Communication (Seeking Collection)

"Mother..."

After running for a distance, Lin hid inside a mountain cave, hugging her arms as she began to shiver uncontrollably.

Her nocturnal hunting was more akin to a primal instinct of hunger; even though her body had grown, she remained at her core a child whose development had been artificially accelerated.

"I'm so scared..."

Lin thought back to that night again. As she gazed at the moon, she had inexplicably thought of her mother.

Then, strange knowledge had flooded into her mind, and with that knowledge came an intense, gnawing hunger.

Driven by this hunger, she had gone out at night to attack those members of the Black Sun Cult.

Deep within the little girl's heart, there also existed a deep-seated resentment toward those cultists.

After all, it was they who had sacrificed her Aunt Xiu!

In the end, things had turned out this way.

The terror of the High Priest gave her the illusion that she would be killed the moment they met, so she had chosen without hesitation to leave behind a decoy to face the enemy while she instantly matured and fled.

After trembling in fear for a while, Lin began to draw a ritual circle on the ground.

Although she lacked the candles and essential oils required for the ritual, and the circle was far from standard, she began to pray nonetheless: "I beseech the gods... or the unknowable entity wandering in the void, whoever you may be... please, help me!"

"This ritual is non-standard, and the prayer itself makes a grave error... the subject is unclear. Did that entity on the moon not tell Lin Its true name? Oh... wait, for an entity like that, a single glance would have finished Lin off. She only sensed a wisp of Its radiance... no wonder she set up such a ritual; the knowledge is clearly incomplete."

Aaron stood to the side, critiquing slowly: "This girl, is she already half-mad?"

Suddenly, an echo seemed to ring in his ears.

It was faint and incredibly soft; had he not been focusing, he would have barely heard it.

"Unknowable entity wandering in the void... help me..."

Aaron's expression shifted: "I heard it... a prayer? This ritual, it points to me? No... is it a matter of range? I should have realized this sooner!"

His spirits lifted. Indeed, there should be no shortage of lunatics in this world performing rituals to unknown subjects. The reason he hadn't received any signals until now was entirely because he was too weak and his reception range was too narrow.

And now, a ritual with an undefined target was right before him!

Aaron could feel that as he accepted the intent, a connection in the dark had been established.

He observed the young girl before him with a brand-new perspective.

In his 'vision', the girl's entire body was filled with a flowing Crimson; in terms of mystical fluctuations, it was even stronger than that of an average Son of Burning!

However, this flowing Crimson had completely covered the girl's brain and was still attempting to penetrate further inward.

"The connection is established. What can I do?"

Aaron pondered for a moment: "Hmm, I still have today's allotment of mystical energy from my dream... one-third was for movement, one-third for storage, and the final third was originally meant to strengthen myself. I suppose I could give it a try."

Lin had only prayed subconsciously.

Furthermore, she had actually wanted to add the title of 'Mother'.

But before she could even speak, she felt a connection in the dark being established.

The world before her seemed to transform into a colorful kaleidoscope.

Amidst thousands of light fragments, a terrifying gaze was transmitted through.

A mere glance was enough to make Lin unable to bear it, forcing her to kneel on the ground.

Not only that, but one crack after another appeared on her body, from which embryonic, flesh-like masses that had not yet fully gestated were expelled.

"Ugh!"

Lin could no longer hold it in and began to retch. Among the vomit were strange, blood-colored insects, struggling like fish out of water.

Her stature shrank continuously until she returned to the appearance of the little girl she had been before, the crimson in her eyes gradually fading.

"What... what have I done!"

Lin muttered to herself, her eyes filled with horror.

'Hmm? It seems my mystical energy has washed away the corruption and madness from her?'

Aaron could see that the Crimson still existed on Lin, but it had become incredibly pure, devoid of the previous wriggling, nauseating sensation.

He thought for a moment and, through the connection, said in a playful tone: "I have purified His gift. I imagine you wouldn't want to start gestating thousands of offspring at such a young age, would you?"

Lin froze. She heard this voice ringing directly in her heart and trembled all over: "Are... are you one of the entities in the void?"

She knew that her previous ritual had truly summoned an unknowable entity.

"Finally, this opportunity!"

Aaron felt a jolt in his heart, but he sighed and said: "You may call me—the Spirit of Unknown Void, the Absolute Neutral Entity, the Silent Observer!"

It wasn't that he didn't want to say, "I am the Creator above the Creators, the source of all mystery."

But upon reflection, that title was too provocative. If he were noticed by those beings in the Black Sun, his current fragile state would have no way to fight back, so he decided against it.

"Your Excellency Spirit of Void, thank you for responding to my prayer."

Lin did not know how earth-shattering it was for an entity to be able to respond to a ritual, let alone communicate.

After all, she was just a child, and her previous knowledge of the occult was extremely scarce.

"You seem to have encountered some trouble..."

Aaron spoke in an incredibly calm tone.

"Yes, I am being hunted by the Black Sun Cult..." Lin lowered her head, her voice filled with yearning.

"I am an absolute neutral. I will not help you of my own volition, unless... we conduct a transaction!"

Aaron revealed a faint smile.

He had taken a liking to the occult knowledge in Lin's possession.

Although manipulating flesh and blood was disgusting, it could at least enrich his own learning and collection.

Yes, the pathetic him didn't even have the ability to directly dig into someone's brain to view their memories—what a total failure of an evil god.

"A transaction?"

"Offer a sacrifice that satisfies my desires, and I shall respond to your prayer."

Aaron said, "Everything tangible or intangible can become a sacrifice, for instance... occult knowledge!"

"I... my most precious possession should be the knowledge regarding 'Crimson'. I am willing to offer it to you, please, let me escape this danger!"

The moment Lin spoke, Aaron's gaze suddenly pierced through her body, seeing a sphere of crimson light.

As his thoughts made slight contact, streams of information surfaced in his consciousness:

['Crimson' exists within all living beings, within flesh and blood; it tastes sweet, with an endless aftertaste...]

[Method for creating Flesh Puppets:...]

[Feast Ritual:...]

Everything combined could form an incomplete 'Crimson' Grimoire.

"Not bad!"

Aaron glanced at Lin and discovered that the sphere of light in her memory had not disappeared. Clearly, the transfer of knowledge did not cause any loss; she still remembered everything.

"Very well. If you have a piece of food and I have a piece of food, after we exchange, we still only have one piece of food each. But if you have a piece of knowledge and I have a piece of knowledge, after we exchange, we both possess two pieces of knowledge."

Aaron muttered a snarky remark in his heart, then spoke aloud: "You may leave now; I will protect you. Remember, do not pray to that existence on the moon, unless you want to give birth to children..."

This was a metaphysical protection. Although he was very unwilling for his only believer to die, if she were to be caught, Aaron would be powerless to stop it...