Chapter 438: The Gods |
Five minutes later, under the control of the Soul Contract, Say Dream and Jiang Junjue trudged downstairs to the first floor, their faces masks of indignation. They took their seats on the sofa, one after the other.
Jiang Junjue clicked his tongue in feigned amazement. "Si Qi, I could almost understand if you had a bone to pick with us, but to not even spare your own friend? I have to say, I've never met anyone quite like you."
At his words, Yu Jinsheng's gaze drifted away. "Jiang, he already knows who I am."
Well, that was awkward. A muscle in Jiang Junjue's cheek twitched. When he turned back to Si Qi, his tune had changed completely. "Ah, my dear brother Si Qi, about that whole... deception thing. Our guild leader is a man who takes full responsibility for his actions. Say Dream and I tried to talk him out of it, but we failed. We had no choice but to follow orders. For the sake of our very pleasant cooperation in the *Red Maple Boarding School* instance, you wouldn't hold a grudge against me, would you...?"
Si Qi scanned Qi Si's memories and replied flatly, "You nearly killed my tool."
Jiang Junjue: "..."
Say Dream blinked, raising his hand slightly as if in a classroom. "Si Qi, I've never done anything to offend you. In fact, during the *Red Maple Boarding School* instance, I was the one who carried you on my back at the end!"
Si Qi's gaze drifted toward him, dark and unsettling. "You swiped my lighter."
Say Dream: "..."
But people, unfortunately, could never grasp such logic. They always had to trace everything back to its origin, to tally up debts of gratitude and hatred.
That was the end of the pleasantries. Si Qi's patience for small talk was exhausted. With a casual application of the Soul Contract, he silenced them all. Then, with a practiced familiarity, he walked behind the counter, picked up the landline, and dialed the general number for the town's public security bureau.
The phone rang for some time before an operator finally answered. "Hello, you've reached the Shangri-La Town Public Security Bureau. How may I help you?"
Si Qi's voice was mild, his enunciation perfectly clear. "Hello. My name is Si Qi. You can also call me Qi Si. I need you to contact Fu Jue of the Weird Investigation Bureau for me within the next hour. Have him call this number."
The operator on the other end was clearly bewildered by the request. "Sir, I'm sorry, I don't understand. Are you looking for someone? I think you might have the wrong number. We don't have any department called the... Weird Investigation Bureau here."
Si Qi was not surprised by the operator's response. He simply maintained his unwavering smile and said in that same warm tone, "That's fine. Just report this up the chain as quickly as you can. Tell them I have three important members of the Listening Wind Guild and one innocent local from Shangri-La Town with me. Then have Fu Jue call this number back. In one hour, I will kill them."
The operator was a young man, new to the job. He'd been mindlessly scrolling through his phone while taking the call, assuming it was just another one of the usual domestic disputes or trivial complaints he dealt with daily. He'd planned to recite a few platitudes and get back to his short videos.
But the more he listened, the more his blood ran cold. The young man on the other end sounded nonchalant, but his words carried a weight that couldn't be ignored. Someone was in his hands... he was demanding a call back from someone named "Fu Jue"... this was a real-life kidnapping and extortion case.
His mind, flooded with scenes from countless police dramas, raced. What was the next step? Prepare a ransom? Assemble a team to rescue the hostages?
The operator's voice turned serious. "Sir, please, don't do anything rash! I'll report this immediately! It's just that one hour is so..."
"It's more than enough. He'll be in touch," Si Qi interrupted, cutting off the operator's attempt to bargain for more time. After a two-second pause, he added politely, "Thank you for your trouble. Please be sure to tell Fu Jue exactly what I said, word for word."
"Yes, of course! You can count on me! Just please, don't do anything irreversible..."
Si Qi hung up the phone, decisively cutting off the call before his ears could be sullied by the inevitable, platitudinous lecture on morality.
Deep within his mental palace, on the long scroll of contracts at its base, golden vines wove themselves into rough script, faithfully recording the conversation that had just transpired.
A verbal agreement was binding. Now that the contract was made, Si Qi was confident the operator would dutifully deliver the message to Fu Jue within the specified time.
With nothing better to do, he casually picked up a phone from the counter that wasn't password-protected. It took him less than two minutes to download a simple match-three puzzle game he used to play, and he started from the first level.
Half an hour later, the landline on the counter rang. Si Qi picked up the receiver. Fu Jue's calm voice came through the line. "Hello, Si Qi. This is Fu Jue. Although, after tomorrow, I will be resuming my identity as Lin Jue. The name Fu Jue will become a thing of the past."
"Oh? So, the great Fu Jue wagered everything on the Final Instance—including the reputation he's spent twenty-two years building—and still couldn't secure the final victory?" Si Qi laughed, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "And now you're forced to dig up resources you shelved twenty-two years ago? Whatever you decide is your business. Why bother explaining it to me?"
"Since you went to such extreme lengths to contact me, I assume you won't mind if I use this opportunity to convey some information," Lin Jue said, his tone even. "And I hope that the cooperative agreement we reached previously will remain in effect during the post-Final Instance era."
"The post-Final Instance era?" Si Qi quipped. "I'm surprised you people at the Weird Investigation Bureau have already settled on a name." He narrowed his eyes. "You must have realized by now that I am not Qi Si. What I'm curious about is why you think the agreement made by Qi Si would still be valid, especially when you and I are now competitors, vying for the singular position of Ancestral God."
"Because neither of us wants the Ancestral God to return to this world," Lin Jue stated. "Once the new Ancestral God is chosen, They will act as the agent of the world's rules, destroying and rebooting every world in existence. That is an outcome I do not wish to see."
"And at that time, aside from the entity wielding the Ancestral God's authority, everyone and everything else—humans, ghosts, and gods alike—will be reclaimed, becoming the raw material used to create new life and new deities in the new world. I imagine that is an outcome *you* do not wish to see."
"At this stage, we have a common goal. The benefits of our cooperation far outweigh the costs of opposition. That is why I am proposing we continue to work together."
Having said his piece, Lin Jue fell silent. He had conveyed all the necessary information. Now, all he had to do was wait for Si Qi to analyze the pros and cons.
"As expected of the shared leader of Kyushu and Sila. Your analysis of the situation and your predictions for the future are remarkably accurate." Si Qi's smile never faltered. He held the receiver with one hand and, with the other, began to tap his index finger against the desktop, making a steady *tap... tap... tap...* sound.
He chuckled and posed a question. "But Lin Jue, have you ever considered that unlike that rationalist you call 'Qi Si,' I'm a madman who lives for chaos? That I might prefer a grand, spectacular death over mere survival?
"A golden wheel spinning high in the heavens, a rain of lava heralding destruction, flesh and blood splattering against the earth to raise clouds of dust... The mere thought of such a magnificent, bizarre spectacle is enough to leave me breathless."
Lin Jue was audibly frowning on the other end of the line. When he spoke again, his tone had grown heavier. "So, what is your choice?"
Si Qi was silent for a long time, but it wasn't the silence of someone at a loss for words. It sounded more like he was trying to stifle a laugh, amused that Lin Jue had to ask such an obvious question.
A low, suppressed chuckle rumbled through the line before his clear voice rang out. "Someone once asked me an interesting question—a question I believe he also asked you:
"A madman wants to compete with you to see who can kill more people in a set amount of time. If you win, nothing happens. If you lose, he will destroy the world. Do you know what choice I made?"
Si Qi lowered his voice, his tone shifting to that of someone sharing a secret, his index finger raised to his lips. "I told Him to let me know before He destroyed the world. That way, I could find a spot with a good view, sit back, and watch with a bucket of popcorn."
This was the answer Qi Si had given to Qi after the *Double Happiness Town* instance. Back then, before their fates diverged, Si Qi *was* Qi Si.
"I don't believe you," Lin Jue said, his voice calm. "If your choice for the game's ending was truly death, you wouldn't have taken those four as hostages just to have this conversation with me."
"It's not that I choose death," Si Qi sighed, as if frustrated by Lin Jue's failure to grasp his pure intentions. "It's that, in the face of an inevitable death, I want to do more interesting things. Like, say, destroying a world for fun, or bringing more supernatural horrors into reality."
Before Lin Jue could respond, he continued on his own. "As for why I took control of these four and demanded to speak with you... well, I was hoping the Weird Investigation Bureau might be able to spare a vehicle to take us back to Jiang City.
"And while you're at it, don't forget to leave a phone number. I might have other needs later on. After all, it's a long way from Shangri-La Town to Jiang City. The journey is bound to be... uncomfortable."
It was an absurd demand, yet Lin Jue didn't sound angry. Instead, he asked seriously, "Why are you so insistent on returning to Jiang City? Right now, every region besides Shangri-La Town is practically indistinguishable from the apocalypse, overrun with supernatural entities and rampant monstrosities.
"As the settlement closest to the world's origin, Shangri-La Town is like the mythical Noah's Ark. Of all the world's regions, it has the highest probability of surviving into the rebooted new world."
"Just assume I have a death wish," Si Qi laughed softly. "Besides, as the 'single greatest horror the Weird Game has unleashed upon reality,' how do you know that running into ghosts and monsters won't feel just like a friendly reunion to me?"