Chapter 127: Aberrant 17

Chen Cailing closed her eyes, and after feeling weightless for a moment, her feet suddenly sank. When she opened them again, she was back at the familiar orphanage—the very place where, seven days ago, she had been pulled into the eerie Domain.

With her return, the System in her mind issued a series of mechanical prompts: [Congratulations Players, successfully survived seven days in Monster Domain, earned 10,000 Survival Points, 10 Body Enhancement Points.]

Chen Cailing was stunned by the 10,000 points. Ordinary Players entering a D-level Domain typically earn between 10 and 50 survival points depending on mission progress. Ten thousand points was enough to buy the highest-level items in the System shop!

And the enhancement points that followed—these were even more precious than Survival Points. The sister who had guided her through the previous dungeon said that passing an A-level Domain usually granted between 1 and 5 enhancement points, with 5 points being extremely rare. But now she had received 10 all at once!

If she invested them all in strength, she could become a powerhouse right now!

The System’s voice didn’t stop and continued:
[Mission item obtained: Weapon – Red Brick (a red brick possessed by ghosts, effective against ghostly artifacts)]

Chen Cailing looked at the brick in her hand—the very first one she had picked up. Even after living in Tianzi Building for all those days, she hadn’t dared to take anything else and had kept this brick with her the entire time.

Weapons that could harm ghosts were rare, and this brick turned out to be so powerful!

[Special item obtained: Ghost Flower Bougainvillea (can be used as a clip and also as an alert—if you fall into a ghostly trance, these will bite you awake; perhaps they can bite enemies, too)]

Chen Cailing stared blankly at the row of bougainvillea clips biting into her sleeve—those were clipped on by Qian when they played together, and she had brought them along.

[Special item obtained: Crystal Amulet (the amulet carries the grudge of a high-level ghost; once triggered, the ghost will go berserk and devour enemies)]

Chen Cailing glanced down at the plain crystal necklace around her neck, one of those ten-yuan trinkets from a small shop.

This had also been taken by Qian from one of the rooms when they played together, along with bracelets and colorful hair accessories. There were two identical crystal necklaces, so Qian and she each kept one.

[Special title obtained: Aberrant’s Food (you have been recognized by Aberrant as a child’s food; ghosts ranked below Aberrant won’t dare steal her food, so you are quite safe around most ghosts—unless you become too delicious, then safety is not guaranteed)]

[Special title obtained: Lucky One Living in the Ghost Building (a little lamb living under the wolves’ noses, lucky to survive and escape. In a multi-player ghost domain dungeon, you will be the last to be attacked by ghosts)]

…

The night passed.

Qian circled twice where Chen Cailing had disappeared, then touched the ground and leaned down to call out, “Sister, are you down there?”

Aberrant appeared before her, and Qian immediately ran over, hugging her leg and rubbing her head against her skirt.

“Mom, sister’s gone.” She was very reluctant to lose this playmate who had stayed with her, braided her hair nicely, and cooked meals for her.

Aberrant comforted her by gently stroking her head. If you don’t eat the food you catch quickly and just carry it around playing, it’ll just run away.

But it was okay—the food had marks on it. Next time, when she senses it, she’ll catch some for the child again.

Unable to express this meaning, she simply lifted the child and showed her love in another way.

Qian looked up at the chest growing closer and spread her hands, tilting her head back.

“Mom, I’m not hungry at all—my little brothers and sisters are hungry! They’re so hungry they’re drooling!”

The only thing Mom didn’t listen to her about was feeding. Qian’s head was pressed down by a hand, her face squished against something soft.

After feeding the big kid, Aberrant went to feed the unborn little ones, busy all around.

Before, when Mom was asleep, big sister took care of her, and Qian followed big sister around like a little tail. Now that big sister was gone and Mom was awake, Qian had become Mom’s little shadow, trailing at her feet wherever she went.

After a few days apart, the child was even clingier. Aberrant was careful where she stepped, afraid of hurting her, but with so many arms, she could gently push Qian away from time to time.

Qian thought Mom was playing with her, laughing and sticking close even after being pushed away, refusing to be moved.

For Players, surviving seven days means the end. But for the aberrations living in Monster Domain, they are like crocodiles in a big river, and the various Players are the fish that periodically swim by.

After a round of hunting, the surviving fish slip away, and another wave comes.

A new wave of fish had arrived, but none were special—just a panicked, ordinary school of fish. So peace was rare in Monster Domain.

Aberrant Mom’s routine had finally returned to normal. But compared to the long years before, there were now many more things to do.

Aberrant sat in a chair, the arms behind her relaxed and hanging idly. Qian sat on Mom’s lap, holding her hand, painting her nails.

The nail polish was also found in a downstairs room. When Chen Cailing was still around, the two of them had played with it. Now, Qian still had red polish on both hands.

So now she was holding Mom’s hand, wanting to paint her nails. The red polish was unevenly spread across Aberrant’s nails—though Qian was serious, her young age showed in the messy work.

Aberrant seemed not to mind, sitting quietly without a word, unmoving.

When Qian finished mumbling as she painted both hands, she looked up at the arms behind her.

“Mom, put the other hands over, I’ll paint your nails too.”

Aberrant didn’t respond.

“Mom? Mom!” Qian leaned in, brushing Aberrant’s hair aside, tilting her head curiously. “Mom, are you asleep?”

Aberrant’s face was hidden under her hair, and Qian didn’t know if she was dozing when still.

When the child pulled back her hair curtain, Aberrant suddenly shuddered, opened her groggy eyes, and pushed her sliding body upright.

“Mom, are you asleep?” Qian asked again, suspicious.

Aberrant shook her head.

Qian immediately believed her mom and said again, “Mom, I’ll paint the nails on your other hands too!”

With so many arms, there were enough for Qian to paint for a long time. She didn’t miss a single hand, and by the end, she had used up all the bottles of nail polish she brought. Each hand behind Aberrant was painted a different color—red, purple, blue, even some with glitter.

“We have the same nails!” Qian grabbed her mom’s hand and compared it to her own, kicking her feet happily in the air.

After playing with her mom for a while, Qian remembered something and ran to the altar table to grab the last bottle of yogurt left there.

“Mom, drink yogurt.”

“You don’t know how to drink it? I’ll take a sip and show you. Like this.” She drank seriously, then brought it to Aberrant’s mouth.

Aberrant: “…”

After compulsively sharing her favorite food with her mom, Qian shook the empty yogurt bottle.

“Finished.”

“Mom, take me to get a new one.” Qian was very used to leading Aberrant to the little supermarket to get snacks.

But when they reached the building’s front door, Aberrant stopped and didn’t move forward.

“Mom?” Qian looked up at her in confusion, then tugged her forward. “Let’s go there! Let’s go there!”

She pointed at the little supermarket by the street, pulling so hard she was nearly leaning over.

Aberrant wanted to pick her up, but Qian refused and insisted on going out.

Even the most well-behaved kids have tantrums that are hard to handle. Qian threw a fit just like those kids on the street rolling on the ground over toys.

Aberrant couldn’t stand the noise and finally let go of her.

Qian stopped crying and with her short legs quickly ran out, jumped down the steps, then called back, “Mom, come!”

“Mom, hurry up!”

Aberrant didn’t move. Qian squatted and called again, then plopped down on the ground, whining, swinging her legs. “Mom, come with me!”

But Aberrant just turned and went back upstairs. Qian’s cry lengthened instantly, then she nimbly got up, crying as she ran after her.

The ground beneath the building seemed to move. As Qian ran, the tremor made her lurch forward, almost falling—until one of Aberrant’s arms behind caught her.

The hand with blue-painted nails lifted her and held her close.

Aberrant carried the sobbing child upstairs. During this, the floor and stairwell subtly shifted. Qian suddenly noticed a bulge in the wall, which quickly slid upward, moving like a writhing intestine transporting food.

She instantly forgot to cry, curiously looking up.

Outside, the little supermarket by the street was sinking, swallowed by the ground, leaving a jagged gap like a missing tooth.

At the same time, Tianzi Building suddenly gained a seventh floor. The new seventh floor was empty except for a small supermarket occupying several rooms.

Aberrant carried the child to the sixth floor. Qian knew this was the top floor; she had played here before. But now, the sixth floor had a new staircase leading up. Climbing it, Qian immediately saw the supermarket on the seventh floor.

Her eyes widened, and she screamed excitedly.

Mom had moved the entire supermarket home!

Qian instantly became the little boss of the supermarket.

As soon as she was put down, Qian dashed into the supermarket, ran around inside, then ran out laughing around Aberrant.

The child’s face changed like June weather—just moments ago crying with a furrowed brow, now beaming like a bright sunflower.

Her face shook as she spoke sweetly, “Mom, I really like you!”

“Mom, you’re so nice!”

With the supermarket upstairs, Qian loved running up and down the stairs, often bringing snacks and drinks down. She’d never climbed stairs with such energy before.

That day, she came down holding an egg in one hand, her skirt pockets bulging on both sides, showing the egg’s shape.

“Mommy…” she kept calling.

She ran into the room, jumped onto the sleeping Aberrant, holding up the egg. “Mom, make me egg fried rice!”

“Mom, I want rice, I want egg fried rice!”

“Mom, can you make egg fried rice?”

“The kind with black bits, not the white kind.”

Aberrant was woken by her fussing. Qian pulled the slow-moving mom, who didn’t even want to flash step, down the stairs to the first floor.

The child dragged a bag of rice from the cupboard and even picked up a small, old but clean rice cooker pot from the table, saying to her mom, “Use this to hold the rice, add water, and cook the rice.”

Aberrant took the rice cooker pot from the child’s hands and looked at Qian’s expectant face.

“There’s also a pan here for cooking, and you put in oil and salt!” Qian stepped on a little stool that Chen Cailing had specially placed nearby, teaching her mom how to use the kitchen tools.

She had already heard Chen Cailing explain how to cook this many times.

Aberrant stared at the kitchen for a long moment, then clumsily began cooking.

Qian eagerly stayed by her leg: “Mom, I’ll cook for you to eat next time too.”