Chapter 50: The Tribal Covenant

After talking with Dark Star for quite a while, Chi Sui felt some discomfort in her eyes when she finally returned to the first level.

"Wumo wumo?"

Hearing the familiar wumo sound, Chi Sui looked down.

Guduo was waving her hands. Seeing that Chi Sui was looking over, she grabbed Chi Sui's sleeve and pulled her toward a flower bed.

"Wumo~"

Although they had been getting along for a while now, Chi Sui still couldn't understand a thing without Momo around.

Soon, guided by Guduo's tugging, the two reached their destination.

A tender yellow flower trembled and slowly unfolded its petals under their gaze.

The starlight grass was blooming.

"Wumo wumo~~"

This time, Chi Sui had an idea of what it meant.

Patting Guduo's hair, which had become messy from excitement, she nodded gently and said:

"Yes, I see it. The flowers are blooming."

As if receiving some kind of signal, the surrounding starlight grass buds began to open their petals one after another.

Although the individual flowers were tiny, the overall scene was breathtaking.

Tidying up Guduo's hair, Chi Sui stood up.

"Can you do me a favor?"

Guduo tilted her head.

"Wumo?"

"Help me scrape away the moss around the cliff walls. I'm going up to bring a snake down."

.....

"Ugh, I told you I don't want to take this way. Ugh..."

Green Tooth, who had accompanied Chi Sui down the slide, complained incessantly as it retched upon landing.

Covering her mouth, Chi Sui waved her hand and waited a moment before speaking:

"This way is fast. I wouldn't fit through the other path even if you took it."

The earth mushroom gnomes were exceptionally enthusiastic toward Green Tooth compared to anyone else on the ranch. Ever since they learned that Green Tooth could accelerate plant growth, they had built a dedicated tunnel for it, complete with glowing moss for decoration.

The tunnel was smooth, safe, and illuminated—it had every advantage imaginable, except that it was much too narrow for Chi Sui to enter.

Thinking of this, Chi Sui couldn't help complaining to herself. Since they had gone to the trouble of building a tunnel, why didn't they make it bigger? She wasn't particularly fond of these twisting, winding slides, to be honest.

Green Tooth draped its lifeless body over a nearby building.

"Spit it out. Why did you drag me down here in such a hurry?"

"The time to use your power has arrived. Look, the starlight grass is all blooming."

Upon hearing this, Green Tooth rolled its slitted eyes up to the heavens.

"Ever since I contracted with you, has there been a single day you didn't need my power? Have you ever let me rest for even a single day?"

Chi Sui instinctively shifted her gaze away, feeling a twinge of guilt.

Especially when she thought of Green Tooth's age, her conscience pricked her even more.

Of course, she couldn't let herself lose the argument. "That just shows how capable you are. Peace Ranch simply cannot do without you."

"I've heard that line so many times lately my ears are calloused."

Her only response was Green Tooth's resigned back as it slithered toward the flower beds.

"Tomorrow, tomorrow I really need a proper rest."

Chi Sui hurriedly followed, pulling out a small jar she carried with her. Inside were Green Tooth's favorite treats—pickled scallion bulbs.

"Of course. Just one more busy day, and I've got your supplies all ready."

For the first time, Green Tooth felt no anticipation for the pickled scallions. It proudly turned its head away, refusing to look. Every single one of those wild garlic bulbs represented exploitation of its labor.

As Green Tooth advanced, the tender sprout on its head formed a wondrous link with the starlight grass in the flower beds. Wherever Green Tooth passed, the tightly closed buds of the starlight grass slowly uncurled, and the tender yellow blossoms gradually replaced the previous sea of green.

The entire blooming process didn't last long, ending with Green Tooth collapsing in exhaustion.

"Food, food, shove it in my mouth quickly."

Lying flat on the ground, Green Tooth cried out feebly.

Chi Sui: .....

"If you knew it would come to this, why were you acting so stubborn just now?"

Despite her words, Chi Sui picked up the pickled scallions and fed them to Green Tooth one by one.

As the food reached its stomach, the entire snake came back to life. Stretching its body, Green Tooth resumed its journey.

There were very few unbloomed flowers left in these beds.

While Green Tooth was hard at work, Chi Sui didn't idle either. She picked up Guduo's small shovel and began scraping away the moss overhead.

"Guduo, would you still be used to it if this level weren't so bright anymore?"

Guduo, who was busy scraping the moss around the cliff walls, paused for a moment before shaking her head.

"Wumo."

Alright, she still couldn't understand the words, but Chi Sui could definitely understand a headshake.

Confirming there was no problem, Chi Sui put even more effort into clearing the moss.

The moss on the ceiling was within arm's reach and wasn't particularly difficult to clear. However, for aesthetic reasons, she didn't scrape it all away, leaving patches here and there to form glowing little circles.

The moss would continue to glow for a while even after being removed from the cliff face, and with special processing, it could be used as fuel for lanterns. Therefore, neither of them wasted the harvested moss, piling it to the side and wrapping it in blackout cloth.

When they were halfway done, the brightness of the first level gradually dimmed, but it was still not dark enough; the starlight grass had not yet begun to glow.

Both Chi Sui and Guduo were starting to run out of stamina. Down below, the blooming work was nearing its end, and Green Tooth was currently hugging its small jar, eating as it crawled.

"This won't do. It's too slow."

Chi Sui panted, lowering her shovel.

"We need some help. Guduo, go call Guli and the others up."

Sitting on the ground, Chi Sui rubbed her aching wrists.

Watching Guduo disappear into the stairwell, Chi Sui's eyes slowly turned pink.

Relying solely on the four of them was still too slow; she needed more assistants.

Inside the underground honeycomb exit, the pink-ringed bees lined up and flew out one after another.

When they reached Chi Sui, they had already formed a neat square formation.

"Go on, clear away the moss around the cliff walls."

The lead pink-ringed bee nodded, bowed deeply, and then directed the bees behind it to get to work.

With the expansion of the Lolo bee colony, Chi Sui found her connection with them growing increasingly close. By now, even without Lolo present, Chi Sui could command the swarm to carry out tasks. That crimson contract truly was extraordinary.

With these helpers, Chi Sui hardly needed to exert herself. Through the strong cooperation between the earth mushroom gnomes and the pink-ringed bees, all the moss around the cliff walls was quickly cleared and packed into the prepared blackout bags.

The first level officially transitioned from daylight into night.

Just as the visibility around Chi Sui dropped, warm yellow lights flickered here and there, converging piece by piece until they blanketed the entire space.

The fluorescent glow of the starlight grass on the ground echoed the bright light of the moss overhead, creating a romantic and cozy atmosphere that felt almost like stepping into a fairyland.

"Wumo~"

"Wumo!"

Led by Guduo, the earth mushroom gnomes couldn't help crying out in delight.

"It's actually quite pretty when all these flowers bloom. No wonder you wanted to plant so many of them."

Green Tooth crawled out from a nearby flower bed, its entire body covered in starlight grass pollen. Against the backdrop of the night, the snake's body emitted an uneven, ethereal glow.

This comical sight made Chi Sui cover her mouth again, forcing herself not to laugh.

Wanting to laugh yet not daring to, the suppressed laughter caught in her throat, successfully making her cough.

After coughing a couple more times as a cover-up, Chi Sui finally spoke seriously:

"I'll go down and find Dark Star now. This promise should be fulfilled."

"No need to bother, I've been here for a while."

Dark Star's voice sounded from behind her. The moment Chi Sui turned around, what met her eyes was the suddenly materialized Book of Enlightenment.

The book turned its pages automatically, and another page detached itself.

Only this time, the name inscribed on the page was different.

Beneath a golden glow, four prominent characters appeared:

Tribe Contract