On the Pill

Han Sen recognized his father's handwriting due to the vast number of family documents and possessions he had collected and perused over the years.

The letter he had received had been written and sent by his father, there was no room for doubt. It was easy to fake someone's handwriting, but the content contained information only he and his father would know about.

And near the end of the letter, he read something that was most shocking.

When Blind Man provided Han Sen the cauldron, there was a pill inside. He claimed it was a gift from his father, and his consumption of it was of absolute importance. He was told to eat it before becoming a demi-god, due to its ability to aid him in unlocking something.

This gene lock was not associated with the average ten gene locks, and he had been told it'd be of great benefit for when he finally did become a demi-god.

Han Sen had the sudden thought that this was connected with the mystic gene lock Dragon King had told him about.

The letter concluded with a profound apology for his absence, and how, as much as he wished he could, he could not come back.

After finishing the letter, Han Sen's mind was in a bit of a jumble.

He believed it really had been written by his father, but it wasn't as if Han Sen missed him dearly over the years. Traditionally, all the best cowboys had daddy issues—issues they'd need to confront and work on—but Han Sen never felt a longing for his father. He had learned to become very independent, and he was used to being alone, and often enjoyed the solace that came with it. Even if the pill was given to him by his father, he wasn't going to just take it because his parent had returned from the grave to tell him so. He still wanted to look into it more, through his own means.

But the letter also mentioned there was a way in which you could find out whether that lock had been opened yet or not. And finding out was not difficult. So, wanting to conduct the test, Han Sen asked a few spirits to be of service in this endeavor.

In the letter, it was said the Nine-Life Cat pendant had to be used as an apparatus of sorts for the test he was going to conduct.

After a lengthy search, he was unable to find any spirits who had opened this lock.

Han Sen couldn't bring himself to perform the test on himself, either. So, he summoned Moment Queen and asked her to prick her own finger and draw a drop of her blood across the Nine-Life Cat pendant.

After the blood fell upon the cat's mouth, it seemed to then get absorbed. The pendant was solid, not unlike a gemstone, but somehow, it absorbed the blood as if it were a sponge.

Then, a little later, the Nine-Life Cat turned blue. The remnant of the blood it had soaked it had also turned blue. A little while later, the red blood that had turned blue, turned back to being red. This was just as the letter said would happen.

If Moment Queen had opened that special lock, then the blood would have stayed red the entire time.

But Han Sen wasn't going to leave it like that. Tests had to be conducted a number of times before the results could be considered reliable. So, he went out and performed the same exercise with a variety of different creatures, spirits, and humans.

It was very reliable, and the same response was received each and every time. The blood would turn blue and that was that; even Queen's blood was like this.

Han Sen decided to try it himself. He pricked his finger and let a drop of blood descend onto the pendant. He expected it to turn blue, but much to his surprise, it seemed to remain red the entire time.

Han Sen was not sure what to think at first, but he eventually told himself, "Does this mean I have opened that lock? But when did I do that? Is there something wrong with this pendant? Did I do the test incorrectly?"

Han Sen went out in search of others to reconduct the test. The results he received were the same as before, and Han Sen's blood was the only blood that stayed red upon the pendant the entire time.

"Another lock, huh? Is it referring to the Life Door?" Han Sen recalled the feeling of unlocking something when he opened the Life Door. But ever since that day, he had not noticed anything different. He didn't think it had aided him, at all.

If the Nine-Life Cat was indeed performing correctly, though, there was no other possibility.

"So, I've opened that thing by accident. That's great! It means I don't even need to take that pill," Han Sen paused, pleased with himself. Then, after a brief bob of his head, he continued on to think, "If I give this to someone else, then, who should have it?"

Han Sen wasn't sure if the pill was safe, so if it was something harmful, he didn't want it to bring grief to someone that was dear to him. But if it was something decent, he didn't want to give it to a random nobody, either. It was quite the conundrum.

Han Sen returned to the underground shelter and fetched the dusty cauldron. He called over Little Angel, Little Silver, and Thorn Queen.

They sat at the table and wondered what Han Sen was planning to do with them.

Han Sen placed the cauldron at the center of the table and slowly revealed the pill he had kept inside.

Thorn Queen frowned, indicating she had no clue what it was.

Little Angel looked at it but did not show any emotion. Perhaps she was uninterested, Han Sen did not know.

The silver fox looked ready to eat it, but someone else was faster.

Bao'er was on Han Sen's shoulder at the time, and as soon as she saw it, she leaped down onto the table and gobbled it up.

Han Sen looked very nervous, hoping nothing bad would befall his baby.

But after Bao'er ate it, nothing occurred. She shivered a little, but that was it.

Han Sen had tried the pendant test with Bao'er earlier, but her blood had turned blue. A while later, he decided to take another pinch of her blood. This time, when the blood dripped onto the pendant, it stayed red.