pertwk Chapter 82 Martial Soul Map
Chapter 82 Martial Soul Map
Consciousness seemed to rise rapidly from the deep sea. When Li Fulan opened her eyes again, her nostrils were no longer filled with the cold smell of engine oil and ozone from the base, but with the unique damp smell of the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest, a mixture of earthy odor and the fermentation of decaying plants.
Li Fulan sat up and moved her right arm.
Pushing open the hotel's slightly worn wooden door,
In the lobby, two completely different figures came into view.
The chubby hotel owner was dozing behind the counter, his head bobbing up and down like a chick pecking at rice, drool almost dripping onto the ledger. The ledger lay there, its edges curled up, the handwriting crooked and illegible, as if he'd been drunk. On the counter sat half a bowl of leftover noodles, all lumped together, flies buzzing around them, but the owner was too lazy to shoo them away.
The lobby floor was paved with old-fashioned blue bricks, many of which were cracked, with a thin layer of moss growing in the gaps. Several broken baskets were piled in the corner, filled with wilted wild vegetables, their leaves all yellowed, their origin unknown. An indescribable smell hung in the air, a mixture of cooking fumes, musty smells, and leftover food, fermenting into a unique "smoky" aroma.
Several crooked wooden tables were placed near the window, their surfaces pitted and covered in greasy stains that couldn't be wiped clean. One table had a leg that was shorter than the others, and it was propped up with a brick, making it look rather unstable.
Xiao Wu held a carrot in her hand, her cheeks bulging, chewing it with a crunching sound, looking as energetic as a blue silver grass that had just soaked up the morning dew. The carrot was still covered in mud, and the roots hadn't been cleaned off; no one knew where she had gotten it. It seemed the old man with the crooked neck behind the inn's vegetable garden had suffered again this morning—Yesterday, when Li Fulan passed by, she saw the old man squatting at the edge of his field counting carrots, muttering, "Yesterday there were seventeen, today there are only fifteen left."
"Brother...no, Master! You're up so late!" Xiao Wu hopped over to Li Fulan in a few strides, her scorpion braid whipping around like a little whip, almost hitting Li Fulan's face. She still had half a carrot stuffed in her mouth, orange-red bits of it stuck to the corners of her lips, and she kept spitting crumbs out as she spoke. "I've already finished my third one!"
Li Fulan took a step back, dodging the flying radish scraps: "...Don't talk while you're eating."
"Oh." Xiao Wu nodded obediently, swallowing the piece of radish in her mouth with force, choking so hard her eyes rolled back. She pounded her chest, calmed down, and grinned again, "Master, the radishes here are so sweet, much better than the ones back home, do you want to try some?"
"...No need." Li Fulan pushed the radish away expressionlessly.
On the table next to her, Hu Liena was propping her forehead up with her hand, a glass of cheap liquor that hadn't been touched in front of her. The liquor was cloudy, like dishwater, with a layer of oil floating on top, and it was completely cold. The rim of the glass was chipped, and it was hard to tell how many years it had been used.
The young lady from the Spirit Hall looked rather disheveled. She had dark circles under her eyes, her hair was unkempt with a few strands sticking up on her forehead, and she exuded a low, unapproachable aura. Several crumbs of biscuits lay scattered on the table in front of her, as if she had crushed them in frustration.
Li Fulan raised an eyebrow, her gaze sweeping between the radiant Xiao Wu and the dejected Hu Liena, a playful smile curving her lips. One was as energetic as if she'd been injected with chicken blood, the other as listless as a frostbitten eggplant—the contrast was far too stark.
"Good morning." He pulled out a chair and sat down, the chair leg scraping the floor with a screeching sound, startling the fat boss behind the counter. Saliva dripped onto the ledger, and he drifted back to sleep.
"What, did Miss Hu go for a night run in the Star Dou Great Forest last night? Those dark circles under her eyes are almost as big as my 'Mushroom' Martial Soul."
Hu Liena stiffly raised her head, giving Li Fulan a resentful glare. If that glare could kill, Li Fulan would be buried a long way off. She then glanced at Xiao Wu, who was skipping around beside her, trying to reach a string of dried chilies drying on the windowsill, muttering, "Can this be eaten too?" completely oblivious to Hu Liena's gaze.
Hu Liena hesitated, opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing.
"It's nothing," she said hoarsely, as if she had swallowed a handful of sand. "I'm not used to sleeping in the same bed."
—My foot!
That rabbit was absolutely toxic last night. She tried to hypnotize Xiao Wu into recognizing her as her older sister, but Xiao Wu's mental strength was so strong that it backfired.
I spent the whole night like an idiot, staring at the moldy ceiling counting cracks. When I finally got to more than three hundred, dawn broke.
Hu Liena took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing those chaotic thoughts. She rubbed her temples, took out a parchment scroll from her storage soul tool, and spread it out on the table. She casually pushed the ice-cold wine aside—that stuff was practically like dishwater; she took one sip and didn't want a second.
"Stop the nonsense. Now that you're awake, let's get down to business." Her finger traced across the map, her tone regaining some of its usual efficiency. "We've already cleared the outer perimeter of the Star Dou Great Forest once."
Which spirit beast do you want to hunt for your second spirit ring? Let me make this clear first: our Spirit Hall has a specially made spirit beast distribution map. While other major forces also create their own maps, only our data is updated in real-time and is the most accurate. Don't expect the generic stuff sold in this run-down inn.
As she spoke, she glanced disdainfully at the stack of maps on the counter. The maps were yellowed, the edges were curled, and the markings were blurry; they were obviously antiques from over a decade ago. They could only fool some clueless newbies venturing into the forest for the first time. If they actually believed them, they'd get lost and die without even knowing why.
Li Fulan glanced at the map Hu Liena had spread out, which was densely covered with various red dots and safe routes. Next to the red dots, the types, ages, activity ranges, and danger levels of the spirit beasts were marked in tiny characters. Some places even had detailed topographical maps, which were indeed much more detailed than those sold outside. This map alone was probably worth a lot of money.
"Millennial Dream Eater." Li Fulan didn't look at the map, but stared at Hu Liena's slightly bloodshot eyes and slowly uttered the four words.
Hu Liena's fingers paused, and a clear look of surprise appeared on her face. She looked up, scrutinizing Li Fulan, her brows furrowing slightly.
"Dream Eater? That kind of spirit-type soul beast?" She repeated, her tone tinged with confusion. "I remember your martial soul isn't 'Big Sausage'... cough."
She coughed and corrected, "'Mutant Mushroom'? That's a food-type spirit soul, right? Why hunt a spirit beast with a pure mental attribute? It doesn't match the enhancement of your spirit skills. Logically, you should choose spirit beasts that can enhance the effects of food-type spirit souls, such as increasing yield, improving taste, or extending shelf life. Putting a mental-type spirit ring on a food-type spirit soul soul would be a waste, wouldn't it?"
"That's what you don't understand, Miss Hu." Li Fulan leaned back in her chair, crossed her legs, and looked inscrutable. "My mushrooms aren't ordinary mushrooms. They're all about 'hallucinations' and 'control.' Have you ever seen a mushroom that can cause hallucinations? One bite and you're on your way to heaven, another bite and you're seeing your dead ancestors."
He paused, seeing Hu Liena's "what the hell are you talking about?" expression, and continued, "The Dream Eater's dream ability can add a special flavor to my mushrooms... making them irresistible. After all, incapacitating someone in a sweet dream is a kind of mercy, isn't it? Rather than fighting to the death with real swords, it's better to let the enemy sleep peacefully in a sweet dream. More humane, more environmentally friendly."
Of course, that wasn't his real purpose.
The Soul Ring of the Thousand-Year Dream Eater provides powerful hypnotic and psychosuggestive abilities. With this, not only can he easily fall asleep at any time and travel between worlds, but he can also combine it with the mental interference device he brought from the technological world to conduct deeper consciousness manipulation. Hypnosis, brainwashing, and training become much easier and more efficient.
What's the use of just being a food-type character? I want something all-around.
Hu Liena stared at him for a long time, a hint of inquiry flashing in her fox-like eyes. She felt that there was something hidden in the man's words, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. This feeling made her very uncomfortable, as if someone had seen right through her.
"...Whatever." She finally gave in, rubbing her throbbing temples and sighing. "Anyway, it's your spirit ring. If it explodes, you'll have to suffer the consequences yourself."
The consequences of incompatible spirit rings are severe; at best, it can cause a surge of spirit power and damage to meridians, and at worst, it can lead to instant death. But since this man is so determined, she couldn't be bothered to try and persuade him further. After all, it wouldn't be her who dies.
She put away the map and stood up. She touched the table for support as she moved—her legs were a little numb from sitting for so long.
"Dream Eaters are cunning soul beasts, usually found in the Misty Swamp area. That region is perpetually shrouded in thick fog, making visibility extremely poor, and the fog also carries a mild hallucinogenic effect. Many soul masters get lost the first time they go in and end up dying inside." As she spoke, she walked towards the entrance. "Follow me, I know a shortcut. But let me warn you, that place isn't easy to navigate, and your little apprentice..."
She glanced back at Xiao Wu, who was still gnawing on a chili pepper—her face was flushed red and her eyes were watering, yet she stubbornly kept stuffing more into her mouth—and her eye twitched. "Can she keep up?"
"Don't worry." Li Fulan stood up, brushing off non-existent dust from her clothes. "She can run faster than you think."
Hearing herself mentioned, Xiao Wu quickly spat out the chili pepper in her mouth, wiped away her tears, and skipped over, exclaiming, "Let's go! Master, let's go fight the big monster!"
Looking at the two figures, one big and one small, Hu Liena suddenly realized that today would be another tiring day.