Chapter 209: He Yi

He Yun's trembling voice as she asked revealed she had already guessed who the pillar in the stone coffin was.

He Yun and her brother each possessed a Desire Origin Stone; He Yun's still rested in her hand—so who lay in the stone coffin was obvious.

Wu Chang reached out and pulled He Yun's shoulder close, his mouth opened, but he didn't know what to say.

He couldn't say, "You two are truly in sync—you even thought of the same idea."

He had assumed He Yun would need time to compose herself, even if she didn't cry out loud, she'd at least shed a few tears.

Yet He Yun's trembling lasted only seconds before she swiftly calmed and stood up from the ground.

Wu Chang looked up at He Yun's profile—a face unusually stern, unreadable in its emotions.

"No, I can't stop here. I must resolve this. I can't let their sacrifices turn to dust."

He Yun lowered her head and met Wu Chang's gaze, saying:

"Everything that's happened here exceeds my expectations. If my brother's avatar pillar couldn't seal the God of Desire inside the temple, then my presence won't likely help either."

"The worst case is that He has already escaped."

"What I face next may be a freed god. I can't guarantee what will happen afterward. Your immunity to the Catastrophe Mist may not hold against a god. But I still need your help. You..."

Wu Chang sat up from the ground and lazily brushed the dust off his pants. Had He Yun not been blind, he would've shown her the colorful title hovering above his head.

Do you even know what "Godbreaker" means?

God? I've taken on gods before!

"I've said it many times: no matter what you do, I'll walk with you to the very end. Even if, in the end, only one person stands by your side, it'll be me."

Wu Chang wasn't lying—after all, the title "Godbreaker" isn't easily earned. If only one person in the world dared defy a god, it would certainly be him.

Yet He Yun seemed to misunderstand his words.

As if burned by his gaze, she turned toward the door and said, "We mustn't delay. Let's go to the room with the Desire Stele."

Guided by her recovered memories, He Yun led Wu Chang to the temple's main hall.

In the center of the hall stood a massive stele reaching the ceiling, at least thirty meters tall.

The stele was enormous; each line of wish-inscribed text seemed like a pebble on a mountain, yet stacked layer upon layer, the wishes stretched from top to bottom, ending barely half a meter above the ground.

From countless wishes, it was clear how the former worshippers of the God of Desire had indulged their desires.

On the massive stele, Wu Chang saw countless dried bloodstains.

Some were deep red, others bright red. Logically, bloodstains bearing dying words should not fade if the resentment remained unfulfilled.

Yet no matter how hard Wu Chang tried, he could not perceive any resentment within the bloodstains on the stele.

Before time, even the most stubborn grudges could not endure.

Wu Chang's gaze traveled downward, and at the very bottom, he finally saw a faint red bloodstain.

This stain belonged to He Yun's brother, the former leader of Underground Shelter 88—He Yi.

No dying words?

Wu Chang was puzzled by the absence of dying words—Zhuo Jie had left some, so why didn't you?

Where was your sense of responsibility?

Were you so careless that even after becoming a pillar and failing to fully seal the God of Desire, you still refused to leave dying words?

He clicked his tongue in disdain at He Yi's stinginess, then watched as the faint red bloodstain began to swirl, sucking his consciousness into it.

The moment his vision returned, thick mist surged toward him, and He Yun's voice came through his earpiece.

"We're about to enter the temple. Stay alert—this temple is far more terrifying than it appears."

Fortunately, he had seen Zhuo Jie's resentment, or he'd have struggled to understand the current situation.

The resentment's perspective began as the group prepared to enter the stone temple.

Wu Chang looked at He Yun nearby—sure enough, the resentment on the stele came from He Yi.

Since entering the temple, He Yi's gaze had never left He Yun, shifting only slightly around her, never straying—leaving Wu Chang no chance to observe what else was happening around them.

From He Yi's behavior, it was clear that though he was the shelter's leader, his role was not that of a decision-maker, but a guardian.

In his heart, only He Yun could truly solve the problem.

What followed matched the scene in Zhuo Jie's resentment.

An attack emerged from the thick mist, shattering the team's protective barriers. As the barriers cracked, screams erupted through the earpieces.

"Damn! There are monsters in the mist!"

"Boss, my barrier's down! The mist's flooding in—I feel something drilling into me!"

"Don't come closer! Get away! Get the hell away!"

The more desperate the situation, the calmer He Yi remained. Wu Chang sensed his breathing hadn't changed at all—he was as cold and precise as a machine.

The next instant, He Yi moved.

He gripped the long blade behind him. With a sharp whistle of displaced air, light flared from his palm, racing up his arm to his powered armor and along the blade to its tip.

In an instant, the three-meter-long armored blade was engulfed in light, its glow forming an invisible cutting edge that split even the Catastrophe Mist.

Then He Yi swung the blade forward with full force—the edge cleaved through something.

Only when the shattering sound echoed did He Yun realize the attack—she turned to He Yi, her eyes filled with guilt.

The attack from the Catastrophe Mist had targeted both of them simultaneously.

He Yi had reacted in time—but he had only one strike. He used it to shatter the threat aimed at He Yun.

In return, an unknown energy pierced a hole through his own armor's barrier.

Watching the creeping Catastrophe Mist, He Yi showed no hesitation, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"Don't stand there—move!"

Wu Chang now understood why He Yi had been chosen as the shelter's leader—and why the manipulative Mercury hadn't just killed them outright, but instead staged an elaborate play.

Because this bastard was genuinely terrifying.

Affected by the Calamity Mist, all manner of mist-incarnated enemies began surging out around them. These enemies piloted mechs of various colors, and their combat power clearly surpassed the zombie mechs Wu Chang and He Yun had encountered—they were likely the strongest warriors from the other underground shelters.

Wu Chang and He Yun had experienced the Calamity Mist once before and knew that within it, enemies would only multiply the more they killed. The best response was to avoid lethal blows, flee more than fight, and use the window when enemies were still few to locate the Calamity Mist domain's node.

But that was under circumstances where the Calamity Mist wasn't dense.

Given the concentration of Calamity Mist inside the Stone Temple, even if one node was broken through, the influence would quickly take hold again.

If Wu Chang were handling the current situation, his response would be either the Four Directions Year-Fire Lamp, or trying his luck with the Five Thunder Art to see which thunder had a restraining effect on the Calamity Mist.

Yet He Yi's response was to charge straight in.

He worried that if the monsters accumulated too much, they would interfere with his perception, and he wouldn't be able to guard against sneak attacks piercing the shield from the shadows.

Facing the powerful mech warriors continuously emerging from the mist, He Yi cut through them like slicing melons and vegetables—one blade, one kill—forcing an unmatched, peerless feel out of mech combat.

Wu Chang had no doubt that if He Yi were alive and saw the helmeted man harboring designs on He Yun, he'd put on his mech and cleave the helmeted man in two.

But He Yi wasn't truly invincible either. During the advance, every time he intercepted a sneak attack aimed at He Yun, he exposed an opening—and the mech warriors condensed from the Calamity Mist would not pass up that chance.

The most dangerous moment: the enemy's charged sniper shot nearly pierced He Yi's chest. Though He Yi dodged in time, the mech on his right ribs was still grazed open in a large gash, and along with it, the shelter leader insignia on his right arm was blasted away into a corner of the temple.

A little further in, and it would have pierced his body.

But partial mech damage couldn't stop his forward stride.

Under He Yi's relentless advance, he soon escorted He Yun to the temple's main hall.

He stood guard at the hall's entrance, patted He Yun on the shoulder, and said, "He Yun, from here on, it's up to you."

Only after He Yun entered the temple did He Yi's expression shift, as he half-leaned against the Shi Zhu at the main hall's doorway.

He complained to the continuously condensing mist warriors: "If I'd known things would escalate to this, I'd have gone to your door and slaughtered you one by one before acting. That way, even if I weren't here, no one could bully Xiao Yun."

Unfortunately, the mech warriors condensed from the Calamity Mist didn't make conversation.

What followed was an endless battle. When the mech's energy was exhausted and there was no longer Nurse Zhu Li from the mech, He Yi began rapidly accumulating wounds, until he could no longer rise.

Lying on the ground, He Yi used his last strength to lift his head and glance at the main hall.

He saw the light inside the main hall growing ever more dazzling.

"Looks like I won't get to see the result with my own eyes."

He Yi's eyes went black, and he completely lost consciousness.

He didn't know how long it had been when He Yi opened his eyes again. He looked up at the ceiling overhead—a familiar ceiling.

No, wait—a familiar Calamity Mist. The thick fog blocked his view, and he couldn't see the temple's ceiling.

"I'm still alive?"

Not only was he alive, but the wounds he'd suffered in battle before death had miraculously all healed.

The Calamity Mist inside the temple remained thick, yet it didn't affect him again, as if he didn't exist.

"This isn't scientific."

A voice came from beside his ear: "No, this is very scientific."

He Yi turned his head and saw Mercury, dressed in a suit, standing beside him.

Facing Mercury, He Yi swiftly rearranged his face into an expressionless mask and asked, "You saved me?"

Mercury shrugged and said, "Of course. Besides me, is there a second person here?"

He Yi said, slightly surprised, "This is the first time I've learned you're a doctor—and that the treatment could be this thorough."

Mercury waved the staff in his hand, entwined by twin serpents, and said, "Didn't you know that a staff entwined by twin serpents is the symbol of a doctor?"

He Yi asked, puzzled, "Why do I remember that the serpent staff representing doctors only has one snake?"

Mercury said, "Don't worry about those details. The military medical system, and plenty of hospitals for the sake of looks, all choose to use the serpent staff as their symbol. That's not the point—the point is I saved you." He Yi didn't pick up the thread. He stripped off the broken mech on his body, rummaged around the area, and picked up the hilt of his shattered mech longblade.

The broken mech longblade had only a seventy-or-eighty-centimeter remnant of edge left. He swung it twice—just enough for his flesh body to use.

After picking up the broken blade, he finally looked up and asked, "He Yun? What's her situation now?"

Mercury shook his head and said, "Not good. That's also why I brought you back."

He Yi's brow furrowed slightly. "What do you need me to do?"

Mercury didn't waste words and said directly, "Because you didn't listen to my advice and abused the temple's powers, the God of Desire awakened ahead of schedule. He Yun and I found a way to end everything. It was supposed to be a perfect plan, but there was one small accident—the awakened God of Desire didn't agree."

"So, I'd like to ask you to step in and keep the God of Desire quiet for a while longer."

He Yi understood Mercury's meaning. He nodded and said, "I understand."

After speaking, He Yi stood up and walked into the temple's main hall.

Before the Desire Stone Tablet, he saw He Yun floating within the light—she seemed to be immersed in some kind of space.

!

Mercury beside him explained, "It's the God of Desire. He's trying to use divine power to influence He Yun. We have to hurry, or once He Yun loses herself within the God of Desires power, He'll break free completely, and everything will be beyond saving."

He Yi took one last look at He Yun. He pressed his thumb against the broken blade's hilt, and a hidden compartment popped out from the blade's guard. From it he poured out a pink gemstone.

This was the Desire Stone he'd been keeping safe.

He had participated in the entire process of deciphering the temple's text. Though he hadn't truly mastered the language, he remembered which line was the wish to use a human stake to seal the God of Desire.

If he couldn't write it, couldn't he still copy it?

He Yi didn't hesitate. Using the Desire Stone, he began copying onto the stone tablet.

Halfway through copying, near the end, Mercury suddenly asked, "You trust me this much? Not a single doubt?"

He Yi's hand didn't stop. "Do you want the truth or a lie?"

Mercury said, "The truth, of course."

He Yi: "The truth is, the one I trust isn't you—it's He Yun. I just need to buy her space to act, and she'll definitely resolve the problem in the end."

At this point, the wish in He Yi's hand was also reaching its end. Only the final two characters were needed to complete it.

But just then, a shrill scream pierced his ears.

"Stop!"

The shrill voice made him squint involuntarily; when the scream faded, he opened his eyes wide and discovered that He Yun and Mercury beside him had both vanished.

Not only that, the ruined, ancient stone temple had now become resplendent in gold and jade; on the cold stone floor, fresh flowers just picked were spread everywhere, each bloom held at the peak of its bloom, like a carpet woven of fresh blossoms.

Standing upon the flower carpet was a maiden — or rather, a lady — so beautiful she scarcely seemed human.

She possessed at once a maiden's innocence and a young matron's maturity; every frown and smile could stir the deepest desires of the heart.

He Yi recognized Her; She was the Mother Goddess worshipped by the Bliss Sect.

The Bliss Sect — a new religion that had suddenly sprung up when the Underground Heart Project was decided, when humanity was to withdraw from the surface to the underground. It was said that among the shelter union that had massacred Shelter No. 87, there were many believers of the Bliss Sect.

He had to admit, the Mother Goddess's figure was extremely alluring. Although She was not He Yi's usual type, the instant he saw Her, his ideal type became Her.

If given a chance, he would absolutely pursue the Mother Goddess with his life, even at the cost of his own life.

But not now.

Because his little sister needed him.

So he merely glanced, rose slightly out of politeness, and continued writing his wish.

"Stop!" The voice of objection rang out once more; this time it came from the Mother Goddess's own mouth.

"The Desire Primal Stone is a reward I give to well-behaved children. To seal me away with the Desire Primal Stone — doesn't your conscience hurt?"

He Yi nodded and said as he wrote, "It hurts."

"It hurts and you still write!" the Mother Goddess shouted in displeasure.

He Yi said matter-of-factly, "My conscience hurting doesn't mean I won't do it. If I've upset you, I can apologize."

The Mother Goddess fell silent. She felt that, with the passage of time, a generation gap had appeared between Her and present-day humanity; if She didn't spell things out plainly, the other party seemed unable to understand.

The Mother Goddess switched to a different way of communicating; She said in a sweet voice, "Do you know what punishment the last two naughty children who did this received?"

He Yi paused briefly and asked, "What punishment?"

The Mother Goddess said with a smile, "Even if you use the Desire Primal Stone to seal me, your soul still has to be sacrificed to me. So I made their souls forever immersed in the scenes they least wished to see, on an endless loop."

"One naughty child broke down very quickly — in just three days he was madly begging for mercy and confessing his sins. Hehe, but I didn't listen. On the tenth day, his soul could no longer hold up and shattered completely."

"The other naughty child had a firmer will, letting me enjoy his wretched state a little longer, but he only lasted half a year before shattering too."

"Tell me, what is it that you fear most?"

The Mother Goddess's face instantly darkened. She widened her eyes, her pitch-black pupils nearly filling the entire eyeball. She leaned close to He Yi's ear and ranted frantically:

"Believe me, those two times were my first time punishing naughty children, and my technique wasn't good enough. After hearing my warning, naughty children who still dare to keep doing evil — like you — are beyond forgiveness."

"I can promise you, this time I will definitely devote every bit of my attention to playing with you for as long as it takes, letting you taste a different kind of pain, letting your soul forever drown in despair, unable to even shatter completely and find release!"

The Mother Goddess's threat was terrifying, but He Yi hadn't listened at all. While the Mother Goddess was threatening him, he had already finished writing the wish in his hand.

"Ah! How dare you, how dare you!"

"Naughty child, there's a naughty child here! I must punish you severely!"

"I will make you suffer. Not only will I imprison you, I will also imprison the soul of that stupid little girl outside, and make you both endure endless torment!"

The Mother Goddess cupped her face in both hands and shouted in furious exasperation.

He Yi could feel his soul gradually being controlled by the woman before him, but a smile spread across his face instead.

"You're afraid."

This sentence's damage to the Mother Goddess was no less than "you're triggered." The Mother Goddess's fury was instantly choked off, and her whole being went as if muted.

She looked at He Yi, a most dangerous light flickering in Her gaze, and then said:

"What do I have to fear?"

"You're afraid for that stupid little girl you mentioned — that is my most proud little sister."

He Yi continued, "She is smarter than anyone. My existence has actually been holding back her growth the whole time. Freed from my protection, she will definitely grow rapidly, and before long she will find a way to defeat you completely."

"I believe this with all my heart."

The Mother Goddess glared fiercely at He Yi and said, "You will pay the price for angering a deity today."

The scene within the grudge ended here. As his vision blurred, Wu Chang's consciousness returned to reality.

After seeing He Yi's grudge, he began to understand why there was no blood-colored last words within He Yi's grudge.

Because he firmly believed that, within the time He Yi had fought to buy, He Yun would certainly come up with a way to solve the problem; his trust in He Yun exceeded his trust in himself.

Moreover, wary of He Yi's martial prowess, and also to make use of He Yi until the very last moment, Mercury never revealed her true nature in front of He Yi.

Therefore, he had only regret, and no obsession that could not be resolved.

While Wu Chang was sighing, He Yun's shout reached his ears.

"Heping, what are you thinking about? Don't space out."

Wu Chang shook his head, turned to look at He Yun, and said, "What's wrong?"

He Yun said, "I saw the wish on the stone tablet, and a small part of my memory has recovered. The most important part I still haven't recalled. I think I should walk around the area more — maybe I'll remember something."

"The missing memory needs more stimulation," Wu Chang muttered, staring fixedly at He Yun.

He Yun felt a little creeped out by Wu Chang's gaze and said unhappily, "What are you saying? You look so weird — you can't be thinking about something bad, can you? Let me tell you, not every kind of stimulation is stimulation. Now is not the time for you to be thinking about those things."

Wu Chang didn't notice He Yun's words. He smacked his palm sharply, pulled out the Unlimited Portable Livestream Room, and began operating it.

A moment later he suddenly looked up — it actually worked!

He said to He Yun, "Stay here and don't move. I'll be back very soon."

He Yun: "Ah? Oh."

He Yun watched Wu Chang turn and run off, her face full of question marks, not knowing what he was going to do, and feeling a little worried at the same time.

Heping had never entered the stone temple before — he wouldn't get lost, would he?

A few minutes later, Wu Chang ran back and said, "I told you before that I can communicate with spirits. Do you still remember?"

He Yun nodded and said, "I remember."

Remembering was one thing; regarding the so-called spirit communication, she had actually always been half-believing, half-doubting.

Wu Chang came to He Yun's right side, took out the Underground Shelter leader's insignia he had just picked up following He Yi's lingering resentment, and pressed it onto He Yun's right-arm mecha.

"I just saw your brother's soul. He said this thing should be given to you. He believes you can lead the Underground Shelter well and completely resolve the Stone Temple problem."

He Yun stared at the leader's insignia on her right arm, her mind going blank for an instant.

She had actually been feeling guilty about her brother's death all along, believing she had let everyone down. Her brother had placed all his hopes on her, yet she had botched everything.

So, in truth, she had been running away all along.

But even now, her brother still believed in her. If she kept on running, that would truly be what let her brother down.

Thinking of this, she seemed to hear something shattering in her ears, and a flood of memories came rushing back like a tide.

Just as she was about to carefully examine these memories, searching for the true turning point to solve the problem, what Wu Chang said next made her completely unable to bother with those gradually returning memories.

Wu Chang looked at He Yun and asked tentatively, "How about it? Is this enough of a shock?"

"If it's not enough, I have another proposal — how about we go rescue your brother right now?"

He Yun: "What?!"

(End of this chapter)