Chapter 57 Gu Yinglan: "Headquarters said they'd let one person go..."
"Headquarters said that sending just one person is enough."
As the villagers of Redwood Village were digging for the flesh of the Tai Sui, one of them kept looking in the direction where Du Yu had disappeared, his brow furrowed. Finally, hesitantly, he flew to Huang Mao's side and asked, "Won't this affect the sacrificial ceremony?"
The blond-haired man casually looked away and sneered, "They're just fools. It doesn't matter how many there are, they're all going to die anyway."
"this……"
The man's furrowed brows remained unchanged; his characteristics were somewhat related to the element of "fate," allowing him to vaguely predict the future course of an event.
As everyone knows, with that person around, traits containing the element of "fate" are extremely difficult to improve. Even now, he can only have a vague premonition of the future, and he is wrong five out of ten times.
The blond-haired man was of a higher rank than him, and he refused to listen to advice. There was nothing the man could do, so he only hesitated and glanced in the direction where Du Yu and the other man had entered the mountains.
"...There shouldn't be any major problems, right?"
...
"Left, yes, a little to the left. No, too left, right, a little more to the right..."
Du Yu stood aside, watching Xiao Qi being bossed around by Chen Xingzhi, and slowly exhaled, "So, what exactly did you mean just now?"
Having confirmed that Xiaoqi Station was in the correct location, Chen Xingzhi flicked her cigarette ash. The embers, still glowing, fell precisely to her feet, like ink dissolving in clear water, quickly drawing several mysterious gray lines on the ground.
"My meaning is already very clear."
Chen Xingzhi watched as Xiao Qi carefully dug out the meat-like substance from the bottom of the valley, using a twig as a brush to carefully apply it to the gray lines. Her eyelashes drooped slightly, casting a deep shadow on her lower eyelids.
"I've been waiting for you. We're from the same place, aren't we?"
"Why?"
Du Yu felt that all her thoughts had been disrupted by the sudden appearance of Chen Xingzhi. She knew that Chen Xingzhi must have a secret, but this person's stance was too ambiguous. The last time she saw him, he clearly didn't have this attitude...
"It seems you've seen other versions of me."
Those clear, black-and-white eyes turned around, carrying a sharp, cold understanding. "Each of me has a different stance and mission."
Seeing that the other person seemed unconvinced, she clicked her tongue softly, her tone sounding strangely familiar to Du Yu:
"Fate can manipulate the future, but it can only conceal the past and cannot change it, so I cut my spirit into several parts and sent them to the past to perform different tasks."
"[Fate] cannot alter the information of the past. My mission is to stay here and deliver a message to those who come after me."
Chen Xingzhi didn't seem surprised that Du Yu had encountered another version of himself. He bit his cigarette butt, blew out a string of smoke rings, and asked, "Is there anything else you want to ask?"
"etc."
Du Yu's eyes were strange as he tentatively uttered a sentence. After he finished speaking, Chen Xingzhi's eyes also became somewhat strange:
"The traveler should know where the road leads, for it is a journey destined to be one of solitude and hardship."
The system had mentioned this before when urging her to confirm the divine authority and prayer, but Du Yu hadn't felt anything at the time. Now, combined with the familiarity of Chen Xingzhi's voice, she belatedly recalled the scene when she first heard these words—
This statement is not original to the system at all!
She had met Chen Xingzhi before she transmigrated, before the Great Cataclysm! The way he forced himself to answer the idiotic question was just like a professor lecturing freshmen in her previous life.
At the time, Chen Xingzhi was at the height of her academic career. The history department of Luoyang University, which she led, managed to surpass Jinling University despite the lack of resources, and its reputation was unparalleled.
Even the prestigious Nanjing University invited her to give a lecture. Du Yu, who had just enrolled at the time, also signed up for the lecture to make up for the required time.
To be honest, Yu didn't listen to much of the lecture that time. As a freshman, she already knew that studying history wouldn't save her money, so she used all the lectures and easy classes like that to do part-time jobs to earn money.
But as luck would have it, her seat was directly facing the podium. After Chen Xingzhi finished speaking, when it was time for questions to fill the time, the host noticed her and asked her to stand up and ask Professor Chen a question.
Du Yu didn't listen at all, so she couldn't ask any decent questions. Fortunately, her mind worked quickly, and she asked a very versatile question:
"I am a freshman who just started studying history this year. Professor Chen, do you have any experience to share with us beginners in history?"
This was a perfect question that allowed for a sincere answer or a perfunctory, official response, but Chen Xingzhi's reaction was unexpected.
She didn't answer, but turned around, pressed the chalk onto the blackboard, and carefully wrote a sentence, stroke by stroke.
Just as the event was coming to an end, the host said a few standard remarks, and Chen Xingzhi nodded and left the conference hall first.
"The traveler should know where the road leads, for it is a journey destined to be one of solitude and hardship."
The words on the blackboard flowed smoothly and powerfully. Du Yu stood there, staring at them for a long time, not knowing why.
Chen Xingzhi's eyes flickered subtly for a moment, it was unclear whether he thought of her or not, he nodded his chin, and his tone changed strangely:
"That's right, I was the one who caused the great catastrophe back then."
"Oh, so that's how it is... wait a minute?"
Du Yu was so shocked that she almost couldn't maintain her fake smile. She stared in astonishment at Chen Xingzhi, who had suddenly thrown out such a bombshell, completely unable to figure out what she was thinking.
Even though the rumor that "the damned Chen Xingzhi dug up something he shouldn't have dug up, causing the catastrophe" was spreading like wildfire in the wasteland, it was still just a rumor. Now it has been officially confirmed by Chen Xingzhi.
Chen Xingzhi, supporting himself with one hand on the strange iron basin above his head, tossed his cigarette butt to the ground with the other, stood up, bent down and stomped on the cigarette butt, his forehead hitting the "iron basin" with a crisp "thud":
"This is the ancient tomb from back then."
"What exactly did you dig up?"
Du Yu stared at the greasy minced meat on the ground, which undulated slowly like the breathing of a living creature, and felt as if his breath had stopped for a moment.
Chen Xingzhi stood firm amidst the minced meat, and only then did Du Yu notice that where she had been sitting cross-legged, there was a small black mound, just big enough for one person to sit on.
"What did you dig up?"
Chen Xingzhi looked as if he hadn't laughed in a long time; the stiff muscles on his face twitched for a moment before he forced a stiff smile.
"I dug up a piece of Tai Sui, or rather, I dug up a great catastrophe."
The Great Cataclysm is... Tai Sui?
Du Yu seemed to remember something, looking at the strangely familiar black protrusion at Chen Xingzhi's feet with surprise and uncertainty, yet something still felt off—
The source of the cataclysm descended upon his north, while Jinling University was in the south. After Du Yu traveled south, he never came into contact with that unknown source.
But some things are terrifying even without physical contact. According to survivors from the north, when the cataclysm began, a massive city of tens of millions of people was instantly corrupted. Living beings that were merely touched by its scent, or even just glanced at it, would have their sanity instantly eroded.
How could the source of the cataclysm be Tai Sui, which even mortals can come into contact with?
"This is just a branch of the Tai Sui."
Chen Xingzhi pointed to the ground, then looked up at the sky: "This place is just a spacetime rift that keeps ending. The fact that they can dig out a few drops of [Chaos] remnants is already a testament to their ability to extract the marrow from bones."
"What do those people from Langge want the echo of [Chaos] for?"
Chen Xingzhi maintained his posture of looking up at the sky, his neck not moving, his head turning little by little in the direction of Du Yu like an owl, the angle of rotation almost exceeding the limits of human body.
As she turned, the muscles in her face relaxed completely, no longer as stiff as before. She gave Du Yu a natural smile, but the smile held endless coldness. Every word she uttered was like a heavy hammer blow to Du Yu's head:
"In order to create a 'catastrophe'."
...
"Ding ding ding—"
The sound of the bell grew increasingly urgent and shrill, like a death knell ringing in the villagers' ears. Yet, before the villagers could fully regain their senses, they were completely dissolved into a pool of black water and flowed into Tai Sui Mountain.
The surviving villagers gathered together, chatting and laughing as they ate, seemingly unaware that of the original five or six hundred people, only a handful remained.
Gu Yinglan's calm gaze swept over the villagers' joyful faces as she stepped forward to negotiate with the "immortals":
"The number of people who went to serve the Grand Duke Jupiter this year has exceeded the number agreed upon, and enough immortal flesh has been dug up, so perhaps..."
"Enough? It's clearly far from enough!"
Qi Jinghuan, with his dyed blond hair, revealed a half-smile, "The Immortal Sect is merciful, but you cannot use this to deceive us!"
Gu Yinglan was taken aback, pursed her lips, and for a moment the muscles on her face tensed up like a bowstring stretched to its limit.
"Not enough? It's already several times more than in previous years..."
"You know there are more than in previous years. We went to great lengths to bring such a large group of people up the mountain, so the share of the immortal meat should naturally be calculated per person."
While worshipping Tai Sui (the Grand Duke Jupiter) can be quite rewarding, it's never an easy task! Those with weak energy might even be "invited" away by Tai Sui just by staying nearby! Otherwise, why was the age limit set at under 26?!
Gu Yinglan's gaze swept over the elderly villager's swollen hands. Just as she was about to speak again, Qi Jinghuan impatiently ignored her and kicked a villager who was gnawing on a meat pie nearby.
"The more we dig, the more we get. The more we collect, the more you get too. You should be thanking me, right?"
"That's absolutely right! The immortal is absolutely right! Hehe, village chief, don't worry about it, everyone's eager to dig a little longer!"
The villager hurriedly swallowed the meat pie, his face turning blue, but he still managed to force a fawning smile and fawn over Qi Jinghuan.
"That's right!"
Qi Jinghuan stood a little further away with disdain, avoiding the spittle sprayed by the villagers in their excitement, not giving Gu Yinglan a chance to speak again, and thought to himself.
While this trait associated with the surname Gu is useful, doing it every time a sacrifice is too troublesome. We're currently short-handed for the trait transplantation experiment, so perhaps…
Gu Yinglan watched the immortal leave without looking back on his "flying sword," her heart filled with resentment and anger. A sharp pain shot through her chest. Even though it was only the first time, for some reason, she felt a strange sense of déjà vu about this feeling of frustration.
"Village chief, you should leave now."
The villager who had just spoken looked at Gu Yinglan and couldn't help but advise, "Those who haven't eaten immortal flesh are likely to offend the Grand Duke Jupiter if they stay here..."
The villagers stood frozen in place, unable to finish their attempts to dissuade them. At the same time, a roar of alarm and anger came from the heavens:
"You dare?!"
Gu Yinglan tore off a piece of the *Tai Sui* meat without expression, swallowed it whole without chewing, a dull brown glint instantly appearing in her eyes, and said in a hoarse voice:
"By the grace of the immortals, who desire immortal flesh, all mortals in Redwood Village who possess suitable bones naturally strive to serve the immortals without holding back. I, Gu, am no exception."
After Gu Yinglan finished speaking, her expression remained calm. She took the hoe from the stunned villager, dug a few times, and scooped out a small, black piece of meat.
She glanced at Qi Jinghuan, whose expression was shifting between light and shadow, smiled slightly, and spoke in a steady voice:
"Immortal, here is the immortal meat you requested."
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Author's Note: Ahhh, I'm so sorry, this chapter was a bit of a struggle to write, and I wasn't feeling well today, so I couldn't squeeze in an extra chapter. orz
I'll organize the outline tomorrow, and I'll definitely squeeze out the extra chapter for the 1000+ views in the next couple of days qwq
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