Chapter 309: Tondo God

The medicine was dark and unremarkable. Dong Rui swallowed it whole, and soon a warmth spread in his stomach, restoring some strength to his body. He had been busy and exhausted for so long, injured and bleeding, and was close to collapse.

"This medicine is actually quite good," he stated honestly.

"How can we get out of this jellyfish?"

Dong Rui was unwilling to tell him. "You'll know once we're out of danger," he said.

"Do you really know?" He Lingchuan asked skeptically. "You nearly drowned yourself."

Drowning inside a monster he himself created—that would be a ridiculous way to go. Dong Rui's face fell. "This is just an experimental product; it still needs improvement!" he said. "It's also my first time... trying it out like this."

This experimental product hadn't even entered the testing phase yet, and many details hadn't been finalized.

As a result, it almost suffocated its creator.

"How much longer will we be drifting?" he asked. They were currently riding a high-speed "river train" downstream.

Looking around, the river's current had not only failed to slow down but had actually accelerated. They seemed to have entered a narrower, more winding channel, where the rapids surged and the sound of the water was like thunder.

"We'll have to wait until the current calms down," Dong Rui said. "Going out now would be suicide!"

The giant jellyfish was often forced underwater. Here was another bizarre world where all sorts of imaginable and unimaginable debris drifted about. He Lingchuan also saw various animal carcasses being sucked into the underwater currents and whirlpools; it was a grotesque, colorful, and brutal sight.

Without the giant jellyfish's protection, even the best swimmer would not be able to pass through this section.

Even a giant whale caught in such a flood would have no chance of survival.

They were stuck twice on mid-river reefs, but fortunately, the violent current eventually pushed the slippery giant jellyfish past them.

He Lingchuan poked the sticky substance beside him. "How long did it take you to make it this big?"

"Three to five months, I'd say," Dong Rui replied. "It and its kind were originally only hat-sized."

He Lingchuan didn't ask why he did it, knowing this guy's thought process was different from ordinary people. But he asked, "What does 'thirty-four' mean? Is this jellyfish number thirty-five?"

"Yes," Dong Rui conceded.

So this guy had already modified at least thirty-five creatures and numbered each one.

"What number was that ghost ape?" He Lingchuan asked, with nothing else to do but talk.

"Seventeen."

"But I've only seen you release four demon puppets," He Lingchuan noted (if this jellyfish counted as one).

Dong Rui grumbled unhappily, "Most weren't done properly, so they were destroyed." His shoulder was still aching terribly, thanks to this guy. Why did he have to chat with his enemy?

"So, only four in total?" He Lingchuan chuckled. "Your success rate is a bit low."

Dong Rui glared at him. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"What's that red medicine for, exactly?" He Lingchuan asked. The mutated phoenix tree had left a deep impression on the Iris people, and to this day, the medicine apes hadn't managed to decipher that strange potion.

He Lingchuan knew it wouldn't be easy.

"None of your business," Dong Rui retorted. (So, this kid picked up the lost potion.) "You people can't use that stuff at all."

He Lingchuan detected his arrogance. "Only useful for demon puppets?"

Dong Rui glanced at him, too lazy to respond.

*You knew that, so why ask?*

"It seems to be some kind of blood," He Lingchuan mused, ignoring Dong Rui's dismissive attitude. "Is it related to the ji beasts from ancient times?"

Dong Rui rolled his eyes and snorted, "What do you know?"

"Isn't it?"

Dong Rui said proudly, "Ji beasts are crude, mindless, and recognize no kin. How can they compare to my demon puppets?"

He trained his demon puppets to be as obedient as an extension of his own arm, taming them to be utterly submissive.

"It seems you've studied ji beasts extensively."

Dong Rui scoffed, "An amateur like you just hears a couple of terms and starts sniffing around."

Changing the subject, He Lingchuan asked, "What's going on with your face?"

"None of your business," Dong Rui replied curtly.

"Is it a curse or poison?"

"Poison," Dong Rui said coldly. "Testing medicine, and it went wrong."

This person was a master of medicine, yet he managed to mess up by testing it on himself. Seeing that Dong Rui didn't want to talk about it, He Lingchuan changed the subject. "So, have you researched the River-crossing Ghost Mother?"

"The River-crossing Ghost Mother?" Dong Rui finally showed a look of surprise. "Where did you hear that name?"

"I've seen it with my own eyes."

"Where?" Dong Rui's expression tightened, a little eager. "Exactly where?"

"You tell me first."

Dong Rui stared at him for a long time, as if judging whether he was bragging.

He Lingchuan said unhurriedly, "I only know that it can use human wombs to give birth, and not just one per pregnancy. It caused so much trouble for Panlong City."

"I've only heard of the River-crossing Saint Mother," Dong Rui said, emphasizing the word "Saint." "Who replaced the word 'Saint' with 'Ghost' for you?"

He Lingchuan shrugged.

"But at least you got one thing right," Dong Rui continued. "It can impregnate human mothers, causing humans to bear its offspring."

"That's incredible! Do the parties need to make contact?" He Lingchuan wondered, amazed at this "implantation" technique.

"Of course not!" Dong Rui shook his head. "Otherwise, why would it be called a Saint Mother?"

"So, remote pregnancy?" He Lingchuan exclaimed. "Why don't we have this ability?"

"You're not a deity."

"What?" He Lingchuan was stunned. "The River-crossing Ghost Mother is a deity!" This was an answer he had never expected.

"A deity's child grows up so ugly and wicked?"

"Do you think deities are necessarily beautiful?" Dong Rui asked, casting him a scornful glance. "Have you seen one?"

Dong Rui had a rather sharp tongue, but He Lingchuan didn't stoop to his level. "No, I haven't," he replied, "but the offspring it bears really don't seem to have anything to do with the word 'Saint'."

"Very ugly?" Dong Rui's attention immediately sharpened. "How ugly?"

"Ah, I saw them with my own eyes," He Lingchuan replied. "And their forms varied. Some were ferocious, some agile, some scrawny, some only slightly larger than a cat, and some stronger than either of us."

"Yes, yes, those are River-crossing Babies!" Dong Rui nodded repeatedly. "Legend says it can bear up to nine offspring in a single birth, and each one is different."

"I thought only dragons had such strong reproductive capabilities," He Lingchuan commented. "Don't dragons give birth to nine sons?"

"Who's been feeding you this nonsense now?" Dong Rui retorted impolitely. "If dragons were truly so prolific, rivers, lakes, and oceans would be swarming with them. I ask you, have you seen any?"

It turned out this guy was essentially a contrarian. He Lingchuan had indeed seen a dragon, but it was in the Panlong illusion, where the Black Dragon had evolved into a dragon after absorbing the heroic souls of the Great Wind Army.

Did that count? Of course, he couldn't mention it. So he could only concede. "You're right," he said. "Let's go back to the River-crossing Ghost... Saint Mother, then. Can't it give birth on its own? Why does it need to use human mothers?"

"Of course it can give birth!" Dong Rui analyzed. "But by using human mothers, it can control where the offspring are born."

"Control where they're born..." He Lingchuan's body stiffened. "Don't tell me it can impregnate women from a hundred thousand li away?"

Of course, he had no other thoughts; he was just thinking that Panlong City probably wouldn't be able to catch the culprit, and the River-crossing Ghost Mother might not even be in the Panlong Wasteland at all.

"Oh, you figured out this principle?"

"More than a hundred thousand li?" Dong Rui chuckled. "Deities aren't even in this world!"

He Lingchuan blinked, then blinked again. Not even in the same world, and a deity could still get a woman pregnant?

Well, he shouldn't be so surprised. Hadn't he heard of such cases before he transmigrated?

"How can the might of deities be fathomed by the likes of us?" Dong Rui sighed. "The more you learn, the more unfathomable they become. In the eyes of deities, we are less than ants."

"Don't be fooled by the 'Saint' in River-crossing Saint Mother," Dong Rui continued. "I heard it's merely a lower-ranking deity, subject to the command of higher beings. And because its offspring rely on humans for birth, they have what's called 'innate deficiencies,' making them much weaker than the offspring the River-crossing Saint Mother gives birth to directly, but also more adapted to our world."

"Adapted to our world?"

"Of course. They are half-human, half-deity from birth, so they won't be completely rejected by this world. But you're lucky; you probably haven't seen the strongest of the River-crossing Babies."

He Lingchuan was surprised. "There's a strongest one?"

"Of course. Tigers and wolves give birth to three to five cubs at a time; there are strong and weak ones at birth. The strong ones grow fast, while the weak ones die prematurely. The River-crossing Mother often gives birth to nine offspring, so this rule certainly applies even more. However—" he said slowly, "the first cub born to tigers and wolves is usually the strongest, and the last born is the weakest. But with the River-crossing Mother's children, it's the opposite."

"The earlier they're born, the weaker they are; the last one born is the strongest," He Lingchuan thought, meaning the two he had fought were among the weaker offspring.

"The earlier born aren't necessarily the weakest," Dong Rui corrected, "but the last one born, the youngest, is definitely the strongest. It steals nutrients from its siblings in the womb, forcing them to be born quickly, otherwise it would devour them. This youngest one also has some unique characteristics."

He Lingchuan humbly asked for more details. "For example?"

"Like not coming out!" Dong Rui glared. "How would I know such precise details?"

He Lingchuan felt that he already knew quite a lot. Information about these deities was rare in the world, and he wondered where this guy had gathered it all.

More importantly, why did he collect it? "About the River-crossing Mother, how do you know so much?"

"I also saw a River-crossing Baby, which is why I started gathering information about it," Dong Rui said with a deep sigh. "It's too difficult. The existing information on deities is pitifully scarce. I exerted so much effort just to learn this little bit."

He Lingchuan blurted out, "Where?"

"In an underground cave," Dong Rui said smugly. "But it was a dried-up corpse, God knows how many years old, unlike you, who found a fresh one."

At this point, he felt he had been more than generous and urged He Lingchuan, "I've told you enough. Where exactly did you find the River-crossing Babies?"

"Where I came from."

Dong Rui paused. "What was that remote place you're from called? Qian-something Commandery?" When his former employer gave him information, he was too lazy to remember the name; it was too remote.

"Qiansong Commandery," He Lingchuan said with a straight face. "I saw them in Panlong City."

"Panlong City?" Dong Rui was surprisingly sensitive to this place name. "Zhong Shengguang's Panlong City? Isn't it a ruin now?"