Chapter 116.2 – Persuasion
The day of the “Deep Dive” drew closer, but Shi Yuan couldn’t convince Lu Tinghan. Usually, if Shi Yuan whispered something to Lu Tinghan, he would always agree, this time was an exception. Lu Tinghan had firmly made up his mind and wouldn’t change it.
Meanwhile, the handmade paper flowers piled up in the workshop, resembling small mountains. Those few real xuejian flowers were thriving and about to bloom.
With only three weeks left until the “Deep Dive,” the people in the city grew increasingly anxious. The awakening of monsters within the black crystals intensified the battle. Shi Yuan caught sight of the enormous transport ships docked at the city’s edge. In the future, they would carry people to Elton.
He continued to persuade Lu Tinghan, pleading to let him go to the bottom of the abyss.
After numerous failed attempts to persuade him, Shi Yuan held Lu Tinghan’s waist, burying his head in his embrace, and mumbled, “You’re really going away.”
Lu Tinghan caressed his head.
In these last few days, he had given Shi Yuan many instructions.
During the years Shi Yuan had spent by his side, Lu Tinghan had taught him too much. Yet, as the time for parting approached, he felt it was far from enough.
He repeatedly emphasized the use of medical supplies in case Shi Yuan got injured while in his humanoid form; he taught him how to use maps and compasses, allowing the road-idiot abyss to find its way; he advised caution while cooking to avoid cutting himself or accidentally consuming poisonous food; he stressed the importance of not revealing his true identity, which would remain his ultimate trump card…
Lu Tinghan was never a nagging person, and Shi Yuan had already known a lot about these things.
But he kept on talking, afraid of missing something important.
After a while of silence, Shi Yuan asked, “Lu Tinghan, can you come with me somewhere?”
Lu Tinghan was busy.
He still asked, “Where do you want to go?”
“I want you to meet my monster friends,” Shi Yuan said. “I can’t convince you, but maybe they can.”
Lu Tinghan smiled and said, “Monsters don’t talk.” He playfully tugged on Shi Yuan’s long tail. “Except for the little devil.”
“It’s not about talking. I don’t know how to express it,” Shi Yuan tilted his head, trying to find the right words. “It’s okay if you don’t change your mind. I just want you to see.”
“…Okay,” Lu Tinghan agreed. “I’ll go with you.”
The morning after, they stepped into the forest outside the city together.
Dew hung on the leaves, glistening and translucent.
They encountered many monsters along the way, hiding in the woods. Sensing Lu Tinghan’s presence, they became more restless than usual. Some monsters were itching to make a move but hesitated because of Shi Yuan. Other monsters who knew Shi Yuan followed them from afar, maintaining a considerable distance.
After all, monsters were still monsters.
Only Shi Yuan was feared and favored.
“Where are we going?” Lu Tinghan asked.
“To meet a big friend,” Shi Yuan replied. “It wanted to take me somewhere before, but I didn’t get the chance to go with it.”
Lu Tinghan didn’t ask further.
They strolled through the forest. The path was rugged and winding, which Shi Yuan usually found difficult to traverse. But with Lu Tinghan by his side, it became much easier—steep slopes that he struggled to climb and cliffs that he cautiously descended—Lu Tinghan led the way, holding his hand, guiding him through the mountains.
All the way forward.
Until deep in the mountains.
Lu Tinghan saw the ancient tree with eyes all over it, just as Shi Yuan had described.
The towering tree stood in the deepest part of the forest, blocking out the sky. Eyes covered its branches, swirling and turning chaotically, occasionally shedding tears of blood.
But when it saw Shi Yuan, the restlessness subsided. Countless pairs of eyes calmed down, moving slowly, looking at the two visitors.
“Hello—” Shi Yuan shouted at the top of his lungs, “Hello—Rotten Tree!!”
Lu Tinghan: “…”
Shi Yuan had always been good at naming things.
The ancient tree’s eyes stared intently at Lu Tinghan, and its pupils suddenly contracted, which was quite frightening.
“You can’t,” Shi Yuan told it again. “This is my human, and you can’t infect him.”
The ancient tree paused for nearly half a minute, slowly closing its eyes, leaving only the largest eye in the center of its trunk looking at the two of them.
“Rustle, rustle…”
A gust of wind blew, causing the trees to sway, and the eyes blinked.
This could be considered as a greeting to them.
After bidding farewell to the “Rotten Tree,” they continued walking.
Lu Tinghan asked, “Besides the ‘Rotten Tree,’ are there other monsters with names?”
“Only a few have names,” Shi Yuan counted on his fingers. “For example, there’s ‘Silly Dog,’ ‘Dumb Goose,’ ‘Bad Bee,’ and ‘Stinky Bird.’ At first, they ignored me and were impolite, so I named them like that, and I couldn’t change it once I got used to it.”
Lu Tinghan: “…”
This was getting more and more outrageous.
Lu Tinghan said, “Shi Yuan, I’m glad that when you didn’t know my name, you didn’t give me one.”
Now that he thought about it, “Lu Tingting” was the pinnacle of Shi Yuan’s naming skills. Shi Yuan’s love for him was absolutely genuine.
“Yeah, back then, my language skills weren’t that good,” Shi Yuan said. “So you were always ‘that low quality one.'”
Lu Tinghan: “…”
Lu Tinghan: “I really didn’t mean to litter.”
Shi Yuan: “Hmph.”
Continuing forward, they crossed over hills and boulders and arrived at another hilltop.
“Hey,” Shi Yuan shouted, “Xiao Bai, where are you?! Xiao Bai (little white)!”
This name sounded normal. It was probably an exquisite and small monster that made Shi Yuan make an exception.
Lu Tinghan waited.
Strange sounds emanated from the mist-shrouded mountains, and the earth trembled. After two minutes, a colossal creature emerged from deep within the mountains: a white serpent with a scarlet forked tongue, eyes like glass, and when it stood up, its shadow covered the entire mountain range.
Lu Tinghan looked up at it and said, “You call this thing ‘Xiao Bai’?”
“Yeah. It’s so cute,” Shi Yuan was delighted and waved at the giant serpent. “I’m here! I’ve come to play with you!”
“Hiss, hiss, hiss,” the giant serpent hissed.
Like the ancient tree, it stared at Lu Tinghan for a while. An instinctive impulse to roar and reveal its ferocity surged within it.
In the end, it lowered its head and calmly looked at the two of them.
Shi Yuan and Lu Tinghan said, “Xiao Bai wants to take me somewhere. Let’s go together.”
The giant serpent seemed to understand their words. Its head lowered once again, stopping in a hollow in the mountain valley.
This allowed Shi Yuan to easily step onto it. He jumped onto the serpent’s head, beckoning to Lu Tinghan, “Come on!”
Lu Tinghan, who had dealt with monsters for many years, had never experienced anything like this before.
Or perhaps it could be said that no one had ever witnessed such a sight before, causing him to hesitate for a few seconds.
“Come quickly!” Shi Yuan called out again. “Trust me!”
So Lu Tinghan took a step and jumped onto the serpent’s head as well. They both grabbed onto a protruding scale, and the giant serpent lifted its head—
The clouds and mist suddenly swept by!
The sound of the wind was deafening, and in an instant, they were dozens of meters above the ground, with the trees, rocks, and flowers appearing minuscule.
“Rustle, rustle, whoosh, whoosh…”
The scales scraped against the majestic peaks, revealing a stunning array of peculiar peaks, adorned with picturesque mountains and rivers. They rode the white serpent, soaring through the clouds and wind, heading towards the distance like a dance in the sky.
