Chapter 93

Chapter 93

Many animals were caught off guard before being petted by him, and their spirits lifted inexplicably.

Huang Yu had been crouching in the grass, pecking at grass, when he spotted Ying Yuanxing approaching. Instantly, he wanted to get closer.

For no other reason than to be petted by Ying Yuanxing—it always made him feel much better.

As a creature of the paranormal, he was often influenced by negative emotions, and happy moments came few and far between. Having spent so long in a predominantly negative state, Huang Yu had almost forgotten what joy felt like.

But ever since coming to Ying Yuanxing’s farm, being petted by him would brighten his entire day. The sky seemed bluer, the grass greener.

Yet, recently, whenever Ying Yuanxing petted him, his legs would inexplicably go weak. It made Huang Yu feel awkward, as if something was off.

Maybe he should just skip it today.

Huang Yu thought this as he tried to hide at the edge of the grass. But his vivid yellow plumage was impossible to miss against the green pasture. With just a glance, Ying Yuanxing spotted a yellow chicken in the grass. Before even recognizing it was Huang Yu, his hand was already reaching out.

Seeing the heart symbol pop up above Huang Yu’s head, Ying Yuanxing pulled back his hand with practiced ease, leaving Huang Yu collapsed bonelessly on the ground.

Huang Yu lay there for a while before finally managing to stand up. Though his legs were weak, he had to admit—his spirits had soared. But…

Huang Yu pressed a wing against his belly, feeling a strange twinge, stronger than before. It gave him a gnawing unease.

But he couldn’t understand what bad thing could possibly happen.

After petting all the animals in the pasture, Ying Yuanxing entered the ranch house, craning his neck to look inside—only to find the floor empty. Not a single egg in sight.

It seemed the coops and livestock sheds hadn’t been fully repaired for long enough. The animals needed more time to acclimate fully.

Still, checking the animals’ bond levels gave Ying Yuanxing some comfort. At least once their affection was high enough, the quality of the eggs from the chickens and ducks would improve. This was no game—sometimes quality mattered more than quantity.

Nearby, Mu Ye was cutting fodder. On sunny days, the animals would graze outside, so stored grass wasn’t needed. But on rainy days, they’d stay inside the coops and barns, requiring large amounts of grass.

And that grass was Mu Ye’s responsibility—both harvesting and planting it.

Seeing Ying Yuanxing’s actions, Mu Ye felt a little guilty. He knew exactly why Ying Yuanxing was raising these animals. But with so many animals and the slow construction of coops and barns, his livestock had to rotate through the shelters.

Animals recovering in the coops and barns regained strength quicker, while those left outside missed out on this benefit.

As a result, the recovery progress of the previously well-conditioned animals slowed down. Milk and egg production remained still a ways off. The only thing they could reliably gather was wool—by shearing a few sheep, they’d managed to put aside a stash for Ying Yuanxing.

But seeing how threadbare the sheep appeared after shearing, Ying Yuanxing decided to give the shearing a rest. He’d wait until the sheep could grow back their fleece naturally through their abilities.

Turning around, Ying Yuanxing noticed Mu Ye’s sheepish look. He knew exactly what Mu Ye was feeling.

After all, every time he petted the animals, he’d occasionally get reminders that some had spent the night outside. It was impossible to ignore.

The reason he hadn’t intervened was that these animals were truly in bad shape. Even when fed grass, some of the weaker young ones could scarcely manage much. Without staying in the barns, their recovery would be agonizingly sluggish.

If these younglings died, finding replacements would be tough.

Ying Yuanxing had asked Mu Ye before, but even he couldn’t find more. As for hatching eggs—even if they could, the process took considerable time. It was better to focus on raising the existing animals, which would ultimately save more time.

But now, with their affection levels nearly maxed out, it shouldn’t be long, right?

Ying Yuanxing crossed his fingers that the next morning, when he visited the coops and barns, he’d find the floors littered with plump chicken and duck eggs.

With this expectation in mind, after finishing his work in the pasture, he even prepared a spacious storage bin to store all the animal products before finally going to bed.

Late at night—usually, Huang Yu would already be asleep by this time. Though he wasn’t exactly a chicken, he shared some of their habits.

But tonight, he couldn’t sleep at all. An inexplicable restlessness had him nervously strutting about in the coop. Fortunately, his footsteps were light enough not to disturb the other resting chickens.

When morning broke, Huang Yu still hadn’t slept. The sleeplessness weighed heavy on him, and he felt like venturing out to forage.

Though there was already cut fodder in the coop, Huang Yu now preferred fresh grass. More importantly, it would save his master the hassle—saving Mu Ye the chore of having to harvest grass every day, only for it to be quickly consumed.

He had no say over the other creatures, but at least he could manage himself.

But after waiting a while, Huang Yu noticed the coop door still hadn’t opened. Unable to hold back, he clucked impatiently.

"Wait a bit. Ying Yuanxing said he’d come to the pasture early today, so he told me not to open the door yet," Mu Ye replied upon hearing Huang Yu’s voice.

"Why?" Huang Yu was puzzled. Normally, Ying Yuanxing wouldn’t come until after finishing his farm work.

"Yesterday, scurrying after chickens, ducks, cows, and sheep was exhausting. He said tending to them indoors would be much easier," Mu Ye explained.

That made sense to Huang Yu. Once the coop door opened, everyone would rush out, making it harder for Ying Yuanxing to pet them.

Punctual as always, Ying Yuanxing arrived, placing a large crate by the pasture and producing a sizable wicker basket and a bucket.

The basket was one thing, but Mu Ye sensed something familiar about the bucket—yet he was certain he’d never made such a metal bucket before.

"What’s this?" Mu Ye couldn’t help but ask.

"A milking bucket," Ying Yuanxing said. He’d bought it from the ranch cabin yesterday after returning.

One of the benefits of acquiring various buildings was that he could get whatever he needed at any time.

"Oh, do you know how to milk?" Ying Yuanxing suddenly asked Mu Ye.

The pasture had too many animals—over two hundred cows and sheep. If he had to do it all alone, even if the task wasn’t too strenuous, not having any help would feel unusual.

Whether help was needed was one thing, but having no choice but to rely on himself was another.

"M-Milking?" Mu Ye’s words caught in his throat, his eyes darting about nervously. "N-No, not really. I’ve never done it before."

"If we’re milking today, you’ll have to learn with me. I don’t expect you to do much, but you should at least know the basics," Ying Yuanxing said, picking up the basket and stowing the milker in his pack before heading to open the door with Mu Ye.

One by one, he made his rounds through the coops, but much to his chagrin, none of the chickens had laid eggs yet.

Finally, Ying Yuanxing reached Huang Yu’s coop. Seeing him approach, Huang Yu made no attempt to evade, simply remaining docile and waiting to be petted.

Ying Yuanxing reached out, and a small red heart flashed above Huang Yu’s head—something only he could see, undetectable by his fellow paranormal creatures present.

Huang Yu’s knees turned to jelly once more, as usual. But after experiencing it multiple times, aside from some psychological discomfort, he didn’t feel much else. He even thought he could gradually build up a tolerance.

But that was just his assumption. The world didn’t operate according to his predictions.

When Huang Yu stood back up, he noticed Ying Yuanxing staring at him motionlessly, his face alight with astonished joy.

Delight?

Confused, Huang Yu watched as Ying Yuanxing bent down, picked up an egg from behind him, and excitedly said to Mu Ye, "This chicken finally laid an egg!"

Laid an egg?

Huang Yu stared at the large brown egg in Ying Yuanxing’s hand, then instinctively looked at the other chickens—but they were all keeping their distance. There was no way they’d laid it near him.

"However, a rooster actually laid an egg? I wonder what's going on with this egg. Should be safe to eat, right?" Ying Yuanxing muttered to himself, though it didn’t faze him much. After all, the Weird World was full of bizarre things, and a rooster laying an egg didn't seem particularly special.

But to Huang Yu, these words were like a lightning strike, leaving him frozen in place, motionless.

He’d laid an egg?!

Ying Yuanxing had already shaken off his initial excitement, picking up the egg and placing it in the basket before moving on to pet the other chickens. Whether thanks to Huang Yu or not, Ying Yuanxing soon found several more eggs under his touch.

Huang Yu was still reeling when he saw several chickens laying white, large eggs under Ying Yuanxing’s strokes, triggering flashbacks of his own egg-laying.

Mu Ye watched the eggs with excitement. The animals in the ranch hadn’t produced offspring in a long time—some existing offspring were even degenerated.

Egg-laying meant these animals were back in prime condition. No way they’d lay eggs if they weren’t healthy?

Ying Yuanxing looked at the eggs in his hand, then at the incubator nearby. Curious, he placed one egg on the incubator, which kicked on automatically... only to stall out again after a short while.

Ying Yuanxing sighed. It seemed they truly had to rely on the animals in Mu Ye’s ranch now.

"Mu Ye, come on. Let me fry you up an egg today," Ying Yuanxing said, holding an egg. He was getting hungry. Though he could bring plenty of food from Blue Star, once it entered the Weird World, it seemed to get weird—like it’s been tainted by the Weird World, making the taste worse.

If Ying Yuanxing had no choice but to eat those, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But the farm’s produce tasted so much better in comparison, it made Blue Star chow taste bland.

"Are we really going to eat these eggs?" Mu Ye hesitated, looking at the eggs in Ying Yuanxing’s hands.

"Of course. You wanna hatch ’em? But these eggs can’t hatch," Ying Yuanxing explained, figuring Mu Ye was getting attached.

Seeing Mu Ye’s hesitation, Ying Yuanxing shoved an egg into his hands. "Here, feel it for yourself."

Mu Ye carefully examined the egg and found it full of vitality—but a hollow, zombie-like vitality, like a body still alive but devoid of consciousness. It wasn’t the living being he had imagined.

Torn between disappointment and relief, Mu Ye returned the egg to Ying Yuanxing.

Huang Yu watched the egg he had laid and saw Mu Ye’s reaction. While relieved, his heart sank a little. He’d imagined he’d birthed a real child, but it turned out to be just an egg.

Seeing how much Mu Ye cared about the eggs, Ying Yuanxing considered his fondness for small animals. Even if it was just an egg, Mu Ye might get weirdly attached. After some thought, Ying Yuanxing decided to place the eggs in the box instead of taking them to the kitchen.

"I wasn’t—" Mu Ye quickly tried to explain when he saw Ying Yuanxing’s action.

"No worries. Happens to the best of us. I’ll go see if I can milk the cows first," Ying Yuanxing said before leaving.

Mu Ye felt a little embarrassed but also relieved. He stared at the eggs, scrutinizing them closely.

The eggs were full of vitality, especially the one Huang Yu had laid. Aside from lacking self-awareness, it practically felt like a baby Weird—but without consciousness, it was just food.

A chicken approached, and Huang Yu barely recognized her until he saw the red mark on its foot, reminding him of its identity.

"Sis!" Huang Yu sighed, calling out.

The hen gave no sign she heard, only circling the egg. Seeing Huang Hua like this, Huang Yu’s heart ached with helplessness.

Mu Ye sighed as well, turning to Huang Yu. "She’s alive, at least—even if she’s gone forever."

Huang Hua was Huang Yu’s sister, also a Weird. Back then, she had fought to protect the other animals on the farm, getting torn up bad. If Mu Ye hadn’t returned in time, she would’ve been done for.

Mu Ye’s ability was to turn opponents into animals, making them easier to finish off. But since the Weird World went sideways, his ability was mostly used to save Weirds rather than kill them.

After all, turning into an animal slowed their Weird Qi leak, and no matter how severe the injuries, it could preserve life. But there were downsides—once transformed, they could only remain in animal form, and as their bodies weakened, even their consciousness would fade, truly gone full animal.

Once consciousness was lost, the body was entirely controlled by animal instincts, making recovery impossible.

Thus, Mu Ye only used this ability as a last resort. In the current situation, this ‘rescue’ was just delayed death. Cases like Huang Yu, who retained consciousness, were rare.

Seeing Huang Hua circling the egg, Huang Yu thought she wanted to eat it. Though he treasured his own egg, seeing her so fixated, he gave it a tentative peck, putting a hairline crack in the shell.

Before he could call Huang Hua over, she suddenly lowered her head, pecked at the crack, and then dropped like a sack of potatoes.

"Sis?" Huang Yu called, but Huang Hua was out cold.

"Is the egg poisonous?" Mu Ye blurted, then immediately backtracked. This was Huang Yu’s egg—how could it be poisonous?

Still, Mu Ye examined the brown egg and noticed something odd, though he couldn’t pinpoint what.

After staring at it for a while, and with Huang Yu calling out and even nudging Huang Hua to no avail, Huang Yu saw red staring at that damn egg—even though it was clearly innocent, he couldn’t help but blame it.

"Wait—" Mu Ye stopped Huang Yu from pecking the egg further. He finally realized what was wrong. The egg had been uniformly brown with no flaws, but after Huang Yu’s peck, the crack had sealed itself, leaving a blood-red speck.

Was this freaky egg why Huang Hua blacked out?

But no matter how much he analyzed it, Mu Ye couldn’t figure it out. He decided to find Ying Yuanxing, the closest thing they had to an egg expert.

Ying Yuanxing hadn’t gone far when Mu Ye caught up to him, clutching the suspect egg and a comatose chicken, with Huang Yu close behind.

"What’s wrong with this chicken?" Seeing the chicken’s limp state, Ying Yuanxing’s gut twisted. Was it sick?

Game chickens weren’t coded to get sick, but if a real chicken fell ill, could it infect the others? Would the ducks—hell, the whole barn—catch it?

Before he could finish his thoughts, Mu Ye spoke up. "Boss, she took one peck at that egg and boom—lights out."

"What happened?" Ying Yuanxing frowned as Mu Ye recounted the events, hesitating before explaining his ability and the truth about the ranch animals.

Mu Ye had the ability to turn Weirds into animals?

The ranch animals were actually transformed Weirds?

Some of the transformed animals had no consciousness, while others, like Huang Yu, retained theirs. Huang Hua was an example of the opposite.

"Why didn’t you mention this earlier?" Ying Yuanxing felt his mind blue-screened.

"At first, Boss, you only talked about eggs and milk. Didn’t matter if they’d once been Weirds or not. And I was afraid you’d reject them if you knew," Mu Ye admitted. As for why he hadn’t brought it up later—he’d simply forgotten, not thinking it was important.

Ying Yuanxing’s eye twitched. Forgetting was so typical of Mu Ye. If this egg fiasco hadn’t gone down, he’d never have noticed anything unusual about these animals.

But Huang Yu was a conscious Weird? Ying Yuanxing glanced at him. Honestly, he hadn’t noticed at all—Huang Yu had committed to the bit.

Then, looking at the milking bucket in his bag, Ying Yuanxing’s expression changed. Collecting eggs and shearing wool was one thing, but milking…

Had he known those animals were transformed Weirds, would he have even considered milking them?

Even if these Weirds never regained their forms, now that he knew, it was a mind-worm he’d never shake.

The live-stream audience, who had thought it was just another ordinary day on the farm, was stunned by Mu Ye’s revelation.

"Damn, I always thought Mu Ye looked harmless, loving animals, a total cinnamon roll. But now you’re telling me his ability is turning Weirds into animals? I can never look at him the same way again."

"No wonder Mu Ye could run a ranch. Others have to worry about buying animals and breeding them, but Mu Ye just goes out and ‘procures’ them. Not enough animals? Just transform some more, right?"

"Mu Ye’s ability is kinda terrifying. Good thing he’s always stayed in the Weird World and never came to Blue Star."

"Probably not strong enough to come to Blue Star anyway."

"Whether or not he can come, this ability is kinda buggy. If he came to Blue Star, wouldn't everyone be turned into animals by him?"

"Am I the only one glad they spoke up in time? Collecting eggs is one thing—even knowing they’re supernatural beings doesn’t feel too weird. But milking? That’s a whole other level."

"Suddenly, I feel like the streamer is really lucky. Imagine going in clueless, broadcast live to the whole world, only to find out the truth later. That would be so embarrassing."

"I can’t even imagine how devastated I’d be if I were the streamer. Physical damage? Almost zero. Psychological damage? Off the charts."

"Thank goodness they found out in time. I’m relieved for the streamer."

"Uh, boss?" Mu Ye noticed Ying Yuanxing’s shifting expression and assumed he was upset about the concealment. He wanted to apologize, but since his whole ranch belonged to Ying Yuanxing now, he had nothing left to apologize with.

Mu Ye glanced at his core—the remaining half had regrown slightly, but not in its original green. Instead, it was a bright emerald, the color of the ranch now.

But Mu Ye hesitated. He remembered the trouble last time he gave Ying Yuanxing a piece of his core.

Ying Yuanxing snapped back to reality and saw Mu Ye staring at his own chest. The pose was way too familiar, giving Ying Yuanxing a strong sense of déjà vu.

"Wait, I don’t want your core. Let me see Huang Hua." Ying Yuanxing lifted Mu Ye’s chin, pulling his gaze away from the core. He didn’t need Mu Ye treating his core like a gift again.

This attitude was weirdly similar to Xuan Ying’s. Xuan Ying had always been obsessed with giving his life away, and while Mu Ye’s core wasn’t quite as extreme, it was close enough.

Mu Ye didn’t question how Ying Yuanxing guessed his thoughts so quickly and hurriedly handed Huang Hua over.

The moment Ying Yuanxing touched Huang Hua, a prompt appeared: *Can be slaughtered!*

What the—?

Ying Yuanxing was stunned. According to the game’s mechanics, farm animals couldn’t be butchered—only their products could be consumed. So why was this chicken suddenly marked for slaughter after pecking an egg?

Was it because the egg was alive too, so Huang Hua had to pay with her own for pecking it?

Ying Yuanxing shook his head hard, dismissing the absurd thought. He grabbed Huang Yu and studied him closely. If pecking an egg was the trigger, Huang Yu had done the same.

But after staring for a while, the only prompt he got was: *Chicken is getting nervous.* No slaughter option.

Finally, Ying Yuanxing picked up the egg and saw the prompt: *Can be hatched.*

Now he was totally lost. He shook his head and decided to follow the prompts.

The slaughter option was a no-go—once they’re dead, they’re dead. But the egg could still be hatched.

Ying Yuanxing placed the egg in the incubator, then tested other anomaly-turned-animals. These chickens barely reacted to other eggs but nothing significant.

So the issue was with the egg, then…

"Huang Yu, you’ll need to lay more eggs over the next few days," Ying Yuanxing said, patting Huang Yu’s wing. "Oh, and didn’t you say you have a few brothers? Might as well get them in on it."

Mu Ye had already dashed off the moment Ying Yuanxing suggested this and returned with several chickens in tow. Their eyes were just as clear and innocent as Huang Yu’s—Ying Yuanxing had never noticed anything odd about them before.

But when separated like Huang Yu, Ying Yuanxing noticed subtle differences—their eyes were livelier.

Realizing he hadn’t petted them today, Ying Yuanxing gave each one a stroke. Instantly, their affection meters maxed out, and their legs went weak, just like Huang Yu’s earlier.

If his guess was right, this was the pre-egg-laying reaction.

Faced with this unfamiliar sensation, the brothers were visibly startled. Unaware Ying Yuanxing already knew the truth, they could only cluck frantically at Huang Yu, demanding answers.

Huang Yu watched their awful acting, then glanced at Ying Yuanxing’s amused expression before sighing. "Your legs are weak. That means you’ll lay eggs in a few days."

The brothers froze as if struck by lightning, too shocked to care that Huang Yu had just spoken in front of Ying Yuanxing. They… could lay eggs?

They knew hens laid eggs, but they were roosters! How could they lay eggs?

Huang Yu pointed at the egg in the incubator. "That’s the one I laid today."

"Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt. Your legs just go weak, then you’re fine."