Chapter 55: How May I Be Of Service
Li Meirong stood up with Feng Huang in her arms. With one hand, she brushed off the accumulated fallen peach blossom petals from her hair and shoulders.
The meadow was blooming with life. Not only with vegetation, but also little critters roaming and flying by. Butterflies, bees and mantises, just to name a few. On the field, she stood upon were a mixture of flowers and herbs, each more precious than the last. She wished Chou would wake up and teach her more about them, having a spirit plant who is able to communicate with others of its kind easily made herbal studies an easy subject for her. Unfortunately, he was still knocked out cold. From her limited knowledge, it was already easy to deduce this place was indeed a treasure trove.
"Where are we? This place...It's amazing." With evident awe, Li Meirong questioned as she stared ahead at the entrance of the shrine.
This can't be what she heard of, the "storage" place. This was an actual piece of land. Otherwise, how would it be possible for living organisms to grow here? Interspatial rings provided you with your own dimensional space, a place where you can leave important items and carry them with ease. It wasn't an actual location you could live in and raise flowers!
Feng Huang raised her long neck and looked up at Li Meirong's pointy chin, she answered as happy as a clam, "We're in your dimension!"
Li Meirong didn't take the turtle's words seriously. Not only was it not a storage place, but it also couldn't possibly be hers. She took notice of the signboard hanging from the shrine's roof and murmured in thought, "It says this place belongs to the Bai Clan."
Why did that name sound so familiar to her? She wondered if she had heard of it before...
Feng Huang snorted, wiggled her shell left and right to squeeze herself out of Li Meirong's embrace. She might have once been a small and slow animal, but now that she had become a mighty demoness, hovering above the ground was an easy feat for her!
"We will change it soon, don't worry. Let's call this place the 'Feng Huang clan' from now on."
"...." This turtle really managed to leave Li Meirong speechless.
With a shake of her head, she followed Feng Huang's hovering turtle body towards what appears to be the shrine.
As they strolled ahead, the floor level grew thick with mist, giving off an even greater air of mystery and wonder to the residence.
They reached the main entrance. A door befitting a giant was in front of them and on top of the door were vines tangled and twisted around the whole establishment. White and purple flowers sprouted from the tendrils. It was a gorgeous sight, but it also indicated the place had not been used in a very long time.
"I think this place is abandoned." Li Meirong mentioned in a soft tone.
In full glee, Feng Huang grinned from ear to ear, "Not anymore! The new owner has just arrived!"
The little ruby shelled turtle nearly skidded into the entrance hall as Li Meirong pushed open the exquisitely carved door. It creaked loudly. Definitely unused.
In the hall was what looks like a lounge area painted in red and gold with a full tea set centered on a large, wide tree stump serving as a table, surrounded by the softest looking cushions on top of wooden chairs in matching colours. Lotus-shaped lanterns were hanging all across the halls, suspended in the air.
Hesitantly, Li Meirong went to sit on one of the cushioned chairs, looking around curiously, still wondering where the hell she was. Feng Huang went to explore, no doubt looking around for whatever items she can take as her own.
She noticed on the table was placed an empty beige tinted scroll. Curious, she reached her delicate hand to grab it.
As soon as her fingers made contact with the scroll, it got filled with ink, characters formed and took shape on the scroll's surface.
With widened eyes, she read the written text aloud, "Welcome back, how may I be of service?"
In response, she blurted out, "This is my first time here, where am I?"
As if on cue, the characters shifted and new text formed.
In your dimension.
So it can hear what I say? Can it read my mind too? Li Meirong quizzically wondered.
The characters changed once again.
Of course, you created this dimension. It is a part of you.
"...!!!"
What is this monstrosity?!
She flinched as she read this newfound discovery. Her hands shook and the scroll dropped to the floor.
Taking in a deep breath, Li Meirong calmed herself down. She just got pushed into a volcano and met an animal that changed into a demon, what's a dimension in comparison? No big deal! Just another day in her crazy life.
Slowly, her fingers crept around the scroll. There were already characters written down this time.
Please don't do that.
...I'm sorry…
That's fine. How can I help you?
She preferred to speak her wishes than have them read from her mind. She wanted to check the limits of this place. A while had passed since she last drank anything and the tea set seemed very inviting.
"Can you prepare Oolong tea for me?"
There was no written response, however, a kettle filled with hot water materialized on the table, with no hands holding it. The kettle gradually poured out its own contents into the teacup.
Li Meirong brought the porcelain teacup to her lips and noticing the steam rising from the water, she blew over the tea to lower the temperature, taking a small sip. Sure enough, it was Oolong tea!
Pleased with the result, Li Meirong probed further, "Can you prepare me a lobster dish?"
Poof. Besides the teacup set appeared a plate filled with chef grade content meals.
She asked for chopsticks and enjoyed her feast.
After she was well rested, nourished and content, came the next request, "Can you bring me a computer or a cellphone?"