Chapter 3 The Illusory Guest
Qi An rested at home for two days before setting off again.
Her final destination was, of course, the new base, but she had unlimited stamina and planned to head north, circle around, and then head west.
During the two days Qi An was at home, the weather was fine, allowing her to go beachcombing, take walks, and sunbathe with Uncle Xu during the day, and fly up to the mountaintop with her mother to watch the stars at night.
As she set off, it began to snow again. The snow fell from south to north, covering half the continent.
In the latter half of the first night, the snow was too heavy and the road ahead was unclear, so Qi An flew to the top of a mountain by the sea, intending to find a cave to rest in for the night.
But she was lucky; she saw an ancient temple halfway up the mountain.
The older the building, the more it can withstand the ravages of years of neglect. The guardian beasts, stone tablets, black tiles and flying eaves of this ancient temple, as well as the ancient pine trees in the Zen monastery, are all covered with a thick layer of snow, forming a simple and quiet little world where time seems to stand still.
The scenery was so beautiful that Qi An felt like an uninvited guest in the snowy night, and he was reluctant to disturb the tranquility of the place.
But after standing under the archway for a few seconds, she heard what sounded like movement coming from deep within the temple.
It didn't sound like the sounds of birds and beasts at night, but rather like... footsteps!
Without hesitation, Qi An flew directly into the direction from which the sound came from.
It was a secluded temple, and the authority of the deity worshipped there seemed to concern itself with matters of medicine, life, and death in the world.
This is not a small temple, so the temple buildings are covered in graffiti. However, the graffiti is only visible during the day; at night, with the snow covering the ground, only the original, heavy structure of the temple is revealed.
Inside the solemn and dark temple, there were indeed people. At first glance, Qi An thought they were monks or someone who lived in seclusion in the wild.
When the person turned around, she took a closer look and realized that she recognized him!
Yao Du'an?
Qi An was truly surprised that this person was still alive, and then he noticed that the man was holding a pistol.
Yao Du'an seemed to hear the noise and turned around, thus moving the gun barrel away from his temple.
Qi An immediately understood that this person was still alive, but was about to die.
She hesitated for a second, then extended a tentacle and wrapped it around the other person's gun.
Qi An looked around again and found that the side hall was smaller and more intact, so he took the man and his gun to the side hall.
Yao Du'an was dressed in tattered clothes, with an unshaven beard, and looked quite disheveled. While Qi An was looking for a place to lay out his military blanket, he went through Yao Du'an's memories.
This person was also involved in the attack on the new base.
The traitorous clone named Huang Yajun in the new base hacked the reconnaissance systems of several defense lines on the south wall of Satellite 3 and let Qiu Yunmeng in.
Huang Yajun had already participated in the upgrade and replacement of the Guard 3 Close-In Defense System. That young man was young but ambitious; even back then, he dared to leave a virtual identity backdoor in the system.
However, Huang Yajun didn't have any hardware. The laptop he later used and then threw away was brought in by Yao Du'an in disguise, who infiltrated the freshman base and smuggled it in component by component.
Yao Du'an drove away before Wei 3 was completely captured. Qiu Yunmeng still needed a pure human, so she even escorted him away.
However, the Fallen Insects suffered a major defeat, and Qiu Yunmeng's clone was killed. The Wise Insects, who were escorting Yao Du'an from afar, turned around and joined the battle.
Yao Du'an became a lonely, wandering ghost.
"A dignified colonel at the North 1 Base..." Qi An didn't know how to comment for a moment.
She learned of Yao Du'an's pain, but she also learned that it was Yao Du'an who reminded Qiu Yunmeng "not to give humanity time to develop."
Despite knowing that Xu Zhuoxing was at sea and that her attack might be thwarted or she might be killed after winning, Qiu Yunmeng still launched the attack on the new base.
“Deep down you know that becoming a Fallen Worm is not the same as freedom. The Fallen Worm’s faith is not even a faith, but a collective will that cannot be defied.”
"You still chose to betray humanity, even destroy it. In the end, it's because you have an unvented hatred." Qi An thought carefully and commented.
Yao Du'an was stunned for a moment after she finished speaking before she understood the current situation.
After he left the Guardian 3 base, he saw the Ash Priests fighting in the air from afar.
Although it seemed impossible that the Ash Priest was on the side of humanity, he couldn't help but believe his own eyes and the tentacles wrapped around him.
Yao Du'an remained silent for a moment, then said, "Perhaps I harbor hatred; humans are greedy and weak..."
"The weak one is not human beings, but you. Your heart is weak and can no longer beat vigorously after a severe blow."
And isn't your stance a bit too arrogant? To define humanity and then destroy it—aren't you some kind of god, not a confused believer?
Qi An wrapped the marching blanket around his shoulder, covered Yao Du'an's mouth with it, and closed his eyes in the desolate little temple on a snowy night.
As the heavy snow subsided slightly in the early morning, Qi An continued on his journey.
Suspended by Yao Du'an, it didn't affect her speed. She arrived at the first stop of her trip, the freshman base, at 9 o'clock.
The Satellite 3 base has been rebuilt, and the incubation chambers are now used entirely to nurture children conceived through in-vitro fertilization, rather than producing clones.
The main base has been completely rebuilt, and there is no trace of the great battle that took place back then.
Qi An didn't linger. He went to see Gu Liansheng and the others, as well as the clones who had chosen to stay at the new base.
She did spend a few hours with Gao Pingle, went shopping with him, and had lunch at his house.
Gao Pingle is 14 years old. In just one and a half years, he has undergone a complete transformation!
Although he was still short and thin compared to his peers, he was a spirited young boy.
"Next year, I'll be studying and doing my hospital internship at the same time," Gao Pingle said to Qi An, still a little nervous and shy. "I'm not afraid of purification anymore, but they say they have high hopes for me, and I'm still afraid I won't do well."
Zhou Wen thought Qi An would encourage Gao Pingle, but Qi An said, "It's okay if you don't do well. You can practice again. Just have your own rhythm. The most important thing is to be happy!"
After lunch, Qi An continued his journey.
The only less-than-perfect aspect of this trip to the freshman training base was the overly enthusiastic, yet actually highly guarded, attitude of the base's officials after discovering her arrival.
Furthermore, when Qi An was shopping, he discovered that some shops on the streets of the new student base had hidden altars!
There are photos of her on the altar, or at least laminated paper with her name on it, or even statues of her!
To be fair, the small wooden carvings in that restaurant were quite lifelike, with realistic bodies and wings. However, the faces were all made in the style of Guanyin, the Holy Mother, with a silver plate-like face and kind eyes, which deviated too far from reality.
Qi An asked Zhou Wen, who smiled and said that there were already nascent religious groups in the new student base who believed in her.
Some people specialize in creating and selling her paintings and sculptures, while others have created websites with a clear religious theme, organizing daily worship and check-in activities!
Offline, people have started to get together to reminisce about Qi An's life, recall his heroic deeds in that great battle, and buy offerings, burn incense, and make wishes!
Zhou Wen confessed that she also wanted to buy a portrait to take home, while her son Xiao Le said he wanted to make one himself.
Qi An remained silent for a long time.
Liu Cheng at Southeast Base No. 1 only wanted to "pay tribute," but the new student base actually paid tribute.
As they approached the North 1 base, she got out and walked.
The tentacle on Yao Du'an's mouth loosened, and he vomited directly onto the tree next to him.
There happened to be a river, so Qi An allowed him to rinse his mouth with the cool river water.
The man in tattered clothes was probably living day by day in the wilderness; his face was extremely thin, and his physique was far worse than when he was pampered at the base.
It took him a while to recover, and he found it funny. He said to Qi An, "I am not a god. I have always been a humble believer. But you have truly become a god."
He could tell that Qi An wasn't happy about this, but rather troubled, so he asked:
"What's bothering you? Is it because you feel pressured by their beliefs?"
Qi An didn't speak, but Yao Du'an got the answer instead, as if... he had discovered something absurd, and his expression became extremely complicated!
"You... haha." He burst out laughing before he could finish his sentence.
"I wish you were a god!"
Their belief in a real, existing 'god' is like playing the fool.
The question of whether God exists or not has been directly resolved; you truly exist.
But they don't treat you like a human being, they treat you like a god. When they ask you for favors, you don't have to give up your wealth in exchange; you only need to offer some fruits and vegetables.
They only provided the fruits and vegetables symbolically for two days, and then ate them themselves!
But you, the 'deity' in reality, will truly feel a sense of responsibility because of their offerings.
Are you really going to protect them and help them fulfill their wishes?
Yao Du'an found it increasingly amusing, and laughed out loud, but his voice was hoarse, as if tinged with a bitter taste.
"That's why I say, humans are both weak and greedy."
And you, I wish you were really a god.
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