The Mysterious Creature

He wandered along, taking in all the sounds, big and small, the rich, vivid colors, and the sharper scents.

He had walked this street more times than he could count and knew it by heart, yet now it seemed fresh and strange. The whole world appeared to have come alive with color.

Before he knew it, he had arrived at the Unfinished Building again.

He stopped, hesitating for a moment. When no pedestrians were looking, he darted forward and quickly made his way into the Unfinished Building.

Soon, he found the Space Channel with practiced ease and entered the other world once more.

As he breathed in the thick air, a force within him seemed to stir back to life. A sense of familiarity welled up in him.

He glanced at the Status Panel. Beginner Self-Healing had changed back into Natural Healing.

It was already afternoon in the other world. In Earth time, it was around two o'clock, when the sun blazed hottest.

He took a few steps to readjust to the gravity here, then practiced the Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms a few times to warm up.

Under three times Earth's gravity, the exercises took much more effort. Every move demanded a tremendous amount of stamina.

Fortunately, he was no longer what he used to be. Of all his attributes, his stamina was by far the strongest.

He practiced five whole rounds before he began to feel slightly tired.

But he didn't dare exhaust himself here. He soon stopped, picked up the wooden stick he had left behind yesterday, and continued exploring the Small Island.

Though he had given the island a quick look yesterday and found nothing dangerous, he didn't dare let his guard down.

The other world was utterly different from Earth.

Compared with Earth, the material elements here were no different, but the world as a whole possessed an additional, mysterious field of force. The barbarians called it Natural Force, or Primal Force.

It was everywhere, permeating every atom and even smaller structures of matter.

It could greatly disrupt the movement of electrons, making them reluctant to be gained or lost. Every chemical reaction became incredibly slow, and it was even difficult to light a fire here.

By all reason, such a world should have been completely dead, with no living thing capable of surviving in it.

And yet, in truth, the other world teemed with life.

The most widely accepted explanation among scientists was that this mysterious field could easily be disturbed by living organisms. From primitive microorganisms to highly intelligent beings, all of them had active biochemical reactions.

Even after death, souls could survive independently, persisting for a long time without fading away.

Ghosts, Spirits, and even more terrifying Nature Spirits were mere legends on Earth. But in this world, they were real—and everywhere.

In such an environment, the creatures here weren't the only ones with individual consciousness or even intelligence. Many plants had them too, and some could even move about.

Holding the wooden stick, Chen Shouyi carefully climbed step by step toward the summit.

It really was a barren little island. Aside from the weeds and wildflowers, there were only oddly shaped reefs—not a single tree. He suspected the island had only recently emerged from the sea.

Before long, he reached the summit.

The sea breeze howled, sending his hair flying. The Great Sea stretched endlessly in every direction, filling him with a sense of boundless joy.

Unable to help himself, Chen Shouyi let out a long, loud shout, releasing his excitement.

It was quite some time before he came down from the hill and returned to the beach.

The Great Sea rolled in and out, its waves endlessly washing the shore. Several crustaceans scuttled across the sand, and every so often he spotted colorful shells gleaming brilliantly in the sun.

He was immediately captivated by their colors. Compared with shells on Earth, these were not only stranger in shape but also far more vivid and brilliant.

He had always been fascinated by objects from the other world. He decided to take one back and put it in his bedroom as a decoration.

Chen Xingyue would probably be green with envy if she saw it.

He carefully searched for a suitable shell, intending to choose the prettiest one.

Then his eyes suddenly lit up.

It was a palm-sized shell, lying on a massive boulder more than a meter above the water. In the sunlight, it shimmered with a rainbow halo, its colors seeming almost dreamlike. Among all the other shells, it stood out like a crane among chickens.

The shell was half open, and the area around it was quite dry. At a glance, it looked like an inanimate object.

Chen Shouyi was instinctively wary of the creatures here. Since this one was dead, he felt no qualms about picking it up.

He strode over and lifted it from the boulder.

But before he could take a closer look, the unexpected happened.

The shell suddenly opened, and a tiny person floated an inch above it, flailing her arms and legs and striking coquettish poses as motes of light swirled around her.

Startled by the sudden change, Chen Shouyi's eyes flew wide. He almost dropped the shell.

Fortunately, he quickly realized that this mysterious creature didn't seem to pose any threat to him.

She floated free of the shell, surrounded by sparkling motes of light, looking utterly mysterious. But she was so tiny—only about as long as one of Chen Shouyi's fingers—that he could hardly feel threatened by her.

Suppressing his fear, Chen Shouyi studied the mysterious creature carefully. She had a humanlike female appearance and figure, and was completely naked.

As for her strange behavior, he gradually figured out that she seemed to be dancing.

What kind of act was this? Did she think that playing at being spooky would scare me off?

Curious, he gently poked her with a finger. The Shell Girl was indeed all bark and no bite; she was knocked straight back into her shell, where she curled into a frightened ball and soon began to whimper.

But Chen Shouyi didn't feel much pity for alien creatures.

"This might be the first time humans have discovered a creature like this. If I put a video of her on a video-sharing site, it'd probably cause a sensation." Watching the Shell Girl whimper, an idea suddenly came to him.

But the thought had barely crossed his mind before he dismissed it.

If he put this creature online, an investigation would expose the Space Channel completely.

He still hadn't decided whether to report the Space Channel.

He decided to observe things a little longer. If there really was danger, he would report it at once. If there wasn't, he would put off reporting it for a while.

After all, the Space Channel had probably been here for more than a day or two. If it posed some kind of risk, it would likely have emerged long ago rather than waiting until now.

At that moment, the Shell Girl's expression shifted between dark and light. Then, as if she had finally made up her mind, she gritted her teeth. Taking advantage of the "giant" looking the other way, she suddenly shot up from her shell and flew off into the distance.

A beautiful trail of glittering light streamed behind her as she raced desperately toward the Great Sea.

But she hadn't even flown half a meter before darkness fell over her. A fierce gust roared up, and the next moment, a gigantic hand had seized her.

"Ah!" A shrill, despairing scream rang out from the Shell Girl, her face twisted with terror.

Her scream buzzed like a tuning fork, making Chen Shouyi's ears itch.

Then he stuffed the wondrous Shell Girl back into the pretty shell and snapped it shut. Her ceaseless screaming immediately grew muffled and hollow.

Chen Shouyi was in a good mood. This mysterious creature he had caught had sparked his keen interest.

He didn't intend to stay on the beach, so he headed back toward the entrance to the channel.

Then he suddenly realized the Shell Girl had gone quiet. Just a few minutes ago, he could feel her pounding against the shell, but now there was not a sound.

Could she have suffocated? He gently shook the shell.

He felt something roll around inside, but there was no other response.

He hurriedly opened the shell a crack and found that the Shell Girl had indeed fainted. Tears hung on her pale face, and terror still lingered in her expression.

Fortunately, Chen Shouyi could still see her chest rising and falling slightly, which allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.

Chen Shouyi stroked his chin and thought:

Looks like I'll have to try a different way of keeping her captive!

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the weeds on the ground and immediately came up with an idea.

Soon, he found a tough vine-like grass and stripped off its outer layer. Then he twisted it into a long, thin cord. Grabbing both ends, Chen Shouyi tugged hard and found it quite sturdy; even with all his strength, he couldn't snap it.

Then he lifted the Shell Girl by one foot.

He glanced curiously between her legs and couldn't help blushing.

"She's... she's exactly the same as a woman!"

His heart thudded wildly. He quickly averted his eyes, doing his best not to look, and only relaxed once he had tied one of her feet with the thin cord, his hands trembling.

Though he had secretly watched plenty of videos in real life, this was the first time he had seen one up close.

Fortunately, the Shell Girl was so tiny that the sight had only struck him at first. He soon calmed down.

He placed the Shell Girl in his palm and occasionally prodded her body.

Before long, she finally woke up.

She blinked drowsily and stretched, apparently still confused about what was happening. Then she saw a pair of enormous eyes.

She screamed again, and her body shot into the air as she tried to flee.

Unfortunately, she hadn't flown far before the cord yanked her back.

It reminded him of the sparrows his father had caught for him when he was little. He had never managed to keep one alive; they always died after a few days.

The Shell Girl collapsed to the ground in despair, tears streaming down her face. After a while, she started talking, her voice shifting from impassioned anger to mournful sorrow. Unfortunately, she was so quiet that she could barely be heard over the buzz of a fly.

Chen Shouyi leaned closer, trying to hear her better.

The next moment, the Shell Girl spat at her.