Chapter 421: Snow Mountain (21) Endless Nightmare

【The bones of the Ancestral God lie beneath the World Tree. The white ribs have transformed into the spine of the snow mountain, while the blood and tears are the melted snow water, flowing through the crisscrossed ravines of the wilderness to become rivers, lakes, and seas.

He witnessed the ignorant mountain folk offering sacrifices and prayers. A single tear fell from the corner of His eye, blooming into ice-blue flowers upon the snow. The emotionless and desireless God felt sorrow for the first time; the remnants of His vitality stagnated in His abdomen, gestating into a new life.

That was His final child, who inherited His legacy of will and authority from the moment of birth. The God who governed the oceans surged forth from His husk, following the rivers to flow into the sea, opening up a forbidden domain beyond the control and gaze of the gods.

The era of the Old Gods thus came to an end, and the existence of the Ancestral God became a buried history. As His only believer, the Sea God was regarded as His kin and incarnation.】

【Identity Card: Fallen Savior】

…Fu Jue walked alone across the vast white snow, watching as the 【Fallen Savior】 card in the upper right corner of his vision flipped from reversed to upright, and the original historical fragment was replaced by a long-lost passage of text.

He knew he was about to see an old friend. Of course, not right now.

The eve of a dream is often chaotic, filled with gore and terror. Long-dead Ghosts and newly deceased corpses crawled out from beneath the ice, rushing toward Fu Jue one after another, blood and tears streaming from their eyes as they let out agonizing roars.

“Fu Jue, we trusted you so much. Why did you do this to us?” Players who had died in the instance stood like tombstones, watching him gloomily.

“Senior, this can’t be true… How could you possibly harm me?” A young Investigator from the Eerie Investigation Bureau, covered in blood, crawled toward his feet and grabbed his ankle.

“Guild Leader, save us… We don’t want to die, please save us…” Members of the Sera Guild twisted their bodies like insects entangled in spider silk.

The Ghosts extended their claws, attacking Fu Jue’s face with a thick scent of blood. They tore at his suit, scratched his skin, and bit his flesh as if treating him like a mortal enemy.

Even so, Fu Jue remained motionless, as if his soul had already ascended to a higher dimension, and what remained here was merely a discarded husk.

He slightly raised his hand, and the crimson-gold Die of Fate flew into the sky. A massive phantom of a dial rotated in the void; the die fell, freezing at the mark of the Seven of Wands.

“This is a fate that does not belong to you.”

The solemn pronouncement rang out calmly. All the Ghosts trying to approach seemed to hit an invisible barrier and collapsed to the ground.

Severed limbs and flesh were thrown into the high sky, then turned into a bloody rain that splashed everywhere. Fu Jue walked through the rain of blood, his face splattered with red, adding a touch of grimness.

He stepped over the wreckage on the ground and walked straight ahead, heading with clear purpose toward the ice field filled with glaciers, stopping before an ice wall as bright as a mirror.

A blurry figure was reflected in the ice, wearing a white suit, with gentle and compassionate features behind rimless glasses.

“Lin Jue,” Fu Jue called the man’s name.

Lin Jue looked up at Fu Jue, momentarily dazed, his gaze weaving with confusion: “Fu Jue, why are you here? Didn’t I tell you to stay at the camp and not wander around?”

He asked the question, then negated it himself: “No, you aren’t Fu Jue. Based on the existing clues, what I see in the mirror should be me from another world line. So you are me… but why do you look like Fu Jue?”

Fu Jue watched the young man with equanimity and said calmly, “With your intelligence and wisdom, combined with the known information, it is not difficult to deduce the answer to the problem.

“The effect of the 【Fallen Savior】 is to ’cause the soul of a deceased person to be reborn in the holder’s husk and participate in the game as the savior of a new world line.’ Fu Jue activated the Identity Card effect after your death and resurrected me.”

He tilted his head, looking at Lin Jue with a probing gaze. “Are you asking me questions in hopes of laterally obtaining more information without alerting me?

“But in my memory bank, your wariness toward others in this space-time is far below the average; thus, the previous hypothesis is a false proposition.

“So, is it that you are unwilling to believe the answer you reached through logical reasoning?”

“Fine, I believe now that you really are myself. Though I don’t know what I went through to end up looking like this kind of NPC…”

Lin Jue spoke with a hint of humor, his smile bitter. “Since you appeared here and spoke with me, it’s enough to prove that I failed. No one survived this Final Dungeon on January 1, 2014.

“Yet you happen to be alive, which creates a paradox. Can you tell me what exactly happened?”

Fu Jue ignored the previous question and continued in an unchanging tone: “The me on this world line does not have specific memories of your space-time. From my perspective, I died during the Twilight of the Gods in the Ruins of the Sunset and woke up in Fu Jue’s body. Based on the principle of information sharing, I need you to describe the details of what you experienced.”

A strange light flashed in Lin Jue’s eyes. “Is that so? To even have memories erased… I can’t help but suspect the Final Dungeon is a complete scam.”

He commented, then clearly recounted everything from gathering at the inn at the foot of the mountain to getting lost on the mountain. He smiled and said, “I originally planned to commit suicide the moment dawn broke, and kill Zhou Ke before I died, considering it a way to rid the people of a menace. But we seem to be trapped in an endless night, unable to wait for the dawn for a long time. And now it seems my death won’t push the completion of the Final Dungeon.”

“Not necessarily.” Fu Jue shook his head slightly. “The second possibility is that the two world lines we are in are parallel, with no causal connection. The Final Dungeon didn’t officially begin until 2035.”

Lin Jue nodded slightly. “I see. In that possibility, my state has been preserved since I was drawn into the Final Dungeon twenty-two years ago, until you came and I was awakened. So, what do you need me to do?”

“Leave Zhou Ke be.” Fu Jue looked down at the ice flowers at his feet, speaking each word deliberately. “He will be the most important weight to tip the Balance of the situation.”

Qi Si was dangerous, and Zhou Ke was also dangerous. But if two dangerous people existed simultaneously and both likely possessed the qualifications to compete for godhood, it would greatly add weight to the fight against the Ancestral God.

And compared to Qi Si—or rather, Zhou Ke—whom the Bureau of Anomaly Affairs had observed for a long time and gathered a wealth of intelligence on, the threat of the Ancestral God was clearly far more severe.

Both Fu Jue and Lin Jue understood this point.

Silence spread between the two. They were the same person, both extremely rational to the core. Within the grand scheme of the Final Dungeon, personal joys and sorrows would be compressed to the maximum, leaving only a calm analysis of the situation.

There would be no pleasantries, no questioning, and no nonsense. Exchanging as much information as possible and completing the layout within the limited time was the shared choice of the Lin Jue from twenty-two years ago and the current Fu Jue.

Fu Jue said no more and turned to leave.

Behind him, Lin Jue asked abruptly, “Even though I know it’s a waste of time, I still want to know: what’s with the blood on you and those corpses at your feet?”

Fu Jue paused but did not look back. “You already know the answer. This instance requires us to offer sacrifices of death and sin to the Ancestral God. Through twenty-two years of precise planning, I have killed 985,629 low-value humans as sacrifices for the snow mountain.”

Silence, a long silence… It wasn’t until Fu Jue’s footsteps sounded again that Lin Jue whispered, “I don’t believe I would do such a thing.”

“I didn’t believe it twenty-two years ago either.” Fu Jue turned his head, his glasses reflecting a faint bloody light. “But Lin Jue, objective facts do not change according to subjective will. The you twenty-two years later has indeed become a dictator who believes in utilitarianism.”

…On the other side, Qi Si held the Pocket Watch of Fate and stepped onto the altar one step at a time. He crouched down beside the final sacrifice and reached out to touch the person’s face.

The vengeful Ghosts were blocked on the other half of the world by the boundary formed by the Ancestral God’s bones. On the altar, there was only he and the person before him, along with the blood flowing beneath them, merging into a lake.

He studied the person in silence for a moment, then slowly curled his lips. “Jin Yusheng, it seems your luck isn’t always that good, to have actually appeared here.”

Jin Yusheng had kept his eyes tightly shut until he felt the touch. He opened his eyes and spoke very quickly, “Old Qi, what on earth is going on? I was thinking of going out for a drink tonight, but I ended up running into Ghosts. A bunch of monsters covered in roses chased me. I don’t know which bastard sucker-punched me, but when I woke up, I was nailed here playing Jesus… By the way, why are you in this hellhole too?”

Qi Si studied Jin Yusheng’s face. The details of his features were blurred by the night, but judging from his speech habits and personality, this person was indeed that cheap friend of his who worked hand in glove with him.

This guy had always been somewhat unreliable, always harboring a kind of blind optimism. Even when he had lost too much blood and was half-dead, he could still smile and spout some nonsense.

It wasn’t the first time Qi Si had seen Jin Yusheng in an instance. The Jin Yusheng in the Dialectical Game was created based on his perception and appeared even more realistic.

But it was different.

Looking at the current situation, Jin Yusheng didn’t appear as an NPC but had truly been pulled into the Eerie Game.

Would the Final Dungeon of the Eerie Game really involve ordinary people? Was the person before him an illusionary trap created by the instance, or was there more to it?

“Old Qi, do you think we’ve been hit by something and entered some kind of nightmare? The situation over in Jiangcheng is way too spooky. I’ve been a Celestial Master for so long and I’ve never seen that kind of ghost…”

Jin Yusheng’s mouth didn’t stop. “Speaking of which, I’ve been nailed here for who knows how long. The sky just won’t get bright. Logically, I should have died from the pain by now, and the dream should have ended… Right, Old Qi, don’t just stand there watching, find a way to get me down…”

Qi Si didn’t say a word, silently staring at the white feathers embedded in Jin Yusheng’s limbs.

A milky-white halo shrouded the surface of the feathers, and wisps of black energy flickered among the down, emitting the aura of the Ancestral God.

Qi Si watched for a while, then raised his index finger and tapped his chin.

The Ancestral God’s hand was suspected to be behind this encounter. So, did the Ancestral God want to use Jin Yusheng to threaten him? What had he done to give someone the illusion that he would care about Jin Yusheng’s life or death?

Also… knowing that this dream had been permeated by the Ancestral God, and even the words passed by the other self he saw in the mirror were distorted by the Ancestral God and couldn’t be trusted, was the Jin Yusheng before him still credible?

“Old Qi, Old Qi, Old Qi, if you don’t help me soon, I’m gonna kick the bucket… Quick, quick, quick, get me down, my thin arms and legs can’t handle this…” Jin Yusheng’s voice grew more and more anxious, his breath coming in short gasps.

Qi Si looked down for a moment at the pool of blood spreading beneath Jin Yusheng, then reached out to touch the white feathers on him. Nothing unusual happened during the contact; he successfully pulled the feathers out one by one, which elicited a string of wails.

After being taken down from the altar, Jin Yusheng was half-dead. He asked with a weak voice, “Old Qi, can you tell me what’s going on now? I’ve been confused from start to finish. It’s just a disaster out of nowhere, but looking at you, it seems you know more than I do…”

As he spoke, he kept tugging at Qi Si’s sleeve with his blood-stained hands. Upon seeing the wounds beneath the fabric, he gasped. “Wait, what’s with the injuries on you? How do you look even worse than me?”

“It’s nothing, just like you, I was chased by Ghosts all night.” Qi Si was almost certain now; the Jin Yusheng before him should be the real deal, and it didn’t involve any traps or death points.

So… what was the purpose of his appearance here? To provide distracting information or mess with the player’s mood?

However, there were already enough strange things about this instance that one Jin Yusheng wouldn’t make much of a difference. A creature like a friend—though if he died, he died—since he was still alive, it was better to bring him along.

Qi Si tentatively pulled Jin Yusheng twice, but the latter burst into a series of screams; it seemed he couldn’t walk anymore.

So he crouched down and took the limp Jin Yusheng onto his back, walking down the altar step by step. It was as if he had returned to that year when he was sixteen, in the great fire that consumed the forest, where he had also carried Jin Yusheng down the mountain like this.

Jin Yusheng was so moved he was almost in tears. “Old Qi, I knew you were my good brother, you definitely wouldn’t leave me behind…”

Qi Si said expressionlessly, “That’s because I want to use you as a hostage, Guild Leader Yu.”

“Huh? What did you say? What hostage guild leader?”

“Nothing.”

Listening to Jin Yusheng’s seemingly unfeigned tone of confusion, Qi Si couldn’t tell for a moment if he had guessed wrong or if this friend’s acting was too good.

But regardless, after walking alone in the ice and snow for so long, suddenly encountering an old friend did dissipate quite a bit of his annoyance.

The wind and snow covered the sky. Qi Si carried Jin Yusheng for a distance, successfully exhausting all his strength, and simply sat down on the ground.

He thought for a moment, then turned to look into Jin Yusheng’s eyes. “Did you see who nailed you to the altar?”

Jin Yusheng panted twice, coughing up some bloody foam, and said as he recalled, “I was already nailed there spread-eagled when I regained consciousness. I did see the back of a woman in white from afar, but I don’t know if my eyes were playing tricks on me…”

A woman in white. Was it the Ancestral God, or White Crow?

If it was the Ancestral God, it would be understandable; if it was White Crow, why would she nail Jin Yusheng to the altar?

As a fellow player competing for godhood, did she know more information, or had she been the first to complete the sacrifice?

Whichever the case, it was enough to put the other teams at a disadvantage.

“Old Qi, you don’t happen to know that woman, do you?” Jin Yusheng looked Qi Si up and down. “I couldn’t have been dragged into this because of you, could I? Like she used me to fish you out?”

“Maybe,” Qi Si said perfunctorily. “Just like how Ning Xu used you to fish me out before.”

“Speaking of Ning Xu, she’s been missing for a while. You really haven’t seen her?”

“No. Why would you think her disappearance is related to me?”

“I was just asking…”

Qi Si and Jin Yusheng chatted idly. Feeling his strength recover a bit, he stood up and continued forward.

A dull roar echoed from the direction of the altar, like the reverberation of an earthquake.

Qi Si looked toward the sound. A giant skull had stood up at some point, facing the pure white altar. A figure in a long white trench coat stood on the altar, slowly walking toward the skull.

Someone had completed the sacrifice and managed to push the instance progress to the next step. But why let him see this scene? Was it to increase his sense of urgency?

“Qi, you were never my only child, nor are you unique; you are but one of the many living beings.” A woman’s voice rang in the depths of his mind, a memory from billions of years ago.

Qi Si began to run toward the altar, wanting to see more clearly, but his footsteps were forced to a halt.

Jin Yusheng hugged his leg and shouted, “Old Qi, don’t go! My eyelid keeps twitching; something’s going to happen!”

Qi Si looked down and saw Jin Yusheng’s outline becoming increasingly blurred, starting to dematerialize and scatter into gold-red light specks… The distant altar suddenly erupted with a blinding white light, enveloping the skull and the figure entirely. A heatwave licked the scorched earth, and light like a sun falling to the ground flooded every corner of this world, lingering for a long time.

The sky turned bright, like an impassable chasm dividing dream and reality.

Qi Si woke up, opened his eyes, and sat up in the temple. For the first time in many years, his heart beat violently.

He sat silently, his consciousness sinking into the depths of the Hall of Thought, lingering over the last deployable anomaly.

【Name: Colosseum】