Crimson Jellyfish

On Stormhill, the fierce wind howled, sending waves of cold through the body.

Xia Tong looked back.

Roderika's little Shack looked fragile in the bitter wind, as though it could fall apart at any moment.

Jingle, jingle.

He shook the Spirit Calling Bell, and two Fanged Imps materialized.

Xia Tong pointed at several dead trees near the distant hill and gave the order.

He stepped forward and began chopping as well. Before long, the trees had been felled.

Then he roughly processed them into several simple wooden planks.

With a Tarnished's powerful physique, making such things was not particularly difficult.

Without nails, Xia Tong could only use tough vines as rope and tie the planks over the damaged areas.

For gaps that could not be covered, Xia Tong stuffed them tightly with dry grass.

The roof was handled more simply and brutally: he laid large planks over it, then bound them firmly with vines.

He worked from morning until dusk. Only after an entire day did he finally finish everything.

Perhaps because of her earlier traumatic experiences, Roderika's emotions had become somewhat numb.

She simply sat inside the house with her arms wrapped around her knees, staring blankly as Xia Tong clattered about, working both inside and outside.

"I've taken care of the nearby wolf packs, the wandering Wandering Nobles, and a few Kaiden Sellswords who attacked anyone they saw. The house has been repaired too, so rest well here."

Xia Tong wiped away his sweat and turned to leave.

But the next second, he found someone tugging at the hem of his clothes from behind.

Roderika began to cry and tremble, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Sir... please tell me your name. I still don't know it."

"My name is Xia Tong."

After Xia Tong left,

Roderika looked at the newly refurbished little wooden house Xia Tong had built, and a trace of long-lost delight arose in her deadened heart.

She walked softly around the room, then suddenly noticed something new on the table.

It was a gray cloth bag.

She gently picked it up. It still held some lingering warmth.

She opened it.

"This is... dried meat?"

Roderika gently pinched up a grayish-brown strip of dried meat and placed it in her mouth, chewing it carefully.

A faint salty flavor spread across her tongue, followed by a richer aroma of meat.

"Xia Tong..."

Though the wind still howled outside, warmth had already begun to fill the little house.

On a mountain road near Stormhill, Xia Tong looked happily at Melina and pulled something from his robes.

"Look at this."

Xia Tong held out his hand. In his palm was a golden seed, like a glowing crystalized golden petal, radiating a warm light.

Xia Tong had discovered it while cutting down trees. It had been in a patch of woods not far from the Shack. Perhaps some unseen guidance had led him to it.

This was Xia Tong's first time seeing a Golden Seed. It had appeared at the roots of a translucent sapling shining with golden light.

Like a Site of Grace, this Minor Erdtree could only be seen by those it acknowledged.

"This is a Golden Seed. You can use it to increase the number of times you can use your Flask of Crimson Tears," Melina said slowly.

"How do I use it?"

"Just place the Golden Seed into the phantom image of the Flask of Crimson Tears."

Xia Tong did as she said and dropped the Golden Seed into the Crimson Tear Flask.

The level of crimson tears within the flask rose a little higher, and a flash of golden radiance vanished in an instant.

The number of uses had clearly increased. Xia Tong could now take one more life-saving drink from the flask.

Suddenly, Xia Tong thought of something else.

He blew his whistle and summoned Torrent, then lightly kicked off the ground and leaped onto his back.

"Hyah!"

Riding Torrent, Xia Tong headed toward the edge of the western forest.

The scenery along the way was exceedingly desolate. The winds on Stormhill were cold and piercing, and Xia Tong could not help wrapping his clothes tighter around himself.

"It should be this way. I can't be wrong."

After passing through a sparse conifer forest, the view before him suddenly opened up.

But what lay ahead was a graveyard that sent chills down his spine.

Countless faint, nearly transparent jellyfish drifted around the gravestones.

These must have been Spirit Jellyfish.

"They're the same as the Spirit Jellyfish Roderika gave me, but this isn't what I'm looking for."

These white jellyfish were gentle by nature and had no desire to attack Xia Tong.

Xia Tong slowly rode past them, doing his best not to disturb their peace.

Xia Tong knew a little about these Spirit Jellyfish. They were actually formed from children who had died young.

Suddenly, a red shadow appeared before him.

Ahead was a group of entirely crimson jellyfish!

They were no longer transparent. Their insides seemed to be filled with boiling blood.

The air around them was instantly drowned in a frenzied, resentful emotion.

"One, two, three, four..."

Xia Tong made a rough count. There were dozens of them, densely packed together.

And the Spirit Ashes Xia Tong sought were beside a gravestone tightly surrounded by four or five Crimson Jellyfish.

"There are even Skeletal Militiamen."

Through the gaps between the jellyfish, Xia Tong saw skeletons draped in scattered scraps of red cloth near several gravestones.

These Those Who Live in Death were extremely troublesome. Even after being smashed apart, they could reassemble themselves. They had to be struck down repeatedly to be killed for good.

And faced with the siege of dozens of Crimson Jellyfish, Xia Tong could already tell that he would have no chance to finish them off.

He hid behind a huge gravestone, picked up a stone from the ground, and hurled it hard at the nearest Crimson Jellyfish.

Then he immediately ducked back behind the gravestone.

The struck Crimson Jellyfish instantly lashed its tentacles about and turned toward him.

Its once-languid floating body tensed in an instant. Its color changed from dark red to deep crimson, and countless tentacles thrashed wildly like whips.

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

The jellyfish was practically exploding with rage.

If ordinary white jellyfish had died young for ordinary reasons, then this Crimson Jellyfish had died young under the force of violence, harboring resentment in its heart.

They were frenzied by nature.

This enraged Crimson Jellyfish instantly stirred up the others nearby.

The Crimson Jellyfish twisted wildly, spraying red venom in every direction like a torrential downpour.

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

Any stones struck by the venom immediately began to sizzle, releasing white smoke as they were corroded.

"How the hell is this any different from concentrated sulfuric acid?"

Still shaken, Xia Tong did not dare act rashly. Instead, he moved farther away and hid beside a gravestone on the outskirts.

He assessed his available strength.

The only fighting power he could bring out now was three Stray Wolves, two Fanged Imps, and himself.

There was no way he could face the siege of dozens of Crimson Jellyfish head-on.

Not to mention those unkillable Skeleton Soldiers causing trouble as well.

After an unknown amount of time, Xia Tong finally saw the restless Crimson Jellyfish gradually calm down.

In the night, beside a conspicuous gravestone, a mass of condensed semisolid soul matter floated quietly in the air.

This should be—the Spirit Ashes of Godrick Soldiers.

His Spirit Ashes army was still far too weak, and it did not even have a frontline fighter capable of taking damage.

The three Stray Wolves and two Fanged Imps were more suited to mobility and harassment.

They were quite skilled at ambushes. If they swarmed together, their consecutive attacks could stagger enemies until they could not fight back.

But when someone truly needed to hold the line, Xia Tong could only charge in himself with his own flesh and blood.

As for the Spirit Jellyfish Roderika had given him, it was actually very fragile. It could only serve as a small long-range turret and venom sprayer.

"At night, these frenzied Crimson Jellyfish and Those Who Live in Death are very active. If you must act, tomorrow morning would be a good opportunity."

"At dawn, they are at their weakest point of the day."

Melina's voice sounded at just the right moment.

She had no physical body of her own, so she could not provide Xia Tong with any direct help in battle.

But she remained by his side, offering advice and carrying out the duties of a maiden.

Melina's voice was so gentle and tender that it soothed Xia Tong's agitation.

Xia Tong made his decision at once, mounted Torrent, and rode away into the distance.

He returned to the Stormhill Shack.

Xia Tong pushed open the repaired wooden door.

He said to Roderika somewhat awkwardly,

"Um... if it's all right, can I stay here tonight?"

"Of course!"

A light seemed to flash in Roderika's once-lifeless eyes.