Chapter 1220: 18.58 First Grey Star - The secret of the Death Forest.
Su Jin forgot that this couple is not usually close to anyone outside of their family; they are people used to standing on top, so n.o.body can even touch the corner of their clothes, with the exception of their family.
When those pairs of cold eyes fell on him, Su Jin woke up completely from his dream, forgetting for a moment the shock of seeing his brother in a dream, and he let go of Ye Jieye"s clothes.
Su Jin said, "I"m sorry. I really don"t know what came to my mind. I..."
"Though I know you"re shocked by what you experienced in that trial, you should realize it yourself. Once a person is gone for a reason, he is gone," Mo Xuejing said.
Ye Jieye had to carry him away in order to prevent the children from being scared any more after calming his wife"s fierce temper. Su Jin was shocked by Mo Xuejing"s remarks, and his face went white. Normally, Lu Ming would console him in situations like this, but not today. The young man realized that the good man who had saved his life might not be as straightforward as he had a.s.sumed.
Lu Ming was unsure of how to bring up the subject, and Su Jin was not in the right frame of mind.
Lu Shang, who stayed intentionally to guide them, approached their group. He pats his brother"s shoulder and whispers, "Unless you ask how you will know what you want to know,"
"Big Brother, I..."
Lu Ming instantly stopped talking and decided to give it more thought after Lu Shang shook his head and motioned to his brother to direct those remarks toward the person he had chosen to give his heart away rather than to him.
"Okay. Follow me to the core region. The others are already there. It"s dangerous to stay in this place," Lu Shang said.
Mo Yuhan asked, "Brother Shang, will my cousin be alright? He seems to be angry."
"Don"t worry. The Lord will handle the rest," Lu Shang said as he took the lead towards the path of the core region, followed by the other three.
Mo Yuhan and Lu Ming were taken aback by the paradise scene that unfolded before them as soon as they entered the core region. Interestingly, a dragon, a dinosaur-like creature, and two small children were playing near a large dog. The scene was so magical that the other partic.i.p.ants could not resist lingering to watch the children play.
Leica was there, keeping an eye on the cubs, but Ye Jieye and Mo Xuejing are nowhere to be found.
Lu Shang asked, "Honey, where are the lords?"
"They went to the warehouse to get some baskets. It seems we are going to the orchard next," Leica said.
Mo Yuhan looked confused as he noticed that there were no orchards in this region.
"Is there an orchard in this place?" he asked.
Lu Ming said, "Since they said there is one, maybe there is really one."
Su Jin, who probably realized what Lu Ming intended to ask, decided to be clean with everything, and the three young men felt embarra.s.sed sitting in one place while observing the others. Mo Yuhan sensed that the pair had something to talk about and decided to leave and give them s.p.a.ce.
Su Jin said, "You don"t need to leave. If you want to listen, then go ahead. Please call Ji Yoonjun over, please."
"Ah? Okay, I will call him over," Mo Yuhan said.
After Mo Yuhan left their group for a moment, Su Jin looked at Lu Ming, who was holding his hand yet felt a bit distant and too quiet.
Su Jin looked at him sincerely and said, "I will tell you everything you want to know. Maybe you won"t believe what I will tell you, but I vow that all my words are real. Whether you believe it or not depends on you."
"Okay, I am willing to listen," Lu Ming said.
Though they had no intention of becoming involved, Lu Shang and Leica watched the movements in their groups. However, Ji Yoonjun happened to be sitting close by, and when Mo Yuhan requested him to come over, the pair noticed as well.
Ji Yoonjun asked, "You want me to come with you? Xiao Jin wants to talk to me?" His eyes narrowed dangerously at Mo Yuhan and he thought of what they had watched during the trial just now.
"Is this about what happened during Su Jin"s trial?" he asked.
Lu Ming obviously wanted to question about this issue because, after all, the Ji Yoonjun in front of him and the Ji Yoonjun he saw in the trial are very different from one another. Mo Yuhan felt powerless and just shook his head.
Lu Shang spoke, "Go ahead and say whatever you want to say. Without existence in this world, the Heavenly Laws are more casual. Just mention what needs to be said but nothing more."
Ji Yoonjun saluted before standing up and following after Mo Yuhan. The two heads go to where Lu Ming and Su Jin are. Leica watches them without saying a word
Leica asked, "Is that alright? When Lu Ming realized that we aren"t what we are supposed to be, would he despair?"
"Despair for what reason? His brother isn"t dead. He will wake up anytime he wishes to. I usually only take over when spending time with you and when the lords are around. Most of the time, his brother is awake. Unlike the original Ji Yoonjun, who had gone to another world, his brother will always be here.
He had nothing to despair about," Lu Shang said.
Sigh~
Leica said, "This world is so fragile that we can"t do much. Maybe even our hidden enemies can barely make a move themselves. Divine Laws are more strict when it comes to lower realm worlds like this one."
"We should be alright. We have the lords with us after all," Lu Shang said.
Four men gathered on the opposite side of the scene. Ji Yoonjun was brought there by Lu Ming, Su Jin, and Mo Yuhan at their request. Lu Ming"s expression became somewhat serious when he saw Ji Yoonjun again. He compared the Ji Yoonjun from the trial to the one in front of him, noting that they were completely different from each other in terms of their demeanor, aura, small gestures, and gaze.
The Ji Yoonjun in front of him is too uncaring, appearing distant as if he does not care about anything around him. In addition, the depths of his eyes are cold, suggesting that he and the others are not on the same level.
Su Jin apologized profusely to Ji Yoonjun; in reality, he had no desire to reveal to others that he was not the real Ji Yoonjun, only that Nightmare Beast had made things difficult for them.
"Sir, I"m sorry." Su Jin lowered his head to apologize.
Ji Yoonjun said, "No need. The fault wasn"t with you but with that beast. It"s just that you are so lucky. If my mission isn"t different from usual, I would have to alter your memories to the right track."
Lu Ming and Mo Yuhan were taken aback by his words. They had antic.i.p.ated that this man was a distinct Ji Yoonjun, but they could not decide which was the real one—the one who had shown up in the trial or the one standing in front of them. After hearing Ji Yoonjun"s words, they realized that the man in front of them was unquestionably not Ji Yoonjun and might not even be a human.
They watched him warily.
Mo Yuhan and Lu Ming reacted abruptly, "You...!!!"
There was a flicker of scorn in his eyes as he saw Lu Ming and Mo Yuhan"s disdainful response. These were disregarded by the three men in front of him; the distinction between a mortal and a deity is too large to be compared, thus it was expected that Ji Yoonjun would dismiss the humans in front of them.
Ji Yoonjun said, "You shouldn"t make useless actions. It is no use." A slight release of his aura was enough to pressure the two men into being unable to do anything.
Even though they were taken aback, it did not mean they were not expecting it. It was only when they relaxed their guard that Ji Yoonjun let them go. Of the three, only Su Jin—who remained motionless—was spared. The other two were panting, appearing as though the mere suppression of Ji Yoonjun"s aura had suffocated them.
Ji Yoonjun said, "I know what you want to know. I am indeed not the original Ji Yoonjun. The real one is the one whose soul was invited to enter that trial within the dream realm. As for what I am... you can just treat me as an outsider in this world. It can be said that I am one of the beings that exist in each world to keep the world in balance.
My existence is to repair errors. In your world"s knowledge, I can be the one you called G.o.d."
The three of them were stunned this time; Su Jin knew he was not the genuine Ji Yoonjun, but he did not know who or what he really was either; and now that he had declared his existence to be on par with a G.o.d"s, they did not know how to respond.
Mo Yuhan asked, "Then how about the rest? Are they also... I mean, you are too respectful towards them."
Lu Ming was too shocked as he glanced at his elder brother from a distance. He couldn"t help but feel a desire to cry.
But as if Ji Yoonjun noticed his queries, "Your brother isn"t like me. This vessel is mine in this lifetime as the one who was originally in this body had been cut off from this world. Your brothers are different. Their vessels were borrowed by the Venerables, but they aren"t gone. Or else you would have already noticed that your brother isn"t your brother right from the very beginning."
"Then the one whom I spoke to and met in Somatic Town is... my real brother?" asked Lu Ming.
Ji Yoonjun snorted, "Hmp! Of course. Do you think a G.o.d would waste time talking with you? Only when you aren"t talking to them will the G.o.ds take over; other than that, they are most of the time your brothers."
"How about my cousin?" Mo Yuhan asked.
Ji Yoonjun hesitated for a moment and decided to answer truthfully. "Your brother is different. His soul is an incarnation of a G.o.d from another world. He is your real brother yet at the same time a G.o.d in reality. Lord Ye is also one. It"s just that that their divinity had recently awakened,ed, maybe because both of them had experienced death once that their divinity finally woke up."
"How about that person? The one in my cousin"s real body. Is he a G.o.d as well?" Mo Yuhan asked.
Confused, Ji Yoonjun asked, "I don"t know about your cousin. My mission only involves the one Ji Yoonjun wanted me to watch over. It means only the lives of Su Jin and Lu Ming. If you wanted to know about your cousin, you could only ask him or his husband instead. I don"t know the secrets of my superiors."
"Superiors? Then the souls in our cousins, my big brother and Brother Leica, are stronger than you?" Lu Ming asked.
Ji Yoonjun said, "Even G.o.ds had differences in strength and standing. I am only a G.o.d. The ones residing in those bodies are celestials and sovereign G.o.ds."
Mo Yuhan asked to know why the G.o.ds were different in strength, but Ji Yoonjun only looked at him, clearly not intending to elaborate, since it is not beneficial for mortals to know more about the realm beyond theirs.
Suddenly, Mo Xuejing approached them without them noticing and said, "What are you guys gathering here for? Let"s go. It"s time to pick up fruits."
All four of them were startled, as they hadn"t noticed when Mo Xuejing approached. Seeing their shocked expression, Mo Xuejing looked confused.
"What"s wrong with you guys?" Mo Xuejing asked.
Ye Jieye also came over carrying the children and said to his wife, "Baby, let"s go. Shang and Leica will watch over them. I"m going to show you the pet gramps gave me."
"What pet?" Mo Xuejing asked as he let his husband drag him away from the group and approached the sh.o.r.e of the huge pond before them.
He whistled once close to the pond and waited for a while, and then, right in front of everyone"s eyes, the pond"s surface began to ripple and the land began to tremble.
As everyone turned to look at the pond, they saw a ma.s.sive turtle emerge from beneath the deep pond, and on its back lay a small island covered in countless trees and a vast expanse of land that was surprisingly divided into four seasons.
Grunts~
Ye Jingxia wanted to put out a hand as the enormous turtle head approached them, and Mo Xuejing and the kids gazed at it with excitement.
Ye Jingxia happily calls, "Turtle. Big turtle~"
"BHIG~ BIG~ TURTELE!" Anxia shouted, echoing her brother"s words.
"Is this the real core of the Death Forest? A good-grade existence, Earth Forest Turtle," Mo Xuejing said.
Ye Jieye nodded his head and said, "Un. Gramps gave him to me. The small island on his back is our family"s orchard. Well, you guys can give him a name."