Chapter 46: Not A Deity
The matter regarding this Huo Gu anomaly event was just like a nightmare; after waking up, aside from blurry and fragmented memories, it seemed no evidence remained at all.
Although Huo Gu are a group of cowardly and despicable dimensional race, the vast knowledge they possess and their advanced and profound biotechnology are treasures that humans dream of and crave, even if they encompass certain untouchable taboos.
Upon learning that the dimensional space where a certain Huo Gu group resided had suffered a catastrophe due to an abnormal god, leaving behind ruins wounded all over, the Mysterious Group group leader was like someone who smelled a delicious cake and immediately issued an order for all Twelve Zodiac Groups except the Tiger Group members injured and hospitalized in this operation to lead professionals to the Huo Gu dimensional space to collect still recoverable “knowledge” and “materials”.
However, what no one could have expected was that when everyone gathered to prepare to set off, an eerie sinkhole that seemed artificially set up suddenly occurred, completely destroying the entire Beixiang Tunnel, and the underground tomb beneath the tunnel also disappeared from the world along with it.
Upon receiving the news from the front lines, the Mysterious Group group leader felt a conflicted sigh of regret and relief.
Regretful that humanity might have lost the opportunity for leapfrog development and a path to go further, but at the same time the Mysterious Group group leader was very clear that this opportunity contained danger—whether it would lead humanity to prosperity or make humanity follow in Huo Gu’s footsteps was still unknown. And judging from the current quality of the human population, it was perhaps too early for humans to contact them; losing the chance to obtain Huo Gu civilization might not be a bad thing.
Setting aside the regret of missing out on dimensional civilization, this sudden sinkhole vibration was especially eerie.
The geographical location of the world where Shenzhou is situated does not easily experience such intense crustal movement, and in the subsequent epicenter investigation, people made a surprising discovery: the epicenter actually originated from beneath the Beixiang Tunnel, which made people even more convinced that this sinkhole was not a natural disaster but “man-made”.
This discovery cast a dark cloud over the entire Mysterious Group, and everyone felt unease in their hearts as they thought of all sorts of possibilities.
Could it be that the abnormal god sealed by the Crimson General had escaped its restraints?
Or, in that terrifying rampage of the abnormal god, some Huo Gu still survived, and they self-destructed the passage to prevent their race’s secrets from leaking out?
Later, after sightings of “rat people” and terrifying monsters appearing and attacking humans began to spread in the southern cities of the Shenzhou Region, everyone in the Mysterious Group realized that there were indeed Huo Gu remnants who survived that disaster.
Thinking about it, even humans like He Jia’an and Li Yingqi managed to survive that abnormal god disaster, let alone the rat people who were naturally cautious, cowardly, and stronger than humans having no backup plans at all.
The Huo Gu corpses that He Jia’an and the others saw were definitely not all of them, and the surviving individuals among them would from then on live in crevices in corners unnoticed by humans, just like the real rats shuttling through shadows and sewers.
It is believed that when the time comes, those rats will swarm out, just like the rats that released and spread the Black Death and plague back then, bringing unimaginable catastrophe to humanity.
So, if someone starts noticing a pair of red eyes secretly peeping at you at night, that might be the alert signal your sharp brain is sending you before Huo Gu prepares to poison you…
Li Jiahong discovered that he had emerged from the haze of losing his wife and child without taking much time; he only isolated himself in pain for a full week, and when he went to visit the girl who had finally awakened from slumber a week later, the amnesiac girl unexpectedly called him “Daddy”, and from that he suddenly grasped the rope hidden in the darkness, found a way out of the abyss, and saw the light above his head.
He did not know the girl’s real name; he only knew that he had briefly heard Xue Hanlei call her “Ningning” on his mobile phone, so after deciding to adopt her, the girl’s family history was changed to Li Jiahong’s name with the assistance of He Jia’an and others, and she was named “Li Yuning”.
He Jia’an and the others had asked Li Jiahong about the meaning of the name, and Li Jiahong explained: “It rained heavily the day we came out of the tunnel, and that was also the first time I tasted such strange rainwater—it was sour like lemon juice…”
He Jia’an and the others surviving this anomaly event owed much to Li Jiahong, and Li Jiahong had paid an unknown price for it.
After the battle between the Crimson General and the winged abnormal god ended, Li Jiahong became the only surviving human among them who could still move freely; unable to carry everyone out alone, he chose to stay behind to care for all the unconscious people in order to let everyone live and get out.
Thus, he actually shared a space with an abnormal god for a full day and night while fully conscious!
It was not until He Jia’an, Li Yingqi, and the others awakened from their coma that Li Jiahong, whose spirit was on the verge of collapse at the time, breathed a sigh of relief.
After everyone staggered out of the dimensional space, He Jia’an contacted members of the local branch organization, and with the help of the branch organization members, everyone was able to smoothly return to the ground from underground.
Therefore, to He Jia’an and the others, Li Jiahong was still a great lifesaver; upon hearing that Li Jiahong wanted to adopt the girl who had lost her family, they naturally helped out.
“When did you start believing in these things?” Before leaving, He Jia’an came to visit Li Jiahong once, and he was surprised to discover that both Li Jiahong and Li Yuning wore a triangle talisman around their necks.
“No matter what, returning to normal life involves some element of luck; no matter what you believe in, believing a little bit can’t hurt.” Li Jiahong laughed.
He Jia’an nodded; as long as it was not believing in some abnormal god, those things were not deities that protected humanity but indifferent higher-dimensional beings—believing in them made it easy to be sensed by them, and encountering one with an adverse disposition meant the rest of one’s life could only be described as “dying a dog’s death”.
“We should get going too; from now on, live a peaceful life with the child.” After chatting idly with Li Jiahong for a while, He Jia’an stood up to bid Li Jiahong a final farewell.
“Alright, safe travels, Captain He.” Li Jiahong said sincerely.
“I hope we don’t meet again; if you see me, you definitely won’t run into anything good.” He Jia’an said with a smile, then walked out the door; before closing it, he suddenly seemed to remember something, poked his head back in, and asked, “I almost forgot to ask one thing—what was the name of the Crimson-faced General who saved us all back then?”
“Official General, General Zeng.” Li Jiahong replied with a serious face upon hearing this.
“General Zeng…” He Jia’an murmured the name; he seemed to have no impression of it and grinned, “Another abnormal god I’ve never heard of.”
With that, He Jia’an took his leave.
Hearing the sound of the door closing, Li Jiahong suddenly chuckled and shook his head to himself: “He’s not some god…”
