Chapter Forty-Four: The Crystal of Fate

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Is this a crystal core? No, it’s a bit smaller than a crystal core and overall more transparent.
“Fate Crystal, this is a divine artifact!” Before Gao Zheng could speak, the little brat who had turned into a chair blurted out first.
“A divine artifact? It can even talk?” Yu Yue’s eyes lit up; something living like this sounded impressive.
“Impossible!” The brat retorted arrogantly. “I was infused with a divine soul. How could a lifeless thing like that compare?”
Li Luyan narrowed her eyes, signaling Gao Zheng to continue.
“Fate Crystal, reborn through nirvana, undergoing destruction and transformation, transcending to a higher realm of metamorphosis and new life.”
“So you’re saying that with this thing, I can come back to life after I die?” Li Luyan rested her chin on one hand, lazily staring at the little object.
“Who knows? That’s what they say,” Gao Zheng shrugged. Suddenly, the topic touched on his wound again, and he grimaced, glaring at Zhang Min. “Minmin, it hurts!”
Can it really bring someone back to life? Li Luyan stretched her hand out leisurely. “Alright, I’ll take it.”
Then, the Fate Crystal slipped from Gao Zheng’s hand and flew into Li Luyan’s palm. She toyed with the little trinket.
The little brat beneath suddenly became agitated. It couldn’t let Li Luyan get this divine artifact—otherwise, after her ‘nirvana rebirth,’ the Lord of Desire would never spare it.
“Don’t trust him!” the brat blurted out.
“Oh?”
“Be-because…” The brat stammered, unable to explain.
Gao Zheng interrupted, “Hey, broken chair! What do you mean don’t trust me? You just said it’s a precious Fate Crystal.”
The brat froze, realizing it had indeed admitted to that just now, but it couldn’t let Li Luyan have the thing. The Lord of Desire would definitely kill it.
Li Luyan sensed something was off and kicked the chair leg behind her with the back of her heel. “Explain yourself.”
The brat was at a loss, wanting to cry but unable to. How could it admit it was afraid of her awakening? That would be disastrous.
Thinking quickly, the brat blurted out, “Wuwu… because I don’t want other divine artifacts around my master, stealing his favor!”
Yu Yue rolled his eyes. “Brat, have you got any shame? When have you ever gotten any favor from Sister Yan?”
“Really?” Li Luyan stood up and turned around, stepping on the brat. The brat struggled helplessly.
“More precious than gold, Master, I really, really like you. Don’t accept other divine artifacts.” The brat’s voice was still bratty, but tinged with a seductive tone.
Li Luyan stored the Fate Crystal in her space. She felt this chair was strange, but for now, it did have its uses, and it hadn’t done anything improper. It was best to keep it around.
“Alright, I’ll trust you for now.” She withdrew her foot, and the brat transformed back into a little dog, trying to crawl into Li Luyan’s arms.

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Li Luyan simply stepped aside.
She waved goodbye to Liu Qingye. “Put the gun away, after all…”
She looked at Zhang Min and smiled slightly. “They’re sincere, aren’t they?”
Liu Qingye holstered his gun.
No one noticed the little brat’s belly briefly displaying a line of tiny words: [Ahhh, Lord! She’s already got the Fate Crystal! What do we do? Should we kill her?]
After a moment, a divine decree appeared: […Idiot.]
[Protect her… if she awakens, you’ll die…]
[Protect her! Idiot.]
[Alright, alright.]
…
Night had fallen, and both groups decided to rest here.
“Minmin, be gentle~”
While bandaging Gao Zheng’s wound, Zhang Min heard this coquettish voice and, for some unknown reason, felt an inexplicable irritation. Her hands unintentionally pressed harder. She snarled, “That hurts!”
“Ah! Minmin, you’re attempting to murder your own husband!”
“Who said we’re married? That’s ancient history.”
Seeing this, Pei Siying was puzzled. Before she died, Zhang Min had complained about Gao Zheng, so how did they even get together?
Yu Niaoniao, not a reborn person, was even more confused. She couldn’t understand what Zhang Min and Pei Siying were talking about, and where Gao Zheng had suddenly come from that Zhang Min cared so much for him.
After finishing the bandage, Zhang Min took a few pieces of bread from her black backpack and handed them out.
While they pitifully nibbled on the dry bread,
At the other end of the mall, Li Luyan’s group raised their hot pot high, with the little brat acting as the induction cooker.
It cried out unwillingly, “Make sure to save some for me!”
“Enough, enough, stop yelling,” Yu Yue added a handful of lettuce into the pot.
The vegetables from Li Luyan’s garden had matured and were all picked for the hot pot, with new ones already planted.
Yu Yue tore open a bag of hot pot meatballs and tossed them in. “This is great, finally a proper feast.”

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The scenes formed a stark contrast. Smelling the aroma of hot pot, Yu Niaoniao, nibbling on her bread, felt utterly tasteless. She had even thought it was good to have bread in the apocalypse before.
But now, especially smelling the hot pot aroma, she felt uncomfortable.
Li Luyan’s group didn’t hide that they were cooking hot pot, showing no fear of ill intentions from the others. After all, in the face of absolute strength, all schemes and plots were meaningless.
Liu Qingye’s bullet had shattered Gao Zheng’s ambitions. Even if Gao Zheng were called to snatch supplies now, he wouldn’t dare.
Who was this godlike monster who easily nullified his divine power?
…
The pot was nearly empty, with only a few scattered meatballs left. Yu Yue scooped them all up and stuffed them into his mouth. The little brat burst into despairing cries: “Please, save some for me! I want to eat too.”
“Oh, why the rush?” Yu Yue leisurely popped the last meatball into his mouth. Just as the brat started to cry out again, she tore open another bag of meatballs and threw them in.
“I’ll give you a whole bag. Now we’re people with food.”
The brat calmed down, pouting, “That’s better! Hmph.”
After everyone was full,
Yu Yue patted his belly contentedly. “Ah… so full. Haven’t eaten this well in a long time.”
“Look at you.” The brat, its mouth greasy from meatballs, teased Yu Yue.
“Hey! You little brat! Next time, no leftovers for you.”
Hearing this, the brat lifted its doggy face and looked at Yu Yue cheekily. “It’s not like you’re in charge of the supplies.”
“Oh yeah? So you’re playing favorites now, huh?”
Once the brat finished eating, Li Luyan unfolded the recently captured sleeping mats and laid them on the ground.
She looked at everyone expressionlessly. “Who’s on watch?”
Hearing this, the brat happily ran to Li Luyan’s feet, rubbing affectionately against her calves. “I’ll do it.”
If it were before, it would have been eager for Li Luyan to be killed by someone else. But now, it dared not harm her—it had to rely on her.
Yet if Li Luyan awakened, it would be done for. The Lord of Desire would never spare it!!!