Chapter 56 Waiting I'm waiting for someone from the 21st century. ...

"What's wrong?"

Xiao Qi watched in surprise as Du Yu picked up the fallen Tai Sui meat and put it into his basket, then suddenly stopped.

They walked on the mountain for nearly an hour, and along the way, Du Yu had already dealt with six or seven so-called "adopted children" of the Tai Sui.

At first, Du Yu accepted all the monsters that came his way.

Although we've already collected the required amount of Tai Sui meat for the quest, since it's so precious, it can't hurt to gather a little more. Maybe a higher system score will result in a better reward.

As the two ventured deeper, the protruding parts of the mountain were still alright for the time being, but the ground beneath their feet felt increasingly strange, with a subtle texture that no longer felt like hard stone, but rather like stepping on the soft skin of some animal.

At the same time, the two encountered monsters more and more frequently. Not only that, the density of monsters also increased.

The noise from the battle will attract nearby monsters. Sometimes, just as Yu finishes dealing with one, a new one will come running, drawn by the scent.

Du Yu didn't care, but with an injured Xiao Qi by her side, she would have a hard time guaranteeing Xiao Qi's safety if more monsters came.

Besides, she's already collected even more of the Tai Sui meat. This stuff can't be stored in her backpack, so collecting too much is pointless. She'll avoid it whenever possible now, only unleashing a killing spree when she encounters something unavoidable.

During the hike, Du Yu also asked Xiao Qi about the uses of the Tai Sui meat.

Xiaoqi doesn't know much either.

Even the tiny fraction of the Tai Sui meat that the villagers collected, which they kept in their hands, was mostly exchanged by the immortals for an equivalent amount of gold.

The only use the villagers knew was to eat it directly. They believed that by eating the flesh of the "Tai Sui," fragile infants would grow up healthily, and even those on the verge of death could be successfully revived.

For the villagers, the meat of the Tai Sui (a type of fungus) is practically a panacea.

That's why when Xiaoqi fell to the ground, the village chief Gu Yinglan fed her Tai Sui meat.

"nothing."

Du Yu answered calmly, though his expression turned strange for a moment.

Just now, after she collected 100 jin of Tai Sui meat, the system suddenly popped up to increase its presence.

[Ding-dong~ Congratulations! You have collected enough extraordinary materials containing the Erosion element. The [Erosion] section in the encyclopedia is now unlocked. Please check it out as soon as possible!]

[Ding-dong~ Congratulations to the player for successfully unlocking the [Erosion] element under the [Chaos] tendency. The [Chaos] tendency has been successfully unlocked. Please continue to explore more features~]

Of the nine superior elements, Du Yu already knows eight, including the [Erosion] element. Only the tendency unlocked by the system this time is completely outside her area of ​​knowledge.

I've already opened the encyclopedia. Of the nine icons on the left side, two are already lit up: the black one, [Erosion], which I just lit up, and the silver one, [Fate], which was unlocked when I obtained the encyclopedia.

Judging from the colors alone, the nine superior elements are divided into three categories by the system: black icons under the [chaos] tendency, silver icons under the unknown tendency (the colors seem to resonate with me), and purple icons under the [leap] tendency.

Do these three colors represent three different tendencies? Why are they black, silver, and purple?

Du Yu fell into deep thought. According to the information obtained from the divine incarnation of [Mi Mi Yin], gods with the same inclination would fight each other to "improve their sequence, compete for elements, and seize power," even at the cost of turning friends against each other.

By ranking high in a sequence of superior elements and acquiring enough authority, one can be promoted to a "false god".

Within the same sequence, those who possess two superior elements are referred to as "true gods" by the people at the Ocean Research Center.

Clearly, this method of advancement through mutual competition for resources predetermines that deities with the same inclination cannot coexist peacefully.

It seems that [MiMiYin] has somehow determined that she and I do not belong to the same inclination, which is why she can remain friendly even when she is offended by me.

After all, in the brutal struggle where it was a matter of life or death, Du Yu had only killed one of her divine messengers, which was not a great enmity.

But the question is, which tendency do I belong to right now? [Chaos]?

Du Yu recalled the feeling she had when the purple fire burned the flesh of the Tai Sui. Although she was unsure what the other two elements under the [Chaos] tendency were, she felt no affinity or desire to devour the [Erosion] element.

Furthermore, the colors don't match; the [Chaos] tendency is black, while his own is purple. In the realm of the extraordinary, color is usually a symbol of authority, and he has never seen purple on anyone else.

Mentioning "chaos," Du Yu couldn't help but recall the absurd notification that appeared from the system during his first journey through the spirit world:

You completed a [leap] and heard the echoes of [chaos].

Now, both [Leap] and [Chaos] have been unlocked by Du Yu. The latter is likely due to enough Tai Sui meat, but what is the reason for unlocking [Leap]?

Why was I able to "perform" a leap during my first journey through the spirit world? Is the power I wield inclined towards "leapfrogging"?

Leaving aside the known attributes of [Erosion] and [Fate], of the remaining seven tendencies—[Madness], [Memory], [Natural Disaster], [Devour], [Twisting], [Mind], and [Unknown]—which three belong to the [Leap] tendency?

Although she didn't know the specific characteristics of Cat Whiskers, her ability to bring good luck to people clearly belonged to the superior element of "fate," and in her spiritual vision, her spirit body was silver-white.

Since it's also silver, it seems the [Fate] element belongs to the remaining one that hasn't been unlocked yet.

【MiMiYin】is very resistant to 【Fate】, so it seems that the elements He controls and 【Fate】share the same tendency. What would His authority be?

Du Yu was having a headache. The system's "Encyclopedia" function, though called an encyclopedia, only had one name after unlocking. Du Yu had to fill in the rest herself, and she could only stare blankly at the two names.

Thinking too much is pointless without verification. Du Yu rubbed his temples, deciding not to dwell on this unanswerable question for too long.

After closing the encyclopedia, Du Yu was about to speak when his expression turned cold, and he grabbed Xiao Qi and hid behind a protruding rock.

Xiao Qi was unaware of what was going on, but she knew the dangers of Tai Sui Mountain, so she didn't dare to say anything. She covered her mouth and carefully followed Du Yu to hide in a corner.

The next second, she understood why Du Yu did this.

A monster five times larger than a normal monster appeared not far in their line of sight. If Du Yu hadn't reacted quickly, they would have run into the monster.

What kind of monster is this?

Xiao Qi stared blankly; this monster was not only larger than before, but also much more ferocious in appearance.

Its scales stood up like a hedgehog's quills, almost turning into sharp spines. Beneath the scales were countless cloudy brown eyes, constantly turning around within its mucus-covered skin.

Without Du Yu explaining, Xiao Qi already knew that the monster she encountered this time was no ordinary monster like the ones before.

If the monsters that appeared before were all the "adopted sons" of the Grand Duke Jupiter, then this thing is probably the biological son.

Can Du Yu defeat this monster?

The thought flashed through her mind, and the next second, Xiao Qi's eyes widened, forgetting even to breathe, as she tightly gripped Du Yu's sleeve. She tugged at it gently.

Du Yu looked in the direction Xiao Qi pointed, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

In the direction where the monster appeared, several colorful lights suddenly lit up in the sky.

The light seemed to emanate from a giant disco ball on a stage, dancing merrily in the air. Even in the dim sky, the colors of those rays were incredibly vibrant.

The light flashed for a full half minute before slowly dissipating in the air.

Du Yu was startled; there really was a light deep within Tai Sui Mountain.

Xiaoqi only knew the information she heard from others, and Du Yu did not expect the information to be accurate. He just thought that the lamp represented some kind of legend or metaphor.

I didn't expect that the mother-in-law Xiaoqi mentioned knew so much; she was right.

However, to get closer to the lamp, he had to deal with the monster in front of him first. Du Yu sized up the monster a few times, mentally assessing its combat strength.

It's not that we can't fight, Du Yu thought to himself in the dark.

However, this monster is clearly stronger than the previous ones, so dealing with it won't be as quick as it was before. Moreover, this place is deep within Mount Tai Sui, and the commotion from the fight might attract even stranger monsters.

As Du Yu was pondering, his feet suddenly went weak, and the strange ground, resembling the skin of a living organism, trembled and tilted to one side as if an earth dragon were turning over.

Du Yu reacted quickly, gathering his spiritual power in his palm. He grabbed the protruding stone pillar with one hand and Xiao Qi, who was injured, with the other, preventing him from being knocked down by the sudden earthquake.

That monster was no ordinary creature either. In the sudden earthquake, it only shook its body, lowered its center of gravity, and twisted its body a few times in an unnatural way to stabilize itself.

After a dizzying moment, just as the ground stopped trembling, the monster seemed to receive some kind of command and stopped pacing back and forth as it had been patrolling.

Its long tail slammed heavily onto the ground, and its giant mouth opened and closed, emitting a high-frequency sound wave that was difficult for the human ear to detect. As if it had heard some kind of rallying order, it twisted its body wildly and ran in one direction.

Du Yu frowned secretly. To avoid the monster, they didn't proceed in a straight line. But judging from the direction the monster was heading, it was clearly the direction the villagers of Redwood Village were going to worship Tai Sui!

Was the recent earthquake related to worshipping Tai Sui?

Du Yu pondered this in his heart, but seeing the monster leave and the blocked road exposed, he knew he couldn't miss this precious opportunity.

With Xiao Qi in tow, Du Yu gradually approached the place where the light had previously emanated.

After bypassing the cliff blocking their path, Du Yu turned around, and a valley suddenly appeared in their view.

"this……"

Xiao Qi was dumbfounded, so shocked by the scene before her that she didn't know what to do with her hands.

As a modern person who has experienced information overload, Du Yu is more receptive to new things than Xiao Qi. But at this moment, she was also quite speechless, her eyes twitching wildly.

Just moments ago we were locked in a tense and exciting battle with monsters, but the game "Dudu Loves to Merge" has the ability to turn anything serious into something comical.

The valley in front of us does not appear to have been formed naturally; its walls show obvious signs of human excavation.

The exposed part at the bottom of the valley didn't look like soil; instead, it resembled finely chopped animal fat and meat, soft, sticky, and densely covered with a layer of it, glistening with a disgusting sheen.

The valley was faintly filled with an incredibly fragrant aroma, like spices being stir-fried over a high flame, or fatty meat being stewed until tender, the aroma of oil quietly taking over all the taste buds along with the heat.

The aroma, combined with the utterly disgusting scene before them, made the smell even more nauseating.

Of course, the two of them had a lot of unpleasant experiences along the way, and Xiaoqi had seen quite a few disgusting things as well.

Neither of them lost their composure because of this. What truly left them speechless was the woman sitting cross-legged at the bottom of the valley.

That's right, in that bizarre and disgusting valley, a person was able to sit there nonchalantly.

The woman wore a white and pink stand-up collar jacket and a pale yellow brocade horse-face skirt. She was adorned with elaborate accessories and her hair was surrounded by pearls and jade. She was the epitome of a very wealthy and quintessential noblewoman from ancient times.

But she insisted on wearing an oddly fitting white coat over her clothes and a very incongruous face mask.

Not only that.

She also had a strange device on her head that looked like an iron basin, which completely ruined the ancient charm that her outfit was meant to evoke.

Du Yu knew this was a pointless statement, but the iron basin really looked like an ordinary iron basin. Apart from the strange place where it appeared, there was nothing unusual about its appearance.

The iron basin has only one long antenna in the center, and a crystal-clear glass-like polyhedron is inlaid at the top of the antenna.

The colorful light they saw earlier was from that glass bead, which emitted light using some unknown principle—it's probably the "lamp" that Xiaoqi mentioned.

The person in front of him was dressed in a completely mismatched outfit. Yu couldn't tell whether the surrounding environment was more bizarre or her attire was more speechless.

But the main reason Du Yu lost her voice was not her outfit, but rather—she had seen that face before!

Chen Xingzhi!

The strange, riddle-solving man who appeared in the spirit world has also appeared here.

As Du Yuzheng remained silent, the woman who had been keeping her eyes closed and her hands clasped together at her chest as if in prayer seemed to sense something, opened her eyes and looked over, her familiar white eyes devoid of emotion.

The two stared at each other silently for a few seconds.

Chen Xingzhi remained silent, but Du Yu's mind was overflowing with questions.

What are you doing here?

"I?"

Chen Xingzhi held the strangely shaped iron basin above his head with one hand, and reached into his waistband with the other, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from somewhere. He pulled down his mask, lit one, took a drag, and the smoke he exhaled quickly dissipated into the air.

"I'm waiting for someone from the 21st century."

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Author's Note: How about that? Wasn't it hard to imagine?

P.S.: The leap that some of you guessed in the comments section was a "preference" rather than an "element." You can think of a preference as a kindergarten teacher and an element as fruit. The gods' actions of vying for the sequence can be seen as queuing up, waiting for the teacher to give them fruit (elements).

As for what exactly Dudu has mastered, some commenters have guessed very close :)

P.S.: Finally reached 1000 followers! There will be an extra chapter tomorrow!