Chapter 277: For What?
Moments later, their brief discussion finally arrived at the most important stage—determining the time to return.
“I think, since the troubles here have been resolved, we should leave as soon as possible,” Shen Baiwei frowned and said. “After all, the longer we stay, the more disadvantageous it becomes for us.”
Although she no longer had to worry about the powers of the Snake of Time harming her, the lack of that threat didn’t mean the punishment of time no longer existed.
“Um…” Luxianbei pondered for a moment and said, “Can we wait a bit longer? I still have a few things to confirm. Once I verify them, I’ll tell you when we can leave, okay?”
“Why?” Shen Baiwei asked, confused. “Is there something else you need to do?”
“I still have…” Luxianbei hesitated, lowered his head, and fell into thought.
It was only at this moment that she realized she had forgotten something when leaving the County Prince’s Mansion.
What she had forgotten was not trivial; it was actually quite important.
She had forgotten to look for the Proxy Player Sister.
She had many questions she wanted to ask the Proxy Player Sister…
She wanted to know that since the crisis of the Shaman Queen’s Army had been resolved, and she had gained control of the God Realm Yumen, could she open the God Realm Yumen and allow the tens of thousands of people inside to leave?
Although Hong Bian had sacrificed himself to grant the God Realm Yumen, which was originally just an oversized war machine, the ability to sustain life, allowing the lives of the city’s residents to continue, this continuance was based on the premise that the reinforcements from the Tang dynasty would arrive within a few months or a few years.
But if the timeline were extended to hundreds or thousands of years, the life and resources within the God Realm Yumen could not support the survival of tens of thousands…
Would they have to watch helplessly as they struggled in increasingly scarce resources?
What was the point of her painstakingly fighting for a chance for them to survive, only to…
If that were the case, it would be better to have followed the Proxy Player Sister’s suggestion from the start, to create a catastrophe and bury everyone in disaster, which would actually feel more straightforward.
She wanted to know, even if it was absolutely necessary to leave the tens of thousands of people trapped inside the God Realm Yumen, would it really not cause problems if she, as the controller of the God Realm Yumen, left and allowed such a large God Realm to operate independently for a thousand years?
Even without the Shaman Queen’s erosion, having so many people trapped in a not particularly large space with diminishing resources would likely give rise to something terrifying, right?
She also wanted to know whether through Shen Baiwei’s abilities, going back would mean returning directly to the God Realm Yumen a thousand years later, where over a hundred days had already passed, or returning to when they had come, with some room to maneuver.
She had not forgotten about the forty-eight hour deadline mentioned in the Wordless Book recording. She did not want to return only to inexplicably become the target of several Spirit Energy Organizations.
She also wanted to know why, after so long in Yumen Pass a thousand years ago, she had not heard a single piece of information regarding the Yumen Sands Sea Branch.
Although the Yumen Sands Sea Branch could be identified by Longxiang’s title, indicating their relationship with him, there was no clue as to how the Yumen Sands Sea Branch was established.
Just thinking about it briefly, Luxianbei realized there were too many questions. Hong Bian, that bald donkey, seemed to have no good intentions. He might have unconditionally transferred control of the God Realm Yumen to her, but it wasn’t a free gift.
It felt like the situation often seen in the news, where a descendant of European nobility suddenly inherits a lavish estate but then finds out they need to pay exorbitant maintenance costs every year that an ordinary person could never afford.
Lastly, there was one question that, while not directly related to the God Realm Yumen, was the most important…
That was the promise the Proxy Player Sister had made to her, that once everything was over, she would tell her everything about that twin-tailed girl.
She wondered if having come this far counted as everything being over?
If so, shouldn’t the Proxy Player Sister let her know? Luxianbei thought.
Just as she was mulling this over, a familiar voice rang in her ears.
“You have so many questions you want to ask, yet you managed to forget me. This shows you really don’t care about me at all, kid!”
Upon hearing the Proxy Player Sister’s voice, Luxianbei was startled and quickly looked up.
Suddenly, the surroundings began to shake violently, like a flickering light with poor contact, the view of the Dai Mu Institute’s guest room crumbling like shattered glass, with fragments scattering into the void, revealing the dilapidated rooftop hidden behind it.
If she hadn’t experienced that dreamlike rooftop more than once, one might have doubted that what she was seeing now was the true reality of the world.
“Creak… Creak…”
The rusted water tank moaned in the wind, thin, dark red mist wafted, and the smooth, mirror-like floor brought a touch of chill.
In front of Luxianbei, who was slumped on the ground, the silver-haired girl looked down at her with a joyful smile, extending her hand.
“Long time no see, boss! Have you been doing well recently?”
Perhaps it was because she had just caught a glimpse of Lilith’s mind-shattering past and hadn’t had time to fully process it yet; for a brief moment, Luxianbei felt her figure and Lilith’s intertwining.
Stunned for a moment, she finally reacted, instinctively grasping the hand the Proxy Player Sister extended, but the next moment, she was greeted with a solid shoulder throw.
“Bang——!”
The dull thud of her back hitting the solid floor erupted.
A sharp pain shot through her, making Luxianbei immediately curl into a shrimp-like shape, moaning incessantly.
“Uh… cough, cough… What are you doing?!” she asked, sitting up and rubbing her back, her face darkening. “Is this how you treat your boss? I’m going to leave a bad review and report you!”
“What? I didn’t do anything!” the Proxy Player Sister said, her expression flat as if she were having a face paralysis episode. “I’m just checking your body since you just got some new powers, okay? The examination result… is quite mediocre! My evaluation is, you’re just average.”
“I’m just average?” Luxianbei retorted.
“Are you trying to say you’ve already gained Calamity-grade power?” Before Luxianbei could continue to complain, the Proxy Player Sister seemed to completely read her mind. “So what if you have Calamity-grade power? Does that mean there aren’t any average folks within the Calamity?”
“Don’t always compare yourself to someone like Xiao Mai, that kind of underachiever! At least…”
“At least you should aim for Zhang Hainan, that old guy, as a preliminary goal!”
Luxianbei, “???”
What the hell? Aim for Zhang Hainan? As a preliminary goal? That old man is part of the Siye Society and is one of the strongest Spirit Ability Users still existing!
Is this woman crazy? She must be out of her mind!
Does she know how much pressure putting too high expectations on a child can cause?
Luxianbei thought to herself, just as she was about to refute the Proxy Player Sister’s outlandish claims, the Proxy Player Sister said, “Although you encountered so many important things and didn’t consult me right away, making me quite unhappy, since you’re here now, I’ll reluctantly answer your questions!”
Upon hearing this, Luxianbei, who originally had a belly full of complaints, immediately fell silent.
She understood the meaning behind the Proxy Player Sister’s shoulder throw…
That was a revenge for being neglected!
To be honest, compared to the violent revenge of the empty-nest elder Qing Ji, a shoulder throw was already quite gentle.
Speaking of which…
Should she prepare some gifts or something before her next visit to the Ancestor?
Even though Wang Ying and Xuan Ying Luo Fu were accompanying him, it was hard to guarantee he wouldn’t throw a fit again. Luxianbei thought.
While she was deep in thought, the Proxy Player Sister spoke up, “First, let me answer your first question… you cannot let the people inside the God Realm Yumen leave.”
Upon hearing this, Luxianbei was momentarily stunned and asked in surprise, “Why? Are we just supposed to watch them suffer?”
“Exactly!” the Proxy Player Sister said firmly. “Unless you want to d*e.”
“I already told you that letting tens of thousands of people who should have perished survive comes at a price you can’t endure… Even if you let them go, they will be corrected by time and quickly disappear into the river of time.”
“At this moment, the living beings trapped in the city, compared to all the beings that have appeared in the world over the last thousand years, are not even a speck of dust, and their traces of existence can be easily erased.”
“But for them, the process of correction will definitely be a hundred or a thousand times more painful than enduring thousands of years in a resource-scarce situation… at least, it will be a level of pain driven by the world’s malevolence. Just imagine, what would be the result of the kind of pain that the Ancient Destroyers avoided like the plague when inflicted upon ordinary people?”
As the Proxy Player Sister spoke, Luxianbei’s gaze gradually dimmed, and she fell into silence.
In a daze, she seemed to see the scene where the city’s fleeing populace would perish under various “accidents” in the vast Gobi Desert once the God Realm Yumen was opened, dying tragically in the endless yellow sand, with no remains left behind.
An unprecedented sense of powerlessness crept upon her.
After a long time, she murmured, “Why? Then tell me, after all I’ve done, what was it all for?! In the end, I still can’t save a single person?”
Seeing Luxianbei in such a disheartened state, the Proxy Player Sister instinctively clenched her pink fist, her eyes trembling.
She had once said similar words…
But sadly, no one could answer her doubts.
However, the fortunate part was that Luxianbei’s situation was different from hers.
“No, you have given them a hope, a hope for continuance,” the Proxy Player Sister collected herself and said, “The God Realm Yumen, such a magnificent creation, is capable of isolating them from the world, helping them avoid the corrections of time. As long as they stay within the God Realm Yumen, they can continue to exist indefinitely.”
“Allowing those who shouldn’t exist in this world to exist and reproduce is an unprecedented miracle. You’ve already done very well, Luxianbei…”
At least, much better than I did… the Proxy Player Sister added in her heart.
After a pause, she continued, “In the future, perhaps when you are strong enough, strong enough to convert the God Realm Prototype left by Mrs. Wang Meili into a genuine God Realm, and return to this time and place, you will be able to provide them with true redemption and existence…”
“Until then, let’s settle for second best and take care of their descendants first, shall we?”
After hearing this, Luxianbei fell into prolonged silence.
