Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Heart-Pounding Great Adventure
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Yi Agum was furious.
It was an astonishing sight.
But it was understandable.
Whining first about whether she couldn't make the medicine sweeter had clearly been Seoran's doing.
Yi Agum had taken those ridiculous words seriously and developed a sweet decoction for her.
After all that effort to bring it over, to hear nonsense like "This tastes weird, and who drinks medicine for the flavor?" even a bodhisattva wouldn't hold back her anger.
Even if Yi Agum had smashed the medicine bowl right there on Seoran's head, she would have been innocent.
But Yi Agum was a refined person.
She suppressed the urge to bash the skull in front of her and instead flashed a bright smile, as if to show off.
The fact that a mere medicine bowl wouldn't even hurt her played a part too.
That didn't mean she wasn't angry.
The next day, Yi Agum, who had come again, said,
"Liu Investigator, it's time for your medicine."
Seoran took the medicine bowl and asked,
"Agum, why are you suddenly speaking so formally?"
"It's time for your medicine."
The response came back exactly the same, as if from a recorder.
She was replying, but not engaging in conversation.
During her heart demon episode, Seoran had stonewalled others' attempts to communicate, and now she was getting it all back in the exact same form.
High-level mirror therapy.
Seoran couldn't snap out of it.
Yi Agum said again,
"It's time for your medicine."
"Uh, okay..."
Seoran gulped down the decoction first.
"Here, all done."
"Don't leave any—finish it all."
Seoran peeked into the bowl, gauging the mood.
The white porcelain bowl held only traces of the decoction.
Don't leave any? It made no sense.
Seoran pondered deeply.
The decoction—I definitely finished it...
Is she extra sensitive because she's upset?
Then there's no choice but for me to cheer her up.
Seoran deployed her ultimate aegyo skill from her past life.
"Eeeh, is Agum mad at me? Come on, let me make you feel better~"
Yi Agum looked at her like she was a cockroach and said,
"What— just finish your medicine."
"Yes."
Seoran hurriedly shoved her face into the bowl.
She licked up the decoction clinging to it.
After thoroughly tongue-washing it, she handed the bowl back.
Yi Agum inspected the spotless interior and left.
Rejected by her little sister, Seoran inwardly cursed her section chief.
Section Chief, you said one dose of aegyo solves everything...
You said this line got you through dating and marriage...
It doesn't work on Agum at all...
Seoran dimly recalled her section chief's face.
A sturdy merchant build like a bear, with a round, amiable face.
Her cute section chief grinned cheekily.
She couldn't fathom why it hadn't worked.
*****
Seoran realized it.
The reason Yi Agum was angry was her own fault.
She wasn't snapping at anyone else—that was proof.
It was a moment calling for harsh self-criticism.
Seoran agonized.
What exactly did I do wrong?
Which of my words or actions hurt Agum?
How should I apologize to be forgiven?
Of course, it was pointless.
No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't pinpoint the cause.
It wasn't because Seoran was some paragon of virtue with no shame under heaven.
Quite the opposite—there were too many suspects.
A beast who had lived a life full of embarrassments, Liu Seoran's flaws were endless.
Just take when she fell into her heart demon: how much had Yi Agum coaxed and pleaded to get her to take even one dose?
Yi Agum had poured in such devotion and affection that she could have been selected as an exemplary filial daughter in a national anthology.
If this were the secular world, a couple of filial daughter stele would already be standing at the village entrance.
Seoran immediately got up and headed to the kitchen.
The kitchen maid asked,
"Liu Investigator, what brings you here?"
"Any sweet potatoes around?"
The maid thought for a moment before replying,
"Would sliced and dried ones work?"
"That'll do."
Seoran dashed out like the wind to the dining hall.
Fortunately, they had sweet potatoes.
She grabbed a few large ones.
Back home, Seoran went straight for the hearth.
She shoved in firewood and cast a spectral light spell to ignite it.
Low-output spectral light could be repurposed like a magnifying glass burning ants.
She zoned out while watching the fire for a bit.
The wood turned to charcoal, and even the charcoal half to ash.
Into the ashes and embers, Seoran tossed the sweet potatoes.
She waited again.
When they seemed about done, she rolled up her sleeves.
Then plunged her bare hand into the hearth.
She could bathe in lava, so embers held no fear.
Delicious roasted sweet potatoes were complete.
A bit over-charred, but a minor issue.
Seoran carefully brushed off the ash from the surfaces.
She neatly packed them in a basket and headed to the Medicine Hall.
She hid near the entrance, waiting for quitting time.
Finally, Angry Agum emerged from the Medicine Hall.
Seoran bolted over to her.
"Agum, I was wrong!"
She thrust out the basket of roasted sweet potatoes.
Yi Agum had planned to unleash a brutal combo starting with "What did you do wrong?"
But seeing Seoran's sincerity in the basket, she quelled her raging killing intent.
In the past, when Yi Agum was even younger.
Freshly become a cultivator, whenever something didn't sit right, she'd sulk in front of Seoran.
Without a word, turning her back to the wall—it was always Seoran's job to soothe her.
Various methods were tried, but roasted sweet potatoes worked best.
Yi Agum had loved them since childhood.
Now twenty-one, Yi Agum looked at Seoran.
Her face hadn't changed a bit from memory.
Even then, she'd been at a loss, fidgeting just like this.
Yi Agum sighed and said,
"Let's eat at your place, sis. I'm hungry."
Hearing that, Seoran's face lit up as she led the way.
The two munched on roasted sweet potatoes while chatting about this and that.
Some things you only learn by speaking up.
Yi Agum's anger dissipated, and Seoran never complained about medicine flavor again.
Perfect, just perfect.
*****
Deep underground in Liang Kingdom, the subterranean world.
Heaven-sent miners, the Labyrinthians, were hard at work expanding their territory today as well.
To these mole yokai, the human-drawn surface borders meant nothing.
The entire underground was Labyrinthian domain anyway.
The day for Mining Unit 41 was busy as always.
Labyrinthians enhanced by spells burrowed forward at ferocious speeds.
Finding a single vein meant food on the table.
The miner advanced in a trance.
To him, life was digging, and digging was life.
His dream: someday tunnel to the world's deepest point, the legendary underworld.
The miner hummed.
"I'm a digging expert, lunch in the underworld today."
Then his nose bumped into something.
The miner stroked his long snout and eyed the obstacle daring to block him.
At first he thought it a mineral, but no.
A structure of neatly stacked rectangular bricks.
The miner muttered.
"Is this... a building?"
The miner was in the underground world.
Naturally, you can't build buildings underground.
So what was this structure?
The miner pondered.
Then it hit him.
It tied into an old Labyrinthian legend.
Naturally, you can't build underground.
So what did this structure prove?
At the time of construction, this place wasn't underground—it was the surface.
Old Labyrinthian legends often began with certain phrases.
An era when the earth wasn't as deep as now.
An era when heedless digging could drop you into the underworld.
An era filled with chaos and disorder.
An era now irretrievably lost.
The miner shouted loudly.
"A lost era! Relics of a lost era are here!"
The other miners who rushed over at the cry were stunned.
The lost era wasn't fiction.
The legend no one believed was real.
The entire subterranean world buzzed with excitement.
The news spread not just underground but to the surface too.
To the Black Bamboo Sect allied with the Labyrinthians, the Goldsmith Sect now one with Black Bamboo, and countless other allied cultivation sects.
An ancient ruin buried deep underground had surfaced.
An ancient ruin—truly heart-stirring.
This astonishing news even reached Seoran, who had been butchering garden trees with oversized pruning shears as a hobby.
For the record, Seoran was an adventure movie maniac who had watched archaeology flicks dozens of times.
*****
Seoran immediately prepared for adventure.
Shovels or pickaxes were just cumbersome.
Safety gear? Even if the whole subterranean world collapsed, Seoran could stroll out unscathed.
All she packed was a hat and a whip.
"A great adventure calls to me!"
When Indiana appears in the jianghu, blood winds blow.
Grueling trials and dazzling glory await.
Only a hero with courage, wisdom, and luck deserves the treasures slumbering underground.
Seoran crossed the sect's barrier straightaway.
Her destination: naturally, the subterranean world.
But she didn't even glimpse the ancient ruin.
The guarding mole said,
"The dig site is on the surface."
They planned to dig down from the surface.
Seoran had no choice but to change course.
The border between Liang and Qian Kingdoms was the dig site.
The area was already swarming with cultivators.
A slight detour, but the adventure was starting anyway.
Seoran stepped forward vigorously.
And was immediately chased off.
The archaeologist cultivator erupted like flame.
"What do you think you're doing, just stomping in there! Can't you see the warning signs? No unauthorized entry to the dig site! Out, now!"
Scolded and dejected, Seoran gazed sadly at the dig site from afar.
Countless archaeologists bustled about, stringing thick ropes here and there.
Some squatted, scraping earth with tiny brushes.
Not blasting away with spells like a construction site, but delicately brushing dirt aside.
Seoran buried her face in her knees.
No golden statues or boulders rolling down slopes.
No ancient treasures, gushing greed, betrayal, or schemes.
Not even an archaeologist cracking a whip.
There was no adventure in this world's archaeology.
This wasn't the adventure Seoran had dreamed of.