TDU Chapter 280
Chapter 280 Magical Warehouse
"Warehouse Dào Seeking…?" The two jiejies gave me a blank look.
"That’s right, that’s right…" I turned around, opened the iron door, and stepped inside. "There’s a {Dào} hidden in this room. If you can find it in… um… five minutes, it’s yours!"
"Oh…?" The pretty jiejie stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Little Mouse… are you sure this is okay? This {rule} sounds totally made up on the spot."
"H–How could I have done that…?" This jiejie is really smart! "T–This rule… my {trial} has always followed this rule…"
"Alright, alright…" The pretty jiejie smiled and nodded. "What a rare sight today—an {Earthly Branch} like this."
She turned to ask the exceptionally beautiful jiejie, "Xiao Yao, what do you think?"
"We’re just here to scout for strategies. How the {Earthly Branches} act doesn’t matter to us," Xiao Yao jiejie replied. "Little Mouse, how much is admission?"
"Ah… admiss…" I suddenly remembered what Mister Tiger told me—that every game has a {admission} price. "My… my {trial} costs two dollars."
"Two dollars?" Xiao Yao jiejie repeated in confusion.
"Two {Dào}!" I quickly corrected myself.
"Two {Dào}? That still doesn’t make sense…" the other pretty jiejie said. "We’re giving you two {Dào}, but your game only rewards one. Who would join under that kind of rule? Little Mouse, are you sure you’re doing this right?"
Oh no, I think I messed up.
"I… I mean both of you together only need to pay two {Dào}… so it’s actually just one {Dào} per person…"
"That still doesn’t add up…" Xiao Yao jiejie frowned. "Wouldn’t that still mean we gain no profit?"
"Pfft…" The pretty jiejie covered her mouth and laughed. "What is this? Kid, why are you so cute?"
Oh no, oh no… I really messed it up.
Xiao Yao jiejie shook her head and said to the pretty jiejie, "Ruoxue, do you really think this game is worth playing? Isn’t this just a waste of time?"
"But don’t you think it’s kind of fun?" the jiejie addressed as Ruoxue replied. "One {Dào} in exchange for one {Dào}… This kid came up with such a unique little game. Don’t you want to give it a try?"
"You call this {unique}?" Xiao Yao jiejie pondered for a moment. "Is the {Dào} hidden in the warehouse hard to find?"
"No idea, but I think it’s interesting. I have to see for myself." Ruoxue jiejie pulled a {Dào} out of her pocket. "Here you go, Little Mouse—your first customer today."
"Ah! Thank you, jiejie!" I was especially happy as I accepted the {Dào}. I just earned a {Dào} for White Goat gege!
"What the…" Ruoxue jiejie laughed again. "What do you mean {thank you, jiejie}? Do you even know what your current role is?"
"Ah, I mean… admission received! The trial may now begin!" I turned back and opened the iron door. "You have five minutes. I’ll count to three hundred in my head."
"Alright, got it," Ruoxue jiejie said as she came over and patted my head.
Hey—I'm the umpire here!
After I closed the iron door, I started counting silently in my head. I didn’t even have a watch, after all.
Around the time I reached one hundred and fifty, I heard Ruoxue jiejie knocking things over inside.
She seemed to be looking really hard... I was starting to feel a little guilty for tricking her.
At that moment, Xiao Yao jiejie asked, "Little Mouse… how long have you been an {Earthly Branch}?"
"Ah… today’s my first day."
"First day?!" Xiao Yao jiejie paused in surprise, then fell silent for a while. "So this game really was something you just came up with… wasn’t it?"
"Ah… yes." I nodded. "Jiejie, you…"
"Stop calling me {jiejie}…" A flash of sorrow flickered in Xiao Yao jiejie’s eyes—who knew what she was thinking about?
I didn’t dare say another word. It felt like everything I did was wrong.
"Don’t forget your counting," Xiao Yao jiejie reminded me. "You didn’t lose track, did you?"
"Uh…"
Finally, after silently counting to three hundred, I turned around and opened the door.
Sure enough, Ruoxue jiejie had turned the whole warehouse into a mess.
"What the heck? Was there really a {Dào} in here?" Ruoxue jiejie let down her tied-up hair, looking a bit tired. "This place is so small and stuffy, I almost passed out from the heat."
"Oh…?" Xiao Yao jiejie hesitated for a moment. "No way, Ruoxue… even you couldn’t find it?"
"Haha." Ruoxue jiejie let out a small laugh. "I didn’t use my {Reverberation}, you know. I just wanted to see what kind of game this kid came up with."
"Th-then, jiejie, I guess you must’ve failed the trail," I said. "Y–You should come out now… I need to clean up the inside…"
Ruoxue jiejie looked at the mess inside the warehouse and said a bit apologetically, "Little Mouse, do you clean all this up by yourself every time?"
"Ah… I guess so…" I nodded.
"With that tiny body of yours, wouldn’t it take you an entire day to tidy up the place?"
"Enough with the questions," Xiao Yao jiejie cut in. "This kid’s only on their first day as an {Earthly Branch}, and you’ve already made a mess of things."
"What?" Ruoxue jiejie exclaimed. "It’s only your first day…"
She thought for a moment, then came over and grabbed my hand.
"Ah?" I jumped in surprise. "What are you doing?"
"Don’t move," Ruoxue jiejie said. "Listen carefully, Little Mouse. This might be a magical warehouse."
"A magical warehouse…?"
"Don’t speak," she cut me off and continued, "I used to dream of having a magical room—no matter how messy it got, it would always clean itself up whenever friends came over to play."
I didn’t really understand what Ruoxue jiejie meant.
"So you must understand the logical relation at play here…" A bead of sweat trickled down Ruoxue jiejie’s forehead. It seemed she was having a hard time saying these words. "Little Mouse… if someone comes to visit you… then the warehouse will be cleaned up… understand?"
"I understand ah… I definitely won’t let it stay this messy forever..."
"Excellent." Ruoxue jiejie nodded after hearing me, then let go of my hand.
She still looked incredibly tired, but she waved her hand and said, "Xiao Yao, give it a try."
Xiao Yao jiejie looked at her, puzzled. "Ruoxue… I don’t understand what you’re trying to achieve here."
"I’m just helping this child," Ruoxue jiejie replied. "Is there something wrong with that?"
Xiao Yao jiejie narrowed her eyes. "From my perspective, you're not helping a child... rather, as a {participant}, you're supporting the {Earthly Branches}..."
"Hmm…" Ruoxue jiejie thought for a moment and responded, "No matter. Even if she is an {Earthly Branch}, in my eyes, she’s just a kid. Isn’t that what you like about me?"
Xiao Yao jiejie paused for a moment, then reached out to open the warehouse door. I leaned in with her to take a look inside.
To my surprise, everything inside was cleaned up, and all the scattered things were placed back on the shelves.
TL Note: Rant goes here ( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)
