I'm Already the Richest Man, Why Did My System Just Arrive?

Chapter 215: Chapter 149: The Fallacy of the Common World

"He is."

The old man didn’t stop, his pace quickening.

In the blink of an eye, the writhing tentacles behind him could no longer keep up.

His stooped back gradually straightened. His face seemed to be molting, the aged skin flaking away piece by piece.

The old man muttered to himself, ’Or rather, he used to be.’

’I never expected it to be you. Twenty years ago in Baili Village, you rescued the Human Pillar and ruined my century-long plan.’

’But why did you have to go and impersonate a descendant of the Zheng Family?’

’A grave absurdity.’

’The Zheng Family line should never have produced a second Mystic.’

’I never imagined it. I thought you would head west, yet you appeared at my hidden sanctuary. It must be fate.’

’Mystics are drawn to one another, guided by Deceitful Objects in accordance with the Deceit Heavenly Dao.’

’You thought it was serendipity, but it was destiny.’

’I, you, she, he... we who stand in the Human Position will one day become Human Pillars, destined to die for the common people. No one can escape.’

’I don’t know where you came from, but if you had been able to distinguish right from wrong from the start, to recognize the terrifying dangers of the things of Darkness, I might have spared you. I might have let you live until the next century mark. A pity... such a pity.’

’What you don’t understand is that all of you—be you Odd People or Mystics—are aberrations of the Common World. Get too close to the Darkness, and you will be consumed by it. In the end, you will only awaken something terrible.’

’The Sun Chaser once drew too near the Scorching Sun, and was melted by the very thing he worshipped.’

Everyone hides secrets in the depths of their heart.

And when you do, you can’t help but talk to yourself.

This lonely Passage was the space between the Common World and the Darkness.

An unknown amount of time passed.

A colorful shadow appeared ahead in the deep Passage.

The Night Lord stepped into the shadow. His body began to decay, his flesh losing its luster. Chunks of meat fell to his feet, revealing the pitch-black bones within.

The Night Lord seemed oblivious to the changes in his body. As he raised his gaze, writhing black tendrils emerged from around the whites of his eyes, instantly enveloping them in pure black.

They were a pair of black eyes.

A pair of eyes that had once stared directly into the Scorching Sun.

And so they yearned for the light.

The Night Lord smiled faintly. ’I am the only one who was melted by the Scorching Sun, and that is enough!’

A thousand years ago, the old man had another name.

A name he had long forgotten—Zhu!

...

「Jingtang Town.」

The townspeople scattered in a panic, fleeing their homes.

More than half of the town had been destroyed.

After being thrown aside, Ruchen landed hard, grimacing in pain.

He struggled to his feet and focused his gaze. Two figures were locked in a struggle in mid-air, periodically crashing into the ground with enough force to shake the earth. It was hard to believe two "people" were fighting, and even harder to believe two people were dueling with Miracle Techniques.

’No,’ Ruchen shook his head vigorously, ’this seems beyond what can be explained as a Miracle Technique.’

’They’re two... monsters.’

Ruchen stared blankly as the two figures fought in a frenzy, not daring to step forward.

He hated his own powerlessness, knowing he would only be a burden to the Mighty Man if he joined the fray.

Suddenly,

one of the figures in the distance conjured a long blade—it was Zheng Xiu. With a single slash, he cut off his own leg, splattering blood across the sky.

After severing his own leg, Zheng Xiu temporarily broke free from the Crow Fosterer’s grasp. His ink-black, tattered wing left a brilliant afterimage in the air as he landed before Ruchen.

"Hey, Monk."

Zheng Xiu was the picture of exhaustion, covered in blood and filth. With only one leg remaining, he stood before Ruchen like a stork. He looked at the monk, a hint of desperation in his eyes, and called out to him.

The Mighty Man’s current posture was somewhat comical. Under normal circumstances, Ruchen would have laughed without hesitation.

But the Monk couldn’t laugh now. He stared blankly at Zheng Xiu. Though Zheng Xiu hadn’t said a word, Ruchen had a sinking feeling they weren’t going to make it out alive today.

Seeing that Ruchen didn’t respond, Zheng Xiu hesitated for a few seconds before deciding he couldn’t wait. He quickly pulled the scroll from his back and shoved it into Ruchen’s arms.

Ruchen knew how much Zheng Xiu had treasured this scroll throughout their journey, for Feng Bei was trapped within it.

"Monk, can I... trust... you?"

Zheng Xiu’s hand didn’t leave the scroll. He looked deep into Ruchen’s eyes, speaking each word with deliberate weight.

The Monk was stunned for a moment, at a loss for words. He gritted his teeth and nodded forcefully.

Zheng Xiu whispered, "’The scroll remains, the man remains?’"

The Monk slung the scroll onto his back and smiled faintly. "’The scroll remains, the man remains.’"

"Then," the Mighty Man grinned, his smile full of carefree abandon, "it’s all on you now."

With that, the blood-soaked Mighty Man dissolved into a wisp of blue smoke and vanished before Ruchen’s eyes.

High above the town.

The Crow Fosterer’s figure soared high. From one of his arms, over ten meters long, dangled a severed leg, whipping through the air like an octopus’s tentacle.

More arms sprouted from the Crow Fosterer’s back.

Each arm was emaciated, bizarre, and misshapen.

And yet, it was these very deformed arms that twisted and tangled together behind the Crow Fosterer’s back, weaving in an instant into two pairs of sky-blotting Meat Wings.

At this moment, the Crow Fosterer looked just like a bird.

A giant black bird.