Chapter 252: White Orchid Rain Festival (Thirty-four)
Nanhu originally thought that the Dragon God Temple might not be so easy to find because of the strange layout here, and it would take at least a while to find it. However, he did not expect that Beixi would shoot an air arrow and the ground would be directly shattered into pieces.
The system didn't know whether it was worried that Beixi's destructive power was too great, or whether there was already a passage here.
In short, after the flames caused by the explosion were extinguished, the ground began to shake violently, as if something underground was awakened.
The shabby little house that originally stood on the ground began to collapse in an instant, making room for something underground.
[Congratulations, you finally discovered the strangeness of Bailan City. The Dragon God Temple from a hundred years ago has finally seen the light of day.]
The system's voice revealed a sense of helplessness, as if it was unwilling to let things develop to this point, but due to the settings of the game, it had to start the broadcast dutifully.
Soon after, Nan Huan and Bei Xi saw the Dragon God Temple that they had seen in the Yizhihua pawn ticket. However, the Dragon God Temple a hundred years later was very different from the previous one.
It was not until the entire Dragon God Temple appeared before the two of them that Nan Huan looked thoughtfully at the wooden statue of the Dragon God in the center and asked Bei Xi beside him uncertainly.
"The one we saw in the pawn ticket before..."
She seemed to be trying to organize some words to describe the scene in front of her, but she was interrupted by Bei Xi before she could finish her words.
"No, the wooden statue at that time was normal, and there was no sword."
Yes, the wooden statue of the Dragon God that they saw at this time had a sword in the center, which went straight through the top of the Dragon God statue and split the entire wooden statue in half. The expression on the wooden statue looked extremely terrifying.
Half a minute later, a flower was summoned from the control panel.
Nan Huan had tried it before setting out. Although she was using the skill of 'out-of-body experience' now, it did not prevent her from using other skills or operating the control panel in this state. From the perspective of stealth operations, this was indeed a ceiling-level skill.
"Huh? This is..."
Yizhihua was originally happy when she was released. Although Nanhuan saved her and did not restrict her behavior, she had been controlled in the pawnshop for so long, so she essentially liked to run around.
However, when he saw the Dragon God Temple in front of him, his expression suddenly became very serious, even a little sad.
"Do you remember where this is?"
Nan Huan originally didn't want Yizhihua to recall the past, especially the obviously unhappy memories, but the scene before them was different from what they had seen before. In addition, what they saw in the pawn ticket were all clips set in advance by the system. As to what exactly happened in the past, they still needed Yizhihua's statement.
"Have you remembered all the memories that were blocked before?"
From Yizhihua's perspective, even though Nan Huan was using a skill, she could still see his cautious expression. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Don't worry so much. It's all over. Although I'm no longer controlled by that power, my memory hasn't fully recovered. I wonder if this will be of any help to you?"
"In a war a long time ago, the dragons were defeated by humans." I don't know if it was because a long time had passed and Yizhihua had let it go, or if she thought about it now, or if it was you, Nanhuan, who saved her, that didn't show much anger on her face when she said these words. "I don't know what the Dragon Lord realized at the time, or if she saw some secret, but she insisted and asked me to lead the rest of the tribe into a sleeping state, thus protecting us from being exterminated."
"I was still young at the time and didn't understand how the war started or why we had to fight. But the Dragon Lord was worried and unhappy every day, and he fell asleep not long after."
In conjunction with the battle that Old Man Zhang had mentioned before, Nan Huan and Bei Xi gradually outlined the truth of the past. Seeing Yizhihua looking at the dragon statue in the center while speaking, Nan Huan was curious, "Is the Dragon Lord you are talking about the Dragon God?
If that's the case, then there is a deep blood feud between the dragon race and humans, so how could the Dragon Lord eventually become the so-called Dragon God?"
Nan Huan couldn't imagine under what circumstances you would regard your former enemy as a god-like being.
"I don't know the reason behind this. I only know that the Dragon Lord later met the Saint. She was a human, but she was different from other humans," Yizhihua said here, as if she had thought of something. After a pause, she felt that what she said was inaccurate, so she had to add, "At least it was like this before I fell asleep."
In Old Man Zhang's story, Nan Huan always thought that the Dragon God appeared first, and then the Saint Girl appeared. But now it seems that this is not the case. She thought of the scene she saw in the pawn ticket of Yizhihua.
If Jiusheng was the saint, then why was she reborn as a human being? The dragon god appeared in the form of a wood carving. It seemed that some important links were missing in between.
"I was awakened," Yizhihua suddenly said without any context, "Generally speaking, only the Dragon Lord can awaken us, but I don't have a deep impression of this part. I only remember that after I woke up, everything seemed to have changed. I only remember seeing the Dragon Lord and the Saint being hurt, and finally I had no choice but to go to the pawn shop and make a wish for the Saint and the Dragon Lord to come back, but I can't remember what I exchanged for."
Although they had anticipated this fact, they couldn't help but feel disappointed when they heard Yizhihua say this. As expected, if they wanted to know what happened at that time, the system would not give them the opportunity to take shortcuts.
In fact, Nan Huan was more concerned about how the black energy on Yizhihua's body came from. After all, she had only seen this thing on Man Wugui before. But now it seems that she doesn't know whether it was deliberate by the system or Man Wugui was playing some trick. Yizhihua has no impression of this.
"Is it because you pulled me back from that so-called evil god's domain that the wish I made at that time is no longer valid? Then the Saint and the Dragon God..."
When Yizhihua thought of this, her tone became a little anxious, but before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by Nanhuan.
"It shouldn't be. Your wish should have already taken effect. Otherwise, in this copy, Bailan City wouldn't have been selecting saints, holding rain sacrifices, and praying for the Dragon God to descend. According to the housekeeper, it just hasn't been successful before."
Nan Huan knew what she was worried about and hurried to comfort her. She had not forgotten that, in fact, according to the pawn ticket, Yizhihua had been to the Dragon God Temple and had injured the Saint. Jiusheng had told her at that time not to make a wish, but Yizhihua didn't remember anything now and finally made a wish.
Nan Huan did not tell Yizhihua about this. Nothing was clear now, and the other party would only think that all this was caused by her.
"According to the system, it's because I became the new owner of the pawn shop and have the ability to write the pawn shop's rules. So in essence, you just changed from being a believer of the evil god to being a believer of me. However, the exchange of wishes and the agreement of the pawn ticket are still effective."
"The Dragon Lord will appear during the Rain Festival..."
"Something's wrong here, we have to leave."
Yizhihua was interrupted by Beixi before she could finish her question. While they were talking, Beixi was observing the surrounding environment.
This place is very strange. They have had this feeling since they stepped in here. However, this place is very empty and there is really nothing that threatens their existence.
Even the black gas and golden spots that Nanhuan saw at first disappeared with the appearance of the Dragon God Temple.
And at the moment when Nanhuan and Yizhihua relaxed their vigilance, Beixi felt a familiar threat, exactly the same as he felt in the pharmacy before.
The moment she spoke, she had already grabbed Nan Huan's shoulders, held him in her arms, and tiptoed to leave through the gate of the Dragon God Temple.
But the originally empty Dragon God Temple was suddenly filled with black shadows, a dark crowd.
The door was closed in an instant, and even the hole that Bei Xi had blown open a few minutes ago disappeared without a trace.
Nan Huan put the flower into his control panel in an instant, and those dark shadows instantly turned into existences similar to the pharmacy owner, but of a different size, and flew directly towards the two of them at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
Bei Xi initially thought that the other party was going to attack, so he picked up the iron axe and split a shadow in half. However, in an instant, he saw that those shadows were just like the wooden sculptures of Old Man Zhang that turned into little dragons. After being split apart, they quickly merged together and touched Bei Xi and Nan Huan's bodies.
The moment they touched, Bei Xi and Nan Huan realized something at the same time.
[Your intrusion disturbed the followers of the evil god. They are very happy. The evil god has two more high-quality sacrifices.]
The system's afterthought-like reminder made the two even more angry.
Why don’t you wait until they are all swallowed before giving a reminder?
Nan Huan couldn't help but complain in his heart. The next second, before he had time to think about why he could be touched when he was clearly in the state of a soul, he took out a sword and wanted to imitate President Barbie.
However, the imagined feeling of having my body's energy immediately sucked away never came.
It seemed that the shadows were seeing this kind of situation for the first time and were stunned for half a second, attributing it all to the fact that quantitative change had not yet led to qualitative change, so more shadows gathered around.
Bei Xi had no choice but to hold Nan Huan and hide everywhere. This was an experience she had in the morning. Although Nan Huan was in his current condition and could hide by himself, Bei Xi was still used to being able to feel him all the time.
After dodging for two rounds, the two were touched by many shadows again, but the quantitative change did not seem to cause qualitative change. At the same time, they could not hurt each other, and had no way to leave the Dragon God Temple.
"What's going on? Are they getting weaker? Or are we getting stronger?"
Nan Huan noticed that there didn't seem to be any signs of danger, so he chatted with Bei Xi, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.
Bei Xi was the first to realize where the problem was, "Maybe it's because neither of us is the real body..."
[Because the player used a spell doll, the believer did not touch the complete body, so the energy absorption failed and entered the buffer stage.]
[Because the player used the soul-out-of-body technique, the believer did not touch his complete body, so the energy absorption failed and entered the buffer stage.]
Before Bei Xi finished speaking, the two of them heard different system prompt sounds.
Buffering phase?
What is this? If they can't absorb it, shouldn't they be allowed to leave?
Is the buffer stage for the shadows or for them?
But before Nan Huan could think about it carefully, the system prompt sounded.
【bite--
Congratulations to the player for triggering the special side quest - Sacrifice to the Evil God. 】
In this copy, it seems that the word "sacrifice" is always involved. Previously, it was the sacrifice for the Rain Festival, and now it has been changed to the sacrifice for the evil god.
Nan Huan knew with a little thought that in this space, except for her and Bei Xi, there was nothing else that could be called a sacrifice.
But what was strange was that, ever since the prompt to trigger the side quest sounded, the black shadows suddenly stopped their restlessness, and one by one they turned back into human form, kneeling obediently beside the wooden statue of the Dragon God, and seemed to have begun to pray.
Shouldn't they be believing in evil gods?
Nan Huan took the time to take another look at this time and confirmed that in the center of the Dragon God Temple, there was still the wooden statue of the Dragon God that was cut in half.
[Mission description: The followers of the evil god will not let go of the sacrifices that are offered to them. Since we cannot allow you to become the evil god's offerings, we will certainly not let you go easily.]
How could this be a forced sale? If Nan Huan could communicate with the system now, she really wanted to pull its ears.
It was obviously their own weak stomachs that couldn't digest the food. There was no reason for them to trap me and Beixi here.
But on the other hand, she was looking forward to learning more about the truth of that year through this side quest.
[The evil god's enchantment has been opened, and what happened inside is a re-creation of what happened in the past, but everything is the opposite of the truth.
You will have your own unique identity. Remember that only by making a choice that completely goes against the enchantment can you have a chance to get out. 】
Enchanted? The opposite choice? Reinvention?
Nan Huan felt that the system's language expression ability seemed to have deteriorated. A simple task description was made to look like some reading comprehension.
[Hint 1: It seems that you two are not the only ones who are curious about the Dragon God Temple. There is also a new partner, but I don’t know if it is your partner.]
Nan Huan fully understood this hint, and a second ago, she used her skills to feel that the High Priest's Mansion was safe and sound. She also controlled her body and told other players about the triggering of the side quest.
Therefore, this partner is obviously not on their side.
Although it is still unclear how those people left the High Priest's Palace at night, this action can already explain a lot of problems.
[Hint 2: The moment you enter the enchanted world, everyone will forget their original identities.]
Before the system finished speaking, Nan Huan felt his hand being tightened.
She knew that in this situation, she and Bei Xi might not remember who they were during the mission, but she still hugged each other directly, hoping that such physical contact could give her a sense of familiarity.
On the other side, the Gambler's Guild President and the Miaojiang Guild President who had just arrived also heard the triggering prompt of the task. Except for the absence of prompt one, the content was exactly the same as what Nan Huan and the others received.
Except for a moment's pause on the word "evil god", President Gambler and President Miaojiang were still very happy. After all, triggering the side quest meant there would be clues.
Those shadows that transformed into human forms no longer attacked anyone who entered the Dragon God Temple.
He just knelt devoutly in front of the wooden sculpture of the dragon god and prayed for his wish.
The moment the system prompt sound disappeared and the Dragon God Temple returned to silence, Nan Huan bent backwards in pain.
Many voices suddenly flooded into her mind, but compared to the different voices of prayers she had heard before, this time, they all had the same content.
"Pray for the evil god to descend upon the world..."
"Pray for the evil god to descend upon the world..."
…
In the inverted image, Nan Huan saw the black lines emanating from those shadows, all piercing into his body exactly.
Bei Xi couldn't see Nan Huan, nor could he see what was happening to him. He could only feel that he seemed to be in endless pain.
But before she could embrace the man again, Bei Xi felt as if something was squeezing into her body, breaking her flesh and blood.
Immediately afterwards, both of them felt a black screen before their eyes.
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