Chapter 213: Audience with the True God
Energy, mixed with flesh and metal, shot into the Active Flesh. Those mixtures sliced through Lin Ye’s body like blades, leaving him with a string of fatal puncture wounds.
Lin Ye used the mask to command the Active Flesh to surge into the wounds, temporarily sustaining his vital signs. He didn’t know how long that would hold, but he wouldn’t fall until the problem was solved.
The explosion subsided. Lin Ye stepped away from the Active Flesh and walked up to the High Priest. Now the High Priest was little more than a skeleton draped with viscera, but it was still alive—the recoil hadn’t shattered its body.
“You... you still... won’t... die... ah... the world... is about to... be destroyed...”
The High Priest stared at the Active Flesh wrapped around Lin Ye. It could have done something similar, but it never had the chance.
“It’s none of your concern.”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Lin Ye didn’t waste words. He blew the High Priest’s head apart with the shotgun, then fired two more shots into its organs before grabbing the woven bag and heading for the surface.
“Boss! Are you all right?”
The two Head Students ran over. They had been far from the High Priest earlier and had luckily avoided that burst of energy. “I’m fine, but I need to go deeper into the ruins. I’ll leave this place to you.”
Lin Ye was going to pay homage to the True God and offer his sacrifice.
“All right, we’ll handle it... Is the world really going to be destroyed?”
Head Student Number Two asked.
“That’s not important. Even if this weren’t happening, even if not now, the world can be destroyed at any time. Even if the world won’t be destroyed, you could die at any moment for any reason. Stability is just an illusion—life is a fragile thing. What matters is how you live, not when death comes.”
Lin Ye climbed out from under his bed and into his room. Lin Jing and Yang Hua were waiting for him.
Of course, they were waiting for Lin Ye, not the Mask-Wearing Killer wearing a smiling mask.
“Where’s my brother? What did you do to him!”
Lin Jing was terrified, but she didn’t back away. She stepped forward and demanded answers from Lin Ye.
She didn’t recognize the blood-soaked, Active Flesh-wrapped figure in front of her as her brother Lin Ye.
Yang Hua tried to pull Lin Jing away, but Lin Ye was faster—he grabbed her arm.
If she had ignored Lin Jing and tried to run, there might still have been a chance; after all, Lin Ye was in bad shape and didn’t seem to be targeting her.
“As long as you behave, I promise your brother is fine. If you don’t, I’ll go kill him right now.”
With the help of the Active Flesh, Lin Ye easily changed the tone of his voice.
His wounds were entirely sustained by the Active Flesh; he couldn’t take off the mask anymore, and he didn’t want his sister to see him like this.
“All right, I’ll behave.”
Lin Jing answered immediately.
“Good child. Come down with me.”
Lin Ye released Yang Hua and let Lin Jing crawl through the hole under the bed into the tunnel.
He was going to bring Lin Jing into the depths of the ruins—not as a sacrifice, but as an observer of the ritual.
Of course he wouldn’t leave his sister at the base. Only by keeping her at his side could he feel secure.
If something is truly worth protecting, never let it go; don’t hand it over to Fate. Only then is there a chance to win.
As for the risk of going deep into the ruins—if the True God could really destroy the world, staying at the base wouldn’t be any safer. Staying might even be more dangerous.
After the two of them disappeared under the bed, Yang Hua hesitated for two seconds before crawling in and jumping into the hole.
“I’m coming too!”
Yang Hua hurried after them and took Lin Jing’s trembling hand.
“Sister Yang, go back now!”
Lin Jing tried to shake Yang Hua off, but she was too weak to free herself.
“You said your brother entrusted you to me. I can’t just watch you be taken by it.”
Yang Hua was scared too, but in the end she chose to act.
“Don’t waste time. Hurry up and follow. If you dawdle, the world will be destroyed.”
Lin Ye glanced at them and the surrounding Active Flesh began to push them forward.
When they saw what was behind them, both girls screamed in sharp, terrified voices and then stopped wasting time.
“You said the world’s destruction—what did you mean by that?”
After calming her emotions for a moment, Lin Jing suddenly remembered the earlier exchange.
“I meant it literally. I just fought those cultists. When I killed their leader, that person told me.”
Lin Ye quickened his pace and continued:
“Don’t worry. As long as the ceremony uses a sacrifice, the world won’t be destroyed.”
“Sacrifice?”
Yang Hua quickly picked up the key point.
“Yes. One life for one world. Don’t you think that’s cheap?”
The tunnel connected to the deep part of the ruins. The farther they went in, Lin Ye began to sense a heavy aura gathering.
“...It is cheap. Can the sacrifice be anyone?”
Yang Hua asked next.
“Of course not. The True God is picky. It only chooses the most adorable woman in the world as the sacrifice.”
Lin Ye stifled the discomfort in his body and walked faster. He felt they were close.
“So the sacrifice is me?”
Yang Hua thought of herself as rather cute.
“No. Sister Yang is beautiful, but cute? Not as cute as my sister.”
Lin Jing immediately rebutted.
Lin Ye ignored their debate about cuteness and completed the pattern to open the gate to the altar.
He voted for Lin Jing.
Before long, Lin Ye opened the gate. Inside was a wide underground chamber. In the center stood a ten-meter-high platform made of blood, flesh, and bone. The steps were unusually regular—each step a quarter meter high.
Lin Ye led the two up the altar. Every step they ascended pressed a heavy atmosphere onto them, forcing them to bow their heads and stoop.
“Don’t bow. This is a rare chance to see the True God. It’d be a pity not to look around.”
Lin Ye scanned the surroundings like someone at a zoo, observing and memorizing the altar and its patterns.
He wouldn’t miss any potentially useful information.
With Lin Ye leading, Lin Jing and Yang Hua felt less pressure, but they dared not look around openly; they only glanced furtively.
The three reached the top of the altar without incident. The topmost layer was small—only about two square meters.
No sooner had they climbed to the summit than the surrounding walls began to shift. A gigantic face formed above the altar from blood and flesh.
It looked down at the sacrifices on the altar and bore a ferocious grin.
“…I’ll do it. What should I do, Mister Masked Killer?”
Lin Jing trembled and tried to step forward, but Yang Hua held her back.
“I’ll go. You’re still a child. In these situations adults go first.”
Yang Hua forced a weak smile. She was truly terrified.
“You’re right. Adults do go first in situations like this. Besides, I never said I was offering you as sacrifices.”
Lin Ye pushed them down one step, then walked forward alone to pay homage to the True God.
“I am the sacrifice for this ceremony: the Crimson Mask-Wearing Killer. As for my name, you do not need to know it. The mask is everything to me. Now accept the sacrifice, True God.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Lin Ye plunged the firewood chopper into his heart.