Chapter 8
Su Ci looked at the child, somewhat puzzled.
"Only newborn spirits, not yet condensed into physical form, are invisible and intangible, yet your body has normal physiological signs... How strange."
He muttered to himself, but didn't take it too seriously.
After all, there are always things in the world that he has not seen, not to mention that he has been sleeping for 100,000 years this time. It is normal for there to be many new things that he has never seen before in this world.
After the child finished drinking the nutrient solution, he put the cup back on the coffee table, then stood there, looking at Su Ci stiffly and obediently.
"You've been hungry for too long. You can't eat too much at once."
Su Ci looked at the glass and was about to wash it when he saw a small black handprint on the glass.
He couldn't help but pause, looked at the child's hand, then looked at his body which seemed like he hadn't taken a bath for hundreds of years, and held his breath with some forbearance.
"Come with me."
Su Ci stood up and walked towards the bathroom.
When he looked at the room just now, Su Ci only took a quick look at the layout, but now he began to seriously look at this "bathroom" in the future world.
The walls are still a slightly cold metallic tone.
The floor is made of a smooth tile-like material. The room is heated at night, and the floor is warm and comfortable to walk on barefoot.
Following the common sense that emerged in his mind, Su Ci came to the bathtub and made some settings on a virtual panel that appeared. Warm water then automatically flowed out of the pipe and filled the bathtub.
“Clatter—”
The child following Su Ci also came to the bathroom door and looked inside.
Hearing the sound of water in the bathroom, he couldn't help but pinch his fingers, recalling the dirty handprints he left on the glass. His dull black and red eyes finally revealed some obvious emotions.
He is so dirty.
The child lowered his head, caught a glimpse of the black stains on his hands, and quickly put his hands behind his back.
Although he lowered his head, the child's only exposed eye was still raised cautiously through the thick bangs, looking at Su Ci's figure, with a little doubt in his eyes.
He couldn't touch those things before, so naturally he couldn't leave any dirt on them. How come he can do that now?
When he first became conscious, he was in this nursery.
He has been here the longest, but few people care about his existence. Only when extreme weather occurs and the red dots around him increase a lot, will people in the base be able to hear and see him.
At this time, he would hear these people call him——
Number one.
He was the first cub taken in by this nursery, so he occupied the number "1", but usually no one would remember him.
Neither the keepers, supervisors, operations department, logistics department, nor even the nanny robots that took good care of the cubs would think of him.
He also has his own room, but the panel on the door will not recognize him, let alone open the door for him. Although he can go through the wall, he doesn't like staying in that completely enclosed space, nor does he like the feeling of passing through the wall.
He lived alone in the brooding facility.
At the beginning, the nanny robot would prepare food for him, but he couldn't touch it. Every time he could only watch the food sit there and be disposed of.
Later, the new nanny robot stopped preparing food for him.
He watched the keepers come in and leave one by one, watched the number of cubs in the nursery continue to increase and the damage it caused, watched the people from the operations department and maintenance team come in and out, complaining but working diligently.
But everything that happened before his eyes had nothing to do with him. He lived alone in the corner of the nursery like a ghost.
In fact, he didn't know what a "ghost" was.
He just heard people at the base occasionally talking about him, saying, "The ghost-like Number One."
So he must be a ghost, a ghost that can survive even without food or water.
But today, it seems different.
Number One looked at the new breeder in the bathroom.
He also said he was a "spirit", but not only was he able to touch him, he also carried him from the cold corridor to the warm dormitory without red spots, and even gave him food.
That was the first time since he gained consciousness that he realized how comfortable it was to have a full and warm stomach...
Su Ci saw that the water in the bathtub was almost full, so he reached out to test the water temperature. Turning back, he saw the child still standing at the door.
He waited quietly, without making any noise or noise.
That's good, he likes well-behaved and quiet children.
Su Ci felt a little more satisfied, so he waved to the child. When he slowly came over, he was about to carry him into the bathtub, but when he lowered his eyes and saw something, he stopped.
I saw a series of small black footprints left on the gray-white tiles of the bathroom. The color was not dark, but it was particularly conspicuous under the bright light.
Number One followed his gaze and noticed the stain he had left. He looked at the breeder, then at himself, and then lowered his head.
Seeing that he had buried his head almost in his chest, Su Ci knew that he had misunderstood and he had no intention of blaming him.
"You should have noticed it," he said.
The child raised his head slightly, his dark red eyes staring at him blankly.
"You can touch things now," Su Ci said, pointing to the footprints. "You can also affect other things and leave traces in this world, so you have to be careful."
Newborn souls are ignorant, but generally have the ability to protect themselves. However, it is obvious that this does not include the child in front of him.
For practitioners, spirits are a great tonic - although there may be no practitioners in this era, it is always better to be cautious.
Especially now that the planet has become like this, Su Ci has no idea about the future.
Number One nodded, then looked at him in surprise.
Hey, how did he know that he couldn't touch things before?
Sensing his doubt, Su Ci didn't say much, but just reached out and touched his head.
Newly born spirits have a strong ability to imitate. When they come into contact with mature spirits, they can absorb experience from them, simulate and learn from their states, and thus mature more quickly.
Of course, this process of maturation still takes a long time for the newborn soul, but it is much faster than growing up on its own.
Moreover, the little guy in front of him was quite talented. When he touched him, he instantly entered the state of eumorphic simulation.
That moment was so short that he didn't notice it at first.
However, it's not a big problem.
The child, whose head was being touched for the first time, was immediately distracted. He felt the young man's warm and soft palm and froze in place for a moment, not knowing how to react.
Su Ci quickly withdrew his hand and began to take off the child's clothes.
If there were other people here at this time, they would see that Su Ci made an upward pulling motion towards the void, and then, as if by magic, a piece of clothing appeared in his hand.
I don't know how many years that little piece of clothing has been worn. It is tattered and its original color cannot be seen. It even emits a bad smell.
Su Ci casually threw it into the automatic garbage disposal bin, then reached out to push aside the child's long and thick bangs.
Perhaps not used to the sudden brightening of vision, the child looked up at him in surprise, but then very restrainedly tucked his hands in front of his body and didn't move, like a pitiful little animal.
The child's eyes are big and round, which is a pretty eye shape. But when set on such a small face with sunken cheeks due to malnutrition, and with red bloodshot eyes, it looks a bit abrupt and scary.
His neck was very thin, like bones covered only by a thin layer of skin, and the blood vessels underneath were clearly visible.
Not to mention the body, which is just skin and bones, with distinct ribs visible on the chest. The limbs are even thin and fragile, as if they would break with the slightest touch.
Because of his overly thin body, his belly became round after he drank a glass of nutrient solution, which made people worry that his belly would burst in the next second.
Su Ci looked at his belly and couldn't help but reveal a pensive expression.
He raised his eyes and saw that the child's face did not show any expression of pain or discomfort, so he placed his palm on his belly and rubbed it gently.
The child opened his mouth slightly and burped.
He seemed surprised that he made such a sound, his eyes widened slightly, and then he covered his mouth with his little hands.
Su Ci curled her lips and her eyes fell on his hair again.
Looking at the child's greasy and tangled hair, his brows furrowed again. Fortunately, the child had not touched any real objects before, so he did not get lice.
"The hair is too long, it needs to be cut." Su Ci said.
Number One looked at him confusedly and nodded.
"Yeah." Su Ci patted his head with satisfaction.
There were no scissors in the dormitory, but this did not pose a problem for Su Ci.
He put his index and middle fingers together, then opened them slightly and made a cutting motion at Number One's bangs. The ends of the hair broke neatly, fell from mid-air, and landed on the floor tiles.
Number One doesn't feel bad about his hair.
He looked at the breeder who was close to him. His fully exposed eyes reflected the young man's focused and serious expression. In the originally dead silence and emptiness, a glimmer of light that had never been there before appeared, as if his soul was lit by a torch.
Su Ci didn't notice and continued to concentrate on cutting the child's hair.
It was the first time he had done this, so he inevitably felt curious. After trying a few cuts at the beginning, his movements became faster and faster.
Not long after, clumps of black hair fell to the ground, but soon turned into green smoke and disappeared, as if they had never appeared.
And Su Ci finally stopped.
He didn't cut the child's hair completely, but stopped at about the jawbone. Then he took the shower head, turned on the water and let the child test the water temperature.
When the child nodded, he began to wash the dirt off his body.
“Clatter—”
Warm water poured down from above his head, and Number One couldn't help but close his eyes. The water washed away the dirt on his body, as if washing his soul as well.
The pores open slightly under the hot water, and I cheer for the long-awaited fresh air.
Number One couldn't help but sigh, and the little hand that was tucked in front of him unconsciously raised up and stretched out to catch the water.
It turns out that this is what it feels like when water falls on your body.
The child was so captivated by his first shower that he just wanted time to continue like this, but soon the water stopped.
Just as he felt regret in his heart, he felt the breeder's hand again.
The hands gently picked him up and then placed him in a bathtub filled with water, letting the warm water wrap around him and dispel all the coldness.
Number One opened his eyes in the water.
He was not panicked or uncomfortable at all. His dark red eyes looked at the underwater world curiously, and he felt that time had slowed down at this moment.
The next moment, Su Ci pulled him out of the water.
"Cough, cough, cough, cough—"
Looking at the child who was leaning on the edge of the bathtub and coughing continuously because he was choked by the water, Su Ci tilted his head and looked at the bathtub that was almost overflowing.
He reached out his hand and the water in the bathtub was reduced by more than half, then he carried the child back in.
Now the water level only reached the child's thighs, and even if he sat down in the bathtub, the water level was only up to his chest.
Su Ci nodded, and then according to the knowledge that came to his mind, he squeezed shampoo and applied it to the child's hair, kneading out rich and delicate bubbles.
Seeing the child close his eyes and reveal an expression of enjoyment, he couldn't help but nod in his heart: Well, even if the spirit has a physical body, it will not be drowned by water.
What's more, this little guy is still in a semi-spiritual state.
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