"You are indeed connected to her. Do you know where she's gone?"
"To save the world." The great god is about to sacrifice herself to save everyone.
Old Jin slammed on the brakes, asking in disbelief, "Really?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
"...How is she going to save the world? So many people have already died in this world, when will it get better?"
Wu Xiang smiled meaningfully, "More people have died in other worlds. It has to be one by one. Maybe by the time it's this world's turn, you'll all be dead?"
Old Jin: "..."
"There are other worlds too?" Sang Jue's focus shifted elsewhere. "Do you know how the Xenomorphs actually came about? Why did so many monsters suddenly appear? And they can affect normal humans? Everyone in this world is almost dead."
Wu Xiang still smiled, "How did they come about? Of course, humans made them. Some people intentionally or unintentionally did bad things, which ultimately backfired on everyone."
Neither of them quite understood her meaning, but Wu Xiang had no intention of explaining. She was disinterested in the topic and soon stopped answering, closing her eyes to feign sleep.
The two in the front were deeply shaken. They spent the rest of the ride in quiet contemplation of her abilities and her words, trying to dissect the meaning behind them. However, they knew so little that even after thinking all the way, they couldn't figure it out.
As dusk settled, they caught up with the others on the border. Seven or eight cars were gathered, with about forty people in the middle. Many were dusty and disheveled, some with injuries, looking quite battered.
Upon seeing their cars approach, the people immediately became vigilant. Only when they saw their companions getting out of the cars did they lower their guard.
"Boss!"
"Mr. Sang."
In the dimming light, Old Jin's gaze swept over them. "Did you run into trouble again behind us?"
A young man chuckled, "Just as we were about to leave, we saw them transporting food, so we snatched some. We had a scuffle, but everyone's fine."
"Haven't you seen food before? That reckless, what if something had happened?"
Old Jin later learned how much of "some" they had taken. They had intercepted several tons of food meant for trade, directly seizing it. They didn't spare the trucks either; they were all stored away by the space ability users.
At this moment, he was busy tending to the injured. Fortunately, they had brought enough spiritual spring water. After drinking it, everyone gradually recovered their spirits.
Traveling at night was unsafe, so they made a fire on the spot to cook. Compressed food from before the apocalypse was hard to find. Nowadays, they usually cooked their own meals when traveling. It was more troublesome, but better than starving.
Old Jin took two bottles of water from a space ability user and handed them to Wu Xiang. "This is spiritual spring water. You used to be... or rather, you are now. Drinking this can restore abilities and enhance your physique."
Wu Xiang didn't refuse. She took it, opened it, and fed some to Rong Jin. This body was clearly used to a pampered life. The hardships of the past period had made her tired and uncomfortable now. She didn't want to go anywhere but Wu Xiang's embrace.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Old Jin moved away and soon brought them cooked food. The others were very curious about them, but Wu Xiang looked unapproachable, so they didn't dare to come over.
After eating, they lit a bonfire in the center and assigned the night watch. The rest went into the cars to rest.
Wu Xiang had just merged with this body. Even as a pure spirit, such a ordeal was taxing. Fortunately, the others here were reliable. She felt at ease holding the person in her arms and slept for a few hours.
As dawn broke, everyone had already packed up, distributed a simple breakfast, and set off.
The journey was uneventful, and they encountered few people. By the afternoon of the next day, they finally returned to Lin City Base.
Besides the people trafficked from the base, they had also rescued about a dozen women. Currently, there was a significant disparity in the male-to-female ratio among the survivors. For the sake of human reproduction and lineage, healthy women were obviously important. However, outside the Lin City Base, women without abilities were merely tools for others' amusement. Therefore, they all chose to stay.
Sang Jue found people to arrange for the rescued individuals and then took Wu Xiang and Rong Jin to see Jin Wenye.
"Mr. Shen rarely sees people. I'm not sure if he'll agree to see you."
Wu Xiang calmly said, "Tell him I am Zhu Lin's daughter, and he will come."
"Are you really?"
The door opened, and the person inside stared blankly at Wu Xiang, his expression somewhat frozen.
The young boy next to him, upon seeing Wu Xiang, widened his mouth in shock, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Jin Wenye also heard the conversation. He looked at Sang Jue with confusion, silently asking.
"He is..."
"I know," Wu Xiang interrupted him, walking directly to Shen Chongyan and bowing. "Long time no see, Father."
Shen Chongyan's eyes were somewhat dazed.
Wu Xiang realized belatedly that she felt spiritual energy from him and had assumed he had regained his memory. "You still don't have your memory."
She raised her hand and pointed. Spiritual energy entered Shen Chongyan's body. Shen Chongyan froze. His eyes went blank, and countless memory fragments began to appear in his mind: the worlds they had experienced, his and Zhu Lin's past lives, and the true identity of this young girl before him.
His daughter.
After about two minutes, he recovered. He looked at the person before him. "You are Wu Xiang. Why are you here?"
"To find someone. Father, aren't you going back?"
"Zhu... where is your mother?" Chongyan asked, then paused, remembering what Zhu Lin had told him when he had no memory.
She was going to find out everything. But three years had passed, why hadn't she returned?
"I am..." She turned her head and looked at the others in the conference room. With a wave of her hand, several people were frozen in place, unresponsive.
"I found Mother's fate book in the Palace of the Fate Officials. It contains information about her destiny."
"What?"
Wu Xiang said, "Demons and monsters run rampant, and three thousand worlds are not spared. The cause is the human world's resentment. To end it all, she must ascend and descend as rain to nourish the world, eliminating the resentment in the human world. Only then will everything return to normal."
"...What will happen to her? Will she die?"
Wu Xiang shook her head. "I don't know. She is transforming into resentment to nourish the three thousand worlds. She may not survive. But she is the first god in this world, born with heaven and earth. She should not die. I don't know what will happen."
Chongyan was silent for a long time. "I want to go find her."
"I also want you to go find her. If she sees you, she won't die. I cannot defy the heavenly way and act against it. Father, you've done it once, and the consequence was you two being separated for tens of thousands of years. So no matter what you see, don't act rashly. Mother will not die, but if something happens to you? She might fall into demonic ways."
Chongyan's expression turned solemn. "I understand."