Stopping in her tracks, Li Meirong stared back at the mushroom, crossed her arms together and huffed, "And why should I?"

The mushroom bent the tip of its cap and communicated in a tear-filled voice, 'You know, it's not good to quit things halfway. You already gave me blood and that's already half the contract process. Don't leave me hanging!'

The sound of the Lingzhi's weeping rang in Li Meirong's ears.

"..." Li Meirong wondered whether plant spirits had an inborn ability to render their victims speechless.

The Lingzhi Mushroom didn't wait for her to finish contemplating and hurried to slice a part of its flesh as it urged the girl, 'Eat this and give me a name, Master.'

Thinking that there's nothing for her to lose in making this contract after already having her garden destroyed, Li Meirong picked the mushroom's sliced flesh and stuffed it in her mouth, chewing it slowly.

Next, she didn't ponder for very long before coming up with a name for it.

"From now on, you're going to be called Ben Mo!" She stated and immediately headed to the library.

The newly named Ben Mo silently cursed his master. 'Why, this grouchy girl named me a foolish mushroom!'

Within a few minutes, Li Meirong had already reached the second floor and begun browsing through various bamboo and parchment scrolls stacked inside the bookshelves.

She found a specific section with all sorts of accounts regarding poisonous bugs, but the collection was so large that she didn't even know where to start.

"Senior Zhu said he was infected with the poison of a rare venomous bug," She mumbled to herself in distress as she absentmindedly twirled a stray strand of hair that fell down her cheek, "But there are so many different poisons listed here…" She paused for a moment and added, "How do I even find the right one?"

Slightly despondent, Li Meirong had to admit that she was more than a little overwhelmed as she sorted through the notes.

Eventually, she gave up on looking for anything specific and tossed all the content related scrolls inside the green storage bag, deciding to sort through them back at home after brewing medicine for Zhu Qingyue.

Before leaving, she didn't neglect to pay a visit to Chou and Feng Huang, and unlike last time, she made sure to provide her contracted pets with drops of blood in the same exact way which she did for Ben Mo.

Yet, contrary to her plans, when she returned to the cabin, Zhu Qingyue was no longer waiting there. He left a written note that explained something along the lines of cooking a few dishes. And since Li Meirong had already been acquainted with his excellent culinary skills, she didn't think much of it, assuming the senior had gone to prepare himself something to eat.

Without further delay, she started boiling the medicinal brew, chopping the lingzhi mushrooms and adding them to the broth after simmering it with a collection of dried spiritual herbs that she had previously stored inside the kitchen cupboard.

Seeing that the hour was already late, Li Meirong transferred the medicinal brew into a closed container and took off her outer garments in preparation for bedtime. She planned to deliver the broth to Zhu Qingyue tomorrow at the earliest time possible, knowing that he most likely wouldn't come back tonight.

By the time she went to bed, Snowball had finally returned home and jumped on top of the mattress, giddily falling into her arms. The young fox licked Li Meirong's cheek as he nestled his furry muzzle between his favourite soft pair of mounds.