Chapter 649: BaiXX

Chapter 649 BaiXX 

Although Chen Xiaolian had already known that Bai Qi was responsible for the deaths of countless lives, hearing the words coming out of Sister Yun’s mouth brought a chill into his heart.

Fill… … Yellow Springs?

Chen Xiaolian turned to look at his surroundings. “The one he mentioned, could it be…”

“Yes.” Sister Yun nodded her head and continued, “During that era, this place was called Yellow Springs. If the number of deceased exceeds the accommodation capacity of Yellow Springs, the system will collapse due to error.” 

“How is that possible?” uttered Chen Xiaolian with widened eyes. “Let us not go into whether or not the system would actually collapse if that happens or what would happen to you all when it does, only Irregularities and refreshed Awakened ones would be sent in here. Considering how small this number is, how could his plan succeed?”

“You are talking about the present state of things.” Sister Yun scoffed. “In the beginning, Yellow Springs was the final destination of all things. Regardless of your identity, this was where everyone would end up after death. I only realized that after dying.”

Chen Xiaolian frowned. “Then, how did Bai Qi find out? Even more so… … how did he know about the existence of this Yellow Springs?”

“He died once.” Sister Yun said coolly. “By utilizing the Oddities, we were able to evade the system’s summons for dungeons everywhere we go. We also had the assistance of Taiyi. However, even with all that, the Upper Plane finally discovered our existence. What happened after was the collective siege by all Players and Awakened ones. After all, we still did not have Thirty-three Heavens to use as a hiding place back then.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head.

He had seen that situation before.

Zero City’s destruction was due to a quest issued by the system, bringing the collective might of the Players and even the Electronic Guardians upon Zero City.

Zero City’s defenders composed of seven core guilds and numerous peripheral Awakened ones. Yet, they were still incapable of averting destruction.

As for Sister Yun’s group of ancient monsters, there were only seven of them.

“So, your side lost?”

“No.” Sister Yun shook her head. “We won. Bai Qi was killed in the battle, but we won.”

Chen Xiaolian secretly sucked in a breath of cold air.

Just how powerful are these ancient monsters?

“At that time, each of us were trying to comprehend the mysteries within the Oddity. The insight I gained from the Oddity was that of life and death.

“The Guiding Link Fire is a prop that I had obtained long ago. Back then, it did not possess the functions it now possesses. The Guiding Link Fire back then was as Mr San described, only capable of letting us move from one place to another in an instant.

“However, after gaining insight from the Oddity, I took a small fragment of the Oddity and fused it together with the Guiding Link Fire, giving it the ability to move between life and death. However… … I had no way of verifying it. At any rate, I cannot tell someone to commit suicide in order to test it out. Thus, I had kept it a secret.

“But after Bai Qi was killed in battle, I decided to give it a try.

“The difference between the Lifehymn Music Score and the Guiding Link Fire is that there is no need for me, the user, to personally enter Yellow Springs. Using the Guiding Link Fire, I brought Bai Qi back. Thus, I did not get to personally see what was happening here.

“After that, Bai Qi left us, leaving only those words for us.

“It was from that moment on that Bai Qi became the God of Slaughter.

“Since he had chosen a different path, there was no way for us to stop him. We could only watch as he left. As for us, we too, came to realize an issue.

“If we were to continue down that path, the besiegement by the system would only continue, again and again, each time stronger than before.

“Thus, we needed to change.

“We created Thirty-three Heavens and had never left since. We, the creators of that world, possessed an invincible and incomprehensible power within the world.

“We became the new world’s… … deity gods!

“When Bai Qi chose to leave, we had informed him, should the day come when he changes his mind, there will always be a place among the deity gods of Thirty-three Heavens for him.

“That day finally came. Bai Qi returned.

“However, the purpose behind his return was… … the destruction of Thirty-three Heavens!”

“He went mad?” Chen Xiaolian frowned.

“No, he was clear-minded.” Sister Yun shook her head. “He had become overtaken by that obsessive thought of his, to kill off every single person in the outside world, to fill Yellow Springs, that is the way to destroy the world. Yet, his strength alone proved insufficient for that. Thus, he hoped that we would walk the same path as him.

“Naturally, we rejected him. We have absolute security within Thirty-three Heavens and there is no need for us to care about anything transpiring within the outside world.

“After hearing what we had to say, Bai Qi sneered and said: Since you fellows are unwilling to follow me due to your attachment to this mouse hole, I will just have to destroy it!

“Thus, we fought.”

“You mean… …”

Chen Xiaolian looked at Sister Yun with a look of disbelief. “In that battle, he killed you?”

There were six people on Thirty-three Heavens’s side while Bai Qi was alone.

Alone… … he fought alone against the six ancient monsters and had managed to kill off one of them.

Back in Zero City, Shen had singlehandedly defeated three [S] class experts. That terrifying level of strength was enough to leave Chen Xiolian at a loss for words as it was.

That Bai QI… … just how powerful was he?

“Bai Qi had always been the strongest among us. Not to mention, while we were creating Thirty-three Heavens, he had been slaughtering others in the outside world without respite, not refusing any instance dungeon quests issued by the system. By the time he returned to Thirty-three Heavens, his power had far surpassed us all,” seeing the puzzled look on Chen Xiaolian’s face, Sister Yun replied with a smile. “Even so, challenging all six of us was suicide. Just… … he still had to strength to take one of us with him.”

“So… … you and he came to World’s End at the same time?” Chen Xiaolian mumbled.

“Yes.” Sister Yun looked up at the sky. “It was only after coming here did I understand how he could have come up with such a crazy plan.”

“Back then, who you were did not matter. After dying, everyone would be sent here, into Yellow Springs. There was no set mechanism at certain intervals either. The number of people here would increase according to the number of deaths occurring in the outside world. The surface area would also keep increasing following the clearing of the instance dungeons in the outside world.

“That means, back then, as long as enough number of people were killed off at one point in time, leading to the number of people here to grow beyond what the surface area of the instance dungeons can accommodate, it was possible to fill up Yellow Springs.”

“And then… … what will happen? Will the world really collapse?”

“How would I know?” Sister Yun gave Chen Xiaolian a glance, one seemingly reserved for fools. “Before Bai Qi could accomplish that, he was killed off by us.”

Chen Xiaolian smiled wryly and nodded his head. “What happened after?”

“The Guiding Link Fire could only be utilized from the outside world. Had I remained alive, it would not matter who had died in the battle. I would have been able to utilize it to resurrect them. Unfortunately… … the one Bai Qi killed was me. As for the Guiding Link Fire, it remained in Thirty-three Heavens. Umbrella and the others… … are unable to utilize it. Thus, Bai Qi and I had to stay here forever.

“Yellow Springs back then had no refresh function. Thus, all the ordinary humans who entered this place had infinite lifespan, unless… … they were killed.

“Thus, this place became the equivalent of another world. All who came here lived here. Eventually, they established their respective nations of varying size, attacking each other again and again.

“As for Bai Qi, even death could not force him to give up.

“Using his own strength, he rose to become the one King within this world, a world that had only ordinary humans.

“He commanded them all to stop fighting, banning any acts of killing. He hoped, as much as possible, for his method to minimize the reduction of people within Yellow Springs. Perhaps, one day, enough people will die in the outside world and this world will overflow.

“As time passed, Bai Qi and I discovered that our kind had begun to appear in Yellow Springs. However… … those Irregularities were much weaker compared to us.

“Bai Qi took them in and had them become his assistants, administrators for Yellow Springs.

“However, the increase in the number of instance dungeons remained greater than that of the people. At times, the arrival of one incredibly large-scale instance dungeon would nullify much of Bai Qi’s painstaking efforts. All Bai Qi could do was to stop the deaths of the people in Yellow Springs, not increase them as he desired. At any rate… … this is the Yellow Springs. Although the people here will never die of natural causes, they can no longer create new life.

“As for me, I wanted nothing to do with him. All I wanted was to live here quietly.

“I had grown weary.

“But one day, a change came over Yellow Springs.

“In the blink of an eye, everyone vanished, leaving only the Irregularities. Even the instance dungeons disappeared, leaving only one instance dungeon, the first instance dungeon.

“Bai Qi went near-mad. Thinking that I had done something to cause that, he came looking for me.

“We ended up fighting each other and I lost. However, he did not kill me. After recollecting himself, he left quietly. He knew I would not have done something like that, nor did I possess the ability to do so.

“Since that day, around once every three months, Yellow Springs would be refreshed. All the instance dungeons and people sent in here will be killed off, leaving only us, the Irregularities, and that first instance dungeon.

“Additionally, since the advent of the first refresh, the number of people to enter World’s End was reduced to no more than 0.0001 per cent of the previous number. Gradually, we came to realize that those seemingly ordinary humans were once Awakened ones who had been refreshed after their deaths. Only, they have lost all their memories and abilities. 

“I believe that the reason the system gave those Awakened ones the opportunity to enter Yellow Springs instead of automatically killing them off is due to the consideration for certain resurrection props. It wanted to avoid the occurrence of errors and the collapse of the world.

“Originally, I thought that Bai Qi would give up after that. However, he remained steadfast.

“Likewise, the reason the system retained the initial instance dungeon is likely due to the fear that the number of people in Yellow Springs would exceed its accommodation capacity. Thus, Bai Qi believed that although Irregularities were the only one left, by slowly increasing the number of Irregularities, the day may come when Yellow Springs capacity is exceeded.

“Although it was a near non-existent hope, I think, without that last strand of hope, Bai Qi would have gone mad.

“He remained the King of this world. As its King, he prohibited all Irregularities from fighting to the death. It was not out of concern or sympathy for them. Rather… … he wanted them to live as pawns for him to fill up Yellow Springs.

“Until one day, Shen arrived.

“The two of them had a conversation, but I am not privy to the details of their conversation. Only after their meeting had ended did Shen come to me. He asked me if I wanted to return with him, but I rejected his offer.”

“Why?” Chen Xiaolian was puzzled.

“Firstly, Shen did not possess my Guiding Link Fire. The thing he was using is the Lifehymn Music Score that you are using right now. That item is something that they had only just created. That was their first time using it. I could not be certain that he could actually bring me and Bai Qi back properly or if there are any adverse side effects. Looking at it right now… …” Sister Yun smiled. “It would appear there are indeed side effects.”

Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath and shoved away the unpleasant thoughts in his mind. “What about the second reason?”

Sister Yun said softly, “I am already weary. Regardless if Thirty-three Heavens could bypass the threat presented by the system… … here, I am certain that I will be safe. I do not want to have any contact with anyone else. I just want to live a carefree life alone. This Yellow Springs is a good place as any.

“However, Bai Qi did not share my thoughts. He wanted to return, return to the outside world and resume his plan of slaughtering people. He said that he knew of a method to mass produce Irregularities. Once he made it back to the outside world, he would mass produce them and slaughter them all.

“On that day, Bai Qi summoned all the Irregularities to the first instance dungeon. He told them to wait patiently. For one day, he will fill the Yellow Springs and bring them the ultimate liberation.

“But… …”

A mockful sneer appeared on Sister Yun’s face. “He never considered human nature.

“When everyone heard Bai Qi’s speech, they all went mad. They had never even considered the possibility of returning to the outside world after getting sent into World’s End.

“Practically every single one of them wanted to snatch that opportunity. And in order to snatch the opportunity, they believed that they needed to kill Bai Qi.

“They came together, entered Bai Qi’s Palace hall and told Bai Qi that if he did not hand over the return opportunity, they will join hands to kill him.

“Those Irregularities were very confident. They believed that by combining their strength, they would be able to defeat Bai Qi.

“They do not understand that even a united group of ants cannot defeat an elephant.

“At that moment, Bai Qi got up from his throne, sneered and said…

“Step forth… and accept death.

Shen did not intervene, neither did I. Bai Qi alone, slaughtered all the Irregularities who had dared challenge him, leaving only those cowardly and terrified trashes who could only cower in the corner. Then, he turned around and left Yellow Springs with Shen.”

Chen Xiaolian’s whole body had begun shivering. It was not due to fear. Rather, it was the shock from hearing Sister Yun’s story.

He now understood why Sebast would reveal such a display of dread just by hearing Bai Qi’s name.

Just by listening to Sister Yun’s simplistic description of what happened, Chen Xiaolian could imagine Bai Qi’s terrifying power. He could even imagine the dominant bearing Bai Qi revealed that day.

A King who had once dominated the whole world brought about the betrayal and siege by everyone in the world on himself.

Yet, in face of the world that had made him their enemy, the King remained indifferent and disdainful.

Step forward and accept death.

Then, the exalted King used his own two hands to kill off every one of his enemies. Trampling on the mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, he looked down condescendingly upon the last remaining survivors, the capitulators. Then, he turned and left the world.

Leaving only… … a terrifying legend within Yellow Springs, passed down only through mouth. His name became an eternal taboo and no one was allowed to mention his name ever again.

Chen Xiaolian had thought that such an imagery could only appear within a novel of his.

“You know? In the outside world, I am a webwriter.” Chen Xiaolian stopped walking all of a sudden. He turned to look at Sister Yun and smiled.

“What is that?” asked Sister Yun with a frown.

Chen Xiaolian pondered the question for a moment. “A type of… … profession where I write stories for a living. I was thinking, if I ever start updating again, I want to write that scene and those words… … into my novel.”

“Up to you. However, I do not like his name.” Sister Yun snorted.

“I think so too… … Bai is a good surname, but his full name is not that good.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “So, I plan on giving him a more palatable name. Naturally, the story has to be changed slightly.”

“What name?”

“Hmm, let me think…” Chen Xiaolian rubbed his chin before laughing out.

“I’ll name him… … Baihe Chou.”

…

Another Easter egg for old fans of Dancing’s works. Baihe Chou is the name of a character in his novel ‘Law of the Devil’.