Chapter 83: Heirs and Advancement

...

When he reached that point, the story came to a pause.

Flipping further on, the narration began to change in style.

It was as though the story had shifted from an outside observer to the protagonist describing things himself.

...

They thought this expedition had been meticulously planned, a journey that would ensure their survival.

But they were all going to die. That had already been written into the plan.

Their deaths would become the most precious treasure in the Backrooms. They had to die so that I could find the path to dominion.

I cannot soften my heart... I must recover those forgotten memories.

I must set foot on that road again.

...

The things Chen Qing asked me to prepare have all been readied, but for some reason, I keep feeling that something is wrong.

I have known him for far too many years, yet never once has he looked at me with that kind of gaze.

It was as though... he were looking at a slab of pork on a butcher’s block.

I can no longer bear that look... I need to prepare some emergency supplies.

He argued with me, refusing to let me take anything that might help me escape.

I no longer care... I must prepare something extra.

...

Was drawing lots truly fair?

Perhaps no matter how many times the stick in his hand was drawn, the colored one would still remain in his grip.

He had always been like this; he never believed in luck or in companions.

He had always been that way...

When had he ever done something without certainty?

He told us that after he left, he would tell me the way out.

But would there really be a way out? Was he not afraid that we would riot just before he departed?

Yes, he was certainly afraid, so he would not tell me...

He would toy with everything in his hands.

...

When he reached that point, the final words had already been blurred by tears.

He knew in his heart that the author of those lines had probably known everything long ago.

But he had not told anyone. Otherwise, he himself would probably never have been able to leave.

At that moment, something stirred in Chen Qing’s mind. His memories began to fill with a monastery, and with the things needed for the ascension ritual.

He looked ahead. The colors of the books before him began to fade little by little, and the solid weight of the volume in his hand grew lighter. Three or five seconds later, he no longer felt anything at all about the book’s existence.

He recalled the extra memories in his mind, his expression awkward.

“The ritual requires me to remember their history, yet it will make me lose the related memories when I enter it.

Isn’t that just making life hard for myself?”

He frowned, but the instant he turned to leave the room, he stopped.

“No... but if that’s the case, why haven’t I finished the ritual yet?”

Before he had finished speaking, a girl’s voice came from the bend in the tunnel.

She walked slowly toward him and asked Chen Qing:

“Do you know that it was you who killed us?”

Hearing the girl’s question, he froze.

“Us?”

She smiled softly, her expression eerie. “You wear my face and turn into other people. Do you enjoy that?”

She looked at Chen Qing, and her gaze suddenly turned fierce. “This place does not tolerate falsehood! Answer me!”

He frowned and shook his head. “No. I didn’t.”

He looked at the girl before him and, after hesitating, asked in return, “You are... the one who wrote the final passage?”

The girl nodded.

“What is your name?”

Frowning, she repeated the earlier question: “Do you know that you killed us?”

Chen Qing was silent for a moment, then shook his head slightly. “I don’t know who killed you.”

“You read the past, you saw the present—how can you not know who killed us?”

“It wasn’t written in the book.”

“It wasn’t written?”

“He said that your deaths were part of the plan. But no one mentioned what that plan actually was.” He looked at the girl, his expression strange. “You know, I had already placed my own death into the plan. According to the plan, though, I was successfully resurrected.”

She remained calm, merely nodding.

Chen Qing asked again, “What is your name? Do you know me?”

Looking at him, she suddenly laughed. “How could I not know you? If I didn’t know you, you would have been dead long ago.”

“What is your name?” He frowned, as if he had found a flaw in her answer.

“Cen Nianyan.”

“Did you kill us?”

Chen Qing shook his head again. “He proposed drawing lots, but the method of drawing, the process of drawing, and the result of drawing were all accepted by you. How can that be called him killing you?”

The girl smiled. “You didn’t lie.”

She looked at Chen Qing, opening her mouth twice. Looking at the man before her, it seemed she wanted to say something.

But after a moment’s hesitation, she finally swallowed the words with a smile.

“Forget it,” she said.

“What do you mean, forget it?”

“I won’t press you anymore.” A smile appeared on the girl’s face.

“I’m just powerless against you...” She looked at Chen Qing and suddenly stepped into the room.

“I knew all along that you were cheating, but what could I do? I couldn’t say it. I think they felt the same way.”

She reached out and brushed Chen Qing with her fingertips. “It wanted me to join forces and keep you here. But I don’t want that. I don’t want you to become as pitiful as I am.”

Looking at him, she stretched out her hand, and countless tiny strands of flesh began to writhe across it.

“Do you know what lying is?”

Chen Qing froze and shook his head.

“You once told me that lying means making someone speak the answer she is convinced is true.

Lying means guiding the other person to say the result you want.

Lying means using countless truthful preliminaries to lead them into constructing the very truth you wish to conceal.”

She touched Chen Qing, her expression tinged with longing. “Don’t believe those people. The ascension of a non-relic is the recognition of the lingering will within the non-relic, not some so-called bearing of the past.

She is deceiving you.”