Chapter 55: Natural Spirits

Chapter 55: Natural Spirits

By now, Shell Woman had grown completely accustomed to being bound and confined. The briefcase had become her sleeping place, even safer than when she used to sleep inside her shell.

Startled awake by Chen Shouyi’s movements, she lazily opened her eyes and yawned. But the moment she took in her surroundings, her drowsiness vanished. Her eyes darted around, and as soon as the giant left to pack his things, she immediately rolled over, stood up, and jumped off the bed. Her little legs carried her swiftly to a corner beneath the bed, where she fumbled around before soon retrieving a glass bead.

She gently wiped away the dust on its surface, gazing at its crystal-clear, perfectly round, and mesmerizing glow. Her heart swelled with excitement, almost beyond control.

She had thought this lost gem would never be recovered. More than once, she had secretly grieved over it.

Yet, the moment she opened her eyes today, joy had descended upon her.

But this time, she couldn’t let the giant find out.

Suppressing her exhilaration, she quickly scurried out from under the bed. Glancing up at the dangling corner of the blanket, she leaped with all her might, jumping 30 to 40 centimeters high to grab hold of it. Swiftly, she clambered back onto the bed.

Her little face flushed, she pretended nonchalance as she stole a glance at Chen Shouyi. Seeing that he wasn’t paying attention, she hastily hid the glass bead inside her princess dress.

Chen Shouyi remained oblivious to Shell Woman’s antics as he packed all his belongings into a newly bought backpack.

There were still four or five hours until 6 p.m.

He pulled out a common language dictionary and leaned against the bed, silently memorizing words while conserving his energy.

With his Intelligence now at 12.6, learning had become an effortless task for him. Even something as mundane as memorizing vocabulary held a certain charm.

A language often reflected the level of material civilization behind it.

The more precise and nuanced a language, the fewer ambiguities it had, indicating a more advanced and developed civilization—and vice versa.

This common language, however, was notably crude.

Each of its words carried multiple interpretations.

For example, the word for "sun" could also mean "sunlight," "daytime," "brightness," or even "male," with each meaning requiring context to decipher.

The entire common language dictionary contained only a little over a thousand words, yet their meanings encompassed a vast array of concepts.

But a backward civilization didn’t necessarily equate to weakness.

In fact, given the Otherworld’s environment, which suppressed chemical reactions to some extent, it was difficult to develop productive forces. Even after another ten thousand years, it would likely remain unchanged.

If Earth was a material world governed by the four fundamental forces—electromagnetism, gravity, weak interaction, and strong interaction—then the Otherworld was a transcendent realm shaped by five fundamental forces.

In this unique environment, the upper limits of biological strength could be pushed to extraordinary heights, giving rise to all manner of supernatural abilities—even the birth of deities.

...

After an hour of memorizing the dictionary, Chen Shouyi finally felt drowsy and lay down for a short nap.

When he woke naturally, it was already 5:30 p.m.

He ate five compressed biscuits and three cans of meat as a makeshift dinner.

Without hesitation, he slung the backpack containing arrows and jungle gear over his shoulders and made sure Shell Woman was securely tied again.

At that moment, he keenly noticed something unusual about her—her feet seemed unable to close properly.

"What are you hiding inside?"

Shell Woman clutched her skirt tightly, shaking her head with an innocent expression. "Nothing! I didn’t hide any gems!"

She couldn’t even lie properly.

Chen Shouyi was amused but decided not to lift her skirt to check. After all, he still needed her to navigate the sea later. If he angered her and she refused to cooperate, it would be troublesome.

...

He placed Shell Woman, who was secretly delighted, into the briefcase and zipped it shut.

Stepping out of the hotel, he found it already dark outside, with few pedestrians on the street. Pretending to be in a hurry, he walked briskly.

When he reached the unfinished building, he swiftly turned toward it while the patrol officer wasn’t looking.

...

In the Otherworld, it was just dawn, the sun not yet risen, but the light had already brightened the sky.

The cloudless expanse was undoubtedly a good omen for Chen Shouyi.

Without wasting time, he retrieved his weapons from the rock cave and immediately boarded the canoe.

By now, the sun had begun to rise from the sea, resembling a massive fireball bathing in the ocean—a magnificent sight.

Breathing in the damp, salty air, Chen Shouyi felt a surge of energy.

Grabbing the oar, he began rowing toward the open sea.

...

Thanks to his previous experience, he moved faster this time. After roughly two hours of rowing, the island was already visible in the distance.

However, he didn’t spot any canoes this time.

Perhaps the disappearance of one canoe the day before had made the barbarians more vigilant, or maybe they were on the other side of the island.

Chen Shouyi wasn’t in a hurry—he would find them eventually.

This mission was highly dangerous, and he had already prepared a plan beforehand.

First, he would not venture deep into the island without confirming it was safe.

Ever since hearing the dying barbarian mention the "sacred tree," he had felt uneasy. This world was full of mysteries, and countless creatures could easily take his life.

Second, he would destroy all the barbarians' canoes.

He planned to circle the island—sooner or later, he would find them.

In fact, this was his primary objective today. Once accomplished, the passage would be secure, possibly for half a year or even several years.

...

As the saying goes, "The mountain seems closer than it is," and the same applied to the island. By the time he finally reached the shore, another hour had passed.

He tied the beached canoe to a rock on the shore.

Then, he stripped off his casual clothes, changed into jungle gear, and applied camouflage paint to his face.

The moment he set foot on the island, Shell Woman grew visibly uneasy. Standing on his shoulder, she clutched his hair nervously and whispered in his ear:

"Giant, this place is dangerous. Let’s go back."

Hearing her warning, Chen Shouyi tensed.

In truth, he had also sensed it—ever since landing, he had felt an oppressive weight in the air, like the heavy atmosphere before a thunderstorm, making it hard to breathe.

"Where’s the danger? Do you see anything?" Chen Shouyi asked gravely.

Shell Woman possessed some mysterious abilities—perhaps she could truly discover something?

Shell Woman whispered nervously, "There are many, so many!"

"Where?"

"Everywhere!" Shell Woman pointed a tiny finger at a large tree ahead, then gestured toward a nearby rock. "They're hiding now, but they'll come out after sunset."

Chen Shouyi was baffled. If she had only mentioned the tree, he might have understood, but calling an ordinary rock dangerous was beyond normal comprehension.

"What are they?"

"Spirits—there are very powerful natural spirits here."

Suddenly, it clicked for Chen Shouyi. He had heard of natural spirits before; many educational programs had covered these mysterious entities.

In truth, this was a term directly translated from the common language. On Earth, they were also called ghosts.

Such beings were practically everywhere in this world. Wherever life existed, natural spirits were sure to follow. Most originated from the souls of deceased animals, lacking much intelligence and driven purely by instinct.

During the day, they hid in trees, rocks, and underground.

The weaker ones fed by stealthily absorbing the life force of dead creatures, unable to even approach living beings. These natural spirits were practically worthless.

But some natural spirits were inherently powerful, attaching themselves to mountains, rivers, and lands, leeching life from their territories like parasites, devouring souls—even worshipped as mountain gods or river deities.

These were the truly terrifying ones.

Most of the time, when people spoke of natural spirits, they meant the latter. The former were hardly worth noticing.

The small island near the passage had little life, so such entities were scarce.

But here, with its dense vegetation and thriving vitality, there were clearly many of them.

Fortunately, it was still daytime. Aside from a few natural spirits that had already developed divinity—those of extreme power—none could move about freely under the sun.

Summoning his courage, Chen Shouyi approached the rock Shell Woman had indicated.

Sure enough, he sensed a faint, sinister aura.

He gazed at the distant forest. No wonder the environment here felt so gloomy, as if the sunlight itself was filtered, devoid of any warmth.