Chapter 437: The Gods - Coercion |
Tsering Dondrup had never imagined he would one day find himself in such a bizarre situation. His heart was a storm of fear and indignation, screaming at him to snatch the short knife from behind the counter and plunge it into the malevolent young man. Yet, the thought remained just that—a thought. It refused to become action. He couldn't even move a single finger.
Was this some supernatural phenomenon? Some unknown technology? Or perhaps a power that bordered on the divine?
The people who lived in the Tibetan lands were born close to nature, far from the sprawling cities. They witnessed countless phenomena that science could not explain, which made them naturally more inclined than others to believe in the existence of spirits in all things, and in the presence of gods.
Tsering Dondrup recalled the flicker of greed he'd felt upon seeing the four travelers—so free with their money, so clearly without local connections. He'd considered quoting them a higher price, just to make a little extra. Could it be that this single, sinful thought had summoned the wrath of a god?
"From this moment on, you will worship me as you would a god." The young man's pronouncement was solemn and absolute, solidifying the fleeting suspicion in Tsering Dondrup's mind into certainty.
He collapsed to his knees and began to kowtow, his forehead striking the floor again and again, praying that this momentary lapse into sin would not cause the god to cast him aside.
Of course, Si Qi was no god—not yet. He possessed divine blood, but that was an innate gift, one that had been working in the shadows ever since he first entered the Weird Game. It had allowed him, a mere rookie, to bring his custom-made bracelet into the instances.
Since then, he had climbed step by step toward godhood, collecting authority and accumulating divine power, yet the final piece of the puzzle always eluded him.
The rules had vaguely stated he was incomplete, and he'd believed he could finally become whole in the Final Instance. But in the end, he had gained nothing.
Si Qi's use of the Soul Contract to control these people had nothing to do with punishing evil or rewarding virtue. If he'd known about Tsering Dondrup's misunderstanding, he probably would have been sick to his stomach.
How limited was the imagination of mediocre people when it came to sin. To them, a bit of greed, extorting a little extra money, was the height of wickedness.
In Si Qi's eyes, ability was all that mattered. If someone had the skill to chop these people up under the cover of darkness and bake them into meat buns, he would simply commend their "fine craftsmanship."
It was just like this moment. Si Qi needed a base of operations, and Tsering Dondrup's inn was perfect. He also needed hostages, and these members of the Listening Wind Guild were equally perfect. With the information at hand, he could devise a viable plan. And after accomplishing all his objectives, he could even test out the effects of his [Scarlet High Priest] identity card. What was not to like?
Even without his [Soul Contract] skill, he would have done it anyway; the process would just have been a bit more complicated. After all, the potential gains were substantial, and the risks were manageable.
[Identity Card: Scarlet High Priest]
[Effect: You will more easily gain the faith of other beings and convert that faith into your own power.]
The description was rather abstract, Si Qi thought, but he nonetheless cheerfully issued the command for his four new tools to worship him.
The instant the command was given, four scarlet rays of light converged upon him, sinking into his body with a gentle warmth.
The exhaustion from the past several days vanished in an instant. The wounds on his body faded, becoming much less severe. The faith had indeed been converted into his own power, acting directly upon his physical form—a part of him he'd always considered a weakness.
"So that's how it works..." Si Qi laughed, a genuinely delighted laugh.
He had previously thought the [Scarlet High Priest] card was less useful for scheming than his [Foolish Trickster] card. Now, it seemed that when paired with his [Soul Contract] skill, it could produce extraordinary results.
The more faith he acquired, the stronger he would become. He wondered—was collecting enough faith the other condition for completing his transformation into a god?
Si Qi stroked his chin, a rare flicker of genuine excitement stirring within him. It felt like that day in his studio when he'd killed Liu Ajiu and received the invitation to the Weird Game. He could feel the future stretching out before him, filled with magnificent, unknown possibilities.
Faith... It was such an interesting thing, rife with deception and self-aggrandizement. Wielded correctly, it could manipulate the hopes of the masses, or plunge them into the depths of despair.
Jin Yusheng looked at Si Qi, his expression etched with misery. Whether intentionally or not, he reverted to his usual form of address. "Old Qi, what in the world is happening? What are you trying to do? Given our history, can't we just talk this over? Acting like this... it feels so distant..."
Si Qi didn't correct him. He simply regarded Jin Yusheng with an enigmatic half-smile, as if weighing how much genuine sentiment lay behind those words.
Seeing that Si Qi had no immediate intention of killing him, Jin Yusheng continued in a rapid-fire torrent. "Old Qi, I'm serious, you don't have to do this. You know what they say—you can't force these things. Why drag them into your mess? If you want someone who'll listen to you, what about me? We've known each other since we were kids, we know everything about each other..."
As his rambling grew more and more absurd, Si Qi sighed in exasperation. "President Yu, while you're certainly important enough that the Listening Wind Guild would be willing to negotiate for you, when it comes to bargaining chips... the more, the better. Wouldn't you agree?"
The moment he heard the words "President Yu," the expression on Jin Yusheng's face froze solid.
Normally, he would have played dumb, stubbornly denying everything until faced with irrefutable proof. But now, with his very soul in Si Qi's grasp, he couldn't be sure if those memories had already been laid bare.
Their meeting at a summer camp six years ago had been an accident. Qi Si carrying him from the fire, their subsequent close friendship—all of that had been genuine.
Then came that night. He'd stumbled into the Weird Game by accident and somehow, crying and screaming his way through, he survived his first instance. That was when he met Ning Xu of the Weird Investigation Bureau.
Ning Xu had told him, "The boy you call a friend, Qi Si, is the greatest anomaly the Weird Game has ever unleashed upon the real world. He harbors a destructive malice toward all of creation and is destined to bring only death and disaster to everyone around him. The only reason you were dragged into this game is because you were his friend."
By then, Jin Yusheng knew Qi Si well. He'd never been a person of strong convictions, possessing neither a powerful sense of justice nor a rigid moral code. He was the type to side with his friends, right or wrong, which was why Qi Si had never bothered to hide his antisocial thoughts or his ruthless methods. He could still picture the boy in his white shirt, perched on the windowsill, smiling at him. He would gleefully recount his plans for dealing with his uncle's family or his classmates, inviting Jin Yusheng to help in a tone that suggested it was the most natural thing in the world. His face, pale as a ghost from malnutrition, would be lit with the kind of joy one might see when planning a holiday festival.
So Jin Yusheng naturally became his accomplice. Qi Si had saved his life; helping him deal with a few "problems" seemed only fair. But after hearing what Ning Xu had to say, it was as if he'd been jolted awake from a nightmare, and a belated urge to back out took root.
He had always been cautious, even timid. Helping with the cleanup after some of Qi Si's minor schemes was the absolute limit of his nerve. If the authorities ever came knocking, his first instinct wouldn't be to run for his life; it would be to drop to his knees, write a full confession, and beg for leniency.
Now, faced with the unbelievable prospect of Qi Si potentially destroying the world, he felt the weight of a terrible responsibility. Whether Ning Xu was exaggerating or not, all he wanted was to jump off this pirate ship as fast as he could.
Ning Xu had said, "I need you to atone for your complicity. Continue to be Qi Si's friend. Stay by his side, watch his every move, and intervene if he tries anything dangerous."
Jin Yusheng realized he wasn't getting out of this anytime soon.
But he had no intention of becoming a full-time spy for the Weird Investigation Bureau, monitoring Qi Si around the clock and feeding them information.
Maybe it was because he didn't want to betray his friend. Maybe it was just cowardice, a fear of getting drawn in too deep. Whatever the reason, he'd decided from the start to do the bare minimum.
Later, he came into possession of the [Taboo Scholar] identity card by chance. Though he never bound it to himself, he used it to contact Xiao Fengchao, who was trapped within the Babylon Tower. That was the beginning of his ascent. Step by step, he climbed to a position of power, and he was no longer subject to Ning Xu's threats.
He now had the power to simply walk away from it all, but for some strange reason, he found he didn't want to.
So much of his journey hadn't been his own choice. He'd been pushed into this position, forced to learn about the future that hung over them all like a sword of Damocles. He'd heard the desperate hopes of countless players. In the end, he couldn't just turn a blind eye and do nothing.
And so, as Yu Jinsheng, the acting president of the Listening Wind Guild, he began to plan and conspire. He allied with Fu Jue, throwing the full weight of the Listening Wind Guild behind him to elevate him to the status of Savior.
He knew he wasn't a hero, but he was willing to pave the way for those brave enough to shoulder the burden. Of course, he thought of Qi Si, too. If the day ever came when Qi Si and Fu Jue stood on opposite sides of a battlefield, he would do everything in his power to mediate.
And if that failed, he would at least warn Qi Si, arrange an escape route for him—even if it meant facing the Bureau's wrath later...
After a long silence, Yu Jinsheng sighed. "When did you find out?" he asked.
He paused, a bitter smile twisting his lips. "You probably won't believe me, but I never planned to do anything to hurt you. The only thing I ever did for the Bureau was warn you not to leave Jiang City before the end of the year."
"I started suspecting you two months ago, right after I officially became a player." Having successfully seized control of the four souls, Si Qi was in a good mood and felt uncharacteristically patient. "The Weird Game reached for me more than once, but for one reason or another, its tendrils would always recoil, only to ensnare someone close to me instead. You and I were so close, yet you never became a player. That alone was strange enough."
"Ever since that suspicion took root, I've been watching you. The way you interacted with Ning Xu and, by extension, the Bureau behind her. The existence of items in the game that can alter one's appearance. That sense of familiarity I felt at the guild summit, and then our meeting in the Final Instance... The clues were all there. I'd have to be far too slow not to piece it together."
The fates of Si Qi and Qi Si had diverged after the Grand Performance instance, but Jin Yusheng was a part of their shared memories. In either timeline, he had played a significant role.
A useful pawn and a convenient friend. After six years, it was hard to say which of those two roles had taken precedence.
Looking back, he realized it had been a hint. After the 'Dialectical Game' instance, when Qi had replayed the memories of his past twenty-two years before his eyes and spoken those cryptic words.
Unfortunately, neither Qi Si nor Si Qi had understood its significance at the time.
Now, none of that mattered anymore.
Si Qi sifted through Jin Yusheng's memories, watching the scenes where he skillfully played both sides between the Kyushu Guild and Qi Si. An image flashed in his mind: the great fire at the summer camp, when he was sixteen.
Why had he chosen Jin Yusheng, of all people? He could have picked a smaller child, one who would have been easier to control, easier to carry on his back.
Perhaps it was because of that first day, when he was being bullied by a delinquent girl. A younger Jin Yusheng had quietly slipped him a cookie, muttering under his breath, "Why'd you have to go and provoke her? Look at her size, her face... we couldn't take her even if we fought together. Just hang in there for a few more days. As soon as I can contact my dad, I'm getting this whole camp shut down..."
A sudden urge to laugh seized Si Qi. He doubled over, clutching his stomach, and let out a loud, barking laugh. He mocked himself, every stupid part of him, but even that wasn't enough to quell the feeling inside.
It was true, then. Friends. Keep them around too long and they just become a liability. Better to use them up and discard them. Squeeze every last drop of value from them, let them die a meaningful death, and then maybe, years later, shed a few crocodile tears in their memory. So much simpler.
Fortunately, there are two sides to every coin. Because of Qi Si's indulgence over the past six years, Yu Jinsheng's attitude toward him lacked the wariness a major guild leader should have for a dangerous sociopath.
That was why he'd been able to hold his hand on the Snow Mountain, waiting until they descended to take these three hostages from the Listening Wind Guild by surprise. And just like that, he had his first bargaining chip.
(End of this chapter)