Chapter 35: A Piece of Wood Will Do
The days of healing were incredibly boring. With nowhere to go, I could only lie in bed, nursing my injuries.
If this were on Earth, it wouldn’t be so bad, as the internet is well-developed there. I could watch TV or play mobile games to pass the time.
Unfortunately, these guys were stuck in another world, and such entertainment simply didn’t exist here.
“Ugh… I can’t take it anymore. Why is my recovery taking so long? I can’t lie in bed like this any longer!”
It had only been about three days, and Weirafiya was already fed up with this healing process. Lying in bed doing nothing just to heal felt like an eternity for her, who had crossed over from Earth.
“Lady, please bear with it a little longer. It’s the only way to heal our injuries,” Yaser said, easily accepting the situation as a local from this world. Though, to be honest, he was also feeling a bit bored.
“But I seriously can’t take it anymore! Lying in bed all day, just sleeping and eating, is driving me insane!”
Weirafiya was now in extreme misery. In such a grand Royal Palace, wasn’t there anything to entertain herself with?
“Hey! We came to see you, what’s wrong? Weirafiya, you seem quite agitated. What’s going on?”
At that moment, Aierjisi arrived to visit the injured Yaser and the others.
“Actually, the lady is feeling really bored and wants something entertaining, but since she has to heal, she can’t get out of bed or leave this room, so that’s why it’s turned out like this,” Yaser explained to Aierjisi why Weirafiya was in such a state.
“I see. Is that what this is about? Wait a second, let me think about how to relieve the boredom… Ah! You just can’t get out of bed, right? I think I’ve got a great entertainment idea!”
Aierjisi frowned as she pondered if there was some form of entertainment from Earth that could also be done here, and quickly recalled an old pastime.
“What is it?”
“Don’t rush! Just wait for me a moment, Yake, come with me. Let’s prepare and see if we can make that thing here.”
“Got it! Sorry, gotta run, we’ll be back soon!”
After saying their goodbyes to the two who were still healing, Aierjisi and Yake left the room and headed outside.
“Aier, what’s this entertainment method you mentioned? What do you need me to prepare?”
“How’s your swordsmanship training going?”
“My swordsmanship? It’s quite impressive! Besides Ms. Yin’s skills, I also picked up the swordsmanship from that guy called Titan during our last battle. I’m pretty confident in my abilities now. Do you need me to help chop something?”
“Pretty much! But first, we need to find something… a sturdy piece of wood.”
“Find a sturdy piece of wood? I think that might be a bit tough.”
If this were anywhere else, it might be easier, but the problem is, they were in the northern kingdom of Panimir where it was all ice and snow. Where could they find wood?
“Well… considering what you said, it does seem unrealistic to find a tree. But let’s find something we can carve.”
“Aier, what exactly are you planning to make?”
“Mahjong.”
“Ah? Mahjong? What is that?”
Yake, being a native of this world, had no idea what this “mahjong” was. Only Aierjisi, Weirafiya, and Ailin, the Earth crossers, knew what it was.
“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand. This thing has a long history and existed before I was born.”
Aierjisi wasn’t even sure when mahjong originated. She just knew her grandma loved playing it. She hadn’t yet figured out what it really was, so how could she explain it to Yake?
“What should we do next?”
“Hold on, let me think… Ugh, cannot think. I’ll just go find Ailin; she should know what to do.”
After pondering for a bit with no results, Aierjisi decided to seek out Ailin, who was also from Earth.
…
“Ailin! There you are! We need to talk!”
Yake and Aierjisi had been searching the Royal Palace for quite some time before finally finding Ailin admiring the flowers in the garden.
“Aierjisi, Yake. Greetings! What brings you two here?”
“We do have something urgent to discuss, but let’s talk about it privately. Come this way.”
Aierjisi draped her arm over Ailin’s shoulder and led her to a side.
“What’s the secret? Why so mysterious? Are you suddenly going to discuss love topics with me?”
“Not quite. Actually, I want to ask if you’ve ever tried recreating anything from Earth here, like mahjong.”
“Mahjong? I haven’t tried that. Why do you ask? Do you want to make a set of mahjong here?”
As a fellow Earth native, Ailin knew what mahjong was. However, since arriving in this world, she hadn’t attempted to recreate it.
“Yes, I actually want to try making a set of mahjong here. The only issue is I can’t find suitable carving material, could you help me look? It’d be best if it was something durable.”
“Something durable? That might be a bit difficult.”
Most mahjong on Earth was made of plastic, but it seemed like plastic didn’t exist in this world. Making mahjong was impossible.
“If all else fails, a piece of wood would suffice. As long as I can carve out a set of mahjong, that would be enough.”
“Well, how about checking at the dock?”
Ailin was aware of the environment in Panimir. Finding a suitable piece of wood was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Instead of searching here, it was more feasible to check with merchants at the dock; they might have the materials they needed.
“A dock? Speaking of which, is there a dock around here?”
At that moment, Aierjisi recalled that she had never been to the dock since arriving in this place. In fact, she wasn’t even aware there was one.
“Of course! How do you think people live here? Everything is imported from other places!”
Ailin couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Aierjisi. To survive in this icy environment, they needed to buy crops and daily supplies from other countries, and correspondingly, they exported some goods to other nations. The dock was one of the facilities for trade activities with other countries.
