Chapter 40 – Alien
As the dizziness faded, Xia Yi slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he did was glance down at his feet.
Good, he wasn’t standing on the edge of a cliff or a narrow bridge.
He scanned the surroundings. Everything looked real, likely not some alternate-dimension death trap.
Around him were lush green trees, and he stood on a winding mountain path. In the distance, halfway up the mountain, stood a quaint, classical pavilion.
Hmm? Isn’t this the same place where I stumbled into Cang Yi’s barrier last time?
It felt like logging out of a game in the middle of a dungeon and re-entering right at the dungeon entrance when logging back in.
Xia Yi took a few steps in the direction he remembered the dungeon to be, curious if he could breach Cang Yi’s barrier again.
He cautiously looked around, but nothing had changed.
The trees, the path, the pavilion—they were all still there.
Forget it, this place is way too weird. Xia Yi thought to himself and turned around.
As he turned, he found himself staring into a pair of large, glowing, orange-yellow eyes, like two faintly glowing lanterns.
At the center of each lantern-like eye was a vertical pupil, staring back at him without blinking.
Xia Yi’s skin crawled, his hair standing on end, and he let out a startled cry, quickly taking a step back.
When he finally saw the creature clearly, he gasped.
In front of him stood a silent, unidentified monster, tilting its head as it looked at him.
The creature had a lion-like face with a single horn, a body shaped like a deer, covered in sleek, black scales, and its four hooves glowed faintly, like they were wearing four fluorescent shoes.
An alien!
The word flashed through Xia Yi’s mind.
Don’t panic, don’t run, don’t show fear.
Xia Yi held his breath and pinched his thigh hard, standing still.
Don’t make eye contact, don’t let it think you’re challenging it.
He calmly shifted his gaze to the side, pretending to be interested in the weeds along the path.
Now, just now, walk away slowly, yes, slowly.
The creature stood on the downhill side of the path, so Xia Yi casually strolled uphill, towards the pavilion.
Oh no! The creature was following him, matching his pace!
Don’t panic, take deep breaths, don’t let it sense your fear.
Xia Yi continued walking at a steady pace, his palms drenched in cold sweat.
All of his sensory awareness had moved to his ears, like he had installed two radar antennas, alert to any sounds behind him.
From the left, there was rustling in the bushes—the creature was rooting around in the grass.
From the right, there was a harsh grinding sound. There was a glowing stone over there, and the creature was gnawing on it.
*Crunch*—it broke!
Xia Yi’s heart skipped a beat.
My head is definitely not as hard as that rock.
He walked for over 100 meters like this, the creature still trailing behind, occasionally moving from side to side.
Just when Xia Yi began to relax as the creature lagged a little behind, it glanced ahead and quickly trotted back up to him.
Suddenly, a rabbit jumped out from the bushes ahead, staring wide-eyed at Xia Yi in confusion.
“Shoo, shoo,” Xia Yi whispered softly, trying to shoo it away without drawing attention.
The rabbit, evidently unfamiliar with being chased off, took a couple more hops in his direction, completely unafraid.
The creature behind Xia Yi had clearly noticed the rabbit as well.
With evident interest, it lunged forward slightly and suddenly let out a thunderous growl.
Xia Yi, already on edge, tensed up even further. The growl startled him so much that he let out a terrified scream and bolted forward.
He had never run this fast in his life. His body, already in the foundation-building stage, allowed him to leap over obstacles and cross gaps with ease.
The wind roared in his ears as he dashed toward the pavilion halfway up the mountain in just a few breaths.
He was about to stop and assess the situation, to see if the creature was still following, when he heard the sound of hoofbeats behind him.
It had been following him all along, just a few meters away!
I’m done for!
Xia Yi steeled himself, ready to push his trembling legs to make a run for the mountain summit.
Suddenly, he felt a rush of cold air behind him. Xia Yi let out a terrified scream as the creature pounced on him, pinning him to the ground.
The creature flipped Xia Yi over with its paws and held him firmly in place. Its golden vertical pupils were now round and gleaming with excitement as it opened its large, toothy mouth toward him.
Xia Yi was paralyzed with fear, his mind buzzing with a single, repeating thought: I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to be eaten by this alien.
The creature’s mouth, full of sharp white teeth, inched closer, but Xia Yi was pinned to the ground, unable to move.
He gave up all hope and turned his face to the side, “Brother Zhu, I’ll see you in the next life.”
But the expected pain didn’t come. Instead, something warm and wet licked his face.
Xia Yi shuddered in fright.
Then, it licked him again.
And then it went crazy, licking his entire face.
Xia Yi, both terrified and perplexed, slowly opened his eyes. The creature was enthusiastically licking him, wagging its heavy tail in delight, and even letting out playful whimpers.
Though the sound was deep like thunder, Xia Yi could oddly sense a hint of affection in it.
Just like Qilin at home.
Seeing Xia Yi open his eyes, the creature stopped licking and backed away a couple of steps, squatting on the ground and panting with its mouth wide open.
Is this really an alien and not a dog?
*Ding ding,* the creature shook its head, making a soft jingling sound.
Xia Yi had vaguely heard the sound during their chase, but he hadn’t paid it any mind. Now, following the sound, he noticed a small copper bell hanging around the creature’s neck.
Upon closer inspection, yes, it was indeed a brass bell.
Brass material, with a black leather cord.
Isn’t this the same bell I bought for Qilin when I went to the neighboring village to make a ring?!
Watching the strange creature chase the rabbit along the roadside, a hypothesis slowly formed in Xia Yi’s mind.
So, he called out hesitantly, “Qilin?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the creature that had been running stopped in its tracks, turned to look at him, and then trotted over, affectionately nuzzling its head against him.
Except, the horn on its forehead knocked Xia Yi off balance.
Seeing its confused expression, Xia Yi pointed at a broom resting in the nearby pavilion and said, “Go fetch that broom for me.”
In a flash, the creature darted away like a black lightning bolt, and moments later, it came running back with the broom in its mouth.
No doubt about it, this was definitely his own child.
“My Qilin, what’s happened to you? How did you end up like this?” Xia Yi hugged Qilin tightly, petting it with both love and heartache. “My dear child, how did you turn into an alien?”
“It’s all because of that unreliable system 179 that messed you up like this,” Xia Yi said, planting a kiss on Qilin’s curved horn. “But don’t worry, your dad doesn’t mind.”
“Why are you blaming me? I’m not the technical system; I’m just your quest-issuing system,” 179’s indignant voice echoed in Xia Yi’s mind.
“179! You’re here too!” Xia Yi was both shocked and delighted.
“I’ve always been here.”
Xia Yi’s face darkened as he realized something. “So, you’ve been here the whole time and just watched me get scared out of my wits by Qilin without saying anything?”
“How was I supposed to know you were scared of him? I thought you were playing with him,” 179 protested, feeling wronged. “Couldn’t you tell that was Qilin?”
“How could I possibly recognize him? He’s not even the same species anymore,” Xia Yi said, feeling completely exasperated. “Look at him. Does he resemble his old self in any way?”
“Has he changed that much? He looks the same to me,” 179 responded confidently.
