Free Web NovelChapter 279: Chapter 277: Reunion
Mo Ling felt a little embarrassed by the little person’s words.
He hadn’t really done anything. Compared to the races that had struggled on the island for two thousand two hundred years, all he had done was use his permissions to delete a few accounts.
Everything had simply fallen into place.
"The Chali Race won’t interfere with the development of the new Fishmen anymore, will they?"
"Of course not."
Mo Ling shook his head helplessly. The new Fishmen were the greatest victims of the island’s conflicts.
The fate of their entire race had been manipulated by others.
Both the fish swarm and the Chali Race had been using the new Fishmen to achieve their own plans.
Suffering always befalls the weak.
Day after day, they were trapped on this island, unaware that their lives were merely part of someone else’s plan, unaware of the two crushing burdens hanging over their heads.
"What do you plan to do about the new Fishmen?" Mo Ling asked curiously.
The little person on his shoulder was silent for a long time before answering.
"We’ll just let them be. Those new souls have nothing to do with the fish swarm. We can tell the difference."
Hearing the little person’s answer, Mo Ling breathed a sigh of relief.
He had truly been worried that Bai Zhou and the Chali Race would wipe them all out.
It seemed they hadn’t been blinded by hatred yet.
"That’s good..."
Mo Ling continued onward, and the orb of light before him grew more distinct.
It was then that Mo Ling realized he had misjudged the size of the orb.
It was an enormous orb of light.
It floated high in the air, with thread-like paths of light constantly flowing within it.
Reaching the space beneath the orb, Mo Ling stopped and looked up.
Peering through the thick mist, Mo Ling finally saw the source of the light.
This was no sourceless ball of light.
It was a sphere formed by countless memory-eaters, all entwined together.
They were interwoven and pressed together, converging in the air to form a collective mass that resembled a ball of yarn.
The light emanated from within the bodies of these memory-eaters. It refracted through their companions before shining out into the mist.
The memory-eaters within were still squirming faintly, but they didn’t seem as lively as when Mo Ling first saw them on the Moon Altar.
They all seemed very sluggish, as if in some kind of deep slumber. Their squirming was merely them sleepwalking.
Mo Ling’s arrival didn’t attract the attention of the memory-eater mass. They continued to coil around each other, emitting a faint glow.
Looking at the memory-eaters, Mo Ling asked in shock, "What is this?"
"The Chali Race," the little person explained.
"I know they’re the Chali Race, but what are they doing?"
Mo Ling couldn’t understand the memory-eaters’ behavior.
"Come closer and you’ll find out."
The little person suddenly leaped from Mo Ling’s shoulder into the mass of memory-eaters, its figure vanishing in an instant.
"Don’t worry, come here," a voice called from the center of the memory-eaters, sounding like countless Bai Zhous speaking to Mo Ling in unison. "Place your hand on it."
So, Mo Ling reached out and gently touched his finger to the surface of the squirming memory-eaters.
Immediately, he saw the spot his finger touched turn to stone, the petrification spreading rapidly across the sphere’s surface.
Moreover, root-like tendrils of petrification quickly penetrated the core of the sphere. Mo Ling’s touch seemed to have activated the mass; he saw the previously sluggish memory-eaters begin to squirm violently.
The once-translucent orb of light dimmed rapidly as the entire sphere began to be replaced by stone.
Suddenly, Mo Ling felt the same suction he’d experienced when capturing a memory-eater with the undying wood, pulling at him from all directions.
The suction grew stronger and stronger. Mo Ling tried to pull his hand free, but the harder he struggled, the deeper it sank, until his entire palm was submerged in the stone.
The pull became erratic—strong one moment, weak the next, and coming from bizarre directions. It felt as if countless people were grabbing him and shaking him back and forth.
The force even lifted him off the ground and tossed him into the air.
The roller-coaster-like sensation made Mo Ling dizzy. He couldn’t even tell which way was up.
Just as Mo Ling was thinking the little person had tricked him, the shaking suddenly stopped. The suction vanished without a trace, and his disoriented sense of direction snapped back to normal.
Everything was perfectly calm, as if none of it had happened.
But Mo Ling’s head was still ringing, his mind unable to settle.
’What happened?’
Mo Ling came to his senses and found himself standing perfectly still, his hand resting on a massive, round stone.
The stone looked like any ordinary boulder you might find in the mountains, completely unremarkable.
The thick mist was gone. Sunlight spilled down, warm on Mo Ling’s still-stiff arm.
’Wait, how is there sunlight?’
’Aren’t I underground?’
Mo Ling looked up. The sun was peeking out from behind the clouds, bathing him in its warm light. The damp chill from the mist vanished in an instant.
"Feels nice, doesn’t it?"
Bai Zhou’s voice came from nearby.
Mo Ling quickly turned to see him. Bai Zhou was still dressed in simple cloth robes, but they were immaculate, and the stubble on his face appeared to have been neatly trimmed.
He stood basking in the sunlight, a warm smile on his face as he looked at Mo Ling.
"Yeah, it does." For some reason, Mo Ling suddenly felt a warmth spread through his own heart.
"It’s been a while."
"It’s been a while..."
Birds chirped in the distant woods as sunlight streamed over the treetops.
A gentle breeze rustled the leaves, and the dappled light on Bai Zhou’s face softened.
The two of them looked at each other for a long moment, neither speaking.
Mo Ling stared at the somewhat surreal sight of Bai Zhou, a little dazed.
"Come, let’s go to my place."
Bai Zhou gestured for Mo Ling to follow and started walking down the mountain.
Mo Ling watched the unreal scene unfold. Words rose to his lips, but he swallowed them back down.
"The village hasn’t had a guest in a long time. It’s good to have you."
Bai Zhou made small talk with Mo Ling as they walked.
Mo Ling said nothing, simply following Bai Zhou down the mountain.
A village with smoke curling from its chimneys appeared before them. The fence at the entrance was crooked, and a simple but clean stone path stretched into the village.
The village houses were bathed in a golden glow, and the air was filled with the scent of plants and cooking food.
In the distance, he could see small, lush green vegetable patches.
Bai Zhou walked ahead, enthusiastically introducing the village to Mo Ling.
A member of the Chali Race, its body entwined with tree roots, peeked out from behind a house to greet them.
"That’s my apprentice. You probably can’t tell them apart, can you? All members of the Chali Race look the same."
"I couldn’t tell them apart when I first arrived on their island, either. But I learned later that you have to look at the number and shape of their roots. My apprentice, for example, has a braided knot in the roots on its chest. It’s quite easy to distinguish..."
Mo Ling looked at him and hummed softly in response.
Bai Zhou, in turn, patted the head of a little girl beside him.
"Go on and play for now. I have to entertain our guest..."
