Chapter 348: The Temple (5)

Light and shadow swirled, just like a modernist splashing oil paint onto a canvas; everything made Luo Qi dizzy and disoriented. A massive table slammed toward Luo Qi, and he scrambled backward, nearly falling into a metal chair.

It was like time reversing, or a movie playing in rewind; countless objects from the past filled the space around Luo Qi. A crystal long table stood before him, and Luo Qi stood at one end of the table. Nine chairs were arranged around the table, with four chairs placed against each long side of the long table, and one chair placed at the opposite end; Luo Qi happened to be the one without a chair.

At a slightly further distance, many more comfortable sofas sprouted up all around, interspersed with side tables, fresh flowers, and floating, glowing crystals. The light and shadow of the oil paint continued to twist, and four walls appeared, restricting this space; the brand-new space was far from being as large as the cave.

Just as Luo Qi was panicking, worried that this might be a prison and that he was being held captive, narrow, towering windows appeared on all the walls, and light flooded in.

On the wall directly facing Luo Qi, an iron-wrought glass door suddenly appeared, and just as he reached out to block the suddenly brilliant light, the double doors were pushed open with a "bang."

A woman appeared in the doorway; her dress emitted a soft glow, and her features were beautiful, though Luo Qi couldn't see them clearly at all. He only knew that it was the highest level of beauty that fit his aesthetic. She walked in with a flourish, as if a theater curtain had just risen and the spotlights of the whole world were shining on her; she was the peerless, radiant heroine.

"You awakened me," she said, standing at the other end of the long table, beside a chair.

"It wasn't me," Luo Qi said. "If you are a genie in a lamp, the person who let you out wasn't me."

The woman seemed to think for a moment, then gave a careless "Oh."

"Where is he?" Luo Qi asked. "Why didn't I see him?"

"He is too far beneath us to be worthy of seeing me," the woman said, her expression proud.

"Then who are you? And where are we? In the Consciousness Space?" Luo Qi asked. Suddenly, he noticed that the crown-like ornament on the woman's head was not actually worn on her head; the crystal jewels were floating above her head, rotating gently. Luo Qi's heart trembled. "I know who you are."

"Who am I?" The woman tilted her head to look at him. She might still maintain a youthful appearance and have youthful, reckless manners, but from the look in her eyes that Luo Qi caught a glimpse of, she seemed to possess the experience of dozens of centuries.

"Progenitor Mage," Luo Qi said in a low voice, suppressing his fear and shock. He still remembered the woman he had seen through the eyes of the Alien in the Alien's memories. She had only appeared once, and there was no clear record of her in the history books of Mages.

"That is truly a name difficult to define," she laughed. "Before I fell into my final slumber, humanity was still obsessed with making bronze ware. What are they doing now?"

"They are currently obsessed with talent shows and reality shows," Luo Qi said.

"What does that mean? Have they started to leave this world?" the woman asked him.

"Soon, I suppose," Luo Qi said. "If you mean going to the moon, that has already..."

"That has been a long time indeed; I can certainly be called the Ancestor," the woman said.

"Have you been staying here the whole time? You are a fragment of her consciousness, aren't you?" Luo Qi asked. "Is this some place from your memories?"

"I am her; the existence of the soul is the true existence," she said, sounding suddenly a bit angry, her tone stern.

"I'm sorry," Luo Qi said. "Then can't you find yourself a physical body?"

The woman was amused; Luo Qi's gentle and harmless personality had always been liked by women. "I think I should find myself a name first, don't you?"

"You exist, yet you have no name?" Luo Qi asked.

"I have existed for too long; I have had many names," the woman said with a smile. She looked at Luo Qi. "You are interested in this, aren't you? You walked into this door with your heart full of this, just like shouting in the world of consciousness. You want to make someone continue to exist."

Luo Qi's secret was guessed, but he remained calm. The Progenitor Mage was a god; if such an existence discovered a little secret thought of his, what was there to be embarrassed about?

"If you really are the Progenitor Mage, can you do me this favor?" Luo Qi asked.

"I've decided; I've decided to call myself Yi Wa," the woman said to herself, then slowly walked toward him along the edge of the table.

"Do you need me to act more sincere?" Luo Qi asked.

"For example, kneeling and begging me?" the woman said, moving close to Luo Qi, a soft, boneless hand resting on Luo Qi's shoulder. "But there's no need for that; you are a good boy."

"There is a way to make someone live a little longer, right?" Luo Qi asked.

"If his soul is not damaged, of course there are plenty of ways," the woman who called herself Yi Wa smiled, then suddenly frowned. "But is the reason he cannot go on living a soul problem?"

"You are consciousness, aren't you?" Luo Qi asked, turning his head to stare at the woman.

"But I can help you repair the soul, as long as his self still remains, everything is possible," Yi Wa said eagerly, as if she had sensed the movement of Luo Qi's underlying consciousness.

Luo Qi took a deep breath. In this instant, it was as if water ripples spread out in a circle, and the surrounding world had a momentary, subtle crack.

Luo Qi had originally been like transparency before the powerful consciousness of the Progenitor Mage, but his consciousness twisted away from the thoughts that tried to lure him into contemplation several times; he did not think about what the Progenitor Mage wanted him to think about. In the several turning points of the contest, Luo Qi truly felt a cold, strange, and familiar scent.

"You are not human," Luo Qi said, and he reached out and grabbed the woman's arm.

"Ah!" the woman screamed in pain. "It hurts, you're hurting me."

The male protective instinct only flashed for a moment; Luo Qi successfully restrained it, moving himself a notch toward the direction of being a heartless jerk.

In a real instant, Luo Qi felt the hardness and coldness his fingers touched, and also a scent he was somewhat familiar with—the scent that sometimes remained on Du Zhengyi's hands. Du Zhengyi might insist that his weapon had no scent, that metal had no scent. But Luo Qi thought that was nonsense; he could smell it, anyway.

The thing in front of him, no matter what he saw under powerful psychological intervention, was not real. What he was holding was a metal body; this was a person condensed from Du Zhengyi's weapon.

Luo Qi didn't know if he should be afraid; he should have been scared out of his wits, but on the other hand, he couldn't help but feel that this was just like Du Zhengyi's blade having become a spirit.