Chapter 187: Echoes of the End
“Hiss—”
Chen Xiao'er bit her tongue and jumped up from the pillow, her mouth full of the taste of rust. She covered her shoulder and felt her neck, but found no wound.
The pain in my body quickly subsided, as if it was a dream.
Being crushed on the scalding hood of a car and then blown to death is an extremely painful experience, and the scenes of humans tearing into each other are also very bloody.
However, the disgust caused by these experiences was far less than the hatred she felt for the phrase "the expression on your sister's face when she died."
Chen Xiao'er sat on the bed, her hands spread out, staring blankly at her palms. Her palms were white, soft, and clean.
I really wanted to kill Xinaya just now, and I did kill her. Even if the car didn't explode, the fruit knife would have pierced her heart.
"Sister, don't give up."
The sister's voice echoed from the bottom of her heart, dispelling the ferocious face of Xinaya along with the last bit of phantom pain and resentment.
Compared to Xiaotong and her mother, that guy is nothing.
After an unknown amount of time, Chen Xiao'er took a deep breath, held onto the edge of the bed, and slowly stood up: Thanks to the reversal of time, the pain of death and the mental shock have been diluted, allowing me to temporarily put this meaningless person behind me.
Beep, beep, beep.
The phone beeped, and Xinaya's number appeared on the screen. I knew what crazy things she would say without even answering the call.
Chen Xiao'er picked up the phone, blocked the number skillfully, opened the text message box and entered the number with zero.
When I typed the last digit, a text message with zero arrived at the same time.
【Zero: I'm here, right outside the door.】
She looked at the screen and wiped her eyes.
【Xiao Ai: OK~】
Chen Xiao'er pulled out a dress from the closet and put it on. She rushed out of the courtyard in her slippers and pounced on the senior student outside.
Woo…
She leaned her head against Ling's shoulder and rubbed it hard. Ling raised his hand and patted her back, half supporting, half hugging her as he walked back.
They returned to the living room, and Ling placed the cardboard box on the table. She opened the small box and took out the cupcakes. "It's grape flavored. Want something sweet?"
The aroma of freshly baked cake filled her nose. Chen Xiao'er lowered her head and took a small bite from her senior's finger.
The soft texture and sweet grapes make you feel a little relaxed, just like your feet stepping back onto the ground, giving you a sense of security.
She ate the cake in small bites, her jet-black hair swaying slightly with her movements, and traces of crying remained at the corners of her eyes, which were slightly red.
"..." Ling lowered her head in silence. Her wandering gaze was so calm that Chen Xiao'er quickly reacted and raised her head to ask, "What's wrong?"
The girl's voice was much stronger than her expression, but there was no trace of the cheerfulness of "yesterday".
She was chewing cake with her eyes fixed on the surface, as if she was thinking about some difficult problem, or trying to cover up or forget what had happened.
If nothing extremely terrible happened, she would not forget the romantic promise of "first kiss".
"Nothing." Ling touched Xiao'er's cheek with a smile, then lowered his head and took the initiative to touch her soft lips.
“!”
Chen Xiao'er's eyes widened and she blinked blankly. When she realized what was happening, her cheeks didn't turn red, but instead she showed an expression of wanting to cry but holding it back.
Zero didn't ask any further questions. She reached out and hugged the girl's trembling body, hugging her silently for a long time.
She waited until the touch in her arms softened slightly before she whispered, "Alright, let's go reunite. We can use the time to help two more people on the way, and then check online to see if anyone has mentioned time travel."
"Um!"
After hearing the girl's tearful response, Zero patted her shoulder gently, but his eyes were extremely cold.
【Xinaya, I will definitely kill you.】
You shouldn't have caused her so much pain.
When the process of time reversal is over and we return to our "only one life", I will make you disappear completely from Xiao'e's life.
…
They first ran out of the yard to help people who had encountered accidents nearby, and then ran along the street all the way to the bridge.
Sun Yu was standing on the bridge. When she saw them, she raised her hand and waved: "I'm here." She had no intention of jumping into the river at all, and she had obviously entered a state of time reversal.
Chen Xiao'er walked over and asked, "Did you also encounter sacrifice in the end?"
Sun Yu nodded and said, "I died in the Strange Stone Garden last night. There is indeed a ritual formation there."
She explained the entire investigation process to Zheng Lu and her teacher. Spirit Snake Mountain and the Strange Stone Garden formed a large nested array, and these ritual formations used for sacrifices only became visible at night.
She forwarded all the text messages edited by Milo, and showed them the boiling news on the Internet: at least hundreds of people successfully entered the time reversal and returned from "today" to "today".
This was the first time for them to look back, and they were very excited. They were calling on their friends on the local forum to try to dig out all the sacrificial arrays and reverse the tragic ending.
The exact locations of the school basement, the reception hall of the Strange Stone Garden, and the valley of the Spirit Snake Mountain, which had been previously identified, had all been publicly posted online. Even if they did nothing, the police and the deities would blast and demolish all the buildings above, and melt down the metal layer to form the seal.
Chen Xiao'er covered her face. She rubbed her eyes, then rested her hands on the guardrail. "Do you think... Changhe City has too many intentions regarding [Snakes]?"
"Of course." Sun Yu replied casually: "We believe in the snake god."
She was stunned, and everyone looked at the rushing river: the biggest suspect who could silently sacrifice an entire city was naturally the largest local sect, and the most secretive and indestructible formation was of course - the city itself.
This was the inspiration Chen Xiao'er got after the massive destruction in last week's episode. Because she specifically chose landmark buildings, she found that they were very scattered, as if they were deliberately separated from each other when they were first built.
Teacher Milo also sent a connection diagram in the text message just now: she marked several major landmarks on the map of Changhe City with red dots and connected them one by one, which was enough to draw beautiful geometric shapes and outline a pattern similar to a star.
Mountain paths and roads are used as ceremonial lines, landmark buildings are the core, rushing rivers are used as connecting links, time is divided by the moment when street lights turn on and day and night alternate, and everyone's life is used as a living sacrifice.
At this point, the mystery is solved.
…
"Great! She finally discovered it!" The people in the monitoring center wiped the sweat off their foreheads.
The church's analysts had certainly received similar insights during Chen Xiao'e's actions, and they certainly had a clearer and more comprehensive view from the outside. Unfortunately, the two sides were disconnected, making off-site alerts impossible.
Fortunately, Bishop Milo and Chen Xiao'er are both people with extremely high IQ and inspiration, and they did not miss the key information in the complex information.
Things are going smoothly.
Because the network and communication in the illusion were very stable, Chen Xiao'er and the others quickly exchanged information, and then split into several groups to cooperate with "ordinary people" who were actually church members to break through the key points of the formation one after another.
As events unfold, the people in the illusion realize they can't leave Changhe City, and their enthusiasm rises again. Except for those who died in "accidents" in the previous weeks, everyone begins to "destroy" everywhere under the guidance of the heroes.
Of course, the formations at the school and the foot of the mountain were eliminated first. Even the river that ran through the entire city was filled with a large amount of mud and sand, and the waterway was temporarily blocked by shallows and dams.
Even without the data sent back by the measuring instrument, everyone here can judge from experience that the energy inside the illusion is undergoing drastic changes.
This was indeed the case. The images transmitted by the monitoring center began to distort, and black spots and delays appeared in places far away from Chen Xiao'er.
"It's out of balance." Someone sighed softly.
The original illusion was built on the foundations of Chen Xiao'er and the Devouring Snake. Their abilities complemented each other, and with the energy accumulated by the cult over the years, they were able to briefly construct a self-consistent illusion.
In a sense, this illusion could be considered a "parallel world" or even an "alternate world." While they were engaged in a seesaw battle, Guanghui had already calculated the approximate range of the power prototype through the rules and power and monitoring center.
The power nurtured here is most likely related to "creation".
【create】!
After hearing this term, many people were moved. How could anyone refuse the power of [Creation]? You know, in ancient myths and legends, the power of creation is regarded as the highest level of existence.
The power related to creation can cover all aspects of human society and human activities. The Church of Light immediately understood why the Devouring Snake took the risk of involving Chen Xiao'er in the power ritual.
Without Chen Xiao'er's participation, the [Creation] born from the star core would inevitably be limited to the abnormal range.
The abnormalities have never created civilization. Only humans in the world have the power to create civilization, and only Chen Xiao'er in the entire human race has been confirmed to have the power.
Not to mention that Chen Xiao'er's [Return to Zero] itself has a record of changing abnormal forms. If these two powers can be integrated in a coordinated state, perhaps the true [Creation] in mythology can be born.
Create everything, including life.
All things, whether human or abnormal, will become the clay at the fingertips of God, creating a "balanced, reasonable, and self-consistent world."
But now, thanks to the efforts of Chen Xiao'er and her companions, the ceremony began to lose balance.
In the same reincarnation, too many people sided with Chen Xiao'er and were "devoured" by her. Moreover, the status of these people was "permanently changed" within the limited range of the illusion.
In the next reincarnation, and the next, they will always belong to Chen Xiao'er. When one side becomes too heavy, the seesaw can no longer tilt.
The situation looked promising, but Chen Xiao'er's situation was precarious. This was because she didn't actually possess the power of devouring, and wasn't the true master of this illusion.
The identity of the cornerstone and the right to devour were both voluntarily handed over by the Devouring Snake. If Chen Xiao'er wanted to replace it, she had to "devour" the Devouring Snake in her own turn and seize its position.
They watched the black-haired girl running in the center of the screen, and their hearts were tense for her: Chen Xiao'er was breathing rapidly, sweating profusely, and her steps were heavy.
She wasn't one to show vulnerability at any time, which suggested her strength was fading quickly.
What she was doing now was equivalent to carrying heavy stones under the scorching sun. Even if her physical strength would recover a little when the next reincarnation began, the weight of the stones and the muscle damage would not change.
The layout of the Devouring Snake was fixed from the beginning, and He had no right to change it. The only one who could change "reality" was Chen Xiao'er who kept going back.
But on the other hand, the Devouring Snake doesn't need to take the initiative to attack. It just needs to wait for Chen Xiao'er to die little by little, or even crush itself to death.
The sun in the illusion gradually sets, and the clock hands pass 5 o'clock.
Night is coming, and night is the time of the Devouring Snake.
"Oh no! We'll have to wait until the next cycle." The recorder bit his lip. "But will we really win next time?" They've already turned Changhe City upside down. Chen Xiao'er's condition is only getting worse. How many more riots can she sustain?
In the atmosphere full of doubts, the girl on the screen suddenly raised her head.
…
It was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe, and every extra step I took made my heart feel like it was about to explode.
Chen Xiao'er sat in the taxi she had called, leaning on Ling's shoulder and browsing the mobile phone page.
Classmates and people online sent me photos after photos of buildings that had undergone various treatments. It wasn't even night yet, so there was no way to confirm whether there were other sacrificial formations inside.
Judging from previous deductions, this large-scale offensive was very effective. She should wait for nightfall and then learn the next clue from the helpers among the gods, so that she could do better "next time".
But... Chen Xiao'er covered her heart, feeling uneasy, as if something was missed.
"Sister, I'll wait for you next time."
Sister, and me... No! Chen Xiao'er suddenly raised her head and looked out the window.
Where's Mom? Where's Mom?
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