Chapter 65: Offering (8)

Chapter 65: Offering (8)

◎ Cultivation ◎

On an autumn night fourteen years ago.

The full moon hung high, and the cold wind whistled.

The place was a remote area with high mountains and dense forests, uninhabited and desolate.

On the small path covered in dry leaves, two boys were running hand in hand, their rapid breathing echoing in the air.

Suddenly, the shorter boy with a sister's hairstyle stumbled and fell to the ground.

“Qingqing!” The boy in sportswear hurried over to lift him, “Are you okay?”

“I... I can't run anymore…”

“I’ll carry you!”

“They'll catch up…”

“I'll run faster! I’ll carry you!”

One carrying the other, they continued forward. In the distance behind them, ominous shouts and warnings could be faintly heard. The boy on the back seemed scared, tightly wrapping his arms around the neck of the boy beneath him.

They ran for a while longer but were still deep in the dense jungle.

"Yet, the group following them never gave up, seeming to close the distance once more."

Tears started to fall from the eyes of the boy being carried.

“Qingqing...” The boy who was running gasped loudly, his voice broken and labored, full of distress, “Don’t be afraid, I’ll hide you, okay?”

The boy lay on his back, silent.

They quickly reached a secluded ravine. The taller boy looked around and then carefully set him down, quickly removing his watch and putting it on the other's wrist.

He blinked at the watch.

“Hide here, and I'll lead them away. Once you have the strength, continue running forward. I won’t let them come this way… Don’t worry, my parents will realize I’m missing and will come looking soon... This watch has a GPS tracker, don’t lose it.”

He looked up, then down at the watch again.

The taller boy held his face, wiping away his tears, and whispered, “When you’re better, let’s go back to school, okay?”

The other boy remained silent.

Used to the silence, the taller boy hid him in a hollow filled with deadwood, covering him with leaves. After checking several times to ensure he was well-hidden, he turned and ran towards the source of the noises—

That's how they parted.

Beneath the deadwood, a pair of round amber eyes quietly watched the dark night outside.

Soon, he pushed away the wood and slowly crawled out, staggering forward…

A day later, the Bo family's missing child was finally found at the foot of a remote mountain and taken to the hospital, where he lay unconscious for several days.

He had suffered injuries from a fall.

Outside the hospital room, a group of adults looked worried and distressed.

“How could this happen?”

“We should consult a spiritual master to dispel the evil… Ever since he woke up, he’s been like crazy, insisting someone was trying to kill them, and there’s a classmate in the mountains, desperate to go back… But every child from his kindergarten is accounted for!”

“He said the kid’s name is Shi Youqing, but I checked, and his teacher said there’s no student by that name in their class.”

“Actually, there was,” someone suddenly spoke in a low voice, “but not in their class… I think in a higher grade. However, that's in the past. The child left a year ago. His father passed away, and he went back to his hometown with his mother for the funeral. After that, he stayed there to recuperate… It’s said he later went missing.”

“Missing?!”

“Yes, reportedly abducted by a black car… His mother kept looking but never found him. Eventually, she also met with an accident… Both mother and son had a tragic fate.”

“My God… When did this happen?”

“About half a year ago, I only heard about it when I went looking for the child. After that incident, there was a landslide in that village. There had been floods before, but that one was particularly severe, killing several adults in a horrific manner... Though those people, they deserved it.”

“Why?”

“It's terrifying. Those guys, in the name of worshiping their ancestors, secretly harmed many people. They were involved in some kind of blood sacrifice, really sinister. Only after their deaths did the absurd truth come to light in their village... Some even suspect that the child’s disappearance is connected to them, but no body was ever found, dead or alive…”

“That’s too much…”

“After such an incident, who would dare live in that village? It has become a deserted place, completely uninhabited in the surrounding area... Your son leaving the camping trip to wander there, and then getting lost, only to be found by someone fishing, is really lucky!”

“It's really strange…”

“Right, you should buy a new GPS watch for your son. He lost his, and I just checked the location again, like last night, it's still in the reservoir in that mountain... So risky! Luckily, he’s safe.”

“Um… You don’t think… my son saw a ghost, do you?”

“Oh, come on! That’s just your imagination running wild!”

“...Alright then, let’s have some professionals search the reservoir in a few days... Hopefully, everything’s fine.”

“I know what you’re thinking, but you’re really overthinking it. It’s been so long since the incident, if the child had died in the reservoir, the body would have surfaced by now. And after that big landslide, when they discovered those adults were involved in murder, many people already searched the reservoir that housed their ancestral stone tablet, but apart from the tablet, they found nothing. And the tablet was smashed, it’s now just an abandoned place, so don’t worry too much...”

After a moment of silence.

“Right, what did you say that kid's name was?”

“Shi... Eh? What kid?”

Outside, a thunderclap sounded, and it suddenly began to rain.

Memories of the moment before seemed to be suddenly erased. Outside the hospital room, several adults exchanged silent glances, then, as if it was the most natural thing, shifted the conversation. Finally, they entered the room, facing the boy's frantic screams with resignation, saying, "We should consult a psychologist. The child must be terrified. There's no one named Qingqing, I've never heard of that name before."

……

The black stones on the wall continued to churn. Shi Youqing watched quietly, memories flashing before his eyes like a carousel since the moment he seized the gun, now becoming clearer.

These were the memories he had lost.

More precisely, they were fragments of the past, discarded and then returned.

"So he died so early..."

The strangeness of his mother's disappearance before she vanished now had an explanation.

These were the spirits of the dead.

"Shi Youqing!"

His memories were abruptly interrupted. His arm was forcefully grabbed. The youth glanced backward and saw Zong Zhu Yuan staring in disbelief at his hand and the surging black stones, his face covered in cold sweat.

The exposed black stones were erupting rapidly, their target unified, moving directly towards Shi Youqing's approaching hand. In a brief moment, a thin layer stuck to the back of his hand, wriggling like living scales, beginning to spiral upward and cling...

"Get the hell away!" Zong Zhu Yuan pulled him back and frantically swatted at the bizarre black stones. Unable to match their speed, he grabbed the gun in desperation, quickly loaded it, and fired several shots at the crack in the wall.

The black stones indeed stopped, their speed slowing down.

"Move forward," Shi Youqing said calmly, seemingly unaffected by the black stones. "Keep going this way, and we'll get back to the cabin."

"Got it!" Zong Zhu Yuan didn't have time to study the structure beneath the coffins but didn’t doubt Shi Youqing’s words. Feeling dizzy but energized by the influence of the black stones, he exceeded his physical limits, hoisting Shi Youqing onto his back and dashing forward like a rocket.

As he sprinted, he glanced back to see Shi Youqing’s hand completely covered by the black stones.

"Damn it! You’re still alive, right?!" he shouted.

The person on his back didn’t respond, only speaking in a low voice when he slowed down, “Don’t stop, faster.”

"..." What did he take him for?

Zong Zhu Yuan breathed heavily, holding back his curses.

Zong Zhu Yuan had sensed something off about Shi Youqing early on. He never considered the words of Lin Yong and the others as mere nonsense. Initially, he thought this sickly beauty had died in a previous instance and returned after a resurrection match—an event only known to some veterans and not a chance afforded to everyone.

However, the number of players dying in this instance was abnormally high. The situation, though seemingly complex, followed a pattern similar to the real-world game 'Werewolf': players aimed to survive and escape, while non-players either caused disruptions or avoided danger without reason.

The spirits could be categorized into roles like 'wolves' and 'seers,' each with different motives, accompanying the players.

Observing this scenario carefully and testing it could reveal its flaws. He was also certain that whoever was by his side, human or ghost, was unlikely there to help him.

After deducing Zong Wei's identity, Zong Zhu Yuan gained a rough understanding of Guo Yalan’s existence, which led him to stop suspecting Shi Youqing. Having witnessed Shi Youqing's abilities, he didn’t believe the latter would die so easily.

Thus, Zong Zhu Yuan never associated Shi Youqing with an evil deity. Even now, he only thought that Shi Youqing's weak constitution had been tainted by that thing—an issue not unsolvable as long as they left the instance before being completely corrupted.

He gritted his teeth, his mind racing.

Evil deity—Zong Zhu Yuan had heard rumors about such beings in the game.

Apart from the terrifying descriptions, Zong Zhu Yuan’s concrete concept of it was as a source of corruption in the game world.

This notion stemmed from a note left by one of the first players to nearly complete the game.

But they were far from the final instance to clear the game; it was unlikely to encounter an evil deity so soon. Then, what was the entity these people worshipped?

And why were these scales imitating Shi Youqing?

If the deity was truly powerful, as per the inscriptions, it could simply eliminate players who disrespected it.

After all, to such an entity, humans were insignificant.

But in the alternate space, the being that he had kicked couldn’t even kill him directly and had to resort to mimicry for a sneak attack.

He could only conclude that the entity wasn’t very powerful.

As he pondered, a dark thought struck Zong Zhu Yuan—a single word: cultivation.

Beings in cultivation, initially weak, grow stronger over time—developmental in nature.

If those scales were seeds, then their current location was akin to being beneath the soil.

Thus, the blood and limbs in the well... could they be fertilizer?

But then he reconsidered, feeling something was amiss!

With the power to easily destroy an instance like Chengguzhen, there was no need for such a force to threaten his position in this way.

This entity was vast and mysterious, never revealing even the slightest flaw. Players struggled immensely with the ghosts and monsters within the instances, and towards this entity... even the mere mention of its name brought only increasing fear.

It couldn't possibly be nurturing him...

Unless—the original malevolent deity had disappeared!

Thinking this, Zong Zhu Yuan looked down at the gun in his hand.

Though it looked exactly like a real firearm, the materials were clearly different. He had been too rushed to think about it before, but now, focusing, he realized that the gun's casing resembled the black stone-like scales...

Something was off. If it was the same material, why could it suppress those scales?

“It's different,” the young man on his back seemed to know what he was thinking, taking the gun with ease, his tone calm, “Do you know the difference between an original and a clone?”

Suddenly, a low murmur of voices came from the rock above them.

Shi Youqing, who had been calm a second ago, exclaimed loudly, “This is the place!”

Zong Zhu Yuan stopped abruptly, his vision obscured by darkness, recognizing the voices of players above. He fumbled for a mechanism.

The person on his back took out a lighter and shone it upward.

Zong Zhu Yuan looked up and quickly spotted a lever.

He put the person down and pulled the lever with all his might.

The sound of heavy wooden planks moving creaked, and a sliver of light shone through.

Outside, a series of screams erupted.

Zong Zhu Yuan, drenched in sweat, crouched down, “Step on my shoulders to get up.”

Shi Youqing put the gun in his pocket and was about to step on his shoulders when Zong Zhu Yuan suddenly stood up and tore off the remaining half of his sleeve, wrapping it around his scale-covered hand, “Better not to show that.”

“...Thank you.”

Hearing this, Zong Zhu Yuan glanced at the young man in surprise, but the youth had already lifted his foot, his expression calm, seemingly waiting for him to crouch down again.

“……”

Those scales greatly affected one's mental state. Zong Zhu Yuan took a breath, stiffly turned his head away, and then lowered his agitated and fierce eyes, obediently squatting down.

He feared that any further delay might lead to actions that would earn him a series of slaps from the other.

[Author's Note]

Thanks to the little angels who threw mines: Gōng Mèng Nǚ Bùdé Hǎo Sì 1;

Thanks to the little angels who nourished with nutrient solutions: Lěng Fēng 40 bottles; Cùn Yáo 20 bottles; Lù Zǒng's Qīng Qīng Zǎi Zǎi 10 bottles; Jiāng Hé Hú Hǎi 8 bottles; Zhōu Zhōu Zhōu Zhōu Zhōu Zhōu 2 bottles; Happy Tuó Tuó 1 bottle;

Sincere thanks to everyone for your support; I will continue to work hard!