Chapter 261 Receiving the Key to Life: A Fantasy Version of the Inn Sign
Mimi Lan followed Nana Jia's gaze to the composed Flower Fairy, who did not disappoint her. She nodded slightly and then gently waved to Nana Jia.
A gentle breeze stirred in the quiet room, and a pale green magical glow, full of vitality and hope, emanated from the apothecary, drawing the attention of all the flower fairies.
Under the gaze of countless brightly colored eyes, all the radiance seemed to converge like water flowing from high to low, condensing into a light green jade leaf—the key to life.
The Key of Life flew automatically towards the flower fairy who was reaching out her hand, and melted away the instant it touched her fair fingertips.
Nanaja smiled and bowed, then rejoined the ranks of attendants.
Mimi Lan immediately spoke up: "Your Highness! Please allow me to also offer you the Key to Life of Bobomo City!"
The Flower Fairy readily agreed and took the Key of Life from the City Lord.
As the pale green magical glow emanated from her body, Mimi Lan clearly sensed that her control over the Tree of Life was slowly fading. When the magical glow completely condensed into leaves, she also completely lost her connection with the Tree of Life.
But at that moment, Mimi Lan felt no reluctance or regret. She only felt relieved, as if a huge burden had been lifted. What followed was a deep-seated exhaustion, as if nearly a hundred years of weariness had been surging out at this moment.
No ruler does not wish for his people to live in peace, prosperity, and happiness. However, frequent natural disasters and harsh taxes have turned this beautiful expectation into a futile dream.
In every disaster, countless civilians die; in every monster wave, countless warriors perish. Every civilian toils diligently in the fields, every warrior fights bravely, yet why do children still suffer from hunger, and why are loved ones still displaced? Each harvest month seems like an endless cycle of torment, filled with blood and tears.
But the Land of Sin is different... Every flower fairy following behind the Flower Fairy looks so happy. Their overflowing vitality makes Mimi Lan want to cry.
They are clearly royalty in exile... If wanting a peaceful and tranquil life is a sin, then by the goddess of flowers, please turn Popomo City into a land of sin as well...
After taking the Key of Life, the Flower Fairy left, leaving behind only two Space Stones.
After seeing off the Flower Fairy's Pegasus convoy, Mimi Lan went to check the space stones. To her great surprise, she found that they were all filled with things. One space stone contained large pieces of dried fruit full of magic, while the other space stone was full of large bottles of insecticide!
The insecticides produced in the Land of Sin have excellent insecticidal effects. The insect plague in Bobomo City can be barely suppressed now, all thanks to the insecticides brought by the caravans from the Land of Sin. However, there are not enough of them, so they have to be diluted with water before use.
Now that's great, with the space stone full of insecticide, we can definitely wipe out the insect plague completely.
As for the dried fruit inside the other space stone, Mimi Lan was also very familiar with it; she had even traded it with caravans from the Land of Sin before.
This is also a specialty of the Land of Sin. The dried fruit, which is full of magic, can be used to make a magic soup comparable to Leaf Coin Soup. At that time, the harvest in Bobomo City was not bad, the magic tax was not as heavy as it is now, and the youngest daughter was still alive. She especially liked to use dried fruit to make soup. No matter what kind of soup it was, she would add dried fruit to it. It has to be said that the soup made from it was indeed very sweet.
Thinking that she could distribute the insecticide and dried fruit tomorrow, the flower fairies in the city would no longer have to run around in the wild to pick grass tips and leaf buds to cook soup for the children, and the insects on the trees in the fields could be driven away and disinfected as soon as possible, Mimi Lan had a good night's sleep that she hadn't had in a long time.
She dreamt of her husband and children who had gone to the Kingdom of God. It seemed that she had not yet become a ruler, and her husband and children had not yet become warriors. The whole family lived happily in the round fruit tree. Their biggest worry was how to make the outer wall of the round fruit house more beautiful. The bright sunlight shone through the hollowed-out fruit shell wall, making the fresh and crisp wheat leaf salad on the dining table look emerald green and bright.
The weather is so nice.
Shu Xin flew out of the Yuanyuan Fruit Hotel and looked at the clear blue sky, sighing in amazement.
The round fruit, which the flower fairies used as their dwellings, was indeed called "Round Fruit" by them, which was quite fitting.
After taking the Key of Life from the governor of Popomo City, Shu Xin immediately ordered the Pegasus caravan to return to the Land of Sin. After all, given the current state of Popomo City, even the flower fairies couldn't find tender grass to eat, let alone feed it to the Pegasus. So, they might as well go home and eat their own food...
Shu Xin didn't leave. She stayed behind with her magic cat and Xi. Nana Jia, as an indispensable doctor, was also invited by Shu Xin to stay at the hotel in Bobomo City with her magic cat.
As a major city, it naturally has hotels. However, unlike the Round Fruit Houses where only one family lives, the number of people a hotel needs to accommodate is obviously not enough for one Round Fruit. Therefore, the Round Fruit Hotel is actually an entire tree, with nearly a hundred Round Fruit Houses hanging on the tree, which are the hotel's rooms.
Because caravans from the land of sin stayed at the Round Fruit Inn, the merchants used pesticides generously, so this tree, which was used as an inn, had the fewest insects.
However, with the entire forest plagued by insects, even with merchants spraying pesticides, this tree could only be said to have relatively few insects. Before entering the room, Shu Xin used the insect repellent she had obtained on the way—there were quite a few insects crawling on the branches connecting to Yuanyuan Fruit House!
The round fruit house, which serves as a hotel room, has a much simpler openwork pattern on its fruit shell walls, and its interior is far less exquisite and beautiful than the flower fairies' homes. There are not many functional rooms; there is a living room at the entrance, and the rest are bedrooms, but they are all neatly and cleanly arranged, and each bedroom is equipped with a straw rug.
The hotel's round fruit house has at least four bedrooms, enough for Shu Xin and the others to stay in. However, Shu Xin asked the hotel owner behind the counter for two rooms. She arranged for herself, Xi, and the magic cat to stay in one room, while Nana Jia and her magic cat stayed in another room, so there was no need for them to squeeze together.
The hotel owner's peculiar counter room was quite interesting. The round fruit was cut in half, leaving only two fruit pulp rooms. The upper room was filled with lantern fruits, while the lower room only had a large wicker cabinet. The owner greeted and saw off guests behind the cabinet.
When Shu Xin arrived, it was already completely dark. The hotel owner's house, with its roof covered in lantern fruits, was very conspicuous and easy to find in the night.
During the day, as long as the flower fairies see the half of the house where the innkeeper is located, they know that the tree is an inn. At night, the lantern house is exceptionally bright, which also makes it clear that it is an inn. It is simply a fantasy version of an inn sign.
The temperature in Bobomo City was much higher than in the Land of Sin. During the day, Shu Xin either traveled through the well-ventilated forest or stayed in the relatively spacious Flower Castle, which was quite comfortable. However, once she entered the Round Fruit House in the inn, she felt a bit stuffy.
The round fruit house didn't have windows, only a door. There were bugs outside, so it wasn't good to open the door for ventilation. Just as Shu Xin was feeling annoyed, Xi took out a cool water pillow and a piece of water-based magic cloth. Shu Xin was overjoyed. She gave the little lamb a loving kiss, spread the water-based magic cloth out as a bed sheet, hugged the magic cat on her left and the magic lamb on her right, and then draped a straw blanket over her lower abdomen. She slept comfortably for a while.
When I woke up the next morning, the bright sunlight was shining down as I went outside, and it was clearly a sunny day.
It was time for breakfast, and Shu Xin suddenly remembered that she hadn't eaten dinner the night before.
While Shu Xin was pondering how to solve breakfast, the hotel owner was also worried about what to feed.
Although the inn is not a restaurant, it usually prepares some meals for its guests. However, the harvest month has just passed, and the harvest from the fields has been taken away as a magic tax. As soon as the wheat sprouted, a plague of insects broke out. Not only did Popomo City run out of food, but it also had to make do with leaves with very little magic to get its daily rations. Any grass tips and buds with more magic, both inside and outside the city, were all plucked and used to feed the children who were starving and on the verge of fever.
This kind of leaf soup, which is only good for satiating the mouth, is fine for personal consumption, but it's definitely not something you should serve to guests...
Flower fairies who travel to trade usually bring their own food. In bad years, they rely entirely on the merchants to transport supplies from all over the place to save their lives. Right now, there are about ten caravans staying at the Bobomo City Inn. The flower fairy merchants have all done their best to transport some food. The innkeeper uses leaf coins to cook magic soup for the guests every day. However, the flower fairy who checked in last night was a nobleman and was wearing the uniform of a governor!
Even a magic soup wouldn't be appropriate to serve to a nobleman!
Shu Xin was completely unaware of the immense psychological pressure her aristocratic uniform had placed on the innkeeper. Nana Jia, on the other hand, was aware of this, but she hadn't slept well the night before. Mimi Lan looked much older than she remembered, and she couldn't help but think of her relatives and friends who had perished in the disaster. She tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep, and ended up waking up late the next day. After flying out of the Round Fruit House, she met up with the Flower Fairy and was asked how she was having breakfast, which reminded her of this incident.
Nanaja perked up and said with a smile, "The inn probably doesn't have much food left, sir. How about we borrow the kitchen and cook something ourselves?"
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