Chapter 9: The Territory 33 Lord

After battling rats all night, Ruan Ming unsurprisingly woke up late the next morning. She still couldn’t shake her worry: the territory had so many rats. If she planted more crops in the future, how would she ever prevent their damage?

The rats didn’t bother the cacti because they were covered in spines from root to tender pad, even the Fairy Peaches themselves. Other crops didn’t have the cactus’s natural defenses.

If only I had a cat. It could catch rats, and I’d have a companion in this territory.

But where in this world could she find a healthy cat? Contaminated cats were prone to madness, while green-light or yellow-light cats had long been snatched up by the wealthy. They would never end up with her. Ruan Ming pushed these fanciful notions aside and headed out to the fields to weed.

After working for over two hours, she was just about to head home to cook the rabbit meat when she saw a group of people running down the main road. She stood up and looked out.

Five people were fleeing, three chasing them. Among the shouts, she could make out the words: “Thieves—stop them—”

And from the other end of the road came the roar of a car engine. Realizing they were about to be trapped, the five runners veered sharply and dashed toward Territory 32.

There was no way Ruan Ming could stay out of this now. She didn’t know who these people were, nor did she want trouble, but this was her territory. Without further hesitation, she grabbed a wooden pole from the roadside and moved to intercept them at the entrance.

“Private territory! No entry without permission!”

The men at the front, suddenly finding their path blocked and seeing only one person, grew desperate. The two lead men immediately attacked.

Ruan Ming’s brow furrowed. Her arms swung upward, and a surge of power shot from her shoulders down to her hands. The pole in her grip came crashing down at the attackers with tremendous force. The sheer wind pressure from the strike made the men’s faces change instantly.

“Esper!” one of them yelled in alarm. “Careful, everyone! At least C-Rank!”

They hastily scrambled backward to create distance. But these men had dared to cause trouble in the territories; they were no ordinary ruffians. The leader was a Speed Ability Esper. Seeing the pursuers closing in and Ruan Ming standing alone, a vicious glint flashed in his eyes. He darted forward with a burst of speed, attempting to exploit his agility to snatch the pole from her hands.

Ruan Ming wasn’t about to let him succeed. The man gritted his teeth and strained with all his might but couldn’t wrest the pole from her grip. Another man moved to assist, only to catch Ruan Ming’s sudden knee to his chest, sending him flying several meters backward.

With the pursuers nearly upon them, the fleeing men grew ever more frantic. With a coordinated yell, they all lunged at her together. Ruan Ming didn’t dare be careless, swinging the pole to parry their attacks. This was her first real fight since awakening her Ability. No technique, everything run purely on instinct. She couldn’t help but get flustered.

Just then, a voice rang out from behind her: “So many men ganging up on one girl… have you no shame?”

Amid the frantic fight, Ruan Ming glanced sideways and saw a tall woman in a jacket appear behind the group of thieves, seemingly out of nowhere. The woman moved with clean precision, grabbing the collars of the two men at the very back and flinging them aside like ragdolls. They crashed heavily to the ground in a cloud of dust.

The pressure on Ruan Ming instantly halved. Seizing the opportunity, she swatted the leader’s weapon to the ground, stabilizing her footing.

At that moment, the patrol vehicle screeched to a halt. Wei Heng and his men jumped out and swarmed the thieves, pinning them down. A man with high cheekbones and a fierce gaze shoved his way through the crowd and started viciously kicking the subdued men, cursing with every blow.

“Steal my crops, will you! I’ll make you pay for stealing my crops!” He looked to be another Territory Lord.

But Ruan Ming’s gaze was caught by the pendant hanging around his neck. That pendant… it was exactly like her father’s! Her father’s pendant was one he had carved himself. Ruan Ming simply couldn’t believe someone else in the world could possess an identical one.

“That’s enough, Liu Yi! You’ll kill him if you keep kicking!” Wei Heng frowned and barked at the man.

Simultaneously, Liu Guang rushed forward, grabbing Liu Yi’s arm. “Brother, head back first. We’ll handle things here.”

Though still resentful, Liu Yi didn’t dare disrespect Wei Heng. Muttering curses, he reluctantly retreated. As he left, he cast a furtive glance at Ruan Ming. Ruan Ming hadn’t worn her reflective mask today. The patrolmen also glanced toward her repeatedly.

She lowered her head, silently memorizing that name: Liu Yi!

Once the patrol vehicle had driven off, her ears still unavoidably caught the hushed chatter from inside the truck:

“That Ruan woman… she’s really stunning.” The comment sparked a ripple of suggestive jeering.

“The other one’s not bad either. Looks proud, but her face is unfamiliar. Sure has a ruthless hand, though.”

Soon, Wei Heng’s voice cut in: “Territory 33’s Lord. Whoever’s backing her is no small player. If you don’t want trouble, don’t mess with her!”

An instant hush fell over the truck, leaving only the low hum of the engine.

Ruan Ming retracted her hearing and turned to the woman in the jacket. Recalling the private gossip Ah Yuan had shared the previous night, she already had a strong guess who this was.

Sure enough, the woman turned, flashed her a grin, and extended her hand: “Territory 33 Lord, Huang Yu. ‘Yu,’ as in ‘a flawless gem.'”

The woman had just helped her out immensely. Ruan Ming forced a grateful smile and reached out, briefly touching her hand in greeting.

Huang Yu blinked: “Guess that makes us officially acquainted. But I just got to my territory and still have things to handle. Let’s catch up another day when we’re free.”

They weren’t familiar with each other, so there really wasn’t much to talk about. Given her reserved nature, Ruan Ming was only too happy with the suggestion. She nodded: “Alright, another day, then.”

Huang Yu had only taken a few steps before she turned back. She raised her wrist and wiggled her wristband: “We’re neighbors, after all. Mind if we add contact info?”

“Sure, go ahead,” Ruan Ming said, extending her arm to display her wristband for scanning. The two exchanged contact details before finally going their separate ways.

After the earlier commotion, it was already noon. Ruan Ming gathered her weeding tools and headed home.

The rabbit from last night was still pressed under the iron cage. She had nothing to feed it; if she didn’t eat it soon, it would be too skinny. Back home, she started a fire and boiled water, preparing to process the rabbit.

For this meal, she had even specifically searched for cooking methods online the night before. Though decades had passed since the Great Cataclysm, some electronic data from the Old Era had been preserved, and people’s lifestyles largely still followed Old Era customs.

She was reluctant to waste the rabbit skin, so she singed off the fur and scraped the skin clean, yielding a whole, intact rabbit carcass. She removed the innards and chopped the rest into bite-sized pieces. After blanching, she seared the meat, then let it simmer in a covered pot for half an hour.

She had no scallions, ginger, or garlic, but she did have cooking wine and soy sauce she’d bought from Ah Yuan. As she drizzled the sauces over the browning meat, the aroma sizzled instantly, filling the entire kitchen. The scent of meat permeated every corner.

Ruan Ming couldn’t remember how long it had been since she’d last eaten meat. Just standing there during the short cooking time, smelling that intense fragrance, she lost count of how many times she swallowed. With no rice, she ate the rabbit meat alongside some dried Fairy Peach.

The rabbit was stewed until extremely tender, the meat falling off the bone, with just a bit of tendon that was savory and glutinous, sticking slightly to her teeth. Chewing quickly, the flavor filled her mouth, too delicious to swallow right away.

Over ten jin of rabbit meat was far too much for one meal. The house had no refrigerator, but luckily the March weather wasn’t too hot yet. Cooked meat could last another day.

Ruan Ming rubbed her belly, experiencing the rare sensation of being stuffed. Her mouth still craved more, but her stomach simply couldn’t fit another bite. She got up to wash the dishes. After finishing, she dragged a deck chair to the living room doorway and lay back on it, dozing for a while. Around two o’clock, she woke up, refreshed herself, and headed back out to pull weeds in the field.

It wasn’t until eight in the evening that she logged back online, right on time. She had mostly finished with the questions she needed to ask, so she didn’t seek out that staff member. Instead, she seriously browsed other farming experience posts.

Unexpectedly, the other party pinged her window first. Ruan Ming still wasn’t sure who had topped up her communication Credits, nor did she dare ask openly. When she chatted with Ye Fengwan, she didn’t bring up the matter either.

Ye Fengwan naturally didn’t mention it, only asking: “No new questions for consultation today?”

Seeing the usually cold staff member acting so proactive struck Ruan Ming as quite unusual. Thinking of last night’s rat trouble, she asked: “The territory is overrun with mutated rats. Does the Research Institute have any good methods for eliminating them?”

Besides rat poison and cats, there were no other good methods for getting rid of rats. In today’s world, humans were evolving, plants were evolving, and animals were no exception. Mutated rats were nothing like ordinary ones; conventional rat poison couldn’t take them down anymore.

Ye Fengwan replied: “The institute has a few mutant cats used for experiments. One is getting on in years and isn’t much use anymore. I can have someone send it over to you. Even if it can’t catch rats, its mere presence should deter them from getting near your vegetable garden.”

When Ruan Ming saw those words, she couldn’t believe her eyes. She quickly typed back:

“Does your Research Institute often give cats to Territory Lords?”

On the other end, Ye Fengwan chuckled softly at the message and replied:

“Of course not. But this is the first time a user has asked about rodent control, and conveniently, this cat became available. Think of it as a gift for a lucky user. However, this cat is indeed a bit old. I hope you won’t mind it.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Ruan Ming rolled back and forth on her bed. She was getting a cat! She wouldn’t mind how old the cat was! As long as the cat didn’t mind her humble home. Besides, she’d saved up some Credits recently. She could definitely afford to keep a cat well-fed.