Chapter 387: Expelling the Main God

Her consciousness finally cut off. Du Zhengyi exhaled deeply and hurriedly checked Luo Qi's body; his face already looked cyanotic. He reached out under Luo Qi's nose and felt no breath.

"What is going on?" He looked back toward the shadows deep in the cave.

A black figure moved out from the shadows, leaning on a cane and pacing over slowly.

"Hurry. He has stopped breathing," Du Zhengyi said in a low, urgent voice.

"It wasn't me," Clownfish said slowly, dragging out the words detestably. "I haven't made a move yet."

Du Zhengyi's mood shifted instantly from disgust to joy; he understood what Clownfish meant, as if he had caught a glimpse of a lifeline.

"Her surface consciousness is currently interrupted, shifting to deep consciousness; the breathing issue will resolve itself naturally," Clownfish said. He had reached Du Zhengyi's side, looking at the Luo Qi he was supporting.

At that moment, Luo Qi let out a sound like a snore. Du Zhengyi turned his head to stare at him, watching with his own eyes as his breathing recovered, and he let out a sigh of relief.

"So Luo Qi's consciousness is indeed still inside?" Du Zhengyi said with relief.

"Is your injury serious?" Clownfish ignored Du Zhengyi's question, his eyes fixed on Luo Qi as he asked in a level tone.

"I'm fine," he said curtly, looking up at the blurred outline of his face. "Do you have a way to extract the Old Mage's consciousness? Or help Luo Qi suppress her?"

Clownfish stood in the light, yet still seemed to be standing in the shadows, as if watching everything in the mundane world from beyond the clouds.

Du Zhengyi knew it was bizarre; he was here begging for help, and the object of his plea was this person. This person who had appeared in his nightmares repeatedly, constantly tormenting him, and would continue to torment him until he died.

If not for a loved one facing imminent death, who would offer a sacrifice to the God of Death?

"You fought that battle quite well," Clownfish said, his tone soft and lazy, like casual chatter. "Many Mages wouldn't dare dream of fighting a Progenitor Mage. Not only did you meet the challenge head-on, but you fought it so beautifully."

"I wasn't alone," Du Zhengyi said in a low voice. "Luo Qi is here too; we finished it together. He helped me."

Clownfish seemed to be looking down, not at Du Zhengyi. His body weight leaned on his cane, his other side swaying slightly, looking both leisurely and indecisive.

"That one called Yi Wa could wake up at any time," Du Zhengyi reminded him.

"I sealed her consciousness range. She cannot use Magic; her consciousness can only stay in her brain like a human's," he said. "I only had a chance to do this after her consciousness fell into a coma, which is why I couldn't help you before."

"I don't need that much help from you," Du Zhengyi said, one hand pressed to his stomach while he performed first-aid Magic on himself. He had lost some blood, but it wasn't critical. "Do you want to name your price again?"

"We agreed that as long as I save Luo Qi, I can take away the memories of a Progenitor Mage that a High-energy Crystal can hold," Clownfish said.

Du Zhengyi waited for him to raise the price.

Clownfish continued, "I am a man of my word, and I owe you a debt."

Du Zhengyi looked at him in confusion, not knowing what he was doing. "I vaguely feel like I misjudged you. You aren't the type to raise the price on the spot?"

Clownfish did not answer, as if he didn't care much about this business. Instead, Clownfish said, "Luo Qi appearing in your life doesn't change anything. You will still die young, and you will still have to work like a beast for the Qionglin; your life hasn't changed. So, can you pretend he never appeared at all? In any case, your life will come to an end before long, and once you close your eyes, you won't be able to see him anyway."

Du Zhengyi's optimism cooled; he felt an omen of misfortune. He actually sensed a kind of sincerity from Clownfish, even though he hadn't even fully revealed his body. This kind of sincerity only appears easily when you have truly hit rock bottom, to the point where even your enemy cannot help but express sincere sympathy for you.

"The meaning of a person's appearance does not lie in what practical benefits I can gain," Du Zhengyi said in a low voice.

"Then a long time ago," Clownfish said, pausing for a moment before continuing, "I read a sentence in a book: if a person can only stay in your life for a short time, when they leave, if you calculate the total sum of your life and feel that it has increased, then it is better to have met than not to have met."

Du Zhengyi did not speak.

"I have already checked the consciousness of his own left inside Luo Qi's body; it is very thin, just a fragment of a fragment, like a needle Luo Qi drove into the depths of the Consciousness World. I think Luo Qi had already fought a battle with the Progenitor Mage before you; he likely realized he was bound to lose once the battle began, so he spent his energy hiding a wisp of his consciousness. Unfortunately, this consciousness is far from enough to constitute a person; it is just a simple neural circuit, and only by being this simple could it evade the Progenitor Mage's consciousness. I think this consciousness is a simple shutdown mechanism; the trigger condition is your death. When this wisp of consciousness realized you were about to be completely killed, it initiated the command to shut down the physiological system, cutting off his own body's breathing. I think the coma might have been the Progenitor Mage's own choice; she is an Old Mage with tens of thousands of years of experience, and she must have realized through experience that the next physiological change would be cardiac arrest. I don't know how to put it, but would it make you feel better if I described Luo Qi as a warrior who fights to the death, and even seeks revenge on his enemy after he dies?" Clownfish said.

Du Zhengyi still did not speak, as if he hadn't understood Clownfish's words.

But Clownfish knew how smart the person before him was. The fact that he had no redundant words, no long-winded, desperate requests, proved that he had understood, and had thought it through clearly.

"So our transaction has, very regrettably, ended. Since I did not bring Luo Qi back, I will not take away the Progenitor Mage's memories," Clownfish said. He hesitated, seemingly unsure if it was time to leave; once this moment ended, they would be enemies again.

"No, the transaction will continue," Du Zhengyi said suddenly. "Take everything you want, but kill her. Take her out of Luo Qi's body."

Clownfish was taken aback; he considered it for a few seconds. "Won't you regret it?"

"No," Du Zhengyi said. "I am only a Gushan Guard. I do not guard things outside of Gushan. The Entanglement cannot bind me from handling this matter."

"Fine," Clownfish said. "To make you feel better, the things I want are the Magic Artifacts inside Gushan. Getting the old witch's memories is somewhat useful, but it isn't what I want most."

Du Zhengyi shook his head and said nothing.

When Luo Qi's eyes opened, he let go, leaving "Luo Qi" to sit up on his own.

She woke up, looked at Du Zhengyi, then looked at Clownfish. "It's you? Who exactly are you?"

"That has nothing to do with you," Clownfish said. He possessed a steadiness and elegance akin to a Doctor. However, what he was about to do was indeed similar to surgery; he had to excise her consciousness from the body, which truly required calming down and preparing.

She looked back and forth between the two, weighed the situation, and turned to Clownfish. "Simply put, I know many secrets. The secrets of Genesis are a power you cannot even imagine. I am willing to go with you; you can maintain your binding on me. As long as I can survive, I don't mind helping you. The Lotus Burners, is it? This suits my intentions as well. I was the creator of Mages to begin with; I am your Main God."

"Is the Main God begging for mercy from a mortal like me?" Clownfish laughed. "Although it is quite satisfying, you are not the true Progenitor Mage. I have seen it; you are merely a first-tier replica of her. Your original version was dismantled by the gods, and you were hidden by your believers as the replica closest to the Main God."

She seemed to have developed some awe for Clownfish. "Who are you?"

"A mortal's name is likely not something a god is interested in knowing," he said with some sarcasm. "However, I am still a bit curious: why did Luo Qi end up in your cave?"

She seized the opportunity to chat; regardless of anything else, she wanted to grasp the chance to speak. "His companion saw the newly translated classical poetry in the Qionglin; the poetry was a clue left by my believers for those who came after. The poetry is a riddle. Luo Qi's companion is a very smart person; he saw the poem and deciphered the riddle. He thought this was an opportunity, but he didn't know what the treasure the poem pointed to actually was; he assumed it was wealth. This poem is a roadmap, but it is also a trap. The riddle implies that only a true Mind-Reader can see where the treasure lies. My believers wanted to use this riddle to incite a greedy Mind-Reader to go find the treasure. Luo Qi's companion is that greedy person, but he tricked a Mind-Reader into going with him." She couldn't help but defend herself here, while also not forgetting to use this opportunity to attack Du Zhengyi. She looked at Du Zhengyi and said, "However, Luo Qi isn't truly innocent either. He deliberately bypassed you, seizing the chance when you weren't around to try and pry into the secrets of the ancients. He is, of course, also greedy, even if his greedy goal was to find a way to keep you alive."

Du Zhengyi's face remained unchanged, as if he had been prepared to endure this blow.

"A twist of fate, nothing more," Clownfish said from the side. "Neither Luo Qi nor that kid did anything terribly wrong. People are born human, and they will always pursue what they want most."

"And you? What do you pursue?" she interjected. "Although my spirit has been bound, I can feel that you are also pursuing something, and your desire is even greater than theirs. I can definitely help you; there is no doubt about that. Luo Qi is definitely not coming back; if you take me with you, I will show you the Magic of Genesis. I don't believe you have no interest in this. I will teach you Magic that people in this world wouldn't dare dream of; I will help you open any door in this world, dig into any hole. Those who hinder you from obtaining the secrets deep within Gushan will no longer be able to hinder you; you will realize the most secret dreams in your heart."

Du Zhengyi suddenly turned his head to look at Clownfish; he realized he might have made a mistake. But he could not kill Luo Qi with his own hands, not even just Luo Qi's body; he could not crush his friend's throat to make him stop breathing. Clownfish could easily turn and accept her conditions; he believed she wasn't entirely bluffing, at least this was too big.

He saw Clownfish fall silent for a full seven seconds, as long as a century, before Clownfish spoke in thanks, "Thank you for being so thoughtful."

Du Zhengyi let out a sigh of relief.

"But let's skip it this time," Clownfish continued. "I will have my own ways sooner or later."

She looked at him. "Really? Without my subjective consciousness, even if I gave you all my memories, to a creature with your level of primary cognitive ability, my secret arts would be like a heavenly book; you wouldn't understand them at all."

"Ah, thank you again for your thoughtfulness, my dear." Clownfish squatted down in front of her and said perfunctorily, "Were you 'n' before?"

"Do you want to see?" she asked, her pupils staring deeply at Clownfish, trying to see through his disguise.

Before she could finish her sentence—Clownfish's words had only been to distract her—his hands pressed fiercely onto both sides of her skull, and she let out a blood-curdling scream.

"Help me hold her down!" Clownfish commanded.

Du Zhengyi agilely grabbed her arms, pinning her down tightly.

She screamed, struggling desperately in pain, but Clownfish had the upper hand. Her shrieks turned into wails, and suddenly, her tone changed, becoming more like Luo Qi's. She cried out to Du Zhengyi, "Brother, save me, Brother, don't trust him, it's me, I'm still here, Brother, save me—"

Du Zhengyi was caught off guard and trembled, his hand pressing down on him becoming unsteady.

"Du Zhengyi!" Clownfish roared, "Don't pay attention to this thing!"

He gripped Luo Qi's arm tightly; Luo Qi's body trembled in his hands from the excruciating pain, and Luo Qi's voice was crying out in a miserable, inhuman way, incessantly begging him to save his life.

Suddenly, she snapped her eyes open and stared fixedly at Clownfish; her pupils were already dilated and unable to focus, so she certainly wasn't using her eyes to look at Clownfish. She shrieked, "So it was you."

Then her Yajian completely cut off; all her subjective Yajian was dispersed, leaving only scattered memories that Clownfish packed into the High-energy Crystal he carried. Luo Qi's pupils became vacant, then he closed his eyes, and his body went limp. Du Zhengyi released the hand that had been forcibly holding him down, but he caught his body, feeling that his clothes were already soaked through with sweat. He must have just experienced a cruel, agonizing torture; although it wasn't him, everything felt as if it were.

Du Zhengyi held him, letting his head hang on his shoulder, just like the final embrace of friends about to part for a long time.

Clownfish stood up and tucked the Crystal back into his pocket. "His soul is long gone."

"He is still breathing," Du Zhengyi said in a low voice, as if he were confused. But what he was confused about was not the fact that Luo Qi had become a living shell.

Clownfish had originally wanted to leave, but upon hearing this, he stopped again, as if listening intently to something. He listened for a moment and said, "Are you weeping?"

Du Zhengyi was taken aback; his face was dry, and he had never wept before. "I am not."

"Oh," Clownfish said, "you just aren't shedding tears."

Clownfish waited a moment longer and continued, "I met him in the Black Market, his fragmented soul replicas; he scattered that stuff everywhere. Although he learned it from me—originally you perhaps should have kept him in check, but that doesn't matter now. If you feel too lonely, you can go find a few; his soul fragments are all very humorous and quite fun, you can chat with him."

Du Zhengyi still did not answer him.

"But I reckon you won't do such a boring thing," Clownfish admitted to himself, and after a while, he continued to admit, "Fine, I know you won't feel good, but I didn't expect the depth of your pain to be this profound. If you are this kind of person, how did you endure your previous life? What do you intend to do next? You can't let him continue to exist as a vegetable, and you can't bring yourself to end his biological functions either; why don't you just leave him here? The Sandbox is yours anyway; he will have ice and snow as a tomb, and there is a dim-witted giant monster, he would find it quite fun."

"Thank you for doing all this," Du Zhengyi finally said; he let go of Luo Qi, then picked him up again. "Thank you, I am leaving this place; I have to take him back and hand him over to his parents; they should be the ones to make the decision."

"Fine," Clownfish said, "then are we even?"

"We are even," Du Zhengyi said indifferently.

Clownfish nodded, gestured to him, then turned and walked out of the cave, disappearing into the wind and snow.

Du Zhengyi looked at Luo Qi's face for a moment, then finally walked out as well. Outside the cave was a white land of extreme cold; ice and snow covered the earth, and the mountain peaks stood in silence in the distance, just like the scene he saw when he first came here many years ago. It was as if nothing had happened in the time between then and now.