Chapter 70

Chapter 70: ke li nuo grasslands

The woman studied Ling Mo with a thoughtful look. After a long moment, as if she’d finally remembered something, she blurted, “Did you go to Suo Lun’s place earlier?”

“Suo Lun?”

Seeing the confusion on Ling Mo’s face, the woman explained, “A lion beastman.”

Ling Mo nodded. “I did visit a lion beastman’s home.”

“Perfect. Suo Lun said you’re extremely capable—you helped him clear out goods that had been rotting in his warehouse for years. Come with me. I really need your help right now.”

Ling Mo followed behind her, eyes shining. She hadn’t expected things to go this smoothly. She owed it to that lion beastman spreading the word.

Of course, word of mouth only went so far. If she didn’t have the skills, nobody would recommend her in the first place.

After about five minutes, they reached the storage room behind the kitchen.

The woman pointed at it. The place was so packed it looked ready to spill out the door. “Take everything in there.”

Ling Mo glanced inside and patted her chest. “No problem.”

Once the woman left, Ling Mo practically skipped toward the storage room.

It was so full she couldn’t even step inside, so she had to collect things little by little from the entrance.

“What is all this?”

“Coffee grounds?”

Ling Mo stared at the stuff in her hand. It looked like dirt, but not quite. It really did resemble coffee grounds.

[Qie Man: This is residue produced when grinding kakas beans. It’s widely useful—plant fertilizer, deodorizer, cleaner, scrub, hand soap, wrinkle treatment, scented sachets, insect repellent, and natural dye.]

Ling Mo clicked her tongue. “So it’s basically??, except you can’t eat it.”

[Qie Man: It’s actually edible. Put the residue in a container, add water, and you can brew a cup of kakas. The flavor will just be lighter.]

Ling Mo went silent for a beat. “…Even if you say that, I’m absolutely not trying it.”

kakas was basically coffee. If she wanted coffee, she could just drink coffee. Why would she brew water with used grounds?

She took a deep breath and got back to work. Once she ignored the “edible” part, these kakas grounds were pure treasure.

With a wave of her hand, great swaths of kakas grounds vanished into her pocket space.

As she cleared more and more, she gradually worked her way deeper inside.

She’d assumed the entire storage room was nothing but kakas grounds, but she was wrong.

Roughly two-thirds of it was piled with those grounds. The remaining third was… something else. With her current eyesight, the difference between day and night barely mattered anyway.

After she finished collecting the kakas grounds, she stepped toward the remaining third.

[Qie Man: Instant kakas powder. For details, refer to instant coffee.]

Ling Mo’s eyes widened. Wait—wasn’t this shop supposed to sell hand-ground kakas? Why did it have instant powder?

[Oh no. I found a huge secret. Are they going to silence me?]

She chanted in her head, [I didn’t see anything. I didn’t see anything!]

Then she swept the rest into her pocket space at top speed.

There were other varieties besides instant kakas powder, but Ling Mo didn’t dare look closely. In situations like this, the less you knew, the safer you were.

When the woman returned, the storage room was spotless.

“Oh my god. Suo Lun was being way too modest. You’re the best recycler I’ve ever seen. Teleporting away that much junk must’ve drained a ton of mental power, right?”

“It was fine,” Ling Mo said, wiping sweat that didn’t exist and pretending to be humble.

“With your efficiency, you should be applying to be an S-rank recycler. Their pay is dozens of times higher than a normal recycler’s.”

Ling Mo smiled faintly. “I’m still too young.”

The woman nodded. “True. You really are. I’ve heard S-rank recyclers have insane workloads—someone your age definitely couldn’t handle it. Still, I didn’t expect you to be this fast. I underpaid you. I’ll add more. What do you want?”

Ling Mo thought for a second. “Anything. I’m not picky.”

That answer made the woman even more satisfied. If it were someone else, they’d be rattling off demands by now.

She pulled out a silver square card and scanned the smiley badge on Ling Mo’s chest. Then she handed Ling Mo a bag.

Ling Mo opened it and froze. It was filled with individually wrapped sugar cubes.

[Qie Man: kakas sugar cubes. A byproduct of hand-ground kakas. High-calorie and can quickly replenish sugar lost by the body. Note: Eat at most one per day. Too many can make you overly wired.]

“Nice.” Ling Mo tucked the bag away, thoroughly pleased.

Then she asked, “Are there any other shops nearby?”

Ling Mo had decided on a new approach. The game system only required them to help beastmen and earn smiles—it never said how they had to help.

“You want to keep working?” the woman asked. “Of course there are more shops. Plenty. With your ability, they’ll welcome you. But the rain still hasn’t stopped. Even if I tell you now, you can’t leave until tomorrow. Stay here tonight.”

“That’s really kind of you,” Ling Mo said warmly. “Next time you call me to haul away trash, I’ll give you a discount.”

The woman laughed. “That would be wonderful. I rarely meet such a polite recycler.”

On her fifth day in the game, Ling Mo finally slept well. A soft bed, a pillow, a warm quilt—better than the silk bedding she’d bought for herself.

When she woke up, she couldn’t help asking, “Qie Man, what brand are these pillows and quilts?”

[Qie Man: A silk four-piece set produced by Cloud Mulberry silkworm beastmen. Warm in winter, cool in summer.]

Beastmen who produced bedding?

Ling Mo rubbed the fabric between her fingers and made up her mind. If she ever met them, she was buying a set—no, several.

Early the next morning, she bid the woman farewell and set off.

After the rain, ke li nuo grasslands smelled of wet soil and fresh grass. Plants that hadn’t appeared before were suddenly sprouting everywhere, as if racing each other to the surface.

Anything Qie Man said had value, Ling Mo collected.

An onion-like stalk that could treat colds and fevers? Collected.

A purple mushroom that could kill someone on the spot if eaten? Collected, collected.

A succulent-like plant that could heal external injuries—and even mend a broken leg? Collected.

…and more.