I Start with a Mysterious Island

Chapter 389: Chapter 288: First Experience with an Otherworld Spiritual Artifact

He took his slippers from the shoe cabinet in the entryway. After putting them on, two large plastic bags filled with many items suddenly appeared in his hands.

Carrying the full plastic bags, he walked into the living room and set them on the coffee table.

’I need to turn on the living room AC right away. It’s so hot today, the house is unbearably stuffy.’

WHOOSH...

He turned on the living room air conditioner, which blew out a stream of cold air. Normally, the temperature in the living room would drop after just a short wait.

But that wasn’t the case now. After Lin Li turned on the AC, the air blowing out was surprisingly not very cold.

"Oh my god! You’ve got to be kidding me! The AC is broken?!!!"

Overheating, Lin Li went to the air conditioner and let the air blow directly on him.

What should have been a blast of chilly air now only felt slightly cool. Its cooling effect was far worse than before.

A situation like this meant either the air conditioner was broken or it had run out of refrigerant.

Which was it? Not being an AC repairman, Lin Li naturally had no idea.

As things stood, all he could do was call a repairman tomorrow and have them come take a look.

"This is going to be the death of me! In this kind of weather, you can’t even stay in the living room without AC..." Lin Li muttered to himself, already starting to sweat from the heat.

Suddenly, an idea struck him. With a thought, a square, black metal plate, ten centimeters on each side, appeared in his hand. It was none other than the Convenient Refrigeration Spiritual Artifact he had bought in Dongwu City in the Spirit Realm.

According to the instructions he’d learned, this type of Convenient Spiritual Artifact, which could be used even by ordinary people, only needed the small button on top to be pressed for activation.

CLICK.

Lin Li pressed the small button on the black metal plate. The next moment, a faint golden Spiritual Light appeared on the surface of the Refrigeration Spiritual Artifact.

The Spiritual Light lasted for no more than three seconds before the faint golden glow on the Refrigeration Spiritual Artifact’s surface dissipated.

Immediately after, its surface began to cool down rapidly. The surrounding airflow’s temperature dropped as well and started to spread outward.

Holding the Refrigeration Spiritual Artifact, Lin Li immediately felt a chilly breeze blowing against him.

"So cool! The temperature must be no higher than twenty-three degrees Celsius! Its cooling effect is just as good as an air conditioner."

Lin Li then turned off the malfunctioning air conditioner and placed the activated Refrigeration Spiritual Artifact on top of it.

He sat back down on the sofa and could clearly feel the temperature in the living room dropping quickly.

After a while, when the temperature in the living room had dropped to a certain point, he clearly sensed that the Refrigeration Spiritual Artifact on top of the air conditioner was starting to slow its operational efficiency, no longer producing cold air at full power like it had at the beginning.

"Huh? This Refrigeration Spiritual Artifact can automatically slow down its efficiency. It’s obviously much smarter than the one I saw in the carriage before.

It seems this new-generation product that just hit the market really is a lot more advanced than the old one," Lin Li mused, enjoying the cool indoor environment.

Although this Convenient Refrigeration Spiritual Artifact from the Spirit Realm couldn’t have its temperature adjusted as freely as an air conditioner, its effect was still incredibly impressive.

After all, this thing didn’t use electricity, didn’t need refrigerant, and could be taken out and used anytime, anywhere.

Just as Lin Li was marveling at how eco-friendly and convenient this Convenient Refrigeration Spiritual Artifact from the Spirit Realm was, his doorbell rang.

DING-DONG...

CLICK.

Lin Li went to the door. When he opened it, he saw it was his next-door neighbor, Xia Qing.

Her long, dark hair was draped over her shoulders, and a faint smile played on her lips. Dressed in loose-fitting loungewear, Xia Qing stood at Lin Li’s door, holding a plate of already-cooled buns.

After Lin Li opened the door, she smiled and greeted him.

"Lin Li, these are some meat buns I made for dinner. I was thinking of bringing a portion over for you earlier, but you were out. Take these; you can heat them up for breakfast tomorrow morning."

"Thanks. Wait a moment, I’ll go empty the plate for you." Lin Li accepted Xia Qing’s meat buns with a smile, turned back to the kitchen, and returned a moment later with the empty plate.

"Thank you for the coconut powder and coconut candy you gave us this afternoon..." Taking the empty plate from Lin Li, Xia Qing thanked him for the two local products from Qiong City that he had given her daughter.

"Don’t mention it, I’m just glad you like them. I was worried the two gifts I prepared wouldn’t be to your liking!" Lin Li said with a polite smile.

"I tried the coconut powder; it was delicious. The coconut candy was great, too. Tongtong especially loves the coconut candy. If I hadn’t put the bag away, I’m afraid she would have eaten half of it," Xia Qing said.

"If she likes the coconut candy that much, I have more! I’ll go get you a couple more bags to take back for her," Lin Li said with a smile, hearing that Zhou Tongtong really enjoyed them.

He started to turn around to get two more bags of coconut candy from his suitcase for Xia Qing, but just as he was about to, she stopped him.

"No, no, one bag is enough. If you give her too much, I’m worried she’ll rot her teeth."

Lin Li thought about it and felt that Xia Qing had a point. Children should eat candy in moderation. It would be terrible if she ate too much and ruined her teeth.

So he nodded and didn’t insist on getting two more bags of candy for Xia Qing.

The two of them stood at the door and chatted for a little longer. Xia Qing mainly asked Lin Li how his trip to Qiong City was, and Lin Li mentioned some of the fun places there. Then they both went back to their own homes.

...

"Xia Qing’s meat buns are as delicious as ever!" Lin Li said, back in his dining room. He picked up a meat bun from the plate, took a bite, and gave it a very high rating.

After finishing the large meat bun in his hand, he put the rest in the refrigerator to keep them fresh, planning to heat them up for breakfast the next morning.

He went to the living room, sat down on the sofa, and picked up his phone. He logged into the Exotic Beast Hunter app to see if there were any posts on the discussion board about the Mutant Beast corpses that grow red mushrooms.

The incident of Mutant Beasts crossing the border and causing trouble in the safe zone had already made the news; it was now common knowledge.

As Exotic Beast Hunters who frequently came into direct contact with Mutant Beasts in the wilds, it was impossible for them not to discuss this unusual event.

After logging into the Exotic Beast Hunter app, Lin Li saw a huge number of posts on the discussion board about those strange Mutant Beasts.

He clicked on a few posts to read them and found that most of his peers were saying that if you encountered one of those strange Mutant Beasts in the wilds, you should never think you could just drive it away.

That was because those bizarre Mutant Beasts didn’t know the meaning of fear. Once provoked, they would lose all reason and launch a frenzied attack on their target, not stopping until one side was dead.

The content of the posts these Exotic Beast Hunters made on the forum was basically the same as what Liu Jialin had told him when they had dinner together, so Lin Li didn’t learn any new information.

However, he did notice something interesting: a lot of his colleagues were posting to buy the corpses of those strange Mutant Beasts.

"If anyone hunts one of those Mutant Beasts that grows red mushrooms after it dies, please contact me."

"I have a friend who’s a gourmet and is very interested in the Mutant Beasts that grow red mushrooms after death. If anyone hunts one, please contact me. Money is no object."

"Buying the red mushrooms that grow on those strange Mutant Beasts. If you don’t have any on hand but know a channel to get them, contact me. There will be a generous reward..."

"WTB, WTB! Friends with those strange Mutant Beasts or red mushrooms, contact me ASAP! Price is negotiable, satisfaction guaranteed..."

’Tsk, so many people are interested in those strange Mutant Beasts and the red mushrooms that grow on them. Could it be that they taste even more delicious than Liu Jialin told me...’

After reading quite a few posts trying to buy the strange Mutant Beasts and red mushrooms, Lin Li thought for a moment and decided to wake up a bit earlier tomorrow morning.

He would go search the wilds of the South District, where those strange Mutant Beasts frequently appeared, and hunt one.

"Don’t let me down! If they don’t taste as good as I’m imagining, this will be a real letdown..."

...