Chapter 164: You're Lying, Xu Yuan

Gao Tian's pupils slowly shrank to pinpricks.

From shock and fear.

What had Xu Yuan just called him?

In the Chat Group and within the Divine Tree, Xu Yuan had always called him "Memory Ghost."

Memory Ghost. That was the first ghost, the first rule he had subjugated using the Shattered Face Ghost. He had started his career as a ghost in the Galan Society under the identity of the Memory Ghost. Ghost Infant and Ghost Cave called him that, and Xu Yuan had always called him that too.

Now, Xu Yuan had suddenly called him by his full name. Did this mean he had always known Gao Tian was a living person?

He knew everything. He had known right from the start.

Xu Yuan was the one who had personally pulled him into the Galan Society Chat Group.

The Burned Ghost had constantly helped him in the Chat Group. That, too, was because Xu Yuan had overruled all objections, forcing the others to tolerate the Burned Ghost doing so.

Had Xu Yuan planned all of this from the very beginning? Just how deep did his calculations go?

Gao Tian's mouth went dry. He heard his own voice mechanically leaving his lips as he asked Xu Yuan, "Since when did you know?"

Xu Yuan said, "From the very beginning.

"I was the one who personally pulled you into the group.

"I was the one who stuffed that photo into the Shattered Face Ghost to guide you to the Living Apartment.

"I was the one who left a way out in the ghost domain of my hometown so you could hide in the White House and survive.

"I did all of it."

Gao Tian asked, "So what exactly are you trying to do? Why didn't you just kill me from the start?"

Xu Yuan replied, "Do you remember when I was very young, back when I still had the Ghost Eye? Through its future sight, I saw an older brother from the future.

"He told me many things, all of which I've forgotten. My teacher gouged out my Ghost Eye, and those memories were sealed away along with it.

"But I still remembered that older brother's name. Because after I went home that day, I wrote his name down in my notebook.

"Gao Tian.

"He said something very important to the younger me. It was a phrase I could never forget. Even after losing the Ghost Eye and all my memories, I still tried desperately to recall it.

"Many things happened after that. I became a ghost, went to the Inner World, and constantly searched for this Gao Tian. The moment I found him, I pulled him into the Chat Group.

"Now, you can remind me. What exactly did you say to the younger me back then in the Sapphire Arcade?

"That is your sole value in joining the Galan Society Chat Group."

It had become a time loop.

In the Sapphire Mall, the young Xu Yuan of the past had seen the future Gao Tian through the Ghost Eye's future sight.

Shortly after their conversation, little Xu Yuan's Ghost Eye was removed, and he lost the vast majority of his memories.

He had written down Gao Tian's name. Many years later, after becoming the King of All Ghosts, Xu Yuan pulled the living Gao Tian into the Chat Group.

Gao Tian said, "I told little Xu Yuan, 'I hope you remember that your wish is to wipe out all the fierce ghosts in this world, not to become one yourself.

"'Many years from now, in the Sapphire Mall, your life will come to an end. But even if it's the final stop, you must die with dignity as a human being. Do not try to escape death by any means.'

"At the time, the young you solemnly swore to me that no matter what happened, you would never become a ghost.

"Your parents were killed by ghosts. Because of the Ghost Eye, you had seen far too many spirits and monsters slaughtering humans in your life. Your heart was filled with hatred for ghosts.

"It seems the current you failed to remember our agreement.

"You betrayed your past self, Xu Yuan."

Xu Yuan burst into laughter. "Betrayed?

"On the contrary, I am the one who most faithfully fulfilled little Xu Yuan's wish.

"That childhood dream to eradicate every fierce ghost in this world is about to be realized.

"I accomplished what my teacher could not, and what Old Man Sun could not. I've achieved a feat that over two hundred countries and tens of thousands of ghost hunters across the globe failed to do.

"In this imminent, brand-new world, there will be no more fierce ghosts, and no more horrifying supernatural events massacring the masses. Our generation, and the next, our children—they will no longer have to live in fear.

"The Divine Kingdom stands above all. There will only be a tiny handful of wise and benevolent ghosts, acting as monarchs and lords, sheltering six billion living souls.

"Is this not a fairytale ending?"

A young man wearing a brown tracksuit, his face gaunt yet somewhat handsome, slowly materialized in front of Gao Tian.

This was Xu Yuan in his youth.

After all, conversing with Gao Tian while carrying around such a massive mountain of human heads was a bit inconvenient.

His every movement and gesture were now no different from those of a true god. Finding a rule related to illusions among tens of thousands of rules to fabricate a normal human image of himself took Xu Yuan no more than a single thought.

Gao Tian said, "You have to sacrifice so many people just to establish your kingdom.

"Once you become the sole ruler of this world, once you slaughter at will and butcher the masses, who will have the power to keep you in check?

"You are no longer human. You are a fierce ghost. Your perspective on things is completely different from a living person's.

"In the eyes of you supernatural beings, humanity is no longer the same species as you. Morality only applies within one's own kind. Do humans speak of morality to the chickens and ducks in a slaughterhouse? Does a person calculate how many cabbages, cows, or sheep they've eaten in their lifetime and then go to a church to repent?

"To you supernatural beings, humans are nothing more than livestock providing lifespan, no different from the pigs and dogs raised on a farm.

"I believe your original intention was to save the world, of course. But after becoming the emperor of this world, many years later, when you gradually grow bored and weary, no one knows what fate will befall the living. It will depend entirely on your mood."

Xu Yuan wore a faint, ambiguous smile, but the bone-deep chill in his eyes was becoming difficult to suppress. "I will ask you one last time.

"As long as you are willing to admit that you were wrong, that you chose the wrong side and followed the wrong people. That you regret it.

"I can forgive you. My promise to you is still valid.

"I have given you too many chances. Are you sure you want to do this the hard way? Even after Old Man Sun died in battle, are you determined to keep walking down this dead-end road?"

Gao Tian wasn't sure if these words were genuine, or if Xu Yuan was simply toying with him before putting him to death.

Perhaps, if Gao Tian nodded and agreed, Xu Yuan would instantly turn on him, mock him for being spineless, and slaughter him on the spot.

No matter which outcome it was, Gao Tian had no intention of begging for mercy.

Knowing that his death today was inevitable, Gao Tian simply laid everything bare. "You betrayed the young Xu Yuan. You betrayed your own ideals, and you betrayed your teacher's expectations of you.

"If your teacher, your father, and the young Xu Yuan from twenty years ago could see you now—looking neither human nor ghost—they would definitely be deeply disappointed in you.

"You know it perfectly well in your heart. You wouldn't dare go back twenty years to face the young Xu Yuan, the one who solemnly swore he would never turn into a ghost no matter what happened."

For the first time, a trace of anger surfaced on Xu Yuan's face. "You refuse to give up until all hope is lost.

"You won't shed a tear until you've smashed your head against the wall.

"I've changed my mind. You are going to die here today, Gao Tian.

"But before you die, I'm going to show you something."

He slowly turned around. With every step Xu Yuan took through the empty air, their surroundings began to change. It was as if space itself was being warped. One moment they were hovering beneath the Oriental Pearl amidst the drifting smoke of war, and the next, they were inside a hospital ward.

Gao Tian knew Xu Yuan had activated another rule. It might be an illusion ghost dragging them into a mirage, or Xu Yuan could have used teleportation to pull him thousands of miles away to another location.

It didn't matter anymore. The current Xu Yuan was a god. He could do whatever he wanted; no one could stop him anyway.

Looking at Xu Yuan's departing back, Gao Tian raised his head and finally said slowly, "I will not admit I was wrong. Because even now, you are still lying to me.

"The reason you pulled me into the Chat Group wasn't because little Xu Yuan wrote the name Gao Tian in his notebook.

"That day in the Sapphire Mall, I never told him my name was Gao Tian.

"Why exactly did you make me enter this Chat Group?"

Xu Yuan snorted coldly, saying nothing.

After their surroundings shifted into the ward, his expression gradually softened. He walked up to a hospital bed where a pale-faced girl lay. Her eyes were shut tight, completely motionless.

Pale fluorescent lights hung from the ceiling. The girl in the bed was so pale she was almost translucent, her cheeks sunken, her long, thick eyelashes resting quietly. A transparent oxygen mask covered her nose and mouth, its tubes connecting to a ventilator beside her. Amidst its rhythmic humming, light blue waves gently rose and fell across the monitor's screen.

The thin blanket draped over her was propped up in a strange curve. A woman covered in blood was sprawled on top of the girl. That "woman" had an oval, spindle-shaped head with no distinct facial features, save for a narrow vertical slit torn open on each side. From the back, she looked human, but from the front, she resembled a skinned fish.

Occasionally, the creature would twitch slightly, its fine scales rubbing against the fabric with a faint rustling sound. Its body rose and fell in time with the girl's breathing, as if resonating with the rhythm of her life.

A girl lying in a hospital bed, and a blood-soaked "woman" sprawled on top of her. This was the eerie scene presented within the ward.

Xu Yuan slowly sat on the edge of the bed. Ignoring the bizarre woman clinging to her, he took Li Galan's cold hand, clasping it tightly in both of his.

He looked back at Gao Tian, who was standing in the doorway, and introduced her openly, "Li Galan. The girl I liked when I was young. The only person I've ever loved in this life."

He gestured for Gao Tian to come in, find a spot, and sit down.