Chapter Nineteen: The Delicacy of Marrow

A bright golden passageway unfolded before the man and his dog.

This corridor was wide, about seven meters across, designed for vehicles to move easily between the agricultural zone and the food storage area.

Da Bai twitched his nose, suddenly darted into the passage, and pounced toward a large patch of grayish-white marks on the wall several meters ahead.

Fan Bei quickly gathered his focus, watching intently as Da Bai launched into his first battle.

The confrontation began and ended in a flash; just as Fan Bei noticed a mass of grayish-white substance slowly seeping out of the wall, three streaks of light already flashed from Da Bai’s paws.

The grayish-white substance dissipated like smoke, leaving behind a large, pale core.

Da Bai hurried to pick it up in his mouth and, eager for praise, trotted back to present it to his applauding master.

Fan Bei paused his clapping, quickly took the core, and looked down with delight. “Remarkable, Da Bai! Truly, you should be seen with new eyes every few days. You really made good use of those ten days of sleep. I was worried you’d never wake.”

Da Bai immediately stood on his hind legs, barking proudly.

“Well, I suppose my canine strategist taught me well. He really is my best friend.”

Fan Bei nodded in agreement. “He does treat you well. By the way, Da Bai, what’s the true story behind your little companion? Can you tell your master now?”

Da Bai’s ears drooped, and he whined softly.

“Still can’t say? Never mind, everyone has secrets—even dogs. I don’t care how many you keep, as long as you’re still Da Bai.”

Fan Bei patted his head with utmost sincerity, his expression genuine.

Hearing this, Da Bai looked deeply moved, pressing his head into Fan Bei’s embrace and nodding slowly.

“Right. Even if you can’t tell me its origins, you can at least say what it usually perceives,” Fan Bei explained patiently. “You know, people value privacy. I wouldn’t want to be spied on while bathing.”

At that, Da Bai barked in earnest.

“Master, it can’t eat or see; it only uses some form of spiritual sense to perceive its surroundings, and even that has limits. If an enemy is too powerful, or of a higher existence, it senses nothing.”

“Hmm, I just started practicing from that book I bought, so I’m weak. That means it can sense me bathing,” Fan Bei frowned, but felt a wave of relief.

It seemed most likely to be the first possibility, since the being couldn’t be above the Father of Systems, and thus couldn’t detect him storing objects.

After all, it was only a matter of thought; he himself wasn’t doing the action.

This meant, in the other’s eyes, he was a useless master—a burden to be cast off, thus the attempt to lure Da Bai away.

That was good. If your enemy underestimates you, it’s far better than being their focus.

Da Bai barked again. “Master, don’t worry. Next time you bathe, I’ll tell it not to peek.”

“What? So it has spied on me before?” Fan Bei’s face twisted in shock.

Da Bai replied honestly, “Yes, it even told me you have deep stretch marks below your groin—a sign you used to be overweight and your skin loosened after slimming down.”

“Damn it…” Fan Bei smacked his forehead, truly wishing he could strangle that presence and make it vanish for good.

It was true—when he’d been reborn into this body, he’d been slightly overweight. But after persistent training, he’d quickly become fit, even muscular, though some traces remained.

He realized the chance and asked, “Did it see anything else? I’d hate for it to know about my love letters.”

“No, nothing else. It says it’s still weak, can only observe the most important things. And it told me, Master, that you’re just a useless person, not even as lucky as a dog, not worth wasting its strength on…”

At this, Da Bai paused, looking sheepish.

Outwardly, Fan Bei was indignant, but inwardly he let out a long breath of relief. Of course, there was always the chance the other was lying to Da Bai, so caution was still needed.

For now, though, he held the upper hand.

With that thought, he theatrically slipped the grayish-white core into his pocket, while quietly thinking “store.”

“Forget it, I can’t argue with a dog. Let’s keep working—the sooner we clear the food storage, the sooner you’ll have something delicious.” Fan Bei sighed.

“Alright, Master, I’ll clear the way ahead for you.”

Da Bai wagged his tail, nose twitching, as he led the way forward.

Noticing this detail, Fan Bei couldn’t help but admire that mysterious, scheming presence.

First, train Da Bai’s senses; then, let him practice cultivation techniques. Such a methodical approach established an effective system for dealing with evil spirits.

Unlike himself, who had only the Father of Systems and had to figure everything out alone.

Still, things were finally looking up.

He consoled himself with that thought and followed Da Bai onward.

The passage was long—over seven hundred meters—because the food storage was critical and built at the deepest, most secure part, to guard against evil spirits. Even so, fate had not been kind; the spirits had invaded with reckless abandon.

Fan Bei moved cautiously. The passage had been sealed for so long that, though the air was still ventilated, lack of upkeep had left the walls mottled and peeling in many places.

Despite calling it a fortress, the shelter’s walls weren’t all made of copper; only the most vital areas were fully sealed with copper, sometimes plated with gold or silver.

Da Bai sniffed carefully, paying particular attention to the exposed patches where the plating had fallen away.

Clearly, the years spent with Fan Bei hadn’t gone to waste—he remembered much, even if he’d once been too lazy to learn.

Fan Bei understood well that evil spirits could break through gold, silver, and copper defenses, but the cost was tremendous. It was like a mesh of gold and silver threads—despite the gaps, these seemingly immaterial forms would still pay dearly to pass through.

Normally, unless there was an irresistible lure, the spirits would avoid such defenses, or slowly erode them over time.

Of course, if they realized they couldn’t break through, they’d avoid the area; this could be because the barrier was too thick, or because someone constantly repaired it from behind.

That was the only reason he’d survived in the shelter this long.

To the evil spirits in the valley outside, he was like marrow hidden in layers of bone—a tempting morsel, but not worth the effort to reach.

Delicious, but the price was too high—just as people would gnaw away the meat and toss aside the bone.

A sudden thought struck him: what had gotten into the food storage to drive the evil spirits to such desperate lengths?

What could be more tempting than a soul like his?

He remembered a scene from four years ago: a batch of tainted crops had appeared in the agricultural zone’s cultivation tanks. After hastily clearing them out, he’d quickly harvested a second crop.

Fresh fruits and vegetables had to be picked and stored immediately to preserve their nutrients.

He recalled that after this event, a group of evil spirits began their relentless assault on the innermost, most secure food storage, until he had no choice but to seal the passage and cut it off.

Now it seemed clear—the problem must have started with that harvest. Judging by the grayish-white cores he’d collected recently, a bold idea formed.

Could it be that some tainted fruit, missed during sorting, had been mixed in by mistake?

And that these acted like the grayish-white cores—a great tonic for evil spirits?

With this thought, Fan Bei watched as Da Bai eliminated seven more evil entities along the way, each dropping another core.

Of course, Da Bai, who understood nothing, dutifully handed all of them over.

At last, man and dog reached the door to the food storage area—a gilded copper door, its importance evident, though now pitted and worn, exposing the copper below.

He was about to open it again, but this time, he needed to be far more prepared.