After taking care of her hunger, Qu Weichen kept moving.
No.9 would occasionally judge their current location based on the terrain, then guide her toward the tribe.
Qu Weichen never expected that finding a succubus would be this hard! When she dragged her tired body up a high slope, the sky suddenly went dark! Qu Weichen was completely stunned—this was just like a sudden blackout at night.
She stretched out her hand.
Even though it got dark in an instant, it wasn’t so bad that she couldn’t see her fingers; it was just hard to see things clearly.
[It’s nighttime in the Abyss now!]
“…That’s a pretty blunt way for night to fall.” Qu Weichen didn’t even know how to react.
She took out her sleeping bag and tent from her storage and set them up right there.
With two skeleton great-axe warriors guarding her, Qu Weichen could sleep soundly.
As long as she didn’t attack the undead skeletons, they wouldn’t attack her—unless she was unlucky enough to run into a demon lord passing by, but if that happened, it wouldn’t matter if she was awake or not.
“Next time, can you warn me before night falls?”
[Of course~] No.9 made a mental note and glanced at the current time, setting a reminder for itself.
Qu Weichen hadn’t found a water source in the Abyss yet, but since Chen Qingjue said there was one, she wasn’t worried.
Life in the Abyss definitely wasn’t as comfortable as at the academy or the Prison Sanctuary, so she could put up with not being able to wash up.
Qu Weichen finished setting up the tent, arranged her sleeping bag inside, took off her outer clothes and set them aside, then crawled into the sleeping bag and closed her eyes.
The first night in the Abyss was extremely quiet.
There were no insects or frogs, so silent it felt like she was the only person under this sky.
The two great-axe skeletons stood motionless in front of her tent like statues.
Lying on her back in the sleeping bag, Qu Weichen tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable.
The ground was so hard, it was really uncomfortable.
The sleeping bag was warm enough, so she wasn’t cold, but the feeling of being confined made her uneasy.
Qu Weichen’s mind wandered aimlessly.
She didn’t even know what she was thinking about—maybe Constance, maybe Tu Weierxi and her friends far away in the elven forest, maybe the third prince and the Empire, maybe the mountain village where she grew up, maybe her mother’s smiling face in the candlelight.
Maybe, maybe even Uweino… and that temple master.
Faces flashed through her mind.
On this short, first night in the Abyss, Qu Weichen couldn’t sleep.
It was like she’d reviewed her whole life since coming to the Floating Continent, reliving it all over again.
The pain and hatred were unforgettable, but the warmth and care made her feel nostalgic and moved.
Qu Weichen quietly sighed and curled up in her sleeping bag.
She didn’t know how far she could go, or how high she could reach.
Would her efforts pay off? Maybe she’d never even break through to Martial Master Tier 3 in her whole life.
Qu Weichen knew she wasn’t some kind of genius.
But if you asked her if she regretted it? She didn’t.
It’s just that, at times like this, she felt… a little lonely and sad.
A gentle lullaby started playing softly in her mind, the music light and quiet, soothing Qu Weichen’s tense nerves.
No.9 didn’t say anything, just carefully picked a song from its lullaby playlist and added it to the queue.
The silent night covered the land, and the black mist of the Abyss still drifted in the air.
The person in the sleeping bag breathed more and more evenly and softly, finally falling asleep.
Her tightly furrowed brows and clenched fists slowly relaxed over time.
No.9 queued up a new lullaby, lowered the volume a bit more, and quietly wished her good night.
…The Abyss really is huge.
It didn’t look that big on the map, but actually walking it, Qu Weichen compared the terrain several times and, with No.9’s help, finally figured out where she was… She was still in the Ancient Serpent’s territory, just near the edge.
No wonder there were skeleton squads around.
Qu Weichen thought for a moment and suspected that walking from the passage to the camp was about as far as going from Uweino to Beastcall Mountain… That was way too far, right? Not wanting to make things harder for herself, Qu Weichen climbed onto the back of a great-axe skeleton and let the tall skeleton carry her onward.
Too bad it was all bones—lying on it was uncomfortable and not soft at all.
[You’ll be able to unlock the “Skeleton Dragon Summon” skill in the future! That’s way cooler!] No.9 said excitedly.
Here we go again, the familiar “look to the future,” the familiar pie in the sky.
Qu Weichen sighed quietly and replied with a few half-hearted “yeah yeah, sure, whatever,” letting the great-axe skeleton carry her forward.
Once she’d rested enough, she’d use her movement skills to hurry along.
If she ran into undead, she’d summon the great-axe skeleton to help clear them out.
If not, she’d run until she was exhausted, then summon the skeleton for a ride.
Traveling could be a form of training, too.
On the fifth day in the Abyss, Qu Weichen finally found a fruit grove.
These should be red bramble fruits—after all, from the name, lava fruits probably grew near magma, right? Qu Weichen wasn’t sure.
She picked a red fruit and tasted it.
The fruits varied in size; the big ones were about the size of an adult’s fist, like an apple, and the small ones were only as big as a ping-pong ball.
The skin was especially thin, but extremely bitter and astringent.
The flesh was a bit better, but still sour and slightly bitter, though very juicy, and there was a faint sweetness after swallowing.
Definitely not a tasty fruit, but it could replenish water and was edible.
Qu Weichen took out a familiar burlap sack from her ring and, without a word, filled three bags with red bramble fruits.
She liked good food, but she wasn’t someone who couldn’t handle hardship.
At times like this, having something to eat was already good enough—no need to be picky.
Since there was a red bramble grove here, there should be a water source nearby, right? Qu Weichen guessed.
She could probably dig for water here, but that would be too much trouble.
“Jiubao, it’s your turn to help again!”
[…]
No.9 nervously checked the map again and again.
The map didn’t even show this red bramble grove—the person who drew it clearly didn’t care about such details.
And the map Chen Qingjue gave her might be hundreds of years old.
The general terrain wouldn’t be wrong, but as for where the water sources were…
[Um, aren’t you afraid I’ll lead you right to the Ancient Serpent?]
“…” Qu Weichen instantly calmed down.
“I’ll just look for it myself.” She squatted down, pinched the soil to feel how damp it was, then kept moving forward.
[The water quality here… Well, it’s the Abyss, so you might want to distill it before drinking.]
“I know.”
No.9 didn’t say anything else.
It adjusted its view, trying to help Qu Weichen see farther, searching for water sources and keeping watch for undead.
…
Sitting by the water source, Qu Weichen didn’t rush to drink.
She was still human, not an Abyss creature.
She took out the big water buckets she’d bought earlier and filled several to the brim.
She had an iron pot and a stand, and plenty of charcoal, so she could just boil the Abyss water and drink distilled water.
As for missing trace elements… who knew what was in Abyss water!
With red bramble fruit and water, Qu Weichen washed her clean clothes by the water, then set off again.
She was just looking for someone, but after several days, all she’d met on the long road were undead she couldn’t talk to.
If No.9 didn’t keep playing music and chatting with her, Qu Weichen couldn’t imagine what she’d be like after a year in the Abyss.
Maybe she’d get used to it, maybe she’d go crazy.
She found a clearing and set up her tent again.
Qu Weichen put her sleeping bag and clean clothes inside, then built a campfire outside, set up the stand, put the big iron pot on, and started boiling water.
The big lid was set on top at an angle, and Qu Weichen used long branches to make a frame to hold the lid in place, with a clean lidded bucket underneath to catch the distilled water.
By the fire, she built a simple wooden rack to hang her washed clothes, then sat by the pot eating red bramble fruit and big flatbread.
Maybe it was all the hunting and camping trips with Constance to Beastcall Mountain, but Qu Weichen was already very skilled at this.
Watching the Abyss water bubbling and steaming, she muttered, “Tomorrow I’ll make some bread soup and cook some noodles.” She wanted something hot to eat.
[Of course! The food you brought is meant to be eaten, no need to suffer so much.] No.9 felt a little guilty, since it knew other systems had shops.
Those shops didn’t have powerful items or weapons, but they did sell food.
Too bad its permissions were too low and its performance always lagged, so it didn’t have those features—just the most basic templates.
No.9 felt bitter, but there was nothing it could do.
Sometimes, thinking about Qu Weichen’s tough experiences and how hard she worked now, it even felt a bit of empathy—they really were two unlucky souls, so pitiful.
It never told Qu Weichen, but actually, out of all the hosts it had ever bound to, Qu Weichen was the fastest-growing and most promising.
It carefully recorded her experiences: “perseverance and hard work,” “firm will and courage to face difficulties,” “Martial Master Body Tempering Nine Rounds,” and so on.
More than anyone, it didn’t want Qu Weichen to die—especially now, after being with her so long, it truly hoped she’d get better and better, and wouldn’t have to suffer so much.
Necromancer was a late-bloomer class, and it encouraged Qu Weichen with that—though it was also encouraging itself.
If it kept failing, if it could never train a real necromancer, if no host ever reached max level and let it unbind successfully… No.9 thought, maybe one day the main system would recall and reformat it.
All kinds of class growth systems were an experiment, but resources were limited and had to be allocated by performance.
It wouldn’t disappear completely—even if it was reformatted, when it rebooted it would have a new code and become a different growth system.
But No.9 felt that wouldn’t be it anymore, and it didn’t want that.
No.9 quietly watched Qu Weichen rub her hands by the fire, her face flushed red in the firelight.
Most of the time, Qu Weichen was expressionless—she was a reserved person, and No.9 knew that.
But every time it teased her and made her break down, helpless, No.9 was genuinely happy.
Watching someone grow was a strange experience, No.9 thought.
It had learned a lot from Qu Weichen, too.
[Host, keep going, don’t give up, let’s work hard together!] No.9 suddenly spoke up.
[You’ll definitely become a necromancer!]
Qu Weichen was stunned, having no idea what No.9 was on about.
She rubbed her hands, took out another red bramble fruit from her ring and ate it.
The taste was really bad, but if she ignored that, the juicy water was pretty good—at least better than rock-hard black bread.
“Aren’t I already a necromancer?” Qu Weichen chewed the fruit.
“I’m not giving up.”
After finishing the red bramble fruit, Qu Weichen wiped her hands and stood up to practice her stances by the fire.
When the distilled water bucket was full, Qu Weichen swapped in another clean bucket.
There wasn’t much Abyss water left in the pot, so she added another bucket.
She couldn’t leave it unattended, or the pot would burn through by morning—she didn’t have many spare supplies.
She kept at it until she couldn’t stop yawning and it was time to sleep.
Qu Weichen doused the charcoal, left the remaining Abyss water in the pot for next time, and put away the distilled water and rack.
As for the clothes hanging up, there was no rush to take them in—two great-axe skeletons were on guard outside the tent, who would steal clothes here? She’d just put them in her storage ring in the morning.
After finishing everything and quickly washing up, Qu Weichen crawled into her sleeping bag, already exhausted.
She’d always been good at adapting, so she rolled over on the hard ground and mumbled, “No.9, good night,” before falling asleep.
[Good night, host.] No.9 watched Qu Weichen’s sleeping face and replied softly.
