The couple in the inn looked quite honest, the owner quickly boiled the water and made the tea while his wife tidied out 3 guest rooms. The group of 5 people didn't have the strength to say more and went to their rooms to rest. Gao Yi has a room by himself.
Lou Fan put down his bag and wiped himself clean with the hot water. Then he went to bed.
Qin Tan tidied the quilt for Lou Fan. He stared at his partner for a while with a smile on the corner of his mouth. After that, he spent some time analyzing the information and incidents that happened before. Then, he washes up and goes to sleep. On the bed, Qin Tan pulled out the person who had rolled further into the bed. He hugged Lou Fan into his arms and snuggled against him, peppering kisses on Lou Fan’s face. When Lou Fan waved his hand in dissatisfaction to drive the nuisance away, Qin Tan smiled and closed his eyes.
En, it's really comfortable to hold someone to sleep.
The next morning, Lou Fan remembered that he forgot to tell his teammates that he will be going to help the old woman feed the rabbits today. Everyone got up early and are eating the plain noodles made by the lady boss. Then they heard Lou Fan saying that he would feed the rabbits later.
Chen Shuyang blinked and asked with a smile, "Brother Lou, is your aura of luck showing again?"
Lou Fan poked the noodles in the bowl and said helplessly, "I’m just going to feed the rabbits. I don't know if I found the clues or not. You guys still have to look around, maybe I missed something last night because it was too late. Look for clues more carefully today and I'll go to the old woman’s place first. Who knows, what if..."
Chen Shuyang has complete trust in Lou Fan and is very confident, "Go ahead, Brother Lou. Just call me if you need help. We will wait for your good news."
Lou Fan couldn't help laughing when he heard Chen Shuyang’s words. What kind of friendship was this? It is very touching.
Gao Yi didn't take Lou Fan’s words seriously. In his heart, he felt that Lou Fan is doing useless work, and he didn't plan to participate. He is just going to figure out where to go to inquire about news, how much time is left, how their progress is a little slow, etc.
After a satisfying breakfast, the group split up. Lou Fan went out with Qin Tan, Gao Yi went out alone, and Nie Feng went out with Chen Shuyang. The task is to inquire for clues.
Following his plan, Gao Yi walked towards the city gate with a very clear goal. There are guards and some villagers gathered there. Plus, at the side of the city gate, there are villagers fetching water by the lake.
Lou Fan didn't care where Nie Feng took Chen Shuyang, they just walked toward the old woman's residence. When they reached the front of the house, they saw the old woman wiping her tears with her head down. Her wrinkled face is full of tears, which made people feel sympathetic.
Lou Fan walked over with a smile and said to her, "Granny, I'm here to help you feed the rabbits. Where are the rabbits?"
Hearing this, the old woman raised her head and glanced at Lou Fan. Then she pointed towards the house, "The rabbits are in the yard, and their food is on the side. You have to feed all 5 rabbits."
Lou Fan nodded and agreed, "Okay, leave it to me."
Just 5 rabbits, so it's not difficult. Lou Fan estimated that it will be done in half an hour at most. This task is quite simple.
This small farmyard yard is paved with bluestone slabs and is very large. There are sheds on the left and right. 5 rabbits are kept on the right, and chickens and ducks are on the other. There are many flowers in the surrounding area. They are blooming nicely and colorful. It looks very nice and has a breath of life on it.
Lou Fan and Qin Tan walked to the rabbit shed and found that the rabbits are much bigger than the average rabbit they had ever seen. If they need to compare them, the rabbits are about the size of a corgi, and they are all fat.
"Aren’t these rabbits a little too big?" Lou Fan swallowed and glanced left and right. Not seeing the old woman, he whispered to Qin Tan, "If we make a pot of mala steamed rabbit, I wondered how delicious it would be?"
Qin Tan chuckled and said to Lou Fan, "Okay, I'll make it for you when we returned. You can eat as much as you want."
Lou Fan immediately raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "Okay, let's make spicy rabbit, stir-fry rabbit, pickled pepper rabbit..." After that, he swallowed and forced himself to shift his attention from the rabbit meat. Otherwise, he might unconsciously eat the rabbit raw.
Rolling up his sleeves, Lou Fan found that Qin Tan is already moving the grass from the side. That pile of grass would take a lorry to load everything, and it formed a hill in the yard.
"Don’t tell me this is all for the rabbits?" Lou Fan is a little dumbfounded.
Just 5 rabbits could eat so much? Sure this is not a joke?
Qin Tan's arms are bulging as his arms are full of green grass. His nose is full of the smell of green grass and he turned his face to the side. Spitting out 2 stalks of grass, he said, "I'm not sure but let's feed them first. With these many grasses, the rabbits will take a long time to eat."
Lou Fan glanced at the ‘mountain’ of green grass and then glanced at the heap in Qin Tan's arms. Qin Tan's arms are full, but the grass pile didn't decrease. Lou Fan sighed. He is probably dreaming earlier, the quest given by the NPC is not as simple as he thought!
Welp, can’t say anything. Just roll up his sleeves and do it!
The 5 rabbits are kept together in a shed. Qin Tan threw the heap of grasses into the feeding trough and turned around to carry more again. Lou Fan was following behind Qin Tan and he stopped in front of the trough, stunned for a moment.
"Qin Tan, did you just put the grass in?" Lou Fan’s voice sounded dry.
Qin Tan is puzzled, but replies, "I just put it in, what's wrong?"
Lou Fan: "There’s no more left. I was following behind you. You just put down the grasses a few seconds, and these rabbits finished them already? Are these rabbit monsters?"
Qin Tan: …
Lou Fan put down the grasses in his arms and is still muttering, "Eating so fast and so much, no wonder it grows so big..."
Then, Lou Fan saw it. The moment the grasses are put down, the rabbits rushed forward. He watched the grasses disappear, in the blink of an eye.
"Frick..."
Not enough to curse, the old woman's voice sounded faint from afar, "Young man, you have to feed them quickly, or the rabbits will be angry."
Lou Fan: …
Qin Tan: …
Both men felt helpless and quickened their speed, but no matter how fast they are, the speed of the rabbit's grazing is not slow at all. Until half of the green grass hill disappeared, they still continued to eat quickly. Lou Fan rubbed his sore arm, feeling that his feet could no longer be lifted, but he didn't dare to relax.
"I'm frickin exhausted!" Lou Fan fell to the ground, out of breath.
The ‘mountain’ of grass has disappeared alas, and the rabbits finally seem to be full and no longer guarding the trough, but spread out to do their own thing. Qin Tan is also very tired. He unscrewed a bottle of water and handed it to Lou Fan. Next, he opened another bottle himself and downed everything in one breath.
The sound of light footsteps sounded. Lou Fan opened his eyes and met the smiling eyes of the old woman. He sat up and said, "Granny, we have fed the rabbits."
The old woman walked to the rabbit shed and looked around, nodded with satisfaction, "Okay, well fed."
After speaking, her face changed immediately, and she looked sadly at the flowers around the wall. She said sadly, "My poor Ah Feng, she likes these flowers the most. If they died, I don't know how sad she would be!"
With this emotional expression, Lou Fan felt that she should be awarded an Oscar for Best Actress. He sighed and asked with a good temper, "Granny, do you need our help?"
The old woman turned her head and said with kindness, "It's the best if you can help. Just water all the flowers until they become energetic again."
The flowers around the wall are drooping and looking listless. Lou Fan thought about what granny said. She wanted them to water the flowers to make them more energetic. What kind of bizarre request is this?
Qin Tan winked at Lou Fan and whispered, "She should be the key NPC without a doubt."
Lou Fan nodded, and he is sure too. Only key NPCs can have so many extraordinary requests, he has seen it a long time ago. But he is really tired now and is about to lose his strength, so he requested, "Granny, can we rest for a while?"
The granny is very friendly and said, "Okay, take a rest when you're tired. Let's not rush. Do you want to drink some water? I collected them from the holy lake early in the morning."
The water of the holy lake? Lou Fan nodded immediately, "That's great. Thank you, granny."
The old woman waved her hand and walked to a water tank. She scooped it with a ladle, turned around, and handed it to Lou Fan, "Drink it, the water in the holy lake is delicious."
Lou Fan took the ladle while thanking her. Then he took a big gulp from the water ladle and handed it to Qin Tan. The water is sweet and clear, it flows into his mouth like a clear spring. When it went down the throat, the water instantly cleared up the exhaustion. Qin Tan obviously felt the same way and looked at Lou Fan with disbelief eyes. The water of the ghost lake is not drinkable at all, and the water of the holy lake is like holy water.
Lou Fan pursed his lips and asked, "Granny, do you know about the ghost lake?"
The old woman glanced at Lou Fan, and there seemed to be a flash of light in her eyes. She took back the water ladle, and immediately sighed, "Aiyo, my poor granddaughter. She got taken away by the bad guys. The flowers in this yard are her favorite, I hope they don’t die……"
Lou Fan: …
Granny, can we act a little more genuinely? Are you ditching the emotional act after we got familiar? How insincere.
Though complaining in his heart, Lou Fan still got up slowly to work. His exhaustion seemed to be taken away by the water of the holy lake, and he could continue to ‘move bricks and work’ now. Looking at the time, it turned out that it is already afternoon, they must move faster.
However, watering the flowers is not much easier than feeding the rabbits. Qin Tan picked up buckets of water from the well, and he carried the buckets to water the flowers, pouring them one by one. The flowers are like the rabbits, like a bottomless pit. Even a few buckets of water could not fill up a pot of flowers. When he decided to ask the old woman for more information, water finally seeped out from the bottom of the flower pot. Next, the flowers became ‘energetic’ at a speed visible to the naked eye. After he finally finished watering a pot, he looked at the rest of the flowers around the wall… he felt like wanting to die.
…
The bright moonlight sprinkled on the small yard, giving the yard in the night a sense of tranquility.
Lou Fan slowly poured a ladle of water on a pot of yellow flowers, and when he saw the flowers become energized, he exhaled a breath. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he made an OK gesture to Qin Tan. Looking along the wall, the flowers are all in good spirits. There are water droplets on the petals and leaves, which occasionally slide down from above, looking bright and dewy.
Rubbing his sore arm, Lou Fan took a sip from the unfinished water ladle. The water quality is good, but unfortunately, it is not as good as the ones from the holy lake.
The old woman came out of the house. She walked slowly like she is taking a walk.
"Granny, can you give us some more water from the holy lake?" Lou Fan doesn't think he is being thick-skinned at all.
"Help yourself." She sat on a small stool and began to speak, "This holy lake and ghost lake, it used to be the same lake..."