Chapter 288: Everyone is Dumbfounded
When Long Bang said that he would accompany God Realm Yumen for the last few years to over a decade, Lu Xianbei felt as if an invisible hand had sharply gripped his heart, causing it to contract violently.
Although Long Bang didn’t say it directly, he understood her meaning.
Long Bang wanted to replace the Shaman Queen, who had already escaped from suppression, burning herself to provide spirit energy for God Realm Yumen’s operation.
But perhaps there was no need for that…
That’s right! He didn’t need to sacrifice himself to that extent!
Thinking this, Lu Xianbei patted Long Bang on the shoulder and said in a half-joking, half-serious tone, “What are you talking about? I’m back now. Is it your turn to make this sacrifice?”
“The Shaman Queen hasn’t run too far yet, right? We can just go catch her and suppress her again, can’t we?”
“Even if we can’t catch the Shaman Queen, there have been more urban legends surfacing recently. We should be able to sustain for a while with the urban legends captured by God Realm Yumen, right?”
“Or… or…” She originally wanted to say these things to Long Bang in a relatively relaxed manner, but as she spoke, a hint of panic slipped into her tone. “By the way, if worst comes to worst, there are other calamities in the city right now!”
“If they each distribute a bit of spirit energy… not too much, just enough to hold on until the Siye Society comes to support, they wouldn’t simply stand by, given how important God Realm Yumen is.”
“By the way, you don’t need to worry about power corruption!” Lu Xianbei said, “I have something that can heal corruption, and I can guarantee you’ll be in great shape for hundreds of years.”
Though she couldn’t guarantee that she could produce mortal fireworks in a short time, if Hu Boss was willing to lend her some resources from “Floating Life,” there would be plenty of scraps for fireworks.
“How much corruption can be cleared depends on how many buns one can eat at a meal!”
After hearing Lu Xianbei’s words, Long Bang just smiled and shook his head, speaking slowly, “Yumen no longer needs to continue being tainted by the Shaman Queen’s power to survive; Yumen doesn’t need anyone else to make sacrifices for it…”
“Miss Lilith, do you know? I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. Ever since I gained the power of calamity, I’ve been preparing for this moment.”
At this point, Long Bang instinctively omitted some content.
He didn’t tell Lu Xianbei that aside from the power needed to maintain calamity-level strength, all his other powers were prepared for this moment.
In fact, he had already envisioned that if the Shaman Queen’s power dissipated and Lu Xianbei and Shen Baiwei hadn’t returned yet, he would have to sacrifice all of his powers to maintain the operation of God Realm Yumen.
“At that time, I thought, once you and Miss Shen return and deal with the Shaman Queen, I won’t care about anything else and will hurry to the Yellow Springs to catch up with my brother, to boast about my bravery after he was gone…”
Upon hearing this, Lu Xianbei opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but before her words came out, Shen Baiwei tugged at her sleeve and whispered in her ear, “Don’t, let him finish.”
She had been listening quietly from the side, and after hearing Long Bang’s words, she suddenly thought of a patient in the Gobi treatment room back when she was still in the nighttime illness isolation ward, awaiting retrieval by Tethys Laboratory.
That was an elderly man in his sixties, who had worked hard for his family and children for most of his life. Just when he finally retired and hadn’t had the chance to enjoy his twilight years, he unfortunately contracted nightfall syndrome, with his bones splitting apart every month.
Splitting into two, two into four… The pain of shattered rebirth and flesh being constantly crushed was something most people could not endure.
When Shen Baiwei saw the elderly man, his body was already deformed and swollen beyond recognition, lying unconscious on the hospital bed, filled with various unnameable tubes, needing vast amounts of medication every day to barely sustain life.
At first, Shen Baiwei thought that the children of that elderly man were quite filial, not giving up on treatment even when their father was so ill, unlike her own irresponsible mother who left her and her father behind.
However, when she witnessed the elderly man’s children repeatedly begging doctors to save their father from the brink of d*ath…
Hearing them argue in the hallway about who should sign the paperwork for refusing treatment, no conclusion reached, and eventually facing the next round of resuscitation…
And seeing the elderly man briefly awake at midnight, his murky eyes reflecting intense fatigue and pain, and the pleading in his gaze when he met hers, her thoughts changed.
She realized that the elderly man actually did not want to cling to life any longer.
She also realized that forcing someone who has no attachment to this world to stay was not for their own good; from a certain perspective, it could be seen as an alternative form of cruel torment.
“…”
Perhaps that elderly man’s children, pleading with doctors to save their father repeatedly, weren’t that filial either; their actions stemmed from their own guilt, didn’t they?
They weren’t much better than that irresponsible woman! This is what Shen Baiwei thought back then.
And now, she felt that the calamity’s insistence on retaining Long Bang was remarkably similar to that elderly man’s children.
Not caring at all about how much pain Long Bang has been enduring, physically and mentally, whether he wanted to live, and what his final wishes were.
This doesn’t mean that the calamity was wrong, but it can certainly be counted as such!
Seeing that Shen Baiwei interrupted Lu Xianbei, who was about to speak, Long Bang smiled at her, nodding slightly, then opened his mouth slowly.
“Miss Lilith, you don’t need to hold me back. In fact, I should have left this world seven hundred years ago. To be able to live until now can be said to be taking a miracle on loan every day… Wherever there is borrowing, there is repayment, and now it’s time to repay the debt.”
What he truly wanted to say was that he was very, very tired, and now finally had the chance to let everything go and rest well, but he didn’t want to appear so weak in front of “Lilith” and Shen Baiwei.
He believed that with Miss “Lilith”’s intelligence, she should be able to understand what he meant.
After hearing Long Bang’s words, Lu Xianbei went slightly dazed until Long Bang continued speaking.
“Miss Lilith, you don’t need to feel guilty; this is my choice and mission… However, if I had a choice, I would want to be born in an ordinary family in my next life, to experience a life of toiling for basic necessities.”
Just as Long Bang said, in his understanding, being from the Long family of Nanling meant he had to bear all this without a single complaint, but this burden was simply too heavy. If given a choice, he would never choose to bear it again.
“Haha, Miss Lilith, do you think I could have a next life?”
Although he lacked the support of rapidly developed theories of spirit energy after thousands of years, someone as powerful as Long Bang could vaguely know that in this world, when a person dies, it’s like turning off a light; there wouldn’t be a next life.
“……” After a few seconds of silence, Lu Xianbei clenched her fist slightly, affirmatively saying, “There will be a next life; there definitely will be.”
At that moment, she thought of what the proxy player sister had told her about guiding the countless remnant souls within God Realm Yumen into the God Realm Prototype, using its power to “reclaim life.”
Since Long Bang was looking forward to a next life, perhaps this method could fulfill his wish?
Seeing the atmosphere becoming a bit heavy, Long Bang waved his hand and hurriedly changed the topic, “Alright, alright, let’s not talk about these sad things. It’s still not time to part!”
“Miss Lilith, Miss Shen…” As he spoke, he looked left and right at Lu Xianbei and Shen Baiwei, smiling, “The celebrations and banquet outside should be ready by now. Let’s go take a look together! Everyone is so happy that you both are back!”
Upon hearing this, Lu Xianbei and Shen Baiwei exchanged glances, then looked at Long Bang and nodded.
————
On the other side, not far from Dai Mu Institute, in the marketplace.
Long ago, a tragic riot had occurred here, with countless casualties, but with the passage of time, the horrific past had vanished without a trace, and this place gradually returned to life.
To celebrate the return of the legendary two original miracle maidens and the impending redemption of Yumen, the hundreds of residents of God Realm Yumen prepared this celebration and banquet as if they had emptied their pockets.
It was as extravagant as if one had saved up all year just to celebrate the New Year after receiving a bonus.
Bai Kai and his companions initially planned to just come see what the two original miracle maidens were like, but when they actually walked into the marketplace, they found themselves unknowingly engulfed by the joyous atmosphere under the influence of the heartfelt smiles all around.
The most genuine joy was so infectious!
“I say, look at this wine…” Bai Kai handed a small pot of strong alcohol that he had gotten from who knows where to the General, shaking it, “Can you guess what they brewed it with?”
The General leaned closer to sniff the pot, and upon catching a faint bitter scent, expressionless, he replied, “Some kind of Chinese medicinal herb?”
“No!” Bai Kai shook his head, “Aloe vera! Didn’t expect that, did you? This is the first time I’ve heard that it can be brewed into alcohol!”
The General rolled his eyes, “That’s just because you haven’t seen enough!”
……
At the side.
Nanling Qifeng looked at the stone amulet in Nanling Yaohua’s hand, engraved with the pattern of the Miracle Flower, frowning, “When did you start believing in this? If you want an amulet, grandfather can make you one, which would be much better than this!”
Hearing this, Nanling Yaohua couldn’t help but roll her eyes, thinking of the “amulets” made by her grandfather.
What use were those random amulets?
“This one is for blessing marriage; can you make it?”
“……” Nanling Qifeng opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but hesitated.
Although pastoralists around Yumen often sought him for amulets, they all requested ones for safe passage, healthy offspring, and prosperous wealth; he really couldn’t make an amulet for blessing marriage.
……
“Gu Qiqi! What are you eating? It’s disgusting!” said the System.
Gu Qiqi had just asked for some skewers from a stall at the edge of the marketplace. Not paying much attention on her way, she only realized when she reached the makeshift stage at the market’s end that what remained on her skewer were actually scorpions and crickets.
Those scorpions and crickets looked odd, their bodies unusually plump, completely different from any varieties seen in the outside world, as if they had been fed some strange feed to fatten them up.
“Scorpions!” Gu Qiqi said while chewing on half a scorpion, “The locals say these are their own unique scorpions. Do you want to try it, System?”
“No, thanks.” The System replied coldly, “I wouldn’t eat such weird things!”
“But they taste really good, and there’s a lot of meat!” Gu Qiqi insisted, “I just asked the locals, and these are easy to raise. I plan to ask for some to take back when I leave!”
“If they can be raised, the villagers’ meat consumption problem should be completely solved.”
“……” The System looked at Gu Qiqi with slanted eyes, struggling to find a response.
Originally, they had come to take advantage of the chaos in Yumen, but how had things developed to this point?
Clearly, Calamity, Void, and Nightmare were all in Yumen, plus the protectors from the Miracle Cult and Siye Society, yet everything hadn’t erupted into chaos.
And Gu Qiqi… She seemed like she was here on vacation! The System wondered in confusion.
Just as it pondered, a gong sounded, interrupting its thoughts.
The celebration began, and accompanied by the music of the pipa and konghou, two elegantly dressed dancers appeared on the stage at the end of the street.
Their skirts looked like they were modified from the skirts of Tang Dynasty Hu Xuan dance maidens, with much more fabric than the original skirts that displayed a woman’s figure, emphasizing modesty.
Their song and dance seemed to tell a story about the original miracle maidens.
As the System listened to the story conveyed in the song, the more it felt something was off, until the name “Lilith” appeared in the lyrics, leaving it completely stunned, as if its body had suddenly been tossed onto the shore to dry.
Lilith? That… isn’t that the core power of the Calamity Witch’s body?
Could it be that Calamity is the legendary original miracle maiden?
Then who is the other original miracle maiden? The System wondered.
Just as the System was bewildered, the performance concluded, and a seemingly disheveled and mad-looking old man stepped onto the stage.
Seeing the old man, Bai Kai, Nanling Qifeng, Huaiyuan Jun, and others were all dumbfounded, a sharp phantom pain flickering in their minds.
What on earth is this? What’s going on?
Why didn’t anyone tell us this old monster is the leader of the local people in God Realm Yumen?
Is this considered walking right into a trap?
“Everyone, next let the two maidens say a few words to you.” After some pleasantries, Long Bang gestured invitingly, and Lu Xianbei and Shen Baiwei, who had been waiting offstage, stepped onto the stage together.
“Hello, everyone!”
“Are you all happy today?”
“Let me see your hands…” uh!
Lu Xianbei said aloud, just as she was building up momentum on stage, her gaze met with the several meaningful eyes in the crowd, and she froze entirely.
Good heavens! You are the legendary original miracle maiden? She deciphered the same meaning from the familiar gazes of those below the stage.
Lu Xianbei, “……”
