Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

He was talking to Shen Liang, whom he knew from the beginning. He wasn't unaware that Shen Liang was the little demon god from Inazuma. But when he saw that little white-haired princess who was less than 1.5 meters tall in the military camp, he only felt that she was cute and lovable, and it was difficult for him to associate her with the word "demon god" most of the time.

He was momentarily confused. Yes, that's right. The person opposite them was not someone they could directly communicate with. That person... was a demon god who looked down upon all living beings from a high place.

A foreign demon god, engaging in a one-on-one dialogue with him?

"This telegram only requires you to do as instructed; no reply is needed, and please do not question it. According to the previous transcript, there are five of you who, in self-defense, blew up the No. 31 mine tunnel, and three of you were seriously injured and bleeding. You salvaged about 6 tons of old rice and extinguished the fire in the granary."

The text is cold and mechanical, the analysis is calm and methodical.

Luo Qicai suddenly burst into tears, choking up and unable to speak. Although the telegram was devoid of emotion and comfort, Luo Qicai felt that it was the best news he could ask for.

He couldn't explain what he wanted, but it was this unquestionable statement, like a stern god who wouldn't even look at your pleas, only issuing commands as firm as rocks, which you simply had to follow and had to do.

The telegram hasn't been fully translated yet.

"I can roughly guess your location. You are not in any danger. Look east; there are four mine shafts. The third one from the top, an abandoned mine shaft, has groundwater that is drinkable. If you cannot determine east or west, you can burn any substance on the spot and observe the direction of the smoke. There is a side cavity beneath the Abyss of Layered Rocks, and it is sealed off above, so the smoke will only drift westward. There are medical resources under the blue bricks in the safe room. Bandage your comrades. You have sufficient food and drinking water; preserve your fighting strength as much as possible. I will contact the Rock King Emperor to personally issue the next order, and I will inform you all at that time. Keep the telegraph machine operational; I will contact you at any time. If you have an emergency, you can also contact me, but please do not occupy the line resources unnecessarily."

Luo Qi nodded vigorously!

Another comrade, Yao Lu, looked at him, wiping away tears, puzzled. But Luo Qicai just clenched his fists and finally whispered, "We're saved! The higher-ups have finally taken over completely! We have work to do, brothers! Don't die!"

The long telegrams were sent segment by segment to each line. Shen Liang no longer responded to those complicated and emotionally charged telegrams. He would often glance at them briefly to extract the information and then put them aside, focusing only on sending out his own telegrams.

But this telegram, which offered no response and only unilateral instructions, had a surprising effect. Soon, the violently vibrating needles calmed down, the oil condenser, which had almost steamed, finally stopped boiling, and the hot keys no longer needed to be used.

Even Alice and Rosalyn left their posts, and out of boredom, they started looking through Shen Liang's telegrams.

"...Please do not occupy line resources? Does this mean they shouldn't send telegrams unless necessary?" Rosalind read the sentence over and over, feeling very confused. She didn't understand why Shen Liang had written down this sentence, which could potentially cause dissatisfaction or even anger the already tense soldiers, so openly and even matter-of-factly. "Strange, what will they think when they see this? They've worked so hard fighting on the front lines, and even when they send a telegram to say something, we coldly refuse... Isn't this a bit too harsh?"

“Soldiers’ hearts aren’t that fragile,” Shen Liang said calmly. “You don’t understand.”

"what?"

“You still have a lot to learn, Miss Rosalyn. This time, you are even less understanding of people’s hearts than Liang’er.” Alice looked at Shen Liang’s back, her eyes filled with admiration. “Liang’er has captured their hearts. Right now, what they need most is this kind of toughness.”

"Huh?" Rosalyn felt like she was a complete idiot.

“Men are different from us girls. What men need isn’t comfort, or weak, gentle confiding; it’s real, tangible help. And that help comes from a powerful, aloof demon god, not a pitying, pretty telegraph operator. The more forceful, ruthless, and direct Liang’er’s words are in demanding obedience, the more they will trust her.” Alice smiled slightly. “Liang’er can’t conquer a group of warriors with her white-haired, red-eyed wildcat style, but the authority of a demon god can. Once they are psychologically conquered, they will calm down and do their job well.”

Rosalyn hesitated for a moment, then muttered, "I don't understand. I guess a white-haired, red-eyed wildcat is definitely better."

"Hmph," Alice chuckled, "You've never seen him when he's wild, so what are you calling a little wildcat?"

"What? You've seen it before?"

Alice shut up and looked away, lest she say something wrong.

Meanwhile, Shen Liang, leaning against Misterin's chest, finished typing the last long telegram. Misterin reviewed it, then nodded and said, "[Very good. Next time, you could use a colder tone, emphasizing the feeling of 'I'm a foreign demon god, I don't care about your lives at all. If you don't calm down, you can all die.'"

"I really don't care about their lives or deaths. I don't care about anyone else. It's all for the credits," Shen Liang said.

[Yes, yes, that's it.]

"...You're so annoying."

But now that everything was done, and with Ying Dafanan returning to take over the command system after clearing the battlefield, Shen Liang finally had some free time. He knew he couldn't do much more, so he simply put the safety of the Underground Thousand Rock Army out of his mind for the time being.

With this release, his true exhaustion finally surfaced, and he dared not shut down his Holy Blood. Although using the Holy Blood for several days had been a low-effort endeavor, merely to alleviate fatigue, the prospect of immediate backlash upon discontinuation was now unthinkable. Before he could completely relinquish his responsibilities, Shen Liang dared not allow himself to become a burnt, helpless waste. He could only feel the coolness of Mistelin's skin and quietly close his eyes.

Why is Yuuto so gentle and soft even though she doesn't have a physical form?

Because the baby needs to rest.

[I'm not a child anymore, stop talking to me in that picture book tone.]

[Anyway, no matter what I look like, I'll always be your cuddly pillow or big headrest, and even when I'm sitting, I'll be your chair. Sigh, how will you survive without me? You won't even have a place to sleep.]

Come on, I'm the one who should be the body pillow, like right now. Besides, I don't need to sleep next to you; you're the one who always wraps me up in your arms.

At that very moment, Yu Tu still habitually wrapped her arms around the boy's waist, allowing him to rest his head on her soft chest in a slightly backward-leaning position. However, she was wearing a white straitjacket that was almost identical to Shen Liang's, with no zipper at the chest. The tight leather bodice prevented the little guy's head from sinking in, so it could only rest on the high leather surface, which was a bit uncomfortable.

In fact, Mistelin never wore this tough, tight-fitting straitjacket to sleep, even though her clothes were essentially creations of her own whims... But how to put it, in front of outsiders, even if they couldn't see her, she liked to wear an outer garment that matched Shen Liang's. The white, tight-fitting leather straitjacket paired with high-heeled boots was basically the same style as Shen Liang's boyish straitjacket, both being of a monastic, ascetic style, and both designed by Sister Aponia.

Which chapter of "Corpse Dissection Immortal" have you finished reading?

Mistelin stiffened slightly as she held his delicate body.

【Um. 】

[How far have you progressed in your spiritual practice?]

[It hasn't even started yet... Honey, you don't really think you can use zombie magic on me, do you?]

"You're very unwilling?" Shen Liang sighed. "I know the word 'zombie' sounds bad, but it's just an adjective based on fear of the unknown. In fact, I think being a zombie is a very powerful form of immortal cultivation. It's not limited by race, and once mastered, one becomes immortal. The only cost is that someone needs to nourish one's life essence, and if one achieves the highest level, even that's no longer necessary. This is a true immortal through and through, even comparable to the upper limit of a demon god. In terms of lifespan alone, it's one of the few cultivation methods that can match the lifespan of a demon god."

That's not what I wanted to say.

"What is that? What side effects do you think you wouldn't accept? Stiffness? Pale or bluish complexion? These aren't problems. Stiffness is a common ailment of corpses, but your body is still full of vitality. Even if you become a zombie, you'll remain soft and warm. As for your complexion, that's even less of a problem. As long as you have vital energy, it will be rosy. When you achieve enlightenment, you'll be no different from an ordinary person. Or have you heard that the Savior of Suffering and Calamity loses her memory? That's her own problem; she suffered brain damage when she died. But you don't have that. You have a complete corpse!"

"You're the only one who'll have a complete corpse! I'm not dead yet!"

"Then what is it all for?" Shen Liang gently squeezed her hand, looked up at her, and asked, "Sister Yu Tu, what are your concerns?"

Mistelin avoided looking into his hopeful, kitten-like eyes.

She knew she couldn't say her reasons outright. After all, how could she say it? "I really don't want to see you revive the woman in the coffin. I'm not her at all. If she really wakes up, where will I go? What should I do?"

She knew that as a holy will, a void "ideal form" should not have feelings to interact with people, but she had already spent eighteen years with Shen Liang, watching him grow from a child into a teenager.

Mistelin was overconfident that Cecilia's affection for him could not be as deep as her own.

But she is herself, and Cecilia is Cecilia. Even if Shen Liang's affection for her stemmed from his respect and admiration for Cecilia, it was undeniable that it was based on his deep respect and admiration for Cecilia. Once Cecilia awoke, she would no longer have the right to speak.

"I... darling, I don't think... becoming a zombie will protect my body from being corrupted." That was all Mistelin could say.

"I've had my mother examine Yu Tu's erosion disease. It will severely damage her physical functions and even affect her mind. But if she becomes a zombie, Yu Tu, her body won't matter anymore. Even if her whole body is eroded by that... Honkai energy, her organ functions will be gone. She won't live on her physical body anymore, so it won't matter, right?" Shen Liang retorted. "As for the mind being eroded, let's preserve the body first. Besides, Yu Tu, you said yourself that you are the most powerful saintess in another world. Mind erosion is impossible for you. You could preserve your mind when you were alive, so you can preserve it even more now that your physical body is free of pressure."

Mistelin gave a wry smile.

In fact, she could refute this point. The reason Cecilia was able to withstand the Honkai's corruption for so long, especially because her mind remained intact, was largely due to her possession of the Shaniat Holy Blood. However, Cecilia's Holy Blood had weakened considerably before her death, being distributed among her three daughters... and Shen Liang.

If the body in the coffin were to truly revive, it would be uncertain whether Cecilia, now completely deprived of the protection of the Holy Blood, could maintain her sanity. Mistelin, as the will of the Holy Mark, was practically a personality of the Holy Blood herself; she knew all too well how dangerous Cecilia's seemingly perfect body truly was.

Chapter 102 It's assumed that Liang'er's child is definitely a girl.

"But the most important thing is, I'm not dead yet." Mistelin finally found a reason. "Anyway... I don't want to really die."

Hmm, I can get that from...

【Don't try to convince me philosophically, and don't try to argue that since you're conscious, it doesn't count as death. I just don't want to die properly, that's all.】 Mistelin shook her head, starting to act unreasonably with a hint of guilt.

She knew that Shen Liang would eventually stop arguing with her because she was being unreasonable.

"Then I'll think of another way."

Mistelin then turned to look at the coffin quietly placed in the corner of the room. She had temporarily achieved her goal and was willing to delay as long as possible.

However, she sat on the coffin lid in silence for a long time before finally diving into the coffin, holding her chest with both hands, and steadily sinking into Cecilia's body.

In fact, those cultivation techniques are not entirely meaningless. The first thing to do in cultivating the Corpse-Dissolving Immortal is to prevent the body's functions from interfering with life and death. In other words, it is to sever the connection between the body and the brain, so that even if the body is crippled or even dies, as long as the brain is still there, it doesn't matter.

Although Mistelin never intended to become completely indifferent to her physical body like a zombie, this disconnection was of great significance, as it meant that Cecilia, who had been in a deep sleep, lost control of her body for the first time.

now.

Cecilia opened her eyes.

There was only darkness before my eyes. There was no light source inside the coffin, and the extremely low temperature of liquid nitrogen made my whole body ache. I could hardly control anything.

He flicked his fingers slightly, and then, the dense and torturous Honkai energy exploded forth from every corner of his body. The Honkai energy that eroded the flesh and the body's functions were inherently intertwined; when the flesh was awakened, the Honkai erosion was also awakened.

But Cecilia just frowned deeply, seemingly unaffected by the bone-deep erosion. Her only movable right hand finally rose up and touched the inside of the coffin. Then, the inner lid of the coffin transformed into a projection screen.

Shen Liang had slept in this coffin several times, but he never knew that the coffin had so many functions. With a light tap of her finger, Cecilia's inner lid turned into a clean mirror again, reflecting the white-haired, frail yet still breathtakingly beautiful figure of the woman.

The white-haired beauty gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Her pure and innocent blue eyes were like Kiana's. Her white hair, which had grown to her ankles like Sirin's due to Shen Liang's recent neglect, and her tall and shapely figure, even after more than ten years in the life support system, was no less impressive than Durandal's. Beneath her slender collarbone, a pair of crystal-clear jade branches bore abundant fruit, and the excess cream outlined a beautiful curve.

The nightgown she recently changed into was a pure white one, adorned with lilies, a favorite of Shen Liang. Yet, there was no sense of incongruity in such a youthful nightgown on a plump and fair-skinned married woman. Her long, slender legs and delicately curled toes, carefully painted with blue nail polish, made her look like a bride waiting to be kissed awake.

Cecilia gazed at her with clear, gentle eyes for a long, long time before finally revealing a satisfied smile.

"envious."

“My darling really puts his heart into you. He doesn’t even know how to dress himself, but he makes you look beautiful and meticulous.”

“Cecilia, my pure descendant, I love you very much too. You are the girl most like me, and the proudest saint of Shaniat. Heaven has bestowed all good things upon you. You are never alone. Even in your current situation, you have children who would do anything for you.”

“You lack nothing, Cecilia.”

Give him to me.

The moment those words left her lips, Mistelin saw in the mirror that a dark line suddenly extended from Cecilia's chest onto her exquisitely beautiful and delicate body. It was a mark of erosion. When Honkai energy eroded the surface of the body, such black lines covering the surface could be seen. However, it was not serious. These lines, combined with Cecilia's face, even made her look somewhat charming.

When Mistelin took control of the body, she couldn't actively suppress the erosion like Cecilia could, because she wasn't the owner of the body after all.

But the time I've had to control this body is the first time... so short.

"Are you trying to drive me away?" Mistelin smiled forlornly, her eyes no longer feigning the clear innocence of Cecilia, but instead filled with self-mockery. "Is this your answer?"

She looked longingly at her reflection in the mirror before finally withdrawing her consciousness.

"What a lucky girl, Cecilia. What a domineering mother, Cecilia."

------------

Late at night, Yingda lifted the tent flap of Fanan. The petite literary girl was sitting in the middle of the tent wearing only her undergarments, soaking her blood-stained scales in a basin of water. She didn't need to wash them; as a water demon, she could easily control water to make her armor clean. But she was just looking for something to do.