Chapter 91 Yin Peach Blossom (21) "Call me 'Seven'."...
The leader abandoned the mission halfway through, clearly indicating that this good-for-nothing wasn't worth his personal escort. He then politely handed the task over to Su He and took his personal guards with him.
Su He knew men's character all along. After leaving the girl's room, she didn't treat them as guides. She ignored all the men's useless instructions and walked down another path, only glancing back at the girl once: "Follow me."
The girl happily ignored them and followed the boy.
Xie Tan trailed behind the two children, glancing lightly at the displeased leader.
This is the guardian of the girl, the sacrificial offering.
The man suddenly felt a chill, an instinct pricking his nerves, and looked around.
There was nothing there.
Honestly, I drank too much last night and didn't get enough rest. Then I got scared by that girl and ended up scaring myself.
"Let's go."
Every path was much the same. Unlike the dimly lit rooms, the passageways were narrow and dark, like the esophagus of a monster, where tiny worms crawled unknowingly toward its stomach.
I can't remember the way at all.
Led deeper into the area, they finally stopped in front of a stone door, which was carved with the pattern of the Sunstone.
Su He used her hair knot to push open the heavy door silently, revealing a dark passage leading to a stone door at the end.
The smoke mirror is behind the stone gate.
He didn't go any further, leaning against the side, too lazy to even open his eyes: "Don't stay too long. Anyway, you're a useless little thing and you can't elicit a reaction from the mirror. If you want to slack off, go back to your room."
The girl stared intently at his face: "Little Wolf, did you wash your face before you went out today? The area around your eyes isn't clean."
Su He instinctively wiped his face, but there was nothing there. He knew he had been tricked. He looked at her coldly and saw that the girl had already jumped into the passage he couldn't enter and was making faces at him.
Su He: #
Forget it, I won't bother arguing with this little piece of trash.
He snorted coldly, closed his eyes, and leaned back.
Just before the stone gate closed, he suddenly said, "Even if you bring anything in, it will only be crushed by the power of the gods."
The girl thought to herself, "He's really perceptive. Even though he can't see Xie Tan, he still sensed something."
But she and Xie Tan simply walked forward calmly, completely ignoring his words.
Xie Tan didn't care about that; he just watched their interaction.
Su He is this age... so the girl must be Xia Wujin, who is older than him.
He touched the long hair in his pocket; she must be the owner of the coffin.
That's when the girl met Su He.
The girl replied, "Don't listen to their nonsense."
Xie Tan raised an eyebrow slightly: "Is this confidence in me, a ghost?"
"Of course! You can become invisible, you know. Oh, I mean, isn't that your ability? Doesn't that just prove that you're my unique guardian spirit?"
The girl cheered, turned around lightly, and walked backwards, her ponytail swinging behind her head: "Don't worry, Mr. Guardian Spirit, I'll tell you a secret that only our offerings know—there are no gods at all."
Xie Tan looked at her.
She said, "It was just a black mirror containing enormous energy. The family obtained it by accident and used its power. Because the power was too terrifying, they were afraid that there was a god inside and that they would anger him, so they prepared us as sacrifices."
"We've made sacrifices before. No matter how we cut open the mirror, it didn't react. The family has already concluded that there's no consciousness in the mirror, just a terrifying energy body."
"You can tell just by how recklessly they squander their power; they treat the mirrors like their own energy stations. Our last batch consists of the least talented members of our families. I've even heard that some of them aren't even from the clan; they're just there to put on a show for the family, offering tribute to a non-existent god, raising a banner to justify their actions, and claiming that the Black Goat is the reincarnation of a god on earth."
"I'm even more convinced that there are no gods in there. If you ask me, so many supreme gods with such imposing titles are reincarnated as a bunch of 'goats.' If that god really existed, he would have been woken up by our group of arrogant guys long ago."
The tunnel was softer, as if it were wriggling. Because it was too dark, he couldn't see what the material was. Xie Tan touched it... and felt as if he was being licked in return.
This might be a hidden passage inside the body of some kind of monster.
As Xie Tan thought this, a terrifying tremor came from the depths, the stone door in the depths opened, and they were swept inside.
The girl was used to it and even comforted him, saying that the power of the mirror was chaotic and unpredictable, and that such fluctuations occurred occasionally.
Thus, Xie Tan came across the legendary Smoke Mirror.
Just as the girl had said, the huge space was filled with black smoke, making it difficult to see and walk.
At the end, there was a huge obsidian mirror, from which black smoke was billowing.
In terms of size, the mirror is similar to the solar calendar stone in the tomb, but when Xie Tan looked into the pitch-black mirror, he was reminded of the space where the Mirror Cult held its liaison and Dharma assembly, an endless darkness that seemed to spread out before his eyes like the entire night.
This mirror may be much larger than it appears.
Smoke Mirror, Tescatlipoca, Xie Tan paused for a moment... many evil titles are omitted here.
But he felt it might not really be that deity.
After all, if this god really exists, there would be other gods, and the "Strange Tales" series also includes adaptations of various national folk tales, so there would be more than just the Aztec mythology system.
The world is only so big. Eventually, all those mythical creatures like Nuwa, the Jade Emperor, Buddha, Jesus, Zeus, and Odin will turn into fantasy wars between gods and demons.
This mirror must possess some power, like a smoke mirror, and in the world of "Strange Tales," it is like the origin of the story, from which everything begins.
Then, a new question arises: Does a sun god really exist?
Or is the Sun God just a fabrication by the Black Goat and the Mirror Cult to deceive and swindle people?
"Huh?"
The girl's questioning voice drew Xie Tan's attention back. She carefully examined every part of the mirror, inside and out.
Xie Tan's heart skipped a beat: "Is there something in the mirror?"
The girl's "hmm" was drawn out, as if she didn't want to miss a single detail, as if she wanted to see through this large mirror.
After a long pause, she finally came to a conclusion and said seriously, "There's nothing there."
"Hmm?" Xie Tan asked, puzzled.
Looking so closely, he thought there was something in the mirror.
There was nothing there; didn't she already know that?
"All of the previous ones were just speculation, speculation. What do you call that, logical reasoning? If I had the ability to see through the smokescreen, I wouldn't have become one of the last sacrifices codenamed 'garbage recycling'."
The girl stared at the mirror, the darkness of the mirror seeming to pour into her eyes: "But now... I really 'see' it clearly, there is only darkness in the mirror, it is indeed empty."
She proudly raised her chin: "I told you I was right, there are no gods." She turned around, her face asking for praise.
Xie Tan frowned and said, "Don't tell anyone about this."
Although he didn't know why the girl could suddenly "see" in the mirror, Xie Tan felt that the smoke mirror was not so simple, as this ability might allow her to escape the ranks of sacrifices.
But he did not forget that, in retrospect, she was very likely one of the “observations”.
Her sudden ability to see might be related to this.
He wasn't sure if the prophecy had come true or if the observation program had started, so he could only tell her to keep the secret.
The girl paused, and the secret joy in her heart cooled down a bit. She didn't know what the future held, but she understood Black Goat. He was right; this could only remain a secret.
"I promise you." She tugged at his hand, and Xie Tan bent down, gently smoothing his brow with her tiny fingertips. "So don't worry."
She was probably just naturally attracted to his looks; she liked him instantly the first time she saw him. Her emotions were inexplicably linked to his; she seemed to be able to sense all his feelings and couldn't bear to see him sad.
Xie Tan's brows relaxed. Only after the girl withdrew her hand did he realize that he had even forgotten to dodge, and he also remembered the look of seeking praise on her face just now.
He patted her head: "You're amazing."
The girl smiled and said, "I don't even know your name yet."
Xie Tan didn't tell her.
He initially thought it was a reversal of time, but the fact that only the girl could see him shook his belief.
Just as the girl said, he was more like the ghost behind her, a phantom that shouldn't exist in this time.
He can't expect a girl to take many risks for him, so the changes he can make are limited, and it's hard to say whether he can change anything at all.
After all, even if time were truly reversed, it might just be completing the predetermined trajectory of fate.
He felt more like it was a dream, a trace of the past, a remnant of bygone days, and he was an observer who had strayed into a mirage of time.
As for why the girl could see him, Xie Tan felt a little guilty.
The surging solar power, combined with the arrival of the hands, made the solar calendar stone the dial, but what became the axis of the watch was not him, but his long hair.
He still remembered the comic book content and the speculation on the forum: it was the long hair that made the prophecy come true, and the owner of the coffin might be the Observation Eye that the head of the family had previously cultivated.
Perhaps a truly discerning eye can see through the past and into the future?
Then it's not surprising to see him.
To avoid causing her further harm, it's best not to tell her her name.
Xie Tan: "Since I am your guardian spirit, please give me a name."
"Oh, is this okay?" Although she asked this question, the girl's eyes had already lit up completely.
Xie Tan nodded, but after a long time he didn't hear the girl's voice again. When he looked at her, she was deep in thought again, and she seemed more serious and troubled than ever before.
Are you planning to give her some kind of celestial name? Xie Tan said, "Just pick any name, it'll be easy to call her."
“That won’t do. My guardian spirit’s name has to sound nice and look beautiful when written.” The girl said solemnly, then froze. She realized a serious problem, “But I don’t know many words…”
"Then just say any word you know."
"I can't just name it. Next time I'll ask them for a dictionary. I need to think about it carefully. Give me some time." The girl put the black goat and the smoke mirror out of her mind. Now, the name of her guardian spirit was the most important issue she faced.
"Until you've thought it through, just call me 'Seven,' it's easy to remember numbers." Xie Tan didn't want to see her worry about such a small thing, so after thinking about it, he decided to borrow the system cat's number for a while, since he and the cat were on the same boat anyway.
"Xiao Qi?" the girl called out, tilting her head.
Xie Tan responded softly, then said, "And you, what should I call you?"
Without hesitation, the girl said, "Then you can call me 'Six'."
Xie Tan paused. Why is it six? Could she be Observer Six?
The girl excitedly said, "Like a secret agent handover, we all have our own code names!" She seemed to think it was just for fun.
She raised her little head, and in a sweet voice called out again, "Little Seven!"
Xie Tan replied in agreement, "Yes, Xiao Liu."
"Xiao Qi, let's go." The girl took his hand.
Xie Tan took her hand and looked at the smoke mirror: "You're just going to take one look and leave?" Is that really okay?
"So it's just for show. I usually stay a little longer. Anyway, they drop me off here and then leave. It's not easy to get out here. Even though there's just an empty big mirror, it's still a good way to get some fresh air. I can use the mirror as a tree hole to whisper secrets. Nobody can get here and nobody can see me. It's a good listener."
"So, what's today?"
“Now I have you!” Xiao Liu raised her little face and smiled. “And today, Xiao Lang is escorting me. He will wait for me, so I won’t stay too long.”
They left the secret chamber where the smoke mirror was enshrined. The stone door inside slowly closed. Xiao Liu turned to talk to Xie Tan, and inadvertently glanced at the mirror inside.
Um?
Her suddenly perceptive eyes seemed to see... a dot in the empty darkness of the mirror?
It was even blacker than the mirror itself.
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Author's Note: Ah Tan's Yin Peach Blossom has caught up with us.
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