Chapter 141 – Spirit Cat Potion
Should I change rooms? I really didn’t expect Jayad to come up with such a clever solution, a complete game-changer. Since I dreamed of being attacked in this room, all I needed to do was switch to another room, right?
Clever as he was, Jayad went directly to argue with the landlady. I also told him about the ghost in the room. With that bargaining chip in hand, it would be easier to negotiate with her.
As expected, the landlady knew about the haunting. She just didn’t expect that after someone entered the haunted room, nothing would happen to them, and instead of being scared, they would boldly confront her. Her momentum immediately faltered.
I guessed that she saw this room as unrentable and, noticing how young and naive we were, she decided to trick us into renting it. Her goal was to scare us away and pocket the deposit herself, which is why she specifically emphasized that the deposit was non-refundable. She was truly wicked.
Sensing that we weren’t easy to bully, the landlady readily agreed to our request to change rooms. However, she didn’t move us far, just to the room next door to the haunted one. She repeatedly assured us that this room was completely fine.
But the layout of all the rental rooms in this apartment building, except for her own dwelling, was identical. Jayad just needed to move the meager furniture over.
I was still preoccupied with the female ghost, but she simply wouldn’t show herself. I could only make a note of this room and plan to find her again later.
Three days later, I finally felt well enough to get up and move around. To be honest, for Parul’s delicate body, surviving two illnesses was nothing short of a miracle, especially since I hadn’t taken any medicine at all, relying entirely on drinking more hot water.
Jayad had mentioned that there were doctors in the city, but I completely distrusted them. The way he described them—wearing black robes and bird-beaked masks—sounded exactly like the plague doctors of the Middle Ages! And they were incredibly expensive.
My illness did leave me with a sequela: my eyesight deteriorated further. According to the Witch’s Notes, this was likely a side effect of Black Magic, and a common one at that. I had to find a way to address this problem first.
The three Spirit medicines recorded in the Witch’s Notes were all used to aid a witch’s cultivation. The Magic was to replenish Magic Power, the Strengthening Potion was for combating the weakness and exhaustion caused by side effects, and the Spirit Cat Potion was for resolving vision problems and bodily stiffness.
So, what I needed now was the Spirit Cat Potion. I had already acquired most of the main materials. Jayad had also collected the remaining ingredients over the past few days, so I could start brewing the potion directly.
I went to the stove, added charcoal, and then took a piece of ember from the fireplace to ignite it. I brought water to a boil in the pot before pouring in two bottles of gin, also known as geneva or schnapps.
This is a high-proof distilled spirit made from rye, wheat, juniper berries, and other ingredients. These materials do not directly consume people’s food, so like Rum, they are popular and well-loved by Commoners.
Now that I had money, Jayad had helped me buy several bottles of alcohol, so I had no shortage of it. I could use it liberally.
As expected, during the potion brewing process, a flood of intuitions surged through me—like adding cat’s nails here, fish oil there, and even needing to filter it. These intuitions influenced my brewing process everywhere, and I followed them as much as possible.
The fish I bought last time had already been killed and pan-fried by Jayad for me to eat, but the eyeballs were saved and kept in a cup. Looking at them, it was like staring at a pile of dead fish eyes, each one emitting a bizarre light.
The sight was quite horrifying; I even felt like each fish eye was still moving, staring at me in unison. But after a sharp pain in my head, the fish eyes stopped moving when I looked again.
The Pope said these were the truth of the world, and I had to remain calm and treat them as illusions. Otherwise, I would eventually suffer a mental breakdown and go mad.
The fish eyes were one of the crucial materials. I poured in the entire cup of fish eyes, then added pollen from the no-heart flower, roe from a Golden Crab, and a milligram of cat’s blood, then stirred.
Finally, there was a wooden spoon in this rental room for stirring, so I didn’t have to use branches anymore. A large wooden spoon was much more convenient than sticks or branches. It’s just that my height was insufficient, so I had to stand on a small stool at my feet, holding the wooden spoon with both hands to stir the pot. It had a bit of that witch’s potion brewing vibe.
“Alright, success,” I said, looking at the boiling potion in the pot. Mist composed of Magic Power was slowly rising. It was the same effect as when I brewed the Magic last time.
And this time, as I looked at the pot of potion, strange knowledge emerged again: the Spirit Cat Potion could improve one’s vision and agility, but drinking it all at once would cause the eyes to perceive too much information, and the body would become too agile to adapt.
It was recommended to drink it little by little over multiple doses to gradually get used to it. If too much was consumed at once, one might possess extremely strong Spirit Vision for a short period, but conversely, the brain could be overwhelmed by the excess information.
I understood. I looked up at the room. Huh? Where was Jayad? He seemed to be out. Had he gone out to work (steal) while I was brewing the potion just now?
What a pity. I thought increased vision and agility would be very useful for Jayad. For now, I had to test the potion myself. If it was effective, I would give it to him when he returned.
Thinking this, I scooped up a spoonful of the Spirit Cat Potion. Since my memories warned me not to drink too much, and a cup was considered a standard dose, a spoonful should be very little.
I tried drinking it. This time, the Spirit Cat Potion was nowhere near as pleasant as the Magic. It had a very strange taste, with a hint of fishiness and the saltiness of the sea, but it was still drinkable.
Instantly, my eyes felt a cool sensation, and my blurry vision cleared up considerably. My previously weak hands and feet also felt much lighter.
“It really works,” I exclaimed, moving my limbs and surprised to find my body filled with energy. I felt an urge to go out and move around, otherwise, the pent-up strength felt stifling.
Come to think of it, it wasn’t impossible. I might as well go for a walk. Before I transmigrated, Parul often begged for alms alone in Cando City. This was also where Parul grew up. After inheriting her knowledge and memories, I was gradually becoming familiar with the roads, not to mention I had a map.
However, this pot of potion was not safe. The landlady also had a key. If she came to search our room, it would be very bad if she found the potion. I had to hide it.
Luckily, Jayad had already thought of a place to hide things when we moved. The fireplace. I put out the charcoal fire, then pulled it out. In the chimney, there was an iron rod that Jayad had placed horizontally. I put the Magic, gold coins, and the newly brewed Spirit Cat Potion into three iron pots, placing them on top.
I didn’t need to tell Jayad. When he found three iron pots missing from the room, he would naturally know that I had hidden them in the fireplace. I also wrote a note telling him where I was going and reminded him not to drink too much of the new potion, putting it together with the pot of gold coins.
Okay, with all preparations complete, Parul’s first solo outing was about to begin.
