noveltune Chapter 24 - 23: Taking a Bath with Tadpoles_1
Chapter 24 - 23: Taking a Bath with Tadpoles_1
Chapter 24: Chapter 23: Taking a Bath with Tadpoles_1
After he heard the story from Da Mu'er, Ye Hanjun took a moment to ponder over it.
Typically, after signing a contract, although the Patron doesn't have absolute control over the Fond Spirit, they are bound by an unspoken bond.
As long as the contract is not broken, the success of a Contracted Fond Spirit slaying its Patron is possible.
This happens at a much heavier price than a Patron dying by accident, causing negative backlash to the Fond Spirit.
The outcome is akin to suicide; heart wrenching, piercing torture of the soul. It's something that a mentally stable Fond Spirit could never do.
"The Disabled Fond Spirits Assistance Centre should be kept as our last option."
Sikong Wei gently reminded him, "The people who work there hope to replace part of the hunting with adoption."
"But this is extremely difficult. Who would willingly contract with a Fond Spirit that is missing parts, and who would dare take the risk and coexist with a Fond Spirit with and abnormal mind? Isn't this like looking for trouble and cutting off the path of one's own cultivation?"
Da Mu'er concurred in agreement, expressing his full endorsement.
After pondering for a moment, Ye Hanjun did not comment.
He bid his three companions farewell and, with his weary body, slowly strode away from smithing room number seven.
...
"This trip has been quite fruitful. From a beast soldier corpse to new intelligence, it was worth it to risk my life to prevent the smithing table from exploding."
Ye Hanjun walked down the street, and noticing he was alone, directed his Bloodsucking Dagger while reciting, "Talent Identification."
In an instant, the world of his soul emerged, presenting an attribute panel.
----
[Species Name]: Bloodsucking Dagger
[Chaos Seal]: 'Soldier'
[Main Study]: Furnace Path/Weapon Refining Path/Plunder Path
[Rank]: Rainbow Light Fetus?Great Completion
[Chaos Spirit Pattern]: ×××
[Core Personality]: ×××
[Current Status]: Death
[Contractual Relationship]: ×××
"Another gain from this trip is discovering another characteristic of Talent Identification - the ability to identify corpses."
"Perhaps it requires the corpse to be as complete as possible, but even the identities of dead Fond Spirits can be discerned. This active ability is too powerful, 'Instructor' is definitely more mysterious and special than I imagined..."
Ye Hanjun toyed with the idea for a while, stowing the Bloodsucking Dagger and hooking it onto his belt.
Having an extra weapon for self-defence, combined with the existing Shield Tortoise Shell, gave him the feeling of gradual growth and increasing strength.
But this still wasn't enough, far from it.
Only one's ability and Fond Spirit can be considered core powers. Yôur favorite stories at novelhall.com
Everything else, be it weapons, runes, or anything else, are like a dream, extraneous things.
— A Patron can use them, but should not rely on them.
This saying is very popular among elite Patrons, almost considered a golden rule from the elders to the younger generation, and hasn't faded over tens of thousands of years.
All the descendants who tried to prove this as sophistry and fallacies eventually paid the price, albeit with varying severity.
"I am going home."
Ye Hanjun originally wanted to go to the Canghai Pavilion's dining hall to see how good their complimentary meals were.
he ended up with half his body burnt from his trip to the smithing workshop.
His thigh, toes, arm, shoulder... many parts of his skin were still flaming red, burning with pain.
Under these circumstances, all he could do was rest and recuperate at home. At the same, he decided to try the medicinal wine given by Tu Long to see if it was effective.
"Yiye? Yiye?"
The little tadpole poked its head out and spat out some water to attract the attention of the big tadpole.
"What's wrong? You want to bathe too?"
Ye Hanjun turned his head and met the little tadpole's tiny eyes full of curiosity.
"Pure beasts inherently have clean bodies, which seems to purify when they touch impurities..."
Ye Hanjun hesitated for a moment.
Pure Fond Spirits aren't weak in all aspects. If they encounter severe poison or abnormal element corrosion, they would stimulate the purifying power in their bloodlines.
But the biggest problem, is that the little bugger is too young.
The composition of Ice Skin Jade Dew also has unknown factors. He was afraid of hurting the young tadpole with reckless attempts.
"Yiye~~~"
The little tadpole jumped three centimeters off the water's surface, and after falling back in, it jumped again.
Ye Hanjun's expression subtly shifted as the sudden burst of activity sparked more speculation.
"Right, Pure Beasts possess strong spirits, their perception of danger far surpasses that of spirits of the same rank."
"Seeing its curious behavior, could it be that the scent of the medicinal liquor is attracting its instinct?"
"Maybe what it's sensing is 'attraction' and not 'evil and pollution'... Does this Ice Skin Jade Dew benefit it?"
Ye Hanjun thought it made sense the more he dwelled on it. He scooped up the little tadpole in both hands and helped it leave the basin.
"Yiye~~~"
As they approached the icy bath, before he could let go, the little tadpole cheerfully hopped right into the tub on its own accord.
It was as if it hadn't eaten for three days and three nights, suddenly seeing all kinds delicious food piled up. It roared and dove head-first into the icy water.
"Yiye~~~ Yiye~~~"
The imagined purification did not occur. The tadpole was as joyous as a fish in water, reveling in refreshment as much as it wanted.
Its speed was inconsistent, sometimes fast and sometimes slow. It was like a runaway wild horse, frolicking in the icy blue bathtub, splashing delicate sprays of water ceaselessly.
"Don't waste it!"
Ye Hanjun once again plunged into the bathtub, submerging more than half of his body.
Only his head remained above water. He made a move as though to catch the little tadpole, instructing sternly:
"This is all medicinal liquor, could be sold for money if taken out."
"I'm broke now; I can't afford to be wasteful. These spiritual items have to be used sparingly, do you understand?"
"Yiye..." The little tadpole appeared to understand.
But it was good at imitating, learning from the big tadpole, it stopped swimming and hovered in place.
"I'm going to sleep for a bit, play by yourself."
Ye Hanjun clamped an air tube available in the washroom between his teeth, took a deep breath, and plunged his entire body underwater.
As his eyes closed, darkness gradually consumed his consciousness.
The chill seemed to come from all directions, his previously burning skin swiftly turned numb and stiff.
When the chill had pierced through his inner organs, Ye Hanjun's consciousness gradually blurred, his entire person seemed to be soaring in the high heavens, in a state of bliss, uninterested in descending back to the mortal world.
"Yiye~~~~"
The small tadpole swam to the big tadpole's side, using its tail to fiddle with his nose.
After a few attempts without any response, it suddenly lost interest in playing.
It coiled up into a white pebble shaped egg and stayed motionless, wedged at big tadpole's collarbone position.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
Silence replaced the noise, just like a frozen picture scroll. Even the circulating air seemed to be stealthily frozen.