Chapter 917: The Troubles Have Only Just Begun
Probably no one had ever been in a position as bad as the otherworldlings on Earth. They were caught in the crossfire. Whether it was the ecological extinction in their place of origin or the 10,000-year battle on Earth, for most the otherworldlings, they were the innocent victims of circ.u.mstances. Ha.s.se especially thought so after learning the truth. Nevertheless, who was the culprit of the disaster? Was it the guardian that executed extinction order, or the out-of-control G.o.ddess’ blood?
They were the victims. The ultimate blame was on the heads of the deicidal blasphemers.
“Why did they kill their creator?” Ha.s.se was confused. “Had the G.o.ddess done anything wrong to them?”
“As far as I know, none,” Hao Ren said, shaking his head. “The G.o.ddess of Creation had never restricted the free will of her creations. She was obsessed with studying the mysteries of the universe and even had rarely interacted with her creations. From the ruins of civilizations that we have found, we could establish the behavior of the G.o.ddess of Creation. The actions of the deicides were completely unilateral: they just wanted to kill the G.o.ddess and take her place.”
“That’s detestable.” Ha.s.se’s brows knit together and then shook his head. “Are all these true?” he asked.
Hao Ren spread out his hand. “How do you want me to prove it to you? If necessary, I can take you to the Plane of Dreams, but you must first sign a confidentiality agreement, and then you have to follow my arrangement. Many things in the other universe are still cla.s.sified,” he said.
Ha.s.se forced a smile and waved his hand. “No, it’s not that I don’t believe it, it’s just that… well, you know, I’m a stubborn person who doesn’t take things at face value. I will try to understand them. If what you said is true, then what are you going to do next?”
This time, Vivian spoke. “We have always wanted to solve the hostility among the various races on the earth. The weakening sense of hostility of the various races has given us hope. Now since you know that all the fighting between the races was just misunderstanding, don’t you think you should end this nonsense?”
Ha.s.se slowly got to his feet and looked at the calm and silent Gilded Disc. His one-eyed was glimmering with light. “Even if there is no innate hostility, do you think that this war could still end peacefully?”
The innate hostility might be the beginning of the otherworldling war, but it was by no means the driving force behind the 10,000-year war. War was a train that slid into the abyss. Once it started, the hatred and hostility that acc.u.mulated in the chaos would become the fuel of this train of death. When it lasted long enough, both sides of the war would not even care about why they were fighting in the first place. When killing and hostility became a habit, race and factionalism became the only reason for the war, and when it came to that, the influence of the innate hostility became unimportant.
Even if the innate hostility disappeared, the conflict would continue. The generations of hatred and extreme distrust would fuel the confrontation. It was not something that could be reversed by simple negotiations and the revelation of the truth.
Ha.s.se was not the only one who had thought of this, but Hao Ren and Vivian had known it in the very early stage. When they tried to find out the truth of the innate hostile, they knew that this ten-thousand-year war would not stop just because of their actions. Vivian nodded empathically. “Everyone knows that people will die in the fighting, but they have never stopped. I know your concerns.”
“Isn’t the situation improving?” Hao Ren asked. He still had confidence. “Could you believe there was a heretic like Amatura among the demon hunters a few thousand years ago? Could you believe that there was a pureblood demon hunter like White Flame with no killing instinct at all a few hundred years ago? Could you believe that you would work together with Vivian the ancient otherworldling a few decades ago?” he asked.
Ha.s.se thought for a while. “I can’t say for sure of others but the last one. The Countess has always been moody since ancient times. She always acts at whim and doesn’t care who you are. Who knows she would blow up the whole city again for just four potatoes?” he said.
Hao Ren glared at Ha.s.se. “Be serious; I mean you should have understood it now.”
“What would happen if the truth is revealed to everyone?” Y’zaks suddenly said. Blunt and straightforward were in his demon blood.
Ha.s.se and Vivian said in unison, “Not good!”
Ha.s.se explained, “People’s mind is unpredictable. It’s difficult to predict what would happen and it could trigger bigger chaos before the current war subsides. The believers and the unbelievers will be at loggerheads with each other. The proponents of various schools of thought will fight again, and most people will think that this is a conspiracy of the enemy, and on the demon hunters’ side, I am afraid that someone will be crucified on the firewood for the first time since a long time ago.”
“Crucified on the firewood? I’m not afraid of that anyway,” Y’zaks whispered.
Ha.s.se, who rarely had any emotion on his face, heard him and laughed. “I didn’t know that demon is also so humorous. Well, what you said makes sense. The situation is getting better. Even people as stubborn as me is working with you guys. I will report what I know today to the Council of Elders. I believe they will not be persuaded so easily, but at least we have sowed a seed,” he said.
Hao Ren was a little worried. “Will they treat you as a heretic and burn you on the stick if you tell them this?”
Ha.s.se could not care less. “Don’t worry. I’m the elder, and I have the authority. Even Amatura studying the taboo theories for thousands of years was not prosecuted,” he said.
Vivian reminded him, “It’s good to have self-confidence, but I think it’s unpropitious to use Amatura as an example.”
“Whatever! Let’s settle this stuff first,” Hao Ren said. As the divine contract had completely cleansed the black contaminant on the Gilded Disc, he went up to the altar. “Ha.s.se, do you and other demon hunters have any objection if I take this thing away?” he asked.
Ha.s.se quickly waved. “The farther, the better! Who would want this thing anyway?”
“Your council of elders will be interested. Those old f.a.gs will think that it’s valuable research material, and even blame you for failing to safeguard the interests of the demon hunters,” Vivian said, ridiculing Ha.s.se’ superiors and watching as Hao Ren put the Gilded Discs into a huge storage container and keep in his dimensional pocket. “It will be a good thing if you take this thing back, so I can wait for your elders to die before I go and clean up the mess. Everything will be solved after those stubborn guys die.”
Ha.s.se could only force a smile in the face of these bad jokes. He did not want to argue with the ancestor-level figure.
After the Gilded Disc was stored inside the dimensional pocket, all the magic settings in the hall instantly lost their power supply. Hao Ren heard a strange sound coming from the sculptures in the hall before he felt the strong magic energy in the s.p.a.ce suddenly dissipated.
He found the runes on the altar that could reopen the maze gate according to the method that Vogus had described. As Y’zaks injected his magic power into the runes, the altar immediately lit up, and a group of magic lines on the edge of the pedestal slowly came off the stone platform and floated into the air to form a door. The first thing Hao Ren saw was Lily wagging her big furry tail shaking at the door.
He stepped out of the door and grabbed and pinched Lily’s tail. “Hey, I’m back. Ouch, don’t bite me!”
Grabbed by the tail from behind, Lily turned and bit Hao Ren, but it was his Steel Membrane s.h.i.+eld. Sparks began to fly all around. She let off her bite when she realized it was Hao Ren. “Mr. Landlord, are you nut? Didn’t you know it’s a no-no to grab people’s tail from behind?”
The exit of the maze was still in the underground freezer. Hao Ren did not see the Tannaeans, who they had rescued by the hundreds there, only the demon hunters, Hesperides, and the Ancattero chief Vogus were waiting there. White Flame came up to greet Ha.s.se, and then Hesperides to Vivian. “Is everything over?”
“It’s over,” Hao Ren said with a smile. “The Shade of Chaos is history. It is the most thorough seal. It will never go wrong again.”
Hesperides first looked at Vivian. There was only one person who could do this, and that was this ancient one, she thought. Vivian just smiled. “It’s Hao Ren,” she said.
Hao Ren rubbed his hand and tried too hard being polite. “I couldn’t have done it without the training and support from the organization.”
Lily stared at Hao Ren and had gooseb.u.mps all over her tail. “Mr. Landlord, you look fake. You should be proud of the achievement, but you behave like an enemy spy.”
The patriarch of the Ancattero family finally came up to him. “It seems that this disaster is finally over. On behalf of the Ancattero family members who have survived the ordeal, thank you.”
Hao Ren turned and looked at Vogus, his mind was filled with thoughts, but all that turned into a sigh. “You remind me something; the real troubles have only just begun.”
“What?” Vogus was baffled.