Chapter 315: Yu Sheng's Thoughts

Yu Sheng spent a long time explaining to Little Red Riding Hood how this flying ship had come to be, and also briefly told Erin and the others about what happened after he got lost in deep space following this "Gao Ta".

The little doll reacted with a long period of stupor, then used her world-shocking wisdom to condense Yu Sheng's long narration into six characters (excluding punctuation): "We have a spaceship!?"

Yu Sheng: "…That's the conclusion."

Erin's eyes widened: "Holy crap, you didn't even buy that electric scooter you said you wanted before! Do you have a driver's license? Can you even operate this thing?"

Yu Sheng didn't know how this little thing's thoughts jumped around; he was somewhat amused and helpless: "That's not the same thing."

"I, I'm a bit confused and need to sort it out," Erin waved her hands repeatedly, then, not knowing what she was thinking, climbed onto Yu Sheng's shoulder and started giggling, "Hehe, a spaceship! It feels like we've bought a big item for the house… truly a big item! What are we going to use this spaceship for later? Going on long trips? Scouting outside the Borderlands?"

"I haven't thought too much about it yet," Yu Sheng said very seriously, raised his hand to pat Erin's head, then turned to look at the others, "Do you want to go in and take a look?"

"Sure, sure!" Little Red Riding Hood nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, "This is the first time I've ever seen something like this…"

"Indeed, that would be best," Xuan Che also nodded, looking very interested, "The Hidden Sect is a trouble for our Qianfeng Lingshan, but those evil and cunning demons are very tricky; we've fought them several times but couldn't catch their tracks. You have now managed to capture one of their spaceships intact; this is truly a good opportunity to understand them."

Hearing Xuan Che speak, Little Red Riding Hood finally couldn't resist her curiosity and turned to Yu Sheng: "Um, I wanted to ask earlier, who is this…"

"Ah, I was too busy being dizzy to introduce anyone just now," Yu Sheng immediately slapped his forehead, quickly raised his hand to introduce, "This is Xuan Che from the Tai Xu Ling Shu Qianfeng Lingshan—do you know this place name? His master knows me, and he has come as a guest this time."

Xuan Che then politely greeted Little Red Riding Hood: "I am Xuan Che, greeting this Miss."

"This is Wang Jiajia, but we usually prefer to call her by her codename 'Little Red Riding Hood'," Yu Sheng pointed to the red-clothed girl beside him, "She is the leader of the 'Fairy Tale' organization, has deep cooperation with the 'Inn', and is also my friend."

"Uh, hello," Little Red Riding Hood looked a bit dazed, greeted Xuan Che a beat late, then suddenly realized, "Ah! Qianfeng Lingshan! Is it the Qianfeng Lingshan that sells Immortal Spirit Pills?"

Xuan Che nodded with a smile: "Exactly."

"They are very precious," Little Red Riding Hood pressed her lips together and muttered softly, "I only bought them once, and they were all stolen and eaten by Long Fa."

Xuan Che & Yu Sheng: "…"

How to put it, it counts as Long Fa Princess's consistent performance…

Next, Yu Sheng introduced the squirrel and the hunter present; after everyone had gotten to know each other, he steadied himself, then casually pulled open a illusory door—on the other side of the door was the interior scene of the "Order Pillar".

Since gaining the ability to open doors, he had always taken the shortest path possible.

Crossing the great door, the group finally stepped into the interior of this mysterious "Gao Ta".

The solemn and magnificent ship corridor, like a cathedral, left a deep impression, and was obviously very different from the "spaceship" scene imagined by Little Red Riding Hood and Erin.

"…These cultists are no good, but their aesthetics are on point," Erin lay on Yu Sheng's shoulder, stretching her neck to look around, muttering as she went, "They've basically built a palace inside the spaceship—what the hell, even the isolation doors have reliefs! And there are two marble statues standing right next to them?!"

"The Immortal Ships built by the Tai Xu Ling Shu also have many decorations, but they are mostly simple and elegant, never so… chaotic," Xuan Che also commented from the side, "The construction cycle of this ship must have been very long, and much effort was spent on unnecessary details. Even compared to other creations of the Hidden Sect, it appears overly magnificent and luxurious. Its purpose must be extremely special, and it likely holds significance beyond utility. Considering the paranoid doctrines of the Holy Hidden Sect, building this ship may have been intended to perform some grand ritual."

Hu Li's evaluation was much simpler: "Flashy and gaudy, I don't like it."

"Later I will clear out all the statues inside here; these so-called 'Hidden Sect Sages' make me uncomfortable," Yu Sheng said casually, "After clearing them out, the corridors and rooms will be more spacious. The reliefs and murals on the walls too; landscapes and such can stay, but the rest should be scraped off and replaced with something else."

"Sounds like a huge project," Erin shook her head and swayed, "What do you plan to replace them with?"

"I haven't thought about that yet," Yu Sheng thought for a moment, "But since the overall style of this place is like this, and the main structure can't be changed, having bald spots and empty patches on the walls doesn't look good either; there needs to be something there. I plan to exercise my artistic talent at that time…"

Before he could finish, Erin quickly spoke up: "How about just leaving them empty?"

Yu Sheng: "…I said I plan to exercise my artistic talent at that time…"

"Leaving them empty is fine!"

Yu Sheng: "…"

He decided not to argue with this doll. He would secretly exercise his excellent artistic creativity, carefully polishing the interior decoration project of this spaceship, to amaze everyone later—if that doesn't work, shocking them would do too.

Afterwards, the group passed through many cabins and corridors, and entered the core area of this "Gao Ta" via an elevator.

Yu Sheng occasionally introduced the functions of certain cabins—these were situations he grasped based on his "understanding of his own body"; although he couldn't answer many overly professional questions, his judgment of the general ship structure was quite accurate.

They walked and stopped along the way, introducing things everywhere, until they entered a special room, at which point his expression became slightly more serious.

This was a large cabin with warm yellow lighting; a particularly bright beam of light poured down from the ceiling, illuminating a large device in the center of the room. Many pipes and cables converged above that device and connected to its base, and at the center of that base lay a dark, heavy "iron coffin" tilted at a 45° angle.

The iron coffin was still humming softly.

The bodies of the cultists who had once fallen in this room had been "cleared" by Yu Sheng, but a faint smell of blood still drifted in the room; Little Red Riding Hood and Hu Li sniffed as soon as they entered, obviously sensing something.

Erin noticed the change in Yu Sheng's expression.

"What is this place… for?" the little doll asked curiously.

Yu Sheng approached the platform where the "Holy Coffin" was placed and slowly spoke: "This is the 'Holy Coffin' of the Artificial Saintess—the Artificial Saintess is inside right now."

Erin paused for a moment, then let out an exclamation: "Ah? That Type-C connector?! Why did you keep her? Didn't you say you were going to give her to the Special Bureau?"

Yu Sheng was not surprised by the little doll's reaction.

He took Erin down from his shoulder, holding her with one hand, while extending the other hand forward to gently touch the cold iron coffin.

"Do you want to hear the truth about the 'Artificial Saintess'?" he turned and asked the people beside him.

This was the reason he had brought the others to this cabin.

Hu Li blinked her eyes: "The truth about the Artificial Saintess… Benefactor, what have you investigated?"

Erin, observing Yu Sheng's attitude, gradually realized: "Hey, wait! Don't tell me that Type-C connector was originally a good doll, actually controlled by the Hidden Sect all along. Let me tell you…"

"She is not a 'good doll'," Yu Sheng shook his head, interrupting Erin, "She was originally a human."

Erin froze instantly, motionless as if her joints had locked up.

"And those 'Brass Knights', they were originally humans too," Yu Sheng continued calmly, "And they always thought they were human—even until the moment they 'died in battle'."

Erin: "…Holy crap?"

Yu Sheng turned around and sat directly on the platform of the Holy Coffin's base, looking at the place where he had fought the Artificial Saintess in their final battle, slowly organizing his thoughts.

"The 'weapons' created by the Hidden Sect are converted from living humans; some retain a small amount of biological components, while others have their souls extracted and then injected into mechanical shells…"

"During my final battle with the 'Artificial Saintess', I discovered this—her body flowed with a mixture of blood and motor oil, and human memories and souls remained within her shell."

"She came from a place with vast wheat fields…"

Yu Sheng sorted through his memories and slowly recounted the distant memories he had witnessed.

The humming sound of various equipment operating in the room accompanied his words, and the low vibration of the Holy Coffin never ceased.

The squirrel, at some point, had jumped down from the hunter; she stood on the Holy Coffin platform, staring blankly up at that cold iron coffin, while the hunter stood silently beside her, with only empty darkness beneath his hood, yet it seemed to be brewing intense fury.

Little Red Riding Hood and Hu Li's faces also turned very pale.

"I f***... what the hell is going on?" Erin finally broke the silence, a sinister glimmer flickering in those scarlet eyes. She cursed vilely, "Those bastards from the Hidden Cult... %... ￥%*&... If they had the guts, they'd go themselves! If they had the guts, they'd modify themselves! If they can't fool enough cannon fodder, they pull this stunt? I'll f*** their entire household register..."

"That's the situation," Yu Sheng slowly exhaled. "That so-called 'Sage' ran at the last moment, but all the cultists on this ship besides him, as long as they were alive, I sent to the Special Bureau. Now we just have to see when we can pry open those people's mouths and find where their nest is... even if we only find one of their planets."

"As for that runaway Sage, although I can't track his location right now, he fought me for a long time, and I managed to leave some 'marks' on him. We'll see when 'fate' arrives; I will find him... Anyway, I must kill him."

(End of Chapter)