Nie Ruyi
The third book was titled, ‘Bestiary of Xiancheng Lake and surrounding areas’, which meant little to Nie Ruyi, as she had no idea where that was. However, upon reading through the introduction, it became pretty clear that it was written by an alumni of the Severing Firefly Sect, and that this lake was in fact within their territory. Which meant, she was able to assume the lake was nearby. The insistent bump against her arm from one of her two companions (she assumed it was Izzy) prompted her to drop one hand to play with that creature’s slime.
Turning the pages of course, turned out to be difficult this way, but it was easy enough to keep up with the book’s down-to-earth narration regarding some facts of life. During her perusal, Sun Xirong went through several rounds of getting up and sitting down, doing various chores and sitting back down to work on her most recent hair-flower. It quite intrigued Nie Ruyi to find out that the book did in fact have entries for normal mortal creatures. She found several entries on different types of Ants, including cutter and farming ants. None of them were as in depth as one might pull up on a wikipedia page, and definitely none of them had the kind of diagrams one might expect from an Encyclopedia, either. But despite that, she was able to use these entries for things she would normally recognise to help her quantify the entries for things she’d never heard of before.
One of the things she did first and foremost was look up her new friends. Her fingers turned until she found the entry for Ochre Misery Fern.
Ochre Misery Fern
Other names: Vine Beast, Sap Fiend, Corpse Farmer
Category: Plant Monster
Difficulty: Dependant upon size
Beast Core Size: Small to medium, depending on size of the creature. The older the Fern, the larger the core.
General Attributes:
Ochre Misery Ferns are said to have the following characteristics: Leafy vines wrapped around a central core much the way yarn is wrapped, thorns only when it wishes to have thorns, no discernable eyes nor ears, and podlike feet upon which it toddles about when it wishes to. They are said to choose sunny fields or riversides to plant roots in, nearby to roads and well-worn paths. They are said to use their vines to break in half and bury the body parts of their victims, whether animal or human. There is no way of knowing if the creatures are capable of spontaneously growing their vines longer or if there are simply many layers of vine unseen, but they use these vines to wrap and trap their prey.
Uses:
Alchemical - The Ferns are useful for much, as their leaves can be crushed and ground into a stinging powder one might use in a trap, the sap can be boiled down to make a base for alchemical potions, provided it is amended with ingredients heavy in the Fire qi needed to remove the poisonous nature of such sap.
Pill-Making - Ferns make for a good base powder, when their vines are properly prepared.
Location - As the Ferns rarely move from their chosen homes, they make good landmarks although they grow bigger with each season. Also, any area from which the Ferns are removed will have immensely fertile soil, good for gardening.
Medicinal - Not much can be said of the medicinal properties of the Ferns.
Culinary - One does not hunt these creatures for their culinary use.
She was quite intrigued by this, actually, since it implied that the fern was in fact starving itself by sitting in her window or in her lap. She ran her hands over the fern leaves, noting that her Missy had strangely curled leaves that curled upwards, while others of the leaves, larger ones, drifted downward in an almost daimondy-shape. Honestly, underneath the shuddering leaves, Missy looked like a Tangela without eyes, but beside the reference to pocket monsters, there was little else to compare them. She wasn’t the deep blue of that creature, instead a riot of greens and rusty-reds, with interesting shapes and swirls to the leaves.
Missy made a rustling sound at Nie Ruyi’s regard, and Nie Ruyi paused for a moment, closing her eyes. She reached out, the way she had to Izzy and Goober, with that sense through the heaviness, and found Missy’s presence close and reaching back towards her. Just like before that heavy click took place and then there she was. Missy’s contentment and joy could be felt through that connection, and it took almost nothing for Nie Ruyi to swap between the golden cords that connected her to Izzy and Goober and back again. “Huh…”
She pulled herself out of that headspace and turned the pages in the thread-bound bestiary, looking for the sludge hounds.
Sedimentary Sludge Hound
Other names: Ooze Dogs, Porcupine Slimes
Category: Slime Monster
Difficulty: A well trained outer disciple could take one down.
Beast Core Size: Small, no bigger than one’s thumbnail.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
General Attributes:
Sedimentary Sludge Hounds are named as such only because of their four limbs, two of which curve the way a dog’s might. The rest of them is an ever-changing mix of slime, eyeballs and spikes not un-reminiscent of the porcupine’s spines. These spines are hollow, but sturdy. The Sludge Hound will begin to melt away upon death, leaving these spines and the core and nothing else, so it is assumed that the spines are the only truly solid portion of these creatures. The creatures, like their lesser slime cousins, have been witnessed to eat anything, simply by absorbing it after it ceases moving. To hunt food, they use the spines on their bodies as claws and teeth, and then impale the creature they are hunting. After it dies, they will lay upon the body and when they get up, there will be nothing left of the body. Nothing is known of where these things come from, or if they die of natural causes. They seem to be found in wet environments, which implies water has something to do with their needs.
Uses:
Alchemical - The spines when ground up make for a powder rich in earth qi.
Pill-Making - The spines when ground up make for a powder rich in earth qi.
Location - The Sludge Hounds tend to form near water, so if one is spotted, water cannot be far behind.
Medicinal - Not much can be said of the medicinal properties of the Ferns.
Culinary - One does not hunt these creatures for their culinary use.
She considered then, that perhaps whoever wrote these didn’t have much experience actually studying something. She frowned, shaking her head, it wasn’t fair to think such things about people who had probably spent their entire lives doing this research. And to be fair, she wasn’t much better, she’d definitely never studied biology to the extent that she was an expert.
Still…
“A’Rong!” She called, and sure enough the girl came out quickly, hands folded neatly in front of her. She must have just come back in from a chore. “Could you fetch me my purse?” She asked, intending to make use of her planner.
Receiving the satchel, she set it down on the ground, which allowed Izzy to snuffle at it with her not-a-nose. Drawing out her spiral-bound planner, she opened it to the most recent week. She’d been using it to keep track of how long it had been since she’d been brought to this world. Now, she marked down in the most recent date her reading progress in each of the books, and also her plans.
- Basic Physical Comprehension for Beginning Cultivators - pg 18.
- The Women’s Analects - Pg. 27
- Bestiary of Xiancheng Lake and surrounding areas - Pg. 12
- To do:
- Continue attending baby cultivator classes
- Practice Combat 2 hours daily
- Write observation diary for Pets
She paused, considering. She didn’t really need to look for work or anything, as Lao Minghui had promised she’d have a monthly stipend, right? She’d done the math, too, and the monthly stipend was enough to pay for Sun Xirong’s services, as well as the food they would need each month. Sun Xirong assured her that she would be able to live comfortably with that stipend. Not to mention if necessary, Nie Ruyi could always go to the communal kitchens for a meal if she needed to, and she could request new uniforms once every half-year.
So… without need to find work, and without any requirements on her time other than training… What was she to do with herself? She was reminded of the three day weekends she would sometimes get from work back home. After the first day of chores and the second day of scrambling to catch up with her shows, she was often left with the third day of nothing to do. And it was blissful, when one considered that the next day she’d be back to answering phone calls.
But now.. she had that third day before her as a long, long stretch of life. What goals could she make while she was here?
She tapped her pen against the paper, and bit her lip. Outside, the wind rustled and she could see the shadows of the leaves against the windows. She made another list.
- Things I want:
She paused again, tapping the pen against the paper, and frowned. Then she continued:
- Things I want:
- New books to read
- Cultivation good enough I won’t die
- A family (eventually)
- Defined as A Husband and children
She paused and crossed out the definition. And then she continued.
- Things I want:
- New books to read
- Cultivation good enough I won’t die
- A family (eventually)
- Defined as A Husband and children
- To go home
She scribbled that last part out, and slammed the pen down onto the paper, before taking a deep breath. This was getting her nowhere. She gently pushed Missy off her lap, and the fern made the trek across the room to the next warm sunbeam to lay in. Izzy and Goober got up, jittering like jello that had been disturbed, and followed as she headed for the door that lead outside.
“Nie-Xiaojie?” Sun Xirong questioned, looking up from her flowers.
“I’m going for a walk, A’Rong. You can come if you want, or you can stay here. It’s up to you.” When the girl looked guiltily between her mistress and the hobby she’d been working on, Nie Ruyi huffs out an amused smile. “Just stay here. It’s fine. I won’t be long.”
The maid nodded, uncertain, but did as told.
Mini Character List -
Nie Ruyi - Our protagonist. 34 year old american woman - Frustrated and still grieving. How does one make new goals when one has been completely uprooted?
Lao Xiaojun - Lao Minghui's little brother and Sect Heir. Mr. Does-Not-Appear-In-This-Chapter
Cai Bingtian - Disciple of Severing Firefly Sect. Still Mr. Does-Not-Appear-In-This-Chapter
Song Fengling - Nie Ruyi's little assistant. also not appearing in this chapter
Missy - Worried, although it does not know how to express that.
The Green Egg - Not forgotten. Currently lives wrapped in blankets on Nie Ruyi's bedside table.
Goober & Izzy - Sedimentary Sludge Hounds who now live in Nie Ruyi's canopy of her bed. Following Nie Ruyi on her walk. They're just happy to be here.
Sun Xirong - Nie Ruyi's maid, a fifteen year old mortal girl. Hobbies or walk? Walk or hobbies? Ugh. Well, it doesn't matter. What kind of trouble can her mistress get into within the sect grounds anyway?