Chapter 501: Big Stick and Carrot

Chapter 501: The Big Stick and the Radish

Unexpectedly, the angel's death seemed to bring about consequences beyond Jun Jue's expectations.

Whether foes or allies.

Setting aside the fact that the angels, upon witnessing their comrades die in gruesome, ash-and-ember fashion, fell into a daze as if they had seen ghosts, panic-stricken and their fighting spirit shattered—Lin Ka herself stood frozen, unable to believe her eyes.

Even, it felt like an illusion.

"This must be a dream, it must be."

On the way back, she kept muttering to herself, her soul adrift: "I'm fantasizing again..."

Wen Wu sighed helplessly, knocking roughly on the seat back: "Drive properly!"

After all, he was a superhuman—whether he ate beef or not aside, his reactions were swift, decisive, and seizing the moment of the angels' confusion, he yanked them up and fled with the car.

After all, he had broken through the encirclement in the chaos.

However, after waiting for a long time at the rendezvous point, only a handful of people managed to arrive on time.

When the last group of disheveled individuals returned, the entire team had dwindled to just one person.

"Why is it only you?"

Wen Wu was stunned. "I remember you were the first to break out. Was there an encirclement?"

The returning man looked dejected, glancing at her and then at Jun Jue, his words trailing off.

Soon, the others' expressions grew even grimmer.

Someone cursed.

"Speak up, there's nothing to be ashamed of." Wen Wu sighed, her face unchanged.

"Captain, no, Osborne said... said..."

The young man hesitated, stammering: "Sis, you're crazy. You sacrificed so many people, charging in there like seeking death just to grab some ghostly thing from a stone sculpture... he won't... he won't come back... Mu Cai and Pu Peng..."

It was clear this was a sanitized version; the original words might have been harsher.

Feeling the team's losses were too severe, seeing no future, they fled.

Or perhaps even worse.

Defected?

Morale was dispersing.

Sensing the eerie atmosphere and the strange looks from others, Jun Jue, as the center of the conflict and the storm's eye, remained unnervingly calm, showing no emotion.

As if in a daze, he gazed leisurely at the sky.

Putting himself in Wen Wu's shoes, if he knew she was surrounded, he would spare no effort—whether it was worth it, not something to be judged by words. Without knowing the full story, he kept silent.

However, this silence seemed to be misinterpreted as something else.

Among the crowd, those who were injured couldn't help but feel resentment.

"After all this trouble, we saved a human stick... what use is it?"

"No, listen to me—"

Dazed, Lin Ka suddenly grew excited, her voice trembling: "Just now, the... cough cough, Mr. Ji, killed an angel right before my eyes. This power is absolutely real... I..."

For a moment, the survivors fell into stunned silence, exchanging glances, doubt, suspicion, or bursting into laughter.

"Hahahaha, Lin Ka, are you joking?"

"Did you see wrong?"

"Enough, Lin Ka, stop talking..."

"No, it's true, I saw it with my own eyes, it's true."

Lin Ka's face flushed red, stammering to speak, but even if she told everyone what she had seen, their expressions couldn't help but show doubt, even discomfort.

The angel's death was truly too strange.

Without witnessing it firsthand, no one would believe such an exaggerated tale. The first reaction was that Lin Ka had seen wrong, or perhaps suspected that Wen Wu had instructed her to lie, trying to make everyone accept such a massive loss to maintain her leadership.

Regarding this, Jun Jue remained indifferent, calmly playing the role of a cripple, accepting the suspicious or disgusted looks with equanimity.

He shook his head, sneezed.

He blew away a strand of hair floating in front of him.

Well, at this moment, he was still in a human stick state, and his weight was almost like a stone. In the rush, there was no wheelchair or small cart to be found, so... Wen Wu simply tied a rope and bundled him up, carrying him on her back.

"Enough, you've worked hard these days. Everyone's tired. Let's go home."

Wen Wu interrupted the whispering, looking at Lin Ka.

Lin Ka pressed the button on the walkie-talkie in her arms. After two beeps, a faint buzzing sound arose. The convoy restarted, and soon, Jun Jue's vision blurred, and they arrived from the wilderness to the mountains. Then, the convoy advanced, the sound of waves echoed, mud and water submerged the tires, and after the narrow path turned, suddenly it opened up as if walking through the clouds.

When the clouds dispersed, they reached their destination.

A vast square.

Like a village, within the canyon, many tents were haphazardly erected. In the center of the square, a bonfire burned, wide and rough.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

Some even cheered and shouted, celebrating their survival.

"What was that just now?" Jun Jue frowned unconsciously, thinking, "Why can't I sense the fluctuations of the Supreme Good? No, is this teleportation?"

"Let's call it the blind spot of dreams. With so many people's dreams converging, there will always be some corner and crevice.

With a slight modification, it can become a place to exist."

Wen Wu smiled wryly: "After all, we're now a chaotic party of demons. We have to find some place out of the light."

Footsteps sounded in the distance, and a crowd rushed over. Those who had kept vigil around the square all night surged forward, calling out name after name. Some embraced and wept, while others were destined to receive no response. After repeating it several times, it seemed they understood something, falling silent in tears, or wailing in grief.

Even, unable to control the resentful glances.

In the chaotic mix of grief and joy, Jun Jue quietly observed, but heard an unexpected, delighted call.

"Mr. Ji?!"

A staggering figure squeezed out of the crowd, looking at the 'ornament' behind Wen Wu, wild with joy: "You really came back, that's great! The leader said you came in too, I didn't dare believe..."

"Yu Shu?"

Jun Jue's eyebrows arched, surprised to meet his old subordinate here, momentarily stunned.

Clearly, he held a high status in the crowd, and others automatically made way. Yu Shu grinned, his eyes crinkling with excitement as he rushed over.

Someone hurried up, their expression serious as they looked at Wen Wu.

Wen Wu understood and nodded, setting Jun Jue down: "Yu Shu, take care of him. I have something else to attend to."

"Okay, okay, you can rest assured."

Yu Shu struggled to lift Jun Jue, still in a princess carry. After two steps, he staggered, but fortunately borrowed a small cart, ending this ordeal that everyone found unbearable.

Pushing him, he stumbled back to his residence.

After much effort, he dragged in the best chair from the entire house. Well, unfortunately, even the best has its limits, and this seems to be a treatment chair...

"A clinic?"

Ji Jue, curious, looked around, "Does this place also need a doctor?"

After bustling about for half a day, Yu Shu brought over hot water, then awkwardly realized Ji Jue had no hands, but Ji Jue waved his arm nonchalantly.

"I'm not thirsty now, um, nor hungry. Do I need to eat?" he analyzed his own condition.

"Although theoretically not necessary, many people can't break the habit. If you don't eat for too long, you'll get hungry. But once you're full, you can last a long time. Still, you'll need water, since drinking is an instinct, even in dreams you can't avoid it. If you don't drink, you'll get thirstier and thirstier, hard to overcome."

Sleep still exists. Consciousness stays awake for long periods, yet fatigue still sets in. But even if you fall asleep, there are no dreams.

Yu Shu answered, "As for the clinic, it's just a decoration now.

I'm glad I studied surgery back then. Most of the time, I just help stitch wounds. Apart from that, maybe due to vortices, my spiritual essence can accelerate and trigger wound healing. Now I don't even need to prescribe medicine.

Ah, sorry, I said so much in one breath..."

"No problem."

Ji Jue said indifferently, "Can you tell me what this world is all about? Why has everyone fallen to this state, and what exactly are those... angels?"

"..." Yu Shu's expression grew complex for a moment, as if recalling something repulsive, bitter and heavy: "As for what exactly happened here, it's probably a dream... It seems all those infected by the dream-loss syndrome have their consciousness gathered here, all their dreams piled together to form this world."

Ji Jue understood. He had already seen it from the outside, the sea of foam formed by countless bubbles and illusory lights, the eerie shapes of towers and giant trees.

"Although it's a long story, simply put, this dream world has deities."

Yu Shu sighed, "As long as you worship the Holy God, you can gain peace and fulfillment. As long as you pray to the deity, your wishes can be fulfilled. As long as you're devout, you can live forever..."

"It sounds wonderful." Ji Jue smiled wistfully, "If it's really that good, I'd like to worship too... But what's the cost? What's the cost?"

The cost is, apart from faith, apart from prayer, nothing else!

Gradually, they become nothing but faith and prayer, walking corpses...

Though the soul is whole, consciousness intact, humanity has been completely burned away. The person slowly becomes alienated, and finally, after losing eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, they fall into being a faceless one, eternally praising and praying.

"Every year, in every place, one-third of those whose prayer time and efficiency are insufficient are selected for punishment, having their limbs cut off or their organs and internal organs dug out...

If someone is selected for many consecutive years, or says something they shouldn't, they'll be thrown into the furnace under the name of heresy, burned day and night.

Yet they can't die, eternal wailing..."

Yu Shu's face turned pale, drenched in sweat, breathing grew rapid. Unconsciously, he pressed his hand to his wrist, stroking the burn scars that no longer existed.

"Yu Shu—"

Ji Jue frowned, raising his voice: "—Yu Shu!"

Yu Shu trembled, as if waking from a nightmare, a bitter, self-deprecating smile, wanting to say something, but Ji Jue shook his head: "It's okay not to say anything that hurts."

Either faith, prayer, praise, gradually losing oneself and consciousness, becoming an empty shell like a praise machine, or endless burning in hell.

Both paths lie before everyone in this world.

Neither allows one to survive, neither allows one to die.

"But apart from this? There must be more to it, right?"

Ji Jue pondered, suddenly asked: "By the way, angels, what exactly are angels?"

"A bunch of mad dogs with burned brains."

After a while, Yu Shu suddenly said: "Mr. Ji, you should know the dangers of forbidden drugs? Those that stimulate the brain and nerves, secreting hormones...

The so-called paradise, even more terrifying than those things.

More exaggerated than dreams..."

"Everything you want, just a thought away, whether it's delicacies, beauties, luxurious pleasures, or unspeakable quirks, all can be satisfied, and the stimulation can grow increasingly intense and crazy.

Even, not just your own fantasies, others' fantasies, all the fantasies recorded in the remnants of the yellow millet, can be easily reproduced, endless joy and relief, literal paradise.

Anyone who claims to believe can enter and experience for an hour. Once you've been in there, you'll never forget that feeling for the rest of your life.

Every year, not only the most devout believers can spend a day inside, the Holy Church also periodically selects qualified individuals to reside there permanently, transforming them into angels. Apart from occasional missions, they remain forever inside, indulging to their heart's content..."

"..."

In the silence, Ji Jue's expression slightly changed, as if admiring, a soft sigh.

It's really a good idea.

One hand radish, one hand big stick. With infinite suffering hell and infinite paradise, how can believers not flock to it?

But...

"It's supposed to be a dream, yet even fantasies become luxuries?"

Ji Jue couldn't help but grin: "How ridiculous."

They took away everything others dreamed of, yet turned these things into rewards, giving them to those who kneel and worship first.

If you don't want to kneel and bow, then go to hell.

"What do you think?"

Ji Jue glanced at Yu Shu's expression, suddenly asked: "That 'Holy God,' you're not from the Church, are you? I remember the Church of Chongguang also has its own deity..."

"Mr. Ji—"

Yu Shu's expression suddenly turned serious, barely hiding his displeasure: "Don't confuse the two. Moreover, the Church, I mean, the Church of Chongguang, its members never consider themselves believers.

The Holy Spirit is not a god, but a human creation.

My father once told me that virtue is the result of righteousness, not its purpose. If you set out on this path for the sake of believing in something, you might as well not start at all.

There should be no deity in this world who holds dominion over souls."

"Sorry, I was being presumptuous."

"No, I..."

Coming to his senses, Yu Shu finally shook off the earlier shadow, a bitter smile, continuing: "That 'Holy God,' apart from showing up a long time ago, hasn't been seen by anyone for a long time. It's said that only the most noble saints in Paradise can hear His revelations.

Even when Miss Wen stormed into the Heavenly City before, He didn't appear. Probably, He doesn't care about us, these rats who can't see the light?"

"Hmm?"

Ji Jue raised his eyebrows slightly, but didn't say anything.

Just thinking.

In the silence, there was a knock at the door, soft and low, full of patience.

"Mr. Bao?"

Yu Shu went to open the door, slightly surprised: "It's so late, I thought you were resting."

"Old age makes sleep shallow. I heard the leader say someone here needs help, so I came over." The old man who knocked smiled warmly, holding something in his hand.

Due to the angle, Ji Jue couldn't see the back, but when the old man brought in a somewhat rough wheelchair, he saw his face.

Old and hunched, his face covered in spots, white hair sparse, thin and frail, as if a gust of wind could topple him.

Through spiritual essence perception, yet able to see... within the old man's soul, the radiance he constantly emits, neither blazing nor gentle, simply stirring ripples as a matter of course, illuminating the surroundings, maintaining detection, yet unnoticed by others.

More importantly, the eyes.

In the moment their gazes met, Ji Jue's heart stirred slightly, and he suddenly understood.

Just like the old man's perception at this very moment.

This gaze, so refined and jade-like...

...undoubtedly, a fellow practitioner!

"Long admired your name, Master Ji." The old man gently touched his chest, smiled faintly, "It seems I need not introduce myself further. What you see now is merely an obscure old craftsman."

Ji Jue politely nodded, lifted his empty elbow in the gesture used among association artisans when meeting, "How should I address you?"

"Bao Da Cai."

A name he had never heard.

"Master Bao, then."

Ji Jue smiled in greeting, offering polite salutations, yet in his heart he concluded—this name, a hundred percent, is fake.

When he had resolved to challenge the master's position, he had already reviewed all artisans in the association with golden seal records—names, schools, general research directions.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles; at the very least, one must understand the competition.

The entire list stretched to a thousand names, yet only one bore the surname Bao, but he was not called Bao Da Cai. Moreover, that person was a rising star who had only qualified two sessions before Ji Jue, far from being so aged.

Moreover, that individual... was female!

As for whether there was a possibility he was truly an obscure old artisan, never having received a golden seal... Don't joke. Whether from the subtle spiritual essence fluctuations or the places where the other's gaze lingered, even briefly, it was enough to show the instinct and control cultivated through long immersion in this path.

The association may be a bit foolish, a bit slow, a bit useless, but they are absolutely not blind!

As for whether he might be low-key, low-key does have its benefits, but it also has a price—the price being that no one cares about you, a mere scallion. Other professions may have reasons for being low-key, but the essence of an artisan and the instinct for advancement dictate that one must clash with others to achieve progress.

Outside the association's environment, either the artisan cultivated by the Empire and Federation themselves, who can obtain endless resources and sustenance without fame, or...

...the Abyss?

This truly is a fellow practitioner!

Just as Ji Jue was secretly vigilant and plotting how to send the refined jade before him into the furnace, the old man Bao had already taken the freshly boiled hot water with a smile, pulled up a chair, and sat beside Ji Jue.

As if by chance, the arc of his wrist twisted slightly, revealing those fingers gripping the cup.

The fingers hidden behind the cup's body, held in an ancient and peculiar manner—index and middle fingers crossed, threading through the handle, the first joint of the thumb and the ring finger touching, the little finger weaving through the other fingers with an unbelievable flexibility...

Like a tangled rope knot, strangely familiar.

It was a rare gesture; in the ancient tradition of alchemy, such a badge and mark was called the "Rebirth Knot," denoting the Philosopher's Stone or the Elixir of Life.

At the same time, under Professor Ye's guidance, Ji Jue also knew it had another name and title... What was it called? Oh, now I remember... Nai... Grass!

Ji Jue's vision went black.

A fellow practitioner is a fellow practitioner, but why is it this fellow practitioner?!

—[Nirvana]!

(End of Chapter)