101: Chapter 101 Are Blue Equipment Really That Powerful?

"Tang Yao?" Hu Gualing knelt on the ground, propping himself up with both hands. Hearing that familiar voice, he was certain the person in front of him was indeed Tang Yao.

But what he had just seen was a face covered in yellow mud, as if she had just crawled out of a grave... Had his eyes played tricks on him?

Hu Gualing felt uncertain and cautiously looked up... only to find that the face before him was exactly the same as what he had seen just now, covered in fresh yellow mud, looking eerie no matter how he looked at it.

And behind her, in the darkness of the courtyard, there was the faint outline of something resembling a pit.

She couldn't have... actually crawled out of that pit, right?

Hu Gualing's voice trembled: "Are you a person or a ghost?"

Tang Yao: "What do you mean 'person or ghost'? Are you two alright? Do you need to see a doctor?"

As she spoke, she took out a small bottle of oil and poured some into the lamp in her hand.

After adding the oil, the oil lamp flared up brightly with a 'whoosh.' Tang Yao waved the lamp in front of the two of them, using the light to examine this strange pair.

As the lamp flickered, Hu Gualing couldn't help but sniff, catching the scent of rapeseed oil.

So this lamp burned rapeseed oil!

Hu Gualing had purchased rapeseed oil in the village and knew it was a rare item. To use rapeseed oil just for a lamp—she was truly wealthy!

Of course, that wasn't the most important thing...

The important thing was that since it was an oil lamp and not ghost fire, the person in white before him shouldn't be a ghost, right?

Thinking of this, he mustered his courage to look at the figure in white for a while longer.

Only then did he realize that although her face was covered in mud, based on the facial contours, it was definitely Tang Yao.

Moreover... once Hu Gualing recovered from his initial state of panic, he noticed that the name [Tang Yao] was hovering above her head.

Hu Gualing: "!!!"

"I've really embarrassed myself this time, but luckily I'm not the only one..." Hu Gualing thought silently. He turned his head to his right and was instantly amused.

He saw Xiao Niao sprawled on the ground in an 'orz' position, not even daring to lift his head, his entire body shivering uncontrollably.

Hu Gualing let out two mocking laughs, climbed up, brushed the dirt off his clothes, and pulled Xiao Niao up from the ground.

By the light of the lamp, Hu Gualing saw that there was indeed a pit in the courtyard. He couldn't help but point at it and ask uncertainly, "You're not sleeping in the middle of the night because you're digging a hole?"

Seeing the two of them looking like startled birds, Tang Yao suddenly felt playful. She looked in the direction Hu Gualing was pointing, stared blankly for a moment, then turned back with a puzzled expression: "What pit? Where is there a pit?"

Hearing this, sweat instantly broke out on Hu Gualing's forehead!

The fear that had just receded surged back into his heart. He pulled the already terrified Xiao Niao and began to retreat quietly.

Tang Yao burst into laughter: "Come back, come back! I was just teasing you. That's the pond I'm digging."

Hu Gualing: "(╯□╰)!?"

Hu Gualing and Xiao Niao followed Tang Yao closer and finally saw the appearance of the pit in the courtyard.

The pit was over half a person deep and uneven inside. The excavated soil was piled around the edges. Next to the pit were tools like shovels, chisels, and buckets, clearly indicating it was mid-excavation.

Tang Yao's mud-covered face was likely the result of the digging process.

"Whew."

Both Hu Gualing and Xiao Niao breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Tang Yao digging a pit in the middle of the night didn't seem normal at all, they were only filled with the relief of having survived a disaster and didn't dare to complain in the slightest.

Tang Yao: "What do you think of my pond?"

Hu Gualing and Xiao Niao said without hesitation: "Good, it's absolutely wonderful!"

Tang Yao smiled happily and said, "I've been digging it shovel by shovel for a long time. Once it's light out, I'll clean it up, add water, and then I can raise fish, shrimp, and turtles!"

Listening to Tang Yao's innocent words, Hu Gualing relaxed quite a bit: "Xiao Niao and I will help you catch turtles!"

Tang Yao was very happy: "Great, it's a deal! By the way, what are you doing sneaking over here in the pitch black?"

Hu Gualing finally remembered his purpose: "Your sword has been forged. I'm here to deliver it."

"Oh!?" Tang Yao perked up. Although asking Hu Gualing to forge a beautiful longsword for her was largely an excuse to lend him money, if Hu Gualing had actually forged a sword, she didn't mind taking a look. After all, what swordswoman doesn't carry a blade?

Hu Gualing took the [scorching sharp longsword] out of his backpack.

Although the sword's name was very Western-style, its design was based on the low-alloy steel blade forged by Zhang Zhongqing. With simple lines and an ancient style, it perfectly suited traditional Chinese aesthetics.

Once it was brought out, the slender blade reflected a silver chill in front of the oil lamp, looking like the silver moon in the sky or white frost in the mountains.

Tang Yao was instantly captivated by the sword's appearance: "This... this is the sword for me?"

Hu Gualing: "Of course! See if you're satisfied with it."

Even as he said it, Hu Gualing didn't think Tang Yao would be dissatisfied. After all, this was the Novice Village. Even when Chef Wang personally acted, he only produced common quality equipment. How could she not be satisfied when he had produced blue equipment on his first try?

Moreover, this was already the Peak of his skill. Even if Tang Yao were dissatisfied, he had no way to forge anything better...

Tang Yao took the sword from Hu Gualing and examined it closely.

She didn't really care about attributes. Besides, Hu Gualing had only recently started learning blacksmithing. The sickle he forged last time was even despised by the Pig Keeper. How much progress could he have made in just two or three short days?

So, she didn't have high hopes for the sword's quality. She only gave the attribute column a cursory glance, wrinkled her nose slightly to express her dissatisfaction with the name, and then turned her attention to its appearance.

The overall shape of the sword was slender with elegant lines. Its weight in her hand was not heavy, feeling just right.

As for the color, the entirely silver-white look was quite nice. The only flaw was that there were some red light-specks on the blade, which not only ruined the overall cool feeling but also felt grainy to the touch, breaking the smoothness of the blade.

Fortunately, Tang Yao didn't know that these red particles were Liaohuo Stones that Hu Gualing had hammered in for aesthetics, thinking the silver-white blade was a bit too plain...

But it was still okay; it wasn't ugly. For a novice blacksmith like Hu Gualing to produce such an appearance was already quite impressive.

Tang Yao looked at Hu Gualing encouragingly and said, "Not bad, it's actually quite good-looking."

Hu Gualing: "Don't just look at it, test how sharp the edge is!"

Tang Yao: "Ah?"

Seeing her indifferent manner, Hu Gualing got anxious: "This is blue equipment! Don't you want to try it out?"

Tang Yao: "Is blue equipment very powerful?"

Hu Gualing: "..."