Chapter 8: Not My Mom, but My Ancestor [4K]
Starting from Dunhuang City Airport in the morning until the early hours of the next day, the off-road vehicle carrying Fang Ji and Sheim still had not reached their destination.
This city is quite different from the typical understanding of a city; although it is just a county-level city with a permanent population of only a few hundred thousand, it covers an area of more than thirty thousand square kilometers, much larger than many cities with populations in the millions.
Among these thirty thousand square kilometers, many areas are uninhabited. It’s quite normal to take a day and a night to travel from one end of the city to the other. If they run into sandstorm weather, it might take even longer, and it might even be impossible to travel for several days.
Since early this morning, there has been considerable wind and sand in the Dunhuang area, and visibility in some regions is less than five meters. There was a brief period of sunshine, but soon the wind and sand roared back with an even more intense trend.
This rare and bizarre weather has left even the meteorological bureau helpless. Despite their best efforts, they could not find the cause of the severe weather and could only urge the public to minimize travel.
However, although such weather can slow down the pace of Miracle Cult members, it only slows them down; it is impossible to stop them from going where they want to go!
Under the night sky, in the fierce wind, the natural and beautiful outline of the yellow sand Gobi is faintly visible. Amidst the howling winds, the sand rises like mist in mid-air, occasionally sweeping across the doors and windows of the off-road vehicle, producing a series of tingling sounds.
It’s as if countless invisible small hands are hidden in that wind, scratching constantly, which made Sheim feel annoyed.
Based on his usual style as an elder of the Miracle Cult, under other circumstances, he would definitely open the car door, jump out, wave his dual blades, and have a fierce battle with the storm, continuing to fight until the storm stopped.
As a human, overcoming the harsh natural weather alone could also be considered a miracle.
But today, he could not do that. For the sake of a greater miracle, he had to deliver Fang Ji to their destination as quickly as possible.
Perhaps sensing Sheim’s agitation, Fang Ji raised her eyebrows slightly and broke the silence.
“Elder Sheim, do you remember the last time we resupplied before entering the uninhabited area and encountered that old lady who said something to us?”
“Sheim thought for a moment and replied, “That old woman seemed to advise us to stay at the rest station for a while until the wind and sand calmed down before heading out.”
“That’s right! When she heard that our destination was Yumen, she showed a look of terror and said that such weather means the deity is angry and has sent his retinue to patrol the Gobi to prevent people like us from getting close to Yumen.”
“Exactly!” Fang Ji nodded, “So tell me, if we defy the will of the deity and still manage to reach our destination, wouldn’t that be a miracle?”
Hearing Fang Ji say this, Sheim suddenly became invigorated, as if he had been injected with chicken bl**d, and he stomped on the accelerator.
In an instant, the engine of the off-road vehicle roared, akin to a roaring wild beast, leaping over the sand dunes ahead.
Seeing this, Fang Ji stole a glance at the rearview mirror and subtly curled the corners of her mouth.
In the rearview mirror, the swirling yellow sand was churning in the storm, and among that sand, numerous indistinct shadows resembling human hands flickered in and out of view. Those shadows waved and struggled forward, as if trying to grab hold of the passing vehicle, but ultimately missed, leaving only a series of scratching white marks on the body of the car.
Fang Ji had known from the start that there were urban legends hidden in this bizarre sandstorm.
However, these urban legends weren’t sent by the so-called deity to prevent people like them from getting close to Yumen.
These urban legends had existed on this Gobi long before.
According to legend, if someone dies on the Gobi, their bodies can never be found; their corpses would be hidden under the yellow sand by evil spirits and sent to a distant place, so that the deceased would, just like those spirits, never be able to return home.
Fang Ji conjectured that the place those corpses were sent to was probably the true location of Yumen Pass.
After all, a God Realm that has lost its controller can still function in this expanse of Gobi for so many years without collapsing, which should require some external spirit energy and material to provide sustenance.
As for the true location of Yumen Pass…
“Your Excellency, I just checked the map, and we should arrive in about ten more minutes,” Sheim suddenly spoke, interrupting Fang Ji’s thoughts.
“Mm.” Fang Ji nodded while looking out the window. “Once we arrive, let’s quickly find the other elders to meet up.”
After a pause, he added, “Tomorrow, we’ll begin our preparations, just waiting for the Holy Son to arrive so we can conduct the ceremony.”
He wouldn’t be able to find the true Yumen Pass without him! Fang Ji thought.
Although Luxianbei’s body was merely a “transitional station” formed by the fusion of the God Realm prototype and Ling Tai Purification, requiring only a short time to bear the wills of the countless beings within the God Realm prototype, the pain experienced in those brief minutes far exceeded her imagination.
The joy of rain after a long drought, reuniting with an old acquaintance in a foreign land, the wedding night, the moment of being on the gold list…
Life, aging, illness, and d*ath, resentments and separations, love and farewells, desires unfulfilled…
It felt like an absurd and bizarre dream.
In just a few minutes, she felt as if she had experienced thousands of different lives – lives of dogs, trees, and a chaotic mixture of experiences, witnessing countless “strange” things that someone her age should not have to bear.
Luxianbei considered herself fairly well-informed; as a seasoned presence roaming the internet, she had seen too many “strange” things.
But until today, she realized that even in a world greatly reduced in scale with no urban legends, as long as the number of beings reached a certain extent, there would still be things beyond her comprehension.
However, Luxianbei was always eager to learn, and even regarding these “strange” things, she wanted to study them.
As the controller of the God Realm prototype, referencing the experience of the Great Serpent God during its fusion with the God Realm and the Bamboo Slips Illusion, following the operational procedures of extracting worldly materials, she thought there should be no problem in gaining a deeper understanding of the various thoughts of the residents within the God Realm prototype.
However, when fusing the God Realm, the only outcome of being overly immersed in others’ stories is to lose oneself.
This point was completely absent from the memory of the Great Serpent God, after all, it only wanted to understand why it performed so much for those troublesome people, yet they still sought to harm it.
So, the oblivious Luxianbei got into big trouble.
Her consciousness was like being caught in a surging whirlpool, sinking into those residents’ lives.
In the end, her consciousness, under continuous stimulation, fell into a state of numbness.
In a chaotic mess where time seemed to lose meaning, she could do nothing but daze.
And just when she had given up thinking, teetering on the edge of madness, the core essence of the Witch urban legend suddenly began to revel again.
Spirit energy fluctuations erupted, and the coldness began to take away the temperature from her body like icy seawater.
Numbness, coldness, d*ath… she felt as if she had become a tiny speck of dust floating in the universe, aimlessly drifting in the boundless cosmos.
She couldn’t even remember how she transferred the God Realm prototype that was entrusted to her body into Ling Tai Purification.
Perhaps she had not completed the transfer and entrustment; before she could finish, her consciousness was consumed by a torrent of emotions that shattered her mind.
This state felt like it had lasted for centuries, until that touch of worldly warmth completely merged into her body.
In that moment, her body felt as if it had been struck by lightning, jolting, followed by an invisible force pulling her consciousness downwards.
Downward.
Falling from the boundless deep space to the earthly realm.
Yet, something seems to have gone wrong; she was simply falling towards the earthly realm endlessly, forever unable to reach the end, and Luxianbei would never be able to wake up.
It was as if a crucial element was missing, preventing the effect of the worldly warmth from being fully realized.
Like how a Chinese herbal medicine can’t achieve the best efficacy without a guiding herb.
Not knowing how long had passed, time seemed to lose its meaning.
When Luxianbei’s consciousness lingered with the last thread of clarity, she felt a pair of hands gently catch her body, cradling her and bringing her to a safe place for her to sleep peacefully.
That was the first breath of “worldly” air she felt during her long fall.
Therefore, as if the reset button had been pressed, everything began to return to its original state, and the entire world became warm and full of life.
At Banshan Primary School, on the playground.
Jumeng cleared a space and held Luxianbei in her arms, gently wiping the sweat from her forehead and murmuring.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to prove! Even if you were fully prepared, you are not a cataclysm-grade urban legend. Is merging with the God Realm prototype something you should be doing?”
“Do you think you’re the protagonist of a novel? Fighting above your level usually comes with a price of life, you know?”
“You really make me anxious; even a proper gaming session is impossible!”
Although Luxianbei had instructed Jumeng to stay home before she left, waiting for her return, how could the master of the eight-hundred-mile Peach Spring, a cataclysm-grade urban legend, be so obedient?
Even if she liked Luxianbei a little, she could never let Luxianbei control her will, dictating what she should obediently do.
That would be too humble!
So, not long after Luxianbei departed, Jumeng quietly followed her.
She wanted to see what Luxianbei was up to!
And wasn’t she allowed to follow?
Ha, perhaps that rascal made up a reason and secretly headed to Shancheng.
Knowing Luxianbei, she could absolutely do something like that.
When they arrived at Banshan Primary School, they happened to witness the old banyan tree heading towards its end.
In just a few breaths, the banyan tree, which had stood for countless years, rapidly turned its lush green leaves yellow, shedding branches and leaves. Then, tender shoots sprang forth from between the branches as if the limitations of genetics had lost their meaning, blooming in a riot of strange and colorful flowers.
Then…
After going through one last cycle of the four seasons, fulfilling its final mission, it could finally leave; the flowers fell, like snowflakes, upon the ground as the sturdy trunk crumbled and disintegrated in a series of explosive sounds.
Time seemed to stop as the entire mountain ridge where Banshan Primary School was located fell into silence as if bidding farewell to the old banyan tree.
The blooms, withered leaves, and everything about the old banyan tree drifted on the damp breeze after the rain in the forest.
As an urban legend that was originally born from trees, seeing such a scene deeply moved Jumeng, as if she was witnessing another version of her own d*ath, and she stood frozen in place for a long while, lost in thought.
Until Luxianbei’s silhouette appeared amidst the crumbling banyan tree, she finally came to her senses, leaping forward to embrace Luxianbei.
Perhaps the afternoon sun pierced her eyes, and Luxianbei finally awakened from her deep sleep. She instinctively raised her hand to block the sunlight from her face.
As her eyes gradually adjusted to the light, she sat up and looked around, spotting the familiar scene of a simple yet cozy small wooden house.
The window was open, and bright sunlight poured in, with a damp breeze blowing from afar, mingled with a faint salty smell of the sea.
Looking out the window, small patches of white snow decorated the mountain peaks, and a few seagulls circled in the blue sky.
After a few seconds of daze, Luxianbei seemed to remember something, her eyes lighting up.
I succeeded! A 98% success rate, and I actually succeeded!? This time I got a bit lucky!
But could it have been that the last pair of hands helped me?
That feeling, and this small house… could it be that the one who appeared at the last moment was my mom?!
As the thought flashed through Luxianbei’s mind, a moment appeared before her of the face that had departed before she had even had the chance to get close.
