Chapter 121 - 120 Fear is because of cherishing
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The Beast King Competition registration desk.
The staff were tidying things up, ready to conclude the final registrations.
Yin Zang, dragging along a despondent Yu Yan, hurried over, "Wait, wait, wait, we want to register for the Beast King Competition!"
The staff member first looked at them in surprise, especially at Yu Yan, then smiled and said, "No hurry, no hurry, take your time."
Yin Zang registered without any trouble.
Yu Yan wasn't too keen on registering, but glancing at Yin Zang's threatening gaze, he obediently went along with it. Besides, the ten million points were tempting, and with the two of them participating, the chances of winning were higher.
As for Zi Qi, if he didn't use his inherited talent, his strength was not much different from Yin Zang's. If Yin Zang couldn't claim the Beast King title, there was no need for him to expend the effort. Moreover, he disliked fighting in a tournament-style, continuous battle.
The sound of Sally's even breathing lingered around Zi Qi, making his state of mind exceptionally calm.
He stood in the corridor of the registration area, admiring a desert painting on the wall.
At first glance, the desert seemed ordinary, just an endless sea of sand. But as one calmed down and observed closely, one could see a skeleton of the same color as the sand within the sea of sand.
The black hollows of the skeleton's eyes quietly watched Zi Qi, who was looking at the painting.
"Does this young friend fancy this painting?" An elderly man, hair white with age and leaning on a cane, walked over.
Zi Qi courteously performed the salute of a junior, "Senior, may I know who painted this?"
"Just some random doodles by an old friend. If you like it, I can give it to you, young friend." The elderly man looked at Zi Qi, his smile growing deeper and more benevolent.
"Thank you, senior. Then I shall accept with respect," Zi Qi replied.
"Very good, my old friend will be very pleased," the elderly man immediately had the staff remove the painting from the wall and hand it over to Zi Qi.
Zi Qi accepted it and saluted the old man again, "May I know how to address senior?"
"My surname is Wind, just call me Old Man Wind. Ha ha ha…" The old man laughed as he walked away.
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Zi Qi took another look at the desert painting.
Strangely, the skeleton in the painting had disappeared.
With a faint smile playing on his thin lips, Zi Qi stored the painting in his space.
After Yu Yan and Yin Zang had registered, the staff gave them entrance plaques to the Hundred Beasts Tower, for easy match scheduling.
Two people registered, two entrance plaques, it fell out nicely with Sally and Zi Qi sharing one room, and Yu Yan and Yin Zang sharing another.
The two rooms were directly opposite each other, which also made moving around convenient.
"Your Majesty, I just received a notification that tonight both the Silver Emperor and I have to enter the arena. It's on the elimination stage of the fifteenth floor."
"Mm, I'll come and watch."
"No need, no need, there's nothing worth watching in an elimination round. I came to tell Your Majesty that I saw a person with Holy War Points on his wrist reach the twenty-fifth floor. Yin Zang has gone to scout; we should hear back soon."
'Thump, thump, thump~' A knock on the door sounded.
Then came the voice of Yin Zang, "It's me."
Yu Yan walked over to open the door, letting Yin Zang in.
"I was on the twenty-fifth floor using the System Map, watching for a while. The other party is squad 0459, ranked seventh, with only one warrior; the female is not here."
"We don't need to alarm them just yet. Once the female appears, kill her directly," Zi Qi commanded.
"Okay," both Yin Zang and Yu Yan agreed.
Sally woke up.
Climbing out from behind Zi Qi's neck, she yawned, "That was a really good nap."
Yu Yan and Yin Zang immediately stood up and took their leave one after the other.
Before Sally could even react, the two of them had already left.
"What's going on?" asked Sally to Zi Qi.
Zi Qi smiled and said, "They have a match tonight, do you want to go watch?"
"Sure." Competing in the Beast King Contest, the first place winner gets ten million Holy War Points, and since they were fighting for her, she definitely wanted to go and cheer them on.
Zi Qi gently pressed her flat, hungry stomach, "What do you want to eat? I'll cook for you."
"I'm not hungry." Now whenever Sally thought about the possibility of losing in the Holy Mother competition, she felt so blocked up inside that she couldn't eat anything.
Time breeds affection, even if it isn't romantic love, there's still friendship and familial love. Moreover, Sally and Zi Qi had been through thick and thin together all this way, and they had already developed another kind of camaraderie.
If she had thought at the beginning of the Holy War that 'at worst, I'll just start over and bind with another system', she now had absolutely no such thoughts.
She wanted them to live well, wanted to become the Holy Mother and protect them. Therefore, fear had taken root in her heart, a fear that caused her to hesitate.
Her mother had once told her that fear can sometimes be a good thing—it reminds you that there are things you cherish, and you want to protect yourself for the sake of those cherished things.
Sally looked at Zi Qi, her original confusion and helplessness gradually turning into determination, the light in her eyes shining like stars in the night sky, sparkling and bright.
Zi Qi laughed, pinching her round earlobe, "Do you still want to go out to eat?"
"I want to have spicy hot pot. They probably don't have it outside, I'll make it myself."
"What is spicy hot pot?"
"Hehe~ You'll know once you eat it."
Sally began to get busy.
Zi Qi watched her the whole time as she was busy, even listening to her humming a cheerful tune.
After Sally had the hot pot ready, she called over Yu Yan and Yin Zang.
The two of them were just about to eat the dinner provided by the Hundred Beasts Tower, a piece of tough, woody old beef.
Smelling the irresistible scent of the hot pot that made their stomachs rumble, Yu Yan, drooling, said, "Lady Sally, with your cooking skills, you could totally open a big restaurant. I'd eat there every day."
Sally laughed and said, "I guess I can't open one, I'm someone who dislikes trouble. But if you want to, I can give you the recipe for this hot pot."
"Thank you, Lady Sally. Here's to you," Yu Yan picked up a bottle of beer and gulped it down in one breath.
Ever since he had beer at Sally's, he had grown fond of it.
This time, Sally had moved out her entire stock, letting them drink as they pleased, "I wish you a triumphant start and continuous success."
The arena competition meant advancing a level with each victory, so continuous success also signified victory at every step.
"Thank you, Lady Sally. And I wish you an early victory in securing the position of Holy Mother," Yu Yan said, opening another bottle of beer.
"Cheers," replied Sally as she took a sip of milk.
"Eat up, eat up. This meatball has filling inside, you should try it," Sally picked up the serving chopsticks and helped Yu Yan with the food.
Meanwhile, Yin Zang had already started eating, not bothering with small talk, just digging in. He had already downed three bottles of beer in no time.
Seeing Sally bustling about happily, Zi Qi was also in a good mood.
However, if not for the System Map showing that someone had been standing outside the door for a while, his mood would have been even better.
"You guys eat first, I'll step out for a moment," Zi Qi said to Sally.
Sally used the chopsticks to pick up a big shrimp dumpling and feed it to Zi Qi, "Try it and see if it tastes good, come back soon."
Zi Qi opened his mouth to eat it, chewing slowly, savoring the delicious taste, "Mmm, everything Yanyan makes is delicious."