Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“It doesn’t matter if I can or not. If you don’t believe me, just pretend I’m not. But just tell me who told you these things.” Gu Qingcheng knew Han Sen, and she knew it couldn’t have been Han Sen who saw those events. Someone must have told him. So, Gu Qingcheng had no reason to be suspicious about what he had told her.
“I’m not sure. I met someone, but I don’t know anything about him. I never saw him again, after that.” Han Sen didn’t know who the person was, so he couldn’t tell her.
Gu Qingcheng frowned and looked at Han Sen. She didn’t believe what he said. After all, why would some random stranger tell him such stories?
Han Sen kept talking about things that didn’t matter, now wanting to slip away. He had at least confirmed that Gu Qingcheng was the elusive Number 4.
But if Gu Qingcheng was a human that had been in the sanctuaries in ancient times, like she had just told him, how did she enter? And how was she still alive after all that time had passed?
Something else confused Han Sen, too. If Number 4 was a number the observer had just written down, did that mean the other numbers were humans, too?
If they were humans, how were the numbers decided? If the numbers were given by order of entry into the sanctuaries, then that meant three had already come before her.
Of course, this was all just guesswork. The numbers might not have even represented humans.
“You can leave, but you need to explain things to me first.” Gu Qingcheng raced to the door and blocked the exit, prohibiting Han Sen from leaving.
Han Sen looked at Gu Qingcheng. He thought what she said was fairly believable. When he first met her, he thought she was strange. He never thought she fit into this world, anyway. The name Gu Qingcheng itself was something rather old fashioned. It wasn’t a modern human name, at all.
And some of her behavior flat-out made Han Sen feel strange. She was both mysterious and hauntingly beautiful, and that in itself was odd. Her being different might have been something to expect, then.
Now that he thought about it, Gu Qingcheng didn’t look like a modern human, either.
“I can tell you what you want to know, but first, I need you to tell me who you are,” Han Sen said quietly.
“I told you already. You’re the one who chose not to believe me,” Gu Qingcheng said.
“Even if I did believe you are an ancient human, you should have a historical identity. Back then, humans were separated by countries. Which country did you hail from? What did you do before?” What Han Sen wanted to know the most was how she had managed to enter the sanctuary.
He was afraid that by asking her directly, he wouldn’t receive an answer. First, he had to test the waters.
Gu Qingcheng looked at Han Sen with strange doubt, but answered, “I am from the Chu State. I am a Qi Gong Caster.”
“Qi Gong Caster? Which faction did you belong to?” Han Sen asked politely.
“That’s none of your business,” Gu Qingcheng answered.
“How did you get into the sanctuary?” Han Sen asked.
“If I answer this question, you will have to tell me who told you all that stuff.” Gu Qingcheng looked right at Han Sen when she said this.
“Okay, it’s a deal,” Han Sen agreed.
With no hesitation, Gu Qingcheng said, “I am from Chu State, but I practiced at sea. Once, when I returned to land in my boat, a weird vortex appeared. I fell into it, and when I came to, I was in the sanctuary.”
“Which planet was the vortex on? And where?” Han Sen asked.
“That’s pointless information. I left the sanctuary many times to search for the vortex, but I learned nothing. I have even used powerful submarines to search underwater. All I’ve found are ordinary seas and nothing else special,” Gu Qingcheng said.
Han Sen nodded. “According to what you have said, if you are from Chu State, it has been tens of thousands of years. How have you managed to live so long?”
“I told you. I have answered your original question, and now it is your turn to answer mine. Answer my question; who told you this stuff?” Gu Qingcheng said.
Han Sen pulled out a book and showed it to her. It wasn’t the diary he found in the control room, though. It was a copy he had made. The Number 4 sections were there, while he had left the original at home.
This was why Han Sen did not go see her immediately.
Gu Qingcheng took the book and opened it with confusion. After seeing it, her face changed. She flipped through the book really quickly and soon looked ill.
“Who is this person?” Gu Qingcheng closed the book and stared at Han Sen. She looked very angry, and goosebumps ran up and down her skin after having read all the complaints.
From what she asked, it looked as if something she never thought would be known had now been exposed for all to see. She felt naked.
“I don’t know the writer, but I copied it from a book I found in God’s Ruin.” Han Sen went on to tell her what happened.
Gu Qingcheng wasn’t too convinced with the tale, though. She stared at him for a good long while. She wanted to find the truth from his face, but she was disappointed.
“If what you’re saying is true, there must be more numbers. There has to be another three, at least,” Gu Qingcheng said thoughtfully.
“Yes, but there isn’t much about them. Just two sentences. You were the focus of the record.” Han Sen smiled.
“Let me see the other parts.” Gu Qingcheng reached out her hand.
“Okay, but you need to tell me how you’ve managed to live all this time.” Han Sen blinked.
Gu Qingcheng did not hesitate, and it looked as if she had just thought of something. She had to confirm her thoughts and said, “I had been here for a dozen years when I explored God’s Ruin. I entered a strange place and got trapped there. It felt like a short time, maybe a few months. But when I came out, the teleporters in the shelters that were previously not available for use, now were functional. I used one of them to leave the sanctuary, and then I learned that tens of thousands of years had passed.”
Saying this, Gu Qingcheng then thought of something quite upsetting. She looked darkly at Han Sen and said, “Not long after I returned to the Alliance, I met your liar. I met your great-grandfather.”
Han Sen could imagine what would happen if a person displaced from the ancient past met a liar.
“The place you went to; were there many crystal machines?” Han Sen asked.
