Xu Huo clapped his hands.
Yan Jiayu looked up, surprised, and stood up stepping on the players on the ground, smiling, "What a coincidence!"
"Shall we talk after you’ve taken care of everything?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.
Yan Jiayu smiled and nodded, then asked, "Do you need to deal with yours? I just came out of the instance and got a super awesome prop!"
Without giving him a chance to refuse, Yan Jiayu forcefully stomped her foot, producing a "crackling" sound of breaking, and while turning her head, she shouted, "Da Mao! Come out and work!"
Xu Huo was slightly surprised, then soon saw a stone lion walking slowly out. Yes, a stone lion. Each step it took scratched the ground with the distinct friction sound characteristic of stone, its movements graceful like a real animal, but its appearance was not much different from the stone sculptures placed at the front gates.
A stone lion that had come to life.
It walked over to Yan Jiayu with a hint of disdain and let her rub its head twice—even though its mane, carved from stone, was anything but soft, it didn’t seem to bother Yan Jiayu. Then she pointed ahead and commanded, "Da Mao, capture them!"
Despite its non-threatening name, Da Mao demonstrated speed and strength that could match those of mutant animals. It moved so fast that the eyes could barely follow, leaving only a trail of footprints the size of human faces on the hardened pavement. It had already tossed out the two players following Xu Huo!
Ordinary props and characteristics that usually have special restrictions on living beings didn’t work on a stone lion. Due to the speed difference, the two players could only defend themselves, and in less than thirty seconds, they chose to retreat.
The stone lion flapped twice but did not pursue further, watching the people run away for two seconds before leisurely swinging its tail and walking back.
Yan Jiayu sighed, "It’s not very obedient and tends to slack off."
Xu Huo chuckled, "Maybe it doesn’t like the name Da Mao."
Yan Jiayu looked incredulous, "I wrote down several names and let it choose for itself."
Witnessing the subtle relationship between "volunteering" and "being forced," Xu Huo wasn’t sure how much autonomy had been in that "choosing for itself."
"Are those two important?" Yan Jiayu asked.
"They probably saw me as a dangerous figure, but let them go," Xu Huo gestured with his chin toward a player on the ground who was bleeding and weakly trying to free his leg, "What are you going to do about this one?"
Yan Jiayu looked down.
"Granny... I know my mistakes... I will definitely turn over a new leaf and be a good person..." Before he could finish his plea, his neck was broken by the Demon-Subduing Pestle.
"This guy was very bad, I ran into him right after coming out of the instance and he was particularly crafty. It took me a whole day to corner him," Yan Jiayu explained, then called the stone lion over and patted its back while looking brightly at Xu Huo, "Want a ride?"
The stone lion turned its head and stared at him.
"No need, you must have heard of ’like repels like,’" Xu Huo shook his head, "It probably doesn’t like men."
Yan Jiayu bent down to look at the stone lion’s hind legs, "How do you know it’s male?"
"Dragons have nine offspring, this one is a Suan Ni often seen on incense burners," Xu Huo explained.
Yan Jiayu, hit by the stone lion’s tail, rubbed her face and said, "No wonder it’s so lazy, my senior brothers are also pretty lazy."
"What is this prop?" Xu Huo examined the Stone Lion, which, though shaped like an animal, was in fact an inanimate object that had just gained some intelligence, somewhat like Mr. Dong.
"You’ll never guess, it’s a Rank-A Prop." Yan Jiayu stroked the curly stone hair on Da Mao’s head. "It’s not a special item, you know. Although many props with some intelligence are special items, special items can’t upgrade, but ordinary props and instances can get upgrades."
Xu Huo slightly nodded; that indeed was the case, but the common method of upgrading props used by players was still to combine them, and it was rare for a single prop to upgrade on its own.
However, he had previously visited the Hundred People Art Gallery, where the curator was clearly an intelligent evolved being. It could find opportunities to upgrade the instance, so it wasn’t hard to understand that a prop with intelligence could also upgrade.
"Props with humanity are just different." Yan Jiayu’s face beamed with joy, contrasting sharply with the Stone Lion’s disdain as she added, "Da Mao will definitely become a super prop in the future."
"Then congratulations to you in advance." Xu Huo smiled and added meaningfully, "The name Da Mao will surely be a new sensation on the super props leaderboard."
The Stone Lion nudged Yan Jiayu with its buttocks.
Yan Jiayu put it back into her prop bar, and Xu Huo noticed her right arm was not very dexterous. "Injured?"
"Got hurt by accident while fighting with Da Mao; I think my bone is cracked, not broken, just a bit painful." Yan Jiayu nonchalantly patted her leg. "The leg hasn’t fully recovered yet, so treating them together won’t waste the potion."
When Xu Huo left Zone 014, she had broken her leg inside a random instance. To be jumping around so quickly, she truly was extraordinarily talented.
"Let’s find a place to eat and have a good chat," he suggested.
The two returned to the bustling city area. Since it wasn’t mealtime yet, places to eat were available. They sat down, and Yan Jiayu promptly ordered some alcohol.
"Your tolerance for alcohol has improved so much?" Xu Huo casually asked.
Yan Jiayu gave a mysterious smile. "I’ve evolved a new characteristic that allows me to drink endlessly without getting drunk."
Xu Huo showed interest. "Let’s hear it."
"After I fought with Da Mao, I evolved," Yan Jiayu recalled seriously. "Nothing special, just that Da Mao was stealing drinks from a distillery at the time. Maybe it’s related to that."
Xu Huo gave her a scrutinizing glance. "Haven’t you considered that you might have evolved a second time?"
"Super Evolution?" Yan Jiayu paused. "I didn’t feel it; super evolution is either a secondary physical evolution or the ability to disrupt external environments. Not getting drunk from drinking doesn’t seem very useful."
Xu Huo laughed. "Don’t you think your injuries are healing too quickly? The most effective potions in the game are for flesh wounds; broken bones require a longer time. Maybe you’ve unconsciously adjusted your body. Try controlling your body internally; you might discover something."
"That makes sense. I’ll give it a try later." Yan Jiayu gestured for him to eat.
During their casual talk, she found out he had a residence in Zone 011. "I’ve never been to Zone 011; when are you going, I’d like to visit."
"There’s still more to deal with in Zone 009; staying wouldn’t make sense."
"In a couple of days; I still have some business to finish," Xu Huo said.
"That’s good; I’ve heard there’s a painter in Zone 009 who’s incredible. Her paintings are more effective than a psychologist. I’m planning to buy a couple to give away," Yan Jiayu switched to another topic. "The gallery is not far from here."
"The paintings, probably no longer available," Xu Huo slowly said. The paintings were gone, and so was the painter.