Even the Abyss Wants a Wife 3

Chapter 3

The Abyss tried to explain and comfort the little flower demon in front of him, but the Abyss wasn’t proficient in human language and didn’t know where to start.

He took out the fertilizer, intending to divert the little flower demon’s attention, but as soon as Lin Ling saw the fertilizer, his grief intensified, and he wailed even louder, “Are you really planning to fatten me up—”

The fatter he got, the faster he would be eaten.

The little flower demon sniffled, secretly deciding that from now on, he would go on a hunger strike.

But as soon as he made up his mind, the Abyss in front of him directly stuffed the jar of fertilizer into his hands.

But Lin Ling, whose cravings had already been triggered: …

The heavens want me dead.

Looking at the little flower demon who was still full of grief and indignation, the Abyss sighed and tried to pronounce his name.

“Ling Ling.”

The little flower demon, hearing his name, subconsciously looked at the other party.

The Abyss’ pronunciation of this phrase was slow, but very fluent, so fluent that it seemed to have been rehearsed many times in his mind.

In this world, calling someone by their name was a very intimate act.

Due to the scarcity of resources, humans liked to number all kinds of resources for easy management, and even their own names were gradually replaced by numbers or codes. The humans who used to water and fertilize him would only affectionately call him Little Flower.

The little flower demon would remember everyone’s name. Lin Ling felt that this was a form of politeness and respect, but this was the first time someone had called him by his name.

Lin Ling was a little flower, but other little flowers were definitely not Lin Ling. There could be many little flowers here, but there was only one Lin Ling.

“Wh-what are you calling me for?” Lin Ling squeezed his hands, suppressing the fear in his heart as he spoke to the Abyss in front of him.

But the Abyss didn’t answer, just silently looked at Lin Ling, as before, calm and focused, which unconsciously calmed the little flower demon’s emotions.

Seeing that the other party didn’t explain or say anything, Lin Ling immediately understood and tentatively asked, “Have you only learned this one sentence now?”

“Mm.”

Lin Ling said “Oh”: That’s two sentences.

The Abyss had only learned “Lin Ling” and “Mm,” but that was enough. It was much more useful than the second human language he had learned, “Hello” and “Goodbye.”

“So, you won’t eat me, right?”

The little flower demon carefully confirmed again, “Like, no matter how plump and delicious I grow in the future, you won’t eat me, right?”

Shi Changyuan looked at the little flower demon in front of him. Although his cheeks were a bit fleshy and looked very pinchable, he couldn’t be described as “plump.” But after a pause, he still agreed: “…Mm.”

Just receiving a verbal guarantee made Lin Ling’s eyes sparkle. He took a few steps closer to Shi Changyuan, trying to confirm their relationship, “So are we friends now?”

“Mm.”

Lin Ling had resolved a major survival crisis and made a new friend. His eyebrows and eyes curved at once. He secretly glanced at the Abyss and declared, hands behind his back, “Friends can’t eat each other, you know.”

Shi Changyuan looked at the little flower demon in front of him. One moment he was teary-eyed, his face like a poached egg, the next he was holding his tail high, counting the rules of friendship between mutated creatures on his fingers.

“Friends can’t drool over their friends.”

“Friends can’t think their friends smell good.”

“Friends of friends also can’t be eaten. But my human friends have all moved away, and I only have you as a friend now, so there’s no need to worry about that.”

In the apocalyptic era, not only would humans not easily trust their own kind and would be wary of each other, but even the mutated animals and plants that had developed intelligence rarely had friends or partners, relationships that had nothing to do with survival.

Most of their relationships were about devouring each other, being part of each other’s food chain. Slightly more peaceful ones were parasitic or symbiotic relationships.

After all, when two different species became friends, it was easy for tragic events to occur, such as “Although you don’t eat me, I ate your relatives and friends today, and I’ll eat your family tomorrow,” and so on.

Seeing that the Abyss had no objections and seemed unaware of the friendship rules they had tacitly agreed upon, Lin Ling sneakily and guiltily added another one.

“A-also, friends call each other by their names.”

After saying that, Lin Ling first averted his gaze with some guilt, but after a few seconds, he moved it back.

He looked at Shi Changyuan expectantly, “If you agree, th-then call my name again!”

Shi Changyuan looked down at the little flower demon in front of him, and almost without hesitation, called out again, “Ling Ling.”

The new neighbor’s voice was deep and magnetic, a little too pleasant to hear. At such a close distance, it made Lin Ling’s ears tingle.

Lin Ling rubbed his earlobe, but corrected him in a very unromantic way, “It’s Lin Ling, lin and ling, the nasal sounds are different.”

“Mm, Ling Ling.”

“lin—ling—” The little flower demon tried to teach the Abyss, but under the Abyss’s persistence, Lin Ling chose to let it go.

“Okay, this language is indeed a bit difficult for beginners.”

The Abyss was a beginner, so it was normal for him not to distinguish between the nasal sounds.

Lin Ling thought very tolerantly.

Maybe later he wouldn’t be able to distinguish between the retroflex and non-retroflex sounds, or maybe he wouldn’t be able to distinguish between nl and hf. It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t dislike his new friend because of this.

“There are many kinds of human languages, I can always teach you.” Lin Ling was very confident.

He was a surprisingly talented language learner. Among all the mutated creatures near the Seventh Base, he was the only one who was proficient in two or three human languages and could perfectly blend into the human base.

Shi Changyuan looked at the little flower demon who was so happy that he was dancing, with a smile in his eyes that he hadn’t even noticed himself.

[His seed has grown up.]

The Abyss thought.

“Ah, it’s getting dark.”

Lin Ling looked at the setting sun and reluctantly bid farewell to Shi Changyuan, “The forest is very dangerous after dark. Most of the powerful mutated creatures will come out to hunt. I have to go back.”

“See you tomorrow, new friend!” Lin Ling waved frantically, looking back every few steps.

Shi Changyuan stood where he was, watching the little flower demon hop and skip home.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Ling Ling.”

After the two parted, Shi Changyuan waited until the last rays of the setting sun had completely disappeared before turning back. His way back to the Abyss was unimpeded, and no mutated creature dared to make a sound.

Returning to the depths of the Abyss, Shi Changyuan first put away the flower crown Lin Ling had given him today, then took out the books he had devoured, intending to cram on human language.

Mountains of books appeared around Shi Changyuan. He casually picked up one.

[Is this human language?]

Shi Changyuan held the book in one hand, the pages automatically flipping.

Only 13 language families, 45 language branches, a total of only over six thousand languages.

He looked at the books he had organized, his fingertips lightly tapping the pages, his eyes lowered in thought.

As long as he slowed down and learned one a day, then in the next sixteen years, he and the little flower demon wouldn’t have any awkward silences due to lack of topics during their interactions.

The Abyss had no experience making friends, but if his seed wanted him to be a friend, then he could be the seed’s best friend.

Shi Changyuan closed the book in his hand and walked to the old flowerpot. Looking at the empty little pit, he skillfully watered and fertilized it, maintaining the fertility of the soil in the pot.

However, after playing outside for so long, it was time to come back.