The bald old man explained: [Unlike the solo dance, a group dance requires its own spirit and charm. That’s why you must prepare yourself in regards to both stamina and mentality]
[When the chance arrives, I will trigger the power of the 2nd stage of the Dance—– this power will help you and your back-up dancers in learning this dance, this way, even if it is your first time performing the Dance, there shouldn’t be any issues—– as long as you try to perform it as best as you can, remember, there mustn’t be a single mistake in your movements and dance steps]
“I understand” Gu Qing Shan nodded.
Although the bald old man had a solemn look on his face, his flower-patterned shirt, beach shorts, and pink slippers made it so that Gu Qing Shan really couldn’t feel any sense of tension.
He had no choice but to keep what the old man said in mind.
[Good, I’ll be going first, I also need to stock up a bit of energy] the old man informed him.
“You will also need energy?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
[Of course, I’ll be providing the background music when you dance]
After saying so, the bald old man nodded at Gu Qing Shan.
He turned into a spark of light and entered Gu Qing Shan’s eyebrows.
——the projection of the strongest human Combatant of the Bygone Era vanished in front of Gu Qing Shan.
Gu Qing Shan wiped the sweat off his forehead and fell into thought.
What do you mean by background music?
The Dance isn’t a festival, what kind of thing are you trying to pull?
He didn’t notice that the door of the cabin was already opened as Lin watched what happened just now with a strange expression.
Gu Qing Shan shook his head and went for a shower.
He changed into a set of dry clothes and returned on top of the deck.
Hm…
First, I should probably eat something to store some stamina like he suggested…
With that in mind, Gu Qing Shan tapped his Inventory Bag, took out his cooking apparatus, and began to cook.
He immediately got busy.
A few moments later, a full course meal of spirit cooking had been prepared.
Laura and Lin were both lured by the alluring smell of cooking and silently arrived to help him arrange the table.
Gu Qing Shan took out a bottle of strong liquor for Lin—— when he returned from the corpse of the parallel world, he clearly saw how Lin had already finished the bottle of liquor he put on the side.
“A drink?” he asked.
“Hah, I just ate not too long ago. If I start eating again, I’m definitely going to gain weight”
Lin sighed, received the bottle, poured herself a cup before taking a sip.
Gu Qing Shan chose a bottle of fruit juice for Laura and also offered it to her.
“Here’s your juice” he said.
Laura received the juice from Gu Qing Shan’s hand, then also took a sip before speaking to Lin.
“You know, staying with a cook like Gu Qing Shan makes it so easy for your figure to change——- I think I’ll need to go on a diet soon, being too fat makes it hard to look at myself in the mirror”
The two girls put down their drinks, picked up their bowls and chopsticks, then began sampling each dish.
“Ah? This one is delicious, big sis, you try a bit as well”
“Hm… it’s quite decent. Laura, have a bit of that fish, I think it’ll suit your taste quite well”
“It does, the fish meat is so fresh and so well done”
While talking, their chopsticks were constantly moving around at incredible speed.
Looking at how the girls were digging in; Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but feel a bit confused.
——–why do female actions and words frequently don’t match up?
“Hm? Gu Qing Shan, why aren’t you eating?” Laura asked in confusion.
“I—– ah, right, I forgot”
Gu Qing Shan decided not to think about it any further.
Right now, I need to prepare for the 2nd stage of the Living Being Sacrificial Dance, so I must eat as much as I can.
He picked up his bowl and began to eat as well.
…
After the meal.
Lin and Laura helped clean the eating utensils before sitting back down.
The Bramble Bird ship was still sailing through the endless space vortex along a unique route.
The three of them had some tea, occasionally spoke about random things, sometimes stopping for a bit to look at the strange and unusual things drifting through the void outside of the ship.
Laura praised: “Gu Qing Shan, I knew that you were a decent cook, but I didn’t think your dancing would be so beautiful as well”
Recalling what happened to the Dance just now, Gu Qing Shan trembled a bit.
He seriously told her: “Laura, from now on, whenever you see me dancing, it’s best that you don’t suddenly appear”
“But why?” Laura asked.
“This Dance is actually very dangerous; it would sometimes kill people” Gu Qing Shan explained.
“What!? Kill people!?”
Laura was shocked.
“Yes, this was actually an Occult-type Dance, a completely unpredictable—– do you know what the Occult is?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
“Occult-type… that should be quite rare to see. I remember there being countless treasures in my vault, but only one Occult-type treasure—– apparently, it’s the most uncommon among Mystic-type powers” Laura replied.
“That’s right, so you have to be careful” Gu Qing Shan told her.
“But that Dance just now gave me an ability, and it was so catchy as well, I almost wanted to dance along” Laura replied.
Just as Gu Qing Shan was about to say something, he stopped.
Wait a minute.
The 2nd stage of the Living Being Sacrificial Dance is a group dance.
Unlike other people, Laura was actually able to obtain an ability from this Dance.
Maybe she’s suitable to perform this Dance with me?
Thinking about that, Gu Qing Shan hesitated a bit.
“Regardless, I need to tell you about it so that you understand. Don’t try to ridicule this Dance despite how it seems, this is very important” Gu Qing Shan finally told her.
“Got it!”
Laura smiled brightly, then looked down and searched inside her backpack.
“An Occult-type item, even this Empress only has a single one, now where did I put it…”
After a while of searching, she stopped.
“Found it!”
Laura took a certain thing out.
Gu Qing Shan and Lin both turned to her.
It was a broken-looking wooden arm that had been painted red all over with a single closed eye in the middle of its palm.
“I have a very uncomfortable feeling looking at this thing, perhaps even a bit fearful” Lin scowled and said.
“I actually don’t like these things a lot either——- what kind of girl would?” Laura sympathized with her, “The Occult is too mysterious, my father used to say that it was rare for such things to show up, but whenever one did, it would always appear in this incomplete-looking state”
Laura waved the broken arm and explained: “This thing here can only be used twice. When I obtained it, it was already used once, so it only has one more use”
“What can it do?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
At this point, the broken arm suddenly moved by itself.
The eye in the arm’s palm opened and looked towards Laura.
「 Young lady, you must be looking forward to returning to your kingdom; but I really must warn you, you are currently heading towards danger 」
The arm spoke with a hoarse voice.
Laura explained to Gu Qing Shan and Lin: “It can detect what the user wants to do as well as the brief future of the user, if the situation is very dangerous, it would help the user find their mutual saviour”
“How does it detect the danger, and can it be trusted?” Lin asked.
“I don’t understand either” Laura turned to ask the broken arm: “Hey, what kind of danger did you say I was going to run into?”
The broken arm responded: 「 A large number of Professionists are currently heading towards you, either to capture or to kill you, this was their order 」
The three of them went silent.
Gu Qing Shan and Lin’s expression became solemn.
Someone was going after Laura.
Even if they had to face the might of the Bramble Bird Kingdom and the Bramble Saint Tree itself, they were still willing to attempt it.
This meant that they weren’t regular people.
Seeing Gu Qing Shan and Lin’s expressions, Laura muttered: “That shouldn’t be possible, this ship of mine is currently under camouflage, unless they had a special way to specifically target it, they shouldn’t be able to find us”
The broken arm continued: 「 And that is exactly what they have 」
As Laura was about to ask something else, Gu Qing Shan signaled her to not be impatient.
He asked the broken arm himself: “Who ordered them to come here?”
「 Unsure, I only know what kind of danger the person holding me is going to face, but not the specifics behind such danger 」the broken arm replied.
Gu Qing Shan continued: “Just now, she said ‘mutual saviour’—– what is a mutual saviour?”
「 This item has one use left, the little girl can activate the power of this item and save an unknown person who might, in the future, return the favor and help the little girl——- this is the so-called mutual saviour 」
Gu Qing Shan thought for a bit and questioned further: “Why does such a thing like a mutual saviour exist?”
「 That is simply this item’s rules, it is impossible to guarantee that after you saved the other party, the other party would definitely save you in return, who can actually predict such things? 」the broken arm replied.
Gu Qing Shan asked again: “After both uses, what would happen to you?”
The broken arm answered: 「 I will then search for my body—— after all, I am only a broken arm 」
The three looked up and exchanged glances.
“Use it Laura. Saving people isn’t a bad thing, and they might actually save you in return in some far future” Gu Qing Shan told her.
Laura tilted her head for a bit, then put the broken arm into Gu Qing Shan’s hand.
Gu Qing Shan looked at her in confusion.
Laura inhaled and smiled: “I don’t need anyone to save me”
“Why not?”
“Because if I run into any danger, I have you, Gu Qing Shan. As the Duke of our Kingdom, you surely won’t allow me to be killed by anyone, right?”
“Of course, I would naturally save you”
“Then that’s fine, I won’t need this thing, but you aren’t the same. You might face even more danger than I ever do, so it’s best that you use it”
Gu Qing Shan was feeling a bit emotional, unsure of what to tell her in response.
Laura tried asking the broken arm.
“Hey, now that he’s holding you—— do you think he’s currently safe?”
「 Safe? 」
The broken arm opened its eye wide and answered straight: 「 The thing he’s trying to do is too incredible, there’s probably not going to be such a thing as a time when he’s ‘safe’」
