Chapter 21: The Mission Continues

After Qu Le finished mooching a meal, he patted his butt and left, leaving only me and Lu Xiu.

After I was full, I lay down on the sofa, while Lu Xiu was still in the kitchen washing dishes.

“Seaweed Ball, who is Zhong Jie?”

I was a bit curious about some of their conversations.

“Just a friend of mine.”

“Oh.”

He didn’t seem willing to say more.

“Then… what are the Four Laws?”

“Do you remember I told you before that Calamities also have levels?” He put the clean plates into the cupboard, wiped his hands, and walked out of the kitchen.

“Yeah, I remember that.”

“Let me explain it to you like this. You can think of a Calamity as a huge disaster. Some disasters can destroy a country or the surrounding area. That’s the most basic kind of Calamity.”

“But the Four Laws are super Calamities that can affect all of human civilization or even all life on the planet.”

“Unlike normal Calamities, they require special conditions to trigger and can grow stronger over time. The Four Laws keep getting stronger and eventually destroy civilization itself, which is different from other Calamities.”

Lu Xiu pulled down his rolled-up sleeves and sat on the sofa.

“Other Calamities have a limit to how much they can grow, but the Four Laws can grow infinitely. That is to say, if left unchecked, not just our planet, but even the entire universe could be destroyed.”

I suddenly raised my hand: “Reporting, I have a question.”

Lu Xiu raised his chin: “Go ahead.”

“What is the universe?”

He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, “I think I really should make you go to school, otherwise I’m just too tired.”

“I’m not a kid, I’m not going to school.”

“Who says only kids go to school?”

“I don’t care, I’m not going anyway.”

“I give up.” Lu Xiu couldn’t be bothered to argue with me, “Back to the earlier topic, you only need to know this—if a Calamity can be stopped, then once the Four Laws begin, they can’t be completely prevented.”

“All we can do is slow them down. In fact, a long time ago, the Four Laws had already descended upon the world in various forms—like changes in the length of day and night, abnormal weather… these might all be mutations caused by the growth of the Four Laws.”

“Then is my stomach being hungry one of those mutations?”

“That’s just you being greedy.”

“Tch—” I stuck out my tongue.

“And the way we slow down the Four Laws is by dealing with the [Seed of Calamity]. You can’t eat it.”

Seeing me about to say something, he added quickly.

“Then I have no problem.”

He looked at me like, ‘I knew you’d say that.’ “If you could use your obsession with food for something serious, the world would be safe by tomorrow.”

“No way.”

There’s no benefit in it for me.

I stopped talking, and so did he.

That made things a bit boring again.

“Seaweed Ball, I want you to tell me more stories.”

“…All these are huge matters that concern the world, how do they become just stories coming from your mouth?”

“Aiya, it’s all the same.” I waved my hand. “Just tell me, please?”

“Stop, stop, don’t use that tone on me.” He raised his hands in surrender, “Fine, I’ll tell you.”

“Hee hee.”

“Hmm… let me think. Where was I? [Seed of Calamity], right. The [Seed of Calamity] is the most important factor that triggers the Four Laws. It might be some kind of abnormal phenomenon, a grotesque thing, a demon, or even a primordial spirit.”

“In short, the [Seed of Calamity] exists as the vessel through which the Four Laws manifest. As long as the [Seed of Calamity] is sealed or destroyed, the progress of the Four Laws can be slowed.”

“But, like I said before, the Four Laws can’t be eliminated. If one [Seed of Calamity] is dealt with, another will be born—endlessly.”

“So for now, our strategy is to seal them, since sealing can delay the appearance of new [Seeds of Calamity] as much as possible.”

I yawned, nodding off sleepily.

“…You’re not listening at all, are you.”

“No, I—I’m paying attention, really…” I forced myself to stay awake. “Then… the Four Laws… what are they?”

Lu Xiu clearly didn’t believe me, but out of responsibility, he still explained.

“…As for the Ultimate Four Laws, they each represent a kind of death. [Deathly Silence Future]—that corresponds to the death of time; [Separation of Principles]—that’s the death of order; [Gradual Extinguishing Echo]—the death of consciousness… and finally, [Banquet of the Return to the Void]—the death of existence itself, the ultimate funeral after the first three…”

I listened with my head nodding, obviously about to fall asleep.

So much so that I completely forgot everything after that, losing myself in a pleasant dream.

I fell asleep.

A gentle voice sounded by my ear, so soft and sweet, like cotton candy.

“Sui!”

Another voice startled me awake. I opened my eyes in a daze and found myself chewing on someone’s hand.

That hand was holding me up, and I was biting it, like I was hanging off of it.

I let go, falling onto the bed with a plop and bouncing twice.

“Do you have some special obsession with my hand? Every morning you have to take a bite?” Lu Xiu stood up in disgust and grabbed some tissues to wipe his hand.

“Mmm…” I rubbed my eyes, still not responding.

“One of these days, I’m definitely going to get an arm guard, preferably one with spikes…” he muttered as he picked me up from the bed and took me to the bathroom, squeezed toothpaste for me, and handed me the toothbrush.

I took it and started brushing my teeth out of habit.

Blankly.

“Gurgle gurgle…”

“Brush brush brush—”

Two brushing sounds, Lu Xiu stood next to me, dead-fish eyes staring at the mirror, while I stood on a stool, my eyes still bleary from sleep.

“Gurgle gurgle—pah—”

After rinsing and spitting, I gave a huge yawn, tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

So sleepy…

Today I won’t brush my big mouth, anyway it hasn’t eaten much recently.

I climbed down from the stool, barefoot, and started heading back to the bedroom.

“Wait… where are you going?”

Lu Xiu spat out a mouthful of water and wiped his mouth.

“Going back to sleep…”

What else would I do?

“We still have things to do today, what do you mean sleep, you can sleep plenty when you’re dead.”

He washed his face, went into the bedroom, and tossed a few clothes from the wardrobe onto my head, “Get changed, then we’re heading to that park from before.”

“Eh… but I don’t want to go, I want to sleep.”

“Then you won’t get breakfast.”

Reluctantly, I began to unbutton my bear pajamas.

“Wait for me to go out before you change!”

He stormed out, grumbling.

I had no idea what he was saying.

Taking off my bear pajamas, my flawless skin shivered slightly in the morning chill, a faint fragrance from a night of warm sleep drifting in the air. I quickly put on a short-sleeved shirt…

About five minutes later, I opened the door, my hair a mess, and walked out.

Lu Xiu was in the living room on the phone.

“I’m hungry.”

I walked up next to him, lifted my head and spoke.

“Okay, okay… I got it.”

He hung up and looked at me, his gaze pausing for a moment on the bird’s nest on my head. “……Let’s go to the park first. There’s a breakfast shop nearby.”

“Oh.”

Leaving home, we went to the same park where we met the Super Seaweed Ball before.

“Nom nom… why are we here again?” I munched on a fried dough stick, sitting on the grass.

“That’s a weird question. Of course we’re here to deal with the problem. We can’t just come for a look and leave, can we? You have to start what you finish, got it?”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you can’t just take one bite of an apple and leave the rest.”

He said impatiently, and I nodded quickly.

So that’s what it means.

Today, neither that newcomer nor the horned girl were around. Lu Xiu said they’d disbanded; the newcomer almost got killed by the crazed horned girl.

“I don’t get it.”

I finished my fried dough stick and gave my verdict.

“That’s why being a Guide is a high-risk job. I always have to watch out that you won’t eat me. It’s dancing with wolves—either you control the hound, or the hound tears you apart. Every year, a lot of newcomers get weeded out.”

He sighed like someone who’s been through it all.

“I’m very well-behaved.”

“Bullshit.”

“I did not bullshit.”

“Heh.”

He shot me a sidelong glance, then fell silent.

“So today we’re going to get rid of this Seaweed Ball?”

I used some cool phrase I heard on TV.

“Not yet. First we need to see how much of a threat it is. If every grotesque had to be eliminated, we wouldn’t have enough people to handle it all. We’re here today to check if it’s stable and if it will actively harm people…”

“Sounds like a pain. Why not just eat it in one bite?”

And so, like two idiots, we sat on the grass waiting.

There were lots of people in the park: kids, adults, and old folks.

Some were walking, some were together chatting, others playing on the slides.

But whenever they saw me, they would stop for a moment, then quietly avoid me.

They were afraid of me.

I could tell.

But so what, let them be afraid.

It’s not like I have anything to do with them anyway.

All I need is food.