Chapter 277 End

Chapter 277 End

Exotic plants are only suitable for genetically modified people to consume, so Ji Xinghai merely took Qin Yu on a tour without actually tasting anything.

"Good, good, I can still enjoy fried pork cutlets, garlic shrimp, clams, stinky tofu..." These were foods that ordinary humans could eat, but the already mutated blue-bloods could not. Thinking about being able to enjoy such delicacies while the humans in this world struggled with hunger, Ji Xinghai felt particularly grateful for having left.

This was his obsession in this world.

Having eaten too much toxic dark food, he naturally wanted to indulge in something better—very understandable, right?

Qin Yu silently noted this. During this time, he had not relaxed his efforts to improve his culinary skills, but there is always more to learn on any path, and he could still make the ingredients taste even better.

Watching the carefully prepared dishes being savored by someone he liked, with every expression and action conveying 'delicious, surprising,' Qin Yu felt as if he himself was tasting something even more delicious than what he remembered.

Thus, after retracing the steps of developing food and witnessing the locals gagging and swallowing in agony, the two found a picturesque spot. They caught some freely growing seafood and a wild sea duck, and began a beach barbecue.

Qin Yu set up the grill and started preparing various ingredients.

The food truck flashed its lights twice, unfolded one of its panels, and produced two seats, along with background music.

Ji Xinghai didn't just watch; he placed a wire rack over the charcoal fire, then put open-shelled oysters on it. As the plump oyster meat began to release juices, he drizzled a homemade garlic sauce over them. The moment the aroma rose, the juices bubbled, and he couldn't wait to pick one up and eat it, juice and all.

"This is life!"

What was the point of living if you had to eat those dark foods?

Various delicious grilled seafood and Qin Yu's secret recipe stewed sea duck filled the display boards of the food truck. The two sat side by side, holding chilled beers, the white foam breaking and releasing a slightly bitter, refreshing aroma.

"To your health!"

Their glasses clinked together, the amber liquid swaying, the gem-cut crystal glasses reflecting the beach, sea, and burning bonfire under the night sky. In the sound of the waves, the world seemed inexplicably beautiful.

"The journey through the eight lifetimes is coming to an end." Though clearly not drunk, Ji Xinghai sounded as if he were, "I never thought it would be over so quickly. Why did it feel so unbearable before?" How could one die when death itself was impossible? It was too painful.

"Hopeless days always seem longer," Qin Yu raised his glass, recalling his time at the Hungry Academy, where he saw no hope and doubted whether he was doing the right thing, making time pass excruciatingly slowly.

"The only gratitude I have for them is that they provided me with an environment harsh enough to hone my will and abilities, enabling me to return and help my hometown. Beyond that, I am grateful for nothing."

"No one else could have made it to the end." Qin Yu's eyes turned to the sea. Ji Xinghai's greatest strength wasn't his devouring ability or learning capacity, but his deeply rich and precious love, which gave him clear goals and unwavering determination.

Ji Xinghai took a bite of a skewer and a sip of cold beer, the spiciness and coolness particularly stimulating, dispelling the gloom in his heart as the bubbles rose and burst.

When the witch from Avia sent him back to the past, he thought: these were paths he had already walked, and even if there were regrets and dissatisfaction, they wouldn't affect his current self.

But now he realized that some hidden wounds wouldn't heal unless they were exposed.

"Don't tell Mom and Dad about this," he clinked glasses with Qin Yu unilaterally, "Let's agree on that."

Ji Father and Ji Mother were ordinary people. Without knowing the specifics, they had only a vague idea, but once they understood Ji Xinghai's story, it would add many worries.

Those days weren't just hard for him; his parents suffered constantly, blaming themselves for their child's coma, thinking they must have done something wrong.

Qin Yu looked at his glass and nodded. Even if Ji Xinghai hadn't said anything, he wouldn't have told anyone about what happened here. What had happened didn't need to cause more trouble.

Moreover, both of them were used to bearing everything themselves. Suddenly sharing the past would feel like showing weakness. Qin Yu had only confided in Ji Xinghai about becoming an abnormal creature, placing his vulnerabilities in Ji Xinghai's hands to gain his trust, and also because he knew Ji Xinghai's past, making it an equal exchange.

They drank half the night, perhaps letting go of their burdens, Ji Xinghai became tipsy and called Qin Yu 'brother,' whispering many embarrassing 'nonsense' into his ear. Despite not having a falsetto, his warm, steady voice made Qin Yu, who had become an abnormal creature but was still more reserved than Ji Xinghai, blush and get up to wash the dishes.

Ji Xinghai laughed wildly, all his troubles washed away by his laughter.

Later, Qin Yu prepared midnight snacks and warmed rice wine. They drank all night, until the bonfire burned out.

At the horizon, a white line appeared, then turned orange, and the sky was dyed a golden yellow. A golden sun leaped from the horizon, rising into the sky.

Ji Xinghai, wrapped in a thin velvet blanket, leaned against the food truck, the gold softening his features.

His gaze fixed on the distant sun, while Qin Yu watched him. The sunrise at the seaside adorned his world, and he adorned others' dreams.

"Goodbye, sea, goodbye, world, I'm going home!"

Ji Xinghai shouted towards the vast sea, his voice echoing on the shore, then being covered by the waves. He laughed loudly, sitting on the sand, and whispered, "This time, I'm really going home."

No matter what, nothing would stop him, not a chance!

There were no signs of their arrival, but when they left, they felt the fluctuations in space and time. The next second, they were back at the witch's place in Avia, a simple shelter built of stone slabs.

Others trembled inexplicably. From their perspective, the witch merely touched Ji Xinghai's forehead, and his aura changed. Originally, it was a layer of mist, seemingly peaceful but with hidden turmoil. Now that layer of mist was broken, revealing a sharp and intense presence.

This was actually correct. How could a man who made it to the end of the Hungry Academy be as peaceful and non-contentious as he appeared? He was non-contentious only because others hadn't touched what he truly cared about.

If they did, even a hint of his aura would make them too afraid to stand.

Fortunately, it seemed he just lost control, not targeting anyone, so everyone around remained steady.

"Bring the colored pigments," the witch spoke without opening her mouth, her heterochromatic eyes seeming to see things others couldn't.

The female warrior of Avia did not hesitate, quickly presenting pigments of three colors. They looked similar to mineral pigments from Earth, but as sunlight passed over them, they sparkled like tiny diamonds.

The witch dabbed a bit of red with her finger. Ji Xinghai seemed to sense it, watching as the red pigment was applied to his forehead.

The people from Earth were somewhat surprised, seeing Ji Xinghai accept it without resistance or objection, they suppressed their thoughts—when traveling, Ji Xinghai's decisions came first, as agreed upon from the start.

Then the witch applied blue and white.

The female warrior of Avia was surprised, as most faces were painted with only one or two colors, indicating status and strength.

And in all of Avia, only the witches could apply these three special pigments.

When Ji Xinghai had just one color on him, he didn't feel much, but with all three colors painted on his face, three different energies began to flow and clash within him.

The initially cool red exploded into a burning sensation upon meeting the other colors, not just on his skin but even in his muscles. The blue was another experience altogether, like a gentle breeze turning into a hurricane, pulling and tearing at every bone in his body.

Lastly came the white, which should have brought tranquility, but instead turned into a bone-chilling cold. One side burned while the other froze, and the sensations continuously pulled at him.

Ji Xinghai's fingertips trembled but then steadied; the pain that would make others curl up and unable to breathe seemed to have little effect on him.

But then, liquid flowed from his eyes, and he turned to look at Qin Yu with a dazed expression.

"Xinghai." Qin Yu had never seen Ji Xinghai like this before.

"What did you do to our envoy?" the Blue Star representative demanded.

Yet the voice of the Avian female warrior carried an indescribable reverence: "Witch, you are a witch."

Ji Xinghai's eyes changed color; his left eye turned pitch black, exuding an ominous aura, a single glance making one feel as if they were in hell. His right eye, however, became bright, gathering all the beauty of the world.

Blood flowed from his eyes, nose, and ears.

The sacred and the evil converged in him, the primordial chaos that seemed to precede the creation of heaven and earth, inspiring awe and fear.

"I feel great," he laughed, wiping away the blood nonchalantly.

The pain and curse of being devoured alive by the Mother Bug when he was weak and helpless, mixed together, formed a flesh and blood that was neither human nor monster. He broke out of the Mother Bug's abdomen, descending into the world with the body of a bug, and since then, he possessed the ability to devour, along with the insatiable hunger and brutality of the bug race.

This curse-like ability accompanied him from one world to another.

He devoured flesh, souls, ghosts, demons, and all kinds of strange beings. His soul was vast and complex, his body fragile, constantly cracking and healing.

But after returning to the Blue Star, perhaps because he entered his original body, his soul aligned, and his body gradually grew stronger. Although there was still the risk of his soul exploding at any moment, he could now exist for a long time, enough to see his parents through to the end.

After that, he thought that once his parents passed away, he would abandon his body and travel with Qin Yu as a spirit. But the witch of the Avian civilization guided him onto a new path.

He could feel the mixed energies being sorted and guided by three forces, his soul being roughly soothed.

In this state of coexisting pain and pleasure, impurities were removed, leaving only the purest good and evil. His eyes seemed to transcend the three-dimensional world, seeing the flow of time.

Every pore of his body could sense the subtle changes in the particles of the universe. Despite being in a remote part of this unfamiliar planet, he could perceive the slightest movements in the farthest reaches of space if he wished.

Is this the world of a 'witch'?

"Child, what do you see?" the witch asked.

Ji Xinghai looked back, not speaking, but following the long, worm-like thread of time, he found himself as a child, living freely under the protection of his parents.

That child made a bold statement: "I will live according to my own will, doing whatever I want and not doing whatever I don't want."

"Don't harm others," the young Wei Lan reminded him with a smile.

"Alright, I won't harm others, and I'll live freely."

Faintly, Ji Xinghai saw his own path.

"I have never seen such a young witch, child, well done."

The witch's thin hand gently placed itself on Ji Xinghai's head, a gesture of comfort, inheritance, and blessing from the elderly to the young. Her gaze pierced through time and space; she saw much and thus knew the rugged path the young man before her had walked.

But the hardest part was that after traveling through so many worlds and meeting so many people, he still maintained the heart of a child.

This is why, among so many candidates, it might take a hundred years for someone to become a witch. The distractions and temptations of the world are too numerous, and maintaining one's original intentions is incredibly difficult.

Now, she was here to awaken him, partly to form a good bond and partly because she couldn't bear to see him waste too much time.

"Can I learn from you?" Ji Xinghai asked, with many doubts and questions still lingering in his mind.

"Of course," the witch said. "Stay here."

Thus, the two from the Blue Star unexpectedly remained in an area of Avia where ordinary people could not enter. Ji Xinghai and Qin Yu personally gathered various materials to build their stone house.

Rising with the sun and resting with its setting, they found a way to calm their hearts in this labor, living in harmony with the natural rhythms.

Even the matters of the Hungry Academy, not far away, seemed distant.

"We will stay here for seven years, then return. I want to be with my parents until the end of their journey," Ji Xinghai said. Human life is so short; he didn't want to miss a single moment with his parents.

Qin Yu listened quietly. As a human, his obsession had faded, and now Ji Xinghai was his obsession. Therefore, Ji Xinghai's affairs were his affairs, and Ji Xinghai's choices were his choices.

"Then, we will travel the world together, see different landscapes, and experience different things. Until one day, when our bodies and souls are weary and we wish to rest eternally, we won't need to choose a place; wherever we are, we will sleep there."

Ji Xinghai spoke of the future, seeking his companion's opinion: "What do you think?"

Qin Yu looked up at the starry sky: "I am already looking forward to it."