... alright. You can't just drop such a bombshell and go back to nibbling away at some meat from the bone like you're a rabbit.
I immediately noticed Han Yimu's expression shift and twist as though he'd heard the soul-crushing horror story ever told, his fingers freezing on the table.
"When you say you went there, Light," I probed gently; it's not that I didn't trust her, but I know firsthand how... distorted her memories can be. Maybe not distorted, but certainly incomplete. "What do you mean?"
"What else can I mean, Master? I went there with papa and mama when we were together," she replied. "Papa had a portal in the basement and we took it."
"So, you met the Demon God?"
"Hmm, not really? He was asleep, papa said. He also said that everyone there sleeps. That is the only way they can somewhat stay alive." she said, her brows furrowing. "Mama also said that the Warden was scary and that nobody wants to anger it."
... what in the fuck could possibly be scary for a creature that calls itself a Demon God? I mean, a billion things, as that's ultimately just a name. For all I know, it's some con artist that swindles the hopeful, promising them some great demonic powers.
No, I'm just making shit up here. I've seen Light do the things she does, and there's no doubt in my mind that the creature she inherited those powers from... yeah, it's terrifying. Which was then doubly worrying, as that creature feared the 'Warden'.
"You didn't meet the Warden?" I asked.
"No," she shook her head. "Papa did when we went in. He brought it some gifts."
"U-uh, Light... w-when you say, when you say Demon God, you mean...?" Han Yimu seemed to finally recover from his little spell, asking with a shaky tone.
"I mean Demon God!" she was clearly a bit annoyed at us by this point. "Master, stop making stupid people your Disciples! They'll bring you great shame!"
... alright, Light, ease up a bit.
"You mean--"
"--Yimu," I interrupted. "Place and time."
"A-ah, right. Forgive me, Master."
"No worries," I said. Though we weren't talking loud enough to be heard, you never know who's listening. Well, I hope to god nobody was listening, and if they were, they'll just assume we're fucking around a bit. Light clearly has no Demonic Qi in her, which is probably why Han Yimu can't quite process the reality of things.
I do wonder, though, where exactly Light went. From the view that I got of everything, and the accounts of other people I've talked to, there truly shouldn't be an Abyss. Though, it's entirely possible it's a smaller, hidden realm, sort of like the Phoenix one we just went in, and Light's memories of it were... distorted, to a degree.
It still worries that it's presumed the Abyss is made up, and worries more that the Sages themselves have links to it. All the same, it also fills out a picture a bit better than before; if I make a shitload of assumptions, it's not difficult to venture a guess as to why they need so much Life Qi: probably to help something that's trapped in the Abyss get out.
What? Why? How? I haven't a clue. But the key to it all is an insane amount of Life Qi.
... does us stepping in even hinder their plans, honestly? While, from my perspective at least, it might seem as though we've siphoned a lot of Life Qi from them, in the grand scheme of things, it's probably not that much. If it truly were, I don't think we'd have never experienced a setback or a pursuit.
Haah.
There's no remedy for hasty assumptions. Whatever the case, I'll leave it to Long Tao and Lao Shun to look for the vine.
We went back into our rooms soon after, though Light went with Han Yimu since it was just the two of them still. I sat by the window and watched over the funneling street below, filled to the brim with souls fanning out into the four streets that emerged from it. They are all a day away from having their fates sealed, and none know it.
How many times have I had a close brush with death without being aware of it? Driving down the downtown street without paying much attention, with some asshole speeding from the other direction. Had I sped ever so slightly, would we have collided?
[--Lu Naǒ urges you to leave this place. She says that the Qi is thick with corruption]
She's a Divine Beast, after all. If there's anyone among us too sensitive to changes in Qi, it'd be her.
"Don't worry," I mumbled. "If we don't figure out how to end it, we'll leave before it hurts us."
[--Eternity offers to track down and annihilate the vine][CP Required: 100,000][Do you wish to pay?]
... hm? Wait. It's not that expensive, actually. I mean, it is expensive and well beyond what I can afford, but for Eternity to not just track it down but also destroy it... it's 'just' 100,000 points?
There's a discrepancy somewhere in all this horseshit, and I think it's about the specifics of the wording. Eternity's offer mentions no Sage or their plans, the Quest, on the other hand, directly interprets the actions as interference in the Sage's plans.
Was... was it really that simple? That the mere wording of a quest or an offer massively changes the price, even if the actual act would be the same?
"Eternity," I mumbled toward the gaudy, golden curtain that wasn't covering the window but rather the corner of the wall. "Can you rephrase the offer so it mentions Sages?"
[--Eternity offers to track down the vine disrupt the plans of the Sage of Dread][CP Required: 150,000][Do you wish to pay?]
... huh. So, there is a difference, but it's honestly far, far, far smaller than I thought it'd be. My fingers inadvertently began to tap away against the window pane, mind drifting in the all-consuming thoughts.
Is it that the system is overestimating the Sage? Or am I doing it in its stead? Do my thoughts in any way, shape or form color the quests?
I pulled up the quests window that I hadn't touched in a while since we seldom had the free time to frolic around and complete quests, looking through them all in as much detail as I could, looking for anything that seemed off.
Unfortunately, my theory didn't pan out as well as I'd hoped; none of the quests seemed to stray too much outside the norm, regardless whether I had a developed opinion on anything within their contents. Is it really just RNG? A roll of the dice?
Haah. Whatever. I'll learn when I learn, I suppose.
Hours slowly began to tick away as I remained seated by the window. I'd pull up the Creator's Window and mess around for a bit, even creating a few things as experiments, netting me a few extra points back, or I'd close my eyes and try and comprehend the Dao of Space a bit better, or I'd gaze off into the distance, worried about those two idiots and what they're doing.
The kids had returned before nightfall, though Long Tao and Lao Shun remained outside even as the midnight started approaching. They'd been gone just shy of eight hours, and worry had set itself quite deeply in my heart.
"We've found it," my heart stopped as a voice spoke up behind me. It was a familiar voice, but a voice that I was not expecting. "Forgive me, Master; did I scare you?"
"... no. Just annoyed me," I grunted and turned to face Long Tao. "Are you alone?"
"No. The alchemist had come back, too."
"You found it, you said? Where is it'"
"Deep underground," he said, pointing down.
"How deep?"
"Two miles, at least. There's a web of tunnels spinning out, an entire inverse city where some familiar faces live."
"... familiar faces?"
"The shadows that swarmed the realm, made of Death Qi." he said. "And, at the very heart, there's a parasitic vine, its body having already infiltrated three out of the four major points of the array."
"What about the Sage?" I asked.
"We didn't find him." he said. "He could be anywhere."
"... what are our chances?" I asked outright.
"Not the worst," he shrugged. "But, we might not need to do anything."
"No?" I frowned. "Why?"
"There's quite a few people here already making their way through the tunnels, culling the shadows as they make their way toward the vine."
"... huh? Wait, what?"