Chapter 34: The Dawn Piercing the Dark Night

The Dawn Piercing the Dark Night

Reality, in an apartment in an unknown province and city.

Bai Fei woke up on the bed, feeling the sunlight spilling onto her cheeks through the window, feeling slightly warm.

She raised her hand to touch her face and pinched it hard.

Pain!

She didn't die.

The Final Gate was real.

She survived again!

Joy first appeared between her brows, and she giggled, but then the smile froze on her face, and then slowly dissipated.

She looked at the snow-white ceiling with vacant eyes.

"Why choose Him?"

Cheng Shi's question kept circling in her mind, and she still remembered her answer.

"Isn't it because I like it?"

Yes, isn't it because I like it?

But what... do I like?

She slowly got up, took off her clothes just like after the trial ended, stood in front of the mirror without any cover, turned around, and looked at the traces left by 【Filth and Fall】 on her body.

The feeling of embracing desire is not disgusting, but do I really like it?

Perhaps.

Bai Fei smiled self-deprecatingly and walked toward the bathroom.

This is an old and dilapidated apartment, but with the joint prayers of the players around, the hot water supply is still sufficient.

She turned the shower water to the maximum and the temperature to the highest, letting the hot water pour over her body, scalding her skin red.

Her hands kept scrubbing her body. Even if nothing could be scrubbed off the mottled red skin, she was still using force.

It wasn't until she was exhausted and slumped in the bathroom, falling asleep in fatigue, that this "torture" ended.

In her dream, she seemed to have returned to the day 【All Gods】 descended, looking at the only choice in front of her, Bai Fei asked ignorantly:

"Believing in you, what should I do?"

She still remembered that soul-stirring voice to this day.

【Flesh, power, money, selfishness, greed, laziness... everything will be desires you can pursue】

"But I... don't want to hurt others."

【Then bring joy to others】

Joy?

From that day on, a Sensory Hunter who pursued "fleshly sinking" was born.

She had never hurt anyone, only brought...

Joy.

After not knowing how many hours passed, Bai Fei woke up slowly.

A smile appeared on her face again. She slowly got up, dried her body, chose a brand-new dress in the fitting room, and put it on slowly.

For players, the destination of old clothes is only one, and that is the trash can.

But Bai Fei would never throw away her clothes. Each dress is like a videotape of memories, reminding her of every detail of every trial.

She carefully hung up the dress, tidied it up carefully, and by the way, recalled every scene that had just happened.

But just as she was smoothing the hem of the dress, she suddenly found that there was a letter in the seam of the hem.

A letter written on a page of a book.

Bai Fei covered her mouth in shock. She took out the letter in disbelief and unfolded it tremblingly to read.

The beautiful handwriting on the letter entered her eyes one by one.

"Invitation... letter... of the Fire... bringer?"

Reality, in a classroom in an unknown province and city.

Fang Shiqing picked up a piece of chalk and skillfully drew a symbol on the blackboard.

The moment the chalk fell, the blackboard suddenly twisted into a pure black door. She walked into the door without hesitation, her gaze firm.

On the other side of the door was endless void.

The moment she stepped in, invisible stairs rose under her feet, guiding her to the designated place.

After walking only a few dozen steps, Fang Shiqing saw a "person" sitting opposite her, a "person" sitting in the high place out of thin air, overlooking her, outlined by burning candle flames.

Feeling the gaze of this "person," Fang Shiqing shook her head and smiled bitterly:

"Do you have to be so flamboyant?"

"Qingqing, this is the treatment I deserve. I opened this path that even 【All Gods】 cannot see to help you communicate, shouldn't you praise me every time we meet?"

"Stop, stop, stop, praise you, praise the great 【Fire of Hope】, but please don't call me Qingqing anymore, it's so cloying it makes people numb."

"Okay, Qingqing."

"..." Fang Shiqing rubbed her forehead helplessly, "Is he here?"

"He's here, right in front."

Fang Shiqing nodded and wanted to leave, but stopped after taking two steps and looked back, asking with a face full of confusion:

"By the way, why don't you call him 'Heart'?"

"..."

The candle flame person's tone stalled, and he answered awkwardly:

"I'm afraid he'll beat me..."

"Pfft." Fang Shiqing really couldn't hold back and laughed out loud, and even her subsequent footsteps were much lighter.

Not long after, she saw that majestic man in a bright hall.

"So happy, any good news?"

"Are you hurt?" Fang Shiqing frowned slightly.

"Small injury, no matter. Ran into a God-chosen of 【Filth and Fall】 and exchanged hands twice."

The man said it easily, but the danger could be imagined just by thinking about it.

The difficulty of that trial at that rank was almost beyond the imagination of ordinary players.

Fang Shiqing didn't ask much, just nodded.

"Speak, time is precious."

"Hmm, I sent out two new invitations, one is a Forgotten Doctor, and one is a Sensory Hunter."

The man raised his eyebrows, somewhat surprised: "Believer of 【Filth and Fall】?"

"Hmm, believer of 【Filth and Fall】."

"And then?"

"The doctor refused, the hunter... probably won't refuse."

"Oh?" The man became interested and smiled, "Why?"

"Because her heartstrings are played just like yours and mine, full of the sound of compassion, jumping with symbols of hope."

"Are you sure this is a believer of 【Filth and Fall】?"

"I'm sure."

"Hmm... you are a Fire-seeker, you have the final say. So, can I prepare a welcome ceremony to welcome our new partner?"

Fang Shiqing seemed to think of someone, but she still shook her head to throw away the miscellaneous thoughts, smiled, and nodded:

"She will come."

Reality, in a room in an unknown province and city.

Xu Lu woke up screaming, stood up abruptly from the table, and pushed the crystal ball and cards on the table to the ground.

She struggled for a while as if being grabbed by the neck, and didn't come back to her senses until her back hit the wall, discovering that she was no longer in the trial.

This is...

Rest area?

When 【All Gods】 allocated fragmented activity areas for all players, the term "home" had basically gradually faded out of people's thinking.

Most players call the place they live a rest area, and some players call it a foothold, or a place to survive.

Xu Lu looked at her hands in disbelief, then quickly groped around on her body.

But when she found that she was indeed alive and unscathed, the fear on her face became even more obvious.

Why!?

Why did she survive even though she was dragged into the wrong Final Gate by that guy surnamed Cheng?

Why did he have the chance, but didn't choose to kill her?

Why was the revelation given to her by 【Fate】 not to believe in the believer of 【Time】? But according to the results, the believer of 【Time】 was clearly right!

Why is this?

Could it be that the oracle of 【Fate】 was to let me die!?

Why!!??

Ever since I believed in 【Fate】, there hasn't been a day I didn't revere you, not a day I didn't praise you, not a day I dared to disobey you.

But in the end, you actually guided me to die?

Why?!

Is this my fate?

I don't accept it!

Fear and anger intertwined in Xu Lu's eyes, unwillingness and hatred grew. She gripped the dice of fate in her hand tightly, her face gloomy and uncertain, her expression changing several times.

Xie Yang on the roof seemed to hear the movement downstairs. He leaned over the edge of the roof and asked anxiously:

"Lulu, Lulu? Are you okay? What happened?"

Xie Yang's call brought Xu Lu's reason back a little. She withdrew her hand that was about to throw away the dice and stopped her voice hatefully.

Then, she quickly returned to her previous voice and responded in a clipped tone:

"Brother Xie, I'm fine, just accidentally bumped into the table."

But from beginning to end, she didn't take a step toward the balcony where Xie Yang could see her.

"It's good that you're fine, it's good that you're fine. You weren't hurt in the trial, right?"

"Thanks to Brother's potion, I'm fine, it's just the potion... seems to have run out."

"Ah? Oh! It's okay, I'll ask Cheng Shi for another bottle, he might still have some in his hand."

Cheng Shi!!

Cheng Shi again!!

Xu Lu didn't know what she was thinking in her heart. The look of hatred in her eyes flashed several times, and finally, she said softly and weakly:

"Then... won't it trouble Brother?"

"Hey, no trouble!"

Reality, in a suburb of an unknown province and city.

A-Ming lay on the ground, looking up at the scorching sun, his heart boiling.

After he received the oracle of 【Order】 to prepare to wipe out the believer of 【Chaos】 but was countered by Huang Bo, he knew he was going to die.

Imprisoned on the wall by the enemy and suffering inhuman torture, feeling his life slipping away bit by bit, he even once despaired to the point of giving up.

But unexpectedly, just when he felt his life was about to dissipate, a snap from the depths of the void pulled his consciousness back to reality.

He woke up from the wall unscathed.

Just like when he first entered the trial.

A-Ming looked at his fully restored self, shocked beyond measure.

He tore off the blood nails, struggled to jump down from the wall, and took a look at the time; 2 hours remained.

Time?

A-Ming suddenly realized.

It was the Forgotten Doctor's method, the trick of 【Time】, state retroaction.

That doctor named Cheng Shi saved him.

Praise 【Time】, for letting him survive again.

Afterward, he searched for the Gate of Memory and the traces of his teammates, only to find that his teammates had already left the trial.

Not only that, outside every Gate of Memory, they had left him guidance for the answer.

He was like having a dream, dreaming that he was abused and about to die.

But after waking up from the dream, the trial was automatically cleared.

"Cheng Shi... fortunately there's you..." ===== CHAPTER 35 =====