Free Web NovelChapter 22: Chapter 22: School Graduation Notice
’A fragrant thing? Spiritual Poison?’
Shi Lan immediately searched the Star Network and discovered that the main cause of spiritual power collapse was indeed Spiritual Poison. fгeewebnovёl.com
’If what Xiao Du says is true, then if it eats all the Spiritual Poison, could it... directly cure a spiritual power collapse?!!!’
The more she thought about it, the more unsettled Shi Lan became.
If this was real, it meant the few people in the prison didn’t have to die. It also meant she possessed the same ability to heal those with spiritual power collapse as the female lead in the book!
’So, is this my Golden Finger?’
Shi Lan swallowed, her eyes fixed on her spirit body. It took a long while for her to calm down. With a serious expression, she said, "I don’t object to you planting yourself in the prison, but you must be careful not to expose my existence."
Innocence is no defense when one possesses a treasure. Although she wasn’t sure if Xiao Du truly had this ability, she absolutely couldn’t reveal a thing before she was strong enough to protect herself.
Xiao Du nodded earnestly.
At first, Shi Lan was skeptical about the special ability her spirit body possessed. She couldn’t believe that a "cannon fodder" character like her would stumble upon such a Golden Finger. But while scouring forum posts, she found someone who said that females with a Plant Type spirit body might have the ability to heal those with spiritual power collapse. This reminded her of the female lead’s spirit body from the book.
Although there were still parts of the original plot she didn’t quite understand—for example, why the female lead’s healing ability only appeared late in the story—the book did mention the female lead’s Snow Lotus spirit body many times during the later healing scenes.
However, Xiao Du looked like a mushroom, and as far as she knew, mushrooms were fungi.
’Could it be that it’s not limited to Plant Types? Maybe any non-animal spirit body can do it? Or maybe Xiao Du isn’t a mushroom but some kind of plant?’
"Xiao Du, are you a mushroom?"
Hearing that word, Xiao Du immediately thought of the ones its master ate. They looked a lot like it, so they must be its kin...
It nodded weakly. *I think so, Master. If you ate those mushrooms, you can’t eat me, okay? I don’t taste good.*
Shi Lan almost laughed out loud. "Don’t worry, I won’t eat you."
She stroked her chin, lost in thought.
For the time being, Shi Lan couldn’t confirm the information from the forum post. But thinking of the female lead’s ability, she believed it was indeed possible for a female’s spirit body to heal High-Level Spiritual Power collapse.
In any case, after that day, Shi Lan felt a little guilty whenever she faced the men in the prison. She was mainly afraid they would connect things back to her. But then she remembered what she had recently learned on the Star Network. In the public’s mind, Beastman spirit bodies were almost always animals, while females did not shapeshift into beasts and their spirit bodies were not displayed externally. This reassured her a little.
A month passed peacefully. Shi Lan discovered that Xiao Du had indeed grown; it was now the size of two palms. And throughout that month, no one in the prison had suffered another spiritual power collapse.
Although she wasn’t sure if it was Xiao Du’s doing, after a month, she was no longer as on edge as she had been at first. Cherishing the hope that she might be able to cure them, she gave it her full indulgence.
* * *
At the end of her third month working on Black Star, Shi Lan received a graduation notice from her school.
The original owner of her body had attended the Imperial Capital School, the most prestigious and top-tier school on Capital Star. With the original owner’s grades, she never would have been able to get in, but the Imperial Capital School offered free tuition to any female willing to enroll.
Shi Lan believed there was no such thing as a free lunch; there were probably other strings attached. Unfortunately, the book didn’t elaborate, and she hadn’t inherited the original owner’s complete memories, so she could only set the matter aside for now.
She reread the notification message. It stated that the school was holding a grand graduation ceremony and that all students who received the notice must go to the school to pick up their diplomas.
She had always assumed the original owner had already graduated. She hadn’t realized she still needed to get her diploma.
Although she didn’t know what the consequences were for not picking up the diploma, it was obviously safer to go.
’Thankfully, according to the book’s timeline, I’ve already avoided my death flag. Picking up my diploma shouldn’t cause any major problems.’
The graduation ceremony was in five days. Coincidentally, the Prison Director position came with 30 days of vacation per year, which Shi Lan hadn’t used yet. It was the perfect time to put in a request.
The day after the graduation notice was sent, she received a wedding invitation from one of the original owner’s university classmates.
Shi Lan recalled that this classmate was probably the original owner’s only truly genuine friend. In the book, it was this friend who had reported her as missing.
So, she definitely had to attend this wedding, too.
With that, her planned three-day vacation request turned into five.
Two days before she was due to leave for the graduation ceremony, the temporary worker who would be taking over for her, Chen Xiong, arrived.
Chen Xiong was a burly, muscular man. But when he smiled, his eyes crinkled into slits, giving him the simple and honest air of a good-natured person.
When they first met, he seemed very surprised that the Prison Director was a female. A look of clear shock crossed his face, and it took him a moment to come to his senses. He gave Shi Lan a salute, his voice booming, "Hello, Prison Director."
Shi Lan hadn’t heard anyone call her that in a long time and wasn’t used to it. She quickly waved her hand. "No need to be so formal."
"Right, let me tell you about the duties you’ll be responsible for. Please listen carefully."
Time was short, so she didn’t waste it on pleasantries. Chen Xiong nodded quickly.
Shi Lan explained all the work duties to him in full, even entrusting the work manual to him for the time being.
Seeing Chen Xiong’s dumbfounded expression as he flipped through the manual, she quickly explained, "You don’t need to be too scared. The main thing is to remember the meal delivery times for each period. The other stuff isn’t as critical. The tempers of the gentlemen in the prison are manageable. As long as you do as I say, they won’t give you a hard time."
Chen Xiong finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay."
"Mm, and pay attention to the things I mentioned, like the gentlemen’s after-meal desserts and their habits, such as picking flowers."
"Yes, yes."
Chen Xiong nodded repeatedly. Compared to the salary he was getting for this temporary job, the duties were much easier than he’d imagined. He even had the illusion that this was easy money.
Of course, there was another reason Chen Xiong wanted to come here: to see his idol, Vice Admiral He. One couldn’t enter Black Star without a planet-entry permit; getting caught meant being declared a wanted criminal by the Empire. This temporary job was the perfect opportunity.
Thinking about this, he was filled with motivation for the job.
Shi Lan saw that he was taking diligent notes and seemed to understand everything, so she finally felt at ease.
"Alright then, I’ll be counting on you for the next few days."
"Of course. I will definitely take good care of all the gentlemen."
Chen Xiong was full of confidence, and Shi Lan smiled in satisfaction.
The day before she left, to help everyone get better acquainted, Shi Lan took Chen Xiong to the prison to introduce him to He Hanshi and the other four men.
"By the way, I’m going to be leaving Black Star for a while. This is Chen Xiong, who will be taking over for me. He will take good care of you."
Perhaps because the information gap between them was too wide, Shi Lan’s words were completely misinterpreted.
