I Raise My Wife in a Supernatural Story (Infinite) - Chapter 24

Qi Yan slept for a long time. When she opened her eyes again, the room was dimly lit, and through the gaps in the curtains, she could see that the sky outside had already darkened. She reached out and fumbled by the bedside, grabbing her phone to check the time, May 3rd, 19:29.

Rubbing her eyes, Qi Yan confirmed the date again. It really was May 3rd!

She remembered returning from her hometown on May 2nd. That night, she had flipped through The Book of Supernatural Tales before going to bed, and after falling asleep, she had dreamed her way into the world of the book.

Now, the date was still May 3rd. She vaguely recalled leaving the world of the book because she had exhausted herself helping Bai Qing restore her spiritual energy, she had collapsed into unconsciousness as soon as she returned. She had thought she must have slept for a long time, but the date was still the 3rd.

“Seems like time in the book world doesn’t sync with reality. Entering and exiting the book doesn’t change the passage of time here,” Qi Yan muttered to herself, rolling over to find a more comfortable position. But instead, she buried her face into something soft and furry.

The furry creature she had bumped into squirmed slightly.

???

Qi Yan bolted upright and turned on the bedside lamp. For a moment, she almost wondered if she was still trapped in the world of the book.

The light illuminated the surroundings, and Qi Yan could now clearly see the snow-white fox curled up beside her, a large, fluffy fox, coiled into a white ball.

Qi Yan’s mouth fell open as her brain quickly caught up. This had to be Bai Qing.

She had followed her back to the real world!

Instinctively, Qi Yan looked at the ring on her left ring finger. The silver band was still there. She tried to remove it, but just like before, the ring seemed fused to her flesh, embedded deep into her bones.

As she stared blankly at the ring, a snow-white, fluffy tail suddenly swept into view, swaying in front of her before settling on her arm.

Qi Yan froze, her gaze shifting to the fox’s tail.

[Nine-Tailed Fox King] that was the description the book had given when she had drawn Bai Qing’s card.

Qi Yan followed the fox’s tail with her eyes, but she could only see one. And while this fox was slightly larger than an ordinary one, at a glance, it could easily be mistaken for a big Samoyed.

So this was a fox spirit? Its true form just looked like a regular fox.

Well its fur was whiter and cleaner, and it was a bit bigger Qi Yan reached out and stroked the fox’s fur, thinking to herself: Hmm, the texture is amazing! Better than any other animal she’d ever touched.

The sensation was so addictive that Qi Yan couldn’t help but keep petting, her hand wandering to the large, smooth, snow-white tail.

Good lord, no wonder so many people love petting cats. Small animals are just too satisfying to touch! She might not have a cat, but she had a fox! Who wouldn’t get hooked?

Perhaps she had been petting for too long, disturbing Bai Qing’s sleep. The fluffy tail suddenly flicked in annoyance, as if shooing away a nuisance, before curling tightly around itself, no longer allowing the pesky human to continue.

Qi Yan guiltily withdrew her hand and glanced at the fox’s face to see if she had woken up.

After a while with no sign of movement, Qi Yan relaxed, realizing Bai Qing was still asleep.

Her gaze drifted to the fox’s perked-up ears. Almost as if possessed, Qi Yan reached out again this time to touch them.

The moment her fingers made contact, the fox ears twitched violently a few times, startling Qi Yan into immediately withdrawing her hand to observe carefully. To her surprise, she saw those fox ears take on a faint pink hue.

!!!

What was going on?

The delicate pink color lasted only an instant before vanishing, like pink pollen dusted over snow-white silk, disappearing with a gust of wind.

Qi Yan’s heart raced as she guiltily pressed her lips together, watching the big fox’s reaction, only to find there was none.

Remembering how Bai Qing had exhausted her spiritual power by the end of the storybook, Qi Yan retracted her mischievous hand. It was better to let her sleep a little longer, to rest until she was fully recovered.

The fox didn’t wake, but the human was genuinely hungry.

Rubbing her growling stomach in protest, Qi Yan decided to get up and make something to appease her rumbling belly.

The moment her feet touched the floor, she looked down and spotted several white furballs scattered by the bedside.

Qi Yan’s eye twitched as she bent down to pick one up, placing it in her palm. It had to be said these furballs weren’t small, and they were incredibly dense, smooth, and soft to the touch.

There was no need to ask who they belonged to. Qi Yan glanced at the certain someone lying on the bed and began to worry was her home going to be covered in floating fur from now on?

It seemed like another household chore had been added to the list.

Qi Yan gathered all the furballs from the floor. Their texture was so distinct from ordinary animal shedding that she carefully arranged them on the nightstand, squinting thoughtfully. Maybe I can turn these into keychains when I have time.

Setting aside the furballs for now, her top priority was cooking.

Having lived alone for so long, she was used to making simple home-cooked meals. Since she’d stopped staying in the dorm much during her third year of university, she’d mostly cooked for herself.

After her trip into the storybook, almost no time had passed in the real world. The fridge was still stocked with everything she needed, so Qi Yan decided to whip up a couple of quick dishes.

Thinking of the fox sleeping inside, she took a piece of meat from the freezer. Foxes are carnivores, right? She’d make braised pork rice.

With that in mind, her hands moved swiftly as she began chopping the meat and prepping the ingredients.

After steaming the rice, she cut the meat into small pieces and stewed it with shiitake mushrooms. Once the first round of stewing was done, she transferred it to a clay pot to simmer further, ensuring the braised pork rice would have a richer, more tender texture.

With everything prepped, all that was left was to wait. Qi Yan sat at the dining table to rest, but before she could even pull out her phone, a mechanical voice echoed in her mind.

[Ding!]
“Detected that the player has cleared the beginner storybook. On behalf of the storybook, the guide extends congratulations and presents the clearance reward for the beginner level.”

Qi Yan froze for a moment before perking up. Finally! Any game would drop rewards upon clearing a level, and defeating a boss definitely came with loot, she’d been waiting for this!

Rubbing her hands together, she hoped the rewards would be generous, preferably including some god-tier weapon.

[Based on the player’s overall performance and clearance results in the beginner storybook Zhongshan Sacrifice, the rewards are as follows:]
– Completion of the key mission Discovering Boss Cuilan’s secret: 50 points.
– Completion of all tasks issued by the guide NPC Sister Hong: 50 points.
– Completion of the hidden mission Uncovering the secrets beneath the Drum Music Altar: 50 points.
– Locating the ‘Eye’ of the world and passing through it: 100 points.
– Defeating Boss Cuilan: 100 points.
Total points obtained: 350.
Additionally: The player’s performance in this storybook has been rated S-tier, rewarding three divination slips and dropping one brocade pouch.]

【Note: Points in the script world can be exchanged for many things. Players who clear the novice script will unlock the “Shop,” where they can use points to exchange for various items. The “Shop” is divided into two tiers: “Regular” and “Special.” Items in the “Regular” shop refresh daily, while those in the “Special” shop refresh weekly. Additionally, points are the universal currency in the script world. They can not only be exchanged for items but also used to enhance a player’s basic attributes.】

As she spoke, 【Guide】 displayed a screen in front of Qi Yan, allowing her to see her player attributes more clearly.

Player: Qi Yan

Stamina: 60

Combat: 10

Intellect: 80

Luck: 99

Qi Yan: “…”

What the hell is this luck stat of 99?! Is the max score 100 or something?

【Guide】 popped up: 【The maximum score for all attributes is 100.】

Great, so you’re saying I’m actually a lucky person.

【Guide】: 【Indeed, Miss Qi’s novice draw is the only one of its kind in the entire script world. That’s truly exceptional luck.】

From the sound of it, Bai Qing is a top-tier divine card and the only one in the script world. Looking at it this way, she really was quite fortunate.

“Thanks, but no thanks. Honestly, I’d rather not use my good luck in this kind of situation. If I hadn’t been unlucky enough to get dragged into this damn script in the first place, I wouldn’t have needed to draw this card at all!”

Her complaints came one after another, but 【Guide】 cut her off at the right moment: 【So, Miss Qi, do you have any other questions?】

Qi Yan propped her chin on her hand and thought for a moment before asking, “Can points be exchanged for anything?”

【Yes.】

“What if I want to exchange for some energy?”

【Guide】 was momentarily stunned by her question but quickly realized what she meant: 【Theoretically, yes.】

“Good.”

The divine card she’d drawn required occasional refueling and recharging. Unfortunately, she was the power bank. And if the power bank wasn’t fully charged, how could it function?

【Guide】: 【Additionally, points can also be exchanged for draws.】

“Oh? Spending points to buy cards for draws? That’s gambling behavior.” Qi Yan was a hoarder when it came to games she had no addiction to drawing cards, no fondness for gambling. She knew gamblers ended up with nothing in the end.

Points had all sorts of important uses for her: restoring energy, improving physical attributes, and all those items in the shop. Any of those was a better deal than gambling.

Just look at her pitiful attribute stats barely passing stamina, combat skills that might as well not exist. It was downright depressing.

【Guide】: 【The next script will begin in one month. Please prepare in advance.】

Qi Yan frowned slightly, curling her fingers as she asked, “How can I completely escape this script?”

【Guide】: 【That’s what I was about to tell you next: Players must clear scripts and collect all seven emotional fragments. Submit the fragments to the script via 【Guide】, and upon successful verification, you will be able to leave the script world.】

“Emotional fragments?”

【Guide】: 【Correct. Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred and desire collect all seven, and the player can leave the script.】

Qi Yan fell into deep thought, mulling over 【Guide】’s words. She knew these seven emotions, they must be related to the so-called “seven emotions and six desires.”

Having completed its task this time, 【Guide】 prepared to slip away quietly, leaving Qi Yan alone to ponder her current situation.

Qi Yan noticed it was about to leave and quickly called out to stop it, urgently asking, “Wait, don’t go yet!”

The guide flickered back: 【Is there anything else?】

“Does this beginner level not drop any fragments?”

The guide: 【It does. The dropped pouch is it.】

Qi Yan checked the rewards she had received and asked, “So, are these fragments obtained based on the rating of clearing the instance? If the rating isn’t high, you might not get any?”

The guide: 【Players who don’t contribute much to clearing the instance naturally won’t receive emotional fragments. The guide believes this is fair.】

Qi Yan: “Then, is there a way for me to accurately collect these seven types of fragments? For example, can I know in advance what kind of fragment the next instance I enter will drop?”

The guide: 【No. Instances are random. If you’re lucky enough, you might collect all seven in just seven attempts. The guide still believes this is fair.】

“…”

Whether it was fair or not, Qi Yan didn’t know. All she knew was that if her luck was bad, she’d have to cycle endlessly through these storybooks until she collected all seven emotions.

Thinking of this, she fell into worry again, not even noticing when the guide quietly left.

Lost in thought, Qi Yan didn’t notice the faint rustling sounds outside the slightly ajar restaurant door. By the time she realized, the door was already being pushed open from the outside.

Instinctively looking up toward the door, she didn’t see anyone at first glance. Qi Yan froze, the aftermath of the storybook world had left her instinctively thinking of ghosts and monsters whenever something happened, and her first reaction was to flee.

“What’s with all this restlessness?”

A cool voice came from the restaurant entrance. Qi Yan was stunned, recognizing the voice as Bai Qing’s. She blinked and lowered her gaze, finally seeing a snow-white fox head poking through the doorway.

“Pfft!”

Her first reaction upon seeing the fox’s head was to burst into laughter. Covering her mouth, she watched as the fox’s face twisted into an annoyed expression.

“What’s so funny? Never seen a cute little animal before?”

Qi Yan covered her mouth, desperately trying to hold back her laughter, but her beautiful peach-blossom eyes betrayed her.

Bai Qing snorted coldly: “Go ahead and laugh. Don’t choke yourself trying to hold it in!”

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