"eat."
Li Yu repeated it again, her gaze still fixed on Little Ghost.
He not only wanted to verify whether the little ghost's behavior pattern represented the general understanding of so-called "monsters" in this underground "human" kingdom.
He also wanted to see what this strangely behaving little ghost was really up to.
Nightmare Beast: "..."
Under the pressure from Li Yu and the eager anticipation of Little Ghost, the Nightmare Beast's eyes were filled with humiliation and frustration.
It reluctantly and symbolically released a barely perceptible wisp of energy from the bow, and with extreme disdain, lightly "licked" it, sucking away the insignificant breath.
The white mist enveloping the ore rippled slightly, but the change was barely perceptible.
"Ah!" The little ghost jumped up in surprise, waving its tiny hands made of white mist.
"We ate it! We ate it! It's a wonderful beast!"
Its gaze toward Li Yu instantly filled with affection and a hint of sympathy, as if the life of the strange beast was just as arduous.
The little ghost mustered its courage and stepped forward, its short, misty legs shimmering as it cautiously circled half of Li Yu's body, curiously examining his clothes and equipment, and murmuring in its childish voice:
“What a strange beast! Not only do you look weird, but your fur is also very rough.”
It tilted its head, seemingly organizing its thoughts, and tentatively asked:
"Good beast, can you understand me?"
"Yes," Li Yu replied succinctly.
The little ghost was startled by the clear response and took a small step back, then was overwhelmed by immense joy:
"Wow! It can... it can talk!!"
It was so excited that the white mist swelled up:
"You are what adults often call a high-level alien beast that can speak human language!"
However, this joy was quickly overshadowed by rising fear. It suddenly remembered the adults' warnings that high-level beasts could not only speak human language, but also eat "people"!
The little ghost was simply too curious about why this "strange beast" ran so fast, so it couldn't help but chase after it to see, and even fed the beast out of kindness.
Now that they've gotten this close, they've discovered it's a high-level beast that can speak human language; they probably won't be able to escape even if they wanted to.
With its tiny size, isn't it just a treat delivered right to your door?!
The curiosity in the little ghost's eyes was gradually replaced by terror. It retreated repeatedly, its tiny, misty body trembling, and it began to regret its damned curiosity.
All it wanted to do was run, but its legs felt like they were made of lead.
Now, Little Ghost can only place its last sliver of hope on the fact that good beasts won't harm people.
The little ghost's voice trembled with tears as it asked, "P-please, good beast, you won't eat me, right?"
"No." Li Yu's answer was still straightforward.
"Phew..." The little ghost breathed a sigh of relief, its soul body becoming noticeably more stable, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
Seizing this brief window of trust, Li Yu immediately cut to the chase, asking, "Are there many 'humans' here?"
“Yes, a lot!” Little Ghost nodded, then his head drooped again: “But there aren’t many left now.”
"It's just me and my mom here now. They said my mom is sick and they won't let us get close."
As the little ghost was talking, it suddenly looked at Li Yu with a hopeful expression: "Good beast, can you help my mother?"
It drifted closer urgently, its tone carrying a childlike innocence mixed with cruelty:
"The adults say that if there is blood from a high-level beast, Mom can recover!"
"Oh?" Li Yu frowned. It seemed that they really were cannibals.
He had realized that the twisted foundations of this hidden underground kingdom of ghosts were probably far more complex and ancient than he had imagined, and perhaps concealed deeper reasons for its formation.
Otherwise, the existence of such a large and logically consistent group consciousness cannot be explained.
"Where is your mother? Take me there to see her." Li Yu's voice was low and emotionless.
"No way!" The Nightmare Beast's eyes widened. "Li Yu, do you really think you're a monster? Didn't you hear? Its mother needs to eat monster blood to get better."
"What is that 'beast blood'? It's your blood! You really intend to use it as a medicinal ingredient?"
On the other hand, Little Ghost was overjoyed upon hearing Li Yu's agreement: "Great! Thank you! You're the best beast!"
It excitedly spun around in place and hurriedly ran ahead to lead the way for Li Yu.
"Come with me. Mom's over there!"
Along the way, Li Yu was free to ask any questions, and Little Ghost told Li Yu everything it knew.
The little ghost seemed completely unguarded, and it was as if it had already decided that Li Yu was a good beast and would help his mother, which was why it kept answering.
Before long, Li Yu followed the little ghost to a hidden gap.
"We're here, this is it." The little ghost darted inside in a flash.
The huge rock half-covered the crevice.
Given Li Yu's size, it was actually quite difficult for him to get in. He had to turn sideways and tried several times before he could barely squeeze in.
Inside was a relatively spacious natural cave, filled with a kind of antiquated silence.
"Mom, I'm back..." The little ghost rushed to a corner and snuggled into the arms of a ghost.
Li Yu looked in the direction of the sound and her heart sank.
In the darkest corner of the cave, the figure of a female ghost was frozen in place.
She maintained her final posture, leaning slightly forward with her arms outstretched, as if she wanted to embrace something.
The little ghost's figure then slipped right into his embrace.
However, her entire soul body appeared as a lifeless grayish-white color, like a poor-quality stone sculpture, devoid of any aura, just like the frozen ghost corpses seen before!
Li Yu paused, looking at the scene with a complicated expression. She hadn't expected that Little Ghost's mother had already lost her ghost form.
The little ghost skillfully curled into the open embrace and explained to Li Yu:
“My mother used to be able to move around, but then she asked me to go on patrol, and when I came back, I found that she was sick... and couldn’t move.”
It raised its head and looked at Li Yu, its misty white eyes filled with helplessness and longing.
“I’ve asked many people, many, many adults, and they all say that Mom needs the blood of a high-level alien beast to wake up, but there are too few alien beasts here. You are the first living alien beast I have ever seen.”
Li Yu: "......"
He silently looked around. The cave walls were covered with messy excavation marks, and some blurry carvings could even be seen, depicting primitive rock paintings of humans kneeling and worshipping.
This also silently proves that the predecessors of these ghosts were indeed living, breathing human beings.
However, most of these ghosts have completely lost their human memories and consciousness.
Or rather, the ghosts completely abandoned their human attributes from their previous lives and became a new species.
"Good beast, can you save my mother?" The little ghost's voice came again, filled with a cautious plea.
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