Chapter 75: Dawn of the 15th day
Five hours later.
1 am.
Shrek City.
"My Liege, we found a sprout in the middle of the Star Duo Forest. Just one."
Di Tian solemnly affirmed his words. He didn't know how to face her when things didn't work out as expected.
"Hmph! It must be some normal grass or something. Ignore that and tell me about the changes in her."
Di Tian looked at the irritated Na Er and wondered the actual cause of her anger. Was it the failure of the Star Duo Forest or was it the dress that Fan Lin had given for her?
"Your other half is showing no signs of desire to claim the Golden Dragon King at the moment. Shouldn't that be a concern, My Liege. Why are we not forcing her then?" [Di Tian]
"The vessel of the Golden Dragon King hasn't had much progress in absorbing his powers and devouring him as of now is indeed a waste since not much of our strength would be recovered. Let him grow and we will absorb it all and then we will take care of him and the humans for once and for all." [Na Er]
"And I meant what was her hatred level on Fan Lin? Is she still trying to contact him despite her enmity?" [Na Er]
"That I am not sure. She had failed in contacting him for the past three weeks and is getting far more rageful about it then previous times. We are placating the situation as best as we can since we need him to continue the expansion of the Moon Forest but she is arguing that the current Moon Forest is already big enough as it is and would slowly grow on anyways." [Di Tian]
"Therefore, we should take this opportune time to end Fan Lin before he gets any stronger or ploys anything that could bring them to trouble. His mouth is not to be trusted. His nature more so." [Di Tian]
"Currently, it's hard to counter her argument since she is right. The Moon Forest had indeed grown in size, even surpassing the Star Duo Forest of now by dozens of time and adding the prospect of the continuous growth against a ticking human bomb like him who has always been out of control and had been steadily but increasingly rise in strength and his unpredictable nature..." [Di Tian]
"Truthfully, we also think that Fan Lin should not be allowed to become a bigger threat but as you have said, none of us can revitalize the land better than him and he is currently replanting on the sidelines and not doing much. We can at least wait until he is finished with the continent's replantation and then leave him to "Her Majesty"." [Di Tian]
"We have to somehow make him reforest the empty lot of the Star Duo Forest. He can't do that if he is dead." [Na Er]
"That's why, go and nab him. Drag him here and ask him to reforest the Star Duo Forest. Once he does so, we will leave him alone and she can do whatever she wants. Later though." [Na Er]
"What about your other half, My Liege?" [Di Tian]
"Don't tell her anything. Just say that the vials worked late. Let her be. She will calm down after a while and focus on our priority target: the Golden Dragon King's vessel. My ascension as the Dragon God can't be halted for a puny human." [Na Er]
"On it, My Liege." [Di Tian]
...
6 in the morning.
"My Liege, it succeeded." [Di Tian]
"What succeeded?" [Na Er]
"Your plan succeeded. The Star Duo Forest isn't empty anymore. The vials worked!" [Di Tian]
"That's... good. I knew you could use them like this as well." [Na Er]
"Cancel the plan to abduct him. Focus here now." [Na Er]
....
Same exact time.
Southern Lands.
"This isn't working out." [Leng Yaozhu]
"I know. It's kinda awkward now that I know I have to talk to you." [Fan Lin]
"You suggested it to me. I should be the one offended now." [Leng Yaozhu]
Leng Yaozhu argued back as they sat on a round table he had created. Both of them silently facing the other like it was an interview. It was in fact, a warm up.
"I wasn't in my right mind then; it seems." [Fan Lin]
"There are times you are? A person with a right mind would have never killed people to begin with." [Leng Yaozhu]
She replied, truth filled her words.
"That's a good conversation starter. What I would have expected from someone your age to begin with?" [Fan Lin]
"..." [Leng Yaozhu]
"..." [Fan Lin]
"This is not working out." [Leng Yaozhu]
"I can see that. Why don't we start with Spirit Souls topic as I suggested?" [Fan Lin]
"That's awkward to talk out of nowhere. You have above average knowledge on that anyways. I don't even know where to begin." [Leng Yaozhu]
"You can start at the beginning." [Leng Yaozhu]
"And you are going to listen?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"No." [Fan Lin]
"Then don't suggest me that." [Leng Yaozhu]
"...We don't need to take this seriously." [Fan Lin]
"Neither we are." [Leng Yaozhu]
"Indeed." [Fan Lin]
"..." [Fan Lin]
"..." [Leng Yaozhu]
"Why did you join the Spirit Pagoda?" [Fan Lin]
"I was interested in spirit souls." [Leng Yaozhu]
"Okay." [Fan Lin]
"Why did you start killing?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"Resource. I needed resources. Being an orphan meant not having them." [Fan Lin]
"..."
"I read the case. What were those murals you left in the Glorybound town?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"Graffiti." [Fan Lin]
"Repeat that." [Leng Yaozhu]
"They were just graffiti. Nothing more." [Fan Lin]
*Chuckle* [Leng Yaozhu]
"You were into that?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"What's there to laugh at that? And they were just to confuse the rest." [Fan Lin]
"I just never thought it would be something as simple as a graffiti and that you would do graffiti. The image doesn't match." [Leng Yaozhu]
"You find that weird? Why?" [Fan Lin]
"Have you even looked at yourself? You transpire the feelings of calmness and tranquillity. Although that changes when you open your mouth. I just never thought that calmness was hiding a cute little boy with teenish hobbies." [Leng Yaozhu]
"It's not a hobby. It was a one time thing." [Fan Lin]
"Indeed. That was the only one we found, thus making it difficult to track you further. Smart move." [Leng Yaozhu]
"I didn't stop for that. I just don't like dirtying walls." [Fan Lin]
"That's a good lie." [Leng Yaozhu]
"It isn't." [Fan Lin]
"Wait. Really!" [Leng Yaozhu]
"Yeah. Is this something you need to lie about?" [Fan Lin]
"I don't know. Some people lie for even the smallest of things." [Leng Yaozhu]
"Do you have some hobbies? Real ones." [Leng Yaozhu]
"I don't know. What about you?" [Fan Lin]
"I genuinely thought you would answer murder. Guess I was wrong." [Leng Yaozhu]
"I like tea-brewing. There's many more but I haven't done them in a long while." [Leng Yaozhu]
"First of all, don't call boiling water with some fancy leaves and no sugar as Tea-brewing! That's a disgrace in the name in tea!" [Fan Lin]
"That's some emotions you are showing in your words. I wish the face would show that as well." [Leng Yaozhu]
"Who knows." [Fan Lin]
"..." [Fan Lin]
"..." [Leng Yaozhu]
"You new skill's good." [Leng Yaozhu]
"Not much useful for my case though." [Fan Lin]
"Why? From what I have observed, this pretty much fills all the weaknesses that your green crystals had." [Leng Yaozhu]
She tapped on the table that he had conjured while saying that. He just shook his head.
"I am the problem then. Happy. I don't need them. You know, to each their own." [Fan Lin]
"You are really fussy, aren't you?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"I am not. I have always tried to make do with whatever I have been given without complaints." [Fan Lin]
"I don't believe that." [Leng Yaozhu]
"And I pretty sure killing might not count in 'to make do with whatever I have been given without complaints'. What else have you even done of noteworthy except that with your life? You are either just empty violence or over powering your peers." [Leng Yaozhu]
"What about replantation? You forgetting about it?" [Fan Lin]
"You said you don't care about anything though. And regarding your words, it must have been a resource allocation any ways. You are pretty petty and hungry for resources it seems." [Leng Yaozhu]
"I did say that yesterday but I also told you that I wasn't in my right mind. Probably. You can'--" [Fan Lin]
"Can you deny it? Isn't it all personal for you." [Leng Yaozhu]
"Personal and selfish are different things if you take them out of context like this. I said selfish reasons unlike what everyone else thinks." [Fan Lin]
"I am not in the everyone though. What's even the context of your decisions?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"You are not getting that from me now. Maybe some other time, I will tell you all and watch as your worldview crumbles in front of your eyes. Just not today." [Fan Lin]
"Gu Yue once said that you avoid conversation that you don't want to have. This is different." [Leng Yaozhu]
"It is... don't we all avoid things we don't like." [Fan Lin]
"It's not that unusual when you put it like that." [Leng Yaozhu]
"Indeed." [Fan Lin]
"We talked a lot." [Leng Yaozhu]
"Yet only fifteen minutes have passed." [Fan Lin]
"This is not going to work out." [Leng Yaozhu]
"I can see that." [Fan Lin]
''We should have a change of place." [Leng Yaozhu]
"Indeed, we should change the plans." [Fan Lin]
"Hm?" [Fan Lin]
"You are not even properly listening to me!" [Leng Yaozhu]
"I am." [Fan Lin]
"No, you weren't! If you were, you would have not mistaken them. What are you thinking?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"Counting. It must be time. I wonder how the plants have grown. I am going to kill some time here. And what's completed and what's not. I still have the character assassination left of mine. I was slightly lost in all of this thought frames." [Fan Lin]
"I know and understand that, except your thought frames a bit concerning. Are you going to murder eventually?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"I won't. Not when you are with me." [Fan Lin]
"Then I should be with you for as long as I can." [Leng Yaozhu]
"You will die of old age. I will die before you." [Fan Lin]
"When did you become a seer? Those are some weird predictions." [Leng Yaozhu]
"I am not a seer." [Fan Lin]
"Then shut your mouth. If you point at my age one more time, I will drown in the ocean!" [Leng Yaozhu]
"A being as wise and gallant as you should not be angry over something stupid like age. The body's just a shell, the mind is immoral." [Fan Lin]
"Did you just try to butter me?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"That's some gross thinking. I just stated the obvious." [Fan Lin]
"..."
"..."
"Why did you suggested the Spirit Souls topic? What do you want to know?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"Why are afraid to teach though?" [Fan Lin]
"Answer my question first. The answer to yours should be easier when you account who you are." [Leng Yaozhu]
"I want to know something." [Fan Lin]
"Is there a way to transfer the spirit souls to a non-medium, aka, not a human but to some plants or rock?" [Fan Lin]
"I don't think so." [Leng Yaozhu]
"Okay." [Fan Lin]
"That's it?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"That's it." [Fan Lin]
"I don't understand you." [Leng Yaozhu]
"It's better if you don't. Empathy should only be preserved for the innocent, not wasted on degenerates." [Fan Lin]
"Are you one?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"En." [Fan Lin]
He nodded with a slight delay. Leng Yaozhu squinted her eyes at him, their gaze still locked and yet couldn't get anything out of it.
"Sometimes I wonder why are you like this? You have strength, you could have saved so many lives. Yet you chose the opposite and turned out like this." [Leng Yaozhu]
"Having strength doesn't equate to using it for the good of others. More so when it's personal achievement and not granted by the so called society. You think I am wrong. That I am the worst?" [Fan Lin]
"You might be right. You don't understand power though. What's given to me, remains as my own. If the world (planet, stars, universe) gives it to me then I should rid them of the cancers you all are..." [Fan Lin]
"It's you all that think that the world means your life, your society and where you live. Foolish mortals of mediocre emotions. You are just a waste of space that had somehow been favoured by some idiots who pity you. That's all you are. There's nothing more except 'yourselves' to you." [Fan Lin]
"You are not any better though." [Leng Yaozhu]
"I don't need to be." [Fan Lin]
"What's your problem?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"I am. I don't know. I can't think straight when I don't want myself to think straight." [Fan Lin]
"Are you perhaps mentally tired? You sometimes talk weird." [Leng Yaozhu]
"You are taking things better than me. Guess I am the problem then. Let me change." [Fan Lin]
"What?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"What?" [Fan Lin]
"What do you mean by your words?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"Nothing." [Fan Lin]
"Okay. Are you fine now?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"Why would I not be fine? Is having a conversation with you lethal? That's some weird delusional life you are living." [Fan Lin]
"You look fine, I wonder if it's true." [Leng Yaozhu]
"Yeah. Why would I not be?" [Fan Lin]
"You suddenly either let your true self out or you have a knack for acting." [Leng Yaozhu]
"I could be lost as well but I get your point." [Fan Lin]
"I wonder about that. Weren't you gonna leave for your replantation today?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"It's 6:25 in the morning. The permit won't come till 9 or 10, maybe 11. See, this is why I hate humans. You even need a so called permit from the society to plant the seeds that will keep them alive."
"It's going to be a joke, don't be offended." [Fan Lin]
"Keep it to yourself then." [Leng Yaozhu]
"Okay..." [Fan Lin]
"Why did Yun Ming chose Ya Li? Not saying he chose wrong, I am just asking." [Fan Lin]
*Sigh*
"If you think that question would rile me up, you are wrong. I don't hate her. Never did." [Leng Yaozhu]
"I never asked about your personal feelings. Just give me the details. Forget it, the information from you might be biased towards Yun Ming." [Fan Lin]
"You are really testing the level of my patience." [Leng Yaozhu]
"I told you, it's not about you. I was just curious. This is just a warm up. We need to understand what shouldn't be talked about." [Fan Lin]
"I know. Although it feels like you are adding infuriating words in between." [Leng Yaozhu]
"The feelings mutual." [Fan Lin]
Ten minutes later.
"It has started. You said you wanted to change places. Where would you like to go?" [Fan Lin]
"This is what I was talking about? You suddenly act weird. What was the first sentence even suppose to mean?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"I can't have the same emotions 24/7, of course I would be different at different time intervals. What do you want me to do? Take one emotion and some random feeling and have it for the rest of the day. That's such naive thing to say.' [Fan Lin]
"*Sigh* I didn't even say that." [Leng Yaozhu]
"You tried to imply that though. Denying that has no meaning. We both know what you mean?" [Fan Lin]
"I was pointing out the oddity in your behaviour." [Leng Yaozhu]
"... Ignore that." [Fan Lin]
"What do you mean?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"Ignore that." [Fan Lin]
"What? Why? Are you trying to rile me up over this? What are you planning?" [Leng Yaozhu]
"Don't delve deeper into how I think. You would regret it." [Fan Lin]
"Umm-hm. Main character syndrome. Emotions instability and Princesses syndrome." [Leng Yaozhu]
"What's that supposed to mean?" [Fan Lin]
"I don't think you can take it as you are now. I will tell you about that some time later. Not today tough." [Leng Yaozhu]
"Later then." [Fan Lin]
"I feel like I am getting the hang of having a conversation with you." [Leng Yaozhu]
"I don't think you realize this by now but aren't you quite easy to be manipulated? Not that I have a problem with it. Just stating." [Fan Lin]
He broke the eye contact and looked towards Shrek before icy wings sprouted out of his back and he took flight to the skies leaving her with not much emotions as both agreed to this.
Not a minute later, the soul communicator he gave to her rang and he began to talk.
"Can you hear my voice, Vice-President?
'Today's going to be long.'
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