novelraw Chapter 859: Gunshots, Blood, Who Wounded Whom
Chapter 859: Gunshots, Blood, Who Wounded Whom
"Always?"
The stone head seemed to shimmer, dispersing the gray fog that shrouded it.
"Always..."
"Where is she? Or rather, who is she..."
"Your companions, all of them..." whispered the swirling gray fog, and Lu Li sank into his memories.
"You, who crawled out from underground, met Katerina in an abandoned shelter. Why did she just happen to appear there? And why did she save you? Trust you and tell you about the new world? And then, once she no longer had to worry about survival, why did she choose to stay with you?"
"It was her companionship..."
"Elder Sister, who longed for the outside world, loved your humanity, and secretly left the City of Phantoms with you—it sounds logical enough..."
But her "mother" never appeared and didn't stop her.
Is that truly logical?"It was her curiosity..."
"Prusius, still a naive child in the Old Sewer, a place full of filth and vice... Do you believe that? An 异人 (yìrén - 異人) in a place surrounded by anomalies."
"It was his innocence..."
"Ophelia, hiding in the basement of the ruined library. She was there for twenty-four years and only left because you arrived. But can a vengeful spirit truly endure for twenty-four years without being consumed by the In-Between? She is a vengeful spirit, not a mere ghost."
"It was her ardent love..."
"Perhaps even your escape was connected to her? The underground rock layers were like a mother's womb, the turbulent currents enveloping you like amniotic fluid, carrying nutrients."
When you plunged into the river, struggled through the narrow passage, and emerged into the open, it was like the birth of a child...
The stone head shimmered.
"She has always been by your side, never leaving you..."
Lu Li emerged from his memories, his dark eyes calm and serene.
"You know my memories?"
"There are no secrets in the gray fog..."
"Then you can also weave lies."
After these words, the surrounding gray fog suddenly thickened, gradually enveloping the fading stone head.
Lu Li took a few steps forward. The stone head had vanished without a trace, and on the ground where it had stood, a note lay.
Bending down, he picked it up, and an aphorism appeared on it.
"Between a beautiful lie and a cruel truth, the choice is not so difficult—most people will choose the former."
Only one who walks hand in hand with reason and wisdom can choose the truth.
A test? The scene reminded Lu Li of the former "Trial of the Ancients". Slipping the note into his pocket, he continued walking.
The temperature in the gray fog was approaching a constant, and Lu Li, dressed in several layers, began to feel stifled. He removed some of his clothes, leaving only his shirt and coat.
After walking for some time, he saw a second stone statue emerge from the gray fog.
"You have passed the test, rational being from another world..." it said.
Lu Li didn't reply. He examined the stone head and the rough ground around it.
"Is this the second test?"
"The test is over. If you don't believe me, you can leave..."
Lu Li lowered his gaze, lost in thought, then walked around the statue and continued on.
The statue behind him was gradually swallowed by the gray fog, and a second note appeared before Lu Li.
"Persistence and indecision lead to three outcomes: good, bad, and neither good nor bad. We usually don't strive for the best, only hope it won't be the worst. But it is persistence that moves us forward, not indecision."
Lu Li's departure was the correct answer.
Moving forward again, he soon saw a third stone statue appear.
"This is the third test, a question..."
The stone head shimmered, no longer hiding its true purpose.
"The gray fog grants all who enter whatever they desire. Wise being, what do you yearn for? Power, immortality, wisdom, or wealth?"
"One answer," Lu Li said.
"Anna's location."
"All of these can help. Power will make you mightier, fearless in the face of danger; immortality will make time meaningless to you; wisdom will show you the path to the truth; wealth will allow you to hire anyone to work for you, including anomalies."
"What is the price?"
"Fate has already secretly set a price for everything. What you must pay will be revealed in the future."
Lu Li stopped wasting time with the statue's pointless chatter and asked directly:
"Whatever it is, just tell me how to find Anna."
"Is that what you want?"
"Yes."
The stone head, like the two previous statues, vanished into the gray fog, leaving a note in its place.
"Do not lose your true nature—but who is to say that a lost nature is not the true one? One who craves wealth becomes lost in it; perhaps his true nature is to acquire even more wealth."
Putting the third note away, Lu Li continued forward.
The ground gradually leveled out, no longer a mixture of gravel, rocks, and mud. After walking some distance through the silent gray fog, Lu Li saw a statue of a thinker, seemingly lost in contemplation.
"I am Socrates, lord of the World's Chasm. It is a pleasure to see you, wise one..."
The gray fog echoed his words.
Before Lu Li could speak, it continued.
"The fragment you seek is in your pocket..."
Lu Li hesitated slightly, his hand reaching for his pocket. From the pocket where the three notes should have been, he pulled out a stone shard shaped like a dagger.
"Although it has lost its power, its residual influence is still capable of dispersing the minor contamination left on the ground..." said the thinker statue that called itself Socrates.
The incomplete stone shard, tangible in his hand, confirmed to Lu Li that this was no illusion; an indescribable, strange power flowed across the fragment's surface.
It had given Lu Li exactly what he was looking for.
"Thank you. I will return when I am finished."
Lu Li placed the shard back in his pocket.
"It is an ownerless thing. Now it is yours..."
Socrates gifted it to Lu Li.
"What must I pay?" Lu Li asked.
"Nothing is required..."
"Fate has already secretly set a price for everything," Lu Li repeated the words from the third test.
"But what is priceless in your eyes is worthless to me, and vice versa..." Socrates replied simply.
Lu Li frowned. He disliked such ambiguity regarding the price.
"Be more specific."
"You have already paid a part. The rest will be paid in the future..."
This ambiguity reminded him of the Prophet. Lu Li wanted to know the details, but Socrates didn't seem inclined to provide them.
At least, not now.
"Where are the others?"
Having obtained the item he came for, Lu Li moved on to another question.
"They are stuck on the first test. You will meet them on your way back..."
The Sugra-Dno that Lu Li encountered was different from the one the guardian had described, and different from the one investigated by the exorcists of the Ancient Era.
It was unknown whether these changes were for the better or for the worse.
But, like the aphorism from the test, indecision would neither make things worse nor make them better.
Lu Li bid farewell to Socrates and turned back the way he came.
His departure was not hindered. Behind him, the swirling gray fog gradually consumed the statue of the thinker, leaving only a whisper that echoed through the gray expanse.
"You will return..."
"You will need this place again..."