would surely have failed. She decided she must fully reinforce her dwelling to Level 2 as soon as possible.

Yun Qing gathered the energy converted by the converter, the pills refined at the pharmacy station, and the tables and chairs from the intermediate crafting machine. She transferred a portion of the items from her system inventory into the villa’s cabinets.

Closing her eyes and refusing to calculate the losses, she heart-wrenchingly chose to repair everything. Fortunately, the mosquito nutrient fluid had provided plenty of energy, or she wouldn't have been able to afford it.

Right, she had forgotten to check the other spoils from the siege.

The boss had dropped 10 taels of gold—a nice bonus that covered the cost of her research into the anti-mosquito venom pill.

Communication Scroll: A one-time scroll. Choose a target within range to enable barrier-free communication.

It seemed this scroll was meant to act as a two-way translator when language barriers existed. It was useful, but she had hoped for something better. Yun Qing grumbled, "Liu Liu, why not just give me a contract scroll so I can tame a pet? Even if we don't speak the same language, a contract would allow us to communicate, right?"

"You don't have to use the scroll."

"How could I not? I'll keep it for now; it’ll come in handy eventually."

Qi-Gathering Cushion: Meditate on this cushion to gather spiritual energy more quickly and accelerate cultivation. It is tradable and can be placed in a cultivation room within the dwelling. Note: Cultivation within the dwelling will consume energy based on one's cultivation level.

A good item—it finally fulfilled her wish to cultivate within her own home. The fact that it was tradable meant she could take it outside, and the "Qi-gathering" effect meant she wouldn't even need a spirit-gathering array.

Yun Qing stretched, her stomach growling. She was hungry again.

There were tables and chairs inside the dwelling where she could eat, but she wanted to see the situation outside and didn't want to dine amidst the ruins.

With a thought, she exited the dwelling and asked, "Liu Liu, do you want some meat?"

Liu Liu, its belly round and full, rolled around on the ground, looking utterly satisfied. "You eat it. I'm already full."