The Obligations of the Elderly - chapter 37

Chapter 35

“Water Type.”

“Small knife.”

“That size… a fruit knife?”

Following the train of thought provided by Ah Feng, a bead of cold sweat appeared on Gong Si’s forehead.

“Nail clippers can be that big too,” Dong Chun interjected from the side, and his butt was immediately slapped by Gong Si.

“Don’t interrupt my train of thought, ahhh! Ah Feng said this is a critical moment-if I think too much about a certain thing, it might really turn into that thing! I absolutely don’t want to become a pair of nail clippers, ahhh!” Gong Si hurriedly shifted his gaze to the photo in his hand-a collection of various knife catalogs that Ah Feng and the others had helped gather, all ultra-small models.

While looking at the knife catalog, Gong Si suddenly realized Xi Liu hadn’t spoken for a while. He looked up and saw Xi Liu sitting nearby, sunlight shining on him, looking serene and composed, but actually spacing out.

“Hey, why aren’t you looking at the knife catalog with us? What are you daydreaming about over there?” Gong Si called him out directly.

Xi Liu slowly turned his head: “I was just imagining what it would be like to always be holding a pair of nail clippers…”

“Erase that thought!” Gong Si jumped up: “Your side is crucial too, don’t think about random things!”

As he spoke, Gong Si shoved half of the photos into Xi Liu’s hands, reminding him as he did: “Look at the knives in here more. The patterns aren’t that important-well, actually, they kind of are-but what’s more important is that they look cool and practical…”

Watching the interaction between Gong Si and Xi Liu, Qiu Xia chuckled.

With his ears tuned to everything, Gong Si noticed and glanced sideways at his Second Brother, frowning: “Why are you laughing like that again?”

Qiu Xia pursed his lips: “I just think Eldest Brother is adapting so quickly. You were so resistant to the world of Ability Users before, and you disliked…”

“Disliked the identity of a Vessel”-Qiu Xia didn’t finish the sentence.

But even if he didn’t say it, Gong Si knew what he meant.

Curling his lips, Gong Si continued to look gloomily at the knife catalog in his hand: “I didn’t like it before, but now that you, Dong Chun, and Ah Ji are all over there, I can’t possibly dislike you guys. As for becoming a Vessel… what I hate is that feeling of being out of control. Now that it’s settled, I have to try to seize everything I can control.”

“The first thing to settle is what kind of Vessel I’ll become.”

Hearing this, Xi Liu smiled again: “As expected, Ah Si’s way of thinking really resembles a User~”

Too lazy to respond, Gong Si kept frowning as he studied the knife catalog.

Form Contract is only the most crucial first step; the second step is determining the Vessel’s form.

This issue is simple for some people-a lot of people have a good assessment of their abilities before the Form Contract, or they excel in a particular area. In such cases, they basically know what form their Vessel will take when the Form Contract is made.

This step is usually decided by the User, because in most cases, the User knows clearly what kind of “Vessel” they want to use, and which medium best brings out their abilities. If the Vessel isn’t sure what form they want to take, then during the Form Contract, the Vessel’s form will be based on their basic traits but present as the medium the User desires.

This was one of the reasons Gong Si was initially so repulsed by the relationship between User and Vessel. Like most ordinary people, he thought Vessels were shaped at the whim of the User.

But there are exceptions. For example, if the User is unsure about the medium they want, or is less determined than the Vessel, then the Vessel’s form is decided by the Vessel. Take Ah Ji, for instance-he’s a typical case of successfully taking shape on his own without a User, but that’s because his level is so high. Lower-level Vessels, even if they know what they want to become, can only take shape during the Form Contract.

This situation is rare, since most people don’t randomly imagine what kind of Vessel they’d become. Those who do either really want to become another kind of existence, or they’re from a Famous Vessel Family, where a certain form is common and renowned, so the family’s descendants naturally have a desire to become that kind of Vessel.

In short, it’s the situation of Xi Liu’s family: his family has many famous knife Users, so they’re more inclined to set down Vessels with knife traits.

These two situations account for about 90% of how Vessel forms are determined, and now Gong Si and Xi Liu are in the remaining 10%.

Gong Si didn’t know he’d become a Vessel, and after passing the safety period-turning 18-he never considered what kind of Vessel he’d be, which is understandable. But Xi Liu hadn’t thought about what kind of Vessel he wanted to be either!

That’s how things ended up like this: even though they’ve already made the Form Contract, Gong Si, as a Vessel, still has no idea what kind of Vessel he is!

“You’ve been a User for seventy years and never thought about this? That’s something,” Gong Si teased.

“Doesn’t that just prove we’re a perfect match? I didn’t think about it so you could have the freedom to choose for yourself~” Xi Liu replied with a smile.
Blushing, Gong Si fell silent.

Qiu Xia: …

But the problem for Gong Si and Xi Liu in this regard wasn’t just that they didn’t know what form to take-they had it even worse: two people, one Vessel, one User, and neither of them could determine their attribute?!

Although it was because one was too high and the other too low, this still made choosing the Vessel’s form much more difficult. After all, the best form for a Vessel is one that complements both parties’ attributes. For example, if the User has a Poison Type attribute and his Vessel is a Water Type-like rain or mist-then his attack range would be very wide. If it’s a gun or a blade or arrows, then the precision would be higher.

Now, with nothing known and everything left to guess, Xi Liu simply waved his hand, indicating that the choice of form was entirely up to Gong Si. And after Gong Si gained the power to freely choose his future form…

At first, he was as energetic as if he’d been injected with adrenaline. However-

After several days of this adrenaline rush with no results, he now sported two dark circles under his eyes.

He hadn’t slept well for days.

Seeing that he was about to keep tormenting himself like this, Xi Liu couldn’t stand it anymore.

So, after Gong Si spent another day in the home library, and after dinner, Xi Liu dismissed everyone and took Gong Si to a certain place.

It was a corner of Xi Liu’s vast home, a solitary house standing by the lake.

Xi Liu’s house was so big, and Gong Si had been busy pondering his future (form) these past days, so he hadn’t really explored the place. Naturally, he didn’t know there was a lake here, let alone a house by the lake.

The lake was much like those seen in movies-very large, surrounded by woods. Since it was winter, the surface of the lake was not only frozen but also covered with a layer of snow, making it look white.

The area around the lake was also white. Because of the snowfall, the trees were weighed down with snow, and the ground was blanketed in white as well. It seemed rarely visited; when they arrived, there wasn’t a single footprint in the snow. The whole expanse was pristine and untouched, like an unvisited sanctuary.

And right by this white lake, the only house standing there was also white.

This little house was different from the typical lakeside wooden cabins often seen in movies.

It was a modern-looking polyhedral building. The design was extremely simple, made of some unknown material, and its shape was irregular. It stood quietly by the lake, looking both clean and lonely.

Xi Liu unlocked the door with his fingerprint. As he opened it, he introduced to Gong Si, “This is where I come when I want some peace and quiet. I’m the only one who comes here, cleaning is all done by machines, even Xie Kai and the others never come.”

The door opened, and inside was completely different from the flawless white outside-the house was pitch black. There were no lights above, only small, very dim floor lights at their feet, stretching forward in a line. The light was blue, and it looked…

Gong Si suddenly thought of water.

Aside from that, although the house looked big from the outside, inside-perhaps because of the darkness-it felt very narrow.

“Follow me, just walk forward along the floor lights,” Gong Si heard Xi Liu’s voice from ahead.

Following Xi Liu’s footsteps, Gong Si continued forward.

The floor was soft, not hardwood but carpet-thick enough that his whole foot sank in with each step.

Like grass, Gong Si thought.

The carpet absorbed sound, so he couldn’t hear their footsteps at all, only saw Xi Liu’s feet moving forward between the floor lights.

They walked forward for a while, not too long, before Xi Liu stopped.

The sudden stop caught Gong Si off guard, and he bumped into Xi Liu. They were so close, he could even smell the faint fragrance from Xi Liu’s hair.

Covering his nose, Gong Si was about to say something, but before he could speak, he felt Xi Liu grab his hand.

“Welcome to my aquarium~” Gong Si heard Xi Liu say with a hint of delight.

Then, Xi Liu suddenly pulled him forward. Gong Si stumbled a step, and saw what was before him-

Oh my god!

Gong Si’s eyes widened.

Just as Xi Liu said, what appeared before him was a gigantic “aquarium”!

There wasn’t a single lamp in the room, not even the floor lights remained. Yet the room wasn’t completely dark, because the entire “aquarium” was lit up, with the same dim blue light as the floor lights. The whole “aquarium” was the room’s light source. And the aquarium’s size-

It was the entire room!

All four walls and the ceiling were made of glass! Filled with deep blue water, Gong Si couldn’t even see the other side of the “aquarium”-who knew how thick it was!

Standing in this room, Gong Si suddenly felt suffocated, as if he were deep under the sea, submerged by thick, heavy water.

Overwhelming water-

Holding his breath, Gong Si was stunned.