The Interstellar Queen of Scavengers

Chapter 153: Chapter 153: Snatching Food

This——

Is it called the finishing touch?

Or rather, does the Spiritual Silk give life to what was originally a dull pattern?

Ji You doesn’t know.

Ji You stares at the earrings in her hand, examining them closely. She notices that the framework and pattern of her design, after being traversed by the Spiritual Silk, each line, each stroke, seemed as if they were naturally formed, not man-made.

Ji You looks back at the Spiritual Silk and immediately recognizes it. This is Old Five.

At this moment, Old Five is limply coiled around the tip of the pen, looking somewhat listless.

Huh?

Tired?

So, using Spiritual Silk actually consumes something like their ’Physical Strength’?

Seemingly aware of its master’s gaze, Old Five suddenly perks up its head, staring eagerly at Ji You.

[I want a reward.]

[I want a reward.]

[I want a reward.]

In an instant, Ji You senses Old Five’s mood; it’s begging for food from her.

Ji You looks at Old Five, her beautiful eyes filled with a loving halo. Old Five wags its tail happily, thinking its request is about to be fulfilled, and even looks back pridefully at the other several strands of silk on the Iron Plate.

Then——

Suddenly Ji You raises her hand and pats Old Five’s head, sincerely praising, ”Old Five, you’re a good kid.”

Old Five’s tail wags even more joyfully.

Then——

second.

second.

second.

...

Master remains motionless.

Old Five’s eyes widen:

Where’s the food?

Where’s the food?

Where’s the food?

Ji You sees Old Five is still eagerly waiting, a look of helplessness in her eyes, she lifts the corners of her mouth and praises again, ”Old Five, good kid.”

Old Five: ”???”

Ji You: ”Good kid, you’ve worked hard.”

Old Five: ”!!!”

Good heavens~

Master is tricking someone again!

No!

Tricking silk!

In a moment, Old Five, coiled around the pen tip, trembles in its entirety.

So mad!

So mad!

It’s so mad!

Seeing such an exaggerated reaction, Ji You chuckles and says, ”Old Five, you’re not behaving, aren’t verbal praises awards too? The other silks long for my praise, and yet I’m not even willing to give it.”

Old Five: ”...”

Alright——

That seems about right too. I only asked for a reward, and master giving a verbal reward is also a reward.

But——

Old Five always felt something was odd.

Yet it couldn’t figure out what exactly was off.

Ji You raises her hand, and gently pats its little head, soothingly saying, ”Alright, alright, behave, keep working with me.”

When Old Five is being stroked, not only does its head obediently wrap around Ji You’s fingers, its tail still flicks back and forth from time to time...

Clearly——

It has been mollified by Ji You.

Ji You:

[Such an honest kid.]

Then——

Ji You proceeds to demonstrate with her actions, how she bullies the honest kid.

One.

Two.

Three.

...

Ji You kept coaxing Old Five to toil for her until Old Five completely ran out of steam. Just as she was about to feed Old Five some more spiritual chicken soup, such as: Behind every strenuous effort, there lies a doubled reward.

Or: The sun always shines after the rain; without experiencing setbacks, how can one see the rainbow of success?

And: There is no endpoint to striving; every moment is a new beginning.

Come on!

Come On!

You can do it, Old Five.

However—

Old Five was so limp, not even flicking its tail.

Ji You looked down and was shocked:

”Old Five, what happened to you?”

”Old Five, why did you become so thin and small?”

”Old Five! Old Five! Old Five, don’t scare me.”

Turns out, without her realizing, Old Five had become so emaciated it was unrecognizable. If it was a robust giant python before, it now seemed no thicker than a chopstick.

Old Five was limp, motionless.

Ji You: ”...”

Looking at this pitiful state, even Ji Bapi felt distressed. She reached into her pocket and took out the Candy Beans she had gotten as a reward from Teacher Mu Jianling. The previously unresponsive Old Five suddenly perked up its head.

Ji You offered the Candy Beans: ”Good kid, you’ve worked hard. I said, behind every strenuous effort, there’s sure to be a doubled reward.”

”Good~”

”Go ahead and eat.”

Ji You handed the Candy Beans to Old Five.

At that moment—

A gleam of phosphorescence flashed by, and the Candy Beans in Ji You’s hand disappeared instantly.

Ji You was startled and immediately checked to find that the Candy Beans didn’t vanish but had gone straight into her Spiritual World; Old Five also, in a flash, followed the Candy Beans back into this void space.

However—

Old Five didn’t catch up with the Candy Beans. They just dissipated near the Iron Plate.

Seeing this, Ji You understood everything. Her face darkened, and she scolded: ”You lot are really unreasonable, aren’t you? I said this reward was for Old Five alone. All of you, not lifting a finger and still trying to snatch something to eat? Have some shame, won’t you?”

Silence.

Stillness.

Not a single sound.

Old Five also wrapped itself around the Iron Plate again in an instant.

Ji You tried to suppress a laugh, ”You think just because you’re as quiet as chickens that I don’t know you did it?”

Deathly silence.

Not one Spiritual Thread made a sound.

Ji You snapped, ”I’m pissed off now! Really pissed off! I’m going to make sure you taste the consequences of angering me!”

Just then, as a representative, Boss suddenly raised its head and pointed to a certain spot atop the Iron Plate.

When Boss moved, Second, Third, Fourth, and Sixth, as if afraid of being misunderstood, all pointed urgently toward that same spot on the Iron Plate.

Following their direction, Ji You saw that the Candy Beans hadn’t disappeared without a trace; instead, they were inside the Iron Plate. The Candy Beans, initially the size of a peanut, were shrinking bit by bit, becoming the size of a soybean, a rice grain, and eventually as small as a sesame seed...

Ji You: ”...”

So—

Did I wrong these gluttons?

Was it the Iron Plate that stole Old Five’s Candy Beans and not these greedy threads?

Ji You: ”Quite the revelation.”

Thinking about it, it made sense. She had previously tried not to drink the Butterfly Honey directly but let her spiritual power absorb it, and that was successful. So, it wasn’t the spiritual power actively absorbing it; it was the work of the Iron Plate in her mind?

Looking at her Six Spiritual Threads, each winding around the Iron Plate, upon closer inspection, it seemed the Iron Plate consumed the bulk of the Candy Bean, leaving only the ’scraps’ that leaked out for them.

Seeing this, they unexpectedly seemed a bit pitiful.

Ji You kept a straight face, saying nothing.

The glow emitted from the Iron Plate gradually dimmed from its peak, and its engravings became clearer.

Ji You tried to focus and see clearly but could only make out a bit before her head started to hurt. The Spiritual Threads that were wrapped around the Iron Plate also suddenly fell off.

The Spiritual Threads tried to climb back up, but no matter what, they couldn’t reach the Iron Plate anymore.

Then—

The figure of the Iron Plate gradually faded, disappearing into the depths of this void-like world.

The Spiritual Threads were like those who had their dear belongings snatched away, extremely frustrated, and turned their heads up towards Ji You as if accusing her of doing something terrible.

Ji You: ”...”