Ritual
He... was conversing with the Divine Path Star of the Path of the Witch God??
He even obtained the knowledge instilled by the Path of the Witch God from the dream realm?
This bizarre ritual... was the self-saving method taught to him by the Path of the Witch God?
With just a few sentences, Chen Ling obtained a massive amount of information. Previously, through a few retrogressions, he thought he had already sorted out everything that happened on that rainy night. But the appearance of District 3 Chen Ling overturned his thoughts... What he saw from the perspectives of himself and Chen Yan was perhaps just the Tip of the Iceberg of that night.
Damn it, what exactly happened on that rainy night?
In the snow, the youth in the cotton-padded jacket picked up that Bone Cross, placed it in front of his chest, and slowly closed his eyes...
Black fresh blood flowed out from his seven orifices, dripping onto the black formation beneath him. The mixed Aura of the Path of the Witch God spread along the formation's Markings, connecting it into a chaotic mass like pollution, looking like meaningless graffiti when looking down from the sky.
At the same time, an inexplicable Aura locked onto this place from beyond the distant world!
Even Chen Ling, who was close at hand, couldn't hear clearly what he was saying. At this moment, what spat out of his mouth seemed not to be human language, but some ancient beast's low growl. As this incantation sounded, the surrounding formation didn't change in the slightest. Only the scattered snow continued to flutter.
The youth in the cotton-padded jacket chanted for a full three minutes before stopping the incantation.
His pale joints subconsciously gripped the cross tightly, switching to human language, and murmured:
"I pray to the mysterious existence at the other end of destiny... Whether you are a Divine Being or a demon, I hope you can send down a miracle to bless me and my younger brother, Turning Calamity into Blessing, to accompany each other forever..."
"I will forever be grateful for your blessing."
As his voice fell, a dead silence descended on the Hill.
Tens of seconds later, the youth in the cotton-padded jacket slowly opened his eyes. Seeing the completely unchanged formation on the ground, he froze first, then a flush surfaced on his cheeks again, and his entire person bent over and coughed violently!
Black fresh blood splashed uncontrollably onto the ground, dragging the youth into it bit by bit like a shocking purgatory. With difficulty, he took out a Glass Shard from his chest and reflected himself. The face in the reflection was increasingly pale and withered.
Nothing happened, his condition even worsened.
The youth in the cotton-padded jacket knelt in the whimpering wind and snow. He was silent for a long time before smiling self-deprecatingly...
"I should have thought of it earlier... It was just an inexplicable dream."
He staggered to his feet, threw away all the items in the formation, and then as if to vent his anger, stomped the formation on the snow to pieces. His eyes were full of bitterness and despair.
He let out a long sigh, and along the road he came, he lowered his head and disappeared step by step at the end of the horizon...
The fluttering snowflakes were still constantly falling;
Those black Markings spread messily on the snow like graffiti melted into liquid, seeping downwards bit by bit, and ultimately disappeared in the depths of the earth.
...
The scene froze at this moment.
Immediately after, Chen Ling only felt the surrounding environment abruptly shatter, leaving only water wave-like ripples undulating in the darkness. A pair of purple eyes, like a dreamy reflection, opened from the nothingness directly opposite him...
"... It's you?" Seeing that other self wearing a cotton-padded jacket in the water wave reflection, Chen Ling's brows furrowed tighter and tighter. "You showed me your memory?"
"I said it, we are one entity now... That memory has always been dust-covered in your Bewilderment. It's just that you didn't discover it."
"What happened next? What happened afterwards? Is that memory also in my Bewilderment?"
"Yes."
"How can I see it?"
"I don't know... But when you see everything clearly, perhaps there will no longer be Bewilderment in your heart."
Chen Ling and District 3 Chen Ling seemed to be separated by a layer of sparkling lake surface. Their clothing and temperaments were completely different, but at this moment, they were like a mirror reflection, symmetrical left and right.
Chen Ling pondered for a moment and spoke again:
"Since the last time with the Mirror of True Self, I've never seen you again... Why did you suddenly appear again?"
"It's Master activating the Land of Divine Rituals, awakening this soul fragment of mine. He wants me to help you return to the Stage."
"So... will you help me?"
District 3 Chen Ling looked at Chen Ling behind the reflection, his eyes full of complexity.
"In a sense, you were summoned by me using the God-Descending ritual... Although everything deviated from the original expectations, at least A-Yan and I both 'survived' that catastrophe.
You treat A-Yan very well. Letting your consciousness control his body is at least better than this lunatic now."
Seeing this, Chen Ling also let out a long sigh in his heart.
He could see the helplessness in District 3 Chen Ling's eyes, and he also knew where this helplessness came from... In the beginning, District 3 Chen Ling performed that ritual wanting to restore his own health and safely live out his entire life with Chen Yan, but he didn't expect to ultimately attract an "outsider" like himself.
He occupied Chen Yan's body, merged with Chen Ling's soul, and took away everything that originally belonged to these two brothers. And yet after merging with him, District 3 Chen Ling had absolutely no way out... because he and himself had long become one entity. Not to mention whether he had the ability to drive him away, if he really did so, not only would Chen Yan's body become a walking corpse, but his own soul would also cease to exist.
But then again, the miserable end of these brothers was not caused by that ritual... or rather, it was that ritual, his Transmigration, that redeemed them from the despairing earthen grave.
If it weren't for him, they would ultimately only have all their organs dug out, and then die together silently.
Chen Ling was silent for a long time. He proactively reached out his hand to that layer of water wave ripples and spoke seriously:
"... Thank you for your acknowledgement."
District 3 Chen Ling took a deep look at Chen Ling and also reached out his hand.
"Although I still don't know what you really are right now, but... fortunately, there is you."
The palms of the two Chen Lings passed through the ripples and grasped together in the darkness.
The next moment, that water pattern ripple trembled violently!
"The Land of Divine Rituals is the source of all 'Sacrifices'. As long as a connection is established with this place, I can reenact the God-Descending ritual without relying on any sacrifices or rituals... Although the cost of doing so is extremely immense, I will definitely make you descend upon the Stage once again."
As his voice fell, District 3 Chen Ling's figure disappeared before Chen Ling's eyes along with the undulating water ripples...
His surroundings plunged into darkness once again.
But the next moment, a touch of brilliant purple light came billowing from the nothingness like a tide!
...
Boom—!!
As the depths of "Chen Ling"'s eyes were dyed with a layer of extremely faint purple intent, a trace of the Path of the Witch God's Aura also began to ripple out from his body!