Chapter 957: Chapter 150: Gunshots Ring Out, Blood Splatters—Who Shot Whom
“Always?”
The stone figure’s head seemed to glow faintly, dispelling the gray mist between them.
“Always…”
“Where is she?”
Or rather, who is she…
“Your companions, they are all…”
With the whispering gray mist, Lu Li fell into memory.
“You crawled out of the underground and met Katerina at the abandoned shelter. Why did she appear coincidentally at that time? And why did she save you then? Believed in you and told you about a new world? Then chose to be with you when survival was no longer a concern?”
“That was her companionship…”
“Desiring the outside world, liking your humanity, secretly leaving Ghost Town with you, it sounds reasonable… But its ‘mother’ did not show up, nor did it stop her, is this really reasonable?”
“That was her curiosity…”
“Puxiu, a little creature still innocent in the dirty and sinful old sewers… Do you believe it? An aberration, a place surrounded by anomalies.”
“That was her innocence…”
“Ophelia hiding in the basement of the library ruins, stayed there for twenty-four years, leaving because of your arrival. But is it really possible for a wraith to endure twenty-four years without being invaded by the Inner World? She’s a wraith, not a ghost.”
“That was her burning love…”
“Maybe even your escape is related to her? The underground rock layers are like a mother’s womb, the surging undercurrents wrapped around it are like the nutrient-bearing amniotic fluid. When you soaked in the river, struggled through the narrow pass, coming to the outside world, it’s like a newborn…”
The stone figure’s head flickered with a faint light.
“She is beside you, has never left you…”
Lu Li disengaged from memory, his black eyes were still and serene: “You know my memories?”
“There are no secrets in the gray mist…”
“So you can also weave lies.”
As the words sounded, the surrounding gray mist suddenly became dense, gradually enveloping the stone figure, losing its luster.
Lu Li stepped forward a few steps, the stone figure disappeared without a trace, leaving a note on the ground where it originally stood.
He bent down to pick it up, a maxim emerged upon it.
[The choice between beautiful falsehoods and cruel truths is not difficult — people will choose the former. Only those who walk with reason and wisdom can choose truth]
Is this a test?
The scene before him reminded Lu Li of the past “Old Ones’ Test”. Pocketing the note, he continued forward.
The temperature in the gray mist approached constant warmth, and Lu Li, wearing several layers, started feeling stuffy, removing his clothing, leaving just his shirt and coat.
Walking forward for a while more, a second stone figure appeared within the gray mist.
“You passed the test, wise being of another world…” it said.
Lu Li did not respond, he observed the stone figure and the rough ground around it: “Is this the second test?”
“The test is over, if you do not believe, you can leave…”
Lu Li lowered his eyes in thought, then bypassed the stone figure, continuing forward.
The stone figure behind was gradually swallowed by the gray mist, a second note appeared ahead of Lu Li.
[Persistence and hesitation bring three results. Good, bad, indifferent. We do not usually aim for the good, only hope it will not be bad. But what drives us forward is persistence, not hesitation]
Lu Li’s departure was the correct answer.
Moving forward again, the third stone figure appeared not long after.
“This is the third test, a question…”
The stone figure’s head lit up with a faint light, no longer hiding its purpose: “The gray mist will grant entrants everything they desire. Wise being, what do you crave? Power, immortality, wisdom, or wealth?”
“One answer,” Lu Li said. “Anna’s whereabouts.”
“All these can be achieved. Power will make you stronger, fearless of danger; immortality will render time meaningless to you; wisdom can guide you to the truth; wealth can allow you to hire anyone to do your bidding, including the anomalies.”
“What is the cost?”
“Fate has long secretly marked a price for everything, what you need to pay will be revealed in the future.”
Lu Li no longer engaged with the stone figure in pointless discussions, he directly asked: “Tell me the way to find Anna, regardless of anything.”
“Is that what you want?”
“Yes.”
The stone figure’s head, like the previous two, disappeared into the gray mist, leaving a note in its place.
[Do not lose your nature — yet who can say a lost nature is not the true nature? One who covets wealth is lost in wealth, perhaps his true nature is to acquire more wealth]
Pocketing the third note, Lu Li continued forward.
The ground gradually became flat, no longer mixed with gravel and stone. After walking a distance in the silent gray mist, Lu Li saw a statue seemingly deep in thought.
“I am Socrates, the lord of the world’s crevices, pleased to meet you, wise one…”
The gray mist echoed its words.
Before Lu Li could speak, it continued.
“The fragment you seek is in your pocket…”
Lu Li paused slightly, his hand reached into his pocket. He pulled out a blade-like stone shard from where there should have been three notes.
“Though it has lost its power, its residual energy can still cleanse the insignificant pollution lingering on the earth…” said the thinker statue, self-claimed Socrates.
The weighty incomplete stone shard in his palm felt real, an indescribable strange power flowed over its surface.
It directly gave Lu Li what he sought.
“Thank you, after using it, I will return.”
Lu Li returned the stone shard to his pocket.
“It is ownerless now, it is yours…” Socrates gifted it to Lu Li.
“What must I pay?” Lu Li asked.
“You need nothing…”
“Fate has long secretly marked a price for everything.” Lu Li repeated what was said during the third test.
“But what is precious to you is worth nothing to me, and vice versa…” Socrates simply replied.
Lu Li frowned, disliking such vagueness about costs: “Be specific.”
“You have already paid part of it, the rest will be paid in the future…”
This ambiguity reminded one of the Prophet. Lu Li wanted specifics, but Socrates seemed unwilling to tell him.
At least not now.
“Where are the others.”
Having obtained the item he came for, Lu Li turned to inquire.
“They are trapped in the first test. You will meet them on the way back…”
The “Bottom of Sugla” Lu Li encountered was different from the description given by the Guardian, and from what exorcists of the Old Era investigated.
Whether this change was good or bad was unknown.
But like the maxims obtained in the test, hesitation wouldn’t make things worse, nor make them better.
Lu Li bid farewell to Socrates, turned and retraced his path.
Leaving was without obstruction, behind Lu Li, the surging gray mist gradually engulfed the pondering statue, leaving only whispers echoing through the misted space.
“You will return…”
“You will need this place again…”