Chapter 430 - 427: The Quiet Companion

Chapter 430: Chapter 427: The Quiet Companion

The quiet companion lay limply in the mud pit, utterly still. Aside from the golden light that occasionally flashed from its body, it was as lifeless as a pool of stagnant water.

The lively companion, however, was constantly rolling about, happily churning up mud and sand as it scurried between the different pits. It seemed to pay no mind to the followers on its body, completely ignoring the wishes they made.

"You have created two companions. From them, you can learn what it means to be a god..."

"The Slothful One is no god..."

"The Joyful One is no god..."

The vast voice spoke again, its sound echoing within Mo Ling.

He quickly glanced at his two companions, only to find them still minding their own business, showing no reaction to the voice.

’Only I can hear it.’

The voice didn’t just utter cryptic words; it also guided a wisp of Mo Ling’s golden light into the body of the quiet companion.

...

This was a windless sea.

The sea was vast, yet there wasn’t a single ripple on its surface. It was as still as a mirror.

The moment Mo Ling arrived, he was hit by a foul stench.

It was the smell of a sewer choked with sludge—a stench so sickening it made him want to gag.

Only then did he notice a thin film of oil floating on the sea, shimmering with a viscous, greasy sheen.

The sea seemed to have lost all vitality. There were no currents, no waves—only a dead silence.

Mo Ling’s golden light drew up a plume of seawater, which coalesced into a humanoid form.

The figure of seawater walked onto a small island. The voice was guiding Mo Ling toward the island’s center.

"Friend, are you here for the ritual?" Before Mo Ling could reach the island’s center, he was stopped by a creature.

It was a cylindrical creature that looked like a bamboo tube, with arms and legs sprouting from its body. Its movements were clumsy and awkward.

The bamboo-tube creature was now addressing Mo Ling’s Waterman body in a strange language, its tone exceedingly friendly.

"Yes." Mo Ling nodded.

"Then hurry, I’ll take you inside. The ritual is about to begin." The bamboo-tube creature beckoned to Mo Ling and headed toward the center of the island.

Along the way, Mo Ling noticed something strange: the island seemed to have no vegetation and looked completely barren.

The land was parched, with no rivers or lakes. It was too barren to be a habitable island.

"Has this place always been so barren?" Mo Ling couldn’t help but ask.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Isn’t it nice here?" the bamboo-tube creature replied, looking around in confusion.

Seeing its perplexed expression, Mo Ling could only remain silent for the time being.

Before long, the bamboo-tube creature had led Mo Ling to the center of the island.

From a distance, Mo Ling saw a strange structure. It appeared to be built from countless bamboo tubes and looked extremely unstable, as if it might collapse at any moment.

The bamboo tubes were pieced together in a bizarre fashion, completely devoid of any aesthetic appeal.

After seeing the bamboo tubes, Mo Ling quickly glanced at the bamboo-tube creature beside him and realized the two were strikingly similar.

"It’s built from the corpses of our kin. Magnificent, isn’t it!"

To his surprise, the bamboo-tube creature wasn’t afraid at all. Instead, it introduced the structure to Mo Ling with great enthusiasm.

"Why would you build things with the bodies of your own kind?" Mo Ling asked, incredulous.

"What else would we build with?"

The bamboo-tube creature retorted, sounding somewhat astonished.

At this, Mo Ling was suddenly at a loss for words. The island was so barren, there truly were no other building materials to be found.

Even the stones were useless...

Mo Ling extended a foot and casually crushed a stone on the ground.

’The stones on this island... so brittle.’

No wonder these bamboo-tube creatures had to "recycle."

His heart filled with doubt, Mo Ling followed the bamboo-tube creature into the eerie structure.

The outside looked chaotic, but the inside was another world entirely. Slotted bamboo tubes were interlocked, methodically forming distinct areas. In the center was a large hall paved with bamboo strips, and sunlight poured through gaps in the ceiling, bathing the entire structure in light.

"Isn’t it beautiful?" the bamboo-tube creature asked expectantly.

"Yes..." ’If I ignore the fact that this is all built from their corpses, the inside really is quite beautiful.’

In the hall up ahead, a crowd of assorted creatures had already gathered.

Most of these creatures were looking around, while numerous bamboo-tube creatures scurried about, checking the preparations for the ritual.

"You should go over there for now." After giving Mo Ling this instruction, the bamboo-tube creature turned and left.

Mo Ling, meanwhile, walked curiously to the center of the hall.

His body of seawater attracted many stares. When the other creatures saw the water flowing over his form, they let out gasps of wonder.

"The ritual begins! Silence!"

A bamboo-tube creature standing on a high platform suddenly shouted. The whispering creatures immediately fell silent and stood obediently in the hall.

"Present the offerings!"

At the bamboo-tube creature’s cry, the other creatures began to take out all sorts of offerings:

Skulls, globs of grease, sludge, seashells...

Mo Ling stared intently at the offerings, growing more and more bewildered.

’Why is it all garbage?’

Mo Ling had assumed the offerings would be precious items, but the things these creatures produced were all commonplace.

"Where’s your offering?"

A nearby creature, seeing that Mo Ling had yet to produce an offering, asked curiously, "Didn’t you bring one?"

In its hands, this creature was gingerly cradling a broken seashell.

It was clearly a piece of common trash, yet the creature guarded it like a treasure, handling it with extreme care.

Seeing Mo Ling staring at its seashell, it quickly moved the shell behind its back.

"You’re not going to steal it, are you? Don’t you dare cause trouble during the ritual!" it said, watching Mo Ling warily as it retreated a few steps.

Mo Ling was even more dumbfounded.

’They treat *this* like a treasure?’

Mo Ling still hadn’t produced an offering, and the surrounding gazes once again converged on him. The bamboo-tube creature on the high platform fixed its stare on him.

Mo Ling looked around, and finally came up with an idea.

He raised his hand, plunged it into his own body, and pulled out a ball of seawater.

’This should count as an offering, right?’

Sure enough, upon seeing the ball of seawater in Mo Ling’s hand, all eyes turned away. The bamboo-tube creature on the high platform also stopped staring at him.

"Now, make your wishes!"

At the bamboo-tube creature’s words, every creature present began to murmur their prayers.

And in their hands, each of the offerings suddenly began to glow with a golden light.

Soon, the offerings began to change. Golden light radiated from them, a truly divine and wondrous sight. However, the scattered light quickly receded, and the offerings returned to their original, unremarkable state.

"The ritual is over!" The bamboo-tube creature leaped down from the high platform, its entire body relaxing.

The other creatures clutched their offerings joyfully, treasuring them more than ever.

Only Mo Ling’s ball of water remained completely unchanged.

Looking at the offerings in the other creatures’ hands, Mo Ling instantly understood everything:

The offerings had become relics.