VAP - Chapter 138
Chapter 138: The Intersection of Illusion and Reality (3)
The Qingzhi Stronghold was built underground, capable of housing tens of thousands of people. It was the largest and safest known subterranean stronghold.
—Merely underground.
Although in an era where information was difficult to exchange, the credibility of the word “known” was debatable, the comprehensive strength of the Qingzhi Stronghold was widely acknowledged.
After leaving the Pancheng Stronghold, Yue Du passed through several abandoned cities before arriving at the rumored location of the Qingzhi Stronghold.
The Qingzhi Stronghold wasn't built upon any pre-existing structures, but it was indeed very close to the ruins of an unknown city, with only a moat separating the two.
Yue Du stopped at the riverbank and bent down slightly.
The river water had long been affected by Mental Rendering, turning it an ominous dark red, though the current was calm.
Yue Du narrowed her eyes, casually picked up a palm-sized fallen leaf, and tossed it into the middle of the river.
The leaf floated on the surface, but in less than half a second, it was nudged upward by a livid-colored fish head that had a pale bone spike growing between its eyes. The fish opened its large mouth a couple of times, seemingly realizing the leaf wasn't food. Its bulging eyes turned toward Yue Du for a moment before it sank back into the water of its own accord.
The leaf continued to float, drifting with the current. Along the way, it was intercepted by several more fish of the same species, only to be cast aside with disinterest.
Yue Du was thus able to see their full forms: withered, black, coke-like tails; bodies estimated to be at least three meters long; and blood-red fin membranes on their backs, supported by sharp bone spikes.
Looking only at the deep red surface, who could have guessed that such giant fish lurked below, their forms even more ferocious than the piranhas seen in movies.
Yue Du looked away, scanning her surroundings. She found a hidden wooden bridge not far off and leisurely crossed the river.
At first glance, the area seemed completely empty, without a soul in sight.
Only by activating the vision of the Silent Watcher could she see a team of hunters patrolling the riverbank. They wore standard-issue uniforms and carried firearms. Clearly, there was an esper with an invisibility ability on their team, which was why they were invisible to the naked eye.
Just then, the hunters spotted Yue Du as well. They stopped in their tracks, communicating with hand signals while keeping their eyes fixed on her, looking extremely vigilant.
Unconcerned, Yue Du took a step forward and smiled. "Excuse me, are you from the Qingzhi Stronghold?"
The hunters were all stunned. The leader recovered quickly. "You're a 'Reality' ability user."
Yue Du nodded.
With the power to see through invisibility, the person before them was clearly a high-level esper. The leader broke into a smile. "That's wonderful. You must be here to join the Qingzhi Stronghold, right? We'd be glad to have you."
Yue Du said, "Thank you, but I'm here looking for someone. If I can find her here, it's very likely I'll stay."
After a brief exchange, the leader dispatched one of the hunters to guide Yue Du back to the stronghold while the rest resumed their patrol.
The Qingzhi Stronghold was named "Green Branch," but in reality, it had nothing to do with the imagery those words evoked.
Its predecessor was the underground nest of a species of mutated ants. These ants were roughly the size of adult humans, and their nest was a sprawling, sturdy, and durable network, making it an ideal place to take shelter.
The people at the Qingzhi Stronghold confirmed Yue Du's identity, registered her, and even assigned someone to act as a guide to help her get acquainted with the place.
They treated Yue Du with such importance simply because they valued her as a Reality ability user, and a powerful one at that.
The guide was a lively girl who chattered away as she showed Yue Du around. "This is the regular residential area, that's the housing for espers, over here is the combat readiness zone, and over there is the training area."
After they had chatted for a bit, Yue Du asked her, "Have you ever heard the name Ji You?"
"Ji You? Never heard of her," the girl said. "Is that someone you know?"
Yue Du replied, "I suppose so. I'm here looking for her."
The girl paused, then asked cautiously, "If the person you're looking for isn't here, does that mean you'll leave?"
Yue Du guessed the girl had been tasked with doing her best to convince her to stay, so she didn't give a definite answer. "Not necessarily. We'll see. After all, it's too dangerous to travel outside. What's more important than one's own life?"
The girl breathed a sigh of relief and began to ponder. "That's true. Let me think... Ji You... which character is 'Ji'?"
Yue Du explained, "The 'Ji' as in 'commemorate,' and also as in 'discipline.'"
"That's a rare surname, but I'm sure I've heard it somewhere before." The girl fell into thought, even stopping in her tracks.
Yue Du waited patiently.
Finally, the girl clapped her hands together and exclaimed joyfully, "I remember now!"
The surname "Ji" was actually very rare, and almost everyone with that name was related to a single family.
It was said that over a hundred years ago, before the Scarlet Beasts appeared, the Ji family was already world-famous—or perhaps, infamous.
They were the largest family of arms dealers at the time.
During the century when the Scarlet Beasts held absolute dominion, the family vanished without a trace. After all, at that time, all of humanity was little more than stored food for the Scarlet Beasts. No matter how powerful and connected the Ji family was, they were still human.
But when humanity began its arduous resistance, the Ji family re-emerged and established a stronghold in the north. This stronghold wasn't the most powerful, but thanks to the reputation of its founders and controllers, it became quite famous.
"But that's just what I've heard. So much time has passed, who knows how many people with the surname Ji are left, or where they are now. They've probably scattered in all directions."
The girl wasn't an esper, but her parents were both high-ranking hunters, so she actually knew more than the average esper.
After listening, Yue Du lowered her eyes in thought.
Seeing the look in her eyes, the girl actively tried to dissuade her. "You're not thinking of going to the Northern Stronghold, are you? Really, you shouldn't. It's too far, and anything can happen on the road. It's much safer to stay here with us."
Yue Du said, "Mm, thank you. I'll consider it."
As if she would. Yue Du planned to turn around and find a few more people to verify the information. If it proved true, she would stay for a few days and then set out for the north.
The girl, thinking she had successfully persuaded the new Reality ability user, was delighted. She said proudly, "You'll definitely grow to like it here. Our stronghold has a great reputation—strong defenses, comprehensive facilities, lots of espers, especially good food, and we even offer a Scarlet Beast-huffing service—"
Yue Du: "..."
Wait, the first few points were fine, but what was that last one?!
Seeing Yue Du's blank expression, the girl realized her mistake. "Ah, sorry, I forgot that Reality ability users can't huff Scarlet Beasts. My apologies."
Yue Du put on an unconcerned expression and said, "It's fine."
It seemed she had one more thing to ask about later.
Since she didn't plan on staying, Yue Du didn't select a long-term residence in the espers' housing area and politely declined invitations from several hunter teams.
However, she did look into this so-called "Scarlet Beast-huffing."
It had to be said, the human capacity for wild ideas was terrifyingly vast.
Scarlet Beasts could create illusions of scenes people deeply desired. Some people took advantage of this by capturing weaker Scarlet Beasts, restraining them completely, and then staying within range of their ability to enjoy sweet, harmless fantasies.
Escaping cruel reality to immerse oneself, even for a moment, in illusory beauty undoubtedly preyed on a weakness in many people's hearts, making it an irresistible temptation.
Public opinion on the matter was mixed, almost split into two extremes.
One side argued that Scarlet Beasts were the culprits behind humanity's current plight. Who didn't have friends or family who had been killed by them? How could anyone be so shameless as to enjoy the false happiness these creatures provided?
The other side felt there was no need to get hung up on it. It was just a way to relax and de-stress. What was wrong with using an enemy captive to bring oneself a little joy? Besides, humanity still knew far too little about Scarlet Beasts; perhaps this practice could even be used to gather more intelligence.
In any case, the practice of "huffing" Scarlet Beasts gradually grew in popularity, though its form and location were strictly regulated to prevent any accidents.
One drawback, however, was that it used up Scarlet Beasts quickly. People would often embrace their family, close friends, and lovers in an illusory reunion, only to return to reality and see the red eyes of the Scarlet Beast before them. The realization that this very type of monster was responsible for their loss would then sink in...
Overcome with grief and rage, they would run the beast through with a single strike, and the nearby guards would be powerless to stop them.
Eventually, they had to prohibit participants from carrying weapons to prevent the loss of public property.
Yue Du asked someone in the know, "Can Scarlet Beasts only create the beautiful illusions that people desire to see?"
"Not necessarily, but they're clever," the person replied. "They understand that they're only useful if they create pleasant dreams. A miserable life is better than a good death—even monsters know that. People say these low-level Scarlet Beasts have low intelligence, but no matter how low it is, they still know how to pursue benefits and avoid harm."
Yue Du smiled.
The person urged her, "Want to give it a try? The one in there creates incredibly realistic illusions, and they last for quite a while. All you have to do is pay with some Scarlet Beast scales."
Yue Du replied, "No, thank you. It doesn't really work on me."
"Oh, right, you're a Reality ability user. In that case, there's nothing to be done. If you went in, you'd just end up in a staring contest with it."
In truth, with the Silent Watcher deactivated, a Scarlet Beast's illusion could affect her just the same, but there was no point in it.
Rather than wasting time in an illusion, she was more focused on finding her host.
In fact, Yue Du felt a faint sense of unease.
This small world's suppression of an outsider's power was more severe than in the interstellar world or her own native world. Because no matter how bizarre the changes wrought by the Scarlet Beasts were, one fact remained: the physical strength of every living being here was very weak.
The terrifying-looking Scarlet Beasts weren't as physically powerful as ordinary wild animals, nor was their psychic strength particularly formidable. But their ability to create illusions left all other species helpless against them.
Similarly, based on her observations of other human espers, their psychic strength wasn't impressive either—not even a tenth of the average Guide's from the last world.
The world's power ceiling was fixed. Here, her host's physical and psychic strength would be suppressed. If the host wasn't a Reality ability user capable of seeing through illusions—
Yue Du's gaze darkened.
No, she needed to approach this from a different angle.
Her host had always been special. As long as she existed, the title of "strongest in the world" could only belong to her.
The strongest in the world, the villain boss aura... from that perspective, was it more likely that her host was a Scarlet Beast? Or even the leader of the Scarlet Beasts?
Yue Du: "..."
She was startled by her own sudden thought.
Although Ji You sounded like a human name, she couldn't rule out the possibility that her host was non-human. After all, one could choose their own name.
If her host was a Scarlet Beast...
The thought of her host having scarlet eyes with no whites and feeding primarily on humans made Yue Du feel deeply unsettled.
Forget it, she thought. No more wild guesses. She had a lead on the Ji family now, so she would follow that first.
As for the Scarlet Beast theory, she would set it aside for now.
Speaking of which, she could redeem an item from the System store that would allow her to understand a species' language for a short time. She could catch some Scarlet Beasts along the way and ask them what their leader was like.
Having made up her mind, Yue Du stayed for a few more days before setting out on her journey.
She did manage to catch and question a few Scarlet Beasts along the way, but the weaker ones had low intelligence, and she never encountered any powerful ones, so she failed to get any useful information.
The conversations went something like this:
Yue Du: "Do you have a leader?"
Scarlet Beast: "Leader... I think so."
Yue Du: "What is your leader's name?"
Scarlet Beast: "Name... don't know."
Yue Du: "Can your leader take human form?"
Scarlet Beast: "We... eat humans."
Yue Du: "Alright, let me rephrase. Tell me everything you know about your boss."
Scarlet Beast: "..."
The question was beyond the Scarlet Beast's comprehension. It simply stopped responding, its scarlet eyes staring intently at Yue Du, glinting with a hungry red light.
A mid-to-low-level Scarlet Beast had intelligence this low, like a preschooler acting purely on instinct.
Seizing a moment when Yue Du wasn't looking, the Scarlet Beast opened its giant maw and lunged to bite her.
Yue Du's expression turned cold. With a flash of her blade, she struck, giving the Scarlet Beast no time to react.
After a long journey of stops and starts, Yue Du finally arrived at the Northern Stronghold—the one rumored to have been established by the Ji family.
She had already killed a three-digit number of Scarlet Beasts, but unfortunately, none had been intelligent enough for a proper conversation.
The strongholds along her route all came to know of a powerful and good-natured Reality ability user who was crossing half the continent in search of someone. It was just a shame, they all thought, that the person she sought wasn't in their particular stronghold.
On one occasion, Yue Du saw a fortress in the distance shaped like a twisted tower. It was not something that could have been built with human technology.
In other words, it was one of the Scarlet Beasts' nests.
Yue Du was confident she could venture deep into the nest and retreat unscathed, but she wasn't confident she could obtain the information she wanted.
The suppression of an outsider's power in this world was too severe.
Yue Du silently memorized the nest's coordinates.
She decided to go to the Northern Stronghold first. If she couldn't find any news of her host there, it would likely mean her host was a Scarlet Beast who had taken a human name.
Once she confirmed that, it wouldn't be too late to lead a fully armed team of hunters to storm the fortress and extract the information by force.
In any case, she wasn't far from the Northern Stronghold now.
The journey from the Qingzhi Stronghold to the Northern Stronghold took a full year.
This stronghold was built upon a former capital city. Although the concept of nations no longer existed, a capital still held a special significance for people.
As a result, many people came seeking refuge, and there was even a queue at the entrance. Yue Du had never seen such a thing at any other stronghold, a testament to the Northern Stronghold's high prestige.
Just as in all the previous strongholds, the moment Yue Du revealed her identity as a Reality ability user, she was treated with great courtesy.
Because this was very likely her host's location, she was even more cautious. She no longer mentioned she was looking for someone. When she asked about Ji You, her tone was casual, as if it were a passing thought.
The person she asked paused, taken aback. He tilted his head in thought for a moment before saying in a low voice, "The surname Ji... that's probably someone from around here, but I've never heard that name. Hold on, I'll ask around for you."
Yue Du smiled. "Thank you for the trouble."
"...It's no trouble. I'm happy to help."
Yue Du watched him hurry away, the smile on her face slowly fading.
Micro-expressions couldn't lie. He was lying; he knew that name.
Her host was definitely here, or had been here at some point.
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