Chapter 74—Accorded Gifts

  “Why is that here?” Yu Han asked, a possibility rearing its head in his mind as Fei Rui continued chattering.

   Fei Rui stopped mid-explanation, tilting his body and looking up at Yu Han with one exposed eye.

  “The parchment,” Yu Han said. He thought Fei Rui always carried it with him, whether inside the dreamscape or out.

   Fei Rui pointed at the object. He clicked his bigger claw, and the parchment was suddenly between his pincers.

  “How did you do that?” Yu Han fell into a squat near the crab and stared at it.

   Fei Rui asked. He shook his claw again, and the parchment teleported back to the rimstone dam. Another shake, and it was pinched in his claw.

  “That,” Yu Han said. “You can teleport objects?”

   Fei Rui scratched his shell.

  “Is it your stash that has the teleportation feature, or you?” Yu Han asked. “Or is it your whole crabscape?”

  

  “Crabscape. Like, my white space is called a dreamscape. And you’re a crab, so crabscape.”

  

  “I don’t know.” Yu Han shrugged. “Do you want me to call mine human dreamscape and yours crab dreamscape?”

  

  “Just reality.”

  

  “I don’t know.”

   He giggled, then tip-tapped to the rimstone dam.

  Yu Han filed all that away in his mind. This crab knew stuff intrinsic to the reality of this strange new world. The problem was, Fei Rui didn’t know what he knew.

  “You can bring the pearls out?” Yu Han asked. “Why haven’t you done it until now?”

  Fei Rui checked the speleothems like an architect inspecting the foundation of his designs. He traced a claw over the web of coralstone wall, then plugged a loose stone into a stalactite that dripped water from a hole.

   he said.

  Yu Han didn’t. “It’s good that you didn’t. If you lost a pearl with your memories in reality and a cultivator found it, they might want to find out what’s going on.”

   Fei Rui left the clearing through the tunnel they had used to enter.

  “This whole cave system—is it a representation of your mind?” Yu Han asked.

   Fei Rui skittered through the stone outgrowths nimbly. He tapped seven of his legs one by one.

  “…That’s heavy. Why will you be doomed?”

   They stopped. Fei Rui pointed at a squarish tunnel hidden behind a portion of the cave almost covered with speleothems.

  “Did Grandpa name it the ‘tunnel of doom’?” Yu Han asked.

   Fei Rui emphasised.

  “Sure, buddy.” Yu Han smiled.

  

  “Fei Rui. Is your grandpa by any chance a racist?”

  

  Suddenly, a cold wind flowed from the squarish entrance, sending shivers down Yu Han’s neck.

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  He heard waves. It was a soothing sound, the sound of the ocean. And it sang so softly, as if to beckon them. He wanted to see what was there.

  Yu Han took a step back, gulping.

   Fei Rui asked.

  “Hell no!” Yu Han turned around. “Can we block it?”

   Fei Rui paused, using his claws to shield his front as if to cover his mouth.

  The longer they stayed there, the stronger the sound of the waves got.

   Fei Rui said, spinning.

  “Eight legs. Two claws.”

  <…Why? I want eight claws and two legs like you!> The crab looked him over.

  “I think I’m done,” Yu Han said. “I’ll head back to my dreamscape.”

   Fei Rui caught the fabric of his pants with his smaller claw.

  Yu Han couldn’t say no to those eyes.

  “Why do you call them mnemonic pearls?”

  

  “Can we call them memory pearls? Having a standardised nomenclature is a good thing.”

  

  “We’ll go with mnemonic pearls.”

  Yu Han explained what standardisation entailed.

  After they arrived at the pond, by the end of the main tunnel, which was just now named the Tunnel of Memories, Fei Rui went about blowing pearls into existence.

  On the way, Yu Han had noted the locations of the other tunnels. One had Fei Rui’s stash with teleportation capabilities. Yu Han would explore the accessible ones in due time—except the Tunnel of Doom.

  Four were blocked by speleothems. Mostly helictites twisted into spiked walls.

   Fei Rui said.

  Yu Han took a better look at the location. As usual, there were multitudes of speleothems. This place really was like an unknown coastal cave. Rays of pearly light shone down from hidden cracks in the ceiling, piercing through the wisping white mist that gathered there. The pond was on the other end of the cavernous area, hugging the wall. It was like the previous rimstone dam, but far bigger and deeper, filled with water glowing a soft blue.

  Droplets dripped down from the soda straws and stalactites hanging above the pond. Was that how this was formed? How long did it take—and where was this water even coming from? The dreamsea, probably.

  Fei Rui said they might share their minds if Yu Han drank the water. If it was coming from an external location, then why did it have that kind of effect? And why would he not be able to leave for a long time afterwards? Did it really have nothing to do with increasing the true qi of his bloodline and qi affinity traits?

  The mysteries of the dreamscape and this strange crab grew by the day. Few answers, yet infinite questions.

  Yu Han looked over to where Fei Rui was working. The crab had stacked the normal pearls to one side and would grab one, then smash it. It would gain a hint of blue, after which he would throw it into the pond.

  As Yu Han scanned the stack of pearls, a strange feeling tugged at his mind. What’s going on?

  He didn’t panic. Instead, he concentrated on the feeling. Was it coming from the pearls? There was a strange connection there. Each time he focused on a pearl, something would try to “lock in,” for lack of a better term. This feeling hadn’t been there before. It must be the accord.

  The feeling wasn’t completely unfamiliar, though. It was something he quite often felt, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He contemplated some more, but no answers came.

  It’s fine. Rushing won’t get me anywhere. Yu Han shook his head.

  The crab was soon done. He led Yu Han out of the crabscape with a happy hop to his scuttling gait. This time, though, even after they left the crabscape, the entrance didn’t close.

   Fei Rui said, looking down.

  “Of course not,” Yu Han said. You kidding me? The Johan part of him screamed at the very mention of breaking the accord. As if he would let go of a Level 10 crab!

  But putting that aside, Yu Han enjoyed Fei Rui’s company. His questions were so pure and straight to the point, despite the meandering vocabulary; each sentence revealed how differently he saw the world. Yu Han enjoyed conversations, but to Johan, they were a chore. Each word exchanged between humans was filled with unspoken judgement, and when Johan failed to read between the lines, it was his fault. With Fei Rui, there was none of that.

   the crab cheered.

  “What do you want?”

  

  Yu Han echoed his halberd. Fei Rui grew bigger. He delicately pinched the halberd handle and raised it above his head. Then, with a strange gurgle, he scuttled left and right. It looked like a strange ritual, but if it kept him busy, that was fine.

  Yu Han was about to echo the person stalking Huang Niuniu when a realisation hit him. The feeling when he looked at the pearls was similar to when he used Echoing Dreamscape!

  “Fei Rui!” Yu Han said, stopping the crab’s play. “Pearl! Give me a pearl.”

  Fei Rui shook a claw, and a pearl dropped in front of Yu Han with a bubble. He picked it up, concentrating on it.

  Think of what I want to echo. Cast it into the pearl just like how I would usually cast Echoing Dreamscape into space.

  For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then the pearl turned lime-green. Neonish in hue.

   Fei Rui shouted.

  “I don’t know,” Yu Han said.

  The pearl looked almost like a marble, as translucent as a tourmaline. Inside, a faint silhouette of the stalker.

  Yu Han sat down and concentrated.

  I can still recall the stalker’s details in my own mind. So the memories weren’t moved, but copied? Copy and paste. Not cut.

  He echoed a few more events.

  Can I do it with objects?

  Yu Han looked at the halberd that Fei Rui was holding. These echoed objects lasted longer than events and scenes, though they’d still disappear after a while. The duration increased with points in Memory.

  Let’s try it. He held another pearl and echoed the halberd into it. It too turned lime-green, and a small halberd formed inside.

  A dagger, the books, food.

  “What do I use these for?” Yu Han scratched his head. He didn’t have a pond of memory pearls. His memories didn’t seem to be affected by this copying and pasting yet, though he’d have to wait until he woke up to be sure.

   Fei Rui pinched one of the pearls and looked it over. He placed it on the ground, then poked it with a claw.

  An echo of Li Yao practising his sword art appeared, the pearl vanishing in the echo.

  He slashed with his right sword and stabbed with his left, and the strong moves sent a gust of wind Yu Han’s way. Each grunt and each droplet of sweat appeared far more real. This wasn’t the hazy blur of the usual echo. This was a mirror of reality! Almost exactly what he had seen, felt, heard, and smelled back when he watched Li Yao train.

  “It’s Ultra HD 4K on a Super AMOLED Display…” Yu Han gasped. “With VR.”

  It was actually far better than that.

  Fei Rui poked the pearl again, and Li Yao disappeared. Inside, the mirage of Li Yao remained.

  “It’s not onetime use.” Sweat gathered on Yu Han’s temple. “I can display holographic yet ultra-realistic video recordings now. Wait a moment—”

  Fei Rui could bring the parchment out from the crabscape. He said he could bring pearls out, too. Then…

  “What about this one?” Yu Han stared, amazed, at the lime-green pearl and then the crab.

  It'd mean a lot if you could follow and rate it to help me climb the Rising stars list. If you could REVIEW it, that's even better!

  Patreon ->

  Huang Niuniu - Cow girl. Nice, sweet, and after the ship arc, unpredictable.

  Fang Zhao - Red-eyed cripple. Noble Young Master (one of the good ones?).

  Xiao Zhuzi - His name literally means Little Bamboo, former beggar.

  Hu Feng - Farmer’s son. Maybe a bit perverted.

  Li Weidong - Almost drowned trying to clear his Tribulation.

  Dong Tianlan - Granddaughter of Elder Scribe. Has an eternal frown.

  Dong Chou - Ninth Scribe Official of the Outer Sect. Probably has high blood pressure.

  Yong Lefan - Sarcastic Senior Bro with a stone book.

  Shi Miao - Mysterious white-haired girl who may or may not resort to violence.

  Song Yinuo - Mysterious pig-tailed spoiled brat.

  Duan Xiaolong - Is cool. Has monkey.

  Sima Yan - Son of Riversong Commandary City's City Lord. Is a-hole.

  Pang Jiming - Sima Yan's lackey #1.

  Ma San - Sima Yan's lackey #2. Bushy beard's less bushier brother.

  Tan Ruoxuan - Pony-tailed Law Enforcement Lady.