r18novel Page 253
Page 253
"It's clearly a core soul contract, what's a contract anyway! It's not a transaction... Showing off your skills and all that... Pfft, cough cough..."
Serenity reached out her icy little hand, stretched out her fingers, and slowly stroked down Latis's spine for a while until Latis suddenly shuddered. Only then did she chuckle to herself and withdraw her hand.
Having walked hundreds of thousands, even millions of steps, she already knew Latis's body inside and out. Even without looking, she could tell what the location was the moment she touched it.
"It tickles so badly, don't touch me like that, it's dangerous driving!" Latis's voice, tinged with a hint of sarcasm, carried on the wind as he scratched Seren's calf in retaliation, saying:
"Go on, after that we went to the City of Emptiness, ran into that Tank City Lord, haha, and then inexplicably had a competition, we just did whatever came to mind..."
"What's a tank? And that city lord's name... um, I think it's Fize? Never mind, it's not important..."
As Seren listened to Latis's rambling voice, which sounded like he was demonstrating his memory, he slowly turned his gaze into the distance.
At this moment, in her vision, the sky was below and the ground was above, just like the scene of the white moon churning every time she returned to the Latis spawn point.
"Mr. Bones, you'll stay with me and keep going on this journey forever... won't you?"
Seren's ethereal long hair swayed as Latis ran, occasionally obscuring her backward view. After looking at the path Latis had come from behind for a while, she mustered her soul power, lifted her backward body, and sat up straight.
She turned to the side, straightened her calves, and rotated half a circle with the movement of her waist. Because she wanted to put her hands on Latis's shoulders and sit on the horse, she gently pulled her legs up, intending to slide behind Latis.
The cool thigh, with a slight friction, slid against Latis's cheek. He turned his head in surprise and found that Seren had already wrapped his arms around his neck and rested his head on his shoulder.
They stared at each other for two seconds. Sai Leng tilted her head, a slight smile playing on her lips, and asked:
"What's wrong, Mr. Bones?"
"Oh...it's nothing, just looking at you."
Latis turned his head back, flapped his bone wings and glided over a small, steep slope. In the dry wind that came his way, the feeling of the bone spirit girl's thigh brushing against his cheek suddenly flashed into his mind.
Cold, yet soft.
'I wonder what a soul feels like to the touch, but it should still have some tactile sensation...'
He shook his head, dispelling the slight restlessness in his mind, glanced at the terrain in the distance, thought for a moment, and decided to proceed along the edge of the winding mountain range ahead.
Behind Latis, Seren suddenly lowered his head and twirled his hair with his fingers.
As the core contract partners of their souls, they already had a slight connection of minds. Not only Sai Leng, but Hai Yue'er and Lan Ling could also feel each other's emotions through the resonance of their soul power.
"...Mr. Bones, you can also receive a baptism from the River Styx if you wish?"
Seren pressed his cheek against Latis's back and whispered with a strange smile.
"Huh? Isn't that enough?" Latis continued walking, scratching his head as he said, "I wasn't talking about my memories..."
"The main thing is," Seren said, stroking Latis's back, suppressing a smile, and feigning composure, "Last time I was baptizing you, you struggled and interrupted me at the last spot. It's not impossible to continue now, is it?"
"Ok??"
Latis was stunned for a moment, and before he knew it, his four legs tripped over each other, and he tumbled and flew away.
"I'm amazing!...I'm amazing??"
……
……
You're caught in a deep dilemma. Although you secretly want Sai Leng to bathe you, it's the Styx River water! You're worried you might accidentally wash Brother Niu away!
However, Sai Leng said that there would be a special method to protect your body during the baptism, and as royalty among the bone spirits, you still trust her.
However… agreeing so readily might seem like you have ulterior motives! While that's true, you still hesitated for a moment and declined for the time being.
[After all, their tradition is to perform a baptism before climbing the mountain. You're worried that baptizing too early might lack lubrication... no, it might prematurely deplete some kind of blessing from the heavens!]
In short, you regretfully kept this matter to yourself; the most important thing right now is to find Mount Sankturui!
[As they spoke, the entire world suddenly changed dramatically. A gray shadow appeared on the horizon behind them—it was… "Starry Night" who hadn't even had a moment to mourn your bankrupt bathing plan before rushing to the battlefield!]
Yes, from this moment on, all beings in the Bone Spirit Realm can begin their race to climb the peak and prepare to soar into the sea of stars!
A sense of urgency suddenly gripped your heart. At this very moment, you hadn't even seen the silhouette of Mount Sankturai, yet the planet of Starry Night had already appeared on the horizon—a phenomenon that symbolized the imminent arrival of the White Moon!
You look back at that gray shadow, as if you can make out the uneven marks on the planet's surface through the blurry gray, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that in your eyes, that gray shadow seems to have already begun to rise in a daze!
No, that wasn't an illusion! You rubbed your eyes; it had indeed risen a tiny distance, barely perceptible, yet it sent a shiver down your spine.
You look up at the sky directly overhead. When that gray planet moves to that point, the "White Moon" will arrive as scheduled.
[A slowly rising planet, like a clock symbolizing death; when it strikes twelve, the world will be submerged in a pale torrent.]
You take a deep breath, push off with all your might, and instantly propel yourself forward dozens of meters.
Sensing the urgency in your heart, the spirit maidens within you also began to fully unleash their soul power, increasing their speed without regard for consumption.
……
"One-tenth of Starry Night has already passed..."
Latis glanced back at the planet on the horizon, estimated the angle, took a deep breath, suppressed his anxiety, and asked:
"Serlen, can you estimate how far we've traveled since we left Mount Sisyphus?"
Within Latis, Seren released the control stick that dictated its direction of travel, floated out, and hung on Latis's arm. After a moment's thought, it said:
"Even with my soul power fully activated, I have some difficulty estimating the distance we've covered, but it should be nearly twice the distance to Mount Augusta."
"Is it already this far? That Sankturui Mountain..."
Latis gritted his teeth in frustration, then stomped his foot in a fit of pique, leaping onto a cliff edge, saying:
"Where is it...?"
His voice gradually faded away. Seren looked at Latis's complex yet somewhat shocked expression with a puzzled look, then turned to look in front of them.
On the horizon ahead, a towering mountain rises abruptly, standing there calmly and serenely like a pillar supporting the sky.
The mountain's shadow was much smaller than the planet behind them, yet it instantly dispelled the shadow the planet cast on their hearts.
“Sankturui Mountain…”
Latis murmured, casting his gaze down the cliff.
A vast plain stretched between the cliffs and the Sankturi Mountains, with countless deep ravines like the claw marks of wild beasts covering the entire plain. Apart from that, it was all flat road.
He flapped his bone wings, ready to glide down, when suddenly a scream came from not far away.
"Don't go down! That plain is dangerous!"
Chapter 258 The Only Bard in the Bone Spirit Realm
The speaker was a half-skeletal figure lying on the edge of the cliff. You saw it when you jumped onto the cliff, but judging from its miserable state, you thought it was a dead skeleton. You never expected it to be alive.
The half-skull pushed itself up from the ground. Its left forearm, half of its left pelvis, and its entire left leg were missing; the breaks showed signs of bursting, as if it had been forcibly destroyed by something.
You hesitated for a moment. The urgency emanating from Starry Sun made you eager to continue your journey, but the danger mentioned by the half-skeleton in front of you made you a little worried. Mount Sankturee was right in front of you, and you didn't want to fall here.
Seeing you stop, the half-skeleton hopped towards you on one leg, performing a very polite greeting you'd never seen before.
You scratched your head and returned the mage's salute, but to your surprise, the half-skeleton asked curiously, "Sir, what kind of etiquette is this?"
You paused, glancing at your hands. The proper Buddhist salute involves the right hand loosely clenched and held above the chest, while the left hand is open and rests on the back of the right, with the thumbs touching to form a small triangle – a very classical pose.
[As far as you know, this etiquette existed on the continent of Atlantis long before the birth of the Goddess of Magic. From high-ranking legends to magic apprentices who have just learned a single trick, everyone uses this etiquette.]
On the continent of Atlantis, records of other planes suggest that mages who engaged in interplanetary communication encountered similar customs and etiquette in most of the planes where magic existed.
There are many interpretations of the Dharma Master's salute. Some say the right hand symbolizes magic and the left hand symbolizes control; others say the right hand symbolizes the world and the left hand symbolizes contact; still others say the right hand symbolizes inward exploration and the left hand symbolizes outward exploration. In short, although there are many different interpretations, the posture of the Dharma Master's salute is quite easy to recognize.
You gave the half-skeleton a brief explanation, and he nodded in understanding. Then, mimicking your gesture, he performed a half-mage's salute using his right hand and missing left arm.
You were completely bewildered, but thankfully the half-skeleton quickly explained the situation to you.
[It turns out his name was Drizzt, a bard. In his previous world, there weren't many mystical powers, so when he died impoverished and came to the Bone Spirit Realm, it rekindled his passion for life.]
"This world is truly wondrous, Your Excellency, Mage!" Drizzt exclaimed with fervor. "Even the most magnificent fantasy worlds described by the greatest poets cannot compare to a fraction of what I have witnessed with my own eyes, and what I have seen is but a drop in the ocean of this world!"
[It turns out that the half-skeleton Mr. Twisted Fate in front of you comes from a very ordinary world, without magic or divine power, only some questionable mysticism, and can concoct strange potions with unknown effects. It sounds like a medieval Earth with added mystical power.]
[His strange gesture of bending down and brushing his right hand across his right toe was a bard's greeting, also known as the knight-errant's salute. Drizzt said this gesture was usually used by bards to greet the audience during breaks in the music when they were about to recount a legendary tale.]
You scratched your head, clearly noting down this information, and then immediately asked him about the potential dangers below the cliff.
Drizzt gazed at the distant silhouette of Mount Sankturi, pondered for a moment, and then spoke as if reciting an aria: "Winged birds have seized the sky, and fanged wolves rule the earth. They cruelly expose the path to the Sanctuary, luring lost souls into their trap!"
You vaguely understood what he said; it was roughly that monsters were appearing on the road to Sankturi Mountain, and that Drizzt himself had probably been attacked and turned into a half-skeleton.
However, this did not deter your determination to continue your journey. You immediately bid him farewell and prepared to leave. Seeing this, Drizzt quickly stopped you. After hesitating for a while, he could only persuade you to follow him down the mountain through the secret passage. He explained that if you were to glide down and be harmed by the strange bird, he would never be able to sleep or eat properly for the rest of his life.
[You seem somewhat helpless, but Tristana meant well. After thinking about it, a safer method wouldn't be bad. After all, even though you possess an invincible safe word, you can't always reliably maintain it, especially when attacked in mid-air.]
Thinking of this, you glanced at your safe word list, which you hadn't looked at in a long time. You'd been so busy running away that you hadn't encountered any battles, and after so long without using safe words, you felt like you deserved a spanking.
[“High energy ahead!” “Bull Brother’s charge!” “Rocket headbutt!” “Hero’s entrance!” Several options are laid out in front of you. This time it’s surprisingly serious. I wonder where they got the safe word database from. Would ordinary people really use such safe words?]
[You silently grumbled about the keyword list, but decisively chose "Brother Niu's Impact!", a safe keyword that seemed tailor-made for you.]
[As they spoke, you followed Drizzt to a pile of boulders. He casually pushed aside a few loosely covered stones, and then, between two bouldering stones, a downward-facing hole appeared in the ground!]
He glanced at your size, hesitated for a moment, and was about to widen the opening when you, having already noticed the problem, readily retracted your horse-like body and bone wings.
[Dizzy was astonished. You were actually human, not the alien he had assumed! He quickly etched this astonishing discovery onto his arm bone and sought confirmation of your true race.]
When you told him you were indeed human, Drizzt was momentarily stunned. This world was far more wondrous than he had imagined! It's just a pity that in his current half-skeleton form, he probably won't be able to witness it firsthand.
You stretched your body; it had been a while since you'd returned to human form, and you were still a little unaccustomed to it. But to be honest, you felt you absolutely had to recommend everyone try being a horse sometime; running with the wind was exhilarating, especially when the spirit girls were bouncing around on your back...
You crawled down the narrow passage, which was only about the same width and height as your height when you crouched down, so the crawling speed was quite slow. But Drizzt seemed unusually skilled, and he quickly climbed to the end, where he crouched down and waited for you.
[While waiting for you to crawl out like a pupa, he explained the origin of this passageway. It turned out that he had carved this long passageway entirely by himself with a stone pickaxe. It not only served as a shelter, but the occasional looping structure also prevented the moonlight from flowing back in.]
Therefore, whenever the white moon arrives, he hides in the passageway, blocking the entrance and exit, waiting for the next lull.
However, such passageways inevitably accumulate water, so he couldn't avoid gradually losing his physical body during the climb. Fortunately, he had already written important things down in his dwelling and on his bones, letting the unimportant things drift away with the current.
[During the conversation, you climbed to the end of the passageway and arrived at a slightly more spacious cave. Drizzt pointed out a gap in the cave ceiling—his dwelling. Because it was above the first circular ditch of the passageway, even if the "living room" were flooded, his dwelling wouldn't be wetted by the white moon.]
You were secretly astonished by this. You hadn't expected that Drizzt, a completely mortal, could so skillfully use the mountain to protect himself. You couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for him. The dead of the Bone Spirit Realm truly had their own unique stories.
However, after Drizzt's explanation, your hard-won praise turned into a faint silence.
[During Drizzt's lifetime, being a bard was a rather unpopular profession. In a medieval-like setting, besides merchants, refugees, and knights, the only other group of people who moved around the world were wandering bards.]
For ordinary people, bards are a group that brings joy and musical enjoyment, but for the lords of various villages and territories, they are a complete destabilizing factor, greatly affecting the stability of the people under their rule.