Part 3
The mascot fell heavily to the ground. The black toad held its breath, its body stiff.
It didn’t know which Great One had arrived. It wondered if it was too late to prostrate itself and offer its surrender.
Through the gaps in the mascot costume, it peered out cautiously.
But all it saw was a mass of white fog.
Formless, boundless, and without rules.
In an instant, the black toad’s heart turned to ash.
“You… itâs you…”
It could no longer summon the will to flee or beg for mercy. A faint, shrill voice squeezed out:
“Aren’t you already dead? Weren’t you suppressed? Why are you here! No! Why are You here!!”
The white fog looked at it. It should have devoured it immediately, but facing the humanoid object, it hesitated for a moment and circled around it.
For some reason, it didn’t want to eat humanoid objects.
The black toad was even more shocked. “You… You are listening to me? You have a brain now? No! You have a soul?! How could You possibly have a soul!”
Following the sound, the white fog finally realized that the one speaking wasn’t the humanoid object, but a toad hiding inside it.
The black toad was still trying to persuade Him:
“Great One, You can understand me, right? Letâs make a deal. Go eat someone else. Theyâre more delicious, theyâre tastier than me! I know several other Great Ones have arrived! I know where they are sleeping. Iâll take You to find them. Don’t come over… don’t come over, AAAHH!!!”
Silence returned to the mountain forest.
The white fog stopped in its tracks, then looked toward the small black toads scattered on the ground that only had a bit of pollution on themâit wasn’t a picky eater.
With a sweeping motion, the small black toads quickly vanished into the white fog.
The white fog had no concept of being full. It shifted its gaze toward a nearby tree.
A few seconds later, that section of the forest became a clearing. Even the topsoil had been churned up and eaten clean.
Only some human remains were left on the spot.
The white fog drifted nearby, neither too close nor too far. Its instinct told it that everything was meant for it to eat.
But another voice seemed to be stopping it, preventing it from eating those remains.
The white fog circled the remains hesitantly. It wanted to eat, yet strangely didn’t want to.
It was as if a short, thin figureâof the same kind as those remainsâwas constantly before its eyes. She had white hair and a face full of wrinkles. She wore cloth shoes and had a slightly hunched back, looking at him with a gentle smile.
The white fog was dazed. It couldn’t distinguish between memory and the scene before it. It wanted to touch her, but after flying toward her, it only caught empty air.
This was so strange. The white fog couldn’t figure it out, so it continued to circle the remains.
âRibbit!
A lucky little toad that hadn’t been polluted hopped out of the pond.
A toadâs vision can hardly see stationary objects, and it didn’t notice any danger outside. It just perched by the pond, croaking away.
The white fog was attracted to it and drifted over, but it didn’t devour it. A wisp of white fog lifted the toad up as if observing it.
In its mind, a kind voice was saying:
“Pretty things… just looking at them makes one happy.”
Prettyâ
The white fog stared at the little toad before it, slowly placing it back by the pond.
“Ribbit!”
The little toad was startled. It gave a cry and splashed into the pond.
The water splashed up, and for a fleeting moment, the mist formed a tiny, almost invisible rainbow in the sunlight.
The white fog stared at that, too.
Prettyâ
What should it do now?
It drifted blankly by the pond.
Eat. Want to eat. Must eat. Eat everything up.
The white fog vaguely knew that it should use this pond as a starting point to devour everything it saw, eating its way across the land, devouring every living or dead thing it encountered.
But staring at the butterfly that had flown over to the edge of the pond at some point, it didn’t want to move. It only wanted to watch the way the butterfly flapped its wings as it danced.
The butterfly flew close, but the white fog retreated slightly from the food that had delivered itself.
It watched the butterfly dance light as air before landing on a leaf in the pond.
A scene flashed in its mind. a slightly hunched figure wiped its drool:
“Weâll have something good to eat when we get home. We won’t eat other things; weâll just have a meal.”
Go homeâ
What was “home”? Could you eat it? It must be very delicious. Thatâs why it wanted to go home so badly.
The white fog no longer hesitated. Leaving the pond, the butterfly, and the little toad behind, it surged upward.
As it passed the Angel, the thousand-meter-tall Great Angel watched its retreating back quietly before slowly closing its eyes.
Yongzhou.
Luo Shizhen snapped his eyes open and sat up, clutching his blanket.
“Shizhen? How are you feeling? You scared me to death!”
Chen Heyan had been waiting by the bed the whole time. Seeing that he was fine, he let out a heavy sigh of relief and pulled his student into a hug.
Luo Shizhen allowed himself to be hugged obediently and swallowed hard. “Professor, Iâm fine. Is that uncle okay now?”
“Heâs fine. His mind is clear, and his mutation value has dropped to 57%. Even if you don’t purify him further, he can likely be treated by other energy users in this state.”
Chen Heyanâs heart felt incredibly soft. “You didn’t even ask about yourself. The checkup said your ability reached its threshold and your body entered self-protection mode. Fortunately, you just fell asleep and didn’t suffer any other harm.”
Luo Shizhen was a bit embarrassed. “As long as Iâm fine. Professor, I want to eat.”
Chen Heyan was taken aback. “Eat? Eat what? What do you want? Iâll have the canteen make it right away.”
“Just… normal home-cooked food. Rice, some vegetables and meat, stuff like that.”
Chen Heyan patted his head. “Alright, Iâll have the canteen make it. Shizhen, next time youâre purifying, if it feels like too much, just stop. Thank goodness you only fell asleep. If anything happened to you, I wouldn’t know how to go on.”
Luo Shizhen shook his head with a grin. “Iâm fine, really. I was just a bit sleepy. I even had a dream.”
“Oh? What kind of dream?”
Luo Shizhen thought back and gave an embarrassed smile:
“I can’t remember… I think it was Grandma calling me home for dinner.”
In the dream, it seemed he had been chasing a roasted chicken the whole time. But that chicken was eaten too fast, and he hadn’t really savored the flavor; he only remembered that it looked quite delicious before he ate it.
Chen Heyan paused.
He had read Luo Shizhenâs files and naturally knew the child had been raised by his grandmother, and after her passing, he had no other family left in the world.
Chen Heyan composed himself and only offered a warm, gentle smile:
“I just remembered, I know how to cook, too. Though I might not be as good as a professional chef, I can make some home-cooked dishes. How about I cook for you?”
Luo Shizhen was delighted. “Really? Thank you, Professor!”
He hadn’t expected to eat a meal cooked by his teacher. He scrambled out of bed. “I can help out, too! My cooking is actually quite good.”
Chen Heyan didn’t refuse. He smiled as he watched the boy head to the dressing room to change, then looked toward Sui An.
“Professor Sui, why don’t you come and help out as well? Learn a bit of cooking so you can make things for your student in the future.”
Sui An, who didn’t know the first thing about cooking, paused for a long moment.
He had grown up eating in canteens; forget about cooking, he didn’t even know how to boil rice.
Chen Heyan looked at Luo Shizhenâs excited back as he went to change:
“Professor Sui, Shizhen is very reliant on those around him and he loves to eat. A meal made by someone close to him carries a different meaning.”
“My suggestion is, if you want him to join the Silver Cocoon, you should start learning some culinary skills now. When necessary, a meal made by someone heâs close to will make him very happy.”
The broad-shouldered, long-legged man nodded as if accepting a solemn mission:
“I will learn.”
Half an hour later, thanks to Professor Suiâs efforts, a small fire broke out in the Yongzhou kitchen.
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