Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 109

The situation was becoming increasingly dire, and Wu Ren only had time to say one sentence to Zhou Qian. “In ‘Flower of Evil,’ you hardly saw me really make a move. Don’t tell me you’re just standing by to test my abilities!”

Hearing this, Zhou Qian’s smile became even more pronounced. “You think so badly of me.”

Wu Ren: “…”

With a thunderous boom, the god stepped onto the edge of the crucible, creating a loud noise.

Zhou Qian glanced at him and found, as Wu Ren said, that this god looked quite strange.

Influenced by various legends, people subconsciously believe that gods should be quite large, especially those with world-destroying powers, who must be gigantic.

But this so-called god was different; he was very small, about as tall as Zhou Qian’s waist. He had a pointy mouth and monkey cheeks, which was indeed very odd, yet he was strikingly similar to humans.

It seemed he was essentially a person, just deformed in appearance.

Of course, despite his small stature, his power wasn’t to be underestimated.

A scepter, as long as the diameter of the huge crucible, was wielded by him. After flinging away the bodies of 50 soldiers, it headed straight for the interior of the crucible!

Suddenly, a blood-red beam shot out from the tip of the scepter, and Wu Ren, with his experience, promptly opened a huge protective umbrella.

[Item: Impressive Protective Umbrella]

[Function: An ambitious umbrella, which swore from the moment it was made to be more powerful than the Golden Bell Shield. No matter what moves the target makes, it’s able to block 50% of the damage.]

[Grade: S, Rare]

The moment the beam collided with the umbrella, a loud friction noise ensued. The umbrella looked thin but was indeed powerful; the beam struggled to penetrate it.

Using the umbrella to block the beam, Wu Ren concentrated his hands, and suddenly dark clouds gathered above the crucible.

After a brief charging period, a bolt of lightning followed by a clap of thunder came down—not rain, but thousands of silver needles shimmering with light.

Controlled by Wu Ren, the silver needles turned around, their tips aimed at the god, and then immediately stabbed towards him.

Enraged, the god, seizing the opportunity before the hidden weapons struck, released several beams from his scepter and avoided them with his small and agile body.

His red figure flashed, and he temporarily disappeared.

Only the dark red sky remained above the crucible’s opening.

Seeing this, Wu Ren promptly shouted to Zhou Qian, “Dodge. His first beam is the fiercest. Even if you dodge, you’ll lose 8,000 HP, but the rest can be avoided if you’re fast enough!”

At this point, Wu Ren indeed suffered the aftermath of that unavoidable first beam, losing 8,000 health points, and his body emitted a red warning of critically low vitality.

Opening his mouth, he spat out a mouthful of crimson blood.

Just then, a new crisis emerged, and another beam struck towards his head!

Normally, Wu Ren could easily dodge with his speed, but now he was severely injured. His steps were heavy and slow after spitting blood, and the situation became extremely critical. His heart sank heavily—

If Wu Ren remembered correctly, the last time he saw Zhou Qian, he was leaning against the inner wall of the crucible, looking extremely relaxed, as if strolling through a forest.

And Wu Ren also remembered Zhou Qian holding a flashlight, his gaze fixed on the carvings, so lost in thought that he seemed oblivious.

He might not have heard Wu Ren’s words or noticed these beams.

He didn’t know the attack pattern of the beams or how long it would take for them to reach the bottom of the crucible!

Wu Ren felt he was done for.

If Zhou Qian really had no mana, he was done for too.

They couldn’t escape!

Wu Ren wiped the blood from his mouth and tried his best to dodge forward, but it was too late. The scorching beam was almost exploding above his head. Even if he exerted all his strength, he could only ensure his head wasn’t hit, but he couldn’t avoid it with his back. His entire back was going to be burned by the beam, and he would die from it!

At this critical moment, Wu Ren suddenly saw an abnormal distortion at the edge of the crucible in front of him. Realizing that this was not the god’s trick, he suddenly understood—time had been slowed down!

Zhou Qian’s mana was running low, so he had to use it sparingly.

Therefore, after time slowed down, he only bought Wu Ren an extra second.

But that was enough.

One end of the Rib of God appeared in front of Wu Ren, who immediately grabbed it.

Zhou Qian pulled the Rib of God towards himself with a forceful tug, and due to the excessive force, they both fell down together.

The next instant, a blood-red beam smashed into the bottom of the crucible, but surprisingly, it caused no damage to the crucible’s bottom. It silently vanished into the crucible’s base, as if absorbed by its special material.

Lying on the ground, Wu Ren spat out a mouthful of blood. “Thanks.”

Finally, he saw the acceleration shoes on Zhou Qian’s feet, and some of his confusion was resolved. “No wonder you got here so fast. But you haven’t done many instances. How are you so rich? Who did you con?”

Zhou Qian, getting up, laughed. “My master.”

“Your master?” Wu Ren shook his head, muttering, “Don’t know which poor sap that is.”

Zhou Qian: “Hey, I just saved your life.”

“Fine. Another thank you—”

Wu Ren added awkwardly, then quickly reminded Zhou Qian, “The beams, they’re not over yet!”

“Got it. Hold onto the Rib of God.”

Zhou Qian looked up, his gaze not missing a single beam, and quickly determined their speed—fortunately, they were much slower than the Demon King Son, and he didn’t even need to summon the little dragon.

With the acceleration shoes, Zhou Qian, holding Wu Ren with the Rib of God, started to move swiftly within the huge crucible, large enough to hold 50 people, as if walking on walls and eaves.

Although he had only been through one training instance, Zhou Qian could feel that his movements had become much faster, and with the acceleration shoes, his actions were even more fluid.

There were still seven beams to dodge.

Zhou Qian and Wu Ren avoided them all.

The seven beams almost grazed Wu Ren’s back each time, silently disappearing into the crucible itself.

But fortunately, they made it through without mishap.

Wu Ren dared not take a moment’s rest, and upon seeing Zhou Qian stop, he quickly warned, “The god is coming back! He has another wave of attacks! I need to use another wave of silver needles to drive him away. In this situation, he can only release eight beams. Otherwise, it’ll be even harder for us to escape!”

As soon as Wu Ren finished speaking, he began to gather strength again.

Dark clouds returned, and silver needles formed once more amidst thunder and lightning from the void.

After the god released eight beams to avoid the silver needles, he chose to leave the scene again.

This time, the beams fell faster, making it harder for Zhou Qian, with his swift shoes, to dodge while carrying Wu Ren.

But in the end, aside from Wu Ren’s clothes being scorched by the beams, both of them managed to escape unscathed.

A minute later, the red light at the mouth of the crucible dissipated.

The god returned to his world.

An hour later, or a day in this world, he would come again.

Wu Ren took several deep breaths, leaning against the inner wall of the crucible to rest for a moment, gradually relaxing. Then he looked up at the top of the crucible and slowly climbed out.

Suddenly, he heard Zhou Qian laughing.

Wu Ren immediately looked down at him in surprise. “What are you laughing at?!”

Zhou Qian held up a mirror to him. “Look at your back.”

Wu Ren didn’t want to look but couldn’t help turning to see—his back in the mirror was charred and tattered with more than a dozen holes in his clothes.

Through these holes, his skin was exposed—some parts red, some black, and some even powdery from burnt flesh, looking utterly ridiculous.

Wu Ren took a cloak from his bag to cover his back, then turned around angrily and continued climbing up.

“You’d better think of a way. Otherwise, we’ll both die here. I only have enough mana for one small spell!”

Zhou Qian just said, “Wu Ge, climb slowly. Be careful not to fall!”

Originally, Wu Ren was climbing just fine, but after hearing Zhou Qian’s words, his hands and feet slipped, and he actually fell to the bottom of the crucible with a “plop”.

The fall wasn’t light, and Wu Ren immediately lost another 3% of his health.

Due to the severe injury, Wu Ren couldn’t get up for a while.

Lying flat at the bottom of the crucible, he stared blankly at the blood-red sky through the opening, and after a long time, he said solemnly, “Zhou Qian, I’ve always been quite lucky. How come I drew the card with the least life points when I met you in ‘Flower of Evil’? Zhou Qian, you definitely bring me bad luck.”

“It must be because you didn’t agree to be my king,” Zhou Qian said seriously.

Wu Ren couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

Zhou Qian added, “Have I ever told you that your eyes are too small, so rolling them doesn’t look intimidating?”

Wu Ren felt like he couldn’t even cry. “Zhou Qian, I really regret summoning you.”

“Don’t say that.” Zhou Qian said, “Lie here for a while. We’ll act together later.”

“How are we going to act?” Wu Ren asked.

Zhou Qian said, “This is the apocalypse of mankind. The god is enraged, hence the destruction. All these are your guesses, right? I just want to confirm.”

“Right. But I got clear information—the crucible was made by the most powerful wizard of mankind. He made it to protect the last emperor of the human world.

“Okay, so, after I entered the instance, the red rain fell and the earth was wounded. I was beside a crucible, and 50 soldiers came out to protect me. So…”

Wu Ren said, “Now, besides me, there are no other living people in this world. Naturally, I would think this is the end of the world.”

“There’s only one emperor left in the world, whom the wizard said he needed to protect. So, when I see that I’m the only one in this world, and indeed, 50 people are protecting me, I would naturally think… I am the emperor of this world, and those 50 people are my soldiers.”

“Is there a problem with that?

“But if this is not the apocalypse and I am not the emperor… how do you explain all this?”

Zhou Qian suddenly asked, “Besides these 50 soldiers, have you seen any other corpses, like ordinary people or other animals or plants?”

Wu Ren shook his head, then sat up abruptly, asking seriously, “So… what’s your guess?”

“Do you remember what I told you? The double spirits on this carving have the power of a shaman and can traverse different worlds,” Zhou Qian asked Wu Ren.

“I remember,” Wu Ren said. “You also said the god is probably from another world. The red rain is a medium connecting two worlds and a channel to traverse worlds. The red rain must fall for three minutes, and only then can the channel between the two worlds open. That’s why the god appears three minutes after the rain.”

Zhou Qian further asked Wu Ren, “You never heard your soldiers speak, right?”

Wu Ren nodded.

Zhou Qian: “Even when you first entered the instance?”

Wu Ren had always thought that, when he first entered this world, he and his soldiers weren’t dead.

They were all in the human world. The 50 soldiers protected him with their flesh and blood, and after the first red rain, they died in front of him.

According to the system’s initial prompt, Wu Ren put them in the crucible and witnessed their rebirth through the crucible’s power.

What followed was the repetition of the same story, round after round.

Zhou Qian looked at Wu Ren. “There’s a book called ‘Mabinogion’, which tells medieval Welsh stories with many myths and legends.”

“This book mentions the crucible, the same as the initial information the system gave us. However, the system deliberately omitted a sentence.”

“‘The original words in the book about this story are, ‘Throw the bodies of your soldiers who died that day into the crucible, and they will come back to life unscathed the next day, except for one thing—they can no longer speak.’”

“The resurrected soldiers can no longer speak.” Wu Ren frowned. “The system didn’t give us this sentence… But it doesn’t seem like the system deliberately concealed information. After all, this is something we could observe.”

“True. But knowing the original words in advance would have been more helpful,” Zhou Qian said to Wu Ren. “The first time you came here, your soldiers didn’t speak to you.”

“Have you ever thought that maybe by then, they were already dead? You and the soldiers, together, repeatedly reliving this story.”

Wu Ren’s scalp tingled. “What on earth is this…”

Zhou Qian said, “Maybe you can’t speak either. When you were fighting alone here, thinking you were the only living person, you didn’t need to speak. You didn’t notice this.”

“The reason you can communicate with me is probably due to the summoning item. This is outside the logic of the story. That is, such rare cheat items that help you clear the level, granted you the ability to communicate with your teammates. But in the story, your original identity, perhaps, couldn’t speak, just like those soldiers.”

Wu Ren’s back was sweating. The sweat soaked into his wounds and then stuck to his cloak, making his spine feel ice cold.

“You’re not suggesting…” Wu Ren swallowed hard. “That I’m dead?”

Zhou Qian pointed to the inside of the crucible.

A row of soldiers with closed eyes stood in a circle inside the crucible.

Above them, a row of cavalry did the same, but with their eyes open, moving in the opposite direction to the soldiers with closed eyes.

“Have you ever counted the number of these soldiers?” Zhou Qian asked Wu Ren.

Wu Ren suddenly realized something.

Zhou Qian said, “There are 51 soldiers. There are also 51 cavalrymen.”

“The soldiers with closed eyes symbolize death. They are led by the double spirits with the horns of a cow and the body of a snake towards hell, or another world. Then, they return to the world as cavalrymen with their eyes open. That’s the true meaning of the carving inside the crucible.”

Zhou Qian continued, “When alive, as infantry, they died in battle. Their expectation was… when they returned to the world, they should become stronger to protect their emperor. Thus, they became cavalrymen. And you—”

Looking into Wu Ren’s eyes, Zhou Qian’s pupils seemed to shine with a certain light.

He said, “You are one of them. Perhaps you are the general leading these soldiers. Take a close look. Among these 51 carved soldiers, you can find one dressed slightly differently from the others.”

“So, you mean this is not the apocalypse but some kind of undead world?” Wu Ren said. “In the story, I’ve been dead for a long time. I’m an undead…”

“Right. Wu Ge, look, you’ve been fooled by the system’s trick. ‘The last emperor of mankind’ doesn’t mean there’s only one living human left.”

Zhou Qian smiled. “The real story is now quite clear.”

There was a war in the human world.

The war was between ‘the last emperor of mankind’ and the ‘god’ who could make it rain red with his scepter.

A wizard, to protect the emperor, made a crucible that could resurrect his warriors from death.

In a battle, 51 soldiers, including a powerful general, who is Wu Ren’s true identity in this story, died for the emperor.

The emperor put the general and the 50 soldiers’ bodies into the crucible, hoping they would come back to life to fight for him.

His enemy, the ‘god’, didn’t want the powerful general to come back to life, so he repeatedly tried to enter the ‘Crucible World’ to kill the general’s spirit.

Wu Ren swallowed again. “I understand what you mean. The entire dark red world we see is actually the inside of the crucible. This so-called crucible is just a metaphor or a symbolic representation.”

“The dead should go to hell after death. But because of the crucible… we didn’t go to hell, but were trapped here, neither alive nor dead…”

“You could say that. ‘Crucible World’ is a world between life and death. You are trapped here.”

Zhou Qian said, “Also, why do you think ‘Mabinogion’ specifically mentions that the resurrected soldiers cannot speak? There’s a meaning behind this too.”

Wu Ren shook his head.

Zhou Qian explained, “It means that the so-called ‘resurrection’ is not a real resurrection.”

“The ‘last emperor of mankind’ tried to use the ‘crucible’ to resurrect you, but he couldn’t really do it. What he brought back to the human world with the crucible weren’t truly living people, but zombies. He just wanted to use the power of your spirits. You are his undead army.”

“My guess is that after the war, you will leave ‘Crucible World’, this otherworld, and go to real hell. Of course, this doesn’t affect clearing the level. What’s really important is the meaning of these carvings themselves—”

Pointing at the nearest knight, Zhou Qian said, “As these statues imply, you died, were led to another world by the double spirits, then got a kind of ‘rebirth’ under the crucible’s influence, becoming knights returning to the human world.”

“But so far, you and those 50 soldiers haven’t really become ‘knights’.”

“So… the real way to clear the level isn’t to defeat the ‘god’ but… to find a way to go back; to leave this Crucible World, to return to the real world?!”

Wu Ren stood up straight. “Using the crucible isn’t possible by hand. It requires a tool! This crucible isn’t complete; it needs something else to match with it!”

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