Chapter 19 : Drenched Tiger
After the daily banter with the system, the conversation between tiger and system finally turned serious.
Even as lazy as Jiang Mo was, she wasn't completely indifferent to her own situation. She immediately asked the system about the daily quests: "A single daily quest only gives 2,000 experience points, which is barely enough for half a level now. After level 12, it won't even be enough for half a level—just about one-fifth. The experience required for leveling keeps doubling, so these daily quests you've unlocked aren't very useful, system."
It was fortunate that the system was just a light orb; otherwise, Jiang Mo would have seen its eye roll: "Host, can you be less greedy? Earlier when you were getting 1 experience point from sleeping a day and 5 experience points from taking pills, did you ever think that 2,000 experience points would be worth complaining about?"
Jiang Mo could hear the sarcasm in the system's mechanical voice, but she didn't care much: "That was then, this is now. I currently have not only a Spirit Nurturing Pill worth 500 experience points, but an entire storehouse of medicinal pills, plus the sponsorship of the entire Xuanqing Sect... Tell me, if you were in my position, would you still care about these 2,000 experience points per day?"
Jiang Mo wasn't stupid, and her math was decent. She knew that as her level increased, the experience required would become astronomical. What good was reaching maturity at three thousand years? If she truly relied on lying down to win, she'd still be useless after three thousand years.
The system was somewhat speechless after being rebuffed, so it could only reveal: "Don't worry, host. The experience points from daily quests also increase with your level. And the daily quests are all very simple—like today, just picking a peach and giving it to someone. You completed it in minutes. Isn't it nice to effortlessly collect experience points every day?"
At this point, the little white tiger's golden eyes flickered, showing a hint of guilt. But this assurance was good; Jiang Mo wouldn't immediately be disappointed with the long-awaited daily quests.
Then Jiang Mo asked about points, especially the points mall—she was extremely curious.
However, the system was evasive when faced with this inquiry, hemming and hawing, only saying that once she gathered 100 points to activate the mall, they could discuss it further. At that time, she could check what she wanted to buy herself and just save up points to purchase items.
Hearing this, Jiang Mo suspiciously stared at the system light orb for a while, feeling it was somewhat guilty, but after some thought, she didn't press further. Either way, she was now guaranteed to earn at least 10 points from daily quests; it would only take ten days to save enough. How difficult could that be?
After the tiger and system ended their conversation, Jiang Mo noticed that Yun Qingyue was gone, so she looked around.
The system informed her: "Just now, while you were lying down talking to me, your caretaker thought you were asleep and went behind the screen." It habitually scanned but was blocked: "There's an anti-peeping barrier behind the screen. By common sense, your caretaker is probably changing clothes or bathing. Does the host want to go look?"
Jiang Mo's tiger face instantly heated up, and she swatted the system away again—she felt the system definitely knew something, and this system baby was growing much faster than her, learning bad habits so quickly!
⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱
Yun Qingyue had indeed gone to bathe. When she emerged from behind the screen, she had already changed into a different outfit. Though her jet-black hair was still bound precisely with a hair band, there was a trace of moisture among the strands, oddly reducing her cool demeanor by a few degrees.
The little white tiger didn't have the courage to sneak behind the screen to watch the beauty bathe, but that didn't stop her from resting her head on her paws to watch the beauty emerge from her bath—everyone has an appreciation for beauty. Admiring a beautiful person with appreciative eyes certainly wasn't wrong. As for the earlier accident under the peach tree, that was her own embarrassment alone; even the other party hadn't noticed, so who could blame her?
People are always busy; mortals bustling about for their livelihoods, cultivators striving diligently for longevity. But the little white tiger was different—she neither worried about daily life nor intended to cultivate, so she had plenty of free time to squander.
She had spent her days on the spirit boat the same way: Yun Qingyue cultivating, Jiang Mo lying beside her legs watching her cultivate.
Today, Jiang Mo was doing the same as before, but as she watched, she suddenly noticed her line of sight shifting upward—the beautiful and cold Senior Sister Yun had once again pinched the scruff of her neck, held her innocent tiger eyes in a brief gaze, then carried her behind the screen.
What's happening? What's going on? I wasn't planning to peek!
The useless little tiger stiffly waved her paws in struggle, but that small amount of strength was no different from a kitten's in Yun Qingyue's eyes. She was carried behind the screen, and upon passing it, she indeed saw a room filled with steamy mist. Looking more carefully, she discovered that Senior Sister's simple room actually concealed a pool of spring water, apparently a hot spring.
Looking at all the steam in the room, it must be a hot spring, right? Or perhaps what novels called a spirit spring?
Before Jiang Mo could think further, her hind paws had already touched the water surface, and she instinctively retracted them—feline animals probably naturally dislike water, not because they can't swim, but because they hate the feeling of wet fur. This seemed to apply to divine beasts as well. Even though Jiang Mo still had a human soul, her body's instincts made her develop an aversion to bathing.
"Isn't there a cleaning spell? Why must I take a bath? And this is the pool where you bathe, Senior Sister. If you let me wash here, aren't you afraid of ending up with a pool full of tiger fur?!" The little white tiger curled herself up entirely, "aowu-ing" in protest.
Yun Qingyue looked at the little milk tiger almost curled into a ball in her hand, her eyes showing both helplessness and amusement, but she still coaxed in her cool voice: "Be good, go soak for a while. It will benefit you."
Oh, so it seems to be a spirit spring.
Thinking this, Jiang Mo felt a stirring of curiosity inside, but her body persistently refused to let her fur get wet. Unfortunately, regardless of what she thought, when Yun Qingyue actually placed her in the spirit spring, she had no room for resistance whatsoever, instantly becoming a drenched tiger.
"Glub, glub," she blew two bubbles and floated to the surface. Her fur under the water was flowing and soft, her four small paws paddling through the water with ease. But her head above the surface looked somewhat pitiful; the wet fur clung to her skin, making the originally fluffy little tiger instantly seem smaller, while her golden eyes were full of innocence and accusation.
Yun Qingyue was silent for a moment, then silently extended her hand and pushed her head down as well: "It's all right, you won't choke. You're too weak now; your head needs to soak too for the best effect."
"Gurgle, gurgle," a series of bubbles rose to the surface as the little milk tiger sank to the bottom.
The system light orb flickered as it followed down into the water. Though it said nothing, Jiang Mo could see it had clearly come to enjoy the spectacle.
The embarrassed and angry host swatted the system away for the third time today, looking through the water at the figure by the pool—whether it was an illusion caused by the hot spring, she felt a warm current flowing into her body from her limbs and entire being, making her whole body comfortably warm, just like when leveling up in the game. Even without any other effects, just soaking like this was actually quite enjoyable.
But she was a petty tiger, and she would remember this grudge against her caretaker for throwing her into the pool and pushing her head down!