Inside the cellar, that grayish-white Little Flame, as thin as a strand of hair yet giving off a strange [HUNGER] fluctuation, flickered weakly but stubbornly like a candle guttering in the wind. Its flame tip was fixedly "staring" at the bowl of Chaos Spirit Milk and Fruit Paste in Ling Ye's hand.
Ling Ye held the bowl, his arm rigid and his expression frozen as if encased in ice.
Feed... feed it?
Use this bowl of his "son's" supplementary food to feed a pendant that might belong to some ancestor-level existence from the multiverse, with an origin so terrifying that even that madam was wary of it?!
The image was too beautiful to contemplate.
But if he didn't feed it?
The [HUNGER] fluctuation emanating from Little Flame was faint, yet it carried an undeniable longing that seemed to originate from the very beginning of life. There was even... the slightest trace of something difficult to detect... grievance? It was like a child who had been hungry for a very, very long time.
Ling Ye felt as though he was about to split in two.
On one side was his bawling "current son," Ling Xiaoye, waiting with his little mouth open to be fed.
On the other was the pendant flame that might be an "ancestor," radiating the thought, "I want some too."
Beside them was a red-light-flashing baby's bib, clearly protesting, "No one is allowed to touch the baby's food."
What was this supposed to be?!
Ling Xiaoye couldn't wait for the next spoonful of paste. His little mouth drooped, and he looked ready to start wailing again.
Ling Ye had a splitting headache. Acting on instinct, he wanted to put the spoon into his son's mouth first to stabilize the situation—
However, just as the spoon was about to touch Ling Xiaoye's lips—
The grayish-white Little Flame seemed to be provoked by this act of "favoring one over the other" and suddenly... leaped once!
An extremely faint fluctuation, yet one carrying supreme dignity and a [----] meaning, rippled outward like waves!
Smack!
The spoon in Ling Ye's hand... instantly... turned into the finest... white powder... and sifted down...
Even the bit of fruit paste in the spoon was annihilated and vanished along with it!
Ling Ye: "!!!"
Su Wanqing: "!!!"
The baby's bib: "!!!" (Its red light instantly dimmed in fright.)
Ling Xiaoye: "(⊙_⊙)?" (His mouth was still open. Where did the paste go?)
The cellar fell deathly silent.
Only Little Flame continued flickering weakly, as if it had merely swatted a fly to death, continuing to transmit its stubborn [HUNGER] fluctuation.
Ling Ye stared at his empty hand and the bit of powder. Cold sweat instantly soaked his back!
This... this wasn't a discussion...
This was... an order?!
He had no doubt that if he dared to feed Ling Xiaoye first again, it wouldn't be just the spoon that was annihilated!
This ancestral pendant... was not someone he could afford to offend!
Ling Ye swallowed with difficulty. He forced his face into an ingratiating smile uglier than crying and carefully addressed Little Flame (mainly addressing the pendant): "Y-You go first... Please, you go first..."
With trembling hands, he slowly extended the bowl of fragrant Chaos Spirit Milk and Fruit Paste toward Little Flame, as if offering up a divine artifact.
The baby's bib erupted with a desperate mental radiance: [NOOO! THE BABY'S FOOD!] Yet it did not dare make any further extreme moves.
Little Flame's tip seemed to "smell" the dense energy and fragrance right in front of it. It began to flicker even more cheerfully.
Then, under the extremely tense gazes of Ling Ye, Su Wanqing, and the baby's bib—
The tiny flame gently touched the perfect fruit paste in the bowl.
There was no explosion or annihilation.
The moment the fruit paste touched the flame, it seemed to encounter the most efficient decomposer in existence. It instantly transformed into a stream of incomparably pure energy glowing with a hazy white light, which Little Flame sucked in with a "slurp," like someone eating noodles!
A small bowl of fruit paste vanished completely in the blink of an eye!
Little Flame seemed satisfied as it "swayed" once. Its form appeared... just a tiny bit more solid? Its light also seemed slightly brighter?
The [HUNGER] fluctuation it transmitted... weakened... but... did not disappear completely?!
It was as if... it had merely whetted its appetite?!
Ling Ye looked at the empty bowl, then at Little Flame, which seemed not quite satisfied. The corner of his mouth twitched frantically.
That wasn't even enough to get stuck between its teeth?!
The energy contained in that bowl of paste was enough to make an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator burst several times over! Just how picky was this ancestor's palate?!
At that moment, Ling Xiaoye, whose food had been stolen, finally realized what had happened—
His food! It was gone! That strange flame had eaten it!
"Waaah—!!!!!!!"
An unprecedented, earth-shaking cry filled with tremendous grievance and fury suddenly erupted! Its volume was so powerful it nearly blew the cellar's roof off!
The little fellow cried until his face turned bright red, kicking and waving his hands as tears rolled down like beads from a broken string!
[Waaah—! Bad thing! You stole my food! Daddy is bad!] The baby's bib also erupted with intense, kindred sorrow and fury, its red light flashing violently!
Ling Ye's head buzzed from the double onslaught of demonic noise. He felt as if his brain was about to explode!
"Stop crying! I'll make you more! Another bowl! I'll make another bowl!" Ling Ye frantically tried to soothe him. He picked up the little metal ball from the ground and shook it desperately. "Hurry! Make another bowl! No, make ten bowls!"
However, the little metal ball showed no reaction. The cloud patterns on its surface were dull and lifeless, as if making that perfect serving of supplementary food had exhausted all its energy.
[Insufficient energy... Unable to activate... Please charge...] An extremely faint, intermittent electronic voice came from inside the ball.
Charge?!
Charge it with what?! Where was he supposed to find electricity here?! Did it want him to use his Chaos Origin Qi?! But in his current condition...
Ling Ye was about to collapse!
After absorbing the first bowl of fruit paste, Little Flame seemed to have tasted the sweetness. Its [HUNGER] fluctuation became obvious again, and its tip began to turn toward... the Ling Xiaoye who was currently wailing his head off?!
As if it were assessing how tasty this "energy source" would be?!
Ling Ye was scared out of his wits. He pulled the sobbing Ling Xiaoye tightly into his arms and repeatedly told Little Flame, "No! This one can't be eaten! He's your... your grandnephew?! (The generations seem to be messed up.) Anyway, you can't eat him! I'll think of something! I'll get you food right away!"
He was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. His gaze swept frantically around the dark cellar, trying to find anything that might replace the "supplementary food"!
Moldy straw? No! The ancestor probably wouldn't like it!
Rat droppings? Even worse!
Dirt?...
Just as he was nearly desperate, even considering whether he should cut off some of his own flesh to try (though it probably wouldn't work anyway)—
His gaze suddenly locked onto... the forgotten, worn cloth bundle in the corner of the cellar!
That was it!
The cloth bundle!
There were so many strange things inside! Surely one of them could be eaten? Or maybe one of them could produce food?!
As if he had seized the last straw keeping him alive, he rushed over, held the cloth bundle upside down, and shook it frantically!
"Clatter-clatter—"
A huge pile of assorted objects fell from the cloth bundle and scattered across the floor.
There were shriveled "old dough" fossils, a rust-covered broken sword, jade slips he couldn't understand, herbs giving off a strange odor, and several lumps that looked like ore...
But not one of them looked edible!
Ling Ye's eyes reddened with anxiety as he uselessly rummaged through the pile of miscellaneous objects.
Little Flame's [HUNGER] fluctuation grew stronger and stronger. It had begun impatiently "licking" the air, radiating a dangerous aura.
Ling Xiaoye's crying grew even louder.
The baby's bib's red light flickered in despair.
Su Wanqing trembled in fright.
At the height of this chaos—
Ling Ye's fingers accidentally touched... a black, palm-sized object covered in honeycomb-like holes. It looked somewhat like... volcanic rock?
The moment that "volcanic rock" touched his fingers, it actually... grew... slightly warm?
It even transmitted an extremely faint scent of [WHEAT]? And the aroma of [FERMENTATION]?!
Ling Ye froze and instinctively picked up the strange "volcanic rock."
It was warm and heavy in his hand.
What... was this thing?
He carefully tried extending this strange "volcanic rock" toward the impatient Little Flame.
Desperate times called for desperate measures!
The instant Little Flame's tip touched the "volcanic rock"—
Hiss—!
A faint sound rang out.
That hard "volcanic rock" actually... began visibly becoming... soft... and swelling...?!
The honeycomb holes on its surface grew larger, its color changing from black to brown. An incredibly rich aroma of baked bread, carrying the fragrance of natural yeast, instantly filled the entire cellar!!!
This... this stone was... bread?! The freshly baked kind?!
Ling Ye stared in stunned disbelief!
Little Flame seemed very satisfied with this "baked-bread stone." Its tip bounced cheerfully once, and it began to "gnaw" at it.
The "bread stone" steadily shrank, giving off an enticing toasted fragrance.
Ling Xiaoye's crying gradually quieted. His little nose twitched as he stared at the source of the aroma with tearful eyes, unconsciously smacking his lips.
The baby's bib's red light also softened, transmitting the thought, "This... seems pretty good?"
The crisis... seemed to have been temporarily resolved?
Ling Ye cautiously let out half a long breath, feeling as if he were about to collapse from exhaustion.
This lousy cloth bundle... really was full of bizarre things! Even the stones were edible!
However, before he could finish relaxing—
Little Flame, which had been "gnawing" at the bread stone, suddenly... paused.
The [HUNGER] fluctuation it transmitted was still weakening... but seemed to have transformed into another, more complicated [----]?
It was as if it had tasted something... familiar yet strange?
The tip of Little Flame was no longer focused on "gnawing." Instead, it began to "taste" and "sense" the bread stone more carefully...
Its light flickered faintly, as if it were... remembering... something...
Then...
It abruptly...
Stopped "gnawing"!
The grayish-white flame...
Suddenly...
Became incomparably bright!!!
An emotional fluctuation far more intense and complicated than before burst from the flame like a flood breaking through a dam!!!
It was no longer simple [HUNGER]...
It was...
[SHOCK!]
[UNBELIEVABLE!]
[REMEMBRANCE!]
[AND...]
[THE EXCITEMENT OF... SEEMINGLY HAVING FOUND... A RELATIVE LOST FOR BILLIONS OF YEARS?!]
[AND...]
[ENORMOUS...]
[GRIEVANCE?!]
Little Flame no longer paid attention to the remaining "bread stone." Instead, it abruptly... changed direction!
It fixedly...
"Stared" at...
Ling Ye!!!
An intensely powerful thought, seemingly carrying a sob, crashed into Ling Ye's mind like a tsunami:
[This flavor...]
[It's this flavor!!!]
[The flavor of "home"!!!]
[You... where did you... get this?!]
[You know... "Daddy"?!]
[Take me to see Him!!!]
[Waaah—!!! (It seemed to truly start crying.) I want to go home!!! I want to find Daddy!!!]
Ling Ye: "??????"
Da... Daddy?!
Another father?!!!
What was going on now?!!
This lousy stone... wasn't it food?! How had eating it produced a father?!
He felt as if he was about to be driven insane by this endless "family ethics drama"!
Just then.
In the corner of the cellar.
The "bread stone" that Little Flame had "abandoned," with half of it remaining...
Suddenly...
"Pfft..."
A soft sound.
A tiny black beetle, its shell slick and gleaming, no bigger than a fingernail...?
It slowly... crawled out of a honeycomb-like hole...
It shook its wings, as if it had just woken up, while its two tiny feelers swayed in confusion.
Then...
It noticed the emotionally agitated, dazzling Little Flame not far away...
The tiny beetle's feelers suddenly stiffened!
Next...
It made a move that nearly made Ling Ye's eyes pop out!
It actually...
Stood upright?!
It raised both forelegs...
As if putting its hands on its hips?!
Toward that terrifying Little Flame...
It let out an extremely faint, yet incredibly furious and disgusted...
"Chitter chitter chitter chitter!!!" shriek!
Translated, the cry roughly meant:
[You're so freaking noisy!!!]
[Which damned bastard has no eyes?!]
[How dare you secretly eat the [Void Fermented Bread] I painstakingly baked for three thousand epochs?!]
[Are you going to let a bug sleep or not?!]
[Pay up!!!]
Before you continue