Chapter 719: Kinship Verification

Furong gave a soft "huh?"

Baimu, however, felt something was off.

Lidi had obtained Long He's remains from the Cursed Doll...

When did the entrance to the Spirit Realm appear? Lidi was, at best, an ordinary person — if he wanted to see the Cursed Doll, he'd have to enter the gap between reality and the Spirit Realm, right?

He couldn't help but glance at Furong beside him.

"Why are you looking at me? You've gone into Room 1608 on your own too." Furong wore an expression that said he was being weird.

Baimu tried to argue: "That was through the ancient script—"

Furong raised her index finger and wagged it. "Ancient script or anything else, the principle is the same. Entering the Spirit Realm requires two prerequisites — a medium and a special environment. Meet those two, and anyone can get in."

You're the professional, you're right.

He accepted the explanation without further fuss and turned to consider the next question — could the remains Lidi obtained really be confirmed as Long He's?

What were the odds the Cursed Doll had tricked Lidi?

Or.

Was it the Cursed Doll tricking him and Furong? But such a deception wouldn't mean much, unless it was certain they couldn't return after getting out, or that they definitely wouldn't be able to find Long He.

Shan Ren had also considered this matter. She pulled out her phone, about to make another call, then thought it over and simply said to Baimu: "Let's go find Master Lidi directly!"

Rather than communicating through the phone, it was better to ask everything face to face!

"Then I'll call Hu Pa over first."

Baimu said no more, pulled out his phone, and called Balzac to have him summon Hu Pa to help.

Here he had to give another shout-out to the rebuilt electronic communications infrastructure of Yellow Iron Town — there was even signal this deep underground, saving them the trouble of climbing out.

During the wait.

Shan Ren briefly recounted the specific content of her conversation with Master Lidi.

The story began from when Baimu woke from his dream — that is, from when Lidi and the others used the gunpowder and explosives they had stockpiled to make bombs, blowing in the mine tunnel and the underground arena.

——

Heaven crumbled, the earth split, mountains shook.

"Cursed Doll!"

Lidi, blasted off his feet by the shockwave, flipped himself up and lunged toward where the Cursed Doll had been — only to find nothing there but a pile of rubble made of fallen rocks of various sizes. The Cursed Doll was long gone.

The surroundings were in total chaos; no one had expected the explosion to be so powerful.

Some people had their heads cracked open by falling rocks. Two unlucky Pokémon were pinned directly under large boulders — fortunately, their defenses were decent, and only after other Pokémon came to help, either moving or smashing the boulders apart, did they manage to escape.

The group's attention quickly turned to Lidi, who was frantically digging through the dirt, and they hurried over to help.

"Cursed Doll! Answer me!"

Lidi anxiously clawed at the rocks, not caring even as his fingers bled.

The Cursed Doll was the boss's Pokémon entrusted to his care, and their companion as well. If something happened to it, how could he face the boss? How could he face everyone who had agreed to get out together?

But with the concerted effort of the people and Pokémon, the rock pile was quickly cleared away — yet the Cursed Doll was still nowhere to be seen.

As if it had vanished into thin air.

At the same moment.

The others discovered that besides the Cursed Doll, two people and several Pokémon had also gone missing amid the blast and shaking — no one knew whether they had been buried somewhere, or in the panic had ducked into some blocked-off mine shaft.

Lidi's hands trembled as he panted heavily, surrounded by gazes waiting for him to make a decision.

Someone quietly suggested: "Should we split up and search?"

However.

The suggestion was quickly challenged.

"But the boss said leaving the mine while things were chaotic was our only chance. Once those guys come to their senses, we'll never get out again..."

"That's true..."

A few muttering voices rose, along with several Pokémon looking worried.

The one who had made the suggestion flew into a rage on the spot, pointing at their noses and hissing: "What are you saying! Are you suggesting we leave our scattered companions behind!?"

Those who refused to abandon their companions — people and Pokémon alike — were clearly in the majority, glaring furiously at the ones who had spoken.

Those few panicked and argued back.

"That's not what I meant, don't twist my words..."

"But..."

"Enough!" Lidi barked in a low voice, sweeping his gaze across everyone through the dim cave. "We've only made it this far because we twisted ourselves into a single rope and worked as one. If anyone betrays us, all that awaits us is a dead end!

"The scattered people and Pokémon must be searched for! They're our companions! If we abandon them today, tomorrow we could abandon any one of you — is that what anyone wants to see? Remember what the boss said: we weaklings can only survive by sticking together!"

With their backbone having spoken, the rest immediately had no further thoughts.

Even those who had just argued they should flee immediately.

However.

Lidi also knew that opportunity would not come twice. He divided the search parties for the missing into three groups, and set up a fourth group of the old, weak, sick, and young to retreat first.

The three search groups would use the explosives from the backup plan as a signal — if they hadn't found anyone by then, they'd retreat another portion, and so on.

His seemingly innate knack for organization was one of the reasons Lidi earned people's trust. Even without any systematic training, he still arranged the personnel very properly.

At his command.

The miners, who had originally been set on a full retreat, began searching for the missing who had gone to unknown places.

The group led by Lidi rushed toward the arena. He strongly suspected that in the panic the Cursed Doll had gone looking for the boss — and even if it hadn't found him, it could hand the matter over to the all-powerful boss to handle.

He firmly believed that the person who had shown him the path forward and taught him so much was capable of anything.

During the search.

Master Lidi found that many mine tunnels had completely collapsed; he led his group on a long detour before finding a barely passable path, during which they discovered several unlucky souls crushed beneath the rocks.

Master Lidi recognized them—the overseers who had once barked orders and beat people at will; much of their suffering had been caused by these very people.

So simple to die…

The explosion's destruction was even more terrible than imagined.

A strange emotion stirred in his heart—perhaps pity, perhaps sorrow.

Good riddance!

Master Lidi heard someone mutter this, and the last remnants of his emotion dissolved.

That's right. Good riddance.

These bastards never treated them with kindness—why should he pity them? There were far more deserving of pity.

They wound their way toward the arena.

He had thought they could enter, but all four passages connecting to the arena had completely collapsed.

"What do we do now?"

Everyone looked at the conflicted Master Lidi.

With all passages collapsed, the cursed doll likely hadn't run this way—or it had slipped through some crevice thanks to its small, flexible body.

Master Lidi clung to a sliver of hope and searched everywhere again.

Once they confirmed it was truly impossible to enter, they stopped again.

"Let's… turn back. Take a detour to the rendezvous point. Maybe we'll meet up."

Master Lidi bit his lip and made a difficult decision.

He knew an opportunity like today might never come again; they had endured this long and still couldn't escape—getting this level of energy again would be nearly impossible.

Master Lidi had to be responsible for those who trusted him.

And they hadn't failed to search—failing to find was different from refusing to search.

Just as the group turned to leave, the tunnel erupted in violent tremors; Master Lidi knew someone was using a Pokémon to dig, and immediately ordered everyone to retreat quickly.

But when the pile of rubble was shattered, a familiar figure appeared before them.

"Cough… Lidi? What are you doing here? Didn't we agree to regroup outside?"

Big Brother stared seriously at Master Lidi; beside him stood a Sandshrew, panting heavily, its body covered in wounds and blood, looking utterly exhausted.

Master Lidi rushed forward and called for help to bandage the wounds, then gathered courage to tell him about the cursed doll's disappearance.

Big Brother fell silent.

After a long while.

He said to Master Lidi and the others: "I'll take care of the cursed doll. I can guess where it went. Hurry and get out—there are others alive in the arena. They'll see you and realize something."

"Big Brother…"

"Enough. Don't waste words. Don't betray the trust placed in you!"

Big Brother clapped Master Lidi hard on the shoulder, then suddenly added a few things—he'd left some items at a station on the eastern outskirts, and if they got the chance, they should retrieve them.

They would help them escape Orre—or survive within it.

As Master Lidi listened, he felt something ominous—but Big Brother said no more, urging them to leave, then turned and walked resolutely back along the path they'd come, Sandshrew limping beside him.

Master Lidi watched his back and shouted: "We'll wait for you outside! Come back, Big Brother!"

Big Brother gave no reply—only waved a hand into the darkness until he vanished from sight.

Who could have known.

That was the last time they saw him.

—

"Master Lidi and his group were nearly cut off multiple times afterward, expending great effort to escape Huang Tie Town through secret tunnels they'd dug in advance—but they waited two full days and never saw Baimu's grandfather emerge."

Shan Ren shook his head and sighed: "To survive, they left Huang Tie Town and spent a very long time just to stabilize themselves. Afterward, they repeatedly sent people back to Huang Tie Town to gather news—but all they received was the conclusion that no one had escaped from the lower arena or the surrounding mines."

Baimu and Furong fell silent.

The struggles and inner turmoil of those who fought for a sliver of future hope could not be explained in mere words.

Faced with a lost companion, choosing to abandon them or search for them nearly shattered an immature team.

In their circumstances, with freedom just one step away, they still held back to search for the lost.

It was too hard.

"Later, Master Lidi still refused to give up, sneaking into Huang Tie Town's underground multiple times to search for them—ultimately finding only the cursed doll…"

He didn't finish his sentence when Hu Pa emerged sleepily from the Light Wheel.

"Xiao Bai… Hu Pa is dead tired…"

"Sorry, Hu Pa, but we really need you," Baimu said, reaching out to soothe Hu Pa; Furong added a few words of comfort.

Hu Pa rubbed his eyes and declared loudly: "Fine then! Since everyone needs Hu Pa so much!"

Shan Ren said: "Now that Hu Pa is here, the rest can be explained by Master Lidi himself—retelling inevitably misses details."

He showed Hu Pa a photo of Master Lidi.

The Light Wheel opened.

The group stepped through one by one.

Brito and the other workers stared, unsure whether to follow—this hesitation caused the Light Wheel to snap shut.

"Well, no choice. Everyone, rest again."

He gestured for the workers to sit back down.

In the darkness they could not see, a pair of sapphire-blue eyes glowed; their owner, the Soul-Eyed One, turned his head toward the arena and thought: Let the cursed doll not play any tricks.

It would make it easier to answer to Furong.

Silicon Beryllium City.

By now there was already light along the horizon; the sun would probably rise in another ten-odd minutes.

And inside a brightly lit private residence.

All Baimu, whose hair had already turned gray and whose cheeks were spotted with age marks, stood with a slightly stooped frame, cheerfully hosting Baimu and the others who had arrived uninvited.

"Sit, everyone sit, if there's something to say we'll take it slow."

He invited the several people to sit, then brought out snacks and tea.

Baimu and Yamato-mi had no heart to taste them, but Furong and Hu Pa happily dug in, not forgetting to share some with the Gengar and Darkrai in the shadows.

Dragonite watched, drooling with envy, quietly snuck a piece; seeing no one noticed, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and started crunching away.

Master Lidi sat across from the group, cradling a cup of hot tea, and said slowly:

"Yamato-mi has already told me everything. I never thought Banette still hasn't moved past it to this day… sigh, the past is always hard to look back on, too many regrets I want to make up for…"

He was silent for a while.

"Sorry for the rude intrusion, but we'd like to know how you came to see Banette again back then." Baimu asked directly.

Master Lidi chuckled and said warmly: "Well, to be honest I also thought it was quite miraculous. Back then I only wanted to sneak into the mine to look for traces of Big Brother, but I never expected to run into a cave-in and almost get buried. At the critical moment it was Banette who saved me; it brought me to the old underground arena."

The Gap!

Baimu and Yamato-mi exchanged a glance, both gaining some understanding.

So that's how it was.

The mine collapse caused someone's unfortunate death; the special magnetic field brought by that death, combined with the fact that the location was probably relatively close to the old site of the underground arena, caused Banette to pull Master Lidi into the Gap and spare him.

"I asked it about Big Brother's situation, and about what happened after we left that day. It never answered me, only handed me a broken corpse wearing Big Brother's clothes, and then drove me out. I knew it couldn't accept Big Brother's passing, but I never thought that after so many years it still…"

Master Lidi shook his head and sighed.

For this old man, whose age was probably even greater than Shi Yuan Zhi's, the passing of someone important had most likely been made peace with over these several decades, leaving only a faint sense of regret.

Perhaps he had once imagined the scene in dreams, regretting some decision he had made, but in the end he still had to accept reality.

"You look a lot like Big Brother, both in looks and in temperament. I had almost forgotten what Big Brother looked like, but the instant I saw you, I suddenly remembered a lot, and my memories became clear along with it."

Master Lidi looked at Baimu, effectively confirming the latter's identity as a descendant of Ryuuwa.

Although the ancestor-recognition ceremony in Meteor Village had already confirmed it once.

He said: "Big Brother's remains have been laid to rest on the east side of the city. If you want to go confirm it, then go. Some answers are surely important to you, and to Banette as well."

"Alright."

The several people exchanged glances and each nodded.

Undoubtedly the old man Master Lidi had seen through their plan and given his support—

To open the coffin and examine the body.

This was admittedly a slight offense to the deceased, but an accurate answer was very necessary.

Moreover.

Baimu planned to bring Ryuuwa's confirmed remains back to Meteor Village; that was where a dragon tamer of Meteor Village should slumber.