Chapter 711: NO.80: Wow, another electronic female ghost!

NO. 80: Wow, another electronic female ghost!

Using star-soil to demarcate the lands of the Nine Provinces, each fief has its assigned star, to observe auspicious omens——

——《Rites of Zhou·Office of Spring·Master of Divination》

In ancient times, those seeking order not only divided the land into different zones, but also matched each stellar mansion with a corresponding earthly region.

This correspondence, in astronomical terms, is called 'fenxing'; when brought down to earth it becomes 'fenye', for the purpose of conducting celestial omens in line with astrological theory.

Both East and West share the same demand, and each has its own method of division.

And on the land known as Great Yan, the rules of stellar mansion doctrine clearly follow the Eastern division.

'Ox Mansion', located on the eastern bank of the Milky Way, consists of six stars forming two inverted triangles; together they make a cow with two horns but only three legs, so the ancients called it 'Cowherd'.

The Cowherd star is just a single star, while the Cowherd constellation is a full set of points sufficient to form a pattern, used to link that extraordinary beast unlike ordinary camels, which countless people have seen.

He once walked among mountains and valleys, nearly as tall as a mountain.

He once raced across the horizon, his presence like thunder, spreading through every anxious heart.

But at some unknown point, news of him vanished from the world.

Only countless regrets remain, and from that regret arises longing, causing the heavenly star marks to be named after him, his chief star resembling his incarnate destiny.

The Cowherd star (Great Yan), also known as River Drum Two, Aquila Alpha (Colombia), and the Eastern Star.

That bright star has been entrusted with many hopes, including reverence for the beast that always has a big mouth, isn't very clean, yet treats humans well.

Humans grow old, but their lodgings are passed down through generations.

They always exist, though they may be misinterpreted or give rise to special offshoots; what truly accompanies lasting memory is the memory of their kind.

Silken clouds thwart skill, flying stars transmit hatred; the man who had met several times then was not yet his present self.

"What is your name?"

"Eh? Replying to the Celestial Lady, I am called Cowherd."

"Cowherd… would anyone still be called that name?"

"I have lived on village charity since birth, no one knows my parents; there is only a stone carved with a bovine beast, so the villagers simply called me Cowherd."

"Do you still keep that stone?"

"I keep it, but it has many cracks, I..."

"The cracks… so He really went and did it."

"Uh… what is the Celestial Lady saying?"

"Just call me Weaver Girl; do you know your past life?"

"I know; the Heavenly Masters say it's false."

"To immortals, that is true, and your past life was a scoundrel who offended me and my father king."

""

"Do you want to know how you offended?"

"No, I don't."

"Saying you don't want to is useless; honestly listen, hear what fault you committed back then!"

——

"Sigh, this person isn't that respectful toward me; clearly I'm not lacking in courtesy." Standing on a high, ruined mountain expanse of empty space, treading on that patch of gray traces, Aomo looks down from above, overlooking the roofless house.

Without deliberately looking, one wouldn't attract wary glances, but his excellent hearing easily captures the tones of the open-air structure.

"Oh right, how did you meet him?" Qianming, who had just pulled Qi up onto the platform with a smile, chimed in, "We've been assigned a loom here; shouldn't you also be assigned an ox over there?"

Led by him, a group gathers here; though none possess exceptional eyesight, whether horse-girl, rabbit (Cartes), or wolf (Rupert), their hearing is fine.

It also lets Miss Qi, who is human in every sense, experience silent bullying.

She can feel nothing here, only able to find someone to talk to.

"I haven't seen him herding cattle, but he's had some luck fishing." Aomo silently shook his head.

Then he heard: "Could it be because you kicked someone into the river the moment you met?"

""

Perhaps it's merely auditory hallucination, but perhaps such a clear hallucination could hardly happen again, as if it sounded right beside the ear, forming a whole segment of teasing.

At the same time, it was conveyed in an unfamiliar voice, expressing what he had never told the girls.

This made him silently raise his gaze, failing to see the expected black little sheep's jio there, leaving him somewhat dazed.

Just now, did something happen?

He suddenly felt something was off; that vague, unrecollectable moment was clearly unlike the ordinary, for he had experienced such dazedness before—often between half-dream and half-wake.

In reality, he could refine past crystal cores at any moment to regain clarity, if he wished.

Of course, right now is precisely a state where crystal cores are useless, but that's not the point.

The point is, he has no reason to suddenly enter that state.

If speaking of the burden of a fusion monster, its appearance merely releases a heat-burst Evil Ash Jiedun, whose burden is nearly negligible, and he is not the state of having stayed up all night last night.

Such a sudden dazedness… as he pondered briefly, Qi shot him a doubtful look: "How are you guys fishing?"

"Strictly speaking, he's the one fishing," Aomo said, glancing around and even stepping back two feet as if nothing were wrong, finally catching sight of a faint blue thread; he then withdrew his gaze and continued frankly, "In the Cowherd and Weaver Girl myth, multiple versions have them sticking together to the point of neglecting their work, after which the Heavenly Emperor punishes them."

"So he's slacking off?"

Standing uneasily on the ashen void, he asked while lowering his gaze to the ground padded with his tiptoes, then lifting his eyes to Aomo, there was already a subtle nuance.

Having seen the other's exaggerated posture, it's hard to adapt to this warm, down-to-earth youth before him.

This is a more direct physical contrast than the shock of first contacting the Texas past.

"Not necessarily," Aomo added, glancing sideways at what might be an administrator's illusory silhouette, "perhaps the ox he herds is himself."

This remark inevitably left several girls doubtful, while Ludaofu Xiangzheng, arms crossed, pondered and asked: "Is the giant beast still alive?"

"Perhaps..."

He did not give a definite answer.

He merely glanced at the swaying tip of hair in his peripheral vision, and even a winding tail like a dragon's tip slipped into his view.

Again, blue...

Looking at that obvious swaying arc, perhaps it could be taken as a sign of good mood?

He observed the other's tail as he would read a horse girl's outward mood, but did not turn his head to look directly.

Like a protagonist trapped in a horror story, he tried to ignore the abnormality as much as possible, yet also attempted to observe and discern its pattern.

One could also say he was like a test‑taker seeking confidence from the examiner's reactions.

This was somewhat unrealistic, making him feel a bit amused, so he merely glanced and then withdrew his gaze.

He looked again at the ruined‑like house below.

To be honest, even the possibility that the giant beast was still alive was just an idea that suddenly popped into his mind during the chat.

Thinking that perhaps it could to some extent explain the other's alien‑like behavior, but then it would not match the dream he had been having.

But if the Cowherd was named only because of that stone, and he is no longer that cow, what does he have left?

Is the man now half‑lying in the house merely a remnant of the past?

"You helped that Xie'e, just as you said you would fulfill your promise to a certain human, and this decision will put you against all the gods."

"I still remember that banquet, you insulted us, Father‑King was about to strike, but that Sui‑na fellow burst in and caused a ruckus."

"I… I seem to have dreamed of it..."

"If you truly are as that adult said, it would be strange if you hadn't dreamed of it at all."

"... How could that be real..."

"I also want to ask you, how could that be real? How did you make such an all‑or‑nothing decision? I don't understand."

"Long time no see; when we met again, hearing that adult say He was you, I realized you really went through with it so thoroughly."

"Promises—are they really that important?!"

Below, their conversation continued; above, the girls whispered excitedly, eating melon.

Xie: "I feel a bit like a resentful wife."

Huang: "But it doesn't seem quite like an ordinary lovers' quarrel..."

Qian: "I think they really have no feelings; Miss Zhinü only gets excited when talking about promises."

Kong: "I think the same, so helping Xie'e seems a serious matter, and the Cowherd helps because of a past promise, thus..."

De: "Is that giant beast really dead?"

Xie: "No way? He still often dreams of it; biologically, at least memory cells are somewhat similar, it feels more like amnesia."

Huang: "But spiritual theory also says the soul can affect biological memory."

Qian: "What do you think, Aomo? You've been in contact with that Cowherd, right?"

"……"

"Aomo?"

"Ah, sorry… I was thinking." He had still been watching the faint blue tail's ink traces flickering in midair when Aomo drifted off, turned his head to meet Qianming and the others' gazes, and let out a sigh.

"The Cowherd is indeed no longer the Star of the Cowherd; he has no trace of divinity, but the stone in his hand retains a hint."

He said this, glancing at the ink that flickered between light and dark.

【Frivolous clouds entwine, flying stars transmit hatred, the Silver River flows far and darkly crossing, yet it points to journeying to the Vast Cold—He, cold toward all his kin at the time, ultimately insisted on sending that woman to that desolate, frigid waste.】

【And he himself was destroyed by a promise, vanishing amidst the dawn.】

【You say, just how far can the inhuman giant of mortal legend go to fulfill a single promise?】

Aomo remained silent for several seconds, not answering the question of that inscription.

He merely sighed and continued his earlier topic with Qianming and the others.

"It seems… that is the cow he tends."