One-Eyed Monster

Kadi’s deep sleep seemed to quiet the singing of the Moonflow Stream. The musical stones and waves stilled, no longer disturbing the night’s tranquility.

In the stone house near the White Swamp, far from the Moonflow Stream, the Great Mentor stroked the beard on his cheek, nodded, and murmured, ”Interesting.”

Kevin, standing beside him, didn’t understand the Great Mentor’s meaning. He kept looking for a chance to ask the Great Mentor if they should take advantage of the moonlight to quietly bring back that little fellow, Kadi. After all, Xiso had already gone to the Moonflow Stream, so it would be incredibly convenient for him to bring Kadi back.

However, the Great Mentor shook his head, disagreeing with Kevin’s request.

The Great Mentor said that anyone could receive an opportunity here, but these opportunities were hidden and needed to be earned.

These words offered Kevin some comfort. In his view, the Great Mentor was still giving Kadi an equal chance; whether Kadi could seize it depended on his own efforts.

He had initially worried about Kadi’s safety. But on second thought, this little rascal might soon become the Great Mentor’s final disciple. I can’t shield him from everything. He needs to learn some hard lessons and develop a sense of caution so he can hold his own on Guru Mountain in the future.

Kadi, however, was oblivious to Kevin’s good intentions. At this moment, he was sleeping beside the Moonflow Stream, sprawled out like a pig. He looked utterly exhausted, as if he hadn’t slept for days.

Time flowed on. The moon and stars gradually lost their luster, leaving only their pale, luminous outlines in the sky as they awaited the sun’s appearance. Once the sun peeked out, they would quickly hide, not letting anyone see them.

Deprived of moonlight, the Moonflow Stream no longer sang. Only the GURGLING of spring water and the RUSHING of streams flowing downstream remained, like a lullaby, keeping Igor and Kadi in deep slumber.

When these two finally woke up, the sun was already high in the sky. The warmth of the sunlight dispelled the chill from their bodies. Strangely enough, the early morning cold hadn’t managed to wake them, yet the midday sun did.

This probably meant one thing: Igor and Kadi were utterly exhausted…

Having slept until noon, Kadi and Igor were naturally hungry again. Fortunately, Kadi had brought back plenty of fruits and bird eggs the previous night, enough to fill their stomachs now.

Igor naturally went to start a fire. Kadi wasn’t used to eating raw food, a fact Igor found quite strange.

”For a monster, you’re surprisingly picky about food,” Igor muttered while building the fire.

”Naturally. We’re not barbaric animals, so how could we eat things raw?”

”This...” Igor was actually speechless.

They ate their combined breakfast and lunch. To be honest, some of the fruits tasted quite different after being roasted over the fire; their juices became richer and more aromatic, truly delicious. Igor couldn’t help but take an extra bite.

After eating, Igor again placed the fruit peels and eggshells to one side, though this time he put them in a different spot. Then, just like the previous night, he started waving his hand and counting on his fingers.

Witnessing this, Kadi could only facepalm; he didn’t know what else to do.

Igor’s acting strangely again, Kadi thought. What can I do? I can’t just join him in this nonsense.

This time, after Igor finished counting, he didn’t cup his chin and gaze at the sky thoughtfully as he had the previous night. Instead, he nodded and smiled with satisfaction.

Kadi, naturally, didn’t understand… ”See? Yesterday I told you we lost time, and you didn’t believe me. Come look at what’s in front of me, and you’ll understand.”

Unable to dissuade Igor, Kadi went to look where Igor was pointing. It was the fruit peels and eggshells Igor had arranged: two piles, one from the previous night and one from just now.

The two piles were of different sizes. The one from the previous night was clearly much larger than the pile from what they had just eaten—about four times as large, it seemed.

Kadi could discern the difference in quantity so precisely thanks to Igor’s neat arrangement. The number of eggshells was obvious at a glance, and as for the yam peels, it was easy to see that last night’s pile was several times larger than today’s.

To arrange things with such an effect, Igor is certainly talented in his own way, Kadi thought. But arranging it like this and making me look… what on earth does he mean? What is he trying to achieve?

”This is how much I ate last night, and that’s how much I just ate. The difference between the two is so large; it proves we’ve lost time.”

”This... You... Sigh...” Kadi had thought Igor would be better after a night’s sleep. Who knew he’d still be acting so erratically.

”What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that? Even though you only have one eye, I can still tell it’s a strange look.”

”No, it’s just... you’re talking so cryptically about ’losing time.’ I don’t understand it at all.” Kadi was on the verge of a breakdown thanks to Igor. If he doesn’t explain himself clearly, this could lead to a real misunderstanding, he thought.

”Heh, you don’t understand?” Igor chuckled, pointing at the fruit peels and eggshells.

”I don’t understand. What can these things possibly prove?” Kadi said honestly. Inwardly, however, he was thinking, I think you’re just delirious from hunger. Let me see if you’re okay.

”These? They explain time.”

”How so?” Kadi really wanted to say, Admitting you’re faint from hunger isn’t shameful, and neither is asking for help. But constantly talking nonsense like this *is* shameful!

But Kadi didn’t say it out loud, because he didn’t want to discourage Igor just yet.

What Kadi hadn’t anticipated, however, was that he was always the one who ended up being floored. Igor always possessed such uncanny abilities that completely shattered Kadi’s perception of reality.

Igor claimed his appetite could indicate the passage of time!

”You have to understand, the amount I eat when I’ve been hungry for one day is definitely different from the amount I eat when I’ve been hungry for two days.”

Kadi couldn’t possibly grasp the meaning of this. He had seen many people who had gone hungry for a day or two. Apart from wolfing down their food and occasionally choking, their appetites didn’t seem to change.

”I know my own body best. The amount I eat after being hungry for two days is definitely double my usual portion. My normal daily intake is twice what I just ate. As for last night’s portion... heh, you can see for yourself.”

Kadi was truly dumbfounded. He had never heard anyone say that time could be measured by appetite…

This was an eye-opener for him. At the same time, he still couldn’t be sure if Igor had gone mad, or if he himself was the crazy one.

Kadi was well and truly shaken. His entire worldview had been shattered into pieces by Igor, with no hope of repair.

If only Kevin were here, Kadi thought. He would definitely have a way to refute this Igor. At critical moments, Kadi still found himself thinking of Kevin.

”Why are you still making that face? Everything I said is true. It won’t be long before you see for yourself.”

”I... I don’t believe it!” Kadi blurted out.

”Right, perhaps my explanation isn’t convincing enough.” Igor cupped his chin again, trying to think of a way to explain it to Kadi.

”Oh! Right! The Spirit Book! It will definitely know the answer!” Igor exclaimed, as if he had discovered a new continent.