Wind and Sand Tower (3)
The boat slowly sailed away. The island grew smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared altogether.
Only then did Fanxin look away and turn his gaze ahead.
"Parting is always sad, Fanxin. You have to stay strong." Ren Fang came over to comfort him.
Fanxin nodded slightly. "I know. Sigh, I don't know when we'll see each other again, or whether Grandpa Nick will still be alive by then."
He didn't know how many years it would take him to return this time, and he might never return at all. So this parting with Grandpa Nick could be their last, and that made him feel terrible.
"Hehe, Grandpa Nick is very healthy, and he's so powerful too. He should be fine. We're the ones who matter here. If we die, we really won't ever get another chance to see Grandpa Nick," Ren Fang said with a smile.
She didn't know why Grandpa Nick could survive with only a head. But she was sure he was healthy, and he spent his days sleeping deep underground, where he wouldn't fight with anyone. That way, Grandpa Nick was sure to stay alive and healthy.
"Yes, we have to work hard too. We've all grown stronger after two years of training, but we aren't the strongest. If we run into a powerful enemy, we have to be cautious," Fanxin said. "Let's avoid provoking people. We're only going to ask around for information, so let's avoid fighting whenever possible."
"Mm, we understand," Qiuxiang and Little Black said with nods.
"Of course, if we really can't avoid a fight, we'll have to act. When that happens, make sure you show what you can really do. Don't hold back. Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit. Only then can we survive a fight," Fanxin added.
He meant to tell Ren Fang and Little Black that they wouldn't provoke anyone. But if someone thought they were easy targets and came to shit and piss on their heads, they weren't to show any mercy.
"Got it." Ren Fang and Little Black nodded.
"All right, go make some food. We haven't eaten yet, and I'm starving," Fanxin said.
Ren Fang nodded, then went to the kitchen to cook.
Fanxin and Little Black Cat stood at the bow. Little Black steered while Fanxin used a telescope to survey their surroundings.
Before long, Ren Fang brought out the food: a rabbit soup and a dish of rabbit stewed with shiitake mushrooms.
After the three enjoyed a good meal, they began discussing how to search for Fanxin's parents.
"This won't be easy. It's been eighteen years, and their appearances will have changed," Little Black said.
"That's true. Even if I saw them now, I might not recognize them as my parents. But no matter what, as long as there's a glimmer of hope, I won't give up," Fanxin said. "They're my parents. I have to find them no matter what. Even if they're dead, I'll find their ashes."
"Ah, that's a difficult task. But since you're asking, that's what we'll do." Ren Fang sighed helplessly. "Draw what your parents originally looked like. Having that will make them easier to find."
Fanxin nodded, then took out paper and a pen and drew everything he had seen of his parents in his mindscape.
"This is what my parents looked like," Fanxin said.
"Mm, Little Black, copy it into your mind. Whenever we reach a place with people, compare them to the picture. If anyone looks similar, we'll ask about them and rule them out one by one," Ren Fang said.
"No problem." Little Black Cat nodded, then channeled demonic power into its eyes. A moment later, its eyes were no longer flesh and blood, but a pair of mechanical eyes.
Those eyes could not only record things and see through objects, but also compare and screen people.
All one had to do was give it an image, and it could pick out people who resembled the person in it from countless others. It wasn't a hundred percent accurate, but it could rule out the vast majority and narrow the search down to a certain extent.
With Little Black there, as long as Fanxin's parents were still alive, they were sure to find them.
"All right, I've copied it," Little Black said after looking at it for a while.
"Good," Fanxin said. "Let's go find somewhere with people and screen them one by one. The sooner we find them, the sooner we can go back."
"Mm, then let's get started," Ren Fang said with a nod.
A moment later, they hesitated no longer. They started the engine at once and sped ahead.
Three days later, they finally reached an inhabited island.
Once they reached the port, Ren Fang and Fanxin disembarked immediately, while Little Black got off last. After disembarking, it pressed something on the side of the boat. A moment later, the boat began to change.
Countless curved panes of transparent glass appeared around the boat. They slowly closed in, finally joining together and enclosing the entire hull.
Little Black then looked at the boat and shouted, "Number One, sink to the bottom of the sea. Don't come out without my command."
At Little Black's command, the boat immediately began to dive and soon disappeared from sight.
Fanxin stared in surprise. "Hey, how can the boat move by itself?"
He had just been worried that someone might steal the boat if they left it there. Now he saw that he had no need to worry, but it was astonishing all the same. The boat could move on its own, and he hadn't known it could do that.
"Hehe, that's Little Black's ability," Ren Fang said with a smile. "Whenever it makes something, it can give the object a consciousness. That consciousness is very weak, but it can control the object it made. In other words, those objects are all conscious. It only needs to give them an order, and they'll carry it out immediately without disobeying."
Ren Fang wasn't surprised in the least, because she spent every day with Little Black, and slept with it at night too. There were no secrets left between them.
Of course, she had been astonished when she first saw it too. But after seeing it so often, she had grown used to it.
"I see. That's so convenient. Now we don't have to worry about our boat," Fanxin said with a smile.
"Hehe, let's go, then!" Little Black said with a smile.
Fanxin nodded. Without any further hesitation, they headed onto the island.