Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 470: An Unsolved Puzzle.

Ozul walked behind Old Gu in the streets of Phoenix City.

Minho followed behind the two of them, as the old man seemed to enjoy watching different street vendors.

"Who are you?" Ozul asked, breaking the silence.

"Me?" Old Gu turned around, pointed at his chest, and answered, "I’m just an old man with dreadful responsibilities." Saying that he dramatically swung his head ahead.

"... You don’t act like you have any responsibilities."

Ozul felt the bloodlust aimed at him, and asked, "Also, why does he want to kill me?"

"Ho~ You felt that? Forgive him, that lad is a little jumpy when it comes to me."

’Who wouldn’t feel it...’ Ozul complained in his heart, trying his best to ignore such intense emotions aimed directly at his throat.

Looking around, even the street dogs could feel the coldness in the air, much less him who could read emotions.

"If you have responsibilities, then why are you here? What do you even want from me?" Ozul knew well that nothing was free in this world. This old man had helped him previously, but with what intentions, he had yet to figure out.

He didn’t want to admit it, but there was a certain bad premonition burning within him. It was making him uncomfortable, but he hid it easily.

"You!" The old man suddenly stopped, turned around, and pointed at his face, "You are the responsibility."

Ozul looked at him and deadpanned. Even though he could read the surface of his thoughts now, this old man still didn’t make any sense to him.

"How? What did I do?" It felt like the most appropriate question to ask. What did he do to deserve this fate of becoming annoyed by this old man?

"Nothing yet," The old man turned serious for once and reached for the street bench.

Sitting down, patted the side of his bench, gesturing Ozul to sit down. He followed without much choice while Minho stayed standing by the side.

The feeling that something wasn’t right, only grew deeper in the back of his head.

"But I was considering whether to kill you or help you grow stronger."

If his expressions weren’t already frozen, they got colder. ’Is that what the feeling was about?’

"Would my opinion matter?" He asked, after contemplating for a second.

Unfortunately, Old Gu shook his head, "If only the world worked that way, brat."

Ozul sighed visibly; it seemed his fate would really end up being decided by the whims of an eccentric old man.

’Would Jinx be able to stop him?’ He guessed the possibility since she was the mother to the Celestial Beasts after all.

Sadly, she wasn’t in sight either. If the old man wanted to kill him now, there was no stopping it.

’Am I going to die without being able to find out anything?’ He thought, a bitter feeling spreading in his chest. He wasn’t resolved to die like this.

"Why me? What did I do? Do you know what I am?" He asked, his voice didn’t have the least bit of wavering.

Old Gu shook his head again, "It is not what you have done, but what you will do that has me so undecided.

As for what you are? That is not something I can answer, or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say that I’m also in the dark."

His answer seemed absurd, but he couldn’t complain to anyone. How could the old man know what he would do in the future when that guy wasn’t even able to answer what kind of existence he was?

There was a bitter silence that followed.

The street kids’ laughter and the vendors’ shouting filled the streets, yet everything was still for Ozul.

’Maybe it is for the better... How long was I planning to struggle anyway? Even if he doesn’t know what I am, in what corners of the world will I find my answers then? Death shall free me from this burden...’

The thoughts of giving up surfaced in his mind.

After all, he had spent countless years in a fruitless pursuit of the truth.

Maybe he was just that; an unsolved puzzle.

"What are you waiting for? Go ahead." He turned to face Old Gu with a stern face.

He was ready to die.

*TaK!*

Unexpectedly, someone smacked the back of his head. It was the old man.

"Oi, brat! Are you dumb? I haven’t even decided to kill you, and shouldn’t you struggle to live instead?!"

Rubbing the back of his head, which hurt as it had never before, Ozul replied gloomily, "What does it matter anyway? Maybe it is for the better if you kill me here..."

"Tch! Suicidal brat! I don’t even want to kill you now. Useless!"

After that, he began to stand up, about to walk off in a fit, when someone held his hand.

"Stop," he said, "Don’t leave after giving me hope. Maybe if it is you, I can really die as well. And maybe death will give me answers..."

Pulling his hand from Ozul’s grasp, Old Gu couldn’t help but berate him, "You are one stupid brat!"

Minho watched this entire scene from the side with his mouth open. He had never seen his master being so flustered before.

"I have no choice, no one knows what I am..."

Old Gu stopped for a second, and some elaborate scheme turned gears in his head as he took a few seconds to open his mouth, "Do you know who definitely has your answers?"

A glint flashed past Ozul’s eyes. Did he hear it wrong? Was his ears buzzing? Could it be that there was finally someone who knew about him?

"Who... is it?" He asked, with some fading hope flickering in his tone.

"God."

"God?"

"Yes, the Heavenly Emperor. He knows everything."

"And he will tell me?"

"You will die even before you can get close to him."

"Then shouldn’t I just die now?"

"Urgh!" Old Gu groaned, but spoke in a convincing tone nonetheless, "No! You should instead get so strong that you can force him to answer you!"

"Me? Force God?"

Ozul looked at him as if he was a madman. It was one thing to act eccentric, but suggesting such a ridiculous thing was even beyond madness.

"That I am certain of," Old Gu answered with confidence, "You have a power unlike any other, dwelling inside of you."

"And how do you know that?" he asked, squinting his eyes.

"Don’t you feel it yourself?" Old Gu asked, smirking again now.

Ozul didn’t answer him instantly. He was right; there was always a feeling in the back of his head that maybe he could grow stronger than anyone else.

Unlike other humans, he never once had a thought that maybe one day his potential would dry out, and that he would reach the peak of his power sooner or later.

’So I have to defeat God now?’

A wry smile made its way onto his face. There was indeed a time when in a fit of emotions, he felt that he would scour the ends of the world and defeat deities if he had to.

But as he grew up, that intensity soon faded and all that remained was his undying will to continue the search for his meaning.

"I guess I have no choice then..." he muttered in a low voice.

But his words were heard clearly by the old man who laughed loudly, attracting many eyes to him.

"Bahahaha!"

Even Minho looked at him stupefied, unable to understand how easy it was for the kid in front of him to go from ’I should die’ to ’I will force God to answer me.’

"I guess we should leave now..." muttered the old man, eyeing Minho.

"Wait!" Ozul called out, "Can you at least tell me what relation you have with the Celestial Phoenix?"

He knew there must be some connection between them since the Phoenix didn’t even seem to keep an eye on him. If she did, then he would have at least felt that presence targeting them.

Old Gu and Minho weren’t even concealing their inner aura, so it was odd that the Phoenix didn’t react to them at all.

"Ho~? Quite perceptive, aren’t you?"

But Ozul deadpanned at him again. His expressions were screaming, ’Just answer me what I asked you and move on.’

"Well, we are old acquaintances, you could say?"

He eyed the direction of the Phoenix’s nest and his eyes dropped a little before he muttered softly, "When you have lived for as long as us, the lines between hate and love blur into one. It is a blessing that someone alive understands you, be it an acquaintance, a friend, or even an enemy."

"..."

Ozul stood frozen for a moment, not expecting the old man to utter something so serious.

Before he could ask anything further, however, the old man and Minho had already disappeared from his vision.

Even with his keen senses, he couldn’t sense their presence anymore.

Looking at the cloudy sky, he thought silently,

’Fighting a God... Can I really do that?’