Another Gourd

"Little Uncle, why are you here?" Han Sen asked the man who was only a minor distance away. It was the unluckiest man he had ever met: Wang Yuhang.

Meeting a friend in the sanctuary ought to have been a happy thing, but seeing Wang Yuhang only made Han Sen feel fear.

Creatures and spirits were all around them, and if Wang Yuhang was still as unlucky as he used to be, Han Sen had no clue what might befall him. Getting chased by every single occupant of Dark Spirit Shelter would be a terrible thing, but it was a probable scenario.

"I was called here by a spirit known as Spirit Thirteen. Why are you here?" Wang Yuhang said.

"Spirit Thirteen brought you here?" Han Sen's heart jumped. He quickly pulled Wang Yuhang to the side into someplace that was out of the way and asked him for more details.

Wang Yuhang's luck was as bad as ever. When he became a demi-god, he spawned in the Underworld. Immediately, he was beset and pursued by creatures; it was through this that he encountered Spirit Thirteen.

Just as Wang Yuhang thought he was a dead man, Spirit Thirteen didn't kill him. Instead, he just brought him to Dark Spirit Shelter.

"Spirit Thirteen can't have done that out of niceness. There must be a conspiracy afoot. Did he know you were extremely unlucky and that you have a knack for making creatures despise you?" Han Sen asked Wang Yuhang.

"I suppose that is what he saw in me. But he hasn't yet made me do anything, so I don't know what he wants." Wang Yuhang shrugged his shoulders, as he was used to such treatment.

Han Sen went silent and said, "We can't leave Dark Spirit Shelter. You must stay with Spirit Thirteen, okay? I will think of a way to bring you with me, in time. Are you bound to him through a contract?"

"No. I'm not sure why he didn't make me sign a contract," Wang Yuhang said.

"Good. Now tell me, where do you live? I can find a way to contact you sometime later. Just make sure you don't let Spirit Thirteen find out that you know me." Han Sen thought Spirit Thirteen had saved Wang Yuhang to use as a doom-machine on Ling Mei'er.

Fortunately, Spirit Thirteen did not know Han Sen was Dollar. Seeing him should not have raised suspicions.

After telling Wang Yuhang where they should meet again, Han Sen ran to catch up with Ling Mei'er.

Everyone was watching Snake King and Ling Mei'er at the time, with no one paying any attention to Han Sen.

Bao'er looked at the Holy Vine as they neared, and eventually tried jumping towards it. But Han Sen was able to grab her in time and stroke her head. In a hushed voice, he said, "There are too many elites right now. Don't worry, I'll find a way for us to see the gourd. Don't rush this."

Bao'er nodded. She stared at the Holy Vine, not even willing to blink.

Ling Mei'er had a house in Dark Spirit Shelter. She brought Han Sen to see her parents.

Ling Mei'er's parents did not have pure blood, and they only possessed gemstone geno cores, but because of Ling Mei'er, they had a castle and a garden in Dark Spirit Shelter.

"Why did you pick a human? Humans are the worst. They are weak and lack loyalty." Ling Mei'er's father looked down on Han Sen with a frown.

"Han Sen is nice. He is strong and loyal." Ling Mei'er immediately defended Han Sen.

"Let's not talk about this for now. Let Mei'er go see the elder; the old man is probably just dying to see you," Ling Mei'er's mother said.

"Yeah, Mei'er. Go and see the elder," Ling Mei'er's father said.

"Okay, then I'll just go talk to him first." Ling Mei'er was used to this. Every time she returned, the first thing her parents did was inform her to go and see the elder.

"Mei'er, can I come with you to see the elder?" Han Sen asked Ling Mei'er.

"The elder won't let any others enter the garden; only the outskirts. You can wait for me there." Ling Mei'er was apologetic.

"That's okay. We'll wait outside." Han Sen didn't expect to see the gourd on the Holy Vine, anyway. If they were near enough, perhaps Bao'er would be able to feel it.

Under Snake King's guidance, Ling Mei'er brought Han Sen to the center of the shelter.

In the center of the shelter, there was a big garden that was surrounded by vines. They were all wreathed and tangled, forming a fifty-meter-tall wall that shielded the interior from outside eyes.

At the entrance of the garden, there was a turtle lying down. It looked to be asleep.

When Snake King and Ling Mei'er approached, the old turtle looked at them. Then, it closed its eyes again, as if it didn't care that they were coming.

"Wait for me here," she told Han Sen, looking at the turtle.

Han Sen knew the turtle was the guardian creature of the garden, and he could detect a presence coming from it that was actually somewhat frightening. It was a super creature.

Just as Han Sen started to agree, he heard an old voice come from the garden. "Allow your human friend to enter."

Han Sen was shocked. Ling Mei'er said not even core members of the Dark Spirit tribe were allowed access to the garden, and the person who had just invited him in had to be the elder.

Now that he had been invited in, though, Han Sen wasn't sure what that meant. But there was no rejecting this offer and escaping. He mustered his courage and marched in alongside Ling Mei'er. Snake King also followed them in.

The garden looked rather empty inside. Aside from the vine that had formed the wall, there was nothing else. In the middle, you could see the giant, primary vine rising from the ground like a grand pillar.

Beneath that vine sat a handsome spirit. Han Sen thought the elder was going to be some sort of stereotypical, old character. After all, no matter how long a spirit had lived for, their appearance should have exuded age to some degree.

But after seeing him, Han Sen knew he was too small-minded. He was seeing spirits as humans.

The elder was not old. In fact, he was quite handsome. If he hadn't seen him there in the garden, Han Sen would have believed him to be Ling Mei'er's big brother or some such.

"Greetings, elder." Ling Mei'er hastened her pace to go and bow before him.

"Mei'er is getting better now." The elder smiled and stroked Ling Mei'er's head. He looked at Han Sen and then said, "Are you the human that helped Mei'er?"

"That was my duty." Han Sen bowed.

Bao'er hadn't taken her eyes off the Holy Vine, and she didn't even look at the elder.

Near the root of the giant vine near, a three-foot-long, younger-looking vine had sprouted. There was a green, hand-sized gourd hanging off it.