Money Inn - 32

Aso walked to the center of the formation and crouched down, placing her palm on the slightly raised flat stone in the middle. The stone surface was warm, as if it had just been in the sun, but it was only just sunrise. "I'm here," she whispered. The blue light instantly retracted, as if absorbed by something. The water surface violently contracted into a tiny point of light, then transformed into a blue pillar of light that shot up from the bottom of the well, landing precisely in the center of the stone formation. There was no sound, no vibration, only a faint breeze spreading outward from the well opening, rustling the leaves of the butterfly ginger in the vegetable patch. After the light pillar dispersed, a human-shaped silhouette stood in the center of the stone formation—translucent, blue and white, with slightly blurred edges, like looking through a thin mist. He was half a head taller than Aso, with broad shoulders and a stable build, like a mountain compressed by data. "Aso," the voice came from multiple directions simultaneously, with a slight resonance, deep and steady, like a mountain ridge breathing slowly in the dead of night. "The vegetable patch is stable, and the well water has been synchronized. The soil's frequency has been successfully interfaced with the forest community's data stream."