Chapter 68: Eight and Two
“Y-You can talk?” Yu Han shouted back.
“Quiet down, Junior Brother,” the palace disciple warned. “This is a place of bonds, not arguments.”
Yu Han bowed. “My apologies. It’s just that—”
“Your little companion can communicate with you now.” The disciple smiled. “It means it must have high Mind or Spirit Origin. What you get from a Heavenly Friendship Accord often depends on esoteric factors. The possibility of smooth communication is not a bad reward.”
The crab tugged his pants harder. 「Hey. Hey? Hey! Big, round, two-legged one. Why can you talk sea-speak now? You couldn’t! You couldn’t, right? Am I going crazy? You don’t even have an accent. Why? I wanna know. Tell me!」
I’m the one going crazy here!
The crab's voice had the bright, bubbly lilt of a child who'd just discovered something amazing. It reminded him uncannily of his six-year-old nephew back home—the same eager pitch, the same rapid-fire energy that came with wanting to know everything at once.
“Wait a second,” Yu Han said to the crab. It froze, then ran around in circles as if it had drank a full jug of coffee. Yu Han turned to the Palace Disciple. “May I ask if the Senior Brother can hear it?”
“Him, Junior Brother. Spirit Beasts are not objects,” the palace disciple said. “And no, the accord exists between you and him. You communicate not fully through words but through a direct linkage of minds. Whilst I can hear what you say, the crab’s tongue is unknown to me.”