Yue Shi molded the three mutated beings, who still harbored intense hatred for each other, into a single mass. Using spatial transfer, he sent them directly into Thousand Faces City.
Soon, a wave of noise and commotion erupted from a certain direction within the city.
"Three useless scraps. If this is the level of the Ximen family, I could wipe out their nest tonight," Snow Leopard remarked, shaking the dust off its fur as it followed at Yue Shi's heels.
Yue Shi strode toward the city gates.
He had only taken two steps when he suddenly stopped. A powerful aura descended from above.
Yue Shi slowly looked up.
In the sky, a figure floated about fifty meters above the ground.
The figure flickered in and out of existence, sometimes clear and sometimes blurred. A faint but growing sense of pressure poured down from overhead.
"Who's there?" Yue Shi narrowed his eyes and raised his right hand, his evil light gathering and ready to strike.
The figure's voice drifted down from the heights, sounding contemplative. "You really are quite wicked. Are you of the dark system?"
Yue Shi didn't waste words. With a sharp sound, a bolt of evil light shot from his fingertip. It was as fast as a lightning strike, heading straight for the figure.
The evil light passed through the figure, but the person only flickered for a moment before quickly returning to normal.
The bolt struck the distant sky and vanished.
Yue Shi frowned. He rarely missed, and even more rarely when he was launching a surprise attack.
At that moment, the figure plummeted from the sky, appearing before Yue Shi in a matter of seconds.
Now Yue Shi could see the man's appearance clearly. He was a very young male, tall and thin, with a boyish face. His skin was pale, his features delicate, and he possessed a strong sense of youth, yet his aura was unfathomable.
"Who are you?" Yue Shi asked, his voice cold.
The young man smiled, his tone light. "I am the head of the Ximen family, Ximen Aotian."
Yue Shi was stunned for a moment before his lips curled into a sinister smile. His eyes curved into two crescents. "Oh... I get it. I beat the kids, and now the old man shows up."
Evil energy surged around him as black mist spread from beneath his feet, laying a thin black veil across the ground.
Wherever the mist touched, the wild grass mutated completely, and even the insects turned into tiny monsters.
Ximen Aotian waved a hand and took a half-step back. "Don't get excited. I'm not here to fight."
Demonic winds howled behind Yue Shi. "Then what are you here for?"
Ximen Aotian said calmly, "You've already depleted a large portion of the Ximen family's high-end combat power. With your strength, you could charge into Thousand Faces City right now and go on a killing spree. Go ahead as you please; don't mind me."
Yue Shi's expression shifted from sinister to confused. He looked at Ximen Aotian as if he were observing a curly-haired baboon that had escaped from a psychiatric hospital.
The way Ximen Aotian was acting—ignoring his subordinates being killed and even offering to lead the enemy to them—made him seem mentally unstable.
"Are you sick?"
Ximen Aotian answered with extreme seriousness, "I am not sick. It is the world that is sick."
Yue Shi nodded, his tone certain. "I see. You really are sick."
Ximen Aotian chuckled twice, then sighed helplessly. He looked toward Thousand Faces City and suddenly asked a completely irrelevant question:
"I am 1,700 years old. Do you know how old my children are?"
Yue Shi was speechless. No one cared. Who cared how old his children were?
Without waiting for him to speak, Ximen Aotian continued on his own, "My eldest son is 1,680. My second daughter is 1,679. My third son is 1,675..."
"And?" Yue Shi asked coldly.
Ximen Aotian ignored Yue Shi's coldness. "I had my first child when I was twenty, and I've continued until now at 1,700. In other words, there is only a twenty-year difference between my children and me."
Yue Shi still didn't understand. He didn't know why Ximen Aotian was telling him this.
Was this a pre-battle declaration? Was he going to brag about every single thing he'd done since he was a kid?
Ximen Aotian's voice rose. "A twenty-year age gap is normal if the father is forty and the son is twenty."
"But if the father is 1,700 and the son is 1,680, that twenty-year difference is negligible. We are practically peers!"
"So, congratulations on your early marriage and parenthood," Yue Shi said expressionlessly.
Ximen Aotian's tone became agitated. "Don't you see? This is highly abnormal!"
"Everyone in this world was born as a god with a long lifespan. We can live for thousands or tens of thousands of years, or even forever."
"But as you can see, we follow the life frameworks of ordinary humans in every aspect. We marry and have children in our twenties or thirties, and we drive ourselves crazy with hyper-competitive studying just to find a job. It's completely irrational!"
"I am a long-lived species. Why should I follow the biological patterns of short-lived ones?"
"Later, I discovered that I don't just follow the patterns of short-lived species in marriage and childbearing. In every other aspect of my life—eating, sleeping, socializing, and desire—I am just a 'human.' My status as a True God seems to be nothing more than a background setting. I don't act like a god at all."
Yue Shi said flatly, "You made those choices yourself. You've enjoyed everything there was to enjoy, so what are you questioning now?"
Ximen Aotian smiled bitterly, his mood dropping. "Was it really a choice I made?"
"This question has troubled me for many, many years. I've always wondered why I am like this, why the world is like this, and why I live like a mortal despite possessing the power of a god!"
"Until you appeared!" Ximen Aotian's gaze landed on Yue Shi's face.
Yue Shi's eyes were sharp. "Me? I haven't done anything to you."
Ximen Aotian nodded. "You indeed haven't done anything to me. But after you appeared, I suddenly had an epiphany. I realized the true essence of destiny."
Yue Shi grew wary. "What destiny?"
Ximen Aotian said softly, "The destiny of being destined to be defeated. The destiny of being destined to have one's clan exterminated. The destiny of being destined to die like a clown."
"I am no match for you. In the future I have glimpsed, no matter how I struggle, the outcome is the same. You will eventually kill me and destroy the Ximen family. There might be dozens of different ways to get there, but the destination is always the same."
Yue Shi scrutinized Ximen Aotian, trying to judge whether his words were true or false, or if he was stalling for time or setting a trap.
Unfortunately, he couldn't see anything.
Ximen Aotian looked up and stared into Yue Shi's eyes. "Do you know what this feels like?"
"Like what?"
"Like a villain in a novel, or a boss in a game. No matter how strong I am, no matter what trump cards I have, I will eventually be killed by the protagonist. My value as an existence is to serve as a stepping stone for some Chosen One."
He opened his arms as if to embrace the sky, yet it also seemed like he was questioning the heavens.
"I once thought this was destiny, something unchangeable. But later, I realized it wasn't destiny. It's a script."
"Every choice I make, every decision, every instance of anger, and every moment of fear is written out."
"I can even sense that if I were to perform according to the original plot right now, I should be engaging in a battle of wits and courage with you, constantly creating trouble for you. I would lose repeatedly, but keep trying, until all my value is drained. Finally, I would be killed by you, making a complete fool of myself like a clown before I die, just so the audience can feel satisfied."
Rate on N.U.
