Chapter 154 Safe House

The bathroom was filled with hot steam.

The mermaid with a delicate face was lying on the edge of the bathtub, and a layer of fine sweat beads appeared on her white arms due to the temperature.

From a distance, the golden fishtail at the end of the bathtub emitted a dazzling light in the water mist, which was even brighter than the lights in the bathroom.

However, if you get closer, you can find that the conversation between the two is not so warm.

"Itchy! Don't scratch that scale! Don't!"

Xu Zhiyan twisted and turned in the bathtub, avoiding Party A's fingers.

Unlike his obedient appearance when facing the slicing, he was quite bold in front of familiar ghosts and gods and did not treat them as outsiders at all.

“No, no, no, no!”

He supported himself on the edge of the bathtub with one hand, and with the other hand tightly grasped the ghost's fingers, and couldn't help but question.

"Isn't it just blood? Can't I just rinse it off?"

Why do you have to lift up the scales to wash them?

And probably because there was no blood, the ghosts had no body temperature, and when their cold fingertips touched the flesh under the fish scales, the sensation was very intense, even stronger than when the blood slices touched it before.

After his fingers were grabbed, the ghost paused for a moment.

"Mermaids need to clean their scales regularly."

He recovered the slice of Poseidon, and accordingly, also incorporated the knowledge of daily care for mermaids into his mind.

Looking down at the flushed Xu Zhiyan, his eighteen-year-old age made him look very fresh and tender, and his skin seemed like water could be squeezed out of it.

However, the mermaid who was cleaned out expressed her dissatisfaction.

"Is there any bath gel in the sea? I don't think other mermaids would pick at other people's scales to clean them like this, and I'm going to change back soon!"

As he spoke, Xu Zhiyan frowned and secretly guessed, "Are you affected by the slices?"

This is exactly the same technique as with blood. Just one flick of the finger can kill others.

Being too excited, Xu Zhiyan squeezed the ghost's hand even harder. The slippery bath gel reduced the friction and he felt like he couldn't hold on to the other party.

The touch of their fingers was particularly obvious. Guishen turned his head slightly guiltily and explained in a low voice.

"Mermen in the sea do the same."

The mermaid's tail is fragile yet powerful, and the hard scales covering the outer layer allow them to smash boulders in the sea. Although this advantage has nothing to do with Xu Zhiyan, he also has the disadvantages of the tail.

The tender flesh protected by hard scales is the most vulnerable part of the mermaid, so generally no stains will enter.

However, once dirt accidentally enters the gaps between the scales, if it is not handled properly, it may quickly breed bacteria and affect the health of the mermaid.

"You have such bad luck. If you leave it alone, you will definitely get sick."

The reason was irrefutable, and the ghost felt that he had done nothing wrong. Publicly speaking, Xu Zhiyan's situation was indeed more complicated, and privately, he did not like the blood to stain his beloved.

Although in the sea, mermaids will only let their partners do this...but this doesn't need to be explained.

After listening to this, Xu Zhiyan was silent for a moment, then shook his head and refuted.

"No, no, it's too exciting to play."

He tried to come up with new ideas to solve the problem.

"You helped me clean the scales because I had bad luck and almost all of them were sucked away during the sacrifice, so it was bound to happen if I encountered something that could cause the scales to become infected, right?"

It's like Murphy's Law.

Bad things are bound to happen.

Xu Zhiyan loosened his fingertips that were clinging to the edge of the bathtub, and grasped Party A's hands with both hands, allowing himself to sit up and get closer.

This scene was somewhat beyond the expectations of the ghosts and gods.

The beautiful mermaid with her upper body exposed, holding Him tightly with both hands, the water line of the bathtub barely covered her waist, and looking down from above, she could vaguely see her mermaid line and flat belly...

"Yes." His answer became stiff.

Hearing the answer, Xu Zhiyan raised the corners of his mouth, moved closer, and advised gently: "Since my luck is very bad and it will increase the risk of infection, can you give me some more luck?"

Although overall, the ghost seems to be an unlucky guy, but the opponent looks strong enough, so he should have some luck, right?

Although the previous blood vessel implantation was painful, he has already tasted the benefits.

Whether it is physical enhancement or the ability to control NPCs, they are both excellent powers in the dungeon and much stronger than simple props.

Not expecting the other party to make such a request, the ghost's Adam's apple moved up and down and he nodded blankly.

“Okay,” He replied.

The mermaid smiled, her beautiful eyes full of greed.

Just some luck.

The ghosts and gods felt that they were probably bewitched.

When He saw that the desire in Xu Zhiyan's eyes was satisfied, He suddenly felt that even if the other party wanted to dig out His heart, He would not hesitate for a moment.

The slippery fingers covered with shower gel were released.

The mermaid who had successfully obtained new power lay back in the bathtub like a ruthless scum fish, flapping her tail intermittently.

"Then the scales don't need to be washed!" Xu Zhiyan breathed a sigh of relief.

After he turned eighteen, his physical strength was very poor. Just now, Party A pressed him down and picked off his fish scales. He didn't even have the strength to resist. His soul was almost washed away.

But things turned out to be the opposite of what we expected.

The ghost leaned over Xu Zhiyan and stretched out his hand to pinch the other's thin ear fin.

"Luck must be restored to human form, and it must be planted here."

Xu Zhiyan shivered and almost fainted.

Mermaids are highly sensitive creatures, and the translucent membrane on their ear fins is also very sensitive. He has to be very careful when touching it himself. Now, after being pinched by Party A neither lightly nor heavily, he lay limp in the bathtub, unable to move for a long time.

"...You, don't be affected by the slicing and always make a move!" He glared at Party A and said weakly.

As for why this incident was blamed on the slice rather than the ghost itself, it was because in the copy, every time he had a brief contact with the sea god Bai Jin, the other party liked to bite his ears very much.

However, Party A can always act like a decent person in the safe house, as if he is not related to worldly matters.

So now I always like to do things with my hands, which must have been influenced by slicing.

The ghost withdrew his hand, thinking back to the look Xu Zhiyan had just given him, and felt confused.

He didn't know if it was because he had turned into a mermaid, but this naturally charming creature was very hard to resist. Even his angry eyes looked like he was acting like a spoiled child... Coupled with the childishness of an eighteen-year-old sweetheart, he could only warn himself not to do more or he would scare the other person.

After shaking his ears and thinking about what Party A said, Xu Zhiyan took a deep breath and frowned.

Mermaids can’t even add luck?

Damn, discrimination against ear fins?

"So if I open the hot spring first, I don't have to wash the scales?" He tried to bargain.

"You don't have to use your hands, just use warm water." The ghost compromised.

"Speaking of which, the blood is your slice, there shouldn't be any bacteria in it, right?" Xu Zhiyan did not give up. He did not think that he would be so unlucky that he would get infected just by soaking in some blood.

“It’s dirty.”

The ghosts and gods did not hesitate at all when they slandered their slices.

“…Okay.”

After the discussion, the wet mermaid was pulled out of the bathtub by the ghosts.

Xu Zhiyan shook his tail, not knowing if it was an illusion, but he felt a little itchy. He was startled and worried that there was something wrong with his tail, so he quickly opened the panel to check the content.

[Safe House Level: 5]

[Room keys to be unlocked: 3]

[Number of skill points that can be activated: 2]

[Currently available for dungeons: ≤★★★★]

[Supply Restoration: Level 4 (Supply Store Unlocked)]

[Status Enhancement: Level 1]

[Special upgrade: None]

After upgrading to the next level, three keys were given two skill points, and the overall dungeon opening level was also increased by half a level.

As early as when the two masters were hesitating to interact with each other, the safe house system that had been waiting nearby finally had a chance to shine, and it jumped out to give a detailed explanation of the hot spring room.

[The hot spring room is on the second floor, next to the master room.]

[The specific function of the hot spring room is to improve the personal physique of the owner of the safe house and restore your condition to its peak. If you soak for more than two hours a day, your metabolism and other physical problems can be improved.]

"Can the monsters be soaked? Can their levels be increased by soaking?" Xu Zhiyan asked.

He didn't want to miss any opportunity to improve the strength of the safe house.

After trying to bring Little Bone into the dungeon and seeing it play a huge role, Xu Zhiyan set his sights on the monsters in the safe house.

It’s fine if you can’t bring ghosts and gods in, it would also be nice to bring some other powerful monsters as fighters!

[No, host!] The safe house system was terrified.

[The hot spring room is a supporting facility for the master room. Monsters can enter this space, but they cannot enter the water. The hot spring room will be adjusted according to the current state of the master, mainly to serve you personally! ]

"Oh, okay then." Xu Zhiyan sighed.

This is why he was unwilling to open a hot spring room even though he had a poor physical condition before. For him, improving his personal physical condition was not cost-effective.

Following Xu Zhiyan's choice, a closed door on the second floor was opened.

“Crack!”

He nestled in the ghost's arms and looked down at the hall from the second floor to make sure the monsters were still working in an orderly manner.

Lao Yang has emptied out all the contents of Yaya's backpack. The monsters gathered around it, hoping that it would pick and choose some things that humans cannot eat and eat them in advance.

Little Kegu had a big white snake hanging around his neck and was writing and drawing in a notebook.

As one of the few highly intelligent monsters in the safe house, it took over Qu Ji's job and was organizing and taking inventory of the items, recording everything in a book one by one.

And Qu Ji, the snail housekeeper, received a notification from the system that the safe house would be open to the four-star copy in the evening.

The higher the level of the dungeon, the richer the player who enters the safe house is. It commands the monsters to clean up the yard and prepare for the reception.

Seeing the safe house getting on track and thriving, Xu Zhiyan felt excited.

"A four-star copy...what star is the copy where the blood is? We have to open the five-star copy as soon as possible. There is not enough profit for players below five stars." He is serious about making money.

The ghost hesitated for a moment and replied.

"It's a five-star instance, but it's a little special. I'll let the system confirm the details."

Xu Zhiyan nodded. It had only been a while since the blood coordinates were discovered, and the safe house system still needed to obtain more accurate information before deciding whether to enter the next copy.

"Let's deal with the tail first. It's too troublesome on land. I can't even move on the road." He sighed, looking hopeless.

"And age. Eighteen is too scary. The blood vessels I just implanted seem to be sealed."

Xu Zhiyan could feel that the blood vessels he had implanted with great effort were still there, but they could not be used. He was completely exhausted.

"It will recover." The ghost comforted his successor in a gentle voice.

“Squeak—”

The door of the hot spring room was pushed open by a dark shadow hidden in the hidden corners. Three wisps of smoke were carved on the door, representing the hot spring.

"Ding-ling~"

The door opened and closed, and the pleasant and comfortable sound of wind chimes was heard.

As soon as Xu Zhiyan entered the hot spring room, he felt the temperature rising.

The thick white fog that came towards him made him squint his eyes, and it took him a while to adapt.

In the huge space, there was only a circular lake surrounded by stones. Water vapor was rising from the lake, and the surrounding ground was a whole piece of clean, white rock made of an unknown material.

Xu Zhiyan stretched his neck to look around and commented with a pursed mouth.

"…This hot spring is a bit dry."

There is nothing around except a huge round lake, as simple as a blank sheet of paper.

He was responded with the gentle laughter of the ghost.

“You can change this.”

"Huh?" Xu Zhiyan was slightly stunned.

The ghost didn't explain much and held the mermaid and sat by the hot spring pool.

"What do you think is missing here?"

He carefully guided the human inheritors who were entering the magical space for the first time, and there was not a trace of impatience in his words.

"There is no distant view, no near view, and no house..." Xu Zhiyan, with the idea that he should enjoy the property to the end after spending the money to buy the key, made suggestions for modification without any hesitation.

After making sure that the change in scenery would not affect the temperature around the hot spring, he stroked his chin and began to speak.

"We need a house, a wooden one will do, and we can build a pavilion or something on one side. We also need to plant some rare rocks, buildings, and precious flowers."

"As for the scenery, a resort hot spring! It's best to be in the snowy mountains. In this way, other small animals will shiver in the snow, and I will be soaking in the hot spring. Mm, it's more comfortable this way."

"But let me make it clear first, I don't accept taking a hot spring bath with a monkey..."

The ghost couldn't help laughing as he listened to the mermaid in his arms' blunt plan.

How greedy.

I want the scenery of spring, summer, autumn and winter.

He held Xu Zhiyan's right hand and slowly lifted it into the air.

The entire white space began to change.

Starting from the close view at the entrance, lush and rare trees grow out of the stone floor. In an instant, the distance from the entrance to the hot spring is surrounded by greenery.

But time hasn't stopped.

The lush forest is still growing, countless flowers bloom and fade, and finally produce plump and round fruits, and the leaves also turn into a beautiful red color.

Most of the hot spring was filled with abundant autumn.

On the other side of the round pond, a simple wooden building was built in the blink of an eye. The light-colored gauze fluttered in the wind and could not be seen clearly in the hazy fog.

A little further away it was snowing.

Beyond the autumn woods and further into the area, there are endless snow-capped mountains and the scenery is breathtaking.

Before Xu Zhiyan could come to his senses, he heard the ghost's explanation.

“Too many colors filling the same scene may not look that good, so if you want a spring and summer scene, wait until other rooms are opened.”

After hearing the explanation, Xu Zhiyan only had four words left.

"Fuck, that's awesome!"

He glanced at the ghosts and couldn't help shaking his head. As expected, he was a good painter. The scenery he created was much more beautiful than what he had imagined.

"But why autumn and winter?"

Although the combination of red and white is very stunning and in line with Xu Zhiyan's aesthetic, he is a little curious about why ghosts and gods would create the scenery in this way.

“The ripe fruits can be taken out and eaten.”

Regarding the choice of seasons, the reasons given by ghosts and gods are very simple.

Based on his understanding of Xu Zhiyan, if we really talk about seasons, the other party definitely likes the harvest season of autumn the most.

"You still understand me!"

As expected, Xu Zhiyan was very satisfied.

He even leaned on the ghost and looked around again and again, wondering if the scene here could be used to develop some fruit and vegetable fields.

If the things grown here have new effects, the safe house will have new income.

“Can fruit trees nourished by hot spring water grow better?”

Thinking in his mind, he couldn't help but look at Party A.

"If we dig up all the greenery around us, can we plant fruit trees instead? How do we calculate the speed of time? How many fruits can be harvested in a day? What is the range?"

I originally thought that using two keys to open a broken hot spring was a waste, but if the flow rate of the landscaping here can be improved, can it produce unlimited output? Damn, it makes me excited just thinking about it!

The ghost frowned slightly.

This question...He had never considered it.

Glancing at the beautiful scenery that had just been completed, He suddenly felt that he might not have a comprehensive understanding of Xu Zhiyan's greed.

The safe house system just couldn't listen anymore.

[Host! Are you sure you want to clear all the beautiful hot spring scenery and plant trees? Is this reasonable? ! ! !]

"Any questions?" Xu Zhiyan didn't think there was anything unreasonable in his suggestion.

[According to the law of conservation of energy, if you consume too much energy for the fruit tree, then there will be less energy for you to improve your physical condition!] The system is quite disappointed.

That's a good reason.

Xu Zhiyan frowned, thought for a moment, and came up with a compromise plan: "How about this, when I come to bathe, the flow of time of the fruit tree will stop. When I finish bathing and enter the dungeon, I will let the hot spring plant the fruit tree."

[……]

The planning was so perfect that the system found itself unable to refute it.

However, that’s not all. Xu Zhiyan even smelled other business opportunities from the information provided.

"If power is conserved, then if we stimulate the growth of plants, we will most likely only be able to harvest ordinary fruits. This thing is not very useful to us. If we plant some other functional plants, the fruits we get should have more powerful power."

He thought a lot.

"There are many seeds brought from dungeons circulating in the black market. I have seen human head fruit in the black market before. Eating it can restore your mental strength. If I can get the seeds of this kind of fruit..."

Xu Zhiyan envisions a future where hot springs will make a fortune.

The system is going crazy.

[Host, are you sure? Do you know how ugly these functional crops are? Some of them even cry and scream!]

For example, the human head fruit just mentioned by its host.

The tree has hair instead of leaves. When the fruit is ripe, it makes a humming sound and sways in the wind, which is so scary.

Xu Zhiyan glanced at the beautiful scenery around him without any lingering feelings.

“There’s always a price to pay for making money.”

Isn't it just seeing some strange plants while taking a hot spring bath? When he thought about how much points these things could sell for, he was so excited that he couldn't wait to be afraid.

[……]

The system realized that its host was really obsessed with money, so it could only place its last hope on the real owner of the safe house.

[Mr. Ghost! Do you think it's appropriate?]

"Can."

The ghosts and gods answered without thinking.

He had no interest in anything other than Xu Zhiyan, and he had just spent time creating the scenery just to make his beloved happy.

"But the safe house doesn't have any seed reserves. We have to go outside to look for them."

Now that Xu Zhiyan has something he likes more, he only hates that he can't leave the safe house to find it. How could he stop him?

[……]

The system is desperate.

As a system that is passionate about decoration and once made a bet with Xu Zhiyan for the little red mailbox, it doesn't understand why there are humans who have no demand for beauty at all!

But its top leader and second leader only care about money and do whatever they are told, so it has no say at all.

[I'm going to help Little Gristle take inventory.]

The safe house system left crying.

Xu Zhiyan didn't understand why the system suddenly felt so disappointed, but this didn't stop him from being happy after getting a piece of land for planting, and he was eager to expand trade.

"Alright, alright, let's get rid of the tail quickly. After I regain my human form, I'm going to shell it and buy some plants to plant!"

After saying that, without waiting for Party A to react, he pushed the other party's chest and slid into the hot spring in the opposite direction.

“Plop——”

The mermaid fell into the water, splashing water.

The ghost was sitting on the shore, stunned at first, then smiled.

Although the eighteen-year-old Xu Zhiyan was not in good health, after returning to the safe house, the continuous events that happened made him feel like he had been injected with chicken blood, and he was full of energy.

Originally, he was worried that Xu Zhiyan would faint from exhaustion while washing the scales, but now that there is a hot spring, that shouldn't happen.

But after ten minutes, the water above the hot spring pool was unusually calm.

Apart from a few bubbles popping up from time to time, there was no sight of the mermaid.

The ghost realized that something was wrong.

At the bottom of the hot spring pool, Xu Zhiyan looked at the shimmering water in the distance with an expressionless face.

Damn, whose hot spring water is tens of meters deep? Why?

He tried to move his stiff fish tail. He never thought that he would encounter such a situation while taking a hot spring bath at home...

After waiting for a while, he heard the sound of something falling into the water.

A huge snake tail passed before his eyes. Xu Zhiyan swallowed his saliva and stretched out his hand to Party A, who had a human body and a snake tail.

"Pull me out, I'm sinking to the bottom..."

The thick snake tail rolled up the mermaid who couldn't swim, and the ghost held the person in his arms and floated to the surface.

As soon as he showed his head, Xu Zhiyan started cursing to express his dissatisfaction.

"Who builds a hot spring so deep? Isn't this simply insane?"

Looking at the mermaid’s blushing face, the ghost found it somewhat amusing.

"The depth of the hot spring will automatically adjust according to the owner's needs. It seems that there are no mermaids who can't swim."

Xu Zhiyan was choked for a moment, and turned away angrily to change the subject: "I feel a little dizzy, let's go back to the shore first."

What's wrong with not being able to swim? Who says mermaids are born to swim?

The two were in the middle of the round lake. Seeing Xu Zhiyan's face turned red from the hot water, the ghost was afraid that she would faint, so he lifted the mermaid with one hand and placed her on his shoulder.

“Crash——”

There was a splash of water all around.

Only then did Xu Zhiyan realize that Party A also took off his clothes and went into the water.

Unlike before, the water temperature in the hot spring is higher, and the cold bodies of ghosts and gods seem to have a hint of warmth.

"How long does it take for it to be effective?" he couldn't help but ask.

"It will take effect in three hours, but you have to wash the scales first." The ghost's fingertips slid across the fish scales, gently stroking the blood stains on them.

Xu Zhiyan followed the gaze and discovered that even if the scales were heated by hot spring water, as long as the scales were not opened, the blood that seeped into the gaps could not be cleaned up.

"No! We must find other ways!" But washing the scales was really too shameful, and he didn't want to wash the scales.

If growing fish scales is equivalent to wearing pants, then what is the difference between picking scales and taking off pants?

The other party is still a ghost...well, it's even more embarrassing. He might as well just dig it open and wash it himself.

Seeing Xu Zhiyan's resistance, when they reached the shore, Guishen suggested that if Xu Zhiyan was not too interested in taking a hot spring bath, he could preserve his mermaid state.

"The flow of time here can be controlled. When you need to improve your physical condition in the future, you can return to the mermaid state?"

However, the price is that as long as Xu Zhiyan enters the hot spring space, he will return to his mermaid state unless other solutions are found.

"Okay, okay, this is a good idea." Xu Zhiyan nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

Rather than using the hot springs to improve his physical condition a little bit, he thought it would be better to use it for farming!