Shepherding Humanity

Chen Xi stood at the door and looked inside the courtyard. "How can you be so happy plowing the land all by yourself? Is farming really that fun?"

"Yes, farming makes me happy." Xu Zhi replied.

"Is that so?" Chen Xi laughed and glanced at Xu Zhi. She was once again shocked.

"How did you…"

She looked at Xu Zhi dumbfoundedly, as if she had just received the shock of her life.

Xu Zhi felt apprehensive. Did she notice something? Even though he had already changed back?

"What's wrong?" Xu Zhi asked while maintaining a calm expression.

"It feels like the aura about you has changed. You've become so classy, so dashing!!! It's like you’re a character out of a comic book or a movie… You've gained some cheat abilities right? Xu Zhi, I’ve seen right through you!" Chen Xi stared intently at him.

Hah!

Xu Zhi couldn't help but laugh out loud.

After hanging out with this comical girl for a while, he has noticed that she always said the most absurd things.

Although he had changed back his outer appearance, his transcendent aura was very difficult to change. Xu Zhi lightly flicked her forehead: "My dear girl, you’re hallucinating. You’re talking nonsense, you know that?"

Chen Xi was stunned, was it really all in her head?

She accepted Xu Zhi’s words for the moment and forcibly changed the subject: "Anway, aren't you bored? Want to hang out with me once in a while, go on a date or something?"

Xu Zhi looked at her in shock. "A date? Are you serious?"

"Of course." Chen Xi hesitated, then proudly raised her head. She was not shy. "Where's your previous girlfriend? The really pretty one!"

Xu Zhi replied: “We broke up. We were coworkers. I had to quit due to illness, and we parted ways then.”

"Oh, that’s so sad. Not only did you come down with a terminal disease in the prime of your life, you’ve also lost both your job and your girlfriend, and have to come back here to spend your final days alone." Chen Xi thought a moment and said: "I can be your girlfriend, and accompany you in your final days."

"Are you pitying me?" Xu Zhi widened his eyes.

He did feel sorry for himself before.

He had been dying. The world felt grey and lifeless. He had fallen from the peak of his career down into an endless abyss.

But now he was full of hope. After all, though the cancer was terminal, he could at least live a few more months. This was equivalent to several thousand years in the sandbox. Given such a long period of time, he had confidence that he’d find a way to extend his life.

"I do feel sorry for you. But I’m also fulfilling my childhood dream. After all, I do not have to worry about you laughing at me now, and you’ve always been my idol… "

It seemed that Chen Xi had spent a long time thinking about this. She spoke frankly: "I’ve really thought about this! I'm helping you and also sort of fulfilling my wish. I want to make your final days a little warmer, a little less lonely."

She spread her fingers and counted: "I can cook for you, go shopping with you, and chat with you. I can make your final days a little happier."

My final days?

Xu Zhi was speechless for a moment. He looked at her with a humourless smile: "Are you serious? You’re ready to fulfill the obligations of a girlfriend?"

Chen Xi flinched and took a few steps backwards. She covered herself, looking very wary: "What are you thinking? It’ll be a pure love affair. Are you really going to take my first time even though you’re dying?"

Xu Zhi: "…….."

It turns out that you’ve been delivering me food all this time with an ulterior motive in mind. Girls are so bold when chasing after boys these days.

Chen Xi spoke again: "There’s nothing weird about being casual friends, right? Then we can be casual girlfriend and boyfriend, and enjoy a brief romantic affair. If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as an agreement."

"Fine." Xu Zhi agreed.

He did not have very strong feelings for the little girl. Perhaps because she was just too familiar, his heart did not beat faster in her presence. He was quite nonchalant about the whole affair.

"Then can you accompany me to my high school reunion in a few days?"

Chen Xi twiddled her fingers, looking quite adorable. "You’re so handsome and dashing, girls can’t help but stare at you…. If I bring you there, I'm sure all my friends will envy me."

Xu Zhi: "???"

So feelings do not matter as long as I look good?

"Let’s go! Let’s go shopping and buy some nice, expensive new clothes! I’ll show off like crazy and make them envy me to death!" Chen Xi winked at Xu Zhi, laughing coquettishly: "You've only been farming anyway and probably still have a lot of money left, right? Might as well go crazy and spend it all with me before you die!"

Wow, where’s your conscience?

It’s all too clear now. I’ve been scammed.

This girl just wanted money for her new clothes, and a pretty face she could show off to her friends!

……..

Xu Zhi accompanied the girl into town on her scooter.

After carefully considering the cost, the two of them bought a beautiful dress and a nice suit that cost three hundred yuans each. They’ve walked through most of the shopping district by this point and were exhausted, so they got on their scooter and headed back home.

"Unexpectedly, I have a casual girlfriend now."

Xu Zhi felt bewildered and laughed.

"I’ll just treat it as gaining a caretaker. Though this girl has a short attention span, she enthusiastically prepares my meals everyday, and thanks to that, I don’t have to eat out."

After all, he had to pay attention to his diet because he had stomach cancer, and takeout food was too unhygienic and lacking in nutrition.

He wasn't too concerned, and returned to the sandbox in his courtyard to study the Evil Eye. He may have killed the player, but the species he had evolved still remained in the sandbox.

It was about to go extinct though.

After all, it would be weird if that didn't happen!

The eyeball took up two-thirds of the body, along with most of its nutrition. Only to see a little better. Of course it would get eliminated with that kind of waste.

"Does it have the potential to become a supernatural species?" Xu Zhi asked.

The Mother Hive answered: "Yes, according to my analysis, though this creature is vicious and simple-minded, it has abnormal mental strength due to its huge eyeball."

Xu Zhi pondered.

If you left them alone, then this deformed and defective species would definitely go extinct.

However, it might be similar to the Bugapes in that it would grow strong if it could survive past its weak initial stage.

Should I try putting it in the big sandbox?

Xu Zhi decided that it would be a good idea.

He would have to create a swamp in the large sandbox. After all, the environment of the large sandbox was too monotonous. There were no swamplands or deserts.

He’d add a swamp area of about ten square meters.

This was already a huge swamp the size of a mountain range for ant-sized creatures.

"As for how this new terrain appeared? After the Great Flood, seawater collecting into muddy swamp zones would only be natural… And a terrain like this would be very fertile due to all the mud, so I'll have to get some fertilizer!"

The first thing that came to Xu Zhi’s mind was farmyard fertilizer.

In the countryside, many people used their own excrement as fertilizer. It had the advantage of being natural and pollution-free.

But the thought made him feel a little disgusted. If he thought about it, the Bugapes and perhaps even other races would later explore this black swampland. But in fact, they’d be exploring a giant privy…

No, he didn’t even want to think about it!

Human feces was definitely out. He went next door to his girlfriend Chen Xi’s house and asked Mrs. Li for some manure, like chicken and cow dung, saying that he needed fertilizer for his farm.

Once he got what he needed, he took a big shovel and started working on the ten square meters area.