A fresh breeze gently caresses the beauty's hair as a wake-up call. As the beauty stirs, one can hear the start of the morning chirps of the-NOT.
Hell, it's still as quiet as night because what we are in is not just a forest, but a formation trap as well. There aren't supposed to be other living organisms in here, as you noticed the keyword: living. Then there's the beauty that did not stir. She's still sprawled out on the ground in "X" position, deep in her sleep with drool out of her mouth, muttering "Ling'er's dumpling~". RIP image of a sleeping beauty and I fear for my "dumpling" body's future.
So, we are probably still stuck in the formation since I can't hear anything. It can't be that the forest is just quiet because that doesn't make sense. Normal humans would populate the forest with at least some critters or let some birds in, even if they enjoy living alone in silence, but the forest's too quiet for comfort. The minuscule amount of sunlight is also not helping, seeing how the only large spot with sunlight is the moonlit spot that Ling'er slept in last night. There are still specks of sunlight here or there which managed to infiltrate the leaf shield of the trees, but still too lacking to put me at peace.
Why am I so not at peace right now even though I usually am the brave, courageous hero of this world? Well, anyone would not be at peace if they found out that while his or her companion is asleep, yet you're left awake all alone in a dark damp forest that seems to want to devour you at any moment. Why can't I sleep? Apparently, slimes don't sleep. I didn't even see that option in the Slime Body description, but yup, I tried all night, but wasn't happening. Maybe it was just because I was paranoid or not used to my new body.
On the other hand, the maiden's conscious sunk like a rock to the bottom of the pond and she's still sunk in her dreams. Trying to be that gentleman that constantly pokes a beauty until she awakes? Well, with a slime body all I received in return was a fit of giggles and drool along with the constant murmurs of food names which turned my Spidey Senses on full alert-
Okay, my Spidey Senses are actually going on full alert for a different reason now even though I technically don't have them. I hear heavy footsteps along with what sounds like clacking of wooden pieces together, and it's definitely not from that sleeping beauty. Then, I see it, a giant wooden puppet. It looks like those S**r W**s Imp*r**l Walkers, except it's wooden and doesn't seem to be equipped with weapons. Great. Although I'm not sure if that's friend of foe as of yet, Mr.Aura would probably turn that into the meat grinder right because it can still crush us to death with a foot?
Oh, seems that the noise has finally woken the sleeping beauty ... NOT. How the hell are you still sleeping with that kind of danger around?! Oi, don't just turn over to the side, that's not gonna make the noise go away.
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The wooden puppet maybe decides that we are not worth its time to mince into meat paste, so it actually stopped. And what seems to be a cockpit, out came an old wizened man. He's got frisky, white hair, with a small monocle over his right eye. His size, well if you imagine what the old grandpa Mak**** looks like in F**** T***, but with that monocle and wearing a short brown robe, then you've got this mad scientist looking guy. But since mad scientists don't exist in the cultivation genre so he couldn't be one. I don't know why he stopped, but at least he doesn't look like he wants to kill-
Oi. Why are you staring at the beauty with lust filled eyes? Is this one of those grandpas looking for fresh flowers to pick?! God D*****! Oi, don't come over! I will protect my future waifu no matter the cost, even at the expense of this small slime body being toyed around by you-
Wait, why are you picking me up... oi, why are you staring at me with those lust filled eyes?! Wrong target! Oi! Don't try to pull off a piece of my body! HEY!
"Ehhh~ Uncle? You're here to pick Xiao Ling'er up? Ehehehe~" the sleeping beauty has awoken, please come save me!
"Oh! *kohun*, Ling'er, you're awake. Yes, Uncle has come to pick you up, no worries," the old man replies while still staring at me with lust filled eyes.
Oi. This old geezer is the uncle? I now know I don't have to worry for Ling'er, but hey my body is in danger now?!
"Eiii~ then Uncle, why are you picking up Squishy instead of me? Does Uncle not want Ling'er anymore?" Ling'er looks at the old geezer with that pitiful doggy eyes.
"Oh! *kohun* Yes. Yes. Uncle came to get you, but you can walk on your own. Now let's go back first. so Uncle can start experimenting on this- *cough* give you some snacks to eat."
Oi. Did he just say experiment on me? Number one, that word should not appear in this cultivation genre. Number two, he sounds like a mad scientist now.
"Yay~ snacks! Dumplings for Xiao Ling'er~ ehehehe!" the naive girl was bribed by food.
Oi! Don't surrender me over for such small bribery! But of course no one's gonna listen to my complaints. After all, I can't speak as a slime.
We all somehow got into the cockpit of the puppet, and it strolled off back to the old geezer's place, towards my doom. When Ling'er complained about how long it took for the Geezer to come get us, he just said that Ling'er shouldn't have came at night, because the formation only worked at night. Oi. What about your safety in the daytime then?! And where are the birds and critters?!
Not long after, we can see a clutter of stone buildings slowly entering our eyesight. No matter how I looked at them, *sigh*, looks like one of those science research labs, except made out of stone, wood, and other sorts of rocks I don't recognize. What especially scared me where the tanks filled with colorful liquids being held together by unknown "glass". Inside them were strange, exotic organs of unknown beasts or organisms, some actually holding the monsters themselves. When we entered one of the buildings, I noticed all the random, mechanical assortments of items that seemed to be what a tinkerer would have. I finally made a solution. If slimes could exist in this world, I shouldn't have doubted that this other trope existed as well. I just walked into the Mad Scientist's research lab.