Chapter 1913

Ji Feihua said: "She died?"

The elder said: "She can learn others' knowledge in a short time and control others' spirits; the captain designed to trap her, intending to eliminate her, but never imagined she would actually control most of the crew and attempt to take over the entire airship, leaving him no choice but to let the airship crash."

Ji Feihua nodded; what happened next was exactly what was recorded in the murals of Long Ling Shengjing.

The elder said: "This accident caused us to lose our team's leader; the remaining nine of us fled, each going our separate ways. According to our rules we cannot risk repairing the airship nor return home and expose our coordinates. At first it was relatively calm; everyone adhered to the principles. But later, perhaps the environment changed us, our dispositions gradually shifted—some became fearful and uneasy, some became suspicious and fickle, others became despondent and hopeless." As he recounted these past events his tone was flat and unremarkable, yet to Ji Feihua it sounded heart-stopping; although she had not witnessed it herself, she could still imagine the perilous scene of that time.

The elder said: "The seven who managed to escape had originally planned to rescue the captain, but shortly after their escape came the news that the Dakang emperor had ordered the ruthless killing of the captain and helmsman. Although they possessed technology and civilization far beyond this era, their strength was limited, and the rules they had always followed did not permit them to do so."

Ji Feihua secretly wondered: the elder constantly spoke of the rules they followed; if they truly observed those rules, perhaps none of these things would have happened, nor would Dakang have split and Da Yong risen. Could it be that a change in environment, the reality of the situation, caused them to change?

The elder actually nodded and said: "Not bad!"

Ji Feihua's heart jumped; she had not yet asked, but the elder already knew what she was thinking? Could he read her consciousness?

"You possess the blood of the Light-Wing clan, and you have likewise inherited this special ability of the clan; you can communicate with each other through consciousness." The elder did not move his lips, yet his voice sounded clearly in Ji Feihua's ears.

Ji Feihua said: "Light-Wing clan? My bloodline is probably not pure."

The elder said: "Among the nine survivors, two went missing; the remaining seven, to avoid the Dakang army's search and pursuit, had no choice but to come to the bitter cold of the northern desert. Although the weather here is freezing, the geography is relatively closer to our homeland. We seven had already given up the idea of returning home. Not long after, four companions fell ill from being unable to adapt to this climate and died one after another. Watching companions die one after another, we felt a great panic. Even more unfortunately, the four who died of illness included our team's doctor. The three of us who survived also fell ill, and there was no one left to treat us. We thought we would not last long before dying miserably in a distant foreign land like the others, and we began to despair. Just then, a companion who had fled with us at the same time found us." After a pause he continued: "He not only came back himself, but also brought ten women, all of whom were already pregnant."

Ji Feihua had already guessed what it was; despite that, she could not suppress her inner shock, her hands clenched into fists.

The elder said: "He violated our rules; when we all blamed him, he told us that the reason he could survive was entirely because of these women."

Ji Feihua sucked in a breath of cold air, wondering if these extraterrestrials also had the practice of 'seizing yin to supplement yang'? But then she immediately realized that her own body also retained the blood of these extraterrestrials.

The elder said: "In the face of death, any rule can be set aside; this was soon proven."

To survive, we had to seek targets. Initially we thought we would stop this absurd behavior as long as we could stay alive, but we soon realized that once something is done, it cannot be stopped. Our condition waxed and waned; we had to continually resort to this means to save ourselves, and any woman who had ever been involved with us lost all effect, so we had to seek new targets.

Ji Feihua felt grim; these people not only violated their rules but also committed heinous acts, yet given the premise of survival, their actions seemed hardly blameworthy. She had once heard Hu Xiaotian say that these people reproduced offspring; Hu Xiaotian had heard it from the ghost doctor Fu Zhuo, but at the time no reason was given, and it was thought that the extraterrestrials' reproduction was for expansion and occupation. However, what this survivor said now should be the true fact: they reproduced to stay alive, and the offspring were merely unintended byproducts.

The elder said: "Because of racial differences, our offspring suffer from serious defects, most dying shortly after birth. We gradually realized that our illness is not due to maladaptation to the environment but is man-made; the being who intended to seize control of the airship, the captain who would rather destroy the ship and die with her than let her live, actually escaped alongside us. She has been secretly observing us; our illnesses are entirely her doing, and the cure is also her scheme. That companion of ours was in fact already under her control, and we few unlucky ones became her test subjects."

"Then what happened?"

The elder said: "Although our offspring's survival rate is not high, after all some of them did survive; their physiques are closer to ordinary people of this world. Although we tried our best to keep them from influencing this world, we cannot control them entering this world, nor can we cut off their contact and communication with the outside. However, they possess innate genetic defects; low survival rate is one aspect, and even if they happen to survive, they often do not live past thirty. Although we never intended to give birth to these offspring, since we have granted them life, we do not want to watch them die helplessly."

Ji Feihua nodded.

The elder said: "To undo the bell, one must find the one who tied it. Since all this was done by that woman behind the scenes, she must have a solution. Thus we tried every means to lure her out, preparing to join forces and capture her. That time we paid an extremely heavy price: two dead, two wounded, and countless innocents lost. We succeeded in annihilating her. After over a hundred years, peace was finally restored. We began to tidy everything up, hoping to prevent further deterioration. We originally wished these offspring would live and die on their own, letting the world return to its original tranquility. However, we soon discovered that as they reproduced, their lifespans gradually lengthened, yet compared to our race, or even the people of this world, they remain short-lived—few live past forty, and those over fifty are rare. Among our descendants there are many of outstanding wisdom; they actually created the Ten Thousand Forms of Heaven and Man, perfecting their own defects to gain longer life."

Ji Feihua had heard Hu Xiaotian mention the Ten Thousand Forms of Heaven and Man, so she was not overly surprised; she said softly: "As far as I know, the Ten Thousand Forms of Heaven and Man ultimately disappeared without a trace."

The elder slowly nodded and said: "Not bad. Regarding the Ten Thousand Forms of Heaven and Man, even within us there are differing opinions. Our original intention was to uphold the old rules, letting these offspring live and die on their own, not affecting anything in this world. But when we tried to control this matter, everything had already become uncontrollable. I believe we should destroy that Ten Thousand Forms of Heaven and Man to protect this world as much as possible, whereas my companion does not think so."

Ji Feihua secretly thought: his companion in this world should be only two left, one of whom is still unaccounted for.

The elder said: "Another missing member of our team, after being lost for nearly a hundred years, finally found us; the wing armor you wear belongs to him."

Ji Feihua knew the origin of this wing armor; Hu Xiaotian obtained it from the Wuxian Sect, so it appears that the Heaven's Mandate bearer who died in the secret cavern beneath the Wuxian Sect is the comrade the elder spoke of.

The elder said: "Over these years he has lived in isolation, cutting off all contact with us, yet he was not content with loneliness; he too had offspring. His purpose in seeking us out was not to reminisce, but to obtain that Ten Thousand Forms of Heaven and Man." He let out a long sigh: "After realizing his aim, a dispute arose between us; in the argument we came to blows, but at that moment we did not notice another danger approaching—someone ambushed us while we were both weakened, and terrifyingly, they too do not belong to this world."

Ji Feihua's brows furrowed slightly; from Hu Xiaotian's account she had heard that Liu Yuzhang and his void-crossing squad suffered an ambush by the Heaven's Mandate bearer, yet from this alien elder's mouth she received a completely different version. Whether due to bloodline or not, she found the latter more believable. The shadow Liu Yuzhang cast over her childhood was too great; this person acts covertly and cruelly, stops at nothing, and his words cannot be trusted.

The elder said: "In that battle we ultimately gained the upper hand, yet someone took advantage of the moment to carry off the Ten Thousand Forms of Heaven and Man. We captured two of them; one kept his mouth shut, preferring death to uttering a word, while the other could not withstand interrogation and confessed everything he knew."

Ji Feihua said: "Who are they?"

The elder sighed, slowly shaking his large head: "If one wants to investigate, it's not hard to find out; but after that battle we had only three survivors left—one died soon from severe wounds, another was consumed by guilt and quietly departed." He glanced at Ji Feihua and said: "Since you wear his wing armor, it proves he is also dead."

Ji Feihua secretly thought: if that's the case, then everyone else who came to this world together with this alien elder has died, leaving only him alone.

The elder said: "My time in this world is short; the place you see before you is the spot I opened up to eke out a lingering existence, its layout entirely modeled after my homeland." Having said that, the elder turned his body and walked back into the pool. (To be continued~^~)