Chapter 1875 Listening to Stories Comes at a Price

Suddenly, two jets of water rose from the surface of the hot spring water in front of Mr. Zheng, swirling around like two living snakes. He doubted his eyes, rubbed them, and realized he was right.

Xiao Peng snapped his fingers and the two streams of water instantly dissipated: "Mr. Zheng, have a drink."

After he finished speaking, he poured another glass for Mr. Zheng and took a big gulp from the wine warmer.

Seeing that Mr. Zheng didn't respond, Xiao Peng said, "Mr. Zheng, don't you feel cold? What are you doing standing there? Aren't you afraid of falling ill at your age?"

After hearing this, Mr. Zheng slowly sat down and asked in shock, "How did you do that?"

Xiao Peng didn't answer the question, but instead asked Mr. Zheng a question: "Mr. Zheng, didn't you just ask me where my grandfather was? I told you I didn't know, right?"

Mr. Zheng nodded in shock.

Xiao Peng continued, "I'm telling the truth. At the time, I asked Brother Chen to send my grandfather to St. Petersburg. He was extremely depressed, feeling like he was a burden to me and threatened to commit suicide. You don't understand him; he's incredibly stubborn. He kept throwing tantrums at me, and I really couldn't do anything about it... well. Physiologically, he's younger than I am now."

"What does this mean?" Although he knew the meaning of each word Xiao Peng said, when they were put together, Zheng Lao had no idea what it meant.

Xiao Peng laughed and said, "Would you believe me if I told you my grandfather is twenty years old now?"

After hearing this, Mr. Zheng was so happy that he could fit a big egg in his mouth.

Xiao Peng shook his head and said, "My grandfather's shocked expression was the same as yours now, except he was a bit more ruthless. He found a small stick and beat me up, blaming me for not curing him sooner. Then he went off to play around - but I can tell you something that will reassure you: he said he would return home after playing around, saying that no matter how good it was outside, it wouldn't be as good as home. By the way, I just found out that my grandfather was a veteran scout in his youth. I asked Brother Chen to send a few people to secretly keep an eye on him and protect his safety, but he dumped them all. So I don't know where he is now. The last I heard about him was in Serbia. My grandfather is also a peculiar person."

Old Zheng was shocked and said, "If I could be young again, I think I would be even crazier than your grandfather. Is what you said true?"

Xiao Peng shook his head. "I don't need to prove anything to you. What I said today was just a story I told people after drinking. There's no need for you to believe it—I don't expect anyone to believe it. Like you said, I'm not a good storyteller, am I? If you tell this story to others, I'm afraid no one will listen or believe it, right? And just like you just thought I was crazy, if you tell this story to others, people might think you're crazy too."

Mr. Zheng wanted to speak again, but Xiao Peng took a sip of his wine and said, "Mr. Zheng, I've said everything I need to say. As for how you view this story, that's your business."

Mr. Zheng thought for a moment and said, "If... I mean, if I think what you said is true, what do you want me to do? If you were the next Cthulhu, would you also lose your humanity like that writer?"

Xiao Peng smiled. "Mr. Zheng, you ask a good question. Lovecraft spent a hundred years finally figuring out a way to allow people to possess the power of Cthulhu without losing their humanity. He transformed Cthulhu's power into a 'seed' and used a jellyfish to plant this seed in me, allowing it to slowly grow. This way, I can possess Cthulhu's power without losing my nature by becoming an energy body. Lovecraft, on the other hand, placed all his power in the seed, and when I met him in the South Atlantic Anomaly, he completely dissipated. By the way, let me tell you an interesting point: why did he choose me to plant his power in me? The reason is beyond your imagination: it really was just a coincidence, a random chance that fell on my head! I said he was gradually losing his humanity, so he just randomly found someone to obtain the Cthulhu seed. And I am this lucky person who got a one in 7.3 billion chance. Don't look like that. I didn't believe it at the time, but it is true."

Zheng Lao's eyes widened: "Then why did he want to pass on this power?"

Xiao Peng smiled bitterly and said, "You may not believe it when I tell you this. Cthulhu wants to protect the Earth. They firmly believe that one day their opponents will come back to find him and attack him. Although they don't care about humans and other life on Earth, they regard the Earth as their home! Or maybe they have a sense of territory, just like those animals protect their territory. God knows. Anyway, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I heard this answer. But don't worry, their time flow is different from ours. So who knows how long it will take for those evil gods to arrive on Earth again."

"You mean you are the protector of the earth?" Mr. Zheng said after hearing this.

Xiao Peng laughed. "I know this is ridiculous, but that's basically what I mean. Regarding your question about whether I'll lose my humanity, my answer is—I don't know. I've always lived an ordinary life, looking for treasures and making a small fortune, but I ended up becoming everyone's target. This really made me see the ugliness of human nature. To be honest, I'm really disappointed. But I don't want to be the next Lovecraft...so I keep myself more ordinary and hang out with these friends around me every day. It's to remind myself that I'm still human and to stand on the side of humanity."

After hearing this, Mr. Zheng didn't say anything for a long time. He was trying to figure out whether what Xiao Peng said was true or not.

Xiao Peng stood up and walked out of the hot spring. He picked up the towel beside him and wiped his body before heading towards the sauna room. As he walked, he said, "Mr. Zheng, I've told you so much today. Whether you believe it or not is none of my business. I just want to tell you to let me go and stop pushing me."

Old Master Zheng hurried to catch up with Xiao Peng. "Xiao Xiao, what you're saying is really hard to accept. And you asked me to let you go? But have you ever thought about it? Now that you've revealed such a huge secret about the sandbed exploration, people from all over the world will come looking for you."

Xiao Peng opened the door of the sauna room and said with a smile, "Mr. Zheng, your story is not for nothing. It also comes at a price. I will rest here for a year. After all, this is not a permanent residence. I hope you can come up with a solution this year."

After listening to Xiao Peng's words, Mr. Zheng thought carefully for a long time and looked up and said, "I understand what you mean... Where do you want to go?"

Xiao Peng gave his answer: "I still prefer places near the sea. An island like this is quite nice. Of course, there is one thing I must say: I like warm places. It's too cold here, Mr. Zheng. Do you understand what I mean?"