Chapter 77: The Truth Exposed Song Qingshi returned once again to that strange space. This time he was no longer that soul who knew nothing. There were many questions that needed to be answered here. After taking it out, his Nascent Soul had already crumbled. His cultivation base fell to Foundation Building and the injury on his abdomen was extremely serious. The slightest movement could cause greater damage. Fortunately, Song Qingshi himself was a first-rate doctor. He was fully prepared for all possible injuries. He calmly took out the tools and used the fastest speed to clean the wound. He then used needle and thread to make emergency sutures on the fatal wound. He wrapped it tightly with an abdominal band and then ate the rest of the medicine. He calmly dealt with everything, and finally walked to the sphere that claimed to be the system. He found that the system was on the verge of collapse. Chaotic energy was pouring out; red and golden lights crisscrossed and flickered. It was even emitting a faint black aura. A strange sound like a stuttering hard drive would appear from time to time. Was the system almost broken? Song Qingshi banged hard on the sphere, trying to see if he could knock it into working normally. Under the continuous beating, the system froze for a moment, and the weird voice became a little better. It struggled to pop out the message word by word, “Tasker Song Qingshi has failed the mission. Minus 100 points, accumulated score: negative 135,100 points.” Song Qing had already been mentally prepared to fail this course, but he still felt uncomfortable given his OCD tendencies. Was it not enough to just give him a zero? He endured the discomfort and asked, “Where did I make a mistake?”
The system answered after a pause, “Saved the wrong character. Error, error, error, grave error…” “Scientists need to be brave to face their mistakes and find the right answers,” Song Qingshi was silent for a moment and laughed, “Since you think my answer is wrong, let’s look for the cause of the error. Starting from the outcome of the matter, let’s move step by step and work our way backwards to find the source of the mistake.” The system’s malfunction was getting more serious. It was incapable of participating in a discussion. Song Qingshi did the questions-and-answer by himself. “There were only two beauties who left a deep impression on me in the Golden Phoenix Manor. Since Yue Wuhuan was not the correct answer, then it must be Bai Zihao. To be honest, Bai Zihao’s beauty is not the type I like, and yet, he still managed to attract my attention. He also gave me a strong feeling; it’s like in an exam…intuition was indicating to me the answer? “Intuition arises from ignored details. Like when they praised Bai Zihao’s pure yin physique and his single water-type spiritual root. For example, the ‘deep angsty love’ and ‘securing by force or trickery’ written in the copywriting…Jin Feiren loves Bai Zihao like a treasure and has discarded Yue Wuhuan like worn out shoes… If there’s no love between the two, where does the ‘deep ansty love’ come from? Moreover, Yue Wuhuan was helpless with no backing or anyone to rely on, what need was there to secure him with force or trickery?” “That Yue Wuhuan was secretly doing a lot of things was something I already have an inkling of.” “However, I ignored these contradictions. I hypnotized myself, forced myself to believe that Yue Wuhuan was a kind little angel and the protagonist shou of the mission.” “I would rather be blind than face the truth.” “When news came that Jin Feiren and Bai Zihao were to become Daoist companions, I couldn’t deceive myself any longer.”
“I had failed. I had failed the course, but I don’t regret it at all…” “From the beginning to the present, as long as Yue Wuhuan wants it, I will give him everything. Elixirs, no matter how precious they were; expensive magical instruments and weapons. Even the cakes on the table and the beautiful gems. Even my body and feelings. Even my life and my freedom…” “I willingly gave up my principles as a doctor for him. I gave up everything…” We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts. “Can it be because he was the target of the mission? Because he was a patient?” “Lbk mjc atfgf yf remt j obbi lc atf kbgiv!” … Pa’r cba atja tf tjrc’a agfjafv batfg qjalfcar. Qtlmt qjalfca mbeiv ufa remt agfjawfca? Lbk wjcs sfjgr vlv Cc Obcu qfrafg tlw, kjcalcu atja Uegqif Mibkfg Gfk? Qtlmt alwf tjr tf wjvf agbeyif jcv yffc ecgeis jcv kjrc’a ulnfc j yfjalcu? Who, engaged in medical research, is not a seasoned warrior who has experienced many battles and stumbled and tumbled through mistakes? How could he be afraid of making mistakes and failing a course? The reason he kept inwardly saying ‘fail a course’ was because he didn’t dare to even associate the word ‘death’ to Yue Wuhuan. And so he changed the words, to keep himself relaxed. “Combined with all of the above, I’ve come to a conclusion,” Song Qingshi laughed at himself, “I’m so stupid, so slow. I already liked him and my heart had moved but I didn’t know it. When I first met him by the river, the Phoenix flew into my heart and because of it, I disregarded everything and wanted to save only him…” “One thousand three hundred and fifty-one failures, negative 135,100 points is the proof. No matter how many missions I do, I will always answer it wrong and save the wrong person.” Song Qingshi wiped away his tears and said, unbending.
“Because he was a mistake I was most willing to make!” … The issue with the system was getting worse and worse. There was more black smoke coming out and it made strange cackling noises. When Song Qingshi first discovered that Yue Wuhuan was not the protagonist shou, he was ready to accept the system’s punishment at any time. However, when he found the picture scroll and saw the secret of Heaven, he began to have his doubts that the mission itself was problematic. The system said this was a Danmei novel? Judging from the various things that have happened in Golden Phoenix Manor, this was a trash novel unsuitable for children. However, the structure of everything in the world was too real. He has done so much medical research in the Medicine King’s Valley, and every research and every detail was scientifically logical. He didn’t think that a romance novel that pursued stimulating bedroom matters would set up such a huge world structure, nor did he think that two people who were busy rolling between the sheets day after day could influence the direction of the world. In fact, even after Jin Feiren and Bai Zihao became a Daoist couple, nothing happened… Were the readers’ grievances so cheap?
Song Qingshi used the rigorous thinking for a science major and the more he analyzed, the more he felt that it was wrong. Yue Wuhuan was clearly such a beautiful and powerful Phoenix, why should he be targeted by Heavenly law? In his memory of his repeated deaths, he saw that no matter in which world, Heavenly law paid more attention to Yue Wuhuan than to any protagonist or mission. It could even abandon the mission but would still drag him into the abyss of hell. His was obviously a very important role, how could he be relegated to becoming a cannon fodder or supporting role who was bullied, humiliated and died tragically? “I want to call you into question.” Song Qingshi began to study the suspicious sphere called the system, trying to find a lid to open, trying to see the structure inside to find out the cause of the malfunction, “I suspect that you’re lying. The world is real and you’re not some book-transmigration system. You just peeped into the secrets of Heaven and anticipated part of the future. You then composed a so-called story, selected some suitable soul, and used the mission as grounds to accomplish your ulterior purpose.” However, there were still a lot of things that he didn’t understand… Why did the system kindly help him repair the body killed by An Long and send back his soul fragment scattered in another world? Why was his soul divided into two, becoming into different taskers? Why didn’t the system provide more mission information, such as telling him the name of the protagonist shou? Why was the system in error…? Filled with that desire to know, Song Qingshi tried to set it on fire with his Red Lotus Fire and Underworld Ghost Fire. He caused a small explosion but violence could not pry open the sphere’s outer shell. After failing several times, he had an idea and tried to treat the system as though it were a patient. He sent his mental probe to see inside the sphere, to see if there was anything alive inside… What he saw was an incredible scene. Under the shiny shell of the sphere was not a mechanical structure as he had imagined, but numerous dark red squirming pieces of flesh, breathing and undulating, dirty and disgusting, like an evil creature living in the ditch. Innumerable Golden Lights of Merit had converged inside. This purest and most benevolent power had turned into a golden chain, tightly coiling around this disgusting thing, sealing it off firmly, tenaciously struggling against it, stopping its actions, and blocking off all information.
The two forces, gold and red, were constantly fighting against each other.
This was… the reason for the system error? Song Qingshi looked at the chain made of the Golden Lights of Merits, and a sense of familiarity rose in his heart. He tried stretching out his hand and releasing his mental probe. The golden chain seemed to feel the call of its master, and it intimately drew near, once again fusing together, and simultaneously pouring in a massive amount of information into his mind like an explosion. He began to tear up from the pain. But Song Qingshi couldn’t help but laugh, thinking how stupid he was. Turns out he did all of this himself… … Every time he failed a mission, the system would wipe his memory. One thousand three hundred and forty-nine times, repeated failures, repeated wipes. He had long forgotten who he was, why he had to perform the mission, or the relationship between himself and the Phoenix. However, every time he saw the Phoenix, he couldn’t help but save him…
The system was Heavenly law’s tool to control the world. After Heavenly law discovered his purpose, they continued to increase the difficulty of his missions. Taking advantage of his lack of memory, they used the system to perform all sorts of misleadings and interference, even directly killing him, turning his rescue of the Phoenix into an unsolvable task. The Phoenix’s condition was getting worse… Smart, sensitive, vulnerable… Anyone who approached him with any other purpose would not gain the Phoenix’s trust. In the end, Song Qingshi summed up his mistakes and risked everything on a single throw. He decided to give up all rationality, and attempt the Butterfly Theory, using irregular actions to influence the deterministic system. In the system’s tightly woven web, he tore open a gap beyond its control, causing deviation, taking fate towards an unforeseeable direction. The system could not obliterate his soul because he possessed a huge amount of the Golden Light of Merit. Merit originates from karma. It was the purest and most benevolent, one of the forces beyond the control of Heavenly law. Song Qingshi chose the world of immortal cultivation where the Pheonix’s power was strongest, and put down a lot of clues. He then cut out his heart and a part of his soul and threw these parts of himself into a simple small world to gain experience. He placed his body and another part of his soul into the immortal realm to concentrate on cultivation and become the perfect vessel. After the preparation work was completed, the huge amount of the Golden Light of Merit that he left behind acted in accordance with his instructions, and invaded the system, causing errors, successfully letting his soul fragment become a new tasker who accepted the simple task of saving the protagonist shou. Afterwards, all information about the mission was blocked, turning himself into a new rookie who knew nothing. There were no task prompts, no guidance from the system, no interference of any kind, no distracting thoughts…
He wanted to use his wholehearted feelings in exchange for the Phoenix’s complete trust. The system found that something was wrong, and kept resisting. It took advantage of An Long to kill him. Fortunately, An Long didn’t use excessive force and destroyed his body. The Golden Light of Merit automatically repaired his wounds and placed his muddled and ignorant soul into it. He believed that on the Langgan Terrace, no matter who the protagonist shou had been, he would have still chosen Yue Wuhuan and he would have done all could, pouring his heart and soul into saving him. The Butterfly Effect meant that anything could happen, perhaps it would produce no waves, or perhaps it would make monstrous swells. True destiny should not be falsified. It should not be controlled by unjust Heavenly law. With the strenuous beating of the butterfly’s wings, Yue Wuhuan’s destiny finally had a slight change. He went to a place he would never have gone and gotten the Blood King Vine he never would have gotten, recalling part of the power that once belonged to him… This was a good thing that has never happened before. Song Qingshi wasn’t sure whether he succeeded… However, this was the closest to success he has ever gotten. … An Long possessed an innate combative spirit, and he was an important chess piece for Heavenly law. In order to help Heavenly law keep this chess piece, the system overloaded its power to break through the blockade of the Golden Light of Merit. It violated the rules of the universe to save him. Because of this, it weakened and malfunctioned more and more.
He had to take this opportunity to return to that world; to find Yue Wuhuan again, and complete the final step of his rescue. Song Qingshi tried to manipulate the Golden Light of Merit. He invaded the system once again, choosing a new mission. The evil creatures in the system discovered his little trick, and countless thin black threads quickly drilled out of the gap in the golden chain. They could not be touched, could not be reached, could not be cut off. Blotting out the sky and covering the earth, it rolled around Song Qingshi’s body. In a terrifying buzzing voice, “The punishment for mission failure has begun, erasing all of tasker Song Qingshi’s memory.” The thin black threads invaded his soul’s sea of consciousness, beginning to frantically delete his memories. Song Qingshi felt that Yue Wuhuan’s figure was gradually fading, his appearance becoming blurred… He desperately manipulated the Golden Light of Merit, but was unable to stop the invasion of the black threads. He gritted his teeth, gave up direct confrontation with the black threads and tried to twist its source. Both of them were in a stalemate. But the memory in his mind was becoming more and more chaotic. When he was a moment away from failure, the system experienced a serious breakdown once again. “Tasker 081 has failed. Tasker Zhao Ye is missing. Tasker Zhao Ye is missing.” “Tasker 081 has failed. Tasker Zhao Ye is missing. Tasker Zhao Ye is missing.” “Tasker 081…”
Song Qingshi didn’t know who Zhao Ye was, but he found that the power of the system to control was greatly weakened. At the moment when his memory was about to be destroyed, he poured millions upon millions of the Golden Light of Merit into those disgusting evil creatures and used the brightest power in the world to tear all the darkness, dragging them to perish together. The system exploded… The space exploded… Song Qingshi was thrown into the darkness. The important memories were gone, the important people were missing… Countless missions appeared before his eyes, each leading to a different world. He subconsciously stretched out his hand and firmly grasped the one leading to hope…