Ch 264: Forgotten Land

The key fell to the ground. Cui Zixuan looked at the face beneath the robe, and the fear in her heart surged.

It was a face full of wrinkles, old and withered, with sunken cheeks and dry, disheveled white hair. Her eyes held a hazy resentment as she stared blankly at herself.

Despite her age, Cui Zixuan already had a guess, and this was the source of her fear. She couldn’t believe what she saw.

“Who are you?!”

Cui Zixuan hesitated to approach, but she wanted to confirm her suspicions.

The old woman’s hazy eyes seemed lost in memory. The scene before her had happened before, but she didn’t know how long she had waited; her memory was fading.

“Who am I… you actually know very well.”

The shriveled hand removed the robe from her head.

“Waiting for you means my time is almost up. It seems I still didn’t wait for Ji Chuan to save the world…”

A wry smile touched the old woman’s face. She looked around at the surrounding bones, her eyes filled with desolation.

“Her, them, me… we are all you.”

Cui Zixuan stared incredulously into the old woman’s eyes. She shook her head helplessly. Although she could see that the old woman’s appearance was her own, she still refused to believe it.

“Why? How could this be? You’re lying to me, right?!”

“There’s no time. When I last saw her, I didn’t want to believe it either. We’re all trapped here, in the Forgotten Land, a place that monster can never find. The key in your hand is the only tool to enter here.”

“All we can do is put on this Dream-Entering Robe and transmit three messages to the original world. You already know the third one, but if the world has already been saved, the third one won’t be needed.”

“Hermit’s entry, regain Divine Artifact, heroes unite, world thrives?!”

Cui Zixuan shouted it out; it was this phrase that brought her into this world.

The old woman nodded.

Was she tricked by herself? Was the other person really herself? And what kind of monster was mentioned? Was it the monster that caused the Esper Base to gradually lose contact?

“What are the first two messages? I didn’t bring paper or pen, how could I remember?!”

“After I die, you put on this robe, and you will remember. When the Prophet awakens, you can wear the Dream-Entering Robe and enter their dreams…”

“What Prophet?! Enter where? There’s not much water and food left, how will I survive?!”

The old woman’s eyes began to lose focus, whether in despair or relief, tears rolled down her cheeks.

“I hope you can leave here, you don’t have to let yourself enter…”

The old woman’s head drooped weakly. No matter how Cui Zixuan questioned her, the other woman didn’t make a sound again.

Cui Zixuan bravely stepped forward. She trembled as she placed her hand under the old woman’s nose, discovering that she had stopped breathing.

“Ah!”

Cui Zixuan fell to the ground in fright. She didn’t want to be alone in a room with a corpse.

She picked up the key and ran back the way she came. She didn’t want to stay here anymore, but the gate behind her had closed at some point.

She tried to activate her Special Ability, but it couldn’t take her away. The room was like a cage, and she was a trapped insect.

Cui Zixuan cried and pounded on the door, but it was all in vain.

She looked at the corpse and the pile of bones, collapsing against the door.

If what the other person said was true, how many lifetimes had she died in this room…

Had Ji Chuan always failed? So before saving the world, she was trapped in this Forgotten Space, falling into an endless cycle of life after life.

Unless something unexpected happened, she would die here? Would Ji Chuan succeed in this lifetime…?

Cui Zixuan felt despair. She would grow old alone in this room; just thinking about it was terrifying.

Before she died, could she remember this important information?

She spent a long time adjusting her mood, mustering her courage to approach the old woman’s corpse. She prayed that it wasn’t as she thought.

Maybe this old woman was just a delusional liar?

Cui Zixuan took off the old woman’s robe and bravely checked her features.

A birthmark on the inner side of her forearm, a mole above her collarbone, a small scar on her ankle…

Cui Zixuan’s back grew cold again. This old woman’s physical characteristics were exactly the same as hers…

“Why… why give me such a painful task?! Just because I’m afraid of death? To make me die in such a painful way?!”

Cui Zixuan burst into tears, even slapping herself hard to make sure it wasn’t a nightmare.

She dragged the old woman’s corpse next to the bones and fell into despair near where the old woman had been.

Let alone living until old age, the food in her backpack would only last a week at most. She would die here in less than ten days.

She buried her head in her knees; helplessness and despair made her incredibly tired.

Looking at the robe on the ground, Cui Zixuan considered whether to put it on. At least it would make her warmer. In the empty room, she felt cold.

She walked to the robe and put it on. Was it her imagination, or did she no longer feel hungry after putting it on? Was this how she would survive?

But living like this in solitude, was it any better than being dead…?

“No… I can’t die… Maybe my role is important, maybe it concerns whether the world will be saved…”

Cui Zixuan recalled the faces of her former companions. Wasn’t that the reason she decided to enter the Gate of Unusual Activity?

What is loneliness…?

As long as she conveyed the message, it seemed that the task, aside from being lonely, wasn’t difficult.

Cui Zixuan encouraged herself. A wry smile touched her lips. No danger, a job where death was from old age – wasn’t that what she sought?

“This is…”

A Vortex Gate appeared before Cui Zixuan.

Was she already on the job on the first day? What was the first message? Didn’t she say she would know after putting on the robe? Why did she feel nothing except the lack of hunger and thirst?

Cui Zixuan hesitated, but still steeled herself and entered the gate.

This is…

It was very similar to the dream she had when she received the information – a hazy space, unclear.

A person wearing a robe appeared before her.

Cui Zixuan’s eyes widened. Wasn’t that herself?!

“Prophet, now I give you the first prophecy.”

“Red Moon sinks, Dual-Souled Evil appears, Mortal Calamity arrives, Apocalypse begins.”

“You must remember…”

Cui Zixuan chanted repeatedly, her mind highly tense, still unsure of the situation.

“Ah! Where am I?”

Cui Zixuan woke up suddenly. The room style was very similar to the Esper Base.

She stood up and looked around, but something felt wrong. Why was she a man?!

But she didn’t have time to think. The information she just received was important. This person must be the Prophet.

She quickly went to the desk and picked up a pen and paper.

“Prophet, your first prophecy is: Red Moon sinks, Dual-Souled Evil appears, Mortal Calamity arrives, Apocalypse begins.”

Would this person believe her?

When Cui Zixuan finished writing, she felt the world around her begin to flicker. After a while, she was back in the Forgotten Land.

She had already completed one-third of the task?!

Cui Zixuan chuckled wryly. Maybe the task wasn’t as difficult as she thought…

As she smiled, tears still fell.

“Can I see you again…”