dognovel Chapter 8 Contradictions
Chapter 8 Contradictions
When he woke up again, he didn't know how much time had passed; he just felt like his whole body was about to shatter.
Even the slightest movement caused excruciating pain. Looking at the sunlight streaming in outside, I realized I was already living into the second day.
As he regained some consciousness, he smelled a strong stench of blood, which almost filled the entire cave. He only needed to glance downwards slightly to see large patches of dried blood on the ground.
"……woke up?"
Ge Shulin slowly opened his eyes—he hadn't slept all night, only managing a short nap before dawn. Not long after, he felt a slight movement on his thigh, and then met the other person's bright, lively eyes.
"Um...I..."
I opened my mouth to respond, but then I realized that all I could manage was a hoarse voice, making it difficult to speak.
I don't know how long I cried out yesterday before this happened.
"You're still as reckless as ever... coming back with such serious injuries."
"Do you know you might really die there?"
Mo Wunian could sense that the other person's tone was growing colder, and a fierce aura was churning in his golden pupils—but deeper still, there was an unconcealable pain and sorrow.
"I'm sure I knew..."
But you're there.
I want to save you.
Looking into the other person's unwavering gaze, those dark pupils filled with concern for him: for some reason, he really wanted to laugh, really wanted to burst out laughing.
"……Oh"
He looked at the other person with a hint of doubt, and that wry smile inexplicably made him uneasy.
I wanted to get up and say something, but my wounds kept me from doing so. In a fit of anger, I unleashed my full healing power, instantly losing all worldly desires. The surroundings became quiet, and I could hear nothing clearly.
(??? What the heck is this ability if not this one?)
Seeing that the other person had also used their ability to heal them, Ge Shulin checked on them repeatedly and confirmed that they were able to sit up. He then helped them up and sat them on the other side.
"...I don't think the two of us are suitable to work together."
"The camp of the Night Return Army is just ahead; you can get there if you keep walking."
I won't bother you anymore, farewell.
Unfortunately, Mo Wunian couldn't hear what the other person was saying at all. He only noticed that the person in front of him was opening and closing their mouth, and he simply didn't have the energy to pay attention.
He felt an overwhelming emptiness in his spirit, a state that was even more unsettling than when he was in physical pain; it was as if he didn't care whether he was dead or alive.
"!!! Mo Wunian..."
Ge Shulin knew that the other person would fall into a very depressed state after using their power, but he didn't expect that this time the other person would hug him.
"Whether you live or die..."
"..."
He was about to break free, but seeing the healing wounds on the other person's body, he stopped himself from pulling away. In the end, he had no choice but to withdraw his grip and let the other person hug him and nuzzle against him.
"Did you hear it?"
"..."
He could feel his brow twitching, and he reasonably suspected that the other person was deliberately avoiding the question, pretending to be crazy.
But if the other party is really pretending to be crazy, there's nothing he can do.
The two remained in this strange state for quite some time, until the morning sun was high in the sky before Mo Wunian finally began to recover.
Seeing himself completely clinging to the six-year-old child in front of him, he panicked at first, then immediately let go and stood up.
Seeing that the other person had finally regained consciousness, Ge Shulin uttered those words for what seemed like the umpteenth time…
"I think the two of us are well-suited to work together..."
The scene suddenly fell silent, and the two stared at each other.
"...That's great, that's really great..."
"Shall we keep going?"
Ge Shulin was so angry he wanted to slap himself: Why did he say the wrong thing at such a crucial moment? Why did he blurt out his true feelings? (Just kidding)
"No, what I mean is that we should break up here."
"We've journeyed together long enough; it's time to part ways."
Hearing this, even without the system prompting a task, he was already shocked. He looked at the other person in disbelief, then pointed at him, and then at himself.
"I?"
"Break up with you?"
"..."
Seeing the other person pick up the knife and about to leave, Mo Wunian panicked and grabbed the other person's hand, forcefully pulling him back.
"Didn't we agree on this? Why are you suddenly going back on your word?"
But this time, Ge Shulin was serious. He simply looked at the other person calmly, then shook off his hand and walked away into the distance with his back turned.
"The Night Return Army's camp is not far away; at your speed, you should be there in less than an hour."
"as well as……"
He hesitated for a long time before finally managing to say "thank you" and silently walked away.
"!!!"
#Help! My child, whom I've raised all my life, suddenly ran away. What should I do? Should I beat him or try to persuade him to come back?#
"Ding! Task boundary detected."
You will have two choices.
"1: As a successful man, if you promise to take care of someone to the end, you must take care of them to the end."
Even if you are abandoned by your child, you should continue to take care of them!
"Reward: Frequency Control (allows the user to manipulate the power left behind by the afterimages to a certain extent)"
"2: The child has grown up and become independent, but he lacks the harsh lessons of society."
"Let the other party leave, then flee this place and return to the city."
"Reward: Obtain the title 'A Failed Man' (Once equipped, everyone will know you're someone who can't control your children), and 1 experience point."
Looking at the tasks and rewards announced above... and touching his chest, feeling his ever-pounding heart...
"I choose option 1! I refuse to believe I can't even control a child! Forget about hiding my identity!"
That's impossible for a failed man! Besides, he's spent so much time with that child, he must have developed feelings for him long ago.
He couldn't bear to think how the other person would survive alone in this place littered with carnage. What if, in a few days, a corpse lay on the ground?
Without a second thought, he gave chase, but the other party was adept at concealing their tracks, and he could only rely on faint senses to pinpoint their approximate location.
"I'm impressed! How can this kid be so good at hiding his tracks? There's no way to find him!"
Just when he was at his wit's end, his system once again came to his aid.
"Ding! The 100th review has been passed! Artificial intelligence system activated, task tracking system activated, automatically tracking and constantly checking the safety and location of the task target for the host."
The next moment, he saw a blue screen unfold before him, with a constantly moving red dot on it. The chosen location was not only hidden but also difficult to find.
Even the only moments he seemed to pause were spent cleaning up the traces he had left behind.
“…this…this”
Mo Wunian felt like he was about to vomit blood, but a wave of sorrow welled up inside him—this little brat really didn't want to see him again.
Realizing this, he suddenly stopped and silently watched the red dot on the blue panel in front of him move continuously.
"System, should I really continue pursuing them? But they seem to genuinely not want to see me again..."
"Did I do something to offend him before...?"
A mechanical voice echoed in my mind.
"Ding! According to our system, everything you've done has benefited the other party. As for what actually happened, our artificial intelligence cannot predict human thought."
"The deeper reasons are for you to explore on your own."
Hearing the system's words, he sighed silently—children's minds are truly hard to understand.
"System... if I choose to protect him silently from behind, would that count as completing the mission?"
He felt that if he were to reappear in front of the other party, the meeting would probably not end as amicably as it had just been.
"This kind of behavior is also allowed in our system~"
After receiving permission, he stared at the still-running red dot on the screen, completely baffled: what had he done to offend the other party?
Could it be that I've been too protective, making the other person feel suffocated? Besides, the other person's mental age doesn't seem like that of an ordinary six-year-old...
He felt he was understanding the truth more and more.
"I've had enough! Why didn't I watch the plot instead of watching videos!"
I regret it now.
----------
This is the tenth day since the two "separated".
After cleaning up the remaining debris as usual, Ge Shulin glanced at the sky and prepared to find a place to spend the night.
But he could sense a strange presence around him, and he wondered if that person had come looking for him.
But every time he had this thought, he would forcefully suppress it: if the other party could still find him even with all his efforts to conceal his tracks, then there would truly be no way to escape.
Sitting at the cave entrance, looking at the red tassel on the knife beside him, he lowered his gaze and thought of many things.
"..."
He both hoped the other person would come looking for him and didn't want it to.
The other party is strong enough to live here. If he can do some simple equipment repairs at the camp, he can even live quite well.
He could only, like before, repeatedly teeter on the edge of death because of his own actions.
—Someone who was crouching not far away, watching intently.
"That was close... I almost got caught by this kid several times."
"If I hadn't been diligently cultivating lately and learned to conceal my aura, this kid would probably have caught me and interrogated me long ago."
"It's like I'm doing a good deed but I still have to do it secretly..."
He took out more medicine from his storage space. He was too lazy to think about the dosage; he just wanted to take a big gulp first.
To prevent any accidents, we barely rested along the way, and we didn't plan to eat anything; our cultivation wouldn't stop.
The hunger was once again suppressed by the medication. He shifted his position, continued to watch Geshulin, who was staring blankly at the cave entrance, and then sighed.
"...Don't blame me for spying, the reward is too good to pass up."
"Besides, things haven't been quite right lately... The frequency of afterimages is increasing, and their intensity is gradually rising..."
He could notice the Sky Sea constantly converging, and the silent zones were appearing more and more frequently. He'd already cleared countless silent zones along the way with them.
"...What exactly happened?"
He was worried about the other person, but because they didn't want to see him, he could only remain in this awkward situation.
But this will be discovered sooner or later, and the situation will be more serious than it is now, right?
"...Come out, Mo Wunian."
"How many days have you been following me?"
The familiar voice came through. But he said he was used to it—the other person had tried to scam him countless times.