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"Should be... right here, right?"
As the sky darkened rapidly, Chen Qing felt a surge of anxiety. If he couldn't find it now, it would be impossible to find after dark, and he'd have to tough it out overnight in this godforsaken place.
Even though there were no wild beasts to carry him off, it was cold. It was only March, and despite being toughened up from a young age, he didn't think his body could withstand the chill of the night in the wilderness.
Finally... just as the sun was about to set completely, the sickle that the carpenter sold to Chen Qing struck a relatively empty spot.
Chen Qing's eyes lit up, and he quickened his pace. The burn marks on the ground proved that people had been here in the last two years!
As for who had been here, Chen Qing had a hunch—an amiable face that had taken good care of him flitted through his mind.
The time to confirm... had arrived!
The newly grown thorns outside were split open, revealing the hidden cave. It was large, and one would find that the ceiling of the cave was more than ten meters high upon entering, even more exaggerated than many natural limestone caves. It was truly a cave of wonders.
And as Chen Qing approached further inside, he felt the temperature steadily rising.
This was not a case of being warm in winter and cool in summer, clearly, there was something at the center of the cave emanating a robust heat.
Chen Qing moved closer step by step. The familiar yet strange surroundings made him increasingly enlightened. At this moment, if one listened closely, they would hear a dragon's chant coming from behind the entrance of the cave.
The rumors were not unfounded, as the dragon's chant often arose at dusk. Villagers passing by while cutting wood would frequently hear it, hence the legend that a water dragon was suppressed here.
There indeed was a dragon here, but it wasn't suppressed; instead, it was used to suppress something inside!
Chen Qing arrived at the center of the cave and marveled at the exquisitely crafted core of the cave, along with the beautiful technique runes. He couldn't help but be impressed by Penguin's artwork, capable of depicting any scene.
"Daddy's finally here?"
A childish voice broke through Chen Qing's reverie, sounding like a three- or four-year-old kid, soft and tender. However, Chen Qing couldn't help getting goosebumps—as the designer, he was well aware of what kind of existence this childlike voice belonged to...
The real name of this place was Azure Dragon Mountain, formed by the Power of the Azure Dragon from the Big Dipper as a medium for the mountain range barrier. The one who did all this was the last Azure Dragon Sorcerer in the game. If players found this place, they could inherit the Azure Dragon Heritage, but of course... they would also have to face a monster that even the last generation Azure Dragon Sorcerer had sacrificed his life to suppress!
"Daddy, will you stay with me longer this time? I'll give you any part of me that you want!" begged the child's voice, tugging at the heartstrings. Yet the moment the child saw Chen Qing, the tone changed abruptly, "You're not daddy!"
Even though it was still the cute voice of a child, it became chillingly cold, a bone-piercing chill that even the wild beasts within dozens of miles dared not approach!
Even knowing that the creature was restrained and couldn't harm him, Chen Qing was so frightened by this chill that his legs gave out, and he sat down on the ground.
The seal wasn't broken yet...
Chen Qing could see clearly. In the central position, a child who looked exceedingly adorable—of course, only the head was cute, the lower body was terrifyingly robust—was chained down by chains resembling a flood dragon.
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Ghost Doll.....
It was a monster that I created based on the character of Nezha from the "100,000 Cold Jokes" series, one of the seven great Ghost Generals who forcefully broke through from the underworld to the human realm. It possessed enormous strength, with the power of nine dragons, and could stand shoulder to shoulder with King Gui Xiang, one of the three mighty Ghost Kings!
Originally in the plot, this creature would be accidentally released by a cunning peddler who happened to amble by. He would use it to amass wealth, but he failed to control its wild nature, resulting in the slaughter of the entire Lyuzhou. An army of a hundred thousand from the previous dynasty couldn't subdue it. Eventually, it evolved to its final form by devouring flesh and blood, becoming the fourth Ghost King, and one of the most difficult bosses for players to vanquish in the early stages!
"The daddy you mentioned..... is it Master Huang?"
Chen Qing suppressed the fear in his heart and forced himself to speak up.
There was only one chance, if he couldn't overcome the fear from the start, and if the other party truly had hostile intentions, he feared he wouldn't get another chance to speak up close.
The Ghost Doll, shackled with iron chains, blankly lifted its head. It was rare to see a creature that it had frightened still not run away. The last one was daddy, and this was the second.....
"The Master Huang I'm talking about is an old man who likes to wear plain white clothes, has neatly trimmed beard, and a big mole between his eyebrows... um, and a scar on his right hand....."
"You know daddy?" The Ghost Doll became curious and its face, initially guarded, began to show a cute and curious expression, obviously excited.
Chen Qing breathed a sigh of relief, crawled forward a little, and sat down, carefully observing this authentic Ghost Doll, which looked exactly like the model he had designed originally, with its cute baby doll face and a physique that would make even the burliest of men feel ashamed.
"Doll... I'm asking you," Chen Qing whispered, "Is the daddy you mentioned the one who has cut your skin, scooped out your heart and liver, and even dismantled your bones?"
The Ghost Doll was stunned and bit its teeth, silent for a long time, not knowing how much time had passed before it said in a soft voice, "Daddy did it to save me."
As expected...
A flicker of realization crossed Chen Qing's eyes. It was exactly as he had thought!
When he realized that the fake Weichi Peng looked somewhat like the Ghost Doll, he guessed it. The real Ghost Doll doesn't look like that; that was a counterfeit, but a very realistic one because it could control the Ghost Horse. There was only one thing capable of creating such a high-level counterfeit: one of the five great demons artisans he had designed – Mister Hua Pi!
This creature, just like the Thousand-Faced Fox, was a rare monster capable of mimicking anyone in the world with puppets. Not just humans, but if their level was high enough, even demons and ghosts could be imitated, provided there were sufficient materials.
If a Mister Hua Pi with superior skills could retain the creature's viscera, flesh, and bone marrow, it could create an identical being.
Generally, it was hard to lay hands on high-level demons and ghosts because no one would give up their flesh and blood so easily. But the Ghost Doll was an exception.
The most formidable ability of the Ghost Doll wasn't its strength, but its regenerative capacity. As long as the core remained, it could perfectly regenerate even if its skin was flayed and bones ground to dust. This feature had also been designed by Chen Qing based on the legend of Nezha.
But he never expected that one day these two things would come together, and one would exploit the Ghost Doll's emotional vulnerability to deceive the other into giving up its flesh and organs.
If given time, would it be possible to create two, three, or even an army of Ghost Dolls?
Would that count as a bug?
Chen Qing stroked his chin, unfortunately he couldn't apply a patch right now, he could only intervene manually!
"That person is deceiving you!"
"Nonsense!!" The Ghost Doll's eyes instantly turned blood-red, the adorable veins on his face bulging, becoming fierce.
"Whether I'm talking nonsense or not, child, don't you know in your heart?" Chen Qing squinted his eyes, "You know very well he's not your daddy!"
"Shut up!!!" The Ghost Doll suddenly roared, his voice shockingly loud, causing Chen Qing's eardrums to tremble. If it weren't for the Mountain Range Barrier still being in place, Chen Qing felt that just this roar alone could probably shatter his internal organs.
"You've seen his..." Chen Qing took a deep breath and stepped a few steps closer, an action that caused the already furious Ghost Doll to freeze.
Usually, when he went berserk, everything around him would subconsciously move away, everything always did. It was like that in the gloomy Underworld that lacked sunlight, and it was the same after coming to the human world, including that person who claimed to be his daddy these past two years...
From his birth, those who dared to approach him when he was angry seemed... only to be his mother...
"You've seen his." Chen Qing tried hard to smile, "That guy also ran out from the Underworld; he's seen you, so he recognizes you, and you naturally recognize him too, so you know, he's not daddy..."
The Ghost Doll fell silent, watching the person who was step by step approaching him, somewhat bewildered, even momentarily forgetting his rage.
"Then what?" Finally, when this person had come close to him, he finally spoke up, looking very seriously at the other party, "What are you trying to say?"
Chen Qing looked at the child who had suddenly calmed down, legs shaking a bit, knowing that at this distance, the barrier wouldn't be of any use; the other party could kill him anytime.
"Sorry, a bit scared, legs are a bit weak..." Eventually, Chen Qing, who couldn't hold it together, sat down in front of the other party, offering an apologetic smile.
The Ghost Doll was taken aback. So this guy... actually knew fear?
"Scared, so why get closer?"
"Because we have to be together later..." Chen Qing said with a smile, "I have to overcome it. If I'm always scared, how can we be together?"
"Together?" The Ghost Doll looked at the other party in disbelief, his voice careful, "You... you want to... be with me?"
"Ah..." Chen Qing inhaled, "I need you, so from now on, be with me. I'll provide for you, but you have to listen to me, listen to everything I say, okay?"
"Provide for me?"
A face like that of a porcelain doll was completely stunned.
He had lived for thousands of years, and this was the first time he heard someone say they would provide for him...
It was also the first time someone had negotiated with him so honestly.
There had been others who deliberately approached him, but they were all deceiving him, including the person who claimed to be his daddy; they were all deceiving him. He could actually see through them; he wasn't smart, but his eyes were different from others', he could see the light that emanated from people.
He could see which people were deceiving him, which people were afraid of him, he could actually see them all.
But this person was different...
He had a black light of fear towards him, but there was also a white light, weak yet warm. He hadn't encountered this feeling in a millennium, it was a light only found on daddy and mommy...
"You want to provide for me?" The Ghost Doll asked again, cautiously.
He asked so gently, as if he was afraid that his voice might scare away the white light...
Chen Qing too, looked back at the other party carefully, his heart full of anxiety.
Winning over the Ghost Doll can be simple, yet difficult. The Ghost Doll craves family, so if you approach with good intentions, he is likely to accept you as family. But the difficulty lies in that the Ghost Doll is not easy to deceive.
Because his eyes see through people's hearts!
Those who were insincere, who used him, ended up as blood food.
Chen Qing didn't know how sincere he was, for emotions are the hardest things for people to grasp, but he was aware that he felt for this creature he had personally created, with a pitiable life story. As its creator, he was very aware of its tragic history.
It was for this reason that, amidst his fear, he felt pity and closeness.
He wasn't sure if this counted as sincerity, if this counted as goodwill in the Ghost Doll's eyes, so he was also gambling.
"I will provide for you!" Chen Qing mustered his courage to stand up again and extended his right hand, looking seriously at the other party, "I'll provide for you, and from now on you have to listen to everything I say; deal?"
The Ghost Doll's eyes widened, the white light from the other person grew stronger, the black light of fear was fading!
He had never encountered this before, apart from daddy and mommy, he had never met anyone...
A feeling of sourness that he hadn't felt in a long time surged through him!
"I... I eat a lot..."
Chen Qing looked up to find the child's face, unbeknownst to him, already covered in tears and snot.
"No problem, I'm an official; I'll be very rich in the future, I can afford to provide for you."
"Then... then... what should I call you?"
"Hmm... well, until we find your real daddy, for now... just call me daddy!"