PSW - Chapter 123
Chapter 123
"There are people in Xuancheng."
Zheng Yi felt the probing sensation again and couldn't help but feel a little exasperated. These mental-type ability users are really something… Do they just send out their mental power to probe others like this, afraid that a powerful individual won't notice them?
It seemed killing that crow hadn't caused significant harm to the ability user behind it; otherwise, they wouldn't have sent another one to investigate.
"Hm? Is it some kind of survivor camp?" Yu Yinan asked. "Maybe like the Zhongshan base, or Humanity's Light?"
"Probably," Zheng Yi said. "They must all know, or at least have sensed, the existence and purpose of the meteor fragment. They're likely much stronger than average ability users, and if things have developed well, the probability of ordinary people awakening abilities would also be quite high."
"When the fighting starts, just look after yourself."
So someone has it under control? That made sense. When the apocalypse began, even Wan Yinyue saw what looked like a meteor fragment fall around here, so it was only natural that others saw it too. Anyone who calmed down enough would eventually notice there was something special about it.
But… if the meteor fragment was truly under someone's control, and that person had managed to survive amidst the frenzied zombies, mutated beasts, and mutated plants, developing their own faction and taking over Xuancheng… With the power of the meteor fragment, this faction's strength would surely be far more terrifying than that of Humanity's Light.
Could there be eighty or a hundred… or even more ability users? According to Wan Yinyue, there might even be mutated pets that had grown powerful but remained loyal to humans. The more Yu Yinan thought about it while driving, the more dangerous Xuancheng seemed. She didn't doubt Zheng Yi's ability to handle it, but she couldn't help but worry.
[There are probably a lot of people here. Shouldn't we be more cautious? After all, if you kill too many, your Saint persona will collapse, and you'll have Saint Points deducted. What if there's a huge number of people and you just massacre the whole city… Theoretically, the system won't register that anyone has noticed your persona breaking, but… what if?]
[Zheng Yi, no matter how powerful you are, you're still just one person! Even with Stamina Recovery Pills, you can't fight ten thousand enemies alone! We don't know much about this place or what the local base is like. What if that probe just now was a misunderstanding, but they think you intentionally killed their comrade and assume you've come with ill intent?] Zero One knew, of course, that Zheng Yi wasn't actually that bloodthirsty. Generally, unless someone provoked her directly, Zheng Yi wouldn't initiate an attack. She clearly still enjoyed her persona as a pure, harmless, true Saint.
But that mental-type user had been so tactless, practically serving themselves up to Zheng Yi on a platter. Who could control that kind of backlash? If the people of Xuancheng blamed Zheng Yi for it, the conflict would be impossible to resolve.
Meanwhile, Zheng Yi was already preparing to persuade them with force—a physical salvation. Yu Yinan, on the other hand, was worried if Zheng Yi could handle it all and silently vowed to do her best to help. And Zero One? It was in Zheng Yi's mind, patiently trying to coax her into calming down.
[A God of Slaughter and a Saint are two completely different labels! If Xuancheng has developed well, it might be an even more enlightened base than Humanity's Light! If there's a misunderstanding, let's try to explain first. We're all human; peace should be the priority.]
Zero One was still racking its brain for ways to get Zheng Yi to calm down. At least don't start a fight the moment you arrive. At the very least, try to understand the situation at this base first, right? With Zheng Yi's power, as long as she didn't go for the kill right away, a little show of force should be enough to snap them out of their anger over their comrade's death, shouldn't it?
However, when Yu Yinan drove the modified car around a corner, the scene before them left Zero One stunned.
A dense crowd of people knelt all along the road. While it wasn't yet the frozen wasteland of the extreme cold period, the air was still chilling. Yet these people wore only a single layer of clothing. Though they shivered violently, they continued to kowtow piously toward something ahead of them.
A quick scan by Zero One revealed, to its shock, that there were many children among them!
Hundreds of ordinary people? But what was the meaning of this? At first, Zero One assumed they were being forced, but their expressions showed no hatred or defiance. Though they trembled in the cold wind, their posture as they knelt and kowtowed remained perfect, without a hint of going through the motions. More than that, Zero One could even see a fanatical gleam in some of their eyes.
"Welcome, Divine Messenger!"
Slightly bewildered, Yu Yinan slowed the car. She glanced at Zheng Yi, completely baffled by the situation. Divine Messenger? Are they talking about Zheng Yi? But that's not her persona at all.
Zheng Yi glanced coolly over the ordinary people kneeling and kowtowing on the ground. "Stop the car."
The modified car stopped, and Yu Yinan and Zheng Yi got out.
Yu Yinan had been prepared for a fight, but faced with such a scene, she had no idea how to react. She stood frozen, watching the masses of people kneeling and kowtowing, their skin purple from the cold. When she saw children, not even half her height, dazedly mimicking the motions, an indescribable emotion washed over her.
The ordinary people were at the front, with the ability users behind them. The ability users, however, were only kneeling; they didn't kowtow. They simply prostrated themselves fully, their foreheads pressed to the ground in a show of piety and submission.
Zheng Yi raised a hand, storing the modified car away. Her eyes fixed forward, she walked past the kowtowing crowd, a smile still playing on her lips. She looked only at the group of people standing at the very end. "What is the meaning of this?"
The moment his eyes met Zheng Yi's, the sense of unease in Wu Banhuai's heart flared up again. He steadied himself, forcing down the chill that crept up his spine, and led his trusted ability users toward her. "I am Wu Banhuai. We worship the same god. The great one has sent down a divine oracle, commanding us to welcome you here, Your Excellency, the Divine Messenger." He watched Zheng Yi, who even now showed not a shred of panic or surprise, and could only think how strange and unpredictable she was. He had anticipated that the newcomer would be overwhelmed by such a grand spectacle, but he had never imagined this young-looking woman would so naturally accept the prostrations of the crowd and walk right up to him to demand an explanation.
"Me? Worship a god?" Zheng Yi scoffed. Her eyes curved, and her smile instantly became even more gentle and kind. She looked at Wu Banhuai and asked softly, "You call me a Divine Messenger? Then what in the world are you?"
Her words were far from polite. In fact, of all the reactions Wu Banhuai had anticipated, this wasn't one of them. But whatever he was thinking, he kept his composure. He bowed slightly, clasping his hands in a formal gesture. "Divine Messengers have ranks. You are above me."
"You two have come for the matter of the Key, I presume?" Unwilling to say more in front of his subordinates, Wu Banhuai went straight to the point. He glanced at Yu Yinan, who stood behind Zheng Yi, then his gaze returned to Zheng Yi. Straightening up, he turned to the side and made an inviting gesture. "It's freezing out here. Please, follow me to the reception hall where we can discuss this further."
He noticed Zheng Yi sizing up each of the ability users beside him, and he saw the pack of mutated beasts further back as well. Yet even after seeing such a formidable force, the woman's expression didn't change. As for that gentle, kind smile… whenever Wu Banhuai recalled the state of Sun Turen's corpse, he couldn't find an ounce of warmth in it. He found it utterly terrifying.
In contrast, the person she'd brought with her… her partner? Or her driver? Her emotional fluctuations were what one would expect from a normal person. But at the end of the day, there were only two of them. No matter how powerful one of them was, she couldn't possibly fend off everyone. Perhaps, if things took a bad turn, they could find a weak point through her companion.
The ability users following Wu Banhuai felt that something was vaguely off, but they couldn't say what. That, combined with Wu Banhuai's long-term brainwashing and their own faith in their god, led them to ignore the feeling. They simply welcomed Zheng Yi and her companion inside with piety and respect.
Not until Wu Banhuai had led the two of them completely out of sight did the ability users kneeling on the ground get up one after another.
"The cold and suffering of the body are trials sent by our great god. Only the faithful who pass these trials can hear the god's revelations."
"Always remember the pain! Be grateful for the pain! Strive to become the great god's most faithful believer! Now, everyone line up and get a bowl of hot water over there." An ability user, also dressed in a single layer of clothing, emerged to lead the ordinary people to a simple shelter to rest and warm up with hot water. His expression was fanatical, his voice loud and fervent. As he gestured, one could glimpse a patchwork of old and new scars crisscrossing the skin beneath his clothes. Once everyone was settled, he straightened his clothes and gazed up at the tall building.
The Divine Messenger, huh? An existence even more pious and powerful than Lord Wu…
Could that Divine Messenger speak with the god? He himself was so loyal, praying day and night… When would he finally receive the god's mercy? Even a brief revelation would be enough.
The Divine Messenger's visit sent ripples through the "God Country" that Wu Banhuai had single-handedly established in Xuancheng. The ordinary people who had been kowtowing had no complaints about her arrival, nor did they seem to mind the cold and suffering. Their eyes shone with excitement as they shared stories of their piety and focus with those around them, praying the Divine Messenger had noticed their devotion and would report it to their god.
"Now that the Divine Messenger is here, does that mean we have a better chance of being blessed with powers?" Their logic was simple. Since she was a Divine Messenger more powerful than Wu Banhuai, surely their god would pay more attention to Xuancheng now. And if that was the case, their chances of receiving a blessing would be higher, wouldn't they? They desperately wanted to become ability users. They wondered when their god would next send down the great rain and grant them the chance at a new life.
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