As wisps of smoke continued to rise, a figure, neither fully corporeal nor entirely ethereal, emerged from within.
It was a middle-aged woman clad in a white robe, her skin fair and her form plump. Her face, particularly her broad ears and square jaw, gave her an almost androgynous appearance.
"Are you Amaterasu?" Chen Xiao asked, his eyes narrowed. Since it had emerged from the Amaterasu Token, it was naturally Amaterasu. Of course, it wasn't Amaterasu herself.
"That's right, I am Amaterasu." The middle-aged woman's lips moved, her expression as calm as still water, betraying no emotion.
Upon receiving a positive confirmation, Chen Xiao's divine sense immediately pressed down on Amaterasu. Whether it was a clone or something else, he decided to eliminate it first. To Chen Xiao's surprise, the Amaterasu clone that emerged from the Amaterasu Token possessed no small amount of power, at least more than that stinking toad.
"Mr. Chen, your visit to the East is merely to make an example of them. You have already killed the Emperor and many Eastern experts. Why must you slaughter them all?" Amaterasu frowned slightly and continued, "Moreover, if we were to truly fight, Mr. Chen might not be a match for my royal family!"
"Heh, whether I'm a match or not, we'll only know after we fight!" Chen Xiao said with a cold laugh.
"Mr. Chen, I will apologize for what happened before. You have earned my respect with your strength. Please believe me, we gods do not wish to be your enemy!" Amaterasu said with apparent sincerity. As she spoke, her illusory form was being squeezed by the divine sense, on the verge of dissipating. Although her strength surpassed that of the stinking toad, it was not difficult for Chen Xiao to scatter her.
However, seeing her sincerity, Chen Xiao withdrew his divine sense and said, "You were the ones who came to my territory and acted disrespectfully. It's only natural that I killed them. You failed to control your subordinates and even aided the wicked, yet now you say you don't want to be my enemy?"
"You say you don't want to be, and that's that? Where is my dignity, Chen Xiao?" Even facing a figure from myth and legend, Chen Xiao showed no fear. If you don't show me respect, I'll deal with you!
"Mr. Chen, as a token of my apology, I am willing to clean up the mess you have left behind." Amaterasu began to offer her bargaining chip. Unfortunately, this chip was worthless in Chen Xiao's eyes.
"What is there to clean up about this mess? Do you think I'm worried about sparking some international dispute? At worst, I'll just annihilate the entire East!" Chen Xiao declared霸气ly. He wasn't acting impulsively; he had already seriously considered it. If he were to destroy the East, he had already begun to sketch out a preliminary blueprint in his mind for where to start.
"Mr. Chen, I do not doubt your ability to do so. However, if things were to reach that point, a large-scale war would surely erupt, plunging the world into chaos and causing immense suffering, with the greatest victims being the common people at the bottom of society."
"I believe that is not what you, Mr. Chen, would wish to see." Amaterasu said calmly, and her words were not unfounded. Chen Xiao could indeed destroy the East, but the whole world knew that the East was merely a dog raised by their American father. Even now, American troops were stationed within the East. If the East were to be destroyed, the United States would certainly not stand idly by. At that point, a world war would truly be imminent.
Chen Xiao's thoughts stirred, but he still said coldly, "You don't need to threaten me with these things. According to international custom, whoever strikes first is in the wrong. Besides, you don't think I'm some kind of saint, do you?"
"Certainly not." Amaterasu shook her head. "Mr. Chen can indeed start a war... but before that, we, the divine race of the East, will do our utmost to prevent things from reaching that stage."
Chen Xiao suddenly fell silent, looking at Amaterasu with confusion. After a moment, he asked, "I've already gone this far. Why haven't your divine race attacked me? Aren't you meant to protect the East?"
"Yes and no." Amaterasu explained, "We protect the people and the common folk of the East, not a small segment of them. Emperor Gui Zheng wanted to covet things that did not belong to him, which was his own undoing. He is dead, and there are other members of the royal family who can succeed him. For the nation as a whole, it does not have a significant impact."
Amaterasu's words held some logic, but the more she spoke, the less Chen Xiao could understand. Her restraint was too unusual; something was amiss.
"I need a reason that is sufficiently convincing. So far, the reasons you've given are not convincing." Chen Xiao stared at Amaterasu, enunciating each word, "What exactly are your Eastern royal family's intentions!"
"Since that is the case, it seems I must reveal the truth." Just as Chen Xiao had predicted, Amaterasu's extreme restraint indeed had another hidden reason.
"To be frank, Mr. Chen, until two hours ago, the divine race had no intention of letting you go."
"The reason I changed my mind is because I saw the scenes from your dream."
"The scenes from my dream?" Amaterasu's words left Chen Xiao completely bewildered. Then, he seemed to recall something.
"You mean, in that illusion?" Amaterasu nodded.
"That's right. The Qingqiu illusion that trapped you, due to the use of the Amaterasu Token, I was able to see the scenes you experienced."
"And the greatest talent of the Qinghu clan is actually to predict the future through the subconscious of living beings. This talent has also been applied to the Qingqiu illusion."
"In simple terms, what Mr. Chen experienced in the illusion might actually happen in reality!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiao's heart sank. After escaping the Qingqiu illusion, Chen Xiao had been feeling uneasy, as if a heavy weight was pressing down on his chest. He wanted to release this pent-up frustration through killing, but after killing so many people, the situation had not only failed to improve but had even worsened. Now, hearing Amaterasu's words, Chen Xiao's mind buzzed as if struck by lightning. This was because the scenes from the illusion were something he absolutely did not want to see in reality.
"You're spouting nonsense and trying to alarm me! That kind of thing will absolutely not happen!" Chen Xiao gritted his teeth, his eyes clouded with a grim shadow.
"Mr. Chen, please do not get agitated!" Amaterasu quickly comforted him. "The future that the Qinghu clan can foresee is always the worst-case scenario. Therefore, what you saw in the illusion is merely the worst-case scenario."
"In reality, those things are not necessarily bound to happen."
"That is just the worst-case scenario, an extremely low probability event!"
"Not just you, but I also do not wish for such things to occur."
Amaterasu's explanation did not alleviate the tightness in Chen Xiao's chest. No matter how small the probability of such a thing happening, even the slightest possibility was unacceptable to Chen Xiao. Yet, he had to accept it, as he couldn't find any reason for Amaterasu to deceive him.
"Mr. Chen, whether you believe it or not, the Heavenly Dao is about to descend upon this world again. This world needs heroes like you, and it also needs our divine race of the East."
"Therefore, I sincerely hope that we can join hands and jointly resist foreign enemies. Do you think this reason is sufficient to explain my previous actions?" Amaterasu asked finally.