Chapter 508: Meeting Qing Yuzi Again, the Calamity of the History-Eating Worms!

After Zhao Xing left the territory of Venerable Bemeng.

Peng Yue rushed over with a stack of books to see him off, but she arrived just in time to miss Zhao Xing's departure.

"Venerable, has the Agronomist Zhao left?"

"Just now." Bemeng nodded. "He left in quite a hurry, as if he had some urgent matter."

"Sigh." Peng Yue felt a bit regretful; she had hoped to let Zhao Xing take a look at a legal treatise she had just written.

Having missed him this time, she didn't know when she would see him again.

A dejected Peng Yue hung her head and returned to her study.

She carefully placed the stack of books onto the bookshelf; among them were some classics annotated by Zhao Xing, all of which she regarded as precious treasures.

Afterward, Peng Yue carefully closed the door and walked out.

"Scritch, scratch~"

Just after she left, a very faint sound of paper rubbing together came from the corner of the bookcase.

In the river of the void, the White Jade Five-Mausoleum Boat traveled rapidly.

Zhao Xing had arrived at Wei Tianchen's library to look through Wei Tianchen's notes.

The method of proving the Dao through Heaven and Earth must have a goal and a means.

For instance, Wei Tianchen's goal was to kill Divine-realm beings, and his method was the "Heaven-Mending Method." By killing Divine-realm beings and returning their origins to the universe, he would receive rewards from the universe's origin.

If Gu Tianyang's Primordial Straw Man Method was a type of method for proving the Dao through Heaven and Earth, then what was its goal?

Zhao Xing searched for a long time in the library until he finally found the original notes he had seen before—Wei Tianchen's critiques of various straw man methods.

【——The method created by Gu Tianyang, up to the step of the Grand Void Straw Man, still had some real substance; the Primordial Straw Man, however, was pure wishful thinking.】

【The Gu brothers were both madmen who always liked to dream unrealistic dreams. Gu Luohe was like this, and so was Gu Tianyang.】

【-Gu Tianyang died, and another disciple, Zuo Qiyu, inherited his method. Gu Luohe became one of the founders of the Primordial Realm.】

【Time passes so quickly; in the ancestral land of the Feather Emperor, a vast nation, the Red Star Empire, has been established.】

【However, I always feel that Gu Tianyang did not die in the Black Heaven Realm. If it is truly as I suspect, this little fellow has a truly dark heart—】

"What did Wei Tianchen base his conclusion on?" Zhao Xing closed the notebook and began to extensively search his notes for content regarding the "Straw Man Method."

Because Wei Tianchen's collection was vast, even with Zhao Xing's filtering and searching method, it took him half a year to finish reading the selected books and notes.

In the end, Zhao Xing placed the few books he found useful by his side.

"Due to the chaos of space and time, there are many theories about the order of the Five Emperors era, but what is certain is that the Luo Emperor was the last God Emperor."

"Many ancient texts mention that powerful straw man methods appeared during all five God Emperor eras."

"However, at that time, the straw man method was not classified under Agronomist spells, but rather under sacrificial rites."

"But it was most prosperous during the Li Emperor era, because the Li Emperor abolished the common life-sacrifice rituals everywhere and replaced them with straw man sacrifices."

"If one wanted the straw man to possess the same sacrificial power, the straw man method could not be too weak, otherwise it would be impossible to satisfy the requirements of the sacrifice."

"Thus, a large number of straw man methods began to appear during the Li Emperor era."

"However, at this time, the straw man method was still held by the priests and viewed as a sacrificial rite. Many gods receiving offerings were still 'hanging a sheep's head to sell dog meat,' just like the Luck-Free God, paying lip service while acting differently."

"On the surface, they used the straw man method to replace life sacrifices, but in reality, the straw man still required life, flesh, and souls. Thus, many evil straw man methods appeared, such as those that devoured souls, devoured flesh, and even straw man methods that devoured the origin of the Great Dao."

"In Wei Tianchen's notes, he mentioned that at that time, in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, there were twelve types of dark, evil straw man methods. They were the most malicious and, at the time, the most covert methods, known as the 'Twelve Divine Rites'."

Zhao Xing looked at the books before him, constantly sorting out the threads.

"In the late Li Emperor era, the Li Emperor eradicated eight of these twelve powerful evil gods, but four escaped and their whereabouts became unknown."

"Afterward, the straw man method was no longer classified under the Dao of Sacrifice, but was classified under Agronomist spells and handed over to the Agronomist God to control."

Zhao Xing looked at these ancient texts; although they contained no power, he still felt a sense of impending blood and slaughter.

The struggle for orthodoxy was never a small matter. Moving a major category of spells from the Dao of Sacrifice to the Dao of the Agronomist must have involved a large-scale struggle.

"Priests were incredibly weak in this era, but during the Five Emperors period, they were definitely a top-tier Great Dao," Zhao Xing thought to himself.

After all, the Five Emperors all performed the Fengshan sacrifice, sacrificing to Heaven and Earth, which inevitably required powerful priest gods. The scale of demand determined the prosperity of an orthodoxy.

If the environment of the Five Emperors era was relatively stable, then the Agronomists would truly have had a hard time competing against the priests.

"The Twelve Divine Rites—could it be that the straw man method created by Gu Tianyang actually belonged to the Dao of Sacrifice? A wolf in sheep's clothing?" Zhao Xing pondered. "Gu Luohe believed his brother was on his side, and Gu Tianyang's straw man method was never banned; instead, it was passed down, constantly cultivating successors, such as Zuo Qiyu, Jin Yan, and me."

Zhao Xing felt it was very likely, because he discovered that after Pu Yan died, only less than thirty percent of the power was absorbed by himself and Zuo Qiyu, while the rest vanished. If he hadn't broken through and his True Spirit hadn't reached the twelfth level, he might not have been able to see it.

"Yu~"

Zhao Xing's mind entered his internal world and simultaneously entered the straw man body crafted from Divine Weapon-grade materials.

"Boom~~"

Zhao Xing's True Spirit exerted all its strength, and through the amplification of the Soul Heart, he could only lift the index finger of his right hand.

During the process of lifting the index finger, space itself was constantly trembling.

Merely by controlling this one index finger, a surge of divine power was drawn from the Earth Core Blood Nucleus and transmitted to the finger.

"Shoo!"

The Boundless Continent was instantly pierced with a large hole.

"Hiss~"

Zhao Xing hurriedly mobilized the World Nucleus, and a large amount of mist spread out from his internal world to repair the Boundless Continent.

"This power is definitely a strike from a Free God."

"Pu Yan studied the Primordial Straw Man Method and went half a step further than Zuo Qiyu; he preserved his original self and could be reborn from the memories of his split soul."

"What I have figured out is how to make the straw man's life Dao diagram structure more perfect from the straw man body and from the life level, allowing the straw man to take form even at the Divine level."

"I just don't know if Zuo Qiyu has made any progress."

However, Zhao Xing did not dare to continue his research. Without figuring out Gu Tianyang's situation, he could not continue to delve deeper into this spell, lest he become someone else's wedding dress in the future.

"There are even stronger straw man methods in history. If I could travel through time and space, perhaps I could learn a stronger Divine-level straw man method; why would I need to learn Gu Tianyang's secret method?"

Zhao Xing couldn't help but feel a yearning for the Li Emperor era.

No wonder the Boundless True God didn't care whether he was an undercover agent.

The more one knows, the more one will yearn for the Evil God camp!

A Divine-level straw man method had great appeal to an "Original Self" faction Agronomist.

"Let's go back first."

The White Jade Five-Mausoleum Boat soon returned to the Origin Heavenly Palace.

At this time, Chen Jiu was still leading a group of selected geniuses in practicing the Food Tribulation Method, so Zhao Xing planned to return to the imperial territory himself.

The Third Era of the Desolate Domain, the eleventh World Star Year, Ancient Kingdom of Tianyou, Bowa Star Continent.

In a forest that was ten billion kilometers wide and boundless, there stood a towering temple.

The shrine is surrounded by elm trees, and inside, a statue of Qing Yuzi is worshipped.

Around the palace, some smaller palace buildings had been constructed; the population was small, almost only about a million people.

Guarding here were the "Purple Moon Prefecture Master" and the Jade Clarity Prefecture Master from the Ancient Kingdom of Yuanhai long ago. However, these two were now also at the Emperor level.

Although Qing Yuzi had been punished to the past, the Purple God Prefecture where he had once stayed had been properly settled.

Now, Emperor Purple Moon and Emperor Jade Clarity had been staying here all along.

"The statue has had an anomaly." Suddenly, Emperor Purple Moon found Emperor Jade Clarity.

"What's the situation?" Emperor Jade Clarity was meditating and asked in confusion.

"The Divine Venerable has sent down an edict, but I am unable to receive it." Emperor Purple Moon was somewhat anxious.

"Let's go, let's take a look!"

Emperor Jade Clarity and Emperor Purple Moon immediately arrived inside the temple.

They saw that in front of Qing Yuzi's statue, a raging fire was burning in a bronze tripod, illuminating the statue brilliantly.

Inside the bronze tripod, a tattered piece of paper seemed to have appeared.

Emperor Jade Clarity and Emperor Purple Moon were very bewildered.

They tried to communicate, but the statue did not respond.

But this was truly like some kind of divine miracle.

"Divine Venerable, what exactly do you want to tell us?" Emperor Purple Moon and Emperor Jade Clarity were very anxious.

But they could not understand what Qing Yuzi wanted to express.

They both knew Qing Yuzi had gone to a very far place, but they didn't know how far. It had been many years; this was the first time Qing Yuzi had manifested a divine miracle.

Both felt it was very important, but the divine miracle manifested now was too abstract.

"Divine Venerable, we are dull-witted and unable to understand your meaning." Emperor Jade Clarity sighed.

The tear in the paper continued to expand, and light flickered on the forehead of Qing Yuzi's statue, as if it were sweating.

The statue, plated with magic power materials, began to show damage, looking as if it could not hold on much longer.

"What should we do?" Emperor Jade Clarity was anxious. "Should we notify the Temple?"

"How can we notify them?" Emperor Purple Moon sighed. They had benefited a lot and it was true they had become Emperors.

But within the Reincarnation Temple, they were also existences that people disliked.

If it could be said that Zhao Xing was only unintentionally involved in the matter back then, then they were peripheral members of the Reincarnation Temple who had actively helped Qing Yuzi plot to become a god.

Having their current treatment was already not bad; they still wanted to return to the Temple? They couldn't even see anyone now; who the hell knew if they were coming to steal things again.

"If the Divine Venerable had a major matter, he would definitely notify the Reincarnation Temple first."

"If he didn't, it must be because that path was blocked."

"But we don't know what happened either, sigh—"

Even though the two were Emperors, facing the level of a god, they were helpless.

Normally, when the Qing Yu God manifested a divine miracle, it should be clear and distinct.

How could such a vague situation occur?

Intuition told them there must be a big problem here, but now they could only stare blankly.

"Whoosh whoosh~"

The flames rolled, and the tear in the paper continued to expand.

The two stared fixedly, and finally, they made a decision together.

"Jade Clarity, you and I will each sacrifice a million years of lifespan to see if we can stabilize the divine miracle."

"Alright." Emperor Jade Clarity gritted his teeth and immediately slit his wrists.

lll~

The essence blood of the two poured heavily into the bronze tripod.

The flames instantly turned blood-red.

Two great Emperors sacrificing their own lifespan—a million years of lifespan was already a lot!

This would trigger their True Spirit Tribulation in advance, shortening the time they had to deal with it.

But they couldn't care about that much now.

"Whoosh~"

The flames in the bronze tripod surged.

The speed at which the paper was damaged slowed down, and under their efforts, four characters finally appeared on it.

【Go find Zhao Xing】

"Whoosh~"

After saying this, the flames in the bronze tripod suddenly extinguished, and everything seemed as if it had never appeared.

But the two great Emperors already showed signs of aging, and Qing Yuzi's statue also showed cracks.

"Boom~"

A world ship quickly took off from the Bowa Star Continent.

Within the territory of the Ancient Kingdom of Tianyou, in the void, a world ship was traveling.

In the twelfth year of the Third Era, Zhao Xing returned from the Origin Heavenly Palace, and this time, Venerable Tianguan was accompanying him.

Venerable Tianguan was a historian, but he was not a pure scholar; he was the type who could fight.

When Zhao Xing was clearing the 【Earth Core Blood Nucleus】 level, Venerable Tianguan had ranked second. Afterward, he rushed to the Origin Heavenly Palace because he wanted to befriend Zhao Xing and observe the Earth Core Blood Nucleus.

However, at that time, how could Zhao Xing have the time to pay attention to him?

He had followed Venerable Bemeng to the Heavenly Demon Kingdom to deal with Jin Yan's matter.

However, after returning, Venerable Tianguan was still waiting, and he finally moved Zhao Xing.

"Venerable Tianguan, I didn't say when I would return at the time; it could have been ten years, or it could have been a thousand or ten thousand years. Did you really just wait like that?"

Venerable Tianguan said humorously, "Agronomist Zhao, I have no other skills; I am best at waiting."

"Hahaha." Thinking that this person was ranked after Venerable Zhang He and had also waited for over three hundred thousand years, Zhao Xing was amused by his words.

"It is not impossible for you to observe the Earth Core Blood Nucleus," Zhao Xing said. "I wonder what the Venerable will trade with?"

Venerable Tianguan said happily, "Please name your price, Agronomist Zhao. I only need to observe for a hundred years."

"Then trade some history books for it," Zhao Xing said. "Ancient Kingdom-level history books; you can just find some."

At the Boundless True God's place, Zhao Xing still had two tasks: one was to cultivate the Ten Thousand Era Flower God Seed.

The other was to cultivate the History-Eating Worm.

For the first task, Zhao Xing had no clue; he had no idea how to make the Ten Thousand Era Flower God Seed sprout.

But the second task had a direction, which was to devour various history books.

Previously, he had exchanged for some from the Academy City Grand Elder Feng Chen, but they were only low-grade goods.

"Alright, I happen to have some Ancient Demon history books, and the grade is not low; I can give them to Agronomist Zhao."

Venerable Tianguan took out three shining history books; on the covers were the images of demon beasts.

There were also many loose pages, illustrated with pictures and text, containing the origin of history.

However, the strongest were the three books: 【Ancient Demon: Rongdi Tribe】, 【Ten Great Demon Kings Chronicle】, and 【Chaotic Sea Ancient Demon Book】.

"Alright, you may go in."

Zhao Xing waved his hand, not haggling, and directly took Venerable Tianguan into his internal world, letting him go into the straw man body to observe the Earth Core Blood Nucleus.

Swish~

Afterward, Zhao Xing took out an exquisite transparent insect box, inside which a larva resembling a silkworm was floating; the box emitted a faint scent of books.

The History-Eating Worm fed on devouring history books; its skin was covered in many characters.

The larva was very weak, not even at the Origin Realm, and could even be said to have no aura.

However, if it could enter the growth stage and begin its first metamorphosis, it would reveal its power.

"It can gnaw on history books. The Boundless True God said that the most powerful Divine-level book worm can even gnaw on Profound Spirit history books. I don't know if it's true."

Zhao Xing found it hard to believe that a divine object like a Profound Spirit history book could be gnawed on by this tiny book worm.

But since it was a task anyway, the task materials required by the Evil Gods were strange and varied, and he was already used to it.

"Eat, mature early so I can finish the task." Zhao Xing threw the three history books into the box.

"Crunch crunch~~"

The history book larva instantly turned into a stream of light and pounced on the three great Ancient Demon books, but it couldn't gnaw through them, so it eventually had to start gnawing from the loose pages first.

Zhao Xing watched for a while, soon grew bored, and sat cross-legged to meditate, quietly waiting for the world ship to return to the Empire.

However, just at this moment, "Yu~"

His Star Mirror suddenly rang.

"Hmm? It's Du Yun."

"He is contacting me?"

"It seems he knows I have been to the Origin Heavenly Palace."

Zhao Xing had come to the Origin Heavenly Palace for a matter, and Du Yun's location was not in the First Void Ancestor Star System, so he simply hadn't contacted Du Yun.

"Yu~"

Du Yun's phantom appeared before Zhao Xing.

"Brother Du, you know I've been to the Origin Heavenly Palace? It's not that I didn't look for you; it's just that time was tight and the task was heavy—"

But Du Yun interrupted Zhao Xing with a serious face: "Zhao Xing, let's catch up later. I have a matter; you agree to let two other people in."

"Alright." Zhao Xing nodded.

Afterward, in the Star Mirror, not only did Du Yun's figure appear, but also two familiar yet unfamiliar faces.

"Prefecture Master Purple Moon and Prefecture Master Jade Clarity?"

Seeing these two, Zhao Xing couldn't help but recall the scenes from when he first entered the universe; back then, it was Prefecture Master Purple Moon who had picked him up at the Star Pass.

Later, it was also by relying on the resources of the Purple Moon Prefecture that he broke through to the Origin Realm and went to the Yueluo Cemetery, where he made his first pot of gold.

It was also at that time that he got to know Du Yun; back then, Du Yun was still considered the next successor of the Purple God Prefecture.

After the Ancient Kingdom of Yuanhai was destroyed, he didn't know how the forces of Old Qing's life had been arranged.

Now, eight thousand years had passed, and this was the first time he had seen these two.

"What matter do they have to ask you to find me?" Zhao Xing asked. Du Yun was also a member of the Purple God Prefecture; speaking of which, Du Yun could also be considered to have a relationship with Qing Yuzi.

"I don't know." Du Yun shook his head. "They refuse to say, only saying it is an urgent matter related to Senior Qing Yuzi. They insist on seeing you in person to say it."

"Where is the location?" Zhao Xing looked at Prefecture Master Purple Moon and Prefecture Master Jade Clarity.

"Ancient Kingdom of Tianyou, Bowa Star Continent."

"I'll be there immediately." Zhao Xing didn't waste words and immediately changed direction.

For public or private reasons, he should go take a look.

What's more, the Bowa Star Continent was within the Profound Spirit Star Domain; if these two had been bewitched by an Evil God, that would be even better. In this place,

the Evil God level probably wasn't high, so that would be a solid contribution!

"I can't get away; the Food Tribulation Method has reached a critical period. Zhao Xing, I'll leave it to you," Du Yun said.

"Small matter."

Three months later, Bowa Star Continent, Zhao Xing's White Jade Five-Mausoleum Boat landed.

"Boom~"

The cabin opened, and Zhao Xing stepped onto the treetops, beginning to scan the entire star continent.

Soon, he discovered Emperor Jade Clarity and Emperor Purple Moon, as well as that temple.

"Old Qing also has a temple here?"

Zhao Xing's figure flashed, and the next second, he appeared at the entrance of the temple.

"What exactly is the situation?"

He didn't feel anything peculiar; the Heaven and Earth of the Bowa Star Continent were clear at a glance. However, Zhao Xing also put on his Time Grain Rain Dharma Robe; being careful was always correct.

"Agronomist Zhao, just a few months ago—" Prefecture Master Purple Moon described the course of events.

Under Zhao Xing's True Spirit gaze, it was completely impossible for Prefecture Master Purple Moon to lie.

After listening, Zhao Xing nodded.

"Old Qing said there would be a chance to meet in the Third Era of the Desolate Domain. Could it be that he ran into trouble while working abroad?"

Emperor Purple Moon and the others didn't know where Qing Yuzi had gone, but Zhao Xing knew Old Qing had gone to the past time and space.

He imagined a scene: Old Qing left his hometown to come to a big city, and then was bullied by local thugs.

"Old Qing wouldn't have run into some major event again, would he? If he had a problem, he should seek help from the Reincarnation Temple; why would he look for me?"

Zhao Xing was suspicious for a while, but in the end, he sent a clone into the temple.

No matter what, he and Qing Yuzi had a friendship; if Old Qing really encountered some troublesome matter,

he should help within his capabilities.

However, Zhao Xing didn't need to go himself; he could cut off the clone at any time and leave, so he definitely wouldn't get involved in a major event like the resurrection of the Dongyan Ancient Clan.

"Hum~"

As soon as Zhao Xing's split soul entered, the bronze tripod began to burn.

A tattered piece of paper floated in the flames.

"Hmm?"

Zhao Xing was stronger than Purple Moon and Jade Clarity and immediately discovered more information.

This was a page torn from a history book, because it not only had time fluctuations but also the attributes of a history book.

"Crunch crunch~"

The paper began to shatter; it was being damaged bit by bit from the edges, as if a large mouth were gnawing on it little by little.

"Big, big, big!"

Zhao Xing burned his Azure Flower magic power, Cangming magic power, and Profound Soul magic power.

In this specific scenario, these three types of magic power were more useful than the three Agronomist magic powers.

Zhao Xing saw more information.

【Tianyou Book, Main Chronicle Seventh, Hong Emperor I】

Zhao Xing pondered slightly and knew that this corresponded to the period of the seventh-generation ruler of the Ancient Kingdom of Tianyou, approximately from the 1003rd solar year of the 37th era before the Desolate Domain, to the 34th solar year of the 35th era.

Because Ruler Hong I stepped down after being ruler for two eras and attempted to break through to the Divine realm, but failed,

turning into ashes.

Immediately after, the information on the paper changed again.

【Tianyou Book, Main Chronicle Eleventh, Duzhen Sect IV】

Zhao Xing's brows furrowed slightly.

Not long after, it changed again to 【Main Chronicle Fourteenth】.

【Main Chronicle Twenty-third】

The time span was very large, but there was a pattern: they were all getting closer and closer to modern times.

Each time it manifested, the paper would restore itself and then reappear tattered.

"Crunch crunch~"

When it reached the eighth era before the Desolate Domain, a pattern began to emerge on the 【Tianyou Book】.

Zhao Xing could finally clearly hear the sound of gnawing.

At this time, he finally understood what Qing Yuzi wanted to express.

"Old Qing, are you trying to say that a batch of adult History-Eating Worms is crossing the river of time, gnawing on history along the way?"

He looked up at Qing Yuzi's statue; at this time, two lines of tears flowed from the corners of the statue's eyes.

◆￠o

"You're not joking, are you—" Zhao Xing gasped. "Does this thing really exist?"

If this were true, then the trouble would be huge.

He instantly thought of many possibilities.

History books symbolize inherent historical memory; if history books are subverted, then collective memory tampering will occur.

Just like the transmission world that he and Yang Baihe had once experienced; in that tomb transmission world, the Grand Tutor and the Monarch were both very evil.

And some star historians could tamper with memories, just like the former Dongyan Ancient Clan; Dongyan Hai had swapped the Ruler of Yuanhai, and no one even noticed when the Dharma Assembly was held, until the moment it was plotted and launched.

In addition, history books also had a protective role in the Third Era of the Desolate Domain, ensuring that space-time memory would not be impacted.

If the past camp released a group of powerful History-Eating Worms, perhaps even the protection of the Profound Spirit history books would have problems!

"Calamity of the Book Worms—living long enough, one really can see anything." Thinking of the many possibilities, Zhao Xing felt his scalp tingle.

He immediately memorized all the information Qing Yuzi had transmitted.

However, just at this moment, an anomaly appeared outside the temple.

"I don't know what happened to the Divine Venerable, to actually want Zhao Xing to come. What exactly happened—Jade Clarity, do you think it could be that he encountered danger?"

Prefecture Master Purple Moon was pacing and waiting.

But at this time, there was some bewilderment in Prefecture Master Jade Clarity's eyes.

Prefecture Master Purple Moon looked at her in confusion.

The latter changed her face first, as if she didn't recognize him at all: "Who are you, how did you appear here!"

Prefecture Master Purple Moon looked at Zhao Xing in surprise, then at Prefecture Master Jade Clarity: "Jade Clarity, you, what's wrong with you? I am Purple Moon."

Prefecture Master Jade Clarity not only had no clarity, but a moment later, her face suddenly turned red, and her eyes reddened.

"You traitor who sold out the country! Die!"

Clang!

A sword of the heart radiated from Prefecture Master Jade Clarity's body, catching Prefecture Master Purple Moon off guard and attacking him.

"What? You—"

"Puff puff~~"

Prefecture Master Purple Moon's body was violently knocked away, and his aura dropped rapidly.

If Zhao Xing hadn't come to his senses and intervened in time, he probably would have died.

"Let go of me, who are you? This is an internal affair of our Ancient Kingdom of Tianyou—"

Zhao Xing grabbed Prefecture Master Jade Clarity and knocked her unconscious. Afterward, he picked up Prefecture Master Purple Moon: "Are you alright?"

"This, what exactly is going on?" Prefecture Master Purple Moon was full of confusion.

"You two have lived for a long time; the influence has already spread to the time point of your birth," Zhao Xing sighed and said. "If I remember correctly, Prefecture Master, you should have been born in the seventh era before the Desolate Domain?"

"Yes, Jade Clarity is older than me—" As he spoke, Prefecture Master Purple Moon suddenly lost his voice. He looked at Zhao Xing and said in terror: "You, who are you? Why am I here?"