Chapter 5: A Glance Now and Then – A One-Sided Observation

“What's wrong?” The warrior beside him glanced in his direction. “Did you find something?”

Lin Zhao stared at him in shock, gesturing forcefully. “There’s a ghostly face up there, so huge! Didn’t you see it? Or do you think it’s just some natural phenomenon?”

The warrior furrowed his brows deeply and stared wide-eyed toward the direction Lin Zhao pointed. His eyes bulged almost like a goldfish’s.

After a moment, he waved his hand. “Wait here. Zhao saw something strange in the sky over there. I can’t see it, but you all take a look.”

A dozen or so warriors up ahead came back, following Lin Zhao’s indication to look.

“It’s just the sky. The sun is bright, no clouds.”

“Can’t see anything unusual.”

“Hey, let your totem fly over and check,” one warrior said to another.

Immediately, a large bird about half a man’s height flew from one warrior’s shoulder like lightning, darting toward where Lin Zhao pointed. It became a tiny speck on the distant horizon, circled around the enormous face, then returned to perch on the warrior’s shoulder, transforming back into a totem.

The warriors exchanged helpless looks, and their leader said, “We really don’t see any human face. Better report this to the priests when we return.”

Lin Zhao hadn’t expected this either. Seeing their regretful expressions, he felt a bit embarrassed. “Um, don’t you suspect I might have been mistaken?”

The captain smiled. “There are countless great dangers in this world, and the wilderness is full of peril. Being cautious is never too much. You’re one of our own; how could we not believe you?”

Such unpretentious sincerity made Lin Zhao sweat with embarrassment. “So, do we continue patrolling or return to report?”

The captain pondered briefly. “Let’s report to the priests first. In the wilderness, it’s best to be cautious.”

Relieved, Lin Zhao returned with them. Along the way, he kept glancing back at that massive face, but after about fifty meters, the sky suddenly cleared as if wiped clean, and the eerie visage vanished completely.

A thought struck Lin Zhao. He urged his beast mount backward a few steps.

Like entering a new map, the ghostly face suddenly reappeared in the sky, uncanny and terrifying.

Lin Zhao pressed his lips together and told the nearby warriors about this discovery. They furrowed their brows and quickened their pace back to the village.

...

After reporting to the village, the old shaman shook his head, saying he had never seen anything like it.

“I have already sent a fire offering to inform the Witch Kingdom,” the old shaman comforted Lin Zhao, who looked anxious. “If there’s no delay, within three to five days a great shaman will come to investigate. You need not worry.”

Lin Zhao was secretly pleased at the prospect of reinforcements and hurriedly asked, “Grandfather Shaman, what is the Witch Kingdom like?”

The old shaman smiled wistfully. “It is the most prosperous and abundant land in the world.”

He lightly tapped his staff, and a white mist emerged from the skull atop it, floating and gradually forming a grand, cloud-formed city.

A vast network of waterways crisscrossed the sky, with shamans riding beast spirits flying past towering buildings. The entire city rested upon the back of a gigantic fish swimming through the clouds.

Lin Zhao felt as if he were watching an ultra-luxurious game cutscene, then glanced at the simple wooden house beside him.

Wow, they’re flying spaceships over there, and here we’re still a primitive tribe?

Is the wealth gap really that vast?

After a moment’s hesitation, he couldn’t help but ask, “Grandfather Shaman, if the Witch Kingdom is so wonderful, why don’t we just move there? Surely safety wouldn’t be an issue.”

...

The old shaman said coldly, “Our tribe is a vassal guarding the wilderness. You can go if you wish, but I am old and need not go.”

The captain nearby smiled. “Zhao, haven’t you forgotten? Once you become a shaman, you can be recommended to the Fang Kingdom to learn advanced witchcraft. Otherwise, why would there be so few young people in our tribe?”

Lin Zhao’s mind stirred. “I see.”

He understood now. To use a gaming analogy, this is the newbie village. After clearing the ghost face level, completing the quests, one can move on to the main city!

The old shaman’s voice grew solemn. “The day of the ritual approaches. I have already formed a ceremonial bond with the ancestral spirits of the village. As an offering to the June star deity, I cannot leave the village to investigate. You must wait patiently for the great shaman’s arrival.”

Lin Zhao nodded, relieved but not complacent. He continued training his skills daily and went outside the village every day to observe the ghost face’s movements.

He suddenly realized the ghost face was moving closer to the village edge each day.

Could it be that because the village is within its sight, the ghostly entity intends to attack the tribe after seven days?

But the days passed, and the legendary great shaman never appeared.

The old shaman occasionally comforted the increasingly anxious Lin Zhao: “Perhaps he was delayed. Just wait a little longer.”

Could he really wait?

On the night of the seventh day, Lin Zhao waited all night. Early the next morning, riding his beast, he came outside the village. Now, as soon as he stepped beyond the village, the eerie face loomed in the sky, so close it seemed he could touch it.

He could wait no longer!

Lin Zhao slapped his fierce beast, which lightly raised its forepaw and silently traversed the fields outside the village.

As a predator that hunts tigers and leopards, stealth was one of its skills. Over these days, Lin Zhao had become familiar with the surroundings. The large monsters had been cleared by the village warriors, making the area relatively safe.

After running over ten miles, the village was no longer visible. Beyond the ghost face’s range, Lin Zhao stopped atop a hill and looked back toward the village.

He waited quietly.

After a few minutes, the human face in the distant sky twisted suddenly, and endless heavenly flames rained down.

Almost simultaneously, a gigantic golden crow shot upward, colliding violently. Silent waves spread, sweeping away all animals and plants across the plain in an instant. Lin Zhao barely had time to look up before his body was blown apart like ashes in the raging wind.

In that moment, a thousand curses flooded his mind!

Only been here a few days, and I get to die with the prestigious “vanish in the wind” death?

...

After the world spun around, Lin Zhao found himself in an empty, bare room.

In the profound silence, he felt oddly touched.

“Congratulations on completing the fourth simulation. Survival time: eight days.

Evaluation: insignificant as you are, you are not worth mentioning. To die by heavenly fire is your honor.

Score: 1. Reward: 1 simulation point.”

Lin Zhao took a deep breath. Just as he was about to click “Continue Simulation,” his finger suddenly froze.

He was silent for a moment, then pulled open his coarse robe. A tattoo of a beast appeared on his chest, and the beast’s head poked out, trying to bite his finger. Instinctively, he pressed it back.

Clenching his fist, he whispered, “Tongzi, is this simulation really just a simulation?”

The interface gave no reply.

Lin Zhao summoned his beast soul. Tongzi looked at him curiously, sticking out its tongue torn in two, licking him once.

Lin Zhao stroked its mane and chuckled softly.

“Time is tight in reality. I can’t rest here,” he said quietly. “That ghost face must be the newbie village’s boss.”

“It’s tough, but just wait—I’ll show you what a true soul player is!”

He pressed “Start Simulation.”

Then, clutching Tongzi, he curled up in a corner, slowly closing his eyes.

Resting and gathering strength, he would clear the level when ready.

—

A strange purple sun hung high, casting its eerie glow over the wilderness of withered trees and tomb mounds.

The city lay desolate and weathered, with human and beast skeletons scattered through every street and alley. A fierce wind swept through the vast ruined city, sounding like a low, mournful wail.

“Crack, crack—” A series of tremendous shattering sounds rang out as the entire city’s ruins were instantly pulverized into fine dust, turning into gray-white ashes piled across the wilderness like polluted snow.

Countless giant fissures resembling spiderwebs cracked the land beneath the snow.

At the center of these cracks, a young man sat cross-legged, slowly opening his eyes.

One eye emitted a purple light similar to the great sun above; the other was pitch black and serene, like the abyssal rift surrounding him.

Upon surveying his surroundings, his handsome brows knitted tightly.

“Back again.”

For the fifth time.

If it weren’t for the real soul ashes gained after slaying each great beast, he might have thought his consciousness was trapped in an illusion.

But although faint, his strength had undeniably increased.

What kind of dreadful creature in that strange secret realm was causing this endless cycle?

With a puzzled look, he took from his bosom an old, cracked turtle shell. After silently asking a question, he placed it in his palm and pressed a finger down. The shell emitted unbearable cracking sounds as multiple fissures appeared.

He carefully analyzed the meaning behind the cracks, frowning more deeply.

“Does my destined partner lie in the Vast Demon Ruins?” He glanced at a giant skeleton nearby, then at the countless strange beings he had slain far away. Their grotesque forms beyond human imagination unsettled his mind. He took a deep breath.

Indeed, divination must not be done carelessly. The turtle shell must be cracked by fire, not by force; otherwise, the reading is flawed.

He summoned a wisp of flame in his palm, about to hold the shell over it, when the shell seemed to have a will of its own and shattered into several pieces.

He stared at the fragments in his palm, curling his fingers so that fine ashes slipped through and vanished into the bloodied earth below. Then his tranquil gaze fixed on the spiderweb-like fissures in the earth.

Within the cracks, flickering red lights glimmered. Amid the red glow were bright skies, soft white clouds, children’s laughter, and shamans’ worshipful chants during rituals.

Listening to the sincere praises for the witch god Si Chen, the youth remained silent for a few breaths before softly reciting the same hymns himself, his expression filled with compassion.