Chapter 707

No. 76: Not Really That Shocking

When Aomo walked out of the house, his gaze first turned to the far distance ahead, where he saw a huge banyan tree casting a large shade, and six women stood beneath that shade.

"Little Snake! Have you found out anything?"

Xintiaoqian waved from afar and shouted, her face brimming with obvious anticipation.

In contrast, standing not far from her was the blue‑haired dragon girl.

Zhi, who had merely been wearing a cold expression, changed her expression slightly the moment she saw Aomo appear, then kept retreating in step with his approach; by the time Aomo reached the front of the crowd, she was almost about to leave the crowd.

She had almost managed to truly leave, but unfortunately Ludaofu Xiangzheng and Qianming blocked her path from the left and right, and Qielienan, still holding two swords, silently went around behind them.

This directly blocked Zhi's view that had still been able to see between them.

And this seemingly rehearsed coordination made the dragon girl's face turn green.

She naturally did not fear this trio's combination, even though she had once been hurt by two of them, yet she also had the confidence to try again, certain she could win without underestimating them.

But if she really were to act……

"It's more regrettable, having asked even more questions."

That voice, even if it lost a bit of its hoarseness and indifference, remained low and familiar, perhaps it would then make up for what was missing.

Thus she could only stop in place.

She even had to turn her body again, forcing herself to gaze at that dangerous presence.

But that presence did not look at her.

This was originally a good phenomenon that made her feel somewhat relieved, but she noticed that the object of that presence's attention would then make her angry again.

——She still remembered that it was the pink‑haired human who led the team and suddenly wanted to smash her beloved machine.

After angering herself, she hid in the rear, and even when that presence seized her lifeline, the other party continued to speak in an unchanging, obstinate manner.

Afterward, even if she was seized by that presence and forced to apologize, it was still done with a lack of sincerity, making her realize for the first time that among those unremarkable humans there existed such a hateful being.

Even so, she found it hard to muster the courage to act.

She could not understand why that presence would behave so humbly toward this group of humans.

Even if two of those five carried an aura suggestive of the same kin, they were still utterly unrelated to the divine.

At most it was merely a slight look‑after; besides, three of them were clearly ordinary humans with no background whatsoever.

If He were hiding His identity, He should not be this calm after what happened before.

Zhi, who lived a thousand years ago, could not possibly understand the situation before her eyes.

Nor did she quite understand some of the words and phrases used by this bunch.

"He is indeed from the Cowherd Star, no mistake; at least he has a direct connection to the Cowherd Star, perhaps similar to Miss Xi's condition, so we cannot expect him to—he even needs to dissect his past memories in his dreams."

"What kind of problem is this? He can't remember?"

"Yes, he only has some vague memories, which actually make facts easier to confuse; in fact, he even mentioned Miss Xi before."

"Eh, Miss Xi?"

The one who spoke was the second ordinary human in her eyes, a Katas woman, who did not master overly unique skills like Lu Pu did, but was like most ordinary humans she knew, possessing some unique talent, yet not having developed it.

This weakness is what she is familiar with in present-day humans.

By contrast, those two, likely favored by the gods, the Kulanta women, and that Lu Pu woman who somehow honed her skills, are utterly outside the norm.

Aren't those humans always discriminating against women? How could they allow a woman to reach such a level? This is her biggest puzzlement.

By contrast, the former is merely rare, after all some gods indeed willingly degenerate and accept those humans' offerings, and those offerings sometimes include humans themselves.

Those two Kulanta women are indeed quite beautiful, not inferior to some of their own kind's human transformations; although by human standards they are a bit old, the gods obviously don't care about that.

If one really cared about age, in the gods' eyes all humans are merely children.

Moreover, since they can even like humans, their minds are likely eighty percent abnormal—Zhi has heard her father king say this more than once.

Cleary the human body is usually changed for convenience, not aesthetic choice, yet the result is that gods live with humans, even bear children and such...

This fondness is somewhat special; it's hard not to face prejudice from one's own kind.

Zhi also cannot understand such a choice, so when she sees that being not minding the human's offense, displaying such abnormal tolerance and gentleness, her eyes inevitably flicker with a hint of strangeness.

Could it be...

Does He also have such a strange fondness?

She had just made such an offensive supposition in her heart when she suddenly heard the other party call out to her:

"Lady Zhi."

"Just call me Zhinü." Just as she was thinking that, she was called Zhinü by the other party, almost thinking her thoughts had been seen through, feeling somewhat guilty while still maintaining an unconscious aloof attitude.

But she still let it slip in her words.

There's no way; the other party bears a noble air similar to her father king's, surely a ruler of a realm, and besides she has seen the other party's most fierce aspect; in just a few encounters it seems to engrave fear into her heart, making it impossible for her to put on the aloof arrogance she shows toward mountain-climbers.

What if she messes up and gets a fireball slapped onto her face on the ground again?

The temper of such beings is ever-changing; one cannot simply believe that because he is currently amiable with those humans, he won't suddenly erupt.

She even thus adopted human culture and gave herself the title 'Zhinü', because the other party seems truly tolerant toward humans, and even before had been extremely concerned about the safety of that hoofed man, deliberately coming to ask her if she had the ability to save him.

She certainly does.

Although she is extremely inept at combat against her own kind, she possesses top-tier talent in weaving materials with various functions.

Thus she was greatly valued by her father king and assigned the long-term duty of operating the loom.

Even that monstrosity that defied heaven once came specially to her to seek a harness capable of withstanding three thousand degrees of heat.

By comparison, weaving to regenerate flesh and blood and let organs recover is child's play.

I think I have a problem that I need your help with.

... I will certainly speak without reservation.

"Then may I ask," he said softly, uttering the name he had gotten from his brief exchange with Miss Kong, "Does Zhinü know Xie'e?"

"……"

"Looking at your reaction, I think this question could yield a lot."

"No... uh, could Lord Lindon possibly read minds?"

"People often misunderstand like this."

"Actually, it's pretty much like mind-reading," Qian interjected, hands on hips, "Little Snake can see through what you're thinking! It's best to speak honestly."

"This isn't the time for you to be threatening, Miss Xintiao." Aomo said helplessly.

"But..." "Let Aomo speak first."

Qian still wanted to say something, but Qielinenna stepped forward and pulled her back.

"Lord Lindon doesn't need to cooperate anymore," Kong, who had quickly run to Qielinenna's side, was also trying to dispel Qian's urge to keep performing, "Moreover, I always feel this simulation is weird."

"It's too real, right?"

Qianming also joined the muttering: "I heard that Miss Xi from Luode Island has the ability to make the false real?"

"Exactly, like Lord Lindon's previous form," Kong nodded, "the real room should have been destroyed..."

"But as a Qixi Festival project," Ludaofu Xiangzheng turned his head and looked around at the scenery that, if rendered by the system, would surely consume a lot, "its content shouldn't be this huge, taking this much time."

"Yeah, Niulang and Zhinü don't even know each other, so could we still jump ahead in time?" Qian, indeed drawn into this topic, joined the discussion.

"It could also develop at the speed of light!" Qianming raised a possibility that had been overlooked, "After all, this is ancient times; I've heard that in your kind of otherworldly ancient times, people often marry and have children very early, and even frequently marry strangers due to parental demands."

"As for political marriages, those exist even now." Ludaofu Xiangzheng frowned.

"But they're not that common either; just think how low the binding force of marriage is now," Qianming waved his hand, "political marriages aren't reliable either, but have we strayed from the topic?"

"I have a question." Qielinenna raised her hand.

"Please speak, Qielinenna." Qian immediately chimed in, drawing a look of annoyance from the other.

"Is this project meant to have us witness the story of Niulang and Zhinü, or to change it? If it's just to witness, then all of us are superfluous."

"Yeah, could there be many endings?"

"On that point, I'd like to remind everyone."

Suddenly, a male voice joined the conversation, causing everyone to turn and look at Aomo, who had just finished talking with Zhinü while clutching his abdomen as if his wound were still faintly aching.

"You done chatting over there?"

"Gathering evidence requires multiple stages; this stage of chatting is over," Aomo spread his hands, "but compared to that, I need to remind you all of a shocking fact."

"Between Niulang and Zhinü, it's very likely there isn't such a traditional classic story."