Those Who Believe in the Red Star
To say that Liu Qingyan didn't want to go in and watch Chen Ling would definitely be a lie, but at this moment, the previous conversation unconsciously surfaced in her mind.
"Lord Special Envoy... Do you think if I find him, he will agree to let me follow him?"
"Perhaps not."
"Why?"
"Some people are used to being alone and don't like having someone following them around... Especially people from the Dusk Society."
If she went in to watch the performance, even if she had disguised herself like this, she believed Chen Ling would still be able to recognize her at a glance. He might feel she was a lingering ghost... Since Chen Ling had already clearly stated that he didn't want her to follow him, then she would just watch from afar. This was already decided long ago.
Liu Qingyan didn't want to bring trouble to Chen Ling, nor did she want him to feel that she was very troublesome. Whether she saw him or not didn't matter; just knowing he was there was enough.
Liu Qingyan passed through the crowd, walked past the entrance of a cheap inn opposite, and suddenly stopped.
"I should be able to hear from here, right?"
Liu Qingyan pursed her lips slightly and still walked into the dim gate of the inn.
...
Jinghong Theater.
Jian Changsheng, having checked all the tickets, finally let out a long sigh of relief, followed 10 of Diamonds back into the Theater House, and sat down on the threshold.
"Right, where were we?"
"Scarlet Heaven Cult."
"Oh right, I've heard of them. Aren't they the same as the Dusk Society and the Integration Faction, the highest-level wanted factions of the Nine Great Realms and public enemies of humanity?" Jian Changsheng was stunned. "Why? The power outages... could they be related to them?"
"From the perspective of the Nine Great Realms, that is indeed the case, but we are not like those guys." 10 of Diamonds said seriously. "Our Dusk Society's goal is only to Reverse the Era and Reboot the World. Our Path is correct and beneficial to all of humanity! It's just that it is not recognized by the Nine Great Realms... But the existence of the Scarlet Heaven Cult is purely as Parasites on humanity.
Do you know what the people of the Scarlet Heaven Cult believe in?"
"I remember it's... believing in the Red Star?" Jian Changsheng recalled and said.
"That's right." 10 of Diamonds nodded slightly. "The Scarlet Heaven Cult fanatically worships the Red Star. They believe that the existence of human civilization is a mistake, a viral civilization bred on this planet. Since it's a mistake, it needs to be corrected...
They regard the Red Star as an envoy sent down by heaven, shouldering the responsibility of correcting everything and restoring everything. Wherever the Red Star passes, civilization will regress, and everything will flow backward to the most primitive starting point."
"Believing in the Red Star, destroying civilization?" Jian Changsheng couldn't help but say, "These are the true madmen... How could anyone believe these things??"
"It's actually very normal. The more turbulent and darker the era, the more prevalent various religious beliefs become... The regression of material civilization has already exceeded the cognition of Ordinary People. Coupled with the realms encountering crises one after another, people need Faith as spiritual sustenance."
10 of Diamonds shrugged and continued, "Those who believe in the Red Star, those who believe in Fusion, those who believe in science, those who believe in various metaphysics and witchcraft... In this era, there are too many various miscellaneous Faiths.
I heard that in other realms, there are still people who believe in some... 'Angel of Silence'? Saying it's a great existence from outside the world, bearing six gray wings on its back, capable of destroying heaven and earth with a snap of its fingers... Anyway, the more it spreads, the more mystical it becomes."
"Angel? Real or fake..."
"Don't know, anyway, up to now, few people have seen him."
"Wait... So, what does the Scarlet Heaven Cult have to do with the power outages?" Jian Changsheng was still puzzled.
"The Scarlet Heaven Cult believes in the Red Star, and cultists will obtain a certain power from the Red Star, using themselves as carriers of the Red Star." 10 of Diamonds paused for a moment. "Every Scarlet Heaven Cultist is a moving miniature Red Star. Once they stay in a certain place for too long, the Aura dissipating from themselves will cause the surrounding 'tools' to fail. For example, circuits will inexplicably become invalid, and electromagnetic signals will be blocked...
If the time is a bit longer, manually assembled things like tables, chairs, beds, and cabinets will break, turning into parts and shattering on the ground themselves, not to mention slightly more precise things like Explosives or firearms... Even a quilt will be disassembled into countless threads, scattering and flying away at the slightest touch.
The Aura dissipating from themselves can even affect the operation of Divine Pathways. The denser the Red Star Aura they carry, the more severe this influence is.
If facing an enemy at the bishop level, Divine Path Skills of the Sixth Stage and below will become completely chaotic. We might even be killed by our own skills if we aren't careful."
Jian Changsheng widened his eyes. "Isn't this too evil??"
"This isn't the most evil part... Because Scarlet Heaven Cultists all carry Red Star Aura, once they appear in groups, they can release the Red Star Aura within their bodies through suicide rituals. As long as the number is large enough and the positions follow a certain pattern, they can actively attract a Gray Realm Convergence.
That is to say, they can affect the surrounding environment while alive, and can also summon the Gray World when dead, leading to a large number of Calamities descending... Theoretically, as long as there are enough Scarlet Heaven Cultists performing the ritual, they can even summon World-Ending tier Calamities and their dependents to descend and destroy a Realm."
Jian Changsheng gasped!
He finally knew why the Scarlet Heaven Cult was listed as one of the public enemies of humanity... Their very existence was a threat to the Nine Great Human Realms. Even if they just stayed in a Realm and did nothing, they would cause irreversible, vicious effects on the Realm!
"Then the recent frequent power outages, couldn't be..." Jian Changsheng swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
"I hope I'm just overthinking." 10 of Diamonds looked up at the pitch-black night sky and muttered to himself. "If the Scarlet Heaven Cult is also getting involved... things will become troublesome."
...
Inn.
Liu Qingyan took the key and Kerosene Lamp from the counter, and slowly walked towards the second floor along the narrow and old stairs.
Creak— Creak—
Piercing sounds came from the wooden staircase, as if it would shatter from aging in the next moment. Liu Qingyan stepped on it step by step, her brows unconsciously knitting tightly...
Because the inn had a power outage, and there were no windows in the corridor, the surroundings were almost pitch black. As she walked up to the second floor of the inn, a faint musty smell hit her face. The flickering Kerosene Lamp flame dispelled the darkness in a corner of the long corridor, and a few wooden doors with room numbers appeared before her eyes.
Liu Qingyan glanced at the key number in her hand, walked straight to the door of the innermost room, and slowly inserted the key into it.
She gently turned the key. Before she could exert force to open the door, a crisp sound came from the lock catch, and then the entire doorknob fell off the door, landing on the old floor with a dull thud.
Thud—!
The originally intact doorknob just shattered into parts all over the floor like this.