"Awoo, awoo." Seeing that they were in low spirits, Little White Turtle scurried over and nudged the talking Black Stone with its head.
Stone Mama rolled around like a little ball.
More sea turtles joined in playing with Stone Mama, kicking it around like a football.
Stone Mama let them play while repeating the turtles' "awoo, awoo" calls. It was a true master of languages, understanding the tongues of the Flame-Horned People, humans, and sea turtles, as well as the elusive "Spirit language" that could create hallucinations.
Zhang Ming yawned, his mind still dwelling on the wondrous scene he had just witnessed.
Even the Black Tortoise, which had seemed like a god descended from heaven, could die. In his mind, the difficulty of crossing the Mysterious Zone had risen several notches.
This was going to be hard...
He had originally planned to swim back. Now he would have to find a way to build a ship-a big one.
"Stone Mama, what are the Homeless?"
Stone Mama rolled shamelessly back and forth on the ground, endlessly repeating, "Awoo! Awoo!"
The sea turtles frantically batted the Black Stone around, too. Reverence? The great stone on the Altar? Who cared? Kick it first!
"I'm asking you!"
Stone Mama was having a wonderful time being kicked around. Its true nature really was shameless; once it started playing, it forgot everything else. "Awoo! Awoo!"
After questioning it for ages without getting an answer, Zhang Ming could only give up and lie down inside the Faraday Cage, utterly bored.
This carefully constructed iron cage was his second base. Inside was a first-class reclining seat, which was quite comfortable to sleep in.
But now he tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep, countless thoughts swirling through his mind.
*If I took the term literally, the Homeless were