Chapter 561 Broken Yet Whole
A phantom door suddenly appeared on the high platform, and then Yu Sheng led Eileen out through the door.
A white shadow rushed towards me—the familiar headbutt, the familiar steel hug, and the familiar five-speed electric fan.
Hu Li was so happy that she jumped and danced, hugging Yu Sheng's arm and shaking it vigorously with a force that seemed to tear bones apart: "Benefactor, benefactor, benefactor, it's over! That pile of things has finally quieted down!"
Fortunately, Yu Sheng's physical condition is now much better than before. Although he still dies from unknown AOE attacks for various reasons, at least he won't be killed by Hu Li's head. At this moment, he skillfully pressed down on the big fox's head, pulled his arm out of the other's arms, and looked up at his surroundings.
A row of mass-produced dolls with dead fish eyes stood blankly on the high platform where the smoke of battle had not yet cleared. Most of them were more or less injured, and their numbers had been reduced by about a third. Eileen ran over immediately and walked back and forth among the mass-produced dolls, seemingly checking the damage to the remaining mass-produced bodies.
Luna was calmly wiping the blade between her fingers with a strip of cloth torn from a nun's dress, like a psychopathic killer with childhood trauma or someone who deliberately inflicts childhood trauma on others.
The pure white dragon, Baili Qing, was still in her dragon form, lying on the edge of the platform with her eyes closed, resting. She had several obvious and frightening wounds on her body, but all the wounds were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Yu Sheng turned around again and saw that all the shadows and black tides inside and outside the temple had disappeared. Amidst the devastated ruins, only the scorched earth after the foxfire was still emitting thick smoke. Large areas of eroded building remains appeared even more damaged and dilapidated than before. The pillars and broken walls around the main building had now completely collapsed, and the open square could be seen in its entirety.
The place where the divine corpse once stood is now just a pile of black ashes that are still dissipating, and at the center of the ashes is the "Rubik's Cube Mechanism" that has stopped functioning.
After inspecting her mass-produced dolls, Eileen walked over and opened her arms to Yu Sheng.
Yu Sheng casually picked up the small doll and put it on his shoulder, then walked toward Baili Qing, who was resting with her eyes closed.
The dragon opened its eyes, its light gray vertical pupils showing a hint of weariness.
"Are you alright?" Yu Sheng glanced at the other's injuries. The largest wound under the dragon's wings was almost longer than a person's, and the blood flowing from the wound was golden-red with a metallic texture. If you got close, you could even feel the astonishing heat emanating from the blood. Although the wound itself was indeed healing, the scene was still a bit frightening.
"Fortunately, I was only grazed by those 'crevices' on the return journey. The effect of the anti-Ai... Ankaela Crystal's duration is a bit short," Baili Qing said calmly. She didn't know how her dragon-like throat could produce such a clear human voice. Noticing Yu Sheng's gaze, she added, "It looks scary, but for me it's just a superficial injury. Dragons have strong vitality."
As she spoke, she raised her enormous head again, glanced towards the temple, and asked Yu Sheng for confirmation: "Is it all over?"
“If you’re talking about the crisis at the border, that’s over,” Yu Sheng sighed. “The last fragment of the Goddess of Omens is ‘dead,’ and the Boundary Bridge has been dismantled by me—according to your Special Operations Bureau, the angels have fallen.”
"That's great news, but judging from your expression, it seems things aren't quite finished yet?"
“There are always many follow-ups after an angel falls, especially this time the situation is quite special,” Yu Sheng nodded. “Regarding the Boundary Bridge, and the dark angels who built it… the truth behind this has only just begun to emerge, and many things are probably just starting.”
"...It seems the break time is over."
The pure white dragon spoke softly, then slowly raised her massive body. A crystal-like, distorted light screen quickly enveloped her, and then her massive body began to shrink and deform rapidly, transforming into a human form within seconds.
This was the first time in Yu Sheng's life that he had seen a dragon transform into a human. He was so surprised that his eyes widened. Then he saw Baili Qing walk out of the light screen, still with that expressionless and aloof look.
But the next second, Yu Sheng noticed something was wrong—the other person had a pair of crystal-clear dragon horns on their head…
Sharp, beautiful horns emerged from her loose, grayish-white hair, the tips of which were adorned with faintly glowing, rune-like patterns. Fine scales covered Baili Qing's neck and extended down to the back of her cheeks.
After being quiet for quite some time, Eileen finally couldn't hold back any longer. While pulling Yu Sheng's hair, she started yelling, "Hey! Yu Sheng, look! The steel-faced guy is halfway stuck!"
Upon hearing the little doll's familiar yet rude shouting, Yu Sheng felt much more at ease. After all, the little thing had been quieter than usual since earlier, which was quite worrying—now, all he needed to worry about was the boy's manners…
Fortunately, Baili Qing was a broad-minded person. She didn't get angry when she heard the little doll's clamor. She just raised her hand to touch the pointed horn on its head and patiently explained to Yu Sheng and Eileen, "This is a side effect of using power. The dragon transformation characteristics will take a while to fade. Also, I'm not a heartless person..."
Eileen didn't hear what Baili Qing was saying at all, and was only focused on whispering in Yu Sheng's ear: "Hey Yu Sheng, I think I know why she's expressionless. Could it be because dragons have hard faces, so she hasn't been able to make any expressions since she hatched..."
The person in question was watching right there, and could clearly hear the little doll muttering to itself, so Yu Sheng could only keep a straight face and couldn't really give a response—but he felt that Eileen was right…
After confirming that Baili Qing was indeed alright, Yu Sheng sent all the damaged mass-produced dolls back to the valley, and also sent back the news of "Angel's Fall".
With everything arranged, the group left the high platform and headed towards the ruins of the almost completely collapsed temple.
There are still many things that need to be confirmed.
As the smoke from the battle dissipated around the ruins, the scorched earth remained warm. Rocks, once melted by foxfire but now cooled, covered the broken walls, emitting a dim red glow.
Huli released the boiled and salt-baked chickens again, and had the two sentient chickens keep watch over the sky, while Luna turned the radar power up to the maximum, constantly scanning every corner of the ruins.
Baili Qing pressed one hand to her ribs as she slowly followed Yu Sheng while keeping a watchful eye on her surroundings. Wherever her gaze fell, a faded grayish-white texture would occasionally spread out, as if nothing could hide from her gaze.
The surging shadowy black tide that had previously struck them was truly impressive. Even though the black tide had receded, they were still worried that some other danger might remain in these ruins, and dared not relax for a moment.
Only Eileen, sitting on Yu Sheng's shoulders, seemed quite relaxed from the moment she stepped into the temple ruins. The little doll opened her eyes wide and looked around, occasionally showing a look of reminiscence on her face, while at the same time she would frown and think about something from time to time.
Vague and fragmented memories occasionally surfaced in her not-so-bright mind, seemingly mixed with some distant...感慨 and nostalgia.
For her, who was used to a carefree life, this seemed like a strange and novel feeling.
The little doll raised its hand and pointed to a collapsed pillar not far away.
“That used to be a place for dancing,” she said, ruffling Yu Sheng’s hair. “There would be lots of girls dancing in circles there. The priests would put freshly slaughtered ‘Pulu’ on a four-person carrying frame beforehand. After they finished dancing, they would smear the blood on their faces and carry the Pulu meat into the main hall to feed me.”
Yu Sheng paused for a moment: "And then?"
“I don’t like to eat it, so I made them sacrifice egg yolk cakes and sweet drinks.”
As Eileen spoke, she pointed to a corner at the edge of the square.
“There used to be a priestess crying here. She lost her sandalwood rosary, but actually I accidentally ate it.”
Yu Sheng: "...Then, what happened?"
Eileen thought for a moment: "And then I don't remember, I have no memory of what happened after that."
Hu Li leaned closer, seemingly unconcerned about the "past events" Eileen had suddenly brought up, only curious about the sandalwood prayer beads: "Are they delicious? Those prayer beads."
“It’s crunchy, but not tasty,” Eileen shook her head, then raised her head. “Silly fox, I used to be able to eat a lot! I could eat more than you!”
Hu Li: "Anyway, you can't eat it now."
Eileen jumped off Yu Sheng's shoulder, grabbed Hu Li's tail and bit it—but even a mouthful of fur couldn't break through its defenses.
For the first time, Yu Sheng did not interfere with the playful fight between the puppet and the fox. He simply glanced at the little puppet, who seemed to have become more sentimental but was still confused, with a helpless smile, before his gaze fell on the large open space in front of him.
Black ash rose into smoke and dust, slowly dissipating into the hazy sky. The deactivated Boundary Bridge control mechanism stood alone in the center of the wreckage. The edges of the still Rubik's Cube glowed with a pale golden afterglow, and no subsystem could respond to its commands anymore.
But that's not what Yu Sheng is looking for.
Hu Li noticed Yu Sheng's movements and also looked up, glancing around the square—she seemed to know what Yu Sheng was looking for.
As for Eileen, she struggled with the fox's tail for a while, but was easily entangled in a bunch of fluffy fur and couldn't move. At this point, she was being forcibly held in the fox's arms, her face still puffed up with anger, and she was still spitting out fox fur.
Just then, the sharp-eyed fox seemed to suddenly notice something—at the edge of the area covered by black ash, a small, even more inconspicuous pile of tiny remnants came into her view.
"My benefactor! He's over here!"
Upon hearing the sound, Yu Sheng looked up and, with a sudden thought, immediately ran towards the pile of wreckage.
Not far from the corpse of the ominous god, a shattered golden doll lay in a corner of the square, its broken limbs scattered around, its slightly open eyes reflecting the chaotic sky.
Eileen, held in Hu Li's arms, opened her eyes slightly.
"Wow—so this is where I was."
(End of this chapter)
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