Chapter 167: Pink Teddy Bear (Revised)

Ying Duo was instantly drawn in by Chen Mo Zhi's words and replied without hesitation.

"Let's go now."

Since there's no favorability requirement, he simply turned back and dragged Shen Zexi and the others along.

With favorability as a prerequisite, they shouldn't be harder to invite than Chen Mo Zhi, whose favorability is negative, right?

Even if they object, it doesn't matter; the player has plenty of strength and means.

Chen Mo Zhi's mouth twitched slightly, giving him a new impression of Ying Duo's decisiveness.

Should I say it's no surprise he can single-handedly finish the entire Manufacturing Department's tasks...

But he still turned to Meng Kexin again, intending to settle her first.

"I'll first place you under the Chen Family's pharmacy, where you can study with a professional pharmacist guiding you, and I'll have them let you freely take any medicinal ingredients."

"If your family comes to bother you again," Chen Mo Zhi paused, his tone cold, "just have the shop's security throw them out."

Meng Kexin froze for a moment, then suddenly understood.

She almost thought Chen Mo Zhi disliked her trouble and wanted to lure her out to the wilderness to deal with her, but it turned out he was just worried she'd be hassled by her father alone at the academy...

She obediently lowered her head, hiding the calculation that flashed in her eyes, and nodded meekly.

"Mm, I understand, thank you for the arrangement, young master."

Seeing Meng Kexin now under protection, Chen Mo Zhi turned back to Ying Duo to discuss the next steps, as setting off immediately was unrealistic.

"How about registering at the Mercenaries Guild in Rust Erosion Plaza this afternoon?"

He needs time to prepare some essential potions and gear for going out, and also to settle Meng Kexin properly.

Yang Yixie glanced at the system time, felt the afternoon was perfectly acceptable, and nodded.

"Sure."

After all, in his original plan, raising Chen Mo Zhi's favorability would have taken considerable time, but it happened directly.

The matter was settled, but favorability could still be increased.

Yang Yixie opened his backpack interface; because favorability was too low, he could only give gifts based on his stereotypes of the two.

He didn't have many exotic plants on hand, mostly various parts; after a moment, he pulled a pink teddy bear doll and a purple flower with strange markings from his backpack.

Just as Meng Kexin and Chen Mo Zhi thought Ying Duo had achieved his goal and would leave, he abruptly shoved the two items into their arms.

"Gift."

No sooner had his words fallen than they could react, Ying Dove dove again into the nearby patch of blade-toothed ferns, his fluorescent green silhouette instantly swallowed by the serrated leaves.

"Wait! You......" Meng Kexin instinctively tried to stop him—blade-toothed ferns aren't harmless exotic plants—how could he just dive in again?

Chen Mo Zhi also reached out, but it was already too late.

And the very second Ying Duo's silhouette vanished, footsteps came from the entrance of the Exotic Plant Garden.

A teacher on patrol happened to walk by nearby, and at a glance saw Chen Mo Zhi and Meng Kexin by the workbench, and... a patch of fluorescent green that seemed to have just flickered by?

That teacher squinted dubiously, staring at the slightly trembling blade-toothed fern, then glanced at Chen Mo Zhi and Meng Kexin.

He rubbed his eyes, looked again, and the strange fluorescent green had completely disappeared.

"Strange......" the teacher muttered, his face full of confusion.

"Is it just that I've been under too much pressure lately? Why does it look like I saw a clump of fluorescent green flashing inside?"

He's responsible for safety in this area and knows full well that no plant of this color should exist here.

And the notorious fluorescent‑green‑headed individual of this cohort has nothing to do with their pharmacology studies at all.

Meng Kexin heard the teacher's muttering and finally realized why Ying Duo had slipped away so quickly just then.

She hurriedly lowered her head; that little lunatic had a knack for timing his dodges of teachers, no wonder he managed to sneak in successfully.

The patrolling teacher's attention was quickly drawn to the bottle on the workbench—a potion that Ying Duo's interference prevented from finishing its final step, resulting in a failed concoction.

He assumed Meng Kexin had botched the brew, and out of a teacher's duty, he temporarily shoved aside the earlier "hallucination," stepped forward, and spoke gently to comfort her.

"Meng Kexin, right? It's normal to fail on your first try at such a complex potion—don't get discouraged, just practice a few more times."

Meng Kexin lifted her head, her face already restored to a perfect smile.

"Thank you, teacher; I'll keep working hard."

She knew perfectly well that she was only missing the final, simplest step of that potion, and that Ying Duo's sudden appearance had caused her to miss the optimal timing.

But it's fine—Chen Mo Zhi's recently completed high‑quality potion is already sufficient to submit as their class assignment.

After the patrolling teacher left, Meng Kexin's gaze finally fell on the pink teddy bear Ying Duo had shoved into her arms.

The toy's workmanship isn't exquisite—it even feels a bit cheap—but the plush texture feels quite nice to the touch.

Holding the doll, she felt a mix of laughter and tears—what did Ying Duo mean by giving her this?

Did he think she needed a toy for comfort?

Meanwhile, Chen Mo Zhi lowered his eyes to the "flower" casually thrust into his hand.

It's not an exotic plant at all—just an ordinary wildflower you see everywhere by the roadside; the only special thing is the pure, natural dark‑purple pattern on its petals, somewhat resembling a skull.

It looks somewhat eerie, yet it emits no energy fluctuations.

A flicker of bewilderment crossed his scarlet eyes—was this... mockery?

The two held this meaningless "gift," stared at each other, and for a moment didn't know how to react.

Just then, the melodious bell signaling the end of class rang out in the distance, breaking the garden's silence.

"Young master, we should go turn in our assignment."

Meng Kexin was the first to regain her composure, cradling the teddy bear in the crook of her arm; although she didn't grasp its meaning, it was still a "gift," so casually discarding it wouldn't be right.

Chen Mo Zhi expressionlessly slipped the skull‑patterned wildflower into a thick exotic‑plant illustrated encyclopedia nearby, using it straight away as a bookmark.

He picked up the successfully prepared potion from the workbench; in the light it showed a deep, stable azure hue, with fine specks of starlight slowly drifting within, its quality excellent.

"Let's go."

——————————————————

Ying Duo again emerged from the edge of the Exotic Plant Garden's fence, looking a little disheveled after a bug glitch.

This time his luck wasn't as good as when he got in; the garment already stained with dried blood acquired many fresh scratches.

The cuts are small but numerous, some wounds still oozing blood, especially on the arms and cheeks, all caused by those exotic plants.

Yang Yixie quickly checked the character status panel; only the Blood Bar had been worn down a layer, with no poison, tearing, or other continuous HP‑draining Debuff appearing.

At the player's recovery rate, the wounds will heal on their own after a while, so he doesn't need to make another trip to the infirmary.

The top priority is to quickly assemble the Mercenary Corps.