Chapter 48: Three Questions

Hua Yibing had gloriously returned to the resurrection point, while Old Li, at this moment, was not having an easy time either.

From a great distance, he could hear Hua Yibing’s extremely piercing scream, but he didn’t dare to be distracted in the slightest.
Cold sweat seeped out from his back, slowly sliding down his spine.
He just stood there, unmoving, his body stiffened in a strange and awkward posture, as if someone had suddenly pressed the pause button while he was turning abruptly.

In front of Old Li was the end of the passage, but there were no gold, silver, treasures, or medicinal herbs and weapons.
Instead, there was a giant snake head—
It had placed its entire head on that platform, as if it had suddenly become sleepy during its journey and had casually knocked open a rock to find a natural pillow for itself.

Old Li sighed inwardly.
He had indeed been infected by Huahua, to have the heart to think about such things at a time like this.
But it was a good thing it wasn’t Hua Yibing who had chosen this path.
Otherwise, he would have probably fainted from fear, right?

Right now, this cave had been completely destroyed by the willful giant snake.
Even if there had been any treasures inside before, it was impossible to find them now.

Old Li looked at the snake head resting with its eyes closed in front of him.
Its head was about the size of the entire cave.
The scales on its body were dark and black, with a cold luster.
Only a crimson scale on its forehead was particularly eye-catching, like a bright red gemstone on top.
Just the snake’s half-closed eyes were almost as big as two Old Lis.
The sharp fangs occasionally revealed at the corner of its mouth even carried a faint, dark green poisonous light.

Just now, he had only moved a little, and his presence was captured by the snake in its sleep.
Its breathing just became a little heavier, and Old Li felt as if he was tightly bound on the spot by something, unable to even move a finger.

Was this a warning to him not to disturb its sleep?
Old Li smiled wryly.

In the eyes of this snake, he was probably even more insignificant than a small bug, so there was no need to even interrupt its sleep to crush him.

But even if he couldn’t find the item the lord needed here, he could just commit suicide and go back, right?

Right now, Old Li still had a full two hundred health points.
Even if it was calculated at a rate of five points deducted per minute by the Sea Realm’s curse, it would still take forty minutes to go back.

He glanced at the description on his mission panel—the time taken to complete the mission would determine the lord’s evaluation of you.

Delaying here like this was not a solution.
But he couldn’t count on his companions either.
Hearing Hua Yibing’s movements, he had probably encountered some danger and had already gone back.
And Old Yan, he had never been a combat-oriented player in the strict sense.
Ever since he had found the wonderful use of inspiration-type magic—that is, modifying objects—he had become addicted to all sorts of experiments and modifications.
His combat power was far inferior to players of the same level.

Old Li gritted his teeth, planning to try and see if he could provoke that big snake.
Even if it just killed him and sent him directly back to the resurrection point, that would be fine!

“Hey, you ugly snake, are you afraid of me, so you don’t dare to fight me head-on?” he shouted loudly.

“Coward, do you dare to give me a quick death? You look so weak, you can only survive by relying on these opportunistic little tricks, right?”

But unexpectedly, the dark and red-topped snake didn’t react at all.
Even when Old Li threw caution to the wind and sang “Green Tibetan Plateau” and “On the Moon” in front of it, it only lazily lifted its eyelid, then continued to fall asleep.
But its breathing seemed to be keeping a beat with Old Li’s off-key singing, and it actually managed to keep up with the rhythm.

Old Li: “?”

Why was this snake not only not angry, but even seemed to be enjoying it??

He found that the more he spoke, the more comfortable the snake’s expression seemed to be.
Its originally tense chin had relaxed quite a bit, and it was even more relaxed on the rock, as if it were listening to Old Li’s noise as a lullaby.

At this moment, Old Li suddenly remembered an introduction he had seen in some documentary before.
It was said that some marine creatures really liked the sounds made by humans.
They found the sounds very pleasing to the ear, so they were extremely friendly to humans, and would even take the initiative to tease humans into speaking a little more.

Could this snake also have the same problem?
A marine creature that likes to listen to merfolk speak?

To verify his guess, Old Li decisively closed his mouth, refusing to make any more sound.

Sure enough, not long after, the snake seemed to have discovered that the pleasing sound had disappeared.
The cave was empty and vast, which was particularly uncomfortable for a snake.
Its eyes half-opened, and one deep blue eye looked towards Old Li’s position.

“Hiss.”

It flicked its tongue at Old Li, as if asking why he had stopped singing.

Old Li still kept his mouth shut tight, like an un-pryable clam, stubbornly refusing to do as it wished.

The red-topped snake didn’t seem to have any intention of forcing him.
It closed its eyes again, as if it had been an illusion just now.

But not two minutes later it got up, a pair of eyes shot open to their widest, threateningly at Old Li.

Old Li was overjoyed.
‘Come on, come on, come and bite…’

The red topped snake came up to give him a mouthful.
It seemed to also have a certain level of intelligence.

It raised its head and thought carefully.
The tip of its tail replaced its head and slowly extended onto the platform, pushing something in front of Old Li.

Old Li looked down and saw that the thing was actually a blood-red flower.
Its red was extremely full, as if a drop of blood would drip from the petals the next second.

This was clearly some extraordinary treasure.
Was this snake trying to make a deal with him?

Just as Old Li was thinking this, he suddenly felt that he could move again.
Then he saw the tip of the tail extend over again, pushing the flower even closer to Old Li.

It was rare for Old Li to encounter such an NPC that took the initiative to give a gift.
Under normal circumstances, he might have really agreed to this strange transaction.
But right now, the main quest was more important.

He looked at the flower in front of him again, steeled his heart, took out two takoyaki from his backpack, and stuffed them directly into his mouth.

[Consumed food “Takoyaki”, your health -99, magic power +99, current health 80/280.]

[Consumed food “Takoyaki”, your health -99, magic power +99, current health 0/280.]

[Unfortunately, you have died.]

The dark green-tailed merman suddenly ate something, fell to the ground with a ‘thump’, lost all signs of life, and then dissipated into specks of light that filled the sky.

Leaving a red-topped snake, who didn’t know what had happened, standing foolishly on the spot, staring blankly at the empty cave.

‘I just wanted him to continue singing, and I even gave him something in exchange. Why did he suddenly die…?’’

Giant snake dumbfounded.jpg

“Finally escaped!”
Old Li took a deep breath as soon as he came out of the resurrection point and looked up to meet the worried gazes of his two companions.

“Old Li, why did it take you so long to come back? Holy cr*p, what happened to you?!”
Hua Yibing rushed up and was startled when he saw Old Li’s somewhat tired expression—what could make a strong and resilient man so tired?

Old Li waved his hand with a wry smile, signaling to talk about this later.
“Let’s not talk about me first. Did you guys find anything?”

Yan Shuangwen and Hua Yibing took out what they had found.

In Yan Shuangwen’s hand was a rubbery object, a faint flesh-pink color.
It was smooth and greasy to the touch, like skin that had fallen off some creature.

And in Hua Yibing’s hand was a strangely colored stone.
The whole body was a deathly white, not the pure white usually referred to, but a white mixed with a bit of ominous gray.
If it weren’t for Hua Yibing’s solemn oath that this was a stone, Old Li might have thought it was a broken bone.

And Old Li also took out his own harvest—that blood-red flower.

That’s right, before Old Li was teleported back, he had also thrown the flower given by the giant snake into his backpack.

One must know that as players of holographic games, in other games, they had always carried out the three-light behavior of stealing, robbing, and taking everything.
In Sea Realm, they had actually restrained themselves a lot.

Not to mention just taking the reward without putting in the effort.
Many times, if the game rules allowed, some players might even directly kill NPCs for their goods just for the novelty of it.

Although Old Li wasn’t that kind of unscrupulous type, when faced with a main quest item, he wouldn’t be so stupid as to push away what he had gotten—

Under the circumstance that there might be important quest items in every cave, of course he had to bring back whatever he had.
What if this flower was the original treasure in the cave?
What if this was the quest item the lord required?

Bargaining for fairness with a bunch of data, are you stupid?

But although that was the case, Old Li still felt a little guilty in his heart.
If he had the chance to meet that domineering but actually a bit dorky red-topped snake again, could he sing a few complete versions of “Love Song King” for it?

Just like that, a blood-red flower, a bone-white stone, and a piece of skin that looked like it had just been peeled off were placed on Sykes’s neat and elegant desk.
They were so out of place with the various decorations on the desk and even the entire room.

The corner of Sykes’s mouth twitched.
He couldn’t believe the players had actually handed him such a surprising answer sheet.

Such a scene shouldn’t appear on a merman’s desk, but more likely in a sea witch’s potion pot, or on a dark mage’s experiment table.

Sykes composed his expression and once again put on the noble persona that Ella had suggested, praising the three players in front of him with a tone full of surprise.

“My dear subjects, I am very happy to see your current strength. Compared to when you were just born, you have improved a lot and are qualified to know some other things.”

The silver-haired, golden-eyed merman’s lips curved slightly, as if he was genuinely happy for their progress.
‘What a good NPC, woo woo woo.’

The little person in Hua Yibing’s heart secretly wiped away tears with a handkerchief.
‘As expected of the lord for whom I opened fifteen alternate accounts to check in on his Super Topic. My life is worth it, QAQ!’

Then, he saw the object of his thoughts just now look directly at him.

“Each of you can ask me one question, and I will tell you everything you can know now,” Sykes’s eyes were fixed on Hua Yibing, who looked the most active and most eager to ask questions, encouraging him to speak with his eyes.

Hua Yibing stiffened from head to tail, like being suddenly called upon by the teacher while daydreaming in class.
He was clearly the one whose imagination was running wild, but the teacher thought his mind was overflowing with ideas and he couldn’t wait to answer the question.

“I… I…” Hua Yibing stuttered.
He wasn’t prepared at all.
What should he ask?!
He cast a pleading look at his two partners, but they both shook their heads at him.

Each person gets one question, so there would be no situation of allowing others to ask on their behalf.

Hua Yibing looked at the expectant and encouraging gaze of his favorite NPC.
He closed his eyes, steeled his heart, and asked loudly, “Lord, may I ask why you are the only merman here?”

Hearing this, Old Li’s heart went ‘thump’, and he suddenly felt something was wrong—was this a question that could be asked directly?
Although he said they could ask anything, could such a private matter really…

Yan Shuangwen also pursed his lips, cursing “idiot” in his heart.
He knew his roommate’s personality of saying whatever came to mind when he was nervous, but right now it was undoubtedly causing a big problem.
Wouldn’t Hua Yibing anger the lord because of this?

In the incredulous expressions of his two friends, Huahua also realized what a stupid question he had just asked.
His face gradually turned a little pale.
“Lord, I didn’t mean it.” 

But to their surprise, the lord, who should have been angry for being offended, didn’t show any anger.
He just raised his hand slightly and stopped Hua Yibing’s words that were about to change course.

“It’s okay. I’m sure you, as newborns, have been wondering about this question for a long time, right?”
Sykes’s lips straightened, his face becoming serious, but his tone was still as gentle and approachable as ever.

“Ella,” he suddenly ordered.

Only then did Hua Yibing see the exchange post elf he had seen before, that is, one of the only two NPCs in this territory, who was now looking at him with a straight face, wanting to pull his hair, looking very angry.

“I’m sorry, little elf. I didn’t mean to offend the lord,” Hua Yibing apologized and touched his nose.

This exchange post mascot usually didn’t react no matter how the players teased her, but now she was angry because of his actions just now.
It seemed she cared about the lord very much.

Ella stared at Hua Yibing with a expressionless face for a while, then fluttered her wings and flew back in front of Sykes, landing on the pen holder on the table.

After stopping the childishly vengeful Ella, Sykes continued, “In this territory, our kin originally lived. The houses you live in now are also what they left behind. The merfolk clan was prosperous and powerful for many years. The elder merfolk and the cubs all lived in the same ocean. But suddenly one day, all the merfolk disappeared.”

As he spoke, Sykes sighed.
Every time he mentioned this, his heart would feel a little heavy, but he couldn’t find the reason why.

His hand subconsciously caressed his chest.
He didn’t continue, but turned his head to look at the three players in front of him.
“With your current strength, this is all you can know. If you want to know more, then come and see me after you reach level 15.”

After hearing this, Hua Yibing opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he closed it.
He was born a person who could easily empathize.
He couldn’t help but think of the stretches of buildings in the territory, and the majestic murals on the altar before.
Then he thought of how now, in the vast territory, there was only the lord, a lone merman, enduring loneliness, not to mention having to bear the memories of all his clansmen.

Huahua suddenly felt his heart ache, and his eyes also became sour—the lord was such a powerful, gentle, and knowledgeable fish.
Why did he have to go through all this?

This sentence might have been heavily filtered by a fan’s lens, but Hua Yibing still remembered when he was guided by him and taught how to distinguish the basic properties of medicinal herbs.
At that time, he had studied for half a day and still couldn’t distinguish between fire-attribute and light-attribute plants.
Even the foodie who was studying with him couldn’t help but look at him in surprise.
But the lord still maintained full patience, demonstrating for him over and over again.

It was also from that day that Hua Yibing silently registered fifteen alternate accounts after logging off, and insisted on checking in at Sykes’s Super Topic every day.
He also became more active in doing the daily construction quests.

Deciding to love a game for an NPC was definitely not just a joke.

“Do you two have any questions?”
At this time, Sykes had already turned to Yan Shuangwen and Old Li.

Old Li was the first to speak.
“Lord, I want to know what the two terms ‘long-lived species’ and ‘sea species’ really mean.”

Sykes pondered for a moment, then explained, “Let’s talk about sea species first. As the name suggests, it refers to all the clans that live in the sea. In contrast are the land species. Of course, few fish can go to the land, and the relationship between the land species and the sea species can’t be considered friendly.”

“And long-lived species are relative to short-lived species. The creatures of long-lived species have long lives and are born with certain powerful talents. But as a price, their offspring are difficult, and accidents are prone to happen. Short-lived species can be understood as most of the fish in the sea and humans on land, almost all of which fall into the category of short-lived species.”

Yan Shuangwen more or less understood Sykes’s meaning.
His eyes lit up.
“Then what are the long-lived species in the sea?”

“There are many types of long-lived species, but there are only a few of the largest scale. Besides the merfolk clan, there are also the sea witch clan, the seahorse clan, the gem jellyfish clan, the sea elf clan, and so on…”
Sykes looked at Yan Shuangwen’s increasingly bright eyes and added with a smile, “If your strength is sufficient, you will meet them sooner or later.”

Then, the merman reluctantly added, “And the siren clan. As subjects of the merfolk clan, you must remember that the siren clan is the most cunning among all the long-lived species. They are sinister and treacherous, and there is not a single truth in their mouths. Almost all bad things are related to the sirens.”

After the three questions, the few of them were kicked out of the merman tower with a huge amount of reputation points and super high favorability from the merman, and were instantly upgraded to the noble citizens of the Sea of Death.

And Sykes also took the three items handed in by the players and walked into the laboratory.

Next, it was time to work on lifting the curse.
The merman slowly put on a pair of gloves, his eyes looking at a certain pink and blue little octopus trembling in the crystal container.