Chapter 835 – Banquet Preparations

“Of course! You can pick any spot in the village you like, Senior!” Annie said happily.

Mo Lan knew they wouldn’t refuse, but the cabin’s true purpose still needed to be explained to them.

“The cabin will be connected to my real Witch’s home. From now on, I can come here from home at any time.

I’ll leave you a key, and I’ll set up a secret teleportation array inside the cabin leading to a safe zone outside the Black Forest.

If the village ever faces a powerful enemy attack or any other emergency, you can immediately lead everyone into my cabin and use that secret teleportation array to evacuate the girls quickly and safely.

Of course, during peacetime, the passage can also serve as your secret route to the outside world.”

Mo Lan planned to use the spare space in her cabin to add an extra layer of security for Hope Village.

“Senior… this… this is too precious!” Anna said, looking somewhat embarrassed.

When they had told their senior about Hope Village, they only wanted to share that they’d found a new cause worth dedicating their lives to — not to trouble her or ask for help.

“It’s not precious at all!” Mo Lan waved her hand dismissively, her tone light and easy. “The rooms were going to sit empty anyway. All I’m doing is setting up one extra teleportation array inside. The other world I’ve been visiting recently is rich in spatial magic materials — I have more than enough to spare!”

In her view, compared to the time and effort Anna and Annie had invested, the materials she was contributing were really nothing.

“Senior, since the cabin connects to your Witch’s home, if we ever need to evacuate in an emergency, won’t we be intruding on you?” Annie, ever considerate, still had some concerns.

“Of course not!” Mo Lan laughed and explained, dispelling her worries.

“My Witch’s home exists in an independent mirror space. If I’m not in the world of Valen, not at home, or if I am home but haven’t actively established a link, then the cabin is just an ordinary little wooden cottage.

Only when I’m personally at home and activate my permissions will the cabin’s door temporarily become a teleportation gate to my home.

So you don’t need to worry at all about accidentally intruding on my private domain.”

With everything explained so clearly, Anna and Annie had no more reservations — only hearts full of gratitude.

They stood up and thanked Mo Lan with great solemnity.

“There’s really no need to be so formal,” Mo Lan said. “So, shall we go pick a spot now? How about that open area behind your house?”

“There?” Anna was somewhat surprised. “Isn’t it a bit too small?” She recalled that the clearing was less than half the size of their own house.

“It’s not like I’m actually going to live in it,” Mo Lan explained. “There are no other villagers’ houses nearby, it’s centrally located in the village — both convenient and quiet — and it’s close to your place, so if anything happens, you’d notice right away. I think it’s quite suitable.”

Seeing that Mo Lan was insistent and had thought it through so thoroughly, Anna and Annie said nothing more and happily allocated the plot to her.

Once the location was decided, the “construction” process was jaw-droppingly simple.

Mo Lan merely drew a {Log Cabin Card} from the Book of Cards. Once materialized, a sturdy and elegant log cabin with a small front porch appeared out of thin air on the clearing.

She then used earth-element magic to reinforce the foundation slightly before heading inside to begin setting up the secret teleportation array. Only determining the exit point of the teleportation array took a little extra time.

In just over an hour, everything was done.

Mo Lan filled in the address on the invitation and handed it to Anna and Annie:

“Next month on the night of the full moon — don’t forget to come!”

“We’ll be there on time, for sure!” Anna and Annie nodded vigorously.

*

After resting at home for one night, Mo Lan set off on her journey again, brimming with energy, to invite the next friend on her list.

She went to the Gourmet Island among the Dragon islands, where she found Iris — who was completely absorbed in developing new dishes — and brought her Clack’s praise for the “Rotbag Stew.” She visited the Holy City at the foot of Heaven’s Peak, calling on Alba — who had also joined the Eight-Times-Speed Gossip Alliance — along with other Witch friends still in the Holy City. She made a trip to Lance City to visit Grandma Dayla, whom she had never had the chance to meet in person before…

While briefly meeting with friends and delivering invitations, Mo Lan also took care of her grand property-acquisition campaign along the way.

On Gourmet Island, she materialized a quirky restaurant on a vacant lot in the western district using a card — one with no fixed hours and no set menu.

In the Holy City, she returned to the house where she had once run her magical candy shop, renovated it, and set up a passage.

In Lance City, she purchased a house with a small courtyard on Apprentice Lane, where she had once briefly stayed.

After inviting all her friends, Mo Lan threw herself wholeheartedly into “acquiring properties” across the Continent of Valen.

A seaside home in Moon Harbor overlooking the entire bay. A quiet apartment near the magic academy in Etherlance. An inconspicuous standalone building in the streets near the Temple of the God of Light. An exquisite treehouse in the Elven capital. A rugged earthen dwelling in the Beastmen Court. A colorful coral house in the underwater Merfolk capital. A sturdy stone house in Black Obsidian City in the Underground…

At every location, she would select a suitable property, then quietly open a teleportation door connecting it to her Witch’s home.

On the magical clock by the entrance of her Witch’s home, the icons representing different locations grew ever more numerous — a little house, a ship’s anchor, wings, a great tree, a beast’s claw, a seashell… They clustered densely around the clock face like stars.

It wasn’t until just before the night of the full moon that Mo Lan finally returned to her Witch’s home in the mirror space and began preparing for the full moon banquet.

For the banquet’s dining venue, she chose the thick, soft green moss lawn beside the pond.

The view here was expansive, offering the most beautiful nightscape in the entire mirror space. A gentle breeze swept across the pond, carrying moist water vapor and the fresh fragrance of plants — the atmosphere was perfect.

To properly entertain her Witch friends from all over, Mo Lan spared no effort when it came to ingredients.

She had prepared generous quantities of extraordinarily nutritious and delicious mirror beast meat brought back from the Three Thousand Mirror Ruins World, along with uniquely flavored magical plants.

Putting her culinary skills to full use, she cleverly fused Earth’s refined plating, Valen’s magical seasoning, the Three Thousand Mirror Ruins’ nutritional processing techniques, and cooking methods from all three worlds. She meticulously designed a long list of dishes and prepared each one in advance as a corresponding {gourmet card}.

On the soft green moss lawn beside the pond, a long banquet table had been arranged, draped in a pristine white tablecloth and set with matching Crystal tableware throughout.

Beside each plate lay an exquisite {gourmet card}, waiting only for the guests to arrive before being instantly materialized into steaming, fragrant dishes. (End of Chapter)