As soon as the floating market lifted up, Gu Qing Shan also sighed in relief.
Since the start of the fiasco, Little Dusk had already appeared next to him at some point, silently watching everything unfold.
“So it still came out after all” Little Dusk sighed.
“That’s the creature?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
“Yeah, these arms are nothing but the creature’s skin, its real self should still be in a half-asleep state” Little Dusk replied.
Gu Qing Shan looked at her: “So you once managed to fight and won against an opponent with this level of strength? How unimaginable”
Little Dusk fell into thought: “I had thought that the Desolate World Eater Demon Bug might be able to contain it, but seems like it already failed. I wonder if the Divinities still have other means prepared”
“Ignoring what the Divinities did for now, do we have a way to run away from here?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
“There isn’t, I’m still too weak” Little Dusk sighed.
The two of them suddenly felt something and looked back at the black market at the same time.
The entire black market, besides the control center in the middle, was plunged back into chaos again.
Skirmishes, murder, robbery, sabotage…
Everyone made a mad dash into the stores to seize whatever is useful for them, if they met with any resistance, they would fight.
A few others were enacting their revenge for one reason or another.
So fights broke out all over the place.
Fortunately, the location Gu Qing Shan chose was a particularly secluded area at the very edge of the floating port; there wasn’t anything worth stealing here, so no one bothered to come for now.
Listening to the commotion and chaos, Little Dusk was confused: “It’s already a desperate situation where anything but death is assured, so why are they still doing this?”
Gu Qing Shan glanced back at her and asked: “Before you were sealed, did you not have a lot of contact with living beings?”
“I didn’t, besides fighting against various monsters, all I did from day to day was sleep…” Little Dusk stared at the bloody scenes all over the black market and asked again: “Why are they acting so insanely?”
Gu Qing Shan answered: “This is just the nature of living beings”
“The nature of living beings…” Little Dusk still couldn’t understand, “so when they’re in a desperate situation, living beings will always change so greatly like this?”
“No, they don’t change greatly at all, because this is how they really are—– only after the powerful ones have had their fill will things like this calm down temporarily”
Saying so, Gu Qing Shan took out something from behind the counter.
A pot.
Together with various spices and cooking ingredients.
He formed a hand seal to control water and thoroughly washed the pot before he prepared the ingredients.
Little Dusk asked in surprise: “What are you doing?”
“Ah— this is also a part of a living being’s nature” Gu Qing Shan replied.
Ever since he arrived at the Strife Zones, he hadn’t eaten a proper warm meal, and after taking a bite of that terrible food just now, he couldn’t help himself wanting to make something to eat and wash away the taste.
He was going about it at a very decent pace, quickly finishing a few side dishes and a pot of hot soup.
“Since the enemy is too strong to face with raw strength, I need to eat something——- you can’t think on an empty stomach after all” Gu Qing Shan explained.
Little Dusk looked at the table full of food, twitching her nose slightly as she had a look of admiration.
“You can eat this much alone?” she asked.
“Of course not, come, eat with me”
Gu Qing Shan gestured for her to sit down.
Hearing that, Little Dusk acted a bit awkwardly.
“What’s with you?” Gu Qing Shan noticed she wasn’t quite herself, narrowed his eyes, and asked.
Little Dusk hesitantly spoke: “I—– I’m probably not suitable for this”
Gu Qing Shan felt that a bit unexpected: “It’s just a meal, what is there to not be suitable with?”
Little Dusk looked at the steaming hot food and gently replied: “The Divinities told me that in my life, I should only be doing two things: fighting and sleeping”
“Fighting to vanquish evil, and sleeping to recover my stamina”
“Other than that, I can’t participate in any activities of living beings, because doing that will slowly taint and corrupt me”
After a brief moment of silence, Gu Qing Shan asked: “So you have never eaten food before?”
“I haven’t”
“Besides fighting and sleeping, you haven’t done anything else?”
“…That’s not true either. When I gradually got used to observing the world, I could sense a certain change inside me”
“What change is that?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
Little Dusk replied: “I began to feel that there are a few things I can get close to”
“For example?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
Little Dusk took out a card and gave it to Gu Qing Shan.
Gu Qing Shan looked at it.
The card depicted a bundle of pink flowers.
He lightly shook the card once.
A bundle of pink flowers giving off a faint fragrance appeared in his hands.
“How beautiful” Gu Qing Shan commented.
He offered the flowers back to Little Dusk.
Little Dusk received the flowers, gently smelled them and smiled.
“There was a time, when I had just vanquished sin from a certain world, right before I left, I noticed a cluster of flowers, growing near where I had fought. And for some unknown reason, I decided to collect one of them”
“From then on, whenever I come to any world, I would find and collect a few flowers from that world”
“The Divinities soon discovered this and were confused, asking me why I did such a thing”
“How did you answer them?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
Little Dusk appeared nostalgic as she answered: “I said—— that I liked these flowers, and that I liked traveling between worlds”
“From then on, the attitude of Divinities towards me changed”
“Changed?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
“They seemed to be avoiding me——– but some female Divinities also liked flowers, so why is it that they can like them, but I can’t?” Little Dusk asked in confusion.
Facing her clear and pure eyes, Gu Qing Shan was speechless.
Little Dusk continued: “After that happened, the Divinities sent me to this world to fight against that creature underneath the sand. As soon as I used all of my powers to seal that monster away, the Divinities appeared”
“They sealed me away, forcing me into slumber——- until very recently”
Gu Qing Shan then spoke: “Then, let us return to the first question, the Divinities forbade you from doing anything but fight and rest, but did they ever eat?”
“Ah, yes they did, the Divinities seemed to enjoy banquets and parties a lot” Little Dusk had a faint look of admiration as she recalled something.
Gu Qing Shan silently smiled.
He then poured a bowl of soup and placed it in front of Little Dusk.
“Try it” he told her.
Little Dusk was still a bit hesitant: “But I’ve never eaten anything before”
Gu Qing Shan smiled: “I guarantee, the soup I make is definitely worth trying once”
Little Dusk looked at him.
He nodded.
Little Dusk took a deep breath and muttered: “In truth, I’ve always been curious to know. What kind of feeling is ‘eating something’?”
She picked up the bowl and carefully took a sip from the edge of it.
“How does it taste?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
He suddenly found himself feeling a bit anxious.
Ever since he first opened shop years ago, this was the very first time he felt such emotions.
Little Dusk stayed silent for a while.
She lowered her head and wiped the corners of her eyes.
“I… don’t know how to describe this feeling”
She muttered softly and once again picked up the bowl.
