Chương 468: Death (V)

My heart just about leapt out through my throat, yet my body stood rooted. On the other hand, kids cried out like mad and shuffled backwards as though propelled by wind, and I couldn't find a single reason to fault them.... because, holy shit, that might be the most I've ever been gotten by a jump scare in my life. And Yas' favorite past time was sitting me down in front of a TV to watch a nice movie, only for it to be some horror, during which she'd cackle like mad any time the movie got me.

So, I've been gotten plenty of times before, but this one might top them all. If I weren't a cultivator, I may have even shat my pants right here and now. Luckily, my bowels seemed hardened so nothing leaked, but metaphorical shit did drop. Furthermore, she only opened her eyes and stared directly at me. She still remained unmoving and unblinking, draped in silence and light of the small pond.

As the seconds ticked by and nothing happened, the kids recovered and slowly walked back over to me on their toes, craning their necks the best they could to catch the glimpse of the woman. She looked to be in her early thirties, wide-eyed and square-jawed, with jutting cheekbones. Her face--and skin altogether--were eerily unwrinkled and textureless, as though someone replaced them with porcelain.

She had long, dark hair that lay flat against her side and back, and she wore a white dress stretching down to just below her knees. Though a beauty, there was something... unnerving about her appearance; less than a person, she felt closer to a sculpture. The way some artists might have imagined 'perfection' of form, whatever that meant. Like her features were shaven down just before they blossomed into something more natural.

Once the shock wore off, I quickly used my eyes on her and, surprisingly, didn't actually have to spend any points.... for a worrying reason, though. [--anomaly detected] [The target permits a fragment of truth to be seen] [...] [Creator's Eyes used] [Target: True name is Unrecorded -- closest approximation: Nü Yuan] [Age:???] [Talent:???] [Cultivation Realm: Mortal] [Cultivation Method:???] [Cultivation Arts:???] [...] [Traits] [Undying Under Heaven (Dao) -- that which Dao does not permit to end] [Bearer of Eternal Punishment (Dao) -- cursed by Dao itself to suffer eternally] [Primordial Mother (Dao) -- one of the Six Mothers of humanity] [... other traits are inaccessible] [...] [Assessing suitability...] [Countless anomalies detected. Host was given the right to see two] [...] [Special Bloodline Detected: Cradle of Humanity (Dao)] [Humanity's Origin Vessel (Dao) -- the very first bloodline of humanity, raised within the infernal confines of the world before time] [...] [Anomaly: Traitor (Dao)] [Defiler of Origin (Dao) -- betrayed her origin, giving rise to the Bedeviled and all Infernal Races. Condemned by Dao, her body was enshrined within the Halls of Harmony as an eternal warning. Following the First War of Men, her remains vanished, and her fate fell beyond Heaven's sight] This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. [...] [Recommendation: Host, as-is, cannot interfere in the target's fate either way. She is bound by Dao, and any interference without proper knowledge will result in a lethal backlash] [Final Assessment: It is impossible to offer an assessment of the target. What Host is seeing is merely a husk of something that once was, a long shadow cast over the life of brilliance]... right. Alright. Hmm. Once, just once, I want those 'revealing' themselves to me to be like, 'Hey, I'm Josh, just your average carpenter who enjoys swimming and chopping wood in my free time; my biggest red flag is that I have far too many wet dreams for a 60-year-old man.' Not... well, not fucking this. What the hell do you mean she's one of the literal mothers of humanity?!

She is somehow mortal, yet literally cannot die. Shit, she might be even more headache-inducing than those three I met before coming here. And... why is she here? Was she brought here? Chanced upon being here? Presumably first, since this is a pocket dimension. Unless the wind carried her in here, somebody brought and enshrined her into that pond. Why? Who the hell knows at this point. Just to fuck with me, probably.

"Senior, is... is everything alright? Do you recognize that woman?" one of the kids asked since my face must have paled to the point they were able to see my poor brain desperately trying to figure out what any of this shit means.

"... no," I said, swallowing a mouthful. I couldn't even bring myself to lie well enough. But how can I tell the truth? No, for starters, there's no way the kids would even believe me. I don't believe me.

"We... can't help her. We should go."

"A-are you sure? If we bring her out--""--no!" I interrupted quickly and somewhat aggressively, startling the kids.

"I'm sorry for yelling, but... no. Don't touch her--in fact, please, act as though you'd never seen her. For both our sakes." I glanced at her one last time, and she was still staring back at me, her eyes now shrouded in a strange haze. Before I could recognize what happened, darkness swelled and overtook me; as I opened them back up, I found myself floating inside a celestial hall of splendor.

Ornaments of gold and jade hung every which way, with even the stairs to the slight platform standing decorated with gems and precious stones. A voice suddenly echoed as I twisted my neck to see it was the woman from the pond, "Why?! My heart is clear, Sister! Were we not beseeched by Dao itself to harness life in every root and in every stone? Why am I being condemned?" A long silence followed as the woman's expression twisted further and further.

"I refuse! No! If that is the truth, then the truth is wrong! N-no, Sister, I, I didn't mean it that way! Dao, Dao can never be--noooooooooooo!!!" I was pulled back out of the vision and found myself seated on my ass right by the lake as kids orbited me like worried little hen mothers.

"A-ah! Senior, you're awake!"

"Are you alright? Do you feel any pain?!"

"Quick, here! This is a healing pill my Master gave me! She said it's a miraculous..."

"No, forget that garbage, Senior. Here's a true healing pill that my Senior Sister's Grandaunt made for her; after a night of fun, Senior Sister was so impressed she gave it to me as a gift, he he."

"Hah, as if! The only thing that pill might be is poison, and the gift was for your Senior Sister, as the gift would have been your suffering!" As they continued to bicker, I turned to the side and saw that the woman's eyes had closed. She remained floating there in stiffness and suspension that seemed to defy every known law.... why did she show me that? Or, even, what did she show me? Her last moments before she was cast aside? Before she was cursed?

Did she show it to me to imply that I shouldn't trust Dao because she felt I'm not of it?... I don't know. I need a goddamn supercomputer to decode all the bullshit that I've been thrown. A deep breath. Regardless... a fuller picture of the world is forming. Perhaps one day not too far from now, I will finally discern my purpose beyond raising a gaggle of protagonist-charged kids. The reason I was brought to this place. Of all the places and of all the people, it was me, and it was here.

Hopefully, the 'why' is at most half as confusing as most other things I learned about this damned place...