Elden Ring, but with Wind Spirit Moon Shadow

Chapter 398 Zelayas
After putting away the Blue Secret Dew Drops, Bai Shi looked at Ashimi again and asked casually:
"Did you see any other imitation tears on the way?"

Bai Shi remembered that near the volcanic corrupt tree spirit, there was a lone replica teardrop.

That replica teardrop will, like other compatriots who come to the border area, disguise itself as a common zombie and wander around aimlessly.

If attacked, it will imitate the most powerful creature it has ever seen to protect itself.

The teardrops near the volcano are quite special, imitating the 'earthworm face' commonly seen in the fertile forest.

Thinking of that disgusting creature, Bai Shi couldn't help but frown.

'Earthworm Face' does not have a clear name in the game, only an internal name meaning 'rootless grass'.

As one of the most outstanding beast monsters in the borderland, the most outstanding thing about the "earthworm faces" is their appearance.

In front of them, even the royal ghosts seem somewhat cute.

After all, although the royal ghost looks creepy, it is the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms that is most disgusting.

The "earthworm face" makes white-sense people feel physically uncomfortable just by its appearance.

They have no faces or eyes, and the only evidence that they were once humanoid creatures is a pair of ears. They are skinny and top-heavy.

As for why they are top-heavy, we have to mention the extremely heavy head on which they are supported by countless plump worms.

No one knew what mutation had occurred, but they were parasitized by dead worms and their shapes had also changed.

The entire face completely disappeared, replaced by a huge cavity like a large intestine that connected directly to the neck, covered with densely packed death worms.

They also use this to attack, one of their moves is to vomit worms and body fluids from their diseased heads and splash them at their enemies.

So Bai Shi also calls them the shower heads of Hidetaka Miyazaki's house.

In the game, no matter which level it was, he didn't want to look at 'Earthworm Face' any more.

Facing Bai Shi's question, Ashimi tilted his head and thought for a while before speaking:
"I did meet someone..."

"Just like the one we saw in Huasheng Snowfield, it was also disguised as a zombie."

"It's just that I tried to communicate with it, but it didn't respond to me. I don't know if it has not yet gained wisdom and intelligence."

"I don't know why, but it transformed and attacked me."

"It turned into a huge, strange-looking creature..."

Ashimi clicked his lips, even finding it difficult to describe.

Even from the perspective of such a versatile aesthetic concept as the teardrop, it is still a very difficult creature to accept.

After saying that, Ashmi took out another bunch of teardrop larvae.

Obviously the teardrop that couldn't communicate was already lying here.

Looking at Ashimi's strange expression, Bai Shi couldn't help but feel a little gloating.

Fortunately, I didn’t go there by myself, otherwise I would have been disgusted just by seeing it.

The teardrop imitating the "earthworm face" is indeed the same as in memory.

And it was a giant 'earthworm face', which means it was a female.

Yes, although there are almost no obvious gender differences in the "earthworm faces", these things do have gender.

And those giant 'earthworm faces' that are huge in size and several meters tall are the females of the species.

Unlike the skinny males, their huge cavities contain large numbers of clustered worms.

The most disgusting thing is their throwing skills. They grab people and stuff them directly into the cavity of the head to be contaminated by worms.

The reason why he was able to come up with this incredible pitching technique may be that Hidetaka Miyazaki forgot to wash the Fiji cup after using it as a child, and only found out that there were bugs in it when he used it next time.

No... forget it, I'd better not think about these disgusting things anymore.

Originally, Bai Shi wanted to disgust Miyazaki the old thief, but just thinking about it makes me feel disgusted...

Bai Shi took the teardrop larva from Ashimi and put it away.

Bai Shi put his knuckles on his chin and thought for a while. It seemed that it was time to prepare to collect some more teardrop larvae.

Next, Lani will need to rebuild her body, and maybe there is a chance that Xia Duo from the spirit world can be rescued and resurrected.

From this perspective, the demand for teardrop larvae seems to be quite high.

Speaking of tears... Ashmi hasn't been active recently and has been sleeping all the time. I don't know what's wrong.

Looking at Ashimi, Bai Shi asked about her situation:

"How is the Teardrop Chalice digesting?"

"This time the sleeping time seems to be much longer than before."

Ashimi rubbed his hair and walked back and forth in the room, thinking about how to start the conversation.

Finally, Ashmi pulled over a chair and sat on it backwards, resting her chin on the back of the chair, and said with a silly smile:

"Hehe, actually... I digested most of it a long time ago."

"After all, I've already digested a lot of it before, and the last bit isn't that hard to digest."

"It's just that there's nothing for me to do normally, so I just sleep on it."

Bai Shi smiled and shook his head.

I was just wondering if there was something wrong, and it turned out to be like this.

It seems that I need to give Ashimi more advice in the future.

"Okay, I'll leave some enemies for you later if I have the chance."

"If you want, we can also let you go out and act like we did this time."

Ashimi chuckled and stood up from his chair.

"Hehe, then I'll look forward to it."

Then Ashimi turned back into mist and returned to Bai Shi's body.

Bai Shi also stood up and prepared to leave the room.

Just now, Laya told Bai Shi the location of her room.

Once you've rested, you can go find her anytime, and she'll take Bai Shi to where Bernal is.
-
Bai Shi moved along the route that Laya had pointed out in advance, and soon arrived at Laya's room.

I knocked on the door, and soon Laya's voice came from inside:
"Ah, it's coming."

When the door was pushed open, a red four-legged lizard standing on two legs appeared in front of Bai Shi.

Laya was simply wearing a green robe and looked at Bai Shi with her big round green eyes.

Bai Shi looked at Laya in front of him with a strange expression.

Of course, he knew about Laya's appearance beforehand, and he wasn't surprised by her look.

I just didn't expect that Laya would have to change her appearance just after coming back to rest for a short while?
And she seemed to have forgotten that she hadn't changed back yet.

Laya tilted her head and asked in confusion:
"Mr. Bai Shi, why do you look a little surprised...?"

Laya looked at Bai Shi's expression and suddenly reacted.

I lowered my head, and sure enough, a pair of short, scaly hands appeared in my sight.

Laya was stunned for a moment, then turned her head and looked into the house with her last fantasy.

Then she discovered in bed that she could only put on pants when she was naked.

Laya's hopes were completely shattered when she realized what she looked like now.

"!!"

"No way, am I still in the form of a snake?!"

Laya opened her mouth and quickly slammed the door shut.

Bai Shi was standing outside the door, and could clearly hear Laya's voice in the room through the door:

"Ahh, how could this happen..."

“I forgot to change back!!!”

“…What should I do now?!”

Bai Shi knocked on the door again and said:

"Laya?"

There was a sound of something being knocked over in a panic in the room, and Laya's response was also heard:
"Yes!" "Please wait a moment!"

Bai Shi said with a smile:
"It's okay, it's cute this way too."

The noise in the room gradually faded away, leaving only the rustling sound of clothes.

Laya's footsteps reappeared at the doorway of the room, accompanied by a faint question:

"...Mr. Bai Shi, is what you said true?"

"Do you really think so?"

Bai Shi smiled and replied:
"of course."

"I traveled across the border. What kind of creatures have I not seen?"

"It's just the appearance of a snake. It's not something you should be so flustered about."

"Ah, so I have some kinship with snakes."

"In a sense, my eldest brother-in-law can also be considered a snake."

Thinking about it this way, Bai Shi realized that he seemed to have some relationship with Laya.

After all, in terms of seniority, Laya seems to be considered Lani's niece?

Laya didn't say anything, but silently pushed the door open a crack.

Laya, who had transformed back into a human form and put on her clothes, only showed a pair of eyes, as if trying to determine the truth of Bai Shi's words.

Blinking, Laya breathed a sigh of relief, then opened the door and welcomed Bai Shi in.

As soon as Bai Shi entered the room, Laya quickly closed the door.

With her back against the door, Laya bent down and bowed to Bai Shi to apologize:

“…I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

"I was really confused when you saw me like that just now."

Raising her head slightly, Laya explained to Bai Shi:
"That was my true appearance just now, and my real name is Zelayas."

"I sincerely apologize for not showing my true self to you..."

"But please believe me, I am the only one who is fake."

"Regarding the Volcano Mansion, and everything I said before about Lady Tanis, these are absolutely true."

Seeing that Laya was protecting Tanis more than himself, Bai Shi shook his head and replied:
"It's okay, I always believe in you."

"And I know you're telling the truth."

Although it was the truth that only Laya believed, she knew nothing about the real dark secret of the Volcano Mansion.

Laya didn't even know her own life experience and origins.

However, Laya had always told Bai Shi everything she believed in.

Laya was relieved when she saw that Bai Shi didn't show any abnormality.

"Even after seeing my appearance, you still treated me warmly."

"...On the other hand, my panicked behavior just now was really rude."

Bai Shi waved his hand and said nonchalantly:

"In the border area, everyone has some secrets."

"This body and background are not something to be ashamed of."

"I'm more curious about you than this."

Laya thought about it, nodded, and agreed to Bai Shi.

"Now that you have seen me like that and accepted it..."

"Then I have nothing to hide from you."

"If I want to talk about myself, I should start with my mother."

Recalling her childhood in the Volcano Mansion, Laya smiled.

"...Lady Tanis is actually my mother."

"I have lived with my mother in the Volcano Residence since I was a child, in the form of a snake."

"It is said that my mother was blessed by the great king, and that is how I was born."

"So my appearance is also a symbol of my mother's joy... This appearance is also my glory."

Laya spoke in high spirits. She never felt that she had done anything wrong with her background.

But the secular perspective forced her to disguise herself, and what happened next was not something to be proud of.

After a pause, Laya continued:

"But not everyone thinks so—"

"If I were to show my snake form, the heroes I chose would no longer want to listen to me."

"That's why I disguised myself so that I can fulfill my duties as a recruiter."

"Fortunately, maybe because of my mother, I was able to transform into a human very naturally."

"Otherwise, I don't know what to do. I might not be able to complete my recruitment duties at the border."

"But you are different from them."

"Even with the look you had just now, you didn't care at all!"

Bai Shi nodded, with some guesses in his mind.

Although Tanis actually dotes on Laya, she actually has her own considerations.

Laya wasn't the only recruiter for Volcano; there were quite a few of them.

Even in such a situation, Laya was sent out to recruit, perhaps to train her.

This will allow her to learn how to live in the borderland as a human being.

After all, as long as the snake's body is not exposed and the origin is kept secret, no one will associate the kind-hearted Laya with the rebels.

Perhaps it was to leave a way out for Laya at some point when the Volcano Mansion fell apart.

Except for a very few people, probably everyone knows clearly that the rebellion in the Volcano Mansion is just a delusion.

Laya looked at Bai Shi timidly and said:
"...This snake-like appearance and the name Zelayas are secrets between me and Lady Tanis."

"Now you, Mr. Bai Shi, also share this secret."

"I have a request, please agree to it."

"Please don't tell others about this."

"Even Miss Millicent who came with you... please."

Faced with Laya's sincere request, Bai Shi nodded seriously and agreed.

"Of course."

"I'm not the type to spread other people's secrets."

"And since you've said that, I naturally won't say anything."

After receiving Bai Shi's answer, Laya smiled happily.

"That's great. Thank you so much."

Laya was completely relieved, and then she remembered what she had just been told.

"Oh, yes, Mr. Bai Shi."

"I was so flustered just now that I forgot to tell you something."

"Lady Tanis just sent someone to look for me."

"She wants to see you. Are you available?"

Bai Shi nodded slightly. It seemed that the other party recognized his identity.

(End of this chapter)