Chapter 116: Extra Story #9
Chu Jiu and the spirit beast babies spent a lively night on Blue Puni’s small island.
The next morning, Blue Puni, who had soaked well in the seawater and returned to its round and bouncy self, saw Chu Jiu off once again.
This time, Blue Puni didn’t shed any more tears.
*
When Chu Jiu returned to the forest campsite, he wasn’t surprised to see Green Puni, followed by seven small Gray Puni.
In fact, Little Can had already told Chu Jiu that those few Gray Puni often came to secretly observe him.
Chu Jiu didn’t take any extra measures, nor did he think about trying to win over these small Puni. He just told the spirit beasts to act as if they hadn’t seen the small Puni and continue working as usual.
Through these few encounters, Chu Jiu had already understood the Puni’s nature.
He believed that as long as the environment on this island truly changed for the better, then without him needing to clarify anything, the Puni would naturally come over.
And indeed they did.
Green Puni “dong dong dong” hopped over to Chu Jiu, its head lowered, expressing its thanks with embarrassment but also with great sincerity.
Unlike Green Puni, the small Gray Puni behind it were all eager to move, craning their necks and looking around, or hopping and skipping, clearly full of interest in Chu Jiu’s campsite and the lake not far away.
Chu Jiu smiled and said, “How about letting Rawr Rawr Rabbit and Glup-Glup take the little Puni to play by the lake? There are many small animals there, and they can also pick quite a few fresh fruits.”
Chu Jiu had deliberately planted blueberries, strawberries, and blackcurrants by the lake, all low-growing shrub plants.
This way, even the small Gray Puni could easily pick the delicious fruits without worrying about falling into the lake and flailing around, or falling on the ground and breaking their legs.
As soon as they heard “small animals” and “fresh fruits,” how could the Gray Puni restrain themselves? They all started tugging on Green Puni’s arms, nodding their heads to indicate “want to go, want to go!”
Green Puni sighed: “Go ahead.”
“I also have other things to discuss with this human.”
The Gray Puni cheered and ran off after Rawr Rawr Rabbit and Glup-Glup.
Green Puni, on the other hand, found a tree stump where it could see the lake, sat down properly, and began to explain to Chu Jiu exactly what Tara had encountered and why it was so wary of outsiders.
It turned out that every star race’s “spiritual body,” or every special planet like this, would give birth to “natural guardians” when it was first formed. The appearance and abilities of the guardians varied greatly, but they all had only one mission: to allow the spiritual body to grow up peacefully and healthily and sprout a complete independent consciousness.
It and this group of Puni were the guardians of “Tara.”
Not long after “Tara” was formed, a group of “outsiders” landed. They all looked very kind and claimed that they wanted to make Tara a better and more vibrant planet.
At that time, there were no small Gray Puni on this island, only red Puni, green Puni, and the Blue Puni who couldn’t speak very well yet.
The Puni completely believed these outsiders and warmly welcomed them.
However, gradually, the Puni realized that these outsiders were not at all what they appeared to be.
They released strange black water onto the island, they burned large areas of forest, and a pungent odor always emanated from their surroundings…
Speaking of this, Green Puni couldn’t help but tremble all over.
Chu Jiu gently patted Green Puni.
Green Puni took a deep breath, cheered up, and continued to speak.
As these outsiders’ activities became more frequent, strange changes occurred on all three of Tara’s islands.
At this time, the Puni finally felt that something was wrong.
It began to secretly observe the outsiders, but was shocked to discover:
Under the skin of these outsiders, there was another hideous body!
Not only that, but all the outsiders talked about was “how much longer do we need to raise it before we can eat this planet” and “should we just kill those things called Puni first?”
Realizing they had been deceived, the Puni faithfully fulfilled their duty as “guardians.”
It used Tara’s spiritual power to “eject” all the outsiders from this planet.
Not only that, but it also set boundaries: all races that possessed equipment similar to those outsiders were forbidden to set foot on Tara.
It succeeded.
But the price it paid was that “Tara,” which should have grown slowly and eventually formed an independent consciousness, stopped growing and entered a long sleep from which it didn’t know when it would awaken.
And although the Puni tried their best to restore the three poisoned islands to their original state, they never succeeded.
After that, the three Puni made a pact:
Each big Puni would guard one island. If any other outsiders landed on the island, they must be very careful to monitor the other party, and if anything seemed wrong, they would immediately expel them, absolutely not allowing the outsiders to harm Tara again.
Chu Jiu, listening to this, patted Green Puni again.
He said slowly:
“Those ‘outsiders’ who harmed Tara were a group of fleeing Zerg.”
“Not long after ‘Tara’ was born, it encountered a temporal vortex. Those Zerg took the opportunity to land on Tara, wanting to use the planet’s spiritual power to feed themselves.”
“Fortunately, they didn’t succeed.”
Green Puni was shocked: “What? You, how do you know?!”
Chu Jiu sighed, thinking that this was actually the information Lu Qingyan had gathered after several days of investigation.
What Green Puni said perfectly corroborated Lu Qingyan’s investigation results.
Chu Jiu didn’t explain too much at this time.
He just said, “Because… not long ago, I experienced something similar on another planet.”
“The more detailed situation, I’ll slowly tell you after ‘Tara’ wakes up.”
“But, you can rest assured now—”
“Those bugs will never appear again, and they will never be able to hurt you again.”
Green Puni’s eyes widened, its face showing both surprise and excitement.
Finally, it said slowly, “Really?”
Chu Jiu nodded firmly: “Really.”
Green Puni stared fixedly at Chu Jiu. After a long while, with a few sparkling tears in the corner of its eyes, a big smile, exactly like Blue Puni’s, appeared on its face: “Then, that’s great.”
It raised its arm to wipe the corner of its eye and put on a very serious expression again: “You fixed my ‘Green Puni Island.’ Are you going to ‘Red Puni Island’ next?”
Chu Jiu nodded: “Yes.”
If there were only three islands in total on this small, small planet, then the next destination would naturally be the last one.
Green Puni said, “I will accompany you to this Red Puni Island.”
Chu Jiu was slightly surprised: “Why?”
Green Puni: “Red Puni Island is even more… strange than Green Puni Island and Blue Puni Island.”
“On the periphery of Red Puni Island, there is a group of ‘fierce beasts’.”
“These fierce beasts were forcibly changed by that ‘outsider’ using black water. Fortunately, Red Puni saved it and allowed it to survive.”
“It won’t hurt us Puni, but it hates outsiders to the bone.”
“If outsiders approach Red Puni Island, perhaps you won’t even have time to identify yourself before you’re swallowed whole by the ‘fierce beast’.”
“So, I will accompany you—to prevent the fierce beast from attacking you.”
Little Can wagged its tail.
Chu Jiu also bit his lip.
He thought secretly: If the fierce beast really dares to attack me…
Then the only possibility is that the fierce beast will be directly beaten black and blue by Little Can and sink to the bottom of the sea.
But Chu Jiu still politely thanked Green Puni and asked, “Do you know what this ‘fierce beast’ looked like before it transformed, and where it likes to be active?”
Green Puni: “I know.”
Having said that, it jumped off the ground and drew a picture of the “transformed fierce beast” with a small twig.
Then, Green Puni pointed to the lake beside it: “It mostly stays quietly in the lake or by the pond.”
“By the way, those round leaves floating in the lake—there are many of them here too.”
“It seems to really like running around those leaves.”
Chu Jiu stared at the picture drawn by Green Puni, then looked at the lotus leaves on the lake surface, and a thought crossed his mind.
*
The next day.
Last night, Chu Jiu and Glup-Glup had worked through the night to modify the small wooden boat.
The reason was simple:
Green Puni was worried that Chu Jiu wouldn’t be able to dodge the “fierce beast” and was determined to accompany him.
It had originally wanted Blue Puni to temporarily take care of the Gray Puni in its stead, but as soon as Blue Puni and the Gray Puni heard that Green Puni was going with Chu Jiu to Red Puni Island, they refused to stay obediently on the island and insisted on going along no matter what.
In the end, the small wooden boat, now twice its original size, carried Chu Jiu and the four spirit beasts, plus a boatload of Puni, sailing against the wind and waves towards “Red Puni Island.”
The small boat sailed all the way, and the Puni—well, if it was just Blue Puni and the small Gray Puni, they would have made a racket all the way.
Green Puni, however, had the expression of a good mother, sitting upright on the side, carefully watching everyone to prevent any Puni from accidentally falling into the water and being snatched away by an octopus.
About three hours later, a small island appeared in Chu Jiu’s vision.
A red-colored island, frozen over with ice.
Clearly, the other two islands, along with this sea area, had maintained summer temperatures all along.
Yet this “Red Puni Island,” from the rivers to the land, was completely frozen.
Even countless ice floes drifted near the island.
After seeing this island, Blue Puni stopped bickering with the small Gray Puni and instead turned around, its big eyes staring straight ahead.
Green Puni looked even more nervous.
It even jumped onto the mast, trying to make its small body more conspicuous, lest the “fierce beast” didn’t see it and directly swallowed the small boat whole.
Chu Jiu, on the other hand, looked much calmer than the Puni.
Following his previous plan, he set up a pot on the deck, put all the prepared soup ingredients into it, lit a fire, and heated it up.
Puni: ???
Green Puni: “…Uh, this really isn’t a good time to eat…”
Blue Puni wiped its tears, glancing at the pot while staring at the coastline ahead.
Chu Jiu took out a wooden spoon and stirred the soup in the pot a few times.
The Puni only saw a few dark red, thick, and fat things swaying in the pot.
At the same time, a unique sweet and warm aroma, with a hint of freshness, spread out with the movement of the spoon.
Blue Puni’s tears flowed so much it couldn’t wipe them away fast enough.
The small Gray Puni couldn’t help but gather around the soup pot.
Even Green Puni couldn’t help but swallow its saliva.
But Green Puni was Green Puni after all.
Even though its intuition told it that the things in the pot must be very fragrant and delicious, it reminded Chu Jiu again, “This isn’t the time to eat, the ‘fierce beast’ might appear at any moment—”
Before it could finish speaking, Green Puni looked in horror:
Beside the small boat, a round head covered in spiky scales, with small eyes gleaming fiercely and long whiskers twitching at its lips, emerged from the sea—it was the fierce beast!
It was a fierce beast with sharp teeth, enough to bite a wooden boat in half with one snap!
Green Puni was about to jump over to block Chu Jiu and the others, but it saw Chu Jiu give it a “don’t panic” gesture.
In the next moment, Chu Jiu used the spoon to scoop out a thick, fat piece of food and slowly put it into the fierce beast’s mouth.
The fierce beast “crunch”ed and broke the piece of food.
Immediately afterward, this fierce beast, which had always been ferocious towards any creature other than Puni, closed its small eyes and began to smack its lips non-stop.
Green Puni: ???
Chu Jiu squatted on the deck and said to Kakaba, “Ask it if it wants more to eat.”
Kakaba jumped in front of the fierce beast, fearlessly gesturing and “dang dang dang”ing.
Before long, Kakaba turned its head: “Dang-dang-dang! It says it wants more!”
Chu Jiu scooped out another piece and put it in the fierce beast’s mouth, also saying to it:
“If you like it, you can ask your companions to come and eat too.”
“There’s a lot here.”
The fierce beast opened its eyes, its usually fierce small eyes now sparkling, and its spiky head nodded repeatedly.
This was clearly saying: Okay, okay, okay! I’ll go call them over!
Before long, a full seven or eight fierce beasts had surrounded the small boat!
This scene made even the Puni who knew the fierce beasts wouldn’t eat them instinctively huddle together, becoming a big ball of Puni.
But Chu Jiu just slightly narrowed his eyes and distributed pieces of food to them one by one.
And these fierce beasts, besides raising their necks and opening their mouths to be fed, showed absolutely no intention of harming Chu Jiu and the others!
Green Puni had turned into a dumbfounded, wide-eyed Puni.
Finally, the fierce beast let out a satisfied burp.
The first fierce beast that had appeared “gaga”ed a few times at Kakaba, and Kakaba translated, “Dang-dang-dang! It says there are many ice floes ahead, and it’s willing to lead the way for us so we won’t hit any ice.”
“It also said that if we’re looking for Red Puni, Red Puni lives on a reef next to the small island, and it can directly take us there.”
Chu Jiu wasn’t surprised at all, just nodded with a smile: “Okay, then we’ll trouble these few beavers.”
Green Puni: ???
The small wooden boat continued to sail.
Chu Jiu also explained to the astonished Green Puni:
“These few ‘fierce beasts,’ before being forcibly transformed by spiritual power, should have been ‘beavers’.”
“Their favorite food is sweet and soft ‘lotus root’.”
Green Puni: “…Lotus root?”
Blue Puni: “Lo…tus root?”
Gray Puni: “Puni Puni! Sounds so delicious!”
Chu Jiu said, “There should have been quite a few of these plants in the ponds on the island. But later they all mutated into inedible ‘steel pipe lotus roots’.”
“Fortunately, my Rawr Rawr Rabbit re-cultivated the lotus roots, and many have grown in the lake again.”
“Oh, those round leaves you saw floating on the water are lotus leaves.”
“They will also bloom into very beautiful lotus flowers.”
Gray Puni: “Flowers! Flowers—then, are there still lotus roots in the lake? Can I eat them?”
Blue Puni also widened its eyes and looked at Chu Jiu: Can I eat them?
Chu Jiu laughed: “Of course, of course! I’ll make fragrant lotus root soup for you!”
“Puni Puni!” the Puni cheered.
While speaking, a solitary reef appeared ahead.
This reef wasn’t much bigger than Chu Jiu’s wooden boat.
On the reef was a red Puni, with four Gray Puni.
The Puni on the boat were all extremely excited, constantly waving their little arms at the red Puni: “Red Puni! Red Puni! I have something very important to tell you!”
The red Puni slowly stood up, looking warily at Chu Jiu, and looked at the other Puni with a puzzled expression, a big question mark in its eyes.
*
The small boat docked beside the reef.
Seeing Green Puni and Blue Puni, Chu Jiu didn’t need to go to great lengths to explain his intentions.
Red Puni quickly understood what Chu Jiu was there to do.
But this Puni looked much calmer than Green Puni and Blue Puni.
It said to Chu Jiu, “Outsider, I understand your good intentions, and I believe you have indeed restored the islands of Blue Puni and Green Puni.”
“But for my island…”
“The ice that seals it cannot be melted by ordinary power at all.”
“Moreover, if this ice were to suddenly melt, it might cause earth-shattering changes throughout the entire sea area.”
“In this situation, I don’t believe anyone can do anything for this island.”
Chu Jiu said politely, “Perhaps my abilities are indeed limited.”
“But in any case, I must first go to the center of the small island to take a look.”
Red Puni didn’t intend to stop Chu Jiu.
On the contrary, it stood up and said, “Since you insist, then I will accompany you.”
Chu Jiu knew that Red Puni was both “leading the way” and preventing him from doing anything inappropriate.
But he still smiled and said, “Thank you for your trouble.”
*
Chu Jiu set foot on the ice-bound island.
Moments before, the surroundings were still undeniably summer.
The instant he stepped ashore, a gust of cold wind struck, making him shiver.
Little Can immediately jumped onto Chu Jiu’s neck, using its body to shield him from the cold wind.
Chu Jiu patted Little Can and took a thick coat from his backpack, wrapping it around himself.
Fortunately, the spirit beasts and Puni were not as afraid of the cold as Chu Jiu, and they didn’t feel any discomfort walking in the ice and snow.
Chu Jiu walked against the cold wind for a long while.
As he walked, he looked around:
Desolate.
Absolutely desolate.
There were no traces of any animals.
If anything moved on the ground, it must have been snow powder blown by the cold wind.
If there were any sounds around, it was definitely the continuous cracking of ice.
This place was even more desolate than the Azure Icefield of WT0906.
After a long while, the group finally reached the center of the small island.
Chu Jiu summoned the little hamster and began to establish a spiritual connection.
[Ding!]
[The system has completed a deep-level scan.]
[Host has triggered the third task.]
[Third Task: Host has arrived in a cold and desolate land. Please use the resources of the small island and its surroundings to build a “warm small house” here and fill this place with laughter.]
[Precautions: Absolutely do not forcibly melt the ice and snow on the island on a large scale, otherwise it will cause a devastating disaster to the nearby sea area. In addition, still do not eat foreign food or drink foreign water!]
…Fill this place with laughter?
And they couldn’t melt the ice and snow on a large scale?
Chu Jiu recalled the little hamster and fell into silent contemplation.
