Please forgive Fu Zi for the whimsical rotation of three articles in succession. This Chapter is miss-scheduled Chapter 112 from yesterday, which I will make up for today. And to express my apologies, there will be a double update today.
Thank you for the fan ticket from Hell’s Messenger Taotie, the first one this book has received. I thought there wouldn’t be such a thing until the completion of the book, thank you~
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In the temple of Babylon, a funeral has just concluded. After her moment of sorrow, Ziyu instructed the temple staff to organize daily affairs, among which the most important task was the selection of a new Goddess.
During the few days’ gap while waiting for the Goddess to be chosen, the arrival of Number 0 relieved the furrowed brows of Ziyu. After Ziyu’s investigation, the woman who drowned that night turned out not to be Apoli but an old Maid who had served Apoli for several years and bore a striking resemblance to her in both demeanor and appearance. As for the former Chief Maid, she had fled before Ziyu returned to the temple and her whereabouts remain unknown to this day.
"I can’t believe that Apoli would actually commit murder," judging from the cross engraved on the Maid’s face, identical to the one that marred Ziyu’s own visage, it must have been the work of the same person. Ziyu’s cross was personally etched by Apoli. Moreover, before leaving the temple, she specifically instructed the Chief Maid to frame Yijie.
Number 0 also discussed with Ziyu; initially, they thought Apoli wouldn’t offer the basalt pillar to King Hammurabi, but she ended up sending the pillar to him. Afterwards, the incident where Yijie broke into the palace and stole the pillar occurred. According to King Hammurabi’s recollection from that day, the text on the basalt pillar he saw differed from the text Ziyu had transcribed.
Someone had altered the text on the pillar’s law code and, through the "temple," presented it to the King of Babylon for implementation. If everything went smoothly, the promulgation of this law code would impact many people and events.
After leaving the city, Yijie never returned. Number 0 originally thought Ziyu would soon be able to leave the temple, only to encounter the matter of selecting a new Goddess, causing further delay.
For this, Ziyu felt immensely guilty, as, in her eyes, a master waiting upon a servant was fundamentally inappropriate. Therefore, when she accidentally found Number 0 consulting the new Maid about the basics of planting medicinal herbs, she spontaneously requested to study some simple herbal knowledge with her during the wait for the selection of the Goddess.
Ziyu and NPC Maggie share a common trait; they both underwent systematic training from a young age. Unlike NPC Maggie, Ziyu lacks the support of 2564-year-old technology, so her identification of each herb is grounded in the most basic human sensations—from the appearance, texture, to the multifaceted clinical medical trials post-processing, compiling various experiences into records.
Thus, learning from Ziyu requires more time and Physical Strength. Just like this morning, Number 0 accidentally ate raw pepper causing numbness in her entire tongue, which hadn’t recovered by lunchtime. However, this method of learning has its benefit—it leaves a lasting impression, and her Loli Reconnaissance Skill also gets more opportunities for practice.
"This is wormwood. Once steeped, the leaf water can be sprayed around oneself to prevent mosquito bites. When boiled, it can be consumed as tea," Ziyu discovered, in her interaction with Number 0, that her new master had some natural talent with plants. Although sometimes she would mention some very strange names, and each time she encountered an unknown species, she would bring out a notebook Ziyu had never seen before to take notes.
"It’s similar to modern Floral Dew," Number 0 liked to apply names from contemporary life to the names of some Ancient Babylon plants, for easier recollection.
"Let’s stop here for today. By tomorrow, we should be able to select the new Goddess," Ziyu had already taught Number 0 all the identifiable plants and herbs in the Babylon Temple. She was an excellent teacher, who didn’t forget to test what Number 0 had retained while teaching.
"Ziyu, do you know how to use poison," Number 0 asked with casual indifference. She had come to understand Ziyu, whose character was wholly different from Apoli’s. Ziyu was reserved and forthright, rarely plotting deviously; poison is just one aspect of pharmacology, but it seemed unlikely Ziyu was versed in it.