Chapter 19: Should We Sign a Contract Regarding the Changes?
In the dark spatial rift, a ball of cold light floated in mid-air. Wherever its light shone, the red mist hurriedly moved aside, clearing a clean and clear space.
"ha......"
The boy with the fish tail looked relieved, clasped his hands in front of his chest, and lay flat on the white sand dune.
His long, black hair, which reached past his ankles, and his red fishtail were covered in sand, making him look like a spring roll coated with anti-sticking powder.
The Suanni, squatting beside him, was speechless: "It's just a little bit of bloodlust, it won't kill you, is it really that big of a deal?"
The boy lowered his eyes to look at the mottled scales on his arm, then looked at the halo of light.
Yes, he should have been completely unafraid of these bloodthirsty auras.
The boy's eyes were a strange turquoise green, which, when illuminated by the cool light, resembled two rippling pools of water under the moon.
"I--"
"Stop!" Suanni frowned. "I don't want to hear your inner monologue at all. It's frustrating."
The strange fish boy was still feeling sad and upset, but upon hearing this, a surge of anger rushed from his chest to the top of his head. However, he was tongue-tied and couldn't find the words to retort for a long time, which only made his face turn red.
The Suanni didn't even look at him, but yawned widely and lay down.
"I want to sleep, don't disturb me."
After saying that, he ignored the boy who was about to turn into a pufferfish with anger, closed his eyes, and fell asleep in no time.
The boy had initially been bold enough to yell at Bian Sheng and deliberately wake him up, but when he saw Suanni's exhausted state and thought about how he might not be alive without Suanni and the others, his shoulders slumped.
He tucked his tail in, curled up like a human hugging his knees, and slowly buried his head in his arms.
Suddenly, a loud "System" rang out not far away, startling the boy so much that he trembled and abruptly raised his head.
Although it was still pitch black all around, he was lying on fine white sand, and as far as the eye could see, he could see the cold, clear light, coupled with the sound of the Suanni's breathing...
Everything was reminding him that this was not an underground prison.
"Commander, hoo!"
The way he spoke was so distinctive that the boy immediately thought of the strange child who had rescued him before.
The boy looked at the scars on his palm, and his eyes hardened.
Regardless, he wanted to express his sincere gratitude.
The boy took a deep breath and rolled down the white sand dune.
About fifty meters away from that cold, luminous halo, a child-like zombie was looking up at the sky with a serious expression.
The system, awakened by the alarm, was completely bewildered: "[...You mean, you and the dogs went outside...?]"
"Aww!"
The system felt like it was going crazy, so it quickly pulled up the data records and scanned them.
[Terrain collapse? Energy overload!? And what is this ball of light?]
The system was only thankful that its ability to accept things had improved so much, otherwise it might have actually died by now.
It quickly realized something and immediately went to check the warehouse.
Unlike the online store, the system and the host share the same repository, so the system was able to find the data it needed.
[Moon Spring: A mysterious substance containing the power of the moon, capable of spouting sacred spring water under suitable conditions]
The last time I went into the warehouse, there were two things on display: a shard of a mirror and a mermaid's tear. But now both of those things are gone, leaving only the "moon spring".
The system can only think of one possibility.
synthesis.
The synthesis function must be performed in a physical warehouse, and coincidentally, the large rift that trapped the system was identified as the physical manifestation of the warehouse, which is why the system did not teach the little zombies how to use it at that time.
After all, none of the little zombies can fly. If they throw the items down to synthesize them, even if they succeed, they won't be able to get them out.
But coincidentally, this "Moon Spring" has the property of automatic levitation, which is why it can float out of the crack on its own.
However, it's still a bit strange.
How can the items in this warehouse be automatically synthesized?
The system couldn't understand, so it first asked the little zombie: "[Host, can you take it back?]"
The little zombie tried for a long time as instructed by the system, but the Moon Spring remained quietly suspended in mid-air.
The system had to temporarily stop because it noticed another anomaly.
Before it went into standby mode to save power, it could only talk to its host within the farmland area, but now, the little zombie is clearly not standing in the farmland.
Okay, so here's the question.
What about the farmland?
The little zombie howled and howled, but the system became more and more confused as it listened.
The little zombie said that the three of them were running around playing when they crashed into a wall. Then the wall collapsed, sand came, the farmland was buried by sand, and the three of them were buried along with it.
Each part is understandable on its own, but when put together, it's so confusing.
System: [So, you need me to help you find farmland, right?]
Little zombie: "Awooo!"
It was just sitting there peacefully when its host suddenly called out to it urgently, and all it did upon waking was act as a guide –
The system burst into tears: [I'll find it for you right away!!]
This was the first time the system had been asked for help by a little zombie, so it immediately manipulated the red mist to stir it up and quickly found it.
[Here!]
The little zombie, carrying the gluttonous beast, rushed over. The system conjured an arrow from red mist, pointing downwards: [Down below.]
After the little zombie gently put the Taotie down, just like when he had just exchanged for his first piece of farmland and was learning to "dig" for the first time, he first knelt on the ground, and then reached out to start digging in the sand.
Back then, his joints were so stiff that he couldn't even kneel down, let alone bend over. He could only barely touch the ground by breaking his knees and twisting his spine.
But now, he can bend his joints effortlessly.
With the little zombie's skillful digging, the end of the empty layer in the sand pile was soon exposed.
The farmland is surrounded by what looks like several transparent panes of glass, vertically inserted into the sand, forming a rectangular space that keeps all the white sand out.
After reaching out and glancing down, the little zombie continued digging sand along the edge of the empty space.
When the Taotie saw this, it also helped, using its two front paws to dig the soil quickly.
The system observed for a while, then temporarily set aside all the questions it wanted to know and asked only: [Host, can you see now?]
It is now night in the spatial rift. There is not a ray of light in this location, and according to the zombie's eyesight, it should be unable to see anything.
But the little zombie had just reached over to look at the buried farmland, and now it can dig in the sand, so it doesn't seem like it has limited vision at all.
Sure enough, the little zombie replied, "Look."
Actually, it's not just the little zombies that are strange, but also the Taotie.
Before the system went to save power, it estimated that the Taotie's growth rate was only about 20%. Logically speaking, being able to stand and walk steadily for a while would be the limit. How could it be so agile in waving its front claws to dig sand?
The system then asked: "[Did something happen between you and your dog?]"
Little zombie: "Awooo, awooo, human."
[Oh, you've encountered humans, they—wait, you've encountered humans!?]
"Aww!"
The system carefully observed the little zombie's expression and movements, and only after confirming that the host seemed alright did it cautiously ask: [So, what happened next?]
So the little zombie dug in the sand and told everyone what he had seen.
However, his vocabulary and cognitive abilities were very limited, and his speech was very vague. The system could only listen and guess, but even so, it was enough to terrify the system.
Putting aside how dangerous the little zombie's experiences were, it's incredible that a zombie could remember so much information!
As they were talking, the little zombie suddenly stopped.
He straightened up and turned around, twisting his head with great force. The little zombie was very strong, and with a snap, his head fell off.
The child's head, with its bluish-gray skin, rolled down the sand pile, getting covered in sand, before bumping into a figure also covered in sand.
The boy, who was doing a seal crawl with his arms on the ground, was so startled that he almost lost his balance and fell face-first to the ground.
The head on the ground blinked at the boy: "Human!"
Immediately afterwards, the Taotie came running over, followed by a headless body.
Perhaps because it was headless, the remaining body parts seemed to be twitching, moving around in a bizarre manner while gesturing wildly.
The scene was truly terrifying. The boy took a deep breath and tried to calm himself before saying to the Taotie, "Could you... come a little closer? I can't get up there."
The sand was slippery, and the boy's fish tail was almost twice the length of his upper body, making it look very heavy. It would be quite difficult for him to climb up the sand dune by dragging his tail with both hands.
The reason he was able to reach the sand dunes within the halo range before was because the little zombies were carrying him, but Taotie obviously couldn't do that in his current state.
So Taotie could only lead the little zombie's body down the sand dune, and when it got to the fish-tailed boy, it immediately brushed the little zombie's toes with the fur on its body.
The body froze instantly, then fell to the sand with a thud.
The boy, quick-witted and agile, immediately shoved the head in his hand onto the head.
Practice makes perfect. Right after the earthquake, he was the one who helped piece together the little zombie's neck bones, so this time he was much faster at piecing them together again.
After the little zombie's body was finally reconnected, a wisp of red mist slowly drifted over and condensed into a line of words in front of the fish-tailed boy.
Thank you. This child is my host; you can think of me as a spirit.
The boy's surprise deepened. He immediately performed a cultivator's salute, bowing slightly as he said, "Greetings, senior."
The system found the boy's way of speaking a bit unsettling, so it quickly wrote: "Just call me System. I just want to ask what happened in your world?"
The boy's eyes were a shimmering blue in the dark, which allowed him to see clearly in the dark and also revealed the emotions in his eyes.
The boy's story wasn't particularly thrilling.
It was simply because he was young and ignorant, and trusted humans too easily, revealing his weaknesses, which allowed those humans to hurt him and discover that his blood had the special effect of dispelling evil spirits.
Which cultivator can guarantee they will never be free from inner demons?
So the boy was imprisoned underground, and the human used his blood to forge weapons, make incense, draw arrays, and even refine the blood of his descendants to prolong his life...
Despite practicing a vicious cultivation technique that even demons would look down upon, that person managed to escape the heavenly tribulation thanks to the miraculous fish blood, and even gave rise to a large family in the cultivation world.
As the boy spoke, he hugged his arms tightly, so tightly that he almost dug them into his flesh.
Just then, a small hand touched the end of his hair and gently stroked it.
The little zombie touched his messy long hair, then touched his head: "Don't be afraid."
The boy suddenly felt a lump in his throat.
At that moment, the red mist rapidly gathered: "[You won't live much longer if you continue like this. How about this, would you like to sign a contract with my host?]"
[Abundant food ensures worry-free upgrades, and it can even allow you to directly break through and evolve!]
The fish-tailed boy, whose emotions were abruptly interrupted, thought: "...Huh?"
A note from the author:
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