First Interstellar Guide Chapter 64: Yu Ran’s Memory Part 3

Chapter 64: Yu Ran’s Memory Part 3

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

Xie Ran slept for a long time, his head heavy and foggy. In his dreams, he struggled in a dark swamp, unable to crawl out, as if the vast quagmire was about to engulf him. Strangely, within the pitch-black mud, there seemed to be faint flickers of light twinkling. These dim lights kept converging, forming a peculiar shape.

After what felt like an eternity, a voice called out to him from the depths of his mind, “Ranran…”

The voice was gentle, reminiscent of a mother calling out to her child.

Xie Ran struggled to open his eyes.

The daylight in the forest was bright, a ray of sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves, shining on his face. He was dazed for a moment before realizing—he was still alive? He had actually survived?

A complex mix of pain and relief surged through his mind.

Xie Ran sat up and carefully observed his surroundings. It was then he noticed that he was lying on the back of the large spider. Contrary to his expectations, the spider’s back was not as rigid as he imagined. Instead, it was covered with a thick layer of fur, like sitting on a warm blanket.

Once again, the voice sounded in his mind, “Are you awake?”

Xie Ran nodded dazedly. “Yes.”

Looking down, he saw that the torn area of his left arm was wrapped in a layer of translucent red spider silk. The bleeding had stopped, and the wound seemed to be gradually healing. Similarly, his punctured left eye was covered in the same strange silk, allowing him to see through his blind eye.

Xie Ran couldn’t believe it. “Did you save me?”

The voice replied gently, “No, you saved me. I just helped you with your injuries.”

This spider silk was miraculous. When tightened, it could strangle a person’s neck, yet the mucus on it seemed to have a healing effect. The large spider used its silk to wrap Xie Ran’s entire body, as if carefully sewing up his wounds with needle and thread.

Most of Xie Ran’s external wounds had already healed, and even the difficult-to-treat severed arm was free from infection due to the silk’s effect. Although the silk didn’t numb the pain entirely, there was still occasional discomfort from the wounds, but Xie Ran was quite satisfied. He had thought he was done for, but unexpectedly, he was saved by a monster.

Xie Ran looked at the massive creature beneath him and said gratefully, “Thank you. What should I call you?”

The spider replied, “The children call me Mother, and other species call me Queen. I am the leader of the Red Spider clan. Under my protection, no one will dare to harm you.”

Spider Queen, the leader of a clan? No wonder its size was so massive, and its appearance looked terrifying and ferocious. Yet, its mental world harbored the tenderness of a mother.

Xie Ran’s stomach suddenly growled loudly, the intense hunger causing him to furrow his brows. He didn’t know how long it had been since he last ate. Just as he was about to jump down to find something to eat, the Queen flicked many purple fruits up to him with one of her forelimbs, saying, “You should be able to eat these. My children use them to stave off hunger when they can’t find other prey.”

“Thank you.” Xie Ran accepted the fruits and peeled one open. To his surprise, the purple flesh was sour and sweet, incredibly delicious. Ravenous, he devoured over a dozen of them in quick succession, finally feeling satisfied with a full stomach.

After eating his fill, Xie Ran closed his eyes and concentrated his mental energy, examining his mental landscape.

That day, when his mental energy erupted to escape from the Devil’s Vine, leading to the evolution of the Red Fox, he almost depleted all his mental energy. How did he manage to regain consciousness?

Xie Ran puzzledly inspected his mental landscape and was surprised to find a pure white fox deep within the forest. Surrounded by a soft halo of light, the fox’s body seemed to have a few translucent jellyfish hovering around it.

Xie Ran was stunned… Was this his father’s and grandfather’s mental energy?

When Xie Ran was three years old, Qin Xiao and Qin Luo sealed him away, leaving a mental barrier in his mind. Although that barrier prevented him from using mental attacks as a child, it silently protected him from harm.

When Xie Ran was thirteen, the seal was released, but the mental energy left behind by his father and grandfather remained deep within the forest, serving as the last sanctuary of his mental world.

On that day, when his mental energy was on the verge of depletion, the mental energy left behind by his father and grandfather gathered together, preserving his last trace of consciousness.

With the mutation of the Red Fox, this portion of mental energy also condensed into a new spirit body. The white fox resembled a newborn cub, fluffy and adorable. While Xie Ran’s mental landscape was barren, with trees wilting and flowers withering, this fox brought forth a clear lake in the center of the forest.

Beside the lake, the white fox slept.

As the translucent jellyfish gradually disappeared, the little white fox eyes blinked in confusion. It was like a new life born after enduring hardships.

Watching this scene, Xie Ran’s eyes couldn’t help but moisten. It was his father’s and grandfather’s mental energy that helped him. He had awakened dual spirit bodies!

He tried to communicate with the white fox, and the cute fox, sensing his call, bounced around joyfully by the lake. As it ran, the withered flowers and grass around it began to take root and sprout anew, and the barren forest gradually burst with vitality…

The white fox was a healing-type spirit body.

Due to Xie Ran’s sudden eruption of mental energy that led to a breakthrough in rank, the Red Fox mutated into a powerful Flame Nine-Tailed Fox. At the same time, this new spirit body formed from the mental energy left by his elders absorbed a large amount of nutrients. Although it appeared young, it possessed an S-level healing talent.

With it, rebuilding the mental landscape was only a matter of time.

Overwhelmed with joy, Xie Ran couldn’t help but shed tears. Was this considered a turn of fate? A blessing in disguise? He had become the first guide in Federation history to awaken dual spirit bodies.

Feeling his intense emotional changes, the Spider Queen asked gently, “Ranran, are you alright?”

Xie Ran took a deep breath and said, “I’m fine. Queen, thank you. I’m glad to have met you as a friend.”

The Spider Queen replied, “I should thank you. You dealt with my archenemy.”

Later, during his mental conversation with the Spider Queen, Xie Ran learned that their special spider clan had only one leader, the Queen. The fist-sized adult spiders were responsible for weaving webs and transporting nutrients to the Queen, while the insect-like smaller spiders were in charge of scouting and relaying messages.

The Queen would lay eggs once a year in May, giving birth to thousands of spider eggs to replenish the clan’s numbers. And the black Devil’s Vine, a highly intelligent plant entrenched in the forest, with its developed root system and thorny vines that could extend endlessly, feeding on flesh and blood. The spider clan was its favorite prey.

The day Xie Ran fell onto this planet happened to be during the Queen’s egg-laying period. At this moment, the Queen’s combat power was at its weakest. The Devil’s Vine took advantage of the opportunity to spread wildly around the nest, intending to feast on thousands of newly born spiders, but instead encountered Xie Ran, a fresh prey, and couldn’t resist attacking him.

Unexpectedly, during the battle with Xie Ran, his sudden burst of mental energy swept through its brain like a tsunami, instantly killing its consciousness! With the death of the Devil’s Vine’s main brain, all its roots rapidly withered away, and the Queen was no longer threatened by her archenemy.

Xie Ran inadvertently saved the Spider Queen, which was why she showed him such special kindness. Not only did he save the Queen, but he also rescued thousands of newly born spiders.

Upon learning the truth, Xie Ran found it incredibly miraculous. For years, humans had been aggressively occupying galactic creature territories, exploiting resources, and slaughtering many galactic creatures. He never imagined that, at a critical moment, he would end up saving the leader of a galactic creature species.

The bond formed between him and the Spider Queen in times of peril was no less than the bond between humans. From that day on, Xie Ran and the Spider Queen became good friends. They communicated mentally, with the Queen sharing knowledge of species on their planet while Xie Ran recounted human stories to her.

It was a time of simplicity. Xie Ran spent his days having his mental landscape repaired by the little white fox and chatting with the Queen. His diet consisted of simple fare like purple berries and leaf-tailed grass. Occasionally, the spiders would bring him small animals caught in their webs for him to eat, although the taste wasn’t great, it sustained him.

The constant buzzing of the little spiders around him initially seemed like mere animal noises, but after communicating more with the Queen, he gradually understood the signals they exchanged and realized… they were actually speaking.

[“Ranran’s stories are so interesting!”]

[“What’s a guide? Only guides can understand the Queen?”]

[“Ranran, do all humans have names? Can you give me one?”]

[“Ranran, can you fly? Like we do?”]

Listening to these chirping voices, Xie Ran suddenly felt incredibly fulfilled. He wasn’t alone. He had so many friends to talk to… even though they looked somewhat frightening and were quite vicious when hunting, their affection and kindness towards Xie Ran became the brightest color in his dark memories.

During the battle with the Devil’s Vine, Xie Ran’s face was marked with numerous scars from thorns, almost destroying his appearance. The Queen helped heal his wounds, but he still bore many scars on his face. His left arm was torn off halfway, and his eyes were one black and one red…

Now, he looked like a monster.

As days passed, Xie Ran’s mental landscape was repaired, and his wounds healed, but he began to feel anxious. Red Spider Star had sixteen hours of daylight, and Xie Ran kept track of time. In the blink of an eye, he had been here for over a year.

The Queen had left her scent on him, and all the animals in the forest avoided him, making him safe here. Xie Ran often wandered to the far reaches of the forest, but he never saw another human or any high-tech transport that could take him off the planet. He had survived, but he had no way back to the capital star.

What meaning was there in living? Was he, a human, to spend his life with the spiders on this planet? To grow old and die alone here?

Recalling the scene of his parents dying aboard the Starlight, Xie Ran felt like his heart was being ripped apart. He had to find a way back, but there were no tools here to build an airship, let alone a starship capable of interstellar travel.

The days became unbearably long. Xie Ran had lived on Red Spider Star for three years. Perhaps the spider silk used to treat him affected his skin cells, as his appearance had hardly changed. The scars on his face gradually faded, and his skin became fair and smooth, making him look like a teenager of about eighteen.

Xie Ran had thought he might grow old by the side of the Spider Queen. Unexpectedly, one day, the Spider Queen suddenly said, “My lifespan, in terms of your human time, should be around five hundred years. I am accustomed to living here, but, Ranran, I sense your growing anxiety. Do you have many unfinished tasks? Do you want to return to your homeland?”

Xie Ran replied honestly, “Yes. Some traitors have emerged within our human community, and many of my relatives and friends are in danger. I must go back.”

The Spider Queen said, “Over there, something big has fallen, similar to when you fell here. It should be what you humans call a ‘mechanical device.’ Follow the little spiders and take a look. It might help you.”

Xie Ran’s eyes lit up, and he immediately got up, following a few small spiders through the vast forest. Eventually, he saw a small battleship capable of accommodating two people.

The ship was engraved with strange patterns, and some of its wings were damaged—this should be a star pirate’s ship!

On officially sanctioned Federal battleships, there were insignias representing different legions and organizations, such as the golden wings of the Eagle Legion, the star and moon symbols of the Starlight Legion, the leopard head of the Snow Leopard Legion, and the flower wreath of the Guide Association, making them easily distinguishable.

However, these technologically advanced but unmarked battleships mostly belonged to the dark forces of space—the star pirates.

The star pirates operated outside of Federal government control, plundering and pillaging across the universe, notorious for their brutality and ruthlessness. The Snow Leopard Legion was tasked with capturing these star pirates, so the fact that a battleship had crashed on Red Spider Star indicated that fierce battles were taking place near the wormhole.

Xie Ran’s heart pounded with excitement. He had hope of leaving this place!

Inside the battleship, a surviving star pirate crawled out in a sorry state. He had exaggerated tattoos of wolves on his arms. Seeing Xie Ran, who looked human but was dressed in clothes made of leaves, the pirate thought he was hallucinating.

The next moment, the sentinel hesitated to pick up a gun and aimed it at Xie Ran!

This star pirate had long been driven mad. Seeing the one-armed youth suddenly appear in the red mist, he thought Xie Ran was a monster.

However, Xie Ran agilely dodged a barrage of bullets, and at the same time, his mental tendrils flared out like flames, piercing straight towards the pirate’s brain. The star pirate almost instantly knelt before Xie Ran.

“Are you… a guide?” the sentinel asked in horror, looking at the nine-tailed fox before him.

“Who are you? What’s happening outside?” the fiery nine-tails asked coldly in his mind.

“I… I’m a sentinel of the Black Shark Star Pirate Alliance. Our starship was ambushed by the Snow Leopard Legion, and our leader was captured! I fled in this battleship, only to be sucked into a wormhole and end up in this damn place!”

The sentinel’s eyes darted around, and his spirit body, a gray wolf, wagged its tail nervously beside him.

Trembling, the man begged, “Please, don’t kill me! I’ll give you all the money I have! You’re not with the Snow Leopard Legion, right? We have no grudge against each other. Spare me, please!”

“Sorry, but you know too much. I can’t let you live.” Xie Ran looked coldly at him. “Since you’re a star pirate who has done countless evil deeds, I don’t feel guilty about killing you… Go on then.”

The flames of the mental tendrils burned fiercely in the mind, making the sentinel unable to utter a word. He stared wide-eyed, unable to believe the sight of the ragged, thin, and ghostly pale youth before him. Until the moment of death, he never knew who he had encountered.

…That was Xie Ran’s first time killing someone. As he looked at the star pirate sentinel dead before him, his hands trembled slightly. But soon, he calmed down. He couldn’t let this person know he was alive; only dead men could keep secrets.

Xie Ran carefully inspected the battleship—luckily, only the wings were damaged, and the core operating system was still functional. As long as he found the correct exit path, he could pilot this battleship back to human society.

Over the next period, Xie Ran used the mechanical repair knowledge he had mastered in college to painstakingly fix the battleship. In these three years, he observed the arrangement of stars in the sky on the planet and identified the directions of some constellations. His astronomy grades had always been top-notch, and with the intelligent brain of a guide able to swiftly process information, he had found a way out.

The Southern Triangle Constellation consisted of three stars, with Red Spider Star being the middle one. The wormhole was located directly north of Red Spider Star. Escape pods dropped from the wormhole would land here. However, to leave, one couldn’t return the same way because the wormhole’s gravity was reversed, making it impossible to exit. If one left from the back of the planet, in the southward direction, the nearest human base happened to be a remote resource planet.

The defense forces there were not strong. He could take advantage of the quiet night to control the guards at two outposts, take their clothes, blend into the crowd, and then find an opportunity to return to the capital star.

…

A month later, Xie Ran repaired the starship. At this point, three years and three months had passed since the Starlight crashed, and his parents passed away. Xie Ran went to the Queen’s nest and bid farewell. “Queen, I’m leaving. Thank you for taking care of me during this time.”

The Spider Queen softly replied, “Go ahead, I wish you success. You never belonged here.”

Xie Ran’s eyes grew warm as he looked at the huge creature before him. He whispered, “If I have the chance, I’ll come back to see you.”

The Spider Queen said, “If you need my help, you can come here to find me. I’ll do my best to assist you.”

Xie Ran nodded. “Thank you… Goodbye.”

Wearing star pirate clothes, Xie Ran piloted the battleship, circling three times above the Spider Queen’s head. The little spiders surrounded him, reluctant to part. Xie Ran closed his eyes, stepped on the accelerator, and soared into the sky like an arrow.

Farewell, Red Spider Star. Farewell, Queen.

…

Xie Ran successfully infiltrated a merchant caravan on the desolate planet using the nine-tailed fox’s invisibility ability. He disguised himself as a merchant and finally returned to the capital star in June of that year.

He secretly arrived at the place where he used to meet his grandfather when he was a child. After waiting for a few days, he finally saw the familiar old man.

Several years had passed, and the marshal seemed to have aged a lot. With his son’s family killed in battle and General Xie dying of illness, he had almost no one left to confide in. The position of marshal seemed incredibly lonely. When he had free time, he would come to this abandoned ancestral home, reminiscing about the times spent with his family.

“Alo, Xi, Ran, are you all doing well up there?” The old voice carried a hint of hoarseness, and the old man’s figure looked so desolate and lonely.

But soon, he sensed someone approaching.

Qin Xiao immediately summoned a jellyfish, and the water-based jellyfish rapidly multiplied around him, forming a huge encirclement, firmly protecting him in the center. Qin Xiao’s alarm bells were ringing loudly. Who would know about this secret meeting place?

He turned around sharply and shouted sternly, “Who’s there?”

A young man stepped out from the darkness step by step. His left arm was missing, his figure was thin and unimpressive, his eyes were one black and one red, and his face was as pale as paper. Qin Xiao looked at the figure before him, almost mistaking him for a ghost.

But the strong emotional fluctuations belonging to humans and the strange sense of familiarity left Qin Xiao stunned.

The familiar flames of the mental tendrils cautiously touched the marshal’s jellyfish.

In his mind, a choked voice rang out, “Grandfather, it’s me, Ran Ran. I’m still alive.”