Chapter 123: Pouch Fairy – Pi Xiu

[“Brother Chen, I really liked the talisman you sent me last month. I gave the other one to Mi Hong. She… went out of her way to find a pouch as a return gift.”]

[Attachment: Ancient-style Pouch (Not claimed)]

“A pouch—I think it’s like an ancient version of a wallet,” Chen Xiyi recalled, though he felt a bit disappointed. He had thought it might be another inheritance for him. But it was fine; after all, it was free.

Only after Chen Xiyi claimed the pouch did he realize how incredible it was.

[Item with Historical Connotation: Ancient-style Pouch]

“Holy cow, what a true friend! I’ve decided: whoever messes with you messes with me.”

Chen Xiyi looked at the pouch in his Inventory, shaped like a tiger’s head, and was utterly stunned. He never expected Li Zhao to send him an item with Historical Connotation. If the Home Game gave it a note, it must have full Spirituality, meaning Li Zhao had essentially given him a top-tier Fairy.

With this, the potential of a 4-star Favorability friend was immense.

Chen Xiyi felt a pang of regret. If only he had raised Wu Xiu’s Favorability earlier, maybe he could have gotten some items from him too.

But upon second thought, Wu Xiu couldn’t compare to Li Zhao. People were just different. Wu Xiu had even lowered his Favorability before, unlike Li Zhao, who not only kept his Favorability from dropping but also helped him make friends and sent him gifts. That was a true friend.

He hurried back to his Homestead to perform Enlightenment and Spirit Communication, and also to create a Miniature Garden and some food.

[You used the skill Enlightenment and Spirit Communication on the Ancient-style Pouch.]

[The Ancient-style Pouch’s Spirituality is awakening 1%…]

[You obtained the Pouch Fairy: Pi Xiu.]

[Pouch Fairy: Pi Xiu]

[Satiety Level: 100/100]

[Ability 1: Portable Pouch]

[Ability 2: Take In, Never Out]

[Ability 3: Gather Treasures and Attract Wealth]

[You are blessed by the Pouch Fairy: Pi Xiu and gained the status: Wealth Aura.]

[The Bonds of All Things list has been updated.]

[Wealth-attracting Divine Beast: Pi Xiu (Pouch Fairy: Pi Xiu), Three-legged Golden Toad (Vacant), Wealth Cat (Vacant)]

[Confusingly Similar: Sachet (Vacant), Pouch (Pouch Fairy: Pi Xiu)]

[…]

Chen Xiyi looked at the Pi Xiu in his hand, which was only the size of his palm. It looked very mythical, just a bit small.

“So that was a Pi Xiu head! I thought it was a tiger. I was wondering why a tiger would have a horn,” Chen Xiyi couldn’t help but mutter.

Then he started making the Miniature Garden while checking Pi Xiu’s three abilities.

Portable Pouch increased his Inventory capacity by one hundred slots. If the pouch moved more than ten meters away from him, it would automatically return to him—hence the name “portable.” If it reverted to pouch form, it also gave Chen Xiyi one cubic meter of storage space, though it couldn’t hold living things.

Fortunately, it could grow. In the future, it wouldn’t just be one hundred Inventory slots and one cubic meter of storage space.

The ability Take In, Never Out was also very simple: it meant Chen Xiyi would no longer drop items after Death. This ability pleased him greatly. He wasn’t afraid of dying; he just didn’t want to lose his things afterward.

The last ability, Gather Treasures and Attract Wealth, was interesting. In pouch form, it allowed him to pick up items from any distance automatically.

Unfortunately, it didn’t have a remote collection ability, which limited its usefulness. But it was fine—after all, Pi Xiu was a Pouch Fairy, and being able to help pick things up was already good enough. He couldn’t ask for more.

Thus, Chen Xiyi understood: the Fairies in this world basically needed to cooperate with people, unlike the Fairies from the Shanhe Sect in the previous world, which could act more independently after being enlightened from items.

“Pi Xiu, pouch mode.”

Pi Xiu instantly transformed back into the original Pixiu Pouch. Chen Xiyi casually tucked it into his chest pocket.

[Gold Coin Cakes (Fairy Food) × 100]

[Satiety Level + 100]

[Fairy Growth + 1]

[Fairy Mood + 1]

“I’ve put the food in your storage space. Eat when you’re hungry,” Chen Xiyi said.

[Pi Xiu checked the Gold Coin Cakes in your chest pocket and indicated that it understood.]

“Good, as long as you know.”

Chen Xiyi immediately left the Homestead and checked the changes on the Game Map.

“The map only added the Qi Mechanism chart for Wealth Aura, just like Zhangliu. No new labels were added.”

“It seems not all Fairies can contribute to enhancing the Game Map.”

Zhangliu enhanced the Game Log, while Pi Xiu enhanced the Inventory, so it didn’t improve the Game Map.

“This suggests that Fairies are like small Modules, gradually adding or enhancing various functions for the Home Game.”

Chen Xiyi opened the Bonds of All Things. Currently, several bonds were just one Fairy away from being completed. But even though it was just one, finding the right type of Fairy could be quite difficult.

It might even take several worlds to gather them all.

But it was fine; Chen Xiyi had already found the right way to approach this.

“No wonder the Spirit of History Module had such big flaws before it was unified. It turns out I needed to use it with the Favorability system, not rely solely on my own efforts.”

Who would have thought that a friend would send him items from who-knows-how-far away, and they were exactly what he needed.

“I should send Li Zhao a reply. I can make the Formless Astral Energy into Ritual Implements and send him one. Mi Hong should get one too, since he mentioned her at the beginning. Their relationship must be special.”

“However, the structure of the Formless Astral Energy is too complex. A Ritual Implement might not be able to handle it. I’ll modify it: remove the abilities that increase Power and agility, keep the Qi Mechanism replenishment ability, and focus the rest on defensive capabilities.”

With that, he crafted two pendants that looked like a pair of ducks.

He remembered picking them up from the roadside. He quickly made the improved Formless Astral Energy Ritual Implements.

By removing many abilities, he only needed to form the Yin Qi and Yang Qi Qi Mechanism structures. This way, the Purple Qi Talisman could deal with Eerie Entities, while the Formless Astral Energy Pendant could handle attacks from others.

Killing two birds with one stone.

After finishing, he casually took some food from his Inventory and threw it all into the attachments.

“Done. Send.”

[Chamber of Commerce President Li Zhao received your reply and claimed the attachments. Chamber of Commerce President Li Zhao’s Favorability towards you increased by 10. Current Favorability: 4 stars.]

[Chamber of Commerce President Li Zhao gave the Formless Astral Energy Pendant to Chamber of Commerce Vice President Mi Hong on your behalf. Chamber of Commerce Vice President Mi Hong’s Favorability towards you increased by 20. Current Favorability: 4 stars.]

They received it quickly. His Favorability increased a bit, but what truly made Chen Xiyi happy was gaining another 4-star friend.

This meant double the happiness in the future.

A 3-star Favorability friend wouldn’t send him gifts or letters, but a 4-star one would.

“Li Zhao is really impressive. He sent another good friend my way.”

Chen Xiyi didn’t think this was due to his Formless Astral Energy Pendant; it must have been Li Zhao’s help. Otherwise, how could it reach 4 stars so quickly?

“Ah, this is wonderful,” Chen Xiyi was overjoyed. It was like a double blessing.

However, Chen Xiyi was puzzled about how Li Zhao viewed the items he sent. After all, the whole situation was quite eerie.

As a Player, he could understand, but as a native NPC, Li Zhao probably had no such concept.

How did he send and receive letters?

This baffled Chen Xiyi.

“Never mind. Once I finish what I’m doing, I’ll go see Li Zhao and ask him directly,” Chen Xiyi decided, not dwelling on it too long. It wasn’t a big deal.

After replying to the letter, Chen Xiyi remembered that there were twenty-one people locked in the carriage in his Inventory.

He quickly built a few more Prisons.

Prisons were easy to build—just wooden fences.

Even though they were just wooden fences, with the Home Protector, they inherited the Air Wall. As long as he didn’t grant temporary access, anyone thrown inside would be blocked by the Air Wall and unable to get out.

He put twenty people in five Prisons. The last one was Li Hao, whom Chen Xiyi still needed to question about why he came to dig up this tomb.

He recalled that this tomb was called the Lady Shu Mausoleum, essentially the burial place of the Shu King’s daughter. As for who the Shu King was, Chen Xiyi had no idea.

When Li Hao came out, he looked confused. His memory only went as far as being shoved into the carriage, and now he found himself in this strange place.

There were Eerie Entities and people here.

“Alright, I ask, you answer. If I’m not satisfied with your answers, your cellmate will be chosen from the Water Ghost, Water Monkey, Corpse Demon, and Tiger Demon. Whatever happens after that is not my problem.”

As he spoke, Chen Xiyi pointed at the group of Eerie Entities.

Li Hao swallowed hard. This was like dancing with a broadsword on a grave—absolutely terrifying.

“Is this the Lady Shu Mausoleum? Where is Lady Shu’s body?” Li Hao, though scared, still managed to ask.

Chen Xiyi pointed at the Corpse Demon. “That’s her, tied up. After turning into a Corpse Demon, she became mindless, so we had to tie her up. Do you know her? Maybe you can be responsible for providing her with blood plasma.”

Hearing this, Li Hao quickly shook his head. Provide? How much could he provide? Probably just one meal’s worth, and he’d be done for.

“Enough nonsense. Tell me, what’s the use of that Guqin you were looking for? If you’re honest, you might live. If not, you’ll be feeding the Corpse Demon,” Chen Xiyi said, not in the mood to chat. If Li Hao talked, fine; if not, Chen Xiyi didn’t care.

His main goal was to stop this guy from bothering him, and that was already achieved. Any secrets were just extra; he didn’t need them.

“Shu King Palace. The sound played by that Guqin can calm the rat monsters in the Shu King Palace.” Li Hao knew he had to show his value; otherwise, he’d end up feeding the Corpse Demon.

“Where is that? Have you been there? Where did you learn about this? Any proof?” Chen Xiyi fired off questions like a machine gun.

“It’s in the mountains of Shu. I’ve been three times, but the rat monsters wiped out my groups each time. Only I escaped. I found this in an ancient text, and I’ve verified it. That’s why I need the Guqin to calm the rat monsters so we can enter the Shu King Palace safely.”

“Rat monsters? Shu King? Did you bring that ancient text with you?” Chen Xiyi asked again.

“If you want to go to the Shu King Palace, I can guide you. Without me, it’s easy to get lost in the Shu mountains,” Li Hao cleverly avoided Chen Xiyi’s request for the text and instead offered to take him there.

“Hah, you think you’re clever? Either give me the ancient text, or I’ll send you to the Corpse Demon’s Prison right now.”

Chen Xiyi wasn’t going to indulge him. Trying to manipulate him?

Did he really think Chen Xiyi cared about going to the so-called Shu King Palace? He didn’t even know what was inside. Why go?

To dig more graves?

He was a good person and would absolutely not do such a thing a second time. He could raise four fingers and swear to the light.