Zheng Da Evolves!

'Did Zheng Da just make a noise? That's not possible, is it? It's just a slime without anything within it. How is this purple translucent slime making any sound at all without vocal cords?! *Sigh* I shouldn't question it, it's not like I'd understand anyway, at least not scientifically.'

All the while I stared at Zheng Da, it once again made a similar noise to before.

"Mmmn" It was almost like a low humming.

"Did- did that slime just make a noise?" Rao Nuan's startled voice woke me up from my blank stare.

Turning my head I looked at the two women who both wore a shocked expression. Rao Nuan had a more fearful look, while on the other hand Yao Ya seemed curious as she peered over at Zheng Da. My hand all the while was still halfway outstretched from when I patted Zheng Da on the head.

Perhaps I was confused as to what to do, so in the end I just looked over at the two at the doorway. Suddenly I felt more mass appearing on that outstretched arm. Quickly it traveled up the only path it had and made it atop my shoulder in only half a second.

Making a 180 degree turn with my head, it was my nose which made the first contact. I had no idea what it would do. Was it the same Zheng Da as before or would it devour me right now? Did it just go through a metamorphosis which completely changes the way it thinks? Did it only gain the ability to make sounds or was it's intelligence changed along with it?

Now that I thought about it I just realized the feeling that was in the air around the place disappeared. I think this cave was rich in Qi right? Was it all absorbed for Zheng Da's Evolution?

As I was quite frankly terrified and I froze with my eyes shut hoping it wouldn't kill me, a soft and squishy feeling appeared on my cheek. Opening the eye closest to the slime I saw it's body against mine. Then it began to rub itself against my cheek, after a moment I even started to enjoy it.

[M̴̛̛͙͕̪̹̣̼͎͔̗͎͔̝̓̔́͒̍̀̏̀̀̄̈́̈́͐̂̽̕͠͝ͅͅa̵̛̟͌̀̀̄̃̇́̑̑̐͌͝.̶̧̡̧̞͖̘̜̤͍̦̙̲̳͉̳͖͙͈͕͕̦̻̣̬̬̊̋͜ͅ.̴̨̧͇͓̩̭͈͎͈̪̙̣̪̗͎̯́̓͊̒̉́͐̾̋̽̏͋͌͠.̴̧̧̭͙̲̲̻͇͇̲̫͍̗̬͓̰̯̘̰̬̩̲̰͙̤̮͇͚̝̿̽̅̃̅̑̈̈́̅̉̀͜͝.̴̢̻̰̦̘͈̦͔̪̱͔͕̼͕̟̳̼͓̗͖̻̟̹̗͓̺̳͊̎̿͌̓̚̕̚͠ ̸̧̡̛͙̫̠̭̬̥͖̻̥͖͔̼̞̘̮̩̩͈̜̗̿̿̽̃̽̆̈́́͋̕̕͜͝ͅͅŝ̷̡̢̻̝͉͖͉͖̜͈̮̰͍̬͓̯͔̜̼̖̽͒͠ͅt̸͚͛̔́͆̐͊̋̿͐͂̋̉̐̿̏̓̃̕͘.̷͓̻̗̝͕̫̗̏̐̿̽̒̇̔͒͌̀̂̏̕̕.̴̨̢̛̛͇̹̫̲͍̞̠̹̘̦͇͔̗͎̘̱͍̘͖̬͓̠̅̒̌̌̏̍̌̆͋̍̓̔͒̍͐͒̅̈́̃̓̉͌̎̏̎͜͝͝ͅ.̸̛̟̳͔̯̟̝̱̪̼͈̳͉̯͔̣͉̭̤̭̼͉̺͊͊͐̈̀̋̑̄̒͆̈́͒͛̊̉̂̑̚̕͝͠͝͝͝͝.̷̢̛̠͚̫͓̳̠̹͓̙̯̲̜̲̹͚͙̼͇̳͔͈̦͆̈́̓̊̂̉̋̀̽̇͐̓̈́̋̅́͐̍̿͂̕̕ͅ.̶̨̨̡̧̠̳͉̹̗͓̳̼͕̰̩̮̺̙͕̣͇͚͕̣̬̓͌̾̄͋̅͛́̃͊̈́͆̾̃̇͒̆̓̌̆̌̍͜͝͠ͅͅ.̵̨̧̟̱̝̟̝̘͙̰̥̭̯̯̺̀̒͆̒̅͒̽ ̴̨̛̮̬̝̜͕͈̜͖̲̺̖͇̭̗̠̬̠̰̼̫͈̖̻̣̔̅̈́̈́́̾̈́̈́̋́̒͛́͑́̌̀̐͗͂̏͛̉̊͋͘̕͘͜͜͝e̶̢̨̧̠̲͓̫͙͕̩̜̥̟͎͎̟̾̈̇͐̊͐̃̀͑͛̆̈́͑̐̐͐́̑̊̀͊̊̑̄̒̂̕͝͝͝ṛ̸̞̹͓̱̪͗̊̅̽͋̇͗̇́̌͂́́̔̐͂́̆̉̃͌͗̾̄͝]

Hearing the distorted sounding voice there was only one suspect which could have possibly done so.

"Zheng Da?" I lightly called out

[M̶̧̞̽͛̈́͊͝͝a̵̧̭͙̪͕̝̲̪̪̹̪͍̫̿̃͂̓̇̈́͜͝ͅs̵̥̰̥̖̙̭̯͇͔̈́̀̈̈̽͛̓̀.̸̟͚̗̹͙͙̟̮̻̟̊̈́̆̾̀̓̎͊̾͋̒̈́̋̍.̷̢̡̧͙̳̘̤̲̼͙̠̑̀̎̌͋͌ͅ.̴͎̬͎̹̻͎͚̲̹̒́̀ ̷͇̜͔̼͙͈͎͇̝̗͔͇͙̣̓̒͒̾̈́̒̔̅̐̄͊̏̈́͑ţ̸̺̤̗̖͇̣̞̮̞̍̂͆̈̍́̋̅̾̿͛̈́͠͝ͅě̷͉̭̟͈̭͉̰̖͖͈̉͆͘͜ͅŕ̴̡̗̥͓̫̮̜͂̒͜͝͠͝]

The voice was becoming more and more coherent with each try.

Raising the hand which I still had outstretched I pulled it back and began to pat Zheng Da a bit more while I stood up.

[Master]

Finally with the 3rd try it managed to say it perfectly. The only difference between this voice and others was the fact that it was very monotone and somehow seemed to leaned toward neither gender with it's tone.

Now there was another question on my mind.

'Where did it even learn this word from? I'm sure that we've never said that word on our entire journey here. Did it somehow comprehend our entire language from us merely speaking to one another. I really should just stop questioning how anything works in this world.'

[Me.. Zheng Da?]

"Yes, you're Zheng Da." I said still a little bewildered

[Zheng Da... Hungry. Master... Feed... Zheng Da.]

'Perhaps 'comprehending our entire language' was an overstatement. It can't even create a sentence yet, but still it's astounding how quick it's comprehension speed it. It's kinda like a toddler, referring to itself in the third person.'

"Brother Ip, it's safe right?" Rao Nuan still sounded a little concerned

"Brother Cheng, come on we have to leave today or else we might not make it back." Yao Ya said

"Hey, can we hunt some food first?" I asked thinking of Zheng Da

"Of course! What would you like to eat?" Yao Ya quickly responded

"Oh no it's not for me it's for Zheng Da. It says it's hungry."

"Huh, the slime spoke to you?! How come I didn't hear it?" Rao Nuan asked

"It did it mentally, all in the mind." As I said so I pointed to my head

"Huh? Are you crazy? Mental communication?"

"I want you to look at the creature sitting on my shoulder again and tell me again that some form of mental communication is insane."

Hearing my logic she calmed down, but not before Yao Ya said her part as well.

"It's not fake, I can confirm it as well."

"Okay, let's just go to where we came from I'm sure we'll find some food for your slime along the way." Right there she ended the conversation and started walking out of the cave, leaving Yao Ya and I in the cave with Zheng Da on my shoulder.

..

After crossing the river once again we dried ourselves once more before continuing back onto the trail that vaguely looks familiar.

As we walked along the similar looking trees we finally spot an animal, it was a wolf and a lone one at that.

"Hey, look over there it's a wolf!" I signaled the others before closing in on the distance.

But before we could get within striking distance Zheng Da jumped off my shoulder and sped towards the wolf. The speed of Zheng Da was probably just as fast as if I was sprinting with that footwork technique at full power if not faster. It was even quite quiet for how fast it was moving.

But that might have only been because we had to step on the ground and off it rapidly. On the other hand Zheng Da's entire body was on the ground the entire time, though I can't tell if it was rolling or sliding it's way over to the wolf.

As Zheng Da closed in on it's prey it slowly began to enlarge itself. From a small slime which could sit neatly atop my shoulder to something which might even be able to ride on top of. Zheng Da once it got close enough pounced onto the unsuspecting wolf.

By the time the wolf noticed something was wrong it didn't have anymore time for it to run. Zheng Da fell right onto it's back and began to envelop the poor wolf. Immediately after it got onto the wolf's back it started to envelop the head.

Of course the wolf tried it's best to rid itself of the slime, but no matter how hard it tired nothing worked so instead it just ran around franticly. Every once in while it hit a tree and shook the slime covering most of the wolf's body, but that was all, just some movement.

After the head was covered the wolf started slowing down significantly and eventually falling over on it's side. When we went up close to it we noticed a few trapped air bubbles from the snout of the wolf, but aside from that there was no sign that the wolf was even alive anymore.

What a scary way to die.

As we were watching, the wolf within was rapidly dissolving. The fur, skin, flesh, and even bones vanished in a matter of a couple minutes. Where there was once a wolf silhouette within the slime, now there was no trace of anything.

[Zheng Da... Full]

"This slime of yours is really something.." Rao Nuan said clearly uneasy

Zheng Da itself didn't show any sign of becoming bigger at the moment either. In fact Zheng Da didn't seem to be doing anything right now, it was actually staying still. But, that wouldn't last long.

Suddenly the slime started to change shape as it's body morphed in all sorts of ways. From extending to contracting, broadening to tapering, and stretching to compressing. It molded itself very carefully starting from the top to the top.

"What's happening?!" Rao Naun exclaimed

"Brother Cheng your slime is changing!" Yao Ya clearly pointed out while coming closer to me.

The only thing was the fact that Zheng Da was a purple slime and the wolf was definitely not purple. Four legs came out from the bottom which looked extremely similar to the wolf it had just killed. Not long after the body and tail came being oddly fluffy looking even with the single purple color being all there was.

Finally the head was being molded which completed the canine look. It would have looked perfect as well if not for the distinct purple color. When it finished it looked around with it's brand new head.

"Arf! Arf! Woof!"

[Master... Zheng Da... Wolf!] For some reason this time when I heard the telepathy this time I felt there was a hint of femininity within, as well as there being a little bit of energy within those words.

Walking up to Zheng Da in wolf form I showed my hand to it as well as telling it: "Zheng Da, wolves aren't purple. They're usually grey that fades into light browns and whites towards the bottom."

Surprisingly, yet unsurprisingly at this point Zheng Da started licking my hand with it's new wolf tongue. And although I don't know how a wolf tongue feels, this would probably be it.

Then while I was looking at it it's body started changing colors into what I described. When those colors appeared it didn't look like only colors appeared either. The "Fur" looked more pronounced as well even becoming a little fluffier then before.

[Now?...]

"It can change colors?!" Rao Nuan was at this point shocked at basically anything that Zheng Da could do.

But even I didn't think that Zheng Da could do this much.

'Maybe the color it can change into is only those of what the creature originally had. Let me test it.'

"Zheng Da, can you become a white wolf?"

Slowly, the wolf body changed it's color again, replacing the greys and light browns with more white. For some reason it looked even more fluffy now. Zheng Da at this point was basically a pillow on legs, but it wasn't overwhelming to the point where it limited it's mobility.

[Master.... Like.. Fluff?] At this point the voice transmitted was becoming more and more feminine while also being less and less monotone. What caused such a change? Is it perhaps because it's hearing a lot of female voices? Or maybe the wolf was a female.

[Can... Zheng Da... Still... Ride.... Master?] As the wolf asked me it's head tilted up at me with it's ears pointed up, even the tail was wagging some in the back.

"I'm sorry Zheng Da you're too big to ride on me anymore, maybe if you change back then you could."

'Man I'm glad I'm the only one who can hear this. This would be so embarrassing if Zheng Da said it in public.'

[Mmn... Ok... Zheng Da... Understand] Even if it says so I could see the disappointment in it's body language. The ears which pointed up drooped down and the tail slowed down it's wagging.

"Zheng Da, is it ok if you let me ride you?"