Chapter 439 – Little Skeleton Clack

Mo Lan fished out the little skeleton’s bone frame, arranged it according to its body structure, then extracted the soul fire from the oil lamp.

This time, however, she didn’t use the Soul-Nurturing Technique to extract it.

The soul fire had been cultivated by her from the very beginning. It had been branded with her mark since birth and had become her Death Servant, so using the Death Servant technique to extract it would be better for it.

The Death Servant technique could not only forge a special undead servant contract with undead creatures, but also cultivate the spiritual awareness of one’s Death Servants, guide their Death Force, and so on.

She carefully extracted the soul fire and placed it into the skull.

Then, using the Death Force converted through the Death Servant technique, she started from the soul fire and gradually extended it toward each bone and joint throughout the body, connecting them together. Only when the little skeleton’s soul fire began to flicker and it could control the entire bone frame with its own Death Force did Mo Lan withdraw her Death Servant technique.

The little skeleton wriggled on the ground for a while, adjusting to its body, then climbed to its feet.

It held its head high, the soul fire peering at Mo Lan through its hollow eye sockets, swaying slightly.

Then its two little legs snapped together with a “clack,” its left hand bones pressed flat against its femur, its right hand bones pressed together and raised in salute. Its jaw loosened with a “clack” and dropped down to its collarbone.

Mo Lan stared at the little skeleton—which had stood at attention and saluted the very first moment it saw her, flashing her a jaw-dropped-to-the-collarbone smile—and honestly had no idea what expression to make.

It was then that she recalled a passage she’d once read in a book about skeleton Death Servants:

“During the growth process of a skeleton Death Servant, there are many opportunities for moments of sudden inspiration. Each such moment can greatly enhance their spiritual awareness.

The first moment of inspiration is most likely to occur during the process of installing the skeleton Death Servant’s soul fire into its bone frame.

During this process, the skeleton Death Servant has the opportunity to absorb some of its master’s life experiences through the link established by the Death Servant technique.

Subsequent moments of inspiration may occur at any point during the skeleton Death Servant’s life. They might come from the master’s influence, from the bones themselves, or from the soul nourishment materials.

Thoroughly ‘cleansed’ bones and soul nourishment materials can eliminate the latter two influences.”

Without a doubt, the little skeleton had experienced a moment of sudden inspiration and inherited some of her life experiences.

And specifically her life experiences from Earth.

Otherwise it wouldn’t know this kind of salute—Valen had no such etiquette.

But that smile was just too bizarre!

Mo Lan certainly couldn’t recall ever learning a smile style that involved dropping one’s jaw to the collarbone.

If it weren’t for the fact that this was her Death Servant, connected to her through a mental link just like a magical familiar—meaning she could understand its intentions even though it couldn’t speak—she would have thought its jaw really had come loose and fallen off from a faulty connection.

She had genuinely almost reached out to catch it.

The little skeleton tilted its head quizzically, as if asking why its master wasn’t responding to it.

In the process of tilting its head, its bones collided with another “clack.”

This time Mo Lan understood—there was absolutely nothing wrong with the little skeleton’s bones. She had soaked them in potion for so long, polished them, and oiled them. How could they possibly still make strange noises?

So the only explanation was that the little skeleton was doing it on purpose.

“Little skeleton, I’ll call you ‘Clack’!” Mo Lan said.

Since it liked to “clack” and “clack” its bones together to act cute, the name was quite fitting.

“Clack~” The little skeleton’s jaw, which had just been closed, dropped down again, expressing what it understood to be a satisfied “smile.”

“Oh right, the crown on your head can coat your bones with a silver-plating layer. Just poke the yellow gemstone on top of the crown with your finger,” Mo Lan said, condensing a water mirror in front of it so it could see what it was doing.

When she had crafted the automatic silver-plating crown, she had set it to automatically record the auras of the first three individuals to operate it. After that, only those three auras would be able to control the crown, preventing any outsider who discovered the crown’s secret from simply stripping Clack’s silver plating away.

She was the first recorded aura, Zhizhi was the second, and the third would naturally go to Clack itself.

The little skeleton stared blankly at its own reflection in the mirror, looking rather dazed.

Clearly, it hadn’t absorbed any of Mo Lan’s life experiences regarding “mirrors.”

Mo Lan had no choice but to walk over to the mirror herself and explain to it what the thing was.

The little skeleton still seemed only half-understanding, but at least under Mo Lan’s demonstrated guidance, it managed to learn how to press the yellow gemstone on the crown atop its head.

When the silver plating spread across its entire body, it froze in shock as if it had been sealed in place, not moving a muscle.

Mo Lan had to repeat several times that the plating was there to protect its bones before it slowly and tentatively began touching its own bones.

As if only just noticing how different the silver-plating layer felt, it got excited and loosened the Death Force on its jaw again, letting it drop down to its collarbone.

After a moment, the Death Force tightened again, pulling its jaw back into position.

“From now on, whenever you soak in the Bone Spirit potion each day, press this gemstone first. The plating needs to be removed before soaking for it to be effective, understand?” Mo Lan instructed.

Seeing the little skeleton’s confused look once again, Mo Lan wasn’t surprised anymore.

It was a newborn skeleton after all, just a low-level undead creature. The bone frame it was made from and the essence used to cultivate its soul fire had been purified to such a degree that there was nothing left that could grant it any additional moments of inspiration.

Right now it was no different from an ordinary low-level skeleton—it could only understand simple commands. Although it had the capacity for in-depth learning of a single task, that was merely potential. It still required patient instruction to actually learn anything.

Hoping to teach it things as easily as teaching Zhizhi, where one lesson was all it took, was impossible. Its intelligence level was far below that of a golden-armed ape.

“Come with me! I’ll take you to see Zhizhi,” Mo Lan said. “It’s been exhausted taking care of your soul fire during this time.”

The little skeleton tilted its skull in confusion, only understanding that Mo Lan wanted it to follow her. It trailed behind her step by step as she went downstairs.

Despite the constant “clack~ clack~” sounds that made it seem rather clumsy, it was actually quite agile when walking.

At first its footsteps were steady and stable, but then for some reason it started hopping and skipping along. Yet it didn’t trip, didn’t fall behind, and didn’t even stumble once.

When they reached the living room downstairs and heard the snoring coming from the sofa, Mo Lan hadn’t even said anything before the little skeleton ran over on its own.

Its soul fire rose and fell in rhythm with Zhizhi’s snoring. Its bone frame went limp, and it flopped down beside Zhizhi.

It even mimicked Zhizhi’s posture, curling up its arms and legs, lying belly-up with all four limbs in the air. Then it patted its stomach, as if puzzled about why there was no blanket on its belly.

Mo Lan: “…”

When she tried to teach it things, it was all confusion and blank stares. But when it came to mimicking Zhizhi, the imitation was absolutely flawless.