First Interstellar Guide Chapter 63: Yu Ran’s Memory Part 2

Chapter 63: Yu Ran’s Memory Part 2

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

Xie Ran’s escape pod was sucked into a space wormhole and eventually landed on the Red Star. Crawling out of the escape pod, he saw a large expanse of red mist in front of him, with strange buzzing sounds around, and flora and fauna he had never seen before… Xie Ran then confirmed that he had arrived on a strange planet.

With his parents no longer alive, this realization caused a sharp pain in his heart. But remembering his father’s last words, “Live well,” Xie Ran quickly composed himself. Maybe there’s still hope? Perhaps a starship passing by might save his parents? Or maybe they also survived in an escape pod?

Although such hope was faint, he couldn’t give up. Xie Ran took a deep breath and carefully observed his surroundings. There were several fist-sized spiders on the ground, as if they were collectively responding to something, crawling rapidly towards the thick fog, with some small spiders flying around above him. Startled, Xie Ran, who had never liked spiders, instinctively stepped back upon seeing them heading into the red mist.

That turned out to be the most erroneous decision he had made in years. Xie Ran distanced himself from the red mist, opened the compass on his wrist communicator, and headed south.

It seemed like a forest maze here, with red silk threads everywhere. Since there were plenty of spiders around, Xie Ran guessed that these silk threads were likely spider webs. He carefully avoided the silk threads and proceeded southward.

The sky quickly darkened, Xie Ran’s stomach growled incessantly, but it wasn’t safe to eat anything around without knowing if the fruits and plants were poisonous. He endured the hunger, resting against a tree for a moment.

Soon, some firefly-like insects floated in the air, illuminating the forest slightly. Taking advantage of this faint light, Xie Ran noticed some strange vines beside a large tree. The vines were adorned with sharp thorns, almost blending with the ground due to their black color.

Instinctively sensing danger, Xie Ran immediately tried to move away from the vines, but the surrounding light was too dim, and he couldn’t see the vines buried in the ground clearly. As he took a few steps, his ankle was accidentally pierced, causing sharp pain. He bent down to tend to the wound, but at that moment, the vines, now tasting blood, seemed to “come alive” suddenly.

Rustling sounds surrounded him, as if a group of snakes were crawling. Realizing something was amiss, Xie Ran immediately turned and walked in the opposite direction. The glowing fireflies became more numerous, making the light brighter. He then saw that he had inadvertently entered the territory of a strange vine. The dense vines, like tentacles, swayed in the air, intertwining to form a net-like hunting circle, enclosing Xie Ran and then viciously attacking him!

Enduring the pain in his ankle, Xie Ran fled swiftly. The combat techniques he learned in the church came into play at this moment. He dodged agilely, avoiding the attacks of the vines while summoning the Red Fox. However, he soon despaired as the mental tendrils couldn’t perceive any emotions or consciousness.

Could these be plants with only hunting instincts and no intelligence? What Xie Ran feared most were such brainless plants. While he could attempt to communicate with animals and control their mental states, he was not equipped to deal with aggressive plants lacking brains.

Xie Ran urged himself internally, “Run fast, don’t let them catch you.” Fortunately, his grandfather had guided him on survival techniques, and he sprinted through the forest, retracing his steps. The vines chased him relentlessly, but he, unlike the sturdy Sentinels, was exhausted after running for half an hour.

Gritting his teeth, Xie Ran continued forward. At this moment, rain suddenly poured from the sky. It was the most terrifying rain he had ever witnessed. His whole body drenched instantly, and the muddy ground slowed his escape. A large tree’s roots blocked his path, and as he struggled to climb over it, he slipped and fell flat on the ground!

And right in front of him, a vine with sharp thorns aimed to attack him.

“Ah—” Xie Ran’s screams echoed through the forest. His left eye was instantly pierced by the vine, blood streaming down his face, staining his clothes red in a blink.

Kneeling on the ground, Xie Ran shivered with pain. He tightly covered his eyes—his left eye was bloodshot, likely blinded, and his right eye blurred by rain, unable to see clearly. Countless vines chased him madly from behind. Was he going to die here?

At that moment, his father’s words echoed clearly in his ears, “Ranran, live well.” He couldn’t die… The secret of the sacrifice of hundreds of soldiers of the Starlight Corps, only he knew. If he died, there would be no chance to clear their names. The Dark Night Organization’s schemes might be more enduring and terrifying than they thought! How could he die at the hands of monsters on an unfamiliar planet?

Taking advantage of Xie Ran’s fall, the vines swept over, wrapping him completely and hoisting him into the air. Sharp thorns pierced his skin, and the vines, like capturing a delicious prey, pulled and tore Xie Ran’s left arm apart!

“Ah—” Xie Ran almost passed out from the pain. Blood continued to flow from the cut arm, and the plant greedily sucked the blood from his body.

“So sweet… so delicious…”

Just as Xie Ran’s mental state was on the verge of collapse, one of his mental tendrils suddenly sensed a joyful emotion, as if a child had tasted their dream food. This emotion came from a distant place, very vague.

Xie Ran shivered from the pain, his face pale. He tried to ignore the intense pain from his eyes and the severed arm, focusing his mental senses on that emotion. Indeed, as the plant consumed his blood, the joyful emotion became more vivid.

Plants couldn’t have such vivid emotions—he understood. This wasn’t a plant; it was an immensely huge monster!

It had a brain, and it was extremely cunning. However, its main body was in a very distant place; these vines were its limbs, capable of endless extension. Xie Ran couldn’t sense the emotional fluctuations earlier because the range of his mental tendrils was not large enough to reach it!

How could he attack its brain? Only if his own mental energy was strong enough, even stronger than now!

Enduring the pain all over his body, Xie Ran closed his eyes, allowing the vines to tighten around him. His neck was entangled by the vines, almost suffocating him, and his cheeks were scratched by thorns. But in his mental world, he gathered all his strength and began to summon mental tendrils.

One, ten, a hundred, a thousand!

Mental tendrils grew explosively, forming a dense network of threads that extended from his palm. These mental tendrils were interconnected, seemingly sentient, obedient to Xie Ran’s command, and rapidly spread towards the direction of the emotion!

As the tendrils continued to increase, the red fox tail beside Xie Ran grew larger, and the surrounding red flames became brighter.

At this moment, Xie Ran seemed to be burning his life away.

In his mental world, the forest floor churned wildly, countless trees collapsed, and flowers withered at an unprecedented speed. His mental energy was being consumed rapidly, the tendrils from his palm continued to increase, and extend…

The red fox’s tail began to split.

Three, five, seven…

Until nine tails appeared simultaneously, unfolding instantly with a loud noise!

The nine tails rose into the sky, and the blazing flames formed a huge umbrella, enveloping Xie Ran. At this moment, Xie Ran unleashed all his potential and mutated into a Nine-Tailed Flame Fox. His mental energy achieved a qualitative breakthrough.

The young man opened his eyes, shouting, “Kill it!”

Countless red, flame-like mental tendrils swept like a tsunami, fiercely attacking a large tree deep in the forest!

The huge “tree” had a diameter of over ten meters, with dense branches and leaves, and its trunk towering into the sky. Countless arm-shaped roots were deeply rooted underground, relying on the blood of forest animals to nourish itself. It had almost become the master of this forest, and its vines could extend arbitrarily within the forest.

But at this moment, the “tree” emitted a painful howl!

“Awooo…”

Countless fiery mental tendrils instantly broke through its mental barrier, ruthlessly burning in the depths of its mind, destroying its mental world, and it lost consciousness completely in less than three seconds! All its vines, as if losing their lives, slowly fell down.

Xie Ran, bound in the air by the vines, fell to the ground. The vines were covered in thorns, and his body was covered in wounds, with hardly a patch of intact skin. His arm was torn off by the vines and fell into the distant mud, and one of his eyes was blinded.

The young man knelt on the ground, looking at his half-arm, finally unable to hold back his tears. He had been pampered since childhood, loved by his parents, grandparents, and aunt. Even for such a serious injury, they would be heartbroken if he just scraped his finger a little.

But now… he was covered in injuries, bleeding all over.

He was blind in one eye, his arm was severed, yet no one asked him, “Does it hurt, Ranran?”

It hurt a lot, almost unbearable, and his mental energy was almost depleted, the forest in his mind barren. He needed to rest, to sleep well and recover his mental energy, but he dared not rest! In this unfamiliar place, who knew how many dangerous animals and plants there were?

He was alone, with no one to trust. What if he fell asleep and got eaten by wild beasts? The overwhelming loneliness and fear haunted him constantly.

Xie Ran took a deep breath. His left arm was gone, still bleeding profusely. He tore off a piece of his clothing and used it to bandage the wound, but he knew it was futile. The cloth quickly soaked through with blood.

Grabbing a half-broken tree branch as a makeshift cane, Xie Ran struggled to rise from the muddy ground. Limping forward, he didn’t know where to go.

Once again, he encountered the red mist ahead. Strangely, from the depths of the mist, it seemed like something was calling out to him. With his innate ability to sense emotions, Xie Ran perceived that the entity seemed non-hostile.

Was it another kind of monster? One that could deceive the mind and lure him in for a meal?

Xie Ran hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth against the intense pain, slowly moving towards the red mist. After all, his current situation was already dire. Covered in injuries, if his wounds got infected or he lost too much blood, he wouldn’t survive. His mental energy could barely sustain consciousness for more than ten minutes… So why not take a gamble? Perhaps he might encounter an animal that doesn’t prey on humans?

Xie Ran hobbled forward.

As the downpour gradually ceased, Lu Zexuan, watching the scenes from memory, clenched his fists tightly. Although those wounds were clearly on Xie Ran’s body, Lu Zexuan felt as if the sharp vines were continuously stabbing at his heart.

Ranran…

He longed to rush over and hug the young Xie Ran from that time.

But memories were not dreams, they couldn’t be changed. Lu Zexuan could only watch as the resilient young man, step by step, leaned on his cane and walked into the mist.

Deep within the mist, he saw a massive monster. The creature looked terrifying, resembling the spiders that Xie Ran had always detested since childhood. Xie Ran stared at it warily, attempting to extend his mental tendrils. “Are you calling me? Do you want to eat me?”

Unexpectedly, a gentle voice echoed in his mind.

It seemed to be a mother’s voice, softly saying, “I won’t harm you because you saved me. I’ve been laying eggs these past few days, and the Devil’s Vine attacked my nest when I was at my weakest, trying to kill my newborns for sustenance. You actually took care of it. Thank you. I wonder where you come from? I’ve never seen a species like yours on this planet.”

Xie Ran was stunned for a moment. With what little mental energy he had left, he replied, “I am human. You can call me Ranran.”

The spider nodded as if understanding, “Ranran… That’s a strange name.”

Xie Ran explained, “That’s my human name.”

The spider seemed to comprehend and nodded, saying, “You’re injured. Let me help you. Don’t worry, although our species consumes various animals, you are my benefactor. I will protect you.”

Hearing her words, Xie Ran suddenly felt like crying. At his most desperate and helpless moment, he unexpectedly felt the kindness from a galactic creature. It was such a rare kindness. Like a gentle light in the darkness, it reignited his hope to live.