Chen Shouyi wiped the spittle off his face, feeling as if he were a wicked villain.
But he wasn't planning on releasing her.
He caught her with his own skills, why should he let her go?
He placed the Shell Lady on the ground, tying the other end of the hemp rope to a blade of grass.
Then, he picked up a wooden stick, ready to practice Swordsmanship.
He immediately felt the difference compared to practicing on Earth.
Under the gravity of this world, every exertion felt sluggish and heavy, his muscles were as stiff as a rusty machine, making it quite strenuous. It was as if he had returned to the days of first learning Swordsmanship, no longer smooth and seasoned as he was on Earth.
Moreover, after only a few minutes of practice, his muscles would start to cramp, and his body would spasm, forcing him to rest for a while.
However, the harsher the environment, the more apparent the training results.
He could feel that if he could master his skills in this alternate world, his Swordsmanship might reach a new level.
...
During this time, while Chen Shouyi wasn't paying attention, the Shell Lady continuously tried to escape.
At first, she was sweating profusely trying to undo the rope on her feet, but unfortunately, the knot was a dead one, and combined with her weak strength, she couldn't untie it despite her efforts.
Then, she aimed at the blade of grass.
What was a blade of grass to Chen Shouyi was thicker than her thigh to the Shell Lady.
No matter how hard she pulled or even tried to bite it with her teeth, she exhausted all her strength without breaking it.
Finally, she gave up. The gentle breeze played with her fine hair, gently swaying as she sat helplessly on the ground, her face filled with despair and numbness. Perhaps thinking about her bleak future, a tear slowly slid down her face, woeful and pitiful.
Gradually, she began to feel hungry. She flew to a nearby flower bush, drank her fill of nectar, and then sat back down, resigned to her fate.
...
Time gradually passed, and as the sun started to set, Chen Shouyi felt hunger gnawing at his stomach and finally stopped. He realized he had made a mistake, thinking he should have brought some food with him.
Then, he turned around to see the Shell Lady holding a grain of sand, tossing it up and down, seemingly entertaining herself.
At first, Chen Shouyi didn't pay attention until a glint of gold caught his eye, and he sharply sensed something amiss.
He walked over, startling the Shell Lady so much that she quickly dropped the sand and retreated.
However, Chen Shouyi's target wasn't her but the sand she dropped.
He carefully picked it up, the grain of sand was just slightly larger than a sesame seed, yet it glowed with a golden hue.
This captivating color made his heart race.
"Gold!" Chen Shouyi nearly exclaimed in shock.
There was gold on this small island!
He quickly examined the ground's sand and soil, but found nothing.
"Where did you find it?"
"@￥#%&;@" The Shell Lady shook her head desperately with a face full of tears, speaking in a strange language like a weak mosquito.
Judging by her expression, it was clearly a non-answer.
Chen Shouyi calmed himself down, pointed at the golden sand, then pointed at himself, making a gesture meaning it belonged to him.
He patiently communicated several times, but the Shell Lady still looked bewildered.
Chen Shouyi thought for a moment, realizing he needed to make a gesture that was universal and easily understood between the two worlds.
He pondered for a while, then suddenly had an idea.
The next moment, he opened his mouth, pretended to put the golden sand in his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed, while in reality, the sand was clutched between his fingers.
Then he looked at the Shell Lady, his face ferocious and tooth-baring.
His mouth was like a bloodthirsty maw to the Shell Lady, and indeed she was terrified, retreating desperately, her face white as a sheet.
Quickly, she seemed to understand something, glanced around, and suddenly took flight.
After flying a few meters, she landed, and without much searching, quickly grabbed a golden grain of sand in her palm, then flew back hurriedly to place it ingratiatingly into Chen Shouyi's palm.
He was overjoyed, knowing there was indeed more here.
Yet his expression revealed nothing, continuing to pretend to put it in his mouth, then glaring at the Shell Lady.
The poor Shell Lady, not even having a moment to breathe, frantically flew around, searching everywhere.
Watching for a while, Chen Shouyi was surprised. He noticed that the Shell Lady seemed to have a keen intuition, allowing her to accurately locate golden sand buried in the grains of sand.
He saw more than once the Shell Lady digging away the surface soil to retrieve the golden sand from within.
In a short time, the pile of golden sand in Chen Shouyi's hand grew from two pieces to eighteen, with the smallest being the size of a needle point, and the largest as big as a mung bean.
But the Shell Lady could no longer fly, sitting on the ground, drenched in sweat.
Seeing her utterly exhausted state, Chen Shouyi finally felt a bit embarrassed, and stopped coercing.
The hungrier he got, he decided to go outside to eat.
He glanced at the Shell Lady, hesitated for a moment, but still decided to let her stay here.
He placed the shell where she had originally been hiding next to her. With the protection of this shell, he believed that she shouldn't encounter any danger, at least not from insects, as she could completely hide inside.
...
Soon, he put on a nonchalant face and left the dilapidated building.
He took out his phone and turned it on.
Soon, a series of messages popped up.
He took a look and found that they were all from Zhang Xiaoyue.
"So bored!"
"What are you doing?"
...
"I had the food Dad cooked today, it was so terrible!"
Chen Shouyi showed a slight smile on his face and quickly replied: "Sorry, I was just practicing Martial Arts, just saw this now, what are you up to?"
Not long after, a message came back.
"I was napping and got woken up by you, so annoying!" Zhang Xiaoyue lay on her bed, holding her phone, her cheeks slightly puffed, quickly typing with her fingers.
Speaking of which, she only really got to know Chen Shouyi this month when they entered senior year three, before that, she hadn't had much impression of him.
He was a boy easy to overlook, with not much presence in class.
Until one day, he suddenly amazed everyone with a sword thrust performance in Martial Arts Class, she then gradually started to pay attention to him.
Later, when they encountered Barbarians at the bookstore, he held her by the wrist, protecting her with a calm face as they squeezed out of the crowd, she suddenly felt that this boy had become magnetically attractive to her.
...
"That's definitely because your sleeping posture is wrong!" Chen Shouyi replied with a smile.
"Then tell me, what sleeping posture should I use?"
Chen Shouyi couldn't help but think of some off-color jokes on the internet, quickly typed: "There are so many postures, even more than the Thirty-Six Body Refinement styles."
Immediately feeling it was inappropriate, he quickly deleted it, just as he did, a reply came from the other side.
"You're so dirty, didn't think you'd be so naughty."
Chen Shouyi was taken aback and quickly sent a sweating face emoji.
He found a spicy hot pot shop, ordered food, and continued messaging: "What are you talking about? I don't understand at all!"
Chen Shouyi ate spicy hot pot while smiling and replying to messages. During the meal, they exchanged dozens of messages, feeling like they had endless things to talk about.
Finally, with great effort, he ended the conversation: "I've got to practice Swordsmanship now, talk later!"
"Mmm, give it your best!"
After reading, Chen Shouyi turned off his phone, feeling immensely motivated.
...
The Shell Lady sat on the shell, leisurely swinging her feet, seeing that terrible Giant returning once again.
She quickly shrank back into the shell.
Chen Shouyi glanced over and found seven or eight more pieces of golden sand next to the shell, shiny and eye-catching, obviously collected during his absence.
He didn't expect the Shell Lady to have such a sense of awareness.
Chen Shouyi thought it seemed he should treat her better in the future, she's like a hen that lays golden eggs!
In a good mood, he patrolled around the small island to digest his food.
Then continued practicing Swordsmanship.
Time passed quickly, and night gradually fell in this alternate world.
There was no moon, not even starlight.
Earth has yet to determine what kind of world this alternate world is, it seems completely unlike the normal universe.
Except for the "sun" which seems somewhat normal, no other celestial bodies can be seen.
But it's not completely devoid of light here.
Chen Shouyi saw countless glows on the ocean, sometimes gathering, sometimes dispersing, like ribbons, like auroras, seductive yet spectacular, shocking yet mysterious.
Even the little island itself, tiny sparks of light rose amidst thin mists, exuding a magical aura.
At this moment, he faintly heard someone singing, the voice ethereal and mournful, seemingly coming from afar across the ocean, causing one to stop and listen.
Yet Chen Shouyi felt a chill, the night in the alternate world is terrifying, a world full of ghosts and spirits, countless dossiers on the alternate world repeatedly stress this point.
He looked back at the Shell Lady, only to find she was already hiding inside the shell.
PS: Please recommend.