Task 4

Korra stood on the top of the hill, staring blankly at the huge pit in front of her.

There was nothing in the pit except bones.

But the strange thing is that even with the layers of bones piled up, it is not difficult to see that they are not humans of normal size.

"Those are..." Korra's face was almost as pale as the dirt under her feet.

The man standing next to him continued speaking calmly, "Those are the remains of low-level test subjects. Look carefully, you should see many species you recognize."

He was right. Just on the top and outermost layers, Korra could see a lot of remains of things like snakes and rabbits.

Some of them are not only huge in size, but also look like several types of creatures spliced together.

"These are basically contaminated animals. They'll die anyway, so we brought them here for experiments." The man explained, "And those from the previous attacks on the bases in various districts were also thrown here for disposal."

Korra thought of those hideous chimeras and swallowed.

The man continued, "Of course, some people are also included here. When their experimental lifespan ends or they have no residual value, they will also be thrown in."

Korra said angrily, "Then what makes you say my friend would become like this?"

"Because there are my friends in that pile." The man's tone was completely inconsistent with his words. If Korra hadn't seen the struggle that flashed across his face, he would have thought he was joking.

“…”

Normally, no one would want to go into depth on such a topic, but the man paused and then spoke again.

"Did you know that the director of this research center expressed a position contrary to the general public at the conference a few days ago?"

Korra groaned and scratched the back of his head. He knew about the "open judgment" and had heard that the person being judged was not an ordinary person.

But he has never been very sensitive to such matters, so naturally he has never taken the initiative to learn about them.

As if he had guessed that he knew almost nothing, the man said softly, "Lan opposed Ying Yungui's execution during the public trial. According to normal circumstances, once Ying Yungui's guilt is established, not only will she lose her position as head of the research center, she might even be expelled or silenced. At that time, the low-level experimental subjects she protected would be the first to be eliminated."

"Including your friends, of course."

His voice sank. "As for Ying Yungui succeeding as president, it can only be considered a miracle."

He stared at Korra with a cold and sharp look: "How many miracles do you think you can expect in the days to come?"

Korra opened her mouth to protest but found she had no rebuttal.

The man's eyes softened and he took out a small bottle of potion from his pocket. The packaging looked like it was from an old style from many years ago.

He handed the potion to Korra and said, "What I just said is the same as you. It's not just that we're both psychics. I know you're from District 5, and I know some other things as well."

Korra took the potion doubtfully and took a look at it. The instructions on it were all written in Area 5 language.

As he lowered his head, he heard the man say, "A few years ago, when the plague in District 5 was at its worst, I received help from someone at home. My old friend was a doctor, and he saved many people there."

"The assistant who was with him at the time was a young girl, and I met her a few times."

"She and your friend... probably know each other."

Korra's pupils gradually dilated.

"Give this to her as a token of your appreciation." The man said as he was about to turn around.

Korra seemed to have made up her mind and called out to him, "I owe her my life."

"How can I help her, so that she can be truly safe?"

“…”

"Completely separate from the Experimental Research Center and stay away from the Association."

Korra shook her head and muttered, "It's impossible. No one can do that."

"I can." The man's voice was absolutely unquestionable. He said, "If you have decided, find a way to get her out of the research center and take her to Nigra City in District 5. Someone will come to pick you up."

"Don't be afraid, I'll take care of everything."

So Korra carefully carried this secret back to the base, and tentatively talked to Xiaoyue about the past.

I thought Xiaoyue would not believe my one-sided statement, but I didn't expect that after seeing the bottle of potion, she agreed to what sounded extremely risky without saying a word.

The next day, the two tried to leave the research center first, and they felt much more at ease after finding that they did not encounter any obstacles.

On the third day, they moved away from the association base and arrived at the border between Area 1 and Area 4.

On the fourth day, the two successfully reached the sea between areas 4 and 5.

On the fifth day, after landing on the continent of Area 5, Korra and Satsuki were picked up at a port an hour away from Nigra City.

After that, the two separated. Korra was asked by the contact to take a glass key to "find someone" on the street, and in the end he completed the other party's request and took a drunk short man to an old shopping mall in the city.

——

The words on the wet wipes have been completely covered by the stains and are no longer visible.

Korra used her earth-transforming ability to shatter the package of wipes, then scattered the fragments along the roadside.

"That's good. We probably won't see each other again."

...

In the chaotic space.

The bronze stone platform in front of Shi Youchen had disappeared, and instead, a ball the size of a fingernail was floating in the air.

The surface of the meatball is just like this space, with no specific color and no texture to speak of.

But it looked like the scene from the thousand time and space cracks that Shi Youchen had torn open with his own hands.

A view of the distant universe.

Shi Youchen opened his eyes and was not surprised when he saw it.

Because he released the space-time energy to wrap and compress the stone platform, the independent space that temporarily stored Aisha Kalanka's body and the sleeping Xiaowei had run out along with the leaked energy.

Xiaowei was lying one step away from him.

Shi Youchen stretched out his hand, and the ball that condensed the power of the stone platform was pulled into his palm.

He swallowed it without hesitation.

To permanently seal these forces would require a living, controllable medium, so he would merge them with his own energy.

However, things did not develop as he expected.

After his whole body felt hot, he immediately felt a sharp and dense stinging pain as if something was being peeled off.

On the surface of Shi Youchen's skin, strands of golden threads actually emerged from his body. Those golden threads gathered in the air and finally formed a ball again.

"How could this happen?" Even though he was now almost omniscient and omnipotent, this was not unexpected.

The power of the tiger totem actually left his body on its own, or rather, rejected him as its "carrier." The force of time and space within his body also repelled the totem's power, and the two could not merge.

...No matter how many times Shi Youchen tried, it would be extracted from his body and return to its original form.

Even if Shi Youchen put a space seal on his body, he couldn't hold those golden threads.

"Kara" "Kara" silver-white cracks began to appear in the surrounding space. Shi Youchen knew that this was because the shape of the stone platform had changed drastically. The power of the chaotic space could not maintain its original state, so it began to collapse.

If he couldn't find a way to complete the temporary seal, he couldn't be sure what the consequences would be if this place collapsed.

At this time, Xiaowei woke up from her coma, opened her eyes and saw a cloudy scene, thinking that there was something wrong with her eyesight.

Until she sat up and saw Shi Youchen, who was unable to hide his panic, a look she had never seen before.

"Mr. Shi..." Xiaowei's head suddenly buzzed, causing her brows to furrow in excitement. "Did I... disrupt your plans?"

When Shi Youchen heard this, he turned to look at her and said softly, "No."

Xiao Wei hurriedly asked: "What can I do now?"

Shi Youchen's gaze wandered for a moment: "If we want to get out before this place completely collapses, we have to find a container to put it in temporarily." As he said that, he raised his hand and pointed at the ball floating in the air.

Xiaowei blinked, just seeing the tiny thing clearly, and then her fingertips touched something soft. She turned her head and saw a strange woman lying next to her.

Aisha Kalanka's body had been well preserved, neither stiff nor cold, but Xiaowei could sense it - she was dead.

After realizing this, Xiaowei stood up and walked past Shi Youchen, then reached out, pinched the meatball and put it into her mouth.

"..." Shi Youchen looked at her back with a complicated expression, but didn't have time to stop her.

The silver-white cracks around it began to fade visibly, and this chaotic space that originally had no visible boundaries began to fade from a corner.

It gradually revealed its colorful appearance.

Only after all the chaos faded did Xiao Wei exclaim, "Is this... a temple?"

She was very familiar with the furnishings around her, and even more familiar with the offerings on the front table in front of her.

There were piles of talismans written in blood, and the words on them were exactly her mother tongue.

"Sanye Temple?" Xiaowei's eyes widened, and she looked around in disbelief. "How could it be? Sanye Temple never allows anyone to enter, but..."

"But those prayers wouldn't be anywhere else." Shi Youchen continued.

"Because..." Xiaowei hesitated, "There's a custom in District 5 that newborns have to have their blood drawn and prayers written on their 100th day. The prayers written will be sent to the oldest temple in District 5."

“It’s Sanye Temple.”

She still couldn't believe where she was, and looked around, saying, "But Sanye Temple has never been open to the public. I don't even know where it is."

"How did we get in? And what happened just now?"

Shi Youchen stared at the carved pillar in the center. There were dark patterns floating on the pillar. After looking at it for a long time, he could vaguely make out that it was a short eye with a round pupil.

"This place cannot be entered from the outside. There is no entrance," he said.

Xiao Wei was stunned: "Then we..."

“Because this place is not for worship.”

"It's used for punishment."

Shi Youchen crossed those distorted domains and saw the truest appearance of this place.

The inside of the carved pillar is where the bronze stone platform in the chaotic space is located.