The Spoilt Beauty And Her Beasts-Chapter 435: While you wait for the moonlight, I have a little task for you
The mountain was alive again.
Not loud, not bustling — but breathing.
The air carried that strange hum, the same one that had first made Isabella’s skin crawl when she arrived here. A soundless vibration that threaded through the mist and earth like a heartbeat. Every stone seemed to remember her footsteps.
She moved slowly, following a faint path that glimmered with silver light under the morning haze. Glimora peeked from her hood, the tiny creature’s fur bristling at every whisper of wind.
"Don’t look at me like that," Isabella muttered, stepping over a root. "You’re the one who wanted to come."
Glimora chirped softly in protest.
The forest thickened the higher she climbed. Trees here were tall and twisted, their bark streaked with veins of blue light that pulsed faintly, like living veins. Strange flowers glowed along the trail, opening and closing as if breathing in rhythm with the mountain. The smell was faintly sweet — like crushed herbs mixed with metal.
The silence wasn’t comforting. It pressed around her ears, heavy, expectant.
She tightened her grip on her fan. Its silk fluttered faintly from the faint breeze — or maybe from the mountain’s breath.
"Alright, Bubu," she said finally, voice cutting through the quiet. "What’s the first task today?"
There was a soft hum, and then a flicker of blue light appeared beside her. The familiar rectangular glow of Bubu’s floating screen came to life, lines of text shimmering faintly.
New Task
Objective: Find 1 Moonpetal Lily
Location: Near the waterfall cave halfway up the mountain. Only blooms under moonlight.
Use: Regenerates skin cells and restores flesh. Glows softly when touched by someone with pure intentions.
Note: Must not be plucked. It has to fall naturally into your hands.
Isabella blinked. Once. Twice. Then a third time, just to be sure she wasn’t hallucinating.
"What," she said flatly.
Glimora blinked at the glowing screen, tail twitching.
"No, like, what," Isabella repeated, pointing at the text. "How the hell am I supposed to find it when there’s no moon on this mountain?"
Bubu’s voice chimed, sweet and calm as always. "There is moon on the mountain, host. But not on every part of the mountain."
She just... stared. Her lips parted, and for a second, she genuinely didn’t know if she should laugh or cry.
"...That," she said finally, "makes absolutely no sense."
Bubu didn’t respond. The screen floated innocently beside her like it hadn’t just said the most confusing sentence in history.
"Okay," Isabella said, crossing her arms. "Even if there’s somehow a moon on the mountain—" she gestured vaguely at the pale, misty air above them "—am I supposed to stay here until dark hour just to see it?"
Bubu’s voice was cheerful. "Exactly, host. You get it now."
There was a pause.
A very long, heavy pause.
Then Isabella turned slowly toward the screen. "I get it now?" she repeated in disbelief. "Bubu, I swear on every star in this cursed realm, if this is another joke—"
"I am not joking around," the system replied, tone serious. "And I don’t understand why you are mad at me. You can be mad, but I am your system. My role is to give you tasks, make you stronger, build you up, and protect you."
Isabella stared at it. Blinked once. Twice. Then raised her finger and jabbed the air near it.
"Protect me?" she echoed, voice rising incredulously. "You’re saying you want to protect me?"
"Yes," Bubu replied simply.
Her laugh came out dry and humorless. "Protect me. Yet you’re sending me to fetch a moonpetal lily that only blooms under the moonlight on a mountain that apparently has selective moonlight zones—" she gestured dramatically "—while also reminding me that the dark hour is literally when monsters come out to eat my face!"
Bubu’s screen flickered faintly, as if blinking. "I’m sorry, host. But that is the only time you can get it."
"Oh, sure," Isabella said, her tone sharp and hysterical. "Only time. Perfect. Amazing. I love that for me." She started pacing. "You couldn’t pick something simple like, I don’t know, pick three mushrooms or touch a magic rock. No, no, no. We have to play moonlit scavenger hunt with the mountain’s murder creatures."
"The Moonpetal Lily is essential for the potion to heal Shelia," Bubu added, unbothered.
"I’m trying to save her, Bubu, not hand-deliver my own death certificate!" Isabella snapped.
The wind blew harder, rustling the luminous leaves. Glimora made a small worried noise, clutching at Isabella’s sleeve. Isabella sighed, kneeling down to pet her. "I know, baby. I know. Mommy’s losing it."
Bubu spoke again, tone calm. "You’ll be fine, host."
She looked up sharply. "Oh, I’ll be fine? You mean like the last time, when I was almost eaten by demonic goat-children that laugh like babies? Yeah, that kind of fine?"
There was a pause, then Bubu said, "Probability of that happening again is low."
"Low?" Isabella raised a brow. "Define low."
"Thirty-eight percent."
"Thirty—Bubu!" she shrieked, throwing her hands up. "That’s not low! That’s basically saying one out of three times I die!"
"The probability is that you will not encounter the same creatures again," Bubu continued as though she hadn’t interrupted. "But you may encounter a different kind of creature. Because each surrounding has its own poison."
Isabella just... froze.
Her jaw dropped slowly. "Each surrounding... has its own poison," she repeated, voice deadpan. "You actually said that out loud."
"Yes."
She exhaled through her nose. "That does not make it any better, Bubu."
Glimora nodded frantically beside her, small head bobbing like an emphatic backup dancer.
The system’s screen dimmed slightly, as if thinking. The text flickered once, twice. Then Bubu said quietly, "While you wait for the moonlight, I have a little task for you."
Isabella stopped dead in her tracks. Her head turned slowly, eyes narrowing. "A little task," she repeated. "Oh, I cannot wait to hear this one." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
The system glowed faintly brighter. "I want you to begin cultivation practice."
