On the Ark.

Skadi frowned slightly: "Why?"

"She's a person now."

“This is an illusion,” Skadi said. “She is the large creature from before, the Nian beast. If she recovers, we will be in trouble.”

“I know, but…” Lin Ye didn’t know what to say. Should he tell Skadi that he had just overheard his conversation with his mother in his past life? That would be too mystical.

Skadi seemed to understand Lin Ye's meaning and asked, "You don't want to kill her?"

"Ah."

"Why?" Skadi asked.

"I can't say for sure, but she might not necessarily be a bad person. Messiah also said that she has only just awakened and her consciousness is still very hazy..."

"But she wants to kill you."

“If she wanted to kill me, I would be dead already,” Lin Ye said. “She was by my side for at least half a minute at that time. If she wanted to kill me, she could have done it already.”

Lin Ye wasn't making this up to deceive Skadi; ​​it was actually true. The Nian beast was right next to him and the Iron-Eating Beast at the time, occasionally nudging him. He initially thought it was the Iron-Eating Beast doing it, only later realizing it was the Nian beast. The Iron-Eating Beast also confirmed this: "Yes, she suddenly appeared beside us then, which startled us."

“That’s right.” Lin Ye nodded and said, “You know her strength. She can control fire and do alchemy. At that distance, killing me and the Iron-Eating Beast when we were unprepared should have been effortless. But she didn’t do that… Come to think of it, we were the ones who attacked first. She was just lurking around us at the beginning, chasing after us when we ran away. She only retaliated after we attacked her.”

After sorting out her thoughts, Lin Ye realized that the Nian Beast was just like a newborn child, curious about everything in the world. Lurking around Lin Ye and the Iron-Eating Beast was like a child observing their toy, and the same was true when chasing it. Only after the "toy" hurt her did she instinctively want to destroy it.

He's just a kid.

Of course, Lin Ye knew that she was not a child; it was just that her consciousness and strength had not recovered because she had been sealed for too long.

and……

Lin Ye looked down at the unconscious Nian beast, recalling the murals he had seen in the temple. The Nian beast in the murals was as tall as a small mountain, while the Nian beast they had just faced was only slightly taller than an average person—their size was completely wrong. Could it be that so many years of sealing had caused the Nian beast to degenerate not only in strength and consciousness, but also possibly in size?

In other words, even if she were to be transformed into a human, she shouldn't have looked like this little girl; she should have been much more mature.

This is a bit tricky. If she's truly just a blank slate, then there's nothing to worry about. But if she gradually regains her strength, size, and consciousness over time, then the problem becomes much bigger. Nobody knows what the Nian Beast looks like in its normal state.

Therefore, killing her here is indeed the safest option.

only……

Lin Ye still hesitated, because the voice that suddenly appeared in his mind just as he was about to pull the trigger on the Nian beast really bothered him. This couldn't be a coincidence, could it? After all, he had experienced a similar omens when he met Messiah in Kalan. Moreover, Messiah had said that the choice of whether the Nian beast lived or died was in his hands. Did Messiah know something? If the Nian beast was truly a ferocious divine beast, Messiah shouldn't have given him a choice, right?

Just as he was struggling with this, the Nian beast's eyelashes twitched, and then it slowly opened its eyes.

The black and purple eyes met.

Nian slowly opened her mouth and uttered a crisp voice: "Who are you?"

Lin Ye thought for a moment and said, "I am your brother Lin."

……

……

Author's BB: -120.

By the way, some people keep confusing normal updates with supplementary updates. Let me say it again and again: my daily updates aren't based on chapters, but on word count. The 4,000 words I post daily are normal updates and don't count as supplementary updates. Supplementary updates are also based on word count; 2,000 words count as one update. I've said this countless times. Sometimes I write three 2,000-word chapters a day, which is 6,000 words a day, and that counts as one supplementary update. Sometimes I write two 3,000-word chapters a day, which is also 6,000 words a day, and that also counts as one supplementary update. I've marked the 3,000-word chapters. If you can't see the word count, look at the page numbers, okay? Are those people who immediately start cursing just fickle, illiterate monkeys? (Yes, I'm being really harsh because someone pointed at my 7,000-word updates and said that including normal updates in my daily count is shameless.)

I'll say it again: my update speed is indeed slower than other authors; I usually only update once or twice a day. But I've never used regular updates to pad the word count. That's all.

Chapter 537 Lin Ye, I didn't realize you were such a pervert

As soon as the words left his mouth, Lin Ye felt like an evil old man trying to abduct an innocent girl. Even the Iron-Eating Beast's expression changed; its red eyes were filled with shock, as if asking, "How did you manage to say something like that so easily?" This made Lin Ye feel somewhat embarrassed, so he pretended not to notice the Iron-Eating Beast's gaze and kept staring into the Nian Beast's eyes.

"Lin, brother?" The Nian beast's pronunciation was still a bit hoarse, as if it hadn't spoken in a long time.

“Yes,” Lin Ye asked, “Do you remember what just happened?”

"Just now?"

Yes, just now.

"I, don't remember."

"It's alright," Lin Ye said slowly, emphasizing each word. "Think carefully about the following questions. First, what's your name? Then, where are you from, and why are you here? Finally, do you remember me? Or those two?"

According to Messiah, the newly awakened Nian Beast's mind was in a state of confusion, and it had also been severely injured by the combined efforts of Messiah and Skadi. Its strength and consciousness might have regressed significantly again, meaning it was likely in a state of complete ignorance, which was its safest state. Therefore, Lin Ye wanted to confirm this. To prevent the Nian Beast from lying to him, Lin Ye kept his eyes fixed on its eyes while asking questions. If even the slightest hint of unnaturalness appeared in its eyes, the situation would be quite complicated.

Lin Ye didn't see that emotion in the Nian beast's eyes; all he could read was confusion and effort. Clearly, she was trying to recall something, pondering the questions Lin Ye had posed. After a long while, she finally uttered a weak voice: "My name is Nian."

"Hmm." Lin Ye nodded. "Very good. So, who are you?"

"I am Nian."

"Um... I didn't ask you what your name is, I asked who you are."

The Nian beast looked even more confused: "I am Nian."

Nian's answer made Lin Ye feel like he had asked an incredibly stupid question, but Lin Ye's original intention was to see if Nian knew that he was a Nian beast, or if he was just a simple human. So he asked more clearly, and Nian's expression clearly showed that she did not know that she was a Nian beast. In fact, she seemed to know nothing about him except her own name.

When Lin Ye asked Nian again if she recognized him, Nian hesitated for a moment and then said timidly, "You hit me."

Lin Ye was stunned for a moment: "I hit you?"

"Mm." Nian nodded.

Lin Ye assumed Nian still remembered the battle, so he stepped back slightly, allowing Nian to see Skadi and Ironhide standing behind him, and then asked, "Did they hit you?"

Nian looked at Skadi, then at Ironhide, and finally shook his head: "No."

This puzzled Lin Ye: "They didn't hit you? Don't you remember them?"

"No."

How is this going?

Lin Ye was very puzzled. If Nian still remembered the battle just now, she couldn't possibly forget Skadi and the Iron Eater. The Iron Eater had kicked her hard, and Skadi had slashed her countless times. Although they hadn't really hurt her, he hadn't hurt her either. At most, he had just placed the [Chains of Time] from a distance, and even his gunshots had missed somewhere.

Then why does Nian only remember him?

As Lin Ye was pondering, the Iron-Eating Beast nudged him and whispered, "Is it because you're too ugly? Little girls always have a deep-seated fear of ugly middle-aged men."

Lin Ye's lips twitched involuntarily at the words of the Iron-Eating Beast. He lowered his voice and said, "Can you please stop disgusting me? Especially at a time like this. Besides, no one has ever told me I'm ugly before."

"Then your neighbor is quite kind."

"You son of a bitch..."

If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't beat the Iron-Eating Beast, Lin Ye really wanted to teach this loose-tongued... no, spouting nonsense national treasure a lesson.

Just then, Nian spoke again, uttering a weak voice: "I'm so hungry."

Lin Ye and the Iron-Eating Beast both looked over.

Nian clutched his stomach, looking pained, and said, "It feels like I haven't eaten in ages."

Lin Ye and the Iron-Eating Beast exchanged a glance.

"What should the Nian beast eat?" the Iron-Eating Beast asked in a low voice. "It's not going to eat people, is it? Just so you know, although I think she looks quite cute when she turns into a human, I will absolutely not let her eat me."

To be honest, Lin Ye really admired the mentality of the Iron-Eating Beast.

After all, the Iron-Eating Beast transformed from an anti-feudal superstition fighter who thought, "Nian Beast? Fubo Zhenren? Believing in this stuff is laughable!" to a troublemaker who thought, "Holy crap, this Nian Beast can actually turn into a human! Will she try to eat people?" in less than an hour. Lin Ye admired how quickly its mindset changed.

At the same time, Lin Ye was also pondering what the Nian beast should eat. If it ate people, then no matter how cute it was, he couldn't take it out to cause trouble. Lin Ye still had that basic moral principle. So Lin Ye turned around and glanced at Skadi, giving her a wink. Skadi nodded knowingly and took the greatsword from her back.

In a state of extreme hunger, wild beasts often become ferocious and terrifying, resorting to any means to obtain food. Therefore, this is another good opportunity to test whether the current Nian is truly a "human" or a "beast." So he held his breath and slowly asked, "What do you want to eat? Tell me, and I can take you to eat."

"What do you want to eat..." A hint of doubt flashed in Nian's eyes again.

"Yes, didn't you say you were hungry?" Lin Ye asked gently. "So what do you want to eat? Just tell me, and I can take you to eat. You can eat whatever you want."

As Lin Ye spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and extended his fair arm toward Nian.

This is a trap set for Nian using his own body. If Nian is cannibalistic and, in a state of extreme hunger, sees Lin Ye's fleshy (?) arm, he will definitely be unable to suppress his desire and instinct. Once Nian loses control and chooses to bite his arm, Skadi, who is standing behind Lin Ye, will immediately take action.

So Lin Ye kept waving his arms in front of Nian and said in what he thought was a seductive tone, "Want to eat? If you want to eat, then eat. You can totally do it. Come on, I'm not afraid of pain."

Before Nian could respond, the Iron-Eating Beast beside him couldn't stand it any longer and said in an incredulous tone.

"Damn it, Lin Ye, I didn't know you were such a pervert."

Lin Ye: "..."

However, Lin Ye's carefully planned flirting was ignored by Nian.

She thought for a moment, then said softly, "I want to eat... chili sauce."

Chapter 538 Where is that burnt smell coming from? (3K)

When Lin Ye and the others returned to the temple, it was already the next morning. They had unknowingly spent the entire night in the underground cave. However, the experience of that night and the final result were somewhat unbelievable, especially for Warfarin, Grani, Master Buxing, and his two disciples who stayed at the temple. When they saw Lin Ye returning, he was carrying a cat that appeared out of nowhere in one arm and holding the hand of a little girl that appeared out of nowhere in the other, they were all dumbfounded.

What's going on here? Weren't they supposed to be suppressing the Nian beast? Something seems off about the art style.

Faced with everyone's doubts, Lin Ye could only smile bitterly, as he didn't even have the strength to explain. For some unknown reason, Nian Mingming, who had just awakened from her long slumber, only remembered that Lin Ye had hit her and had no recollection of Skadi or the Ironhide Beast. Yet, she refused to go with the two of them, seemingly only feeling at ease when she was by Lin Ye's side.

With no other option, Lin Ye had to lead her up the mountain. But he couldn't just leave Messiah unattended; he dared not entrust the resting Messiah to the clumsy Iron-Eating Beast, and Skadi was reluctant to do so either. So he had to leave everything to him. Thus, Lin Ye carried Messiah and led her up the mountain, nearly collapsing from exhaustion by the time they returned to the temple.

Fortunately, the iron-eating beast helped him explain.

"Don't worry," the Iron-Eating Beast said nonchalantly, "We've already dealt with the Nian Beast. This little girl is the Nian Beast..."

"Cough cough cough."

Lin Ye coughed violently, then glared fiercely at the Iron-Eating Beast. The Iron-Eating Beast then remembered their earlier conversation on the mountain and quickly changed its story: "I meant, this little girl was found where the Nian Beast was discovered. She must be a tourist from the foot of the mountain who got separated from her family during the earthquake. We decided to bring her down the mountain tomorrow. As for the other person, they've already gone to the temple below to tell the little girl's family not to worry."

Although this explanation sounded absurd and was full of loopholes, everyone's attention was clearly focused on the Nian beast, and they didn't pay much attention to Nian. Especially Abbot Buxing, who was so excited when he learned that the Nian beast had been defeated that he almost fainted. He quickly grabbed the Iron-Eating Beast's hand and asked in a trembling voice, "You really defeated it? How did you defeat it? What did the Nian beast look like?"

“Well…” the Iron-Eating Beast glanced at Nian standing next to Lin Ye and said, “Nian Beast is quite small.”

"The Nian Beast is small?" Master Bu Xing was taken aback at first, then nodded repeatedly as if he had just realized something. "Yes, yes, the Nian Beast's size is linked to its strength. Master Fubo suppressed it for so many years, its strength must be much weaker than before. It's normal for it to be small. And then? What did you do?"

The Iron-Eating Beast was already prepared to answer Master Bu's question. As soon as the question was asked, the Iron-Eating Beast immediately began to describe it vividly: "Well, there's a reason for that. Last night we fought that guy for several hours..."

Although Lin Ye already knew that the Iron-Eating Beast's explanation was just a rough retelling of last night's battle, with the Iron-Eating Beast himself as the protagonist, he was still surprised to find that this national treasure actually had the talent of a storyteller when the Iron-Eating Beast actually spoke. His eloquent description was as vivid as a movie script. It was roughly about how the three of them (Lin Ye, Skadi, and Messiah) clumsily found the newly awakened Nian Beast and almost lost their lives. Fortunately, the Iron-Eating Beast arrived in time and kicked the Nian Beast away with one kick. When he got to this point, the Iron-Eating Beast even raised his foot to show Master Buxing and his apprentice his almost melted shoe sole, which added a lot of credibility to the story.

Even if she didn't use her own shoe soles, Master Buxing and the others would still believe her without a doubt. This is because the Iron-Eating Beast had described the Nian Beast's fire control and alchemy abilities in detail. Such detailed descriptions were definitely not something that could be easily fabricated to fool Master Buxing, the successor of the Fubo Zhenren who was responsible for suppressing the Nian Beast.

"After a fierce battle, I finally defeated that creature," the Iron-Eating Beast said. "Then I killed it... uh, no, I put it back into the seal."

Killing it was definitely not a good idea. What if Master Buxing wanted to see the Nian beast's corpse? Where would they get it then? They couldn't just let Nian go back and pretend to be dead, could they? So resealing it was undoubtedly the best option. However, resealing also had its problems. The fact that everyone's understanding of formations was practically zero. This left Master Buxing completely dumbfounded when he learned that the Iron-Eating Beast had "stuffed" the Nian beast back into the seal.

"Can a seal be 'stuffed'?" Master Buxing asked.