Chapter 94: Those past, present, future, and unknown things

Those past, present, future, and unknown things

(This chapter must be a big cup!)

Reality, in an old house in an unknown city.

This is an old two-bedroom apartment on the 4th floor. It's not large, but it has a strong sense of life.

The room is cluttered with all kinds of things. If you observe carefully, you can find all the traces left by a person from childhood to adulthood.

Toys, graffiti, textbooks, posters, figures, suitcases...

Each piece maintains the original position and appearance from before the 【Gods】 descended, unchanged.

Over the past half a year, there hasn't even been a speck of dust on their surfaces.

As for the reason... it's obvious, someone has been wiping them.

This is the old house of the Cui family, where Cui Qiushi and his father Cui Dingtian lived.

For the past eighteen years, two people have lived here.

Later, for well-known reasons, the owner changed, but not long after, the old man of the Cui family returned here.

Although he paid some price, he felt it was worth it.

It's just that the old man doesn't know why Qiushi, who loves home, didn't choose to come back. He doesn't guess, doesn't want to think, and doesn't dare to think.

Actually, in the previous trial, Cheng Shi wanted to ask Cui Dingtian why he didn't participate in the 【Prayer Trial】 to find people, but later he understood.

Cui Lao didn't want to, he didn't dare.

But today, he changed his mind.

Because he no longer has time to wait, his life only has... 3 days left.

Cui Dingtian held a rag, gently wiping the model his son liked most, and his mind recalled the scene of 【Divinity】 all over the ground in the previous trial.

If he could have taken some at that time, even if it was just secretly hiding a portion...

No, Cheng Shi had already promised him, so it definitely wouldn't count as stealing!

Just one portion, perhaps his life could be extended for a period of time.

But he gave it up.

He understands what human nature is, and knows even better what greed is.

In the past, he might have been able to resist the temptation of greed, but not now. Before the end of his life, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself.

Once that door was opened, he would jump directly into the abyss.

But this choice left him with no way to choose.

Regret?

Regret!

But if there was a chance to choose again...

The old man would still choose to regret.

My father named me Cui Dingtian, which means I should live uprightly and be a person who stands tall!

The old man wiped every corner of the house, washed the rag, tidied his clothes, sat in Qiushi's room, and finally touched Qiushi's suitcase.

In those eyes that weren't turbid, there was both endless longing and... the expectation of an imminent reunion...

"All living things should decay, everything will rot.

Your devout believer prays to you to open a trial..."

Reality, a wild mountain vegetable garden in an unknown city.

Tao Yi hadn't opened her eyes yet when she heard the ringing of the phone by her hand.

"Ding-a-ling—"

There were no internet or phone lines on the wild mountain, and as for whether the rotary phone on the table was connected to the void or something else, she didn't know at all.

This was a gift from a friend of hers, on her last birthday, two months ago.

Tao Yi smiled and stood up, acting as if she didn't hear the phone ringing.

She walked toward the endless terraced fields on the hillside, took out a stream of flowing light from her personal space, and carefully sprinkled it into the fields under her feet.

Until the "fertilizing" work was all done, she leisurely returned to where she woke up and answered the phone that was still ringing.

"Hello?"

"Deliberately not answering my phone, huh, Xiao Yiyi, you've changed your heart."

"No, I was just fertilizing, didn't have time."

"Is that so? I express doubt about your sophistry, but since I'm in a good mood, I'll spare you this time."

"What happened to make you so happy?"

"Ran into that lunatic today. You really don't say, although he's crazy, he's really generous. The four of us split a little bit of 【Divinity】 fragments, which counts as a small gain."

"Oh, what a coincidence, I also found a little bit of 【Divinity】 today, and I used the method you said to sprinkle this 【Divinity】 as fertilizer."

"Is it useful?"

"For now, it doesn't seem so."

"Mm, I just happened to flip through the biological experiment records of the Tower of Reason, not sure if it's reliable, you..."

The person on the other end of the phone seemed to want to say something, but Tao Yi suddenly interrupted:

"By the way, have you ever done human experiments?"

"Uh... ah? Too many, which kind are you referring to?"

"The kind where 【Divinity】 is sealed inside someone else."

"Am I sick? Can't I hide it on myself? What kind of ghost question is this, why ask this?"

"When did you join the Reason Association?"

"Ah? When did I..."

Tao Yi interrupted again: "The thing you gave me, I used it."

"No, Xiao Yiyi, you're a bit strange today, I..."

"Hey, forgot to water, I'll go get busy first."

After speaking, Tao Yi decisively hung up the phone.

She stood on the hillside, facing the sun, and squinted her eyes with a smile.

That appearance was like a little fox that had smelled a secret.

As for the other end of the phone...

"Beep beep beep—"

"?"

Reality, an apartment in an unknown city.

Gao Yu stood in the corridor outside the door and let out a few deep breaths of turbid air.

He tidied his clothes, put on a new backpack, and then raised his hand to knock on the door.

"Dong dong—"

"Who is it? Coming."

A man's voice came from inside the room, and before long, the door opened.

Standing in the room was a middle-aged man with a receding hairline. He extinguished the cigarette in his hand and smiled awkwardly.

"Xiao Yu... why are you home so early from school today? I just smoked one, really, just happened to be bumped into by you."

The man was arguing awkwardly. Seeing that he couldn't round off the lie, he hurriedly threw the cigarette butt out of the house.

Gao Yu looked at him with a smile and walked straight in.

"Smoke less, Dad."

"I don't usually smoke, it's your mom..."

"What about me? What about me? What did I do again to make you, Old Gao, feel upset and only able to smoke, huh?"

A roar came from the kitchen. The man shrank his head, pointed at the kitchen, and muttered to Gao Yu in a low voice:

"Look, I'm scared like this."

Although the man's reaction was very real and his speech was fluent, if you observed carefully, you could still see that his limbs were somewhat uncoordinated, as if he had joint disease, and all his movements were slightly slow and raw.

"You, my mom just serves you too well."

Gao Yu threw his schoolbag on the sofa and shouted toward the kitchen:

"Mom, what are we eating today?"

"So angry I'm full, eat what fart. Keep it down, Xiao Lin is resting in the room, don't wake her up."

Gao Yu really wanted to say "Who is louder than you," but thought better of it, exchanged an innocent look with his dad, pouted, and returned to his room.

The bedroom wasn't big, but it was very warm, not like a boy's room.

A pretty girl was lying on the bed in the bedroom, breathing evenly, taking a nap.

Gao Yu didn't wake her up, just carefully moved out a stool, and then took out a... from the workbench.

Scalpel.

He lifted his shirt, looked at his chest, and then pulled up directly to cut open his skin.

Blood sprayed out, staining the tabletop red.

Just as he was about to open the wound a bit deeper, a small, powerful hand grabbed the handle of the knife.

"Awake?"

"Mm, let me do it."

The little girl's hand holding the knife didn't shake at all, as if this action had been done a thousand times. She carefully cut open the skin on Gao Yu's chest, dissected along the muscle texture, and before long, touched the metal heart coat hidden under the flesh.

She carefully took out something the size of a button from beside the heart and began to suture.

Gao Yu gritted his teeth and carried through the most painful moment, holding this button metal in his hand, lost in thought.

"This time, whose story is it again?"

"This time it's not a story, but a prophecy."

"?" The little girl was stunned for a moment and asked with a smile, "What prophecy?"

"Hiss—"

"Sorry, I wasn't careful. Let me see, it's fine, just pricked off-center, no big problem. It's probably that the left-hand spatial locator is broken again..."

"..." It's fine, I'll make another one."

"Mm, thank you. Aunt Qin's left leg extension muscle unit also has a problem, and Uncle Gao, his simulated lung... Xiao Yu, really need to persuade him to smoke less."

"Sigh, let him be, he just likes this bite in this life. I'll go find materials in the trial to make a new one."

"Alright... sutured, can I listen to the story, oh no, can I listen to the prophecy now?"

"Mm, okay."

Gao Yu first took a small box off the wall, then put the button into the box, and immediately after, the sound in the room became vivid.

"This is not a joke, Zhao... oh right, Zhao Qian.

Looks like you don't quite believe me. Never mind, since that's the case, I'll give you a reason to die."

"Don't be angry. Perhaps after knowing these things, not only will you be willing to die, but you will also deeply thank me...

Do you know how I learned the names of you Fire-Keepers?

At the first meeting of the Audience, a Beast Tamer, in order to please Him, shared the story of himself refusing the Fire-Keepers...

Then, this poor Beast Tamer was killed by Cheng Shi.

Don't be surprised, you didn't mishear, it was Cheng Shi, the very Cheng Shi who died before your eyes.

I know he didn't die, I don't want to kill him, and I can't kill him.

At that time, he was just a tail-ender ranked tenth on the Ladder of Audience, but he was so decisive when he took action, as if... he himself was also a Fire-Keeper.

You are curious about his identity, aren't you?

It's a pity, he isn't.

He told us that the Fire-Keepers are not known by the gods because He is helping to hide it. Hahaha, Zhao Qian, I like your expression now.

This is not a lie, although Cheng Shi and I are indeed His believers...

I was also very shocked at the time, but since then, everyone present has warned themselves to forget everything they heard.

Because exposing you will make Him displeased.

He has taken a fancy to you, no, perhaps it should be said, He has taken a fancy to a performance about to open, and His believers, in order for this grand performance to open normally, can only choose to hide it.

It wasn't until a long time later that we knew... sigh, forget it, this history is not glorious.

So... what I want to say is:

If I don't bring a corpse back today, Cheng Shi will still die, and will continue to be hunted by the person who sent me back.

But if he really dies, the ending of you Fire-Keepers...

It's obvious.

How about it, Mr. City-Builder, what are your thoughts?"

"..."

"..."

"Borrowing greatness from the gods, striving to build a new nation!

For the continuation of humanity!

For the sake of a new nation!

Goodbye, this world!"

"Boom—"

Finally, it was the sound of flames burning.

"This is..." There was no shock in the little girl's unchanging eyes, but her physical reaction still exposed the fact that she was almost shocked into a system crash.

"Mm, a piece of history... related to the future... that should have been buried in the past."

Gao Yu took out the button and placed it solemnly on the cabinet.

Looking up at this moment, the cabinet that covered an entire wall was densely packed with identical metal buttons.

The reason history is known by later generations is because it always has devout recorders.

Unknown space, unknown time, unknown location.

"Click."

A hand pushed open an ordinary wooden door.

The four people outside the door opened their eyes in response, looking at the man who dragged the charred corpse in with different expressions.

When they keenly noticed the firelight of the departed flickering faintly on the corpse, everyone's expression changed.

The man on the far left sighed:

"Looks like bad news."

The woman on the far right sneered and turned to leave.

The two in the middle stared at the man who came in for a while and said in unison:

"Who's coming?"

"You're coming?"

The man on the far left laughed again: "I'll come, I'll handle it."

The two in the middle nodded and disappeared instantly.

The man dragging the charred corpse was forced to be unable to say a word by the huge pressure from the moment he entered. He didn't even have time to explain the draft he had prepared before his vision slowly turned black with the approach of a large hand.

At the last moment of his life, he saw that hand entwined with two completely different faith powers, which were entangled together just right, the traces of the flow so brilliant and charming.

It's a pity, he never had another chance.

"It's a pity, I knew he couldn't die, sigh...

But brother, you're a bit dishonest, how come you brought back a Fire-Keeper?

Fuck, shouldn't have taken these messy jobs.

How is this still playable?"

The man threw the two corpses off the high building and left the scene whistling. ===== CHAPTER 95 =====