The door leading to the lake on the second floor of the academy was locked, but it was obviously not a problem for Fangzheng.
"Bang!"
Seeing Fangzheng kick open the heavy wooden door, Irene pressed her forehead with her hand and sighed helplessly. She was already used to Fangzheng's actions. Things like locked doors were useless to him. If the door was locked, he would kick it open. If he couldn't kick it open, he would jump through the window. If he couldn't get in through the window, he would just punch a hole in the wall …
Irene had to admit that this was the reason why they could reach the academy so quickly.
It was just that this outsider seemed to have a deep-rooted obsession with opening doors …. He didn't seem to like taking a detour to find a mechanism to open the door. According to the outsider, it was a waste of time and quite boring.
"Why do I have to go around to the other side to open a door that I can obviously kick open with one foot? Is there anyone here who wants me to pay for it? "
Irene had to admit that this sentence made sense.
But the problem was …. this outsider might really have to pay for it this time.
"Ugh …."
When Fangzheng kicked the door open, he was a little embarrassed to find an old man sitting on a rocking chair on the other side of the door, staring at the lake in front of him. He was wearing a heavy robe and a wide hat, and he was holding a long scepter in his hand. Fangzheng's rough way of opening the door did not seem to affect the old man. He was still curled up in the chair as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just tripped and fell."
"… ….."
Hearing Fangzheng's insincere apology, Irene looked at him silently and did not say anything. Fangzheng, on the other hand, was unfazed by Eirinn's disdain. He walked to the old man's side and looked down at him.
"Are you Grandmaster William?"
"… ….."
The old man did not speak. Fangzheng saw that the part above his nose was covered by the wide hat, but judging from his appearance, he was obviously not sleeping.
"I have some questions to ask you …."
Fangzheng spoke again, but the old man shook his head. Then, he lifted the scepter in his hand and pointed forward.
"…"
"…"
Seeing the elder's reaction, Fangzheng and Eirinn exchanged looks. Following that, Eirinn walked to the edge of the platform where the elder's scepter was pointing and looked down. Following that, she turned her head and shook her head at Fangzheng.
"I can't see anything from here."
"I hope you can answer a few of my questions, Master William."
"…"
In the face of Fangzheng's question, William remained silent. He raised his scepter again and pointed it forward.
But this time, Fangzheng didn't care about his actions. He just stood beside the old man with his hands on his hips, as if he wanted to waste time with him.
"…"
"…"
As time passed, Fangzheng remained motionless, and neither did the old man. It was as if they were in a competition of patience. Whoever couldn't help but speak first would lose.
"I say, what are you doing?"
Under such circumstances, it was Erin who couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Didn't this old man give us a hint? Maybe we should look for clues around here first …. "
"He's right here, and he's not dead. Can't he just tell us? Why do we have to run around?"
Fangzheng obviously didn't buy it.
"Master William, we're all smart people here. Don't try to fool us. I have some questions to ask you, but if you're going to pretend to be deaf and dumb, then we'll have to continue wasting time. This isn't a game. You're not an NPC who can't say anything other than limited content. I'm not your student or subordinate. Don't expect to fool me without saying a word."
"… Haha …"
Upon hearing this, the elder finally chuckled. He turned his head and looked in Fangzheng's direction.
"Interesting, foreigner … Although I do sense an unusual soul from you, but … you're much more interesting than I thought."
"You're thinking the same thing as me. Speaking of which, do all older people have this problem?"
"It's a bad habit of scholars to maintain a sense of mystery, but you're right …"
William coughed a few times.
"… But young man … I'm sorry, my spirit right now … can't support a long conversation. This world … this world is crushing me. You can't understand how I feel. Sound, light, everything is completely different to me … "
The old man seemed really tired. He only said a few words before he started coughing violently. It took him a while to recover.
"Alright, I'll make it short … This never-ending night of hunting, was it you who did it?"
"…"
The old man was silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Why?"
This time, it was Erin who couldn't help but ask.
"Why did you do it? Master William? "
"Because … when the night of hunting ends, the blood moon will rise …"
The old man's voice was full of fear and sorrow.
"The Ancient Gods have always been in this world. We once thought they had left. No, they haven't. They're here, there, here, there. In any place we think they should or shouldn't exist, but we just can't touch them. But we just can't touch them. They look at us like we're looking at ants in a box …. Ants can't detect our existence because they have no other means of perceiving the world other than their antennae. The same goes for humans. We're ants. We can only feel our world with our antennae … "
The old man's body began to tremble.
"But when the blood moon rises, the power of the Ancient Gods will envelop everything … The whole of Yanan will become its playground. No one can stop its power … The curse of the Ancient Gods will mercilessly devour everyone, making them struggle in pain and despair … and then … destroy …"
"But now, Yanan stands on the brink of destruction."
Erin's face turned pale when she heard Master William's words, but Fangzheng was quite calm.
"With all due respect, it's a matter of dying sooner or later. Both cups are poisoned. One cup will seal your throat, and the other will allow you to say a few last words, but you'll still die after that, won't you? If that's the case, why don't we be more straightforward … Master William, is there any way to get us out of the dream? "
"… To get out of the dream, you must eliminate the curse of the Ancient Gods and defeat them … But … it's almost impossible …"
William's voice gradually became softer.
"It's impossible … Humans can't observe the world in the way the Ancient Gods think. Only when we understand the world in this way can we come into contact with the Ancient Gods. But at that time, we will no longer be ourselves … Mances persistently sought for the descent of the Blood Moon, immersing himself in his impossible ideals … Lawrence … Poor boy … He went the wrong way. They were all wrong."
William raised the scepter in his hand again and pointed it forward.
"I used Röhm's time loop to seal off this world. The Night of Hunt will continue, so that the Blood Moon will never come. It's in the middle of this lake. As long as I kill it, the Blood Moon will come, and the world will be completely changed … I don't know what will happen next, but outsider … since you're so confident, I might as well let you try. Go, kill Röhm, then … go find Mances. He tried to use the blood moon to create an Ancient God, but his actions are destined to fail … "
"That's right. Can't we just talk things out?"
After listening to William's explanation, Fangzheng picked up his greatsword and walked towards the edge of the platform. Seeing Fangzheng's movement, Erin hurriedly stopped him.
"Wait, wait, are you really going? What if … "
"There's no 'what if'. No matter what, the Night of Hunting will end. As for whether the blood moon will come … we'll see when the time comes. Whether it's good or bad, there will always be changes, right?"
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