Chapter 80 Yin Peach Blossom (10) Just a few relics from an old friend. ...
Tescatlipoca, the Black Smoke Mirror, means "smoking mirror." The smoke represents a solar eclipse. Its material is obsidian. It is one of the most important and complex deities in Aztec mythology, possessing the greatest divine power and ruling over night, fate, war, and witchcraft.
He was the first sun, but because he was the god of night, he was not enough to form a complete sun. Therefore, as the sun god, he only had half a sun. Later, he was ambushed by the feathered serpent and thrown into the sea, plunging the world into darkness.
The First Age was inhabited by giants. Out of anger, He transformed into a jaguar and devoured the giant people. Therefore, the First Age is also known as the Age of Four Tigers. In the subsequent Ages of the Sun, His provocative presence can be seen. Whenever He descends, chaos is sure to follow.
After reading the forum's explanation, Xie Tan's first reaction was to look back at the long list of ominous titles shouted by the believers, and he exclaimed, "Wow, so many people!"
My second reaction was: This sun god is definitely not a good person.
His third reaction was to mention the system cat, and looking into its big, golden eyes, Xie Tan said in a deep voice, "Don't tell me that the Tiger Sun they worship is you... The Sun God is actually the Cat God?"
Thinking about it this way, the style shifts from a horror movie to a cute pet movie; a group of vicious cult members are actually worshipping a cat...
"Meow, no, meow!" The cat, with its airplane ears, curled up into a small ball and said pitifully, "I'm also a life born in this world, so it's normal for me to have local power! I'm not that person, how could I dare, meow!"
Xie Tan was ruthless and didn't let it fool him any longer. He announced, "To be honest, either I die right now or I'll give up on this 'popular character development plan'."
The cat let out a pitiful meow: "Waaah, no! Host, don't die—I'm telling the truth, meow meow meow meow! I'm really not some sun god, meow! I'm just me, I'm your system, I'm your cat, I'm..."
“Then this god certainly exists,” Xie Tan asked. “Who is he?”
The cat muted its microphone and blinked its eyes cutely.
Xie Tan: "I'll go right now—"
"Waaaaah, no, host, meow!" The cat clung tightly to Xie Tan's arm with its four paws, its eyes brimming with tears.
Xie Tan looked at it for a moment, then suddenly said, "Answer me another question: Is the 'recycling' that the Mirror Cult talks about related to the energy recovery you mentioned?"
The cat's eyes widened: "No, meow! I regained my power because of your popularity in the comics. Once my popularity reaches the top, my power will be complete, and only then can I grant your wish! Meow, you can be used as Aladdin's lamp to recharge. It's all thanks to you, meow meow!"
Xie Tan stared at the cat, then reluctantly let it go and asked more questions about the details of the comic. The system cat's reply was that this system was all it could provide, namely the comic, the forum, and Chekhov's Gun.
"Then why this image?"
The cat proudly performed a few bodybuilding moves with its fluffy body: "Because I'm cool! Agile and powerful, that's me, the host's best system, meow!"
Xie Tan sneered, and the cat immediately stopped being smug and started rubbing against his hand with meows.
He looked back at the comic book. The camera slowly zoomed out, revealing rows of prostrate believers like dust scattered in the fog. The huge mirror they were worshipping was completely black and silent.
Further away, all of this is reflected in another black mirror floating on the water, and then scattered like the wind by something that looks like a slippery white tail.
The mirror reflected a white-haired man approaching, and then the mirror was dragged into the water.
Su He glanced at the mirror, then stood like a lord in the plaster cave-like circular hall: "Oh, you've seen it all, so I don't need to report further. Do you have any other instructions?"
"They lit a fire on the beach and wanted to give it another push, to completely return the power of Observation II to the gods, and make the gods even stronger."
There was a pool in the round hall, with walls covered in flowers and vines. The water was clear, but strangely, you couldn't see what was in the pool, like frosted glass.
Changing the angle is like flipping to the shadow side; the all-white pool water instantly turns completely black.
A lukewarm sound came from underwater, like water flowing over ceramic.
Su He: "Don't those guys just like to scavenge leftovers?"
"Truly loyal, back in the day, the Black Goat was too..." The underwater voice muttered to itself, "They've recently found several abandoned observation posts. Sigh, it really is a treasure brought by prophecy; who wouldn't covet it? Mr. He..."
"Patriarch, is something wrong?" Su He felt that whoever took the position of patriarch would be decades older, several generations older than him. He spoke and acted too slowly, which was frustrating. Was he about to die and reminiscing about his youth?
That's the downside of having a capable but rebellious subordinate. What's more, the person above is weak and often can't be controlled. The voices below are all sighs and groans. Su He knew that the head of the family had run out of steam again, so she consciously left on her own.
The water was still, without a ripple, and the strange underwater creatures seemed to be asleep.
However, just as Su He was about to leave the round hall, a ripple suddenly appeared on the water, and a gentle voice asked, "At Observation Two, was there really no trace of the Eye of Observation detected?"
Su He stopped.
The rotunda is built of a special kind of stone, which emits a soft glow even without lights, giving it a sense of sacred relic glory. If there were a half-naked angel statue holding a water bottle in the pool, the atmosphere would be even better.
But the corridor leading to the rotunda was completely dark, long and narrow, and walking in the cramped shadows felt like heading to hell.
The man standing at the boundary between heaven and hell turned his head, as if divine light and demonic shadows were simultaneously forging his physical body.
However, he is not the one who is the one; he is the blade at the boundary.
"If you don't believe me, crawl out and investigate yourself. Are you ordering me around, Master?"
The word "patriarch" was uttered calmly, but nothing could be more provocative.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
The underwater world was quiet and still, without any response, like a pool of holy water.
Su He turned and left, disappearing into the shadowy corridor.
The empty rotunda remained silent for a while, then ripples began to rise from the water, bubbling, and shadows swam beneath the surface.
The walls full of flowers and greenery, submerged in water at the bottom, were instantly drained of life, withered, and crumbled into dust, floating on the water.
Suddenly, a ring of shimmering white tentacles emerged from around the edge of the pool. They had no suckers, but rather resembled smooth tails, like open flowers. The pool water sank inward, and a figure slowly rose up.
This person has a head, shoulders, torso, two long arms like tentacles, and the lower body is underwater.
It can only be described as having a preliminary human form, because its body is a vast expanse of white, without facial features or any bumps or contours; every part of it is smooth, and its texture is like a milky-white octopus that has been polished to resemble a human.
A young man in a black cloak, carrying a sword, jumped down from the ceiling and bowed respectfully: "Master, should I follow Lord Su He?"
The smooth tentacles gently patted the water's surface, producing a smooth sound: "He discovered you a long time ago."
The young man pursed his lips and said nothing more.
The patriarch said gently, "Twelve, are you dissatisfied?"
"...I dare not, I just hate myself for not being able to relieve your worries."
"After all, he's a vicious wolf. No matter who becomes his loyal follower, it won't change his status."
The youth known as "Twelve" retorted bluntly, "Doesn't that mean you're not loyal to anyone?"
"So he was actually the most loyal and capable person, because he was loyal to the Black Goat."
The young man hesitated for a moment, but couldn't hold back any longer: "What if even the Black Goat betrayed him? He's clearly hiding something, and he even provoked you, the patriarch! The prophecy won't be wrong; the Eye of Observation may have truly revealed its presence..."
"It's just some relics from an old friend, why make such a fuss?" The patriarch's every word was so gentle, it seemed to have been measured with a ruler, and it was perfect. But too much gentleness can be a bit cold, and it immediately silenced the indignant young man.
Seeing that he had quieted down, the patriarch sighed again, his tone becoming more humane: "Alas, he is a pitiful man, clinging to a sliver of the past. Let him deceive himself for a while... Who says wolves don't have hearts?"
Twelve understood—in fact, everything was under the control of the head of the household; it was he who had overstepped his bounds.
So he lowered his head in shame.
"Then...those abandoned observation points?"
"It's not right for the Black Goat's stuff to always benefit others. We should take it back if we can... Ah, talking about it makes me a little hungry."
The slippery tentacles trembled slightly, like a restrained shiver.
One of them slipped into the young man's hood, affectionately stroking his face, and said, "Observers have only one mission: to become the eyes of observation. If they fail to fulfill this mission, they are nothing but scrap. Do you understand..."
As the patriarch spoke, a single eye suddenly appeared on his smooth face, taking up the entire surface of his face.
The whites of his eyes were covered with dense strands of hair that looked like fish swimming in murky water, crawling back and forth.
The pupils were yellow, but too cloudy, like layers of sand buried deep, almost earthy yellow, occasionally stirred up by the moving strands of hair.
It's like a sun in the night.
Why did I leave you behind by myself?
The young man shuddered, and the patriarch continued speaking to himself: "Because you are loyal to me... I naturally use my trusted confidants, don't I?"
"Yes, at your service!"
"So don't worry about those things. Even a black goat can reproduce, let alone just an eye. I am the eye of observation."
The patriarch's voice remained gentle, but his eye was moving wildly, like a constantly bouncing marble.
The blackened water surface, like a mirror, shimmered with many images that were difficult to capture, including the Mirror Cult Dharma Assembly we had just witnessed.
"You just need to get those junk items back. Although they didn't become the Eye of Observation, they're a great supplement to the real Eye of Observation... Hmm, while you're at it, help your Uncle He kill the bad guys who stole his old friend's belongings. It's fine to dream about it, but if I see it too often, I'm afraid he'll be heartbroken. No matter how arrogant he is, he's still family. If I don't help him, who will?"
As the patriarch spoke, he slowly retracted his tentacles, sank back underwater, and fell silent, leaving only a small piece of mirror floating to the surface.
The young man took the mirror and, in the silence, knelt on one knee again: "Yes, Master."
The mirror traveled with him all the way, and when he took it out again one midnight, the mirror showed his image.
The blackness faded slightly, revealing color in the side hall of the Xia family home. Bodyguards stood at the edge, while the masters and Song Zhengxiang sat together, chatting.
Just then, Xie Tan and Lu Jinzhao entered the room.
Everyone turned to look at the newcomer, including the observer outside the mirror.
The boy in the mirror had striking features and an indifferent expression; the combination of these two extremes created a somewhat eerie feeling.
He raised his head and looked straight ahead, but due to the angle, it looked as if he were looking out of a mirror.
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