I'm Already the Richest Man, Why Did My System Just Arrive?

Chapter 208: Chapter 144: "Words of the Sun Chaser

"No, that’s not right..." Zheng Xiu’s pupils shrank as he instinctively held his breath. "It’s spores."

"Spores?"

Hearing Zheng Xiu muttering to himself, Ruchen quickly pressed for an answer.

"Quiet."

Zheng Xiu pressed a hand on the Monk’s bald head and began breathing again. This Cotton Shedding only parasitized pregnant women, devouring the fetus in the womb to take its place. Such a methodical reproductive process told Zheng Xiu that the "spores" in the sky, visible only with Spiritual Vision, were harmless to anyone other than pregnant women. Otherwise, the people of old would have noticed something was wrong long ago.

The other town residents were perfectly fine, after all.

The green motes of light were sparse. After a few glances, Zheng Xiu refocused on the urgent task of finding clues.

Looking down, he saw that the "human-like mushroom" in the woman’s arms was connected to numerous "threads."

"Don’t worry, I mean no harm." Zheng Xiu gave Cuihua a charming smile and shot his hand out with lightning speed.

He plucked one of the threads. The human-like mushroom showed no reaction, remaining perfectly still and silent. ’Come to think of it,’ Zheng Xiu realized, ’my initial instinct wasn’t wrong. The infant’s "wail" didn’t sound like a cry, but more like a "call"—a sound no human baby could ever make.’

The creature that looked like a baby on the surface had, in reality, long been replaced by the "Cotton Shedding."

The invisible "thread" was like a strand of spider silk. After Zheng Xiu plucked it, it stuck to his fingertip, stretching downward.

Zheng Xiu offered no explanation, and Ruchen, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, kept scratching his head. He saw Zheng Xiu holding up his middle finger in his direction and waved his own hand in front of it. "Brother Zheng, why are you pointing at me?"

"I’m not pointing at you."

Zheng Xiu rolled his eyes. But then he quickly noticed something: Ruchen’s finger passed right through the Cotton Shedding’s thread without any resistance.

’So that’s how it is.’ Zheng Xiu thought. ’I wonder if the first Jianghu Alchemist who discovered the Cotton Shedding saw the same thing. Is that what made him think of using fierce flames to burn it to death?’

’But on second thought...’ Zheng Xiu dismissed the idea. ’If that Alchemist could really see the "threads," he could have followed them straight to the Cotton Shedding’s lair. Why would he resort to such a cruel method, one that meant killing a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of his own? Not all Spirit Communicators are created equal. I had to achieve a major success to see this clearly. That Alchemist back then probably didn’t have a level of Spirit Communication as deep as mine is now.’

"Let’s go! Keep up!"

Zheng Xiu knew time was tight and didn’t want to waste any. He cut the chatter and told Ruchen to follow.

Following the "thread" left by the Cotton Shedding should lead them to its lair.

「Not long after Zheng Xiu and Ruchen left.」

Xiaozhao helped his grandfather back into the house.

The house had been sealed for many years and was full of cobwebs, clearly uninhabited for a long time.

Stranger still, a thick layer of black crow feathers lay spread atop the dust. The feathers were pristine, as if freshly plucked from a crow.

"Grandpa, it’s been five years. Why did you suddenly come back?"

Xiaozhao wiped the dust from a stool with his hand, ignoring the crow feathers completely. After helping the old man sit, Xiaozhao knelt obediently by his knees and asked with wide, innocent eyes.

After sitting down, the stooped old man’s back gradually began to straighten. His cloudy eyes grew sharp and bright, as if in mere seconds he had transformed into another person.

"Xiaozhao, do you remember the ’Words of the Sun Chaser’?"

Instead of answering, the old man asked a question of his own.

Xiaozhao replied, "I remember. Legend says that in ancient times, there was a man named ’Zhu’ who worshiped the Scorching Sun. One day, he ran and ran, ran and ran toward it, crossing a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers. Finally, on a very, very, very high mountain peak, he caught up to the sun."

The old man nodded and smiled. "Mm, good that you remember. And then what happened?"

"Then, Zhu melted."

The old man smiled. "Because he got too close to the sun, Zhu was melted by the Scorching Sun..."

Reaching this point in the story, the old man closed his eyes.

For a long while.

The old man’s eyes snapped open. "And so it is for those who draw too near the Darkness!"