Li Yao asked, “Uncle Hui, I don’t know whether or not I should ask… Have you seen a psychiatrist recently?”
Uncle Hui: “Hehe. Young man, are you doubting this uncle’s words? What’s wrong? Do you think this uncle’s age and profession are not enough for this avant-garde, mysterious, and powerful style? Let me tell you, the so-called ‘dreams’ and ‘awakening’ are not just the rights of you young people. Although this uncle has been nothing more than an ordinary old pig all my life, the fire in the bottom of my heart that ‘stepped on the moon and burned everything’ will never be extinguished!”
Shua! Shua!
Uncle Hui wiped his hands on his back. He held a meat cleaver in his right hand and a bone cleaver in his left hand. “Come on, young man. Let me show you the strength of the giant snake. Cry, shout, and die!”
“…Uncle Hui, don’t be rash. I was just asking. In fact, I suspect that I need to see a psychiatrist myself. Also, I’ve played the classic combat game ‘Punching God 97’ with simulators before. I’m not very clear that the ‘Seven Gods’ in the game actually use sabers.
“My martial arts have reached the peak of perfection. I can hurt anyone with flying flowers and picking leaves. What’s the difference between using fists, claws, and sabers? In my previous life, I was a lonely man cursed by the power of serpents. In this life, I relied on these two butcher knives to feed my family. These two butcher knives have been used by me since I was 18 years old. They have long been connected to my mind and blood. They are simply sharper than the legendary artifact ‘Sword of Kusanagi’. I rely on them to feed myself. How can I give them up so easily?”
Uncle Hui said coldly, “Young man, if you don’t believe me, why don’t I show you ‘Hands Off, 221st Style, Eight Children’ with these two sabers?”
Cold sweat appeared on Li Yao’s forehead. “No. No need, Uncle Hui…”
“Don’t call me Uncle Hui. Call me—”
Uncle Hui suddenly burst into fury. “Seven Gods!”
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
An unbelievable scene took place. Uncle Hui’s fat head, big ears, and greasy face suddenly blossomed with a supercilious, arrogant, and dominating aura. Weird purple flames spurted out of every pore on his body and devoured the air inside the ward like thousands of burning vipers, especially the two butcher knives, which were roaring with the enhancement of the purple flames, like the lonely laughter of a crazy man under the moonlight!
“Wow. It really is the ‘Seven Gods’!”
Li Yao was dumbfounded. He observed carefully and found that the two butcher knives had been carved with magnificent words. They should be the names of the knives—the meat cleaver was called ‘Moon Zither’ and the boning cleaver ‘Ghost Burning’. They were both ultimate weapons that could cut through iron as easily as mud!
“How about it, young man?”
Uncle Hui raised his sabers high and shouted, “Now you should believe that you are living in a world where your dreams and hopes are limitless and where everything is possible!”
“I—I do…”
Li Yao stammered and looked at the grey mist lady for help.
“Alright, Uncle Hui. Student Li Yao has just awakened. His soul and memories are not very stable. Don’t scare him.”
The grey mist lady coughed and said, “Thank you for your hard work. Go and take a good rest.”
“Hehe!”
Uncle Hui stopped talking and glared at Li Yao. Then he turned around and left. But when he reached the door, he turned around with a bit of resentment in his eyes. “Ms. Gray Mist, you forgot to call me ‘Seven Gods’ again.”
“Cough cough, cough cough cough cough!”
The grey mist lady coughed violently.
Three to five minutes after Uncle Hui left, the purple flames inside the narrow ward were dispersed by a special ventilation system.
“Sorry to scare you.”
The grey mist lady explained, “Many of the metahumans have mixed up their memories from several lifetimes or even dozens of lifetimes. Therefore, their personalities are more… strange. It’s very easy for them to lose control of their emotions. In addition, everyone is burdened with an incomparably heavy mission. They always have to find an outlet to vent. So, no matter what strange actions they make, you must not take offense.”
“No, no. It’s not easy for Uncle Hui to find the real me at such an old age. Why would I be surprised?”
Scratching his bald head, Li Yao did not know what to say. “I’m just—I’m just a little surprised. The content of ‘Punching God 97’ was actually real?”
“Part of it.”
The grey mist lady said, “Of course, the novels, comic books, movies, and games are not 100% real. But the works created by the ‘observers’ contain mottled pieces of memories of the past. They are like broken mirrors that are still reflecting the brutality and cruelty of the fierce battles before countless reincarnations. Right. Do you know what ‘observers’ are?”
“I know. I heard the entire conversation between Zhang Daniu and the ‘hunter’.”
Now that the detectaphones had been discovered, there was no point in keeping it a secret any longer. Li Yao said, “I know that ‘Father of the Star Ring’ Galiot is an ‘observer’, and Zhang Daniu is very likely to be a very special Observer, too. Their works all reflect the story of a certain reincarnation long ago, or even before it. So, is the creator of ’97 Fist’ the same?”
“You could say that. ‘Punching God 97’ is a large-scale fighting game series. Not just any producer can decide its entire content. There might be one or two observers hidden in the production team who created the character of ‘Seven Gods’ according to the memories from the depths of their soul. They also ‘resonance’ with Uncle Hui and activated Uncle Hui’s bloodline. That’s about it.
“In fact, ‘Punching God 97’ is not the only game. Many other novels, movies, comic books, and games are related to the endless battles between the ‘Prison Breakers’ and the ‘Prisoners’. Therefore, don’t be surprised if you find other characters that seem to have ‘traveled’ from novels, movies, and comic books when you are inside the Ark Foundation.
“Prison Breaker, Prison Keeper?”
Li Yao was dazed for a moment. He seemed to understand what the two names meant. “The Ark Foundation represents the ‘Prison Breakers’, and the Heaven’s Wrath represents the ‘Prisoners’?”
“Yes. In this life, we are known as the ‘Ark Foundation’, and they are known as the ‘Apocalyptic Organization’. But in the previous life, or the previous life, or even the previous life, everyone has different names.
The grey mist lady explained, “But no matter how we change our names, our memories, ideologies, and wills will not change until the day we die. We ‘Prison Breakers’ want to break out of the damn reincarnation prison and find the true meaning and freedom of life. We want to completely control our own souls, and the ‘Prisoners’ are accomplices of their so-called ‘will of the earth’. They believe that we are trapped in the time prison of infinite reincarnation not to be punished or tortured, but to be redeemed and tested. As long as we reflect on our sins, sharpen our souls, and modify ourselves, we will be ‘released’ one day.
“The predestined war between the Hell Breakers and the Prison Guardians lasted for too many cycles to count. We had countless soul-stirring, impassioned, and destructive wars. The most brutal war of all took place in 1999 in one of the cycles. It was known as the ‘Battle of the Vulture’. It was the closest we came to success, but… we were still suppressed.
“Even so, we did not yield. Not only did the Hell Breakers not yield, all the earthlings who were suppressed, corrupted, and tied up did not yield, too. Observers were restoring their memories of the great wars in the past. There were also people such as ‘Uncle Hui’ who were awakened in the resonance, passion, and dreams and became the new generation of Hell Breakers affiliated with the Ark Foundation!
“1999, Battle of Vulture…”
Li Yao gradually frowned. He felt that screams were echoing deep inside his brain again. Bubbles that carried countless memory pieces popped up on the surface of the ocean and exploded one after another, bringing him countless mottled and glittering memories. He pressed his temples softly and said, “So, the hunter is telling the truth. The so-called ‘will of the earth’ does exist. We are indeed in the absurd ‘reincarnation’ time and time again. We are pathetic prisoners?”
“They are prisoners, but they are not pathetic.
The grey mist lady said, “There will be a day when we break out of prison with our own strength and regain our freedom. That will be the real rebirth. By then, we will lose a small planet, but we will be able to take back the entire universe!”
“I… still don’t understand.”
Li Yao was dazed for a long time. “Since we are all prisoners locked in the reincarnation prison, and it is the so-called ‘will of the earth’ that is suppressing us, how can we resist? Can’t the ‘will of the earth’ wipe us out directly? Can’t it observe our every move and make us all—uh, heart attack or sudden death, for example?”
“The so-called ‘will of the earth’ is just a theory from the Heaven’s Origin Sector. It is just a name and not a real omniscient god. There is no omniscient god in the universe. As an Easterner, you should know the logic better than me.
The grey mist lady said, “Even in the most heavily guarded prison, it is impossible for the managers to see every movement of every prisoner clearly. Cold undercurrents are still flowing under the strictest iron fist.
“Besides, the so-called relationship between the will of the earth and us is more like the relationship between a person and the bacteria and cells inside their body than the relationship between a warden and a prisoner. When you are sick, can you ‘see’ a certain bacteria or virus inside your body and kill it precisely?
Li Yao was dazed for a moment. He shook his head thoughtfully.
“It is not impossible to destroy us. What matters is the price.
The grey mist lady continued, “This is exactly what ‘Red Pole’ taught us. If a cancer patient goes through radiation and chemotherapy without caring about the cost, it is, of course, possible to purge most of the cancer cells inside the body. But at the same time, the healthy cells will be weakened and exterminated, which might even accelerate his death. Such a treatment plan is meaningless, is it not?”
