CHAPTER 2053: CHAPTER 2051: INSUFFICIENT MATERIALS

"Yes, aunt, don’t worry, I have a plan." Bai Ruozhu said.

"Aunt, it was Fo Lanying who inexplicably went to bother Brother Bai. She asked Brother Bai why he could go to the Enlightenment Tablet and forced him to compete with her, demanding that he kneel and apologize if he refused. When Brother Bai was about to leave, she even hit Miss Si, and when I tried to mediate kindly, Fo Lanying even hit me. It’s simply unreasonable; look, I’m still swollen here." Bi Tao pointed to her cheekbone area, which indeed was bruised and swollen.

Jiao Ling got angry upon hearing this, "I didn’t want to cause trouble, but she’s too much. It seems the second elder did a fine job with her upbringing."

Bai Ruozhu tugged at Jiao Ling and said, "I saw that the second elder is quite overprotective and wanted to add stakes, so tomorrow, I’ll have a good fight with Fo Lanying. At least she’ll be peaceful after that and won’t bother Brother anymore."

"She just didn’t get to the Enlightenment Tablet herself, so she can’t stand Brother Bai going," Bi Tao said disdainfully.

Jiao Ling looked at Bi Tao and said with a puzzled expression, "Are you not angry with Ruozhu anymore?"

Bi Tao’s face turned red to her neck, and she stomped her foot, saying, "I’m just doing what’s right, not favoring family. I’d feel the same about anyone else."

Jiao Ling laughed, "Good, good, our Bi Tao is quite sensible after all."

Bai Ruozhu suspiciously looked at Bi Tao, feeling that she wasn’t so kind and that her words were somewhat odd earlier.

When you call him ’Brother Bai,’ shouldn’t you call Si Yihuan ’Sister Bai’? Why just ’Miss Si’?

Could it be...

Bai Ruozhu worriedly rubbed her temples. Is it coming for Brother again? Does Brother need to be this popular?

"What’s up, Ruozhu? Don’t worry too much, Aunt will lend you a few mechanical puppets." Jiao Ling saw Bai Ruozhu daydreaming and assumed she was concerned about tomorrow’s competition.

Bai Ruozhu hurriedly waved her hand, "No need, no need, lest Fo Lanying lose and use it against me. I have my own way to win."

"Don’t be careless. Although Fo Lanying is young, she has a lot of mechanical puppets. I reckon the second elder will also give her a powerful puppet for use," Bi Tao said, pouting. She was not reminding Bai Ruozhu but just didn’t want Fo Lanying to be too arrogant.

"Mechanical puppets also need someone to control them, don’t they? Even if a mechanist can make many, the number of puppets one can control in a single battle is limited, right?" Bai Ruozhu thought for a moment and asked.

Jiao Ling nodded, "So we usually choose the best ones to use. After all, everyone can only control a limited number simultaneously, and Fo Lanying seems to only be able to control seven or eight at once."

Seven or eight is already quite a number, Bai Ruozhu secretly sighed in her heart, but her expression didn’t change. She didn’t want her aunt to worry too much.

"No worries, I have Xiaohei." Bai Ruozhu said.

Jiao Ling nodded, "In any case, be cautious. Even if you can’t defeat the enemy, protect yourself well. A real man can endure and restrain."

Bai Ruozhu gave her a sweet smile, "I’m not a man, and I will surely win."

During dinner, Bi Tao stayed to eat with them. Bai Zepei apologetically said that he had dragged Bai Ruozhu into trouble, but Bai Ruozhu waved her hand and said, "Brother, what are you talking about? I just can’t stand her, and besides, we’re new here, and we can only establish authority this way."

She didn’t want Brother to think she was risking her life for him, lest he feel bad.

"It’s a pity Brother didn’t practice martial arts." Bai Zepei sighed, and next to him, Si Yihuan felt a bit upset and also regretted not learning martial arts.

"What’s so great about martial arts? Look at Fo Lanying; no matter how strong she is, she’s still jealous that you can go to the Enlightenment Tablet. If it were a study competition, none of us could beat you." Bai Ruozhu said with a smile.

Bai Zepei grinned and reached out to ruffle Bai Ruozhu’s hair, "Yes, you made Brother see sense. I won’t get stuck on that anymore."

The family was happy, but they were still worried about Bai Ruozhu’s competition tomorrow, so after dinner, they went to their rooms early to rest.

Jiao Yunyun went to find Jiao Ling, whispering, "I have a mechanical puppet no one has seen before. If we give it to Ruozhu, the second elder and others won’t be able to say anything, right?"

Jiao Ling shook her head, "Ruozhu can’t make a complete mechanical puppet herself, so taking it out will only give the second elder a reason to nitpick. She said she’s bringing her beast pet to the battle, so we don’t need to worry."

"Well, each generation has its own fortunes. I can see these kids are not ordinary." She said, taking a glance at Lanlan, who was already asleep, "I didn’t expect Lanlan to be able to come back again. She’s been cooped up for days and is itching to get out."

Jiao Ling’s face darkened, "Mom, I’m scared, I’m afraid the great elder will know and treat Lanlan like he did to Wei Yu. If it wasn’t for the great elder’s sudden attack on Wei Yu, Wei Yu might have had a chance to suppress that Gufeng. But it turned out..."

Jiao Yunyun quickly grabbed Jiao Ling’s hand, "Stop thinking about it. At least Lanlan can come back again."

Jiao Ling sniffed, holding back tears.

In another room, Bai Ruozhu hid in her space working on armor for Xiaohei. It was mentioned in the beast taming skill book Sangta gave her. Originally, she planned to gather enough materials and then find someone to produce it, but now she can only make one for Xiaohei first.

Fortunately, she had learned Mechanical Technique, so she could make the armor herself. However, the materials were less than she initially planned, so she had to make do for now.

Soon, she made armor for the back and started on the helmet for Xiaohei, only to find she had run out of materials.

"Ebony is gone, but Peach Heart Wood should work as a substitute, right?" she muttered to herself, quietly leaving the room and heading towards the Peach Forest.

She wondered if cutting down peach trees here would upset the Jiuli people. She only wanted a piece of Peach Heart Wood. If not, she could find a hidden peach tree, make an opening in it, and extract the Peach Heart Wood from inside?

As she was pondering this, a white figure caught her eye again, softer under the moonlight, not as pale as before.

"Why are you still wearing those clothes?" Bai Ruozhu said.

Feng Cheng’s low laughter sounded, "Men don’t care about these things."

"If you don’t care, why are you wearing white clothes? Isn’t it said that men who care about their image like to wear white?" Bai Ruozhu replied.

"If I wore black, wouldn’t you think I’m more of a ghost?" Feng Cheng shifted the topic, "Are you looking for Peach Heart Wood?"

Bai Ruozhu’s heart tightened, alarm bells ringing. "How do you know?"

She had been making Xiaohei’s armor in her space earlier; how did he know?

Feng Cheng pointed behind her, "Your beast pet doesn’t have a helmet. I figured you ran out of materials, so wandering around at night must be to find Peach Heart Wood for a helmet, not Peach Blossoms, right?"

Bai Ruozhu turned her head to see Xiaohei nearby. She had brought Xiaohei out when she left the space, and in her haste to find materials, she hadn’t told Xiaohei to stay put. Unexpectedly, Xiaohei had followed her.

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While vacationing with family in Thailand, I got a Thai massage hoping to relax, but ended up more exhausted, nearly unable to get up...