Chapter 131: The Truth Of Despair, The Tunnel To The Eternal World
Bang.
Bang bang bang.
There was no roaring or any pointless noise.
Only the continuous sound of heavy objects landing on the thick carriage roof.
Shangshan Che looked up and met the gazes of those burly figures like small mountains of muscle, clad in heavy black armor, with bright yellow cloth scarves tied around their foreheads that were almost dyed blood color.
In the howling wind, the ends of the bright yellow cloth scarves fluttered wildly.
The faces of the yellow scarf sumo wrestlers were as sharply chiseled as stone sculptures, their expressions solemn and emotionless, with only thick coldness and killing intent revealed in their pairs of black-and-white distinct eyeballs.
Some sumo wrestlers held black iron heavy pestles over a yard long, others had waists wrapped with chains densely inscribed with Daoist true words in dark gold… without exception, every sumo wrestler had distinct features and unique skills.
A total of twelve burly yellow scarf sumo wrestlers stood on the carriage roof; just the thick baleful aura emanating from them was almost enough to burn those chi crawling out of the windows to ash.
Shangshan Che looked toward their heads and revealed a hint of joy.
—【Yellow Scarf Sumo Wrestler Projection（Three-Star）】.
Twelve identical prompts popped up, giving a strong sense of reassurance.
Shangshan Che exhaled softly and said to them, “Completely flip over or smash the train under your feet; in any case, don’t let it keep moving.”
The next moment, led by the yellow scarf sumo wrestler holding the black iron heavy pestle, the twelve knelt on one knee toward Shangshan Che in silence and spoke words in unison,
“We obey your command.”
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Immediately, six yellow scarf sumo wrestlers turned into golden light and landed swiftly and lightly beside Shangshan Che—they became palm-sized little figures without slowing the car’s speed at all.
Shangshan Che looked at the row of serious golden little figures lined up on the SUV roof and thought that the yellow scarf sumo wrestlers judged that destroying this train only needed six people.
Wasn’t that a bit overconfident…
But in the next instant, the remaining six yellow scarf sumo wrestlers showed him with their actions.
—Their actions were not overconfident at all!
—Rather, this was the result after already treating this old train full of weak chi as an enemy among strong enemies.
“Big, big, big…”
A thick voice came from the mouth of the foremost yellow scarf sumo wrestler; in the blink of an eye, the originally two-meter-tall yellow scarf sumo wrestler swelled into a four-to-five-meter-tall little giant!
Law of Heaven Earth·Youth Edition!
He took one leaping step to the front of the train.
Then, he slammed down!
Like muscles cast from metal and stone bulging block by block, under the train’s huge impact force, signs of tearing appeared in moments, and that yellow scarf sumo wrestler’s feet were rapidly disappearing due to friction with the ground.
But he acted as if he had no pain at all, using his own flesh and blood body to forcibly slow the train’s speed.
At the same time, the other five yellow scarf sumo wrestlers who had been standing on the train roof each displayed their supernatural powers, and in moments the train was left behind by Shangshan Che’s group’s SUV.
—This way, they could use their methods to flip the train.
“Big, big, big…”
“Fall! Fall! Fall!”
The yellow scarf sumo wrestlers roared, raising their hands to push down the giant iron beast with their physical bodies.
In no time, the long old train that seemed endless was flipped over in one go by the yellow scarf sumo wrestlers fearless of death.
Firelight and explosions rose to the sky, countless chi poured out like a sea tide spreading, then were easily burned to ashes by the yellow scarf sumo wrestlers.
But all this quickly vanished from Shangshan Che’s sight, and the scenery behind turned into overlapping scenes like abstract painting colors again.
Shangshan Che came back to his senses and looked at the remaining six yellow scarf sumo wrestlers standing silently on the roof, revealing a genuine smile: “The safety for the rest of the journey is in your hands.”
The sumo wrestlers, sized like model figures, answered neatly: “We obey your command.”
Shangshan Che nodded to them and flashed back to the passenger seat.
“Well done.”
He reached out to grasp the steering wheel, then said to Ye Chun, who was stiff all over in the driver’s seat but gripping the steering wheel tightly and flooring the accelerator,
“It’s okay now, let me take over.”
Hearing this, Ye Chun’s whole body instantly went limp.
Two-Foot Adult first dragged the immobile Ye Chun to the back, then Shangshan Che sat back in the driver’s seat and poured a drop of awakening spirit mist into his mouth.
With the remaining six yellow scarf sumo wrestlers on the roof, the rest of the journey couldn’t be called smooth sailing, but it was certainly eventful yet safe.
Whenever bizarre demons or strange scenes appeared suddenly, one yellow scarf sumo wrestler would stand up, jump off the car, and easily tear them to pieces.
Thanks to this, within this hour, Shangshan Che almost fully recovered his previously consumed physical strength, spiritual power, and internal qi.
Ye Chun also gradually emerged from her earlier state of terror where she couldn’t speak.
She sat back in the passenger seat and said that if something like before happened again, she could still grip the steering wheel!
Then, the girl full of anticipation for leaving Kisaragi Station chatted with Shangshan Che about her parents, family, and some fun school memories.
“But I’ve been missing without a word for over a month already; I don’t know how worried my family must be… Anyway, I’m so glad I met Shangshan Jun!”
“Otherwise, I might have been trapped in Kisaragi Station forever and never gotten out!”
Shangshan Che just listened without much response.
Because he knew that the time Ye Chun entered Kisaragi Station wasn’t one month or a bit more.
It was a full twenty years.
After twenty years, everything Ye Chun spoke of might have vanished or changed beyond recognition.
Shangshan Che recalled that Main Quest Two was called “Save Ye Chun”.
But was such a salvation really salvation?
“—Shangshan Jun! Look, that seems like the tunnel exit!”
The girl’s cheerful voice pulled Shangshan Che’s thoughts back.
He looked ahead and, besides the white light starkly different from the starlight and surrounding “scenery,” saw a blood-colored marker.
—【Grudge Collective（Three-Star）】.
The final blocker at the tunnel exit was actually a demon that had reached three-star rank.
Kisaragi Station, merely a two-star map, had such deep waters.
However…
Shangshan Che only felt a thump from the roof, and the last yellow scarf sumo wrestler’s figure shot out like lightning.
“—Demon! Face judgment!”
In mid-air, that yellow scarf sumo wrestler grew from model size to several times larger than the SUV.
He held the black iron heavy pestle and charged booming toward the grudge collective wrapped in blood color and grudge, shaped like a translucent plastic bag.
In just three or two strikes, the grudge collective, whose strength was not to be underestimated, was smashed flying heavily.
The two clashed fiercely in the surging bizarre lights, soon vanishing from sight.
Ye Chun, staring intently at the distant exit, didn’t even notice this; the girl held her breath, hoping to see familiar traffic or warm sunlight beyond the tunnel.
Finally, the SUV that had traversed the long road burst out of the tunnel.
Dazzling white light flared, then slowly faded.
【Side Quest One—Tunnel to the Eternal World completed!】
【You can choose to claim this side quest reward immediately! Or wait to claim accumulated rewards after multiple quests!】
Shangshan Che calmly chose accumulated rewards, then slightly narrowed his eyes.
The smile on Ye Chun’s face froze.
She stared blankly at the scenery before her that seemed no different from before entering the tunnel, at those railroad tracks, mountain forest, and the silver moon hanging in the sky.
This place… wasn’t it still Kisaragi Station?
Ye Chun murmured in confusion,
“Why is it exactly the same?”
“No, it’s not the same.”
Shangshan Che said calmly: “If it were, this place wouldn’t have the exact same scenery as the previous ‘entrance’.”
“We’ve passed through the tunnel and left that world; that’s unquestionable.”
Shangshan Che stepped on the accelerator and drove toward the station along the route in his memory,
“Probably, this place and the previous Kisaragi Station are mirror images of each other, and this is the real Kisaragi Station located in the Eternal World.”
As for why the current Kisaragi Station was the one in the Eternal World… naturally because Shangshan Che had witnessed the “restart” after Ye Chun died earlier.
Shangshan Che didn’t believe that something in Kisaragi Station, this two-star map, could really make time in the Eternal World flow backward.
If the previous Kisaragi Station he’d been in didn’t exist in the Eternal World but was a small world attached to the real Kisaragi Station, then the weird restart after Ye Chun died made sense.
—The game administrator slightly adjusting the timeline after detecting an important game character’s death, once the “player” left, was normal.
This was probably why the restart only happened after Shangshan Che left.
“Mirror images? Eternal World?”
Ye Chun didn’t understand these terms.
The girl just restrained her smile, pursed her lips, and looked out the window at the unchanged scenery: “Can I really go back…”
“You can.”
Shangshan Che kept his eyes forward, his voice coming: “Because I promised you.”
Thus, Ye Chun’s panicked and helpless heart settled.
Soon, Shangshan Che drove the SUV to the platform with the 【Kisaragi Station】 plaque, and also saw that convenience store.
Shangshan Che opened the door and jumped out, walking onto the platform and looking up.
Hm, no shrine discovered.
Looks like this really was the Kisaragi Station in the Eternal World.
So the way to take Ye Chun away was to wait for the train that arrived during his regional unlock quest, board it with her, and get off at the station in the Mortal Realm?
As Shangshan Che pondered, he sensed something slightly off in the surrounding qi.
He silently scanned around, finally resting his gaze on the plaque reading “Kisaragi Station” and the platform underfoot.
Was this platform… moving?
Shangshan Che stared at the platform underfoot for a good while, then a label popped up before his eyes.
—【Kisaragi Station（Three-Star）】.
Without hesitation, Shangshan Che drew Kaga Kiyomitsu.
The domain of Sorrow of Parting spread, pale color dripping onto the platform, making sizzling sounds like on living flesh.
“—Shangshan Jun, don’t attack!”
As Shangshan Che was about to swing his blade to test Kisaragi Station’s depth, Ye Chun’s voice suddenly came from beside his ear.
He looked at Ye Chun who had just gotten out of the car, her face full of confusion: “I didn’t say anything just now…”
Ye Chun hadn’t spoken.
Then whose voice was that just now?
“It was me.”
Ye Chun’s voice sounded again.
Shangshan Che felt vibrations underfoot and looked toward the platform center—the grayish cement ground actually writhed like a living thing, opening to the sides.
Finally, a girl identical in appearance to Ye Chun rose from it!
The girl, whose body was tightly connected to Kisaragi Station, opened her eyes, looked at Shangshan Che, and spoke softly,
“You’re right, Shangshan Jun; the Kisaragi Station under your feet is indeed a living thing.”
This scene made Ye Chun hug Two-Foot Adult in fear, stammering: “W-what are you! Why do you look exactly like me, and have my voice!?”
The stone slab supporting the girl’s body moved slowly, smiling at Ye Chun: “Because I am you, little Ye Chun.”
Ye Chun felt no closeness from the identical appearance and voice, only her scalp tingling.
She swallowed, crouching behind Two-Foot Adult: “Monster, you can’t fool Shangshan Jun by disguising as me; it’s impossible!”
“What’s impossible about it…”
The girl smiled faintly, looking at Shangshan Che who had sheathed his blade since earlier and was silently staring at her without a word.
The girl exhaled softly and said to Ye Chun: “Actually, the current time isn’t just the over-a-month you perceive; it’s been a full twenty-plus years.”
“Tw-twenty years?”
Ye Chun’s face stiffened, then she frowned and retorted: “Don’t try to fool me, monster!”
Then Ye Chun looked at Shangshan Che,
“Right, Shangshan Jun?”
Shangshan Che was silent for a long time.
He closed his eyes and sighed: “Ye Chun. She’s telling the truth; twenty years have indeed passed in reality.”
“Eh?”
Ye Chun’s arms around Two-Foot Adult went weak; she looked at Shangshan Che, then at the identical figure on the stone slab.
In the silence, Ye Chun’s face gradually filled with confusion and despair.
She couldn’t understand or comprehend where this “twenty years” came from, but she knew even better that Shangshan Che had no reason to lie to her.
Time… had passed this long without her knowing?
Ye Chun slumped to the ground, her eyes gradually losing focus.
Two-Foot Adult said nothing, just gently hugged Ye Chun tight.
“Shangshan Jun.”
The girl on the stone slab also showed a trace of gloom, staring into Shangshan Che’s eyes: “The original me probably died long ago in Kisaragi Station, but perhaps because of that post I made before dying, things turned out like this…”
“I don’t know how much time passed, but I seemed to regain consciousness, then became part of Kisaragi Station, inseparable from it.”
“Thus, I also share part of Kisaragi Station’s power.”
With that post’s spread, Ye Chun herself became part of the “Kisaragi Station” supernatural phenomenon.
This wasn’t impossible.
Because supernatural phenomena were irrational existences that ignored common sense.
The girl looked at the distraught Ye Chun nearby, pursing her lips: “Since regaining consciousness, I’ve wanted to leave Kisaragi Station every moment.”
“So after that tunnel, for some reason fixed in 2004’s world, Ye Chun appeared, and everything restarted after Ye Chun died.”
“Though I didn’t know exactly how, in these endless loops, among so many Ye Chuns, one would find a way back to reality.”
“She just needed to succeed once, even once—that Ye Chun could replace me leaving Kisaragi Station and return to reality.”
The girl’s voice grew lower, revealing a bitter smile: “But I was wrong.”
“Such baseless, unrealistic ideas and obsessions only brought endless death and despair.”
The girl took a deep breath,
“—Until your appearance, Shangshan Jun.”
“—Until you brought Ye Chun before me like a hero.”
Shangshan Che stared at her and asked softly: “So, Ye Chun, what do you want me to do?”
The girl, or rather Ye Chun, closed her eyes and raised her neck to him,
“Please kill me, grant all Ye Chuns release, end all the pain and meaningless loops here.”
Revised, meow
Sorry for getting stuck on the volume end.
