From the end of the world

Chapter 660 The Source of the Call
The woman walking towards us was very familiar to me, both in appearance and voice; it was none other than my junior, Xiao Qiao.

She was wearing a white printed T-shirt and light blue jeans, which were comfortable for sports. Her eyes were filled with surprise and doubt, as if she was unsure whether the person she was calling was the one she was thinking of.

Seeing the person I had been searching for suddenly appear here, I couldn't help but feel excited.

"It's me," I said. "It's been a while, junior."

"Senior, it really is you!?" Junior Xiao Qiao said with delight, "When I was trapped in this city, I kept calling for help to that little flame that looked like a firefly, hoping that you could hear me. But when I met Zhu Shi last time, I heard that you had been busy with something for the past few months, so even talking to that flame was useless. Later, I couldn't find that flame anymore..."

"Dongche said this city might be impenetrable even to gods, and I thought you definitely wouldn't come, I..."

As she spoke, her voice grew more and more agitated, gradually becoming incoherent.

Perhaps realizing she had gotten too excited, she quickly calmed herself down, then looked puzzled and asked, "But... senior, how come you suddenly became so young? Could it be that my memory is playing tricks on me? I remember you were about my age..."

"There's a reason for this." I skillfully changed the subject. "Dongche, the person you said you wanted me to see, is it her?"

I was somewhat expecting this answer. Aside from my rivals, Meng Zhang and Xuan Ming, I practically know no one else in this city. If I had to name someone, it would be my junior, Xiao Qiao, whose fate is still unknown. However, due to the lack of connection between Dong Che and Xiao Qiao, I can't be entirely certain.

Seeing my question, Dongche nodded and said, "I found this lady while rescuing survivors. Because she is someone related to you, Senior Zhuang Cheng, I took special care of her. I think one of your purposes in entering this city must be to rescue her."

“That’s true, but how do you know about her relationship with me?” I asked.

“Because I’ve been secretly observing your activities all along, Senior Zhuang Cheng.” Dong Che revealed a very confident expression. “She’s your fiancée Zhu Shi’s classmate and your junior. You had contact with her in the incident related to Peach Blossom Village. Some demon hunters investigated her in secret and discovered that she was carrying your ‘Firefly’… I know all of these things.”

“I can recite all of those things by heart, including who was in every class you had from elementary school to university, and every strange rumor you investigated.”

Xiao Qiao, a junior student, couldn't help but say, "No, this is already stalking behavior..."

I was also finding it hard to adapt, but Jiao Shu looked completely at ease and said, "What stalker? Knowing the life story of a deity is a basic quality of a devout believer. They should be able to recite all the verifiable information by heart."

"At the Witcher Academy in Luoshan, important deeds of contemporary gods will also appear as exam questions. After the Luoshan faith becomes widespread in secular society, the life stories of all the Great Impermanence should also be written into history textbooks, becoming historical knowledge points that countless students must memorize."

I remember that Chang'an is now a student of Luoshan Academy. Does that mean he has to listen to the teacher talk about my life story during class and answer such questions during the exam?

Putting myself in his shoes, I can't imagine how I would feel if my friend appeared as a character in my history class. He might even have his own name mentioned in the history exam; I wonder how he would feel.

On the bright side, he's not the type to really enjoy studying. This rather comical situation might unexpectedly spark his interest in learning.

Dongche added: "In addition, Senior Zhuangcheng, perhaps you are unaware that some of Zhuangcheng's followers regard the 'fireflies' scattered throughout the country as your materialistic gaze. Carrying a 'firefly' means that you are paying close attention to her, so she is quite famous among our followers."

"I see..." I looked at Xiao Qiao again, "Speaking of which, I heard that you came to this city to visit relatives, right?"

Xiao Qiao's face darkened, and she said, "That's right, but all the relatives I'm supposed to visit have already..."

She didn't continue, but judging from the current state of the city, it was entirely predictable that most of her relatives had been hunted down by the cultivators and monsters of Peach Blossom Village.

Even for her, it was a miracle she survived. I had prepared myself to report my classmate's death to Zhu Shi, but seeing that Xiao Qiao was still alive and well, without any missing limbs, I felt relieved.

Junior Sister Xiao Qiao patted her cheeks, forcibly pulling herself out of her gloomy and depressed mood, and then looked at me with very expectant eyes, asking, "Senior, now that you're here, does that mean we can finally return to normal society?"

From her perspective, I might be an omnipotent god. Even if this city is sealed off by the power of other gods, rescuing some ordinary people from it should be a piece of cake for me.

This viewpoint isn't entirely wrong. The barrier sealing off the city was specifically established to prevent external intrusion. While it's extremely strict for external intruders, it's a different story for those inside. If invading from the outside is so difficult that even the Great Impermanence would struggle, then traveling from the inside to the outside is incredibly easy. Of course, this "easy" only applies to me, the Great Impermanence. As a super barrier capable of sealing off thirty million people and trapping all the demon hunters inside, even the Great Completion level being killed by me before couldn't force its way out from the inside using brute force alone.

All of the above is based on the premise that I can exert all my strength here, but I do not have that condition now.

"I'm sorry, not right now," I said.

Xiao Qiao, a junior student, asked, unable to hide her disappointment, "Why?"

Dongche tentatively asked, "Senior Zhuang Cheng, I noticed that your condition seems a bit off. It's like... it's like this isn't your true form, but more like your clone?"

“You could say that,” I said. “Right now, I can’t use all my strength, and I want to confirm some things with you about this. Let’s find a place to sit down and talk.”

As instructed, Dongche led us to a meeting room inside the exhibition hall. There was a long table that looked very expensive, with chairs neatly arranged around it. I randomly picked a chair and sat down. Dongche seemed to want to stand and talk to me, but I asked him to sit down as well. After a slight hesitation, he obediently sat down as well.

I explained to him the call I had heard and the difficulties I was facing.

“So that’s how it is. Senior Zhuang Cheng believed that he entered this city through what sounded like a prayer and a connection with it…” Dong Che said thoughtfully.

"Do you think my judgment is correct?" I asked.

"This judgment should be correct, and it matches my experience," Dongche said.

"What was your experience like over there?" I asked.

“Actually, just a few hours ago, I sensed that Senior Zhuang Cheng’s magical energy fluctuations seemed to appear on the outer edge of the city’s barrier,” Dongche said. “This perception was very vague, and I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination at the time. But our situation was terrible. To be honest, I would have wanted to grab onto even the smallest spider silk hanging down.”

"So I assumed that my perception was real, that Senior Zhuang Cheng might be invading the barrier surrounding the city, and then I tried to perform a simple spirit summoning ritual targeting Senior Zhuang Cheng by myself."

"The ritual medium used at that time was this Slag Impermanence Sword. This weapon is a magical artifact made from 'slag,' which has a deep bond with the soul of Senior Zhuang Cheng. Therefore, as a magical artifact used to summon Senior Zhuang Cheng's spirit, it has a very powerful effect."

"The effects of the spirit summoning ritual are still ongoing, but since Senior Zhuang Cheng hadn't appeared before, I thought the ritual must have failed..."

I asked curiously, "Then... why did the calling I heard suddenly get stronger halfway through?"

"Perhaps it was because I saw that Great Completion level Peach Blossom Spring cultivator besieging this refuge with so many monsters, and I was utterly helpless, that I couldn't help but pray for you in my heart," Dongche replied. "Just like now—"

As he spoke, he closed his eyes and assumed a posture of quiet prayer.

Immediately afterwards, the faint call that had been echoing in my ears suddenly became a little louder. And, probably because the "source of the sound" was so close, I could feel a connection to the call, a connection to the winter car body.

Now the truth is finally out: the call that guided me to infiltrate the city's barrier was from Dongche.

After I said "It's okay," Dongche stopped praying.

“You said you only used a simplified séance… so there must be more powerful séance rituals, right?” I asked. “If I used such a séance ritual, could I summon all my power into the interior of this city?”

Upon hearing this, Dong Che immediately looked troubled, while Jiao Shu directly asserted, "That's impossible."

(End of this chapter)