Book 4: Chapter 14: Suicide Temple


    After waiting for a while and confirming that we were still us, I said to them, "Lets analyze it. Why did the heavenly gift bring us here and let us wake up? Over the past month, the three of us obviously did a lot of things and walked a lot. If theres a sentient beingwhich well call it for nowthat wants us to go deep into this gap and reach the end of the dragon vein, then it couldve kept us under control with the heavenly gift and done it all in one go. So why did the heavenly gift suddenly disappear when we got here? Moreover, the heavenly gift this time is different from Little Brother''s since none of us have amnesia."


    Fatty, who didnt appear to be as shocked as I was, also sat down. He looked at my hands and then at Poker-Face again.


    My hands were still shaking.


    "To answer your question, he said, you need to answer a preliminary question: Is this a normal sentient being? That is to say, is this thing a person or something thats simr to a person? If its thetter, then its purpose is understandable. At present, it seems that it wants to lead us to the bottom of the Kunlun Mountains." He stacked some small stones on the ground into a pile, "This is Shen Qianjue." Another pile of stones was stacked right next to it, "This is ck sses. If the two of them were being controlled when they were talking to us, then those conversations were actually fake. In other words, we were constantly being led to the ck spot."


    I remained silent as Fatty continued, "Let''s go in and meet ck sses and Xiao Hua. But we need to be careful. They may not be them."


    "Theyll have to be careful with us, too," I interrupted him.


    "If its not a person, then I don''t know, Fatty continued. I think its behavior is unpredictable. It may just be a coincidence that it led us here." He lit a cigarette, "First, let''s start with the question of whether its a sentient being or not. If it is, then I think this thing is worth pondering over. You said that its a dragon veinan ancient dragon godthats very cunning. But dont you think the crafty plots, machinations, and step-by-step process in which the ancient god has entrenched itself are all a bit humble for an ancient god?"


    "What do you mean?" I asked.


    "Youre the five fucking mountain dragon gods, Fatty said. One of the ancient gods of China. And yet you''re doing things in a Jin Wantang-like manner? Why don''t you just work some magic ande to us in a dream? But instead, you have to go through so many steps, which is a very humble approach. I think this conspirator can win a model worker medal."


    "Maybe its a god of mischief?" I mocked him in my heart but didn''t say it aloud. But after hearing what Fatty said, I suddenly felt a little better. He was right. We hade all this way, but that thing didn''t show any overwhelming power at all.


    Could it be that young man from before? Was he a dragon vein that had transformed into a human?


    If it was that kid, then I would skin him alive. But if he had the ability to bestow a heavenly gift, then he would be like Professor X⁽¹⁾ and my whole worldview would copse.


    "We also suffered from a heavenly gift on the grasnd, but eventually came back to our senses. And neither of these two heavenly gifts robbed us of our memories. We also havent gotten to our destination in one go. Either it doesn''t want us to be disabled, or it can''t do it." Fatty took a puff of his cigarette, "I think its probably thetter. It can only bestow the heavenly gift on us in a fixed area."


    Fatty looked at our surroundings, which were full of those Zhang corpses. "This ceit''s very special. But as for how special it is, well have to ask Little Brother. Based on your expression, you should already have an answer. Isnt that, Little Brother?"


    Poker-Face was still looking at that shriveled head, but when I nced at him, he turned to look at me, "They allmitted suicide. They died here voluntarily."


    Fatty and I exchanged a look as Poker-Face continued, "They sacrificed themselves and made a partition here. There should be a very crucial thing in this small shrine that canpete against the power here."


    "But it''s empty now. Wheres the thing?


    "It must be nearby. If thats not the case, then the effectiveness of this ce will disappear. This thing and these corpses must have interacted with each other, which enabled us to recover."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Professor X is a character from the super famousics The X-Men. Hes a mutant whos an exceptionally-powerful telepath. He can read and control the minds of others. More info here.


    ****


    <strong><em>Heads up, they said we can get overtime at work if we want and considering how I had to suffer a 10% cut to my sryst year cuz of covid, mama wants that $$$$$ (I''ve got student loans, a mortgage, and medical bills to pay. Adultingugh). I will try to keep up with my minimum 1 chapter a day, but if I''m exhausted after work, it''s just not going to happen. Just know that I''m not dead in a ditch or anything if I go MIA for a few days.</em></strong>