Chapter 1222: Lin Sanjiu Takes the Risk
As Lin Sanjiu pushed the NPC into the woods, the leaves and branches rustled, and the fat man disappeared in an instant. Once the dense foliage obstructed her vision, she heard a heavy thud as if he had fallen down a slope. Although she could hear the rolling sound clearly, there was no sign of the NPC"s voice—it seemed like he had lost the ability to make any sound within a short moment.
Her heart sank.
Then, the night instantly enveloped everything. The ground shook violently, causing Lin Sanjiu to step back and avoid the expanding pocket dimension. She turned around and shouted to the others, "How is he? We need to leave quickly!"
Magus couldn"t speak, so she only shook her head. Bohemia replied, "The pocket dimension"s mud has completely swallowed his leg. I don"t know how he managed to hold on for so long while blocking the mud."
Having both feet in a different pocket dimension was likely unprecedented in the doomsday. Physical strength was entirely useless. Lin Sanjiu could only think of one solution.
"Bohemia," she called out.
Perhaps her tone conveyed a certain emotion because Bohemia became alert. "What"s wrong?"
"Your dog leash," Lin Sanjiu made a gesture around her neck, "take it out and tie it on me. Hurry."
"What dog—"
"Your Higher Consciousness cultivation method, that garden, can lead you to reach a spiritual or divine cosmic level, right?"
Bohemia grew impatient with Lin Sanjiu"s narration of her past explanation and waved her hand, asking, "Do you want me to take you to the Garden of Intersecting Paths? Why?"
"We happened to witness the Great Deluge last time, but now, I want you to take me to find it," Lin Sanjiu said, quickening her pace. "The Great Deluge has undoubtedly influenced Lava on this planet, which means it must be somewhere nearby. I need you to help me find it!"
Bohemia looked from her to Hei Zeji, then finally understood. "You"re hoping the Great Deluge will teleport him to another world?"
"I hope it works out," Lin Sanjiu said, wetting her parched lips. The Great Deluge, chaotic and lawless, might just bypa.s.s him.
"What if the Great Deluge is too far from him?" Bohemia asked.
Lin Sanjiu"s throat constricted, feeling as though someone was strangling her, and her palms broke out in a sweat. When she had pushed the NPC into the darkness earlier, she had only a vague idea to address this concern. "I... I have an idea I want to try."
Bohemia stared at her, while Hei Zeji"s frown deepened in frustration.
"You"ll remain trapped here if we don"t try," Lin Sanjiu said to Hei Zeji, taking a deep breath. "You can"t just give in and let the mud pocket dimension swallow you."
She had pushed the NPC into the invading pocket dimension to observe the outcome. Now, she knew that the consumed would become nourishment for the pocket dimension.
Biting her lip, Bohemia nodded. As she took out the strap, she threw a glance back at the disgruntled Hei Zeji. "That"s twice I"ve saved you now, remember that."
Entering the Garden of Intersecting Paths again, the constant trembling in the room felt like it had been compressed into a thin slice, sinking to the bottom of perception. Lin Sanjiu knew her body was still standing in a swaying room, but it was like she was observing her body from a high place, watching it struggle to remain stable—as if this feeling was insignificant and couldn"t grasp her attention even for a moment.
She let herself rise and merge into a profound and silent universe, and reality became like a translucent shadow, faintly leaving traces on the edge of consciousness. If she focused, she could still see the white trees, decorations, and the figures of the few people around her in the room. Red fish swam through the darkness like a brief thought, undetectable in the deep sea.
"The Great Deluge isn"t here," came Bohemia"s voice, though Lin Sanjiu heard no sound. "But it was before."
Lin Sanjiu grasped her meaning. In the otherwise dark, silent universe, there now s.h.i.+mmered soft, radiant spots of light, like the glimmering water residue on the beach after the tide recedes. It was as if light pierced through a black veil, flickering and dancing before the soul"s eyes—this light was familiar to her; it was the light of the Great Deluge.
The Great Deluge had long since pa.s.sed.
"Now what?" Bohemia asked anxiously. "Should we leave? I"m uneasy about staying in the garden under these conditions."
"Wait," Lin Sanjiu said. "Remember something the NPC mentioned?"
"What was that?"
""The Great Deluge spreads in all directions, always,"" she repeated the NPC"s words, their surreal quality wrapping her in a dreamlike fog. "Initially, I didn"t understand what he meant... Actually, I still don"t. But..."
Bohemia, repeating the NPC"s words, appeared equally baffled. "If we take his words literally, does that mean the Great Deluge is everywhere?"
Perhaps the NPC meant just that.
If the Great Deluge wasn"t moving from one location to another, then how were the orders, pocket dimensions, and posthumans in the universe affected simultaneously? If the Great Deluge wasn"t some mysterious force from outside but originated from the collapsing system of this crumbling world, permeating everything from within, ignoring time and s.p.a.ce.
Lin Sanjiu hastened toward an area nearby, aglow with faint twinkles. Her physical body, which she knew remained in the real world, obeyed her will to shake off Magus"s grip and sprint toward a point in the material world; but the sensation felt distant, almost illusory, as if the material world was a facade for spectators.
"What are you doing?" Bohemia exclaimed, racing to catch up.
For a moment, Lin Sanjiu struggled to articulate her plan. She sensed what she needed to do but couldn"t explain the rationale. Her body dashed to the room"s far end, and her vision was soon brightened by the soft light waves. Halting just before reaching the lights, she told Bohemia, who had caught up, "Don"t come any closer, or you might get caught in the aftermath if this works."
"What do you mean?" Bohemia said, bewildered.
"The Great Deluge likely originates from within," Lin Sanjiu blurted out, convinced of her hypothesis. "It springs from the doomsday system itself—that"s why it"s everywhere. Remember what you said when you first encountered the Great Deluge?"
"What did I say then?"
"You described the Garden of Intersecting Paths as your Higher Consciousness cultivation method, merely a window to glimpse the Great Deluge. Since the Great Deluge exists in reality, it can"t reach us in the garden"s spiritual universe. Do you remember?"
Bohemia nodded. "Yes, but it can still reach us from both the spiritual and material worlds simultaneously. I can"t explain why."
"That"s because your Higher Consciousness cultivation method is part of the doomsday too," Lin Sanjiu explained calmly. "If the Great Deluge originates from within, it can touch anything tied to this doomsday, whether it"s spiritual or material. Makes sense, right?"
"S-Setting aside if that"s true," Bohemia said, somewhat fl.u.s.tered, "if it indeed originates from the doomsday"s core, then what?"
Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath.
"So..." she mused, eyeing the twinkling lights ahead, "if the Great Deluge once manifested here, could we somehow provoke it into reappearing with some stimulus?"
"The stimulus you"re thinking of is..."
Lin Sanjiu had a simple idea in mind. Unsure of success, she felt compelled to try, for Hei Zeji"s sake.
The Higher Consciousness borrowed from Bohemia surged within her like a caged beast, cras.h.i.+ng against its confines. As Lin Sanjiu exerted all her strength and hurled herself toward the twinkling lights with all her might, Bohemia"s voice seemed to echo faintly from behind.
She considered herself the stimulus.
On this planet, the Great Deluge had disrupted everything: the Mushroom Society, Lava, the hospital pocket dimension, the NPC; the existing order teetered on the brink. Yet posthumans stood apart, their very existence a testament to some enduring rules and order.
As she neared the twinkling lights, they seemed to wake up from a dream, sensing this piece of fresh meat scattered in the pitch-dark universe. Countless dots of light burst, then converged like molten lava, erupting skyward. When lowered, the dazzling and ever-changing light waves rushed toward the small silhouette of the posthuman down below.