novelsite Chapter 28 Placental Man
Chapter 28 Placental Man
"What's with that expression?" Pei Zhaoye raised an eyebrow, staring at Jiang Xingni's expression with some suspicion.
The girl's face usually wore that indifferent yet gentle, distant smile, and it seemed difficult for her smile to disappear no matter what happened.
But the moment he uttered the word "truth," Pei Zhaoye saw her smile freeze for a split second.
Those golden eyes cast an indescribable look at him, and then the little girl sighed.
To be precise, the smile on her face never actually disappeared. If Pei Zhaoye hadn't been paying close attention to Jiang Xingni, he might have easily overlooked this subtle change in expression.
He looked around at the space around him once again.
Unlike all the ghost realms Pei Zhaoye had experienced before, almost all ghost realms require the real world as a template.
However, before entering this eerie realm, Pei Zhaoye could confidently assure him that he had not seen anything that matched the description of this eerie realm.
It's as if the whole world was imagined by someone in a short period of time, without any prototype or anything that can be called "false".
"In your eyes," Jiang Xingni said slowly, his tone revealing a rare, naked honesty and curiosity. "What is this world really like?"
Pei Zhaoye stared intently into her eyes, carefully choosing his words: "Flowers and plants, desolate and uninhabited, very realistic, and there's a small house?"
The adjective "very realistic" is too simplistic.
In fact, Pei Zhaoye could see the dewdrops on the grass reflecting the morning light, and the scent of earth after the rain wafted to his nose. The whole world was no different from the real world.
It is unlike most of the white fog that can be seen in the ghost realm, and the sun that can never be seen.
But Jiang Xingni now asked, "What do you see in your eyes?"
"What is this..." Pei Zhaoye hesitated for a moment, then continued to ask, "Is this some kind of illusion?"
Jiang Xingni shook his head: "I don't know, but in my eyes, all of this—the entire scene before me—is ridiculously fake."
The reality described by Pei Zhaoye simply did not exist in her eyes. She was once again grateful that when she chose her superpower, she had chosen the "Eye of Truth".
"Is this her comic?" The little girl tilted her head in confusion. "With such terrible drawing skills, how can she be popular online?"
To be honest, from Jiang Xingni's perspective, this scene can't even be described as bad; it's crudely made, with the kind of aesthetic appeal of a kindergarten child just learning to draw.
Pei Zhaoye looked around again, followed Jiang Xingni's footsteps, and shook his head, remaining noncommittal about the question.
He couldn't see what Jiang Xingni saw in his eyes. Even though experience told Pei Zhaoye to trust Jiang Xingni's judgment, it didn't change the fact that Pei Zhaoye actually found it very difficult to imagine the world through Jiang Xingni's eyes.
Pei Zhaoye followed behind Jiang Xingni. The wet and muddy ground after the rain made him stumble and sink, and the soles of his shoes were covered with mud.
But Jiang Xingni, who was walking in front, seemed to be completely unaffected. She simply walked steadily at the front, as if the ground beneath her feet was not muddy but a flat asphalt road.
Pei Zhaoye began to doubt himself.
I heard the sound of something rushing past my ears.
Pei Zhaoye almost instinctively lunged at Jiang Xingni, and the impact sent Jiang Xingni shoved into the pile of paper scraps.
However, from Pei Zhaoye's perspective, Jiang Xingni was pushed directly into the bushes to the side.
The splattered liquid stained Pei Zhaoye's clothes, the green color seeping into them. But Jiang Xingni, who was clearly the most disheveled, was unharmed except for some messy hair and abrasions from the impact.
She broke the grass, but no sap got on her clothes; it was as if it were a folded piece of paper.
So this is the "reality" that Jiang Xingni saw.
Pei Zhaoye thought this almost subconsciously.
Meanwhile, Jiang Xingni had no time to worry about the pain from his back rubbing against the ground.
Her gaze passed over Pei Zhaoye's shoulder and landed on the creature rushing towards her from behind him.
It's hard to describe this thing in words. In this whole world of shoddy products, the only real things, besides Jiang Xingni himself, are Pei Zhaoye standing next to him.
And now, this thing has appeared again.
Noticing Jiang Xingni's pupils contract slightly, Pei Zhaoye subconsciously turned around to check what had appeared behind him.
That's the real source of the sound of wind we just heard.
It was the size of a placenta, but had a human head on it. Its tiny arms and legs, like those of an infant, were kicking wildly in the air. Its face, which had not yet fully developed its features, had neither eyes nor a mouth, but for some reason, it recognized the direction where Jiang Xingni and Pei Zhaoye were.
The baby's giggles echoed in the air, not from the monster in the placenta, but from all directions.
It rolled over in the air, then paddled its limbs as if swimming in the air, charging towards Jiang Xingni and Pei Zhaoye.
"No. What does this look like in your eyes!" Pei Zhaoye's pupils dilated in shock. Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Xingni pushed him away, sending him rolling several times on the ground, but he just barely avoided the trajectory of the placental person rushing towards him.
The moment Jiang Xingni pushed Pei Zhaoye off her, the girl suddenly leaped up and grabbed the dagger from her waist.
Her movements were incredibly fast. This was the first time Pei Zhaoye had ever seen Jiang Xingni in battle. Before he could even exclaim, "When did you take that knife?", all he could see on his retina were the girl's golden eyes and the cold light left by the sunlight reflecting off the blade as she swung it.
She nimbly dodged the placental creature's attack, and then Jiang Xingni followed its momentum without hesitation, gripping the dagger in her hand and slashing directly at the placental creature's head.
The touch was soft, like cutting into a swirling fluid. The strange sensation didn't make Jiang Xingni pause for even a moment. Without hesitation, she sliced open the placenta-man's skull, and the underdeveloped bones and flesh slid out through the opening.
But it is still moving.
"It seems my perspective is the same as yours this time," Jiang Xingni said in a low voice, noticing that Pei Zhaoye had wisely run away long ago, not staying here to cause any more trouble for Jiang Xingni's battle.
The boy observed the scene, his gaze fixed intently on the placental person.
The academy's teachings always came into play at times like these, and he subconsciously observed the appearance and weaknesses of the newly emerging monsters.
The placental man dragged its limbs and flesh around, but Jiang Xingni didn't give it much of a chance to survive.
With a swift stroke, the limbs were severed, and the baby's giggles turned into babbling cries.