"Elysia...? That name sounds so familiar."
Ryn grabbed Elysia by the scruff of her collar and lifted her up. He then sat up from the ground and carefully examined the little girl in front of him.
Her long wanderings had left her looking grimy. The clothes underneath were relatively clean and tidy thanks to a long cloak, but they were clearly from a long time ago and were a bit tight on the rapidly growing girl's body.
Elysia's long pink hair was also a bit messy, tangled with leaves and mud.
But beneath this scruffy exterior, Elysia's lively eyes shone even brighter, full of vitality.
Her spirited eyes, combined with her angelic and lovely face, made her seem like the black swan among ugly ducklings, a beautiful treasure bestowed upon the world by the heavens.
However... along with Elysia's inhuman beauty, her ears were also not quite normal... The ears hidden beneath her long hair were pointed, resembling those of an elf from a fairy tale.
But since Elysia was still young, the difference in her ears wasn't very obvious yet.
"Am I pretty? Isn't Elysia very pretty!"
Being held up and scrutinized by Ryn, Elysia didn't feel angry at all. Instead, she looked at Ryn even more happily, asking if he was amazed by her beauty.
"You are quite pretty, but more so, you have a playful and cute charm."
"Mhm, mhm, praise Elysia more~ It makes me very happy!"
"Cute, cute, very cute."
"?" Elysia blinked her crystal-clear, gem-like eyes, asking with some confusion:
"Only cute? I have many other beautiful and shining qualities that you can praise!"
"Too much praise might make you arrogant."
Ryn placed Elysia back on the ground, then stood up to survey his current surroundings.
Ryn scanned the area and confirmed that these were all ordinary small animals. They were neither infected by his Honkai energy nor had they contracted Honkai energy from the outside world.
While checking his surroundings, the burn scars on Ryn's body began to heal at a visible rate. In about five or six seconds, Ryn had completed a full-body molt.
There was not a single scar or blemish left on his body, and his skin had returned to its fair and tender state.
Behind Ryn, Elysia's eyes lit up when she saw him transform from a blackened piece of charcoal to a jade-like figure.
"Wow! Wow! Wow!" Elysia exclaimed three times, then excitedly ran to Ryn's side, walking alongside him.
"Big brother! What was that ability you just used? It's so amazing! Elysia wants to learn it too!"
Ryn looked at the happily bouncing Elysia, reached out to pat her head, and replied gently:
"It's just a small application of Honkai energy... When Elysia is a little older, I'll teach you."
After speaking, Ryn walked out of the cave to look at the outside world.
The dark clouds in the sky had dispersed, and the sun appeared high above, shining equally and gently on everyone.
The rain had gradually subsided, and the sun shower would probably stop soon.
The sunlight from fifty thousand years ago felt no different from the sunlight of fifty thousand years later!
Ryn spread his arms, basking in the sunlight.
At the same time, he extended his consciousness, trying to determine what year and era he had arrived in. He also wanted to understand the current state of society and search for the "Fire Moth" mentioned by Fu Hua and the others.
But obviously, Ryn found no information related to the "Fire Moth" organization, because it hadn't been established yet, or perhaps the organization went by a different name at this time.
Even if consumed by fire, they were moths chasing after hope...
It seemed the Honkai hadn't erupted in this era yet, so naturally, there wouldn't be a group of people searching for hope in despair...
"Sigh... so unreliable!"
Ryn lamented, feeling like crying but having no tears.
The great will of the Sea of Quanta had said that knowing the exact time he was going to was meaningless, as it was all fifty thousand years ago anyway, and it had left him plenty of time.
So you just sent me back who knows how many years, to a time before the Honkai even erupted!!!
Ryn opened his eyes, deciding he might as well go find where Cortana was and dig her up. At least he'd have some company that way.
But as soon as he opened his eyes, he found a line of figures standing beside him, mimicking his earlier posture of sunbathing with their arms outstretched.
"Mmm~ I can't feel anything..."
Elysia closed her eyes and smacked her lips, a little bored.
And behind Elysia, led by the big black bear, a group of animals were also making all sorts of strange and bizarre attempts to imitate the two-legged beast's sunbathing.
The big black bear and its brethren's imitation was quite good. They stood up, spread their arms, and closed their eyes with a look of enjoyment.
But the tigers and foxes' imitations were extremely bizarre and grotesque...
The scene was too beautiful to behold. Ryn already had the urge to take a picture and send it to Kiana and the others.
Unfortunately, his phone had no network, out of service area...
Ryn covered his face, unable to look at these bizarre animals any longer, and returned to the cave.
"Mmm... the sunlight is warm and quite comfortable..."
"Big brother... what did you feel?"
"Big brother?"
Elysia spoke several times but received no reply from Ryn. So she opened her eyes to ask him why he was ignoring her.
But as soon as she opened her eyes, she found that Ryn was long gone, leaving only her and the animals standing there foolishly...
"Hmph! Leaving without saying goodbye, so rude!"
Elysia pouted angrily, then patted the big black bear and gestured that she was going back first. She then turned and ran back into the cave.
Back in the cave, Elysia saw Ryn, who was so bored that he was digging a hole in the ground, preparing to bury himself.
She had wanted to scold Ryn for being rude and leaving without a word, but upon seeing him digging a hole, Elysia's curiosity was piqued.
She walked to the edge of the pit Ryn was in and squatted down, looking at eye-level with Ryn in the one-meter-deep hole, and asked with great curiosity:
"What are you doing, big brother? Are you going to die?"
"Mmm... huh?"
Ryn nodded subconsciously, then shot his head up to look at Elysia, who was cursing him to die. He reached out and pinched her chubby little round face.
"Die? What die? Kids shouldn't say that word. I'm just digging a hole to sleep for a while, to pass the time until the mission starts."
"Old Man Chris said the same thing, but after he buried himself, he never came out again... Grandma Chris said he went to heaven, but the passersby I met all said he was dead..."
Elysia looked a little sad as she recounted a past experience from her journey, but she still managed a smile as she looked at Ryn.
"So... big brother, are you about to die too?"
"I told you not to curse me to die. I just want to sleep..."
Ryn dismissed the shovel made of condensed Honkai energy back into his Stigmata Space and climbed out of the pit with a helpless expression.
If he really lay down in there, who knows what Elysia would tell people about him in the future...
"Big brother, you're alive again?!" Elysia looked at Ryn happily, her eyes curving into little crescent moons with joy.
Although Elysia didn't yet understand what life and death were, she knew that death meant never seeing someone again. She didn't like death, so she was very happy that Ryn was not dying now!
"......"