Jiang Che felt a chill wash over him, then was suddenly shoved hard onto the river clam bed.
At this moment, Duo’er’s face was full of embarrassment and indignation as she clung tightly to Jiang Che, and the two of them collapsed onto that writhing fleshball atop the river clam bed.
“Wh-what’s… going on?”
Jiang Che was completely baffled by her sudden reaction.
He awkwardly asked, but inside his heart, a dreadful, unfathomable thought flashed.
“You… the one you just touched…” She took a deep breath, forcing out the words with great effort, “… it was me!”
Jiang Che gasped in surprise upon hearing that.
“Isn’t this just a bed?”
“No, this is my true form…”
……
Lin Yin was tasting the village’s food, somewhat surprised.
She noticed that the spiritual energy in the food here was slightly richer than in other places.
But the village’s ambient spiritual concentration shouldn’t be high enough for this, right?
Just then, a small head peeked inside through the door — a little girl.
Lin Yin immediately noticed the adorable little face but wasn’t sure how to speak to a child.
Since embarking on the path of cultivation, she had rarely communicated with others, let alone with a child.
After some thought, she decided that a smile was appropriate in this situation.
So, on her usually cold face appeared a smile so chilling that even Jiang Che, who had been by her side for ten years, had never seen it before.
The smile was stiff and awkward, like a snow sculpture forcibly twisted into a grin.
Instead of warmth, it radiated an eerie coldness.
The little girl’s head trembled violently at the sight, clearly frightened, and she quickly retreated with a “whoosh.”
“Ahh…” Lin Yin’s smile hadn’t even faded when she sighed heavily in her heart — that was a failure.
But after a while, the little head timidly peeked back in again.
On closer look, it was just the Village Head’s granddaughter, Sun Yaoyao.
Seeing this, Lin Yin set down her chopsticks, returned her expression to normal, and spoke gently, “Little one, is there something you need?”
Sun Yaoyao, seeing that Lin Yin’s expression was no longer so terrifying, cautiously stepped inside.
“Are… are you an immortal?”
“Hm?”
Lin Yin was slightly taken aback, then said, “Many people call me that. But… we are all just seekers on the path to immortality. What is it?”
Lin Yin waited for Sun Yaoyao’s reply but saw the little girl fidgeting shyly.
If it had been a few years ago, she definitely would have scolded such a disciple.
Sun Yaoyao pulled out a small pouch, flat and decorated with many little flowers, pink and yellow.
“This is my saved pocket money, and… the flowers I’ve been raising…”
Lin Yin took both items in her hand and looked at them. Inside the pouch were a few copper coins.
She stared for a while, still unsure what this meant.
“What’s this for?”
“Grandpa said, when you ask immortals for help, you have to offer gifts.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Yin’s head suddenly felt heavy.
She seemed to have heard of such customs before but wasn’t sure if they applied in her sect.
Then the little girl continued, “Can you please help me save someone…”
Looking at Sun Yaoyao’s expression, it was like a child going shopping, unsure if she had enough money, afraid of rejection yet full of hopeful pleading.
Seeing this, something inside a cold, hardened corner of Lin Yin’s heart was lightly touched.
It was the first time she realized how adorable children were, and when had her thoughts changed so much?
Her expression remained calm as still water.
“Who do you want me to save?”
“Please! Sister! Help me save Brother Jiang Che! He was… was sent to the He Shen!”
……
“Sigh.”
Jiang Che sighed heavily, thinking about how he had lived honestly all his life, yet now he found himself playing the role of a rogue.
And the other party was a monster — the very monster he had intended to assassinate.
It turned out that the river clam bed was the girl’s true form, and he had randomly groped her whole body. Her reaction was understandable.
To appease her, Jiang Che had to cook a meal for the little girl.
Surprisingly, this place even had crude stone cooking utensils, and the little girl looked quite clever, understanding these things.
However, the broth left in the pot was another story.
Jiang Che smelled a strong stench of rotten eggs.
The girl understood the concept of stewing meat but had no idea what vegetables to add.
As he rummaged through the ingredients, he even found toxic herbs like buttercup and stone dragon fern that looked like vegetables.
Unbelievably, the girl had eaten these and was still alive.
Rather than calling her a monster, it was more fitting to say she was a homebody.
“Ugh~ So full! It’s been a long time since I’ve had something this delicious! You’re amazing!”
Jiang Che’s mouth twitched. So, you’ve had better food before?
“Hey, are you really the He Shen? Aren’t you going to eat me?”
“Eat you? Why?”
“Uh…”
Jiang Che was momentarily speechless. Where was this monster’s self-restraint?
“Sigh. Humans cultivate for a hundred years, monsters for a thousand. Monsters seeking shortcuts usually absorb the essence and spiritual energy of living beings to aid their cultivation.”
Jiang Che knew these things well; after all, he was the senior disciple of his sect — a top student! If he didn’t know this, his position would be meaningless.
“Is that so? That’s so exaggerated.”
Duo’er lay back on the river clam bed, holding her stomach as if completely unconcerned.
“I don’t want to do that. I have my own cultivation method. Guess how long it took me to achieve my transformed form!”
Jiang Che was stunned. For a monster to cultivate a transformed form without background or resources, it would usually take decades or even centuries. There was nothing to guess.
“Hehe, you can’t guess, right? I only took this long.”
The air fell silent because Duo’er held up five fingers.
Then she suddenly realized and hurried to say, “Five months. I only took five months to achieve my transformed form.”
Jiang Che was shocked. Five months to complete transformation, and as a river clam monster, that was unimaginable.
“So you never rely on absorbing essence or spiritual energy to cultivate? Then why did you ask the village to offer those things before?”
At this, Duo’er sighed.
“Ah, I just asked for some food. I didn’t expect they would only give chicken and duck, no vegetables. The vegetables I picked quietly by myself.”
“Later I wanted to learn cooking well. Also, I don’t know why, the more I cultivate, the hungrier I get, so I need more.”
Hearing this, Jiang Che felt his worldview shift. Was this really a monster? It even learned how to cook?
“So the reason you want a girl is…”
“Of course it’s because I want someone to live with! Oh right, my name’s Duo’er. What’s yours?”
Duo’er gave her name. Actually, she had a surname — Li, full name Li Duo’er — but now as a monster, having a surname felt odd.
So she just went by Duo’er.
Jiang Che suddenly felt his task had gotten complicated. Were they really going to exchange names so soon?
What to call himself, Jiang Edogawa? Haha.
His mind raced through possible female names.
“Jiang… Jiang Lianyi…”
“Wow, such a beautiful name!”
Immediately, Duo’er jumped off the river clam bed and hugged Jiang Che tightly.
“Hmm, you still smell so good. I was just about to say, you smell really nice, but why does it seem so familiar?”