Chapter 567: The Whispering Tree
Translated by: La0o9
Edited by: Dr.Lock
Proofreader: Arya
The wilderness was silent.
With the black horse’s speed, it quickly travelled a large distance, finally entering a dense forest.
After going through the waves of ghosts and revenants from before, the road up to now could be considered safe.
There weren’t any ghosts hiding in the woods to attack them, much to Gu Qing Shan’s surprise.
At last, the black horse stopped next to an evergreen large tree.
“This is the Whispering Tree?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
“It is” old man Jiao replied.
Gu Qing Shan got off the horse first before carrying Laura down as well.
Laura stood on the ground, silently looking at Gu Qing Shan.
Gu Qing Shan then put her back on his shoulder.
It was now that Laura smiled.
Old man Jiao took off the turtle shell armor he was wearing and walked before the Whispering Tree.
He gently stroked the side of the tree, silently sensing something, then suddenly broke out crying.
“Why, why is everyone already dead…”
Old man Jiao knelt down in front of the tree, his head propped on the side of the tree while his body trembled nonstop.
Laura wanted to say something, but Gu Qing Shan gestured to her to remain silent.
“Let him let his emotions out, it’s beneficial for him” Gu Qing Shan explained.
Laura went silent.
The two just silently stood there until old man Jiao’s crying finally stopped.
“I’m sorry, I lost it for a bit” old man Jiao said.
“It’s fine, we can understand”
“It was truly despairing” old man Jiao shook his head dispiritedly, “besides Tidal city, communication with every other cities have been cut”
“It’s been cut? What does that signify?”
“The Whispering Tree of each city would not cut off unless the very last person had died”
“…My condolences” Gu Qing Shan sighed and muttered.
It seems [Origin]’s invasion is quite fierce, enough for this lost world of the Old Gods to fall to ruin.
“For now, I need to contact Tidal city” old man Jiao calmly said.
He closed his eyes and placed his hands on the Whispering Tree.
Everything returned to silence.
After a while, old man Jiao opened his eyes again.
He excitedly spoke: “Old Jiao, you’re still alive! That’s great news!”
“It is” old man Jiao’s tone became low again: “I’m the only one left”
“Damn Apocalypse, damn ghosts!” he changed his tone, cursing.
Old man Jiao suddenly became stunned.
“Shut up, all of you. Listen to old Jiao for now, let’s hear what news he has for us” saying so, he gestured around himself to be silent.
Old man Jiao returned to his calm voice: “There are two outsiders with me right now, they said they know lady Cold Night”
He suddenly turned to Gu Qing Shan and Laura, staring at them with an observing gaze.
“By outsiders, you mean them?”
“Yes” he answered his own question, “They saved my life, and helped me quite a bit on the way here”
Old man Jiao kept staring at Gu Qing Shan and Laura, nodding: “They certainly don’t look demonized, but we still need to confirm their identities first”
“Of course, this is natural”
“Please wait for a bit, I’ll go get lady Cold Night”
Saying so, old man Jiao became silent again.
Gu Qing Shan and Laura exchanged looks.
“Apparently, he can let others use his body through this tree” Gu Qing Shan muttered.
“How impressive, this is also the first time I’ve seen such a tree”
Laura curiously looked at old man Jiao and told him in a low voice.
A few moments later, old man Jiao woke up again.
“Lady Cold Night asked who you are” old man Jiao told them.
“I am a certain adult Bramble Bird who has not received the Saint Bramble Tree’s coming of age blessing, tell her that word for word” Laura said.
Old man Jiao nodded and stopped once again.
Gu Qing Shan looked at Laura questioningly.
Laura whispered to Gu Qing Shan’s ear: “A Bramble Bird that reaches adulthood must receive a blessing from the Saint Bramble Tree, but it was too high so I couldn’t go up”
“That’s why Frost of the Cold Night can tell right away that it’s you as she heard those words?”
“Yeah, in the entire Bramble Bird race, I’m the only one who couldn’t climb up to the Saint Bramble Tree out of fear” Laura lowered her head and said.
Gu Qing Shan gently stroked her head, saying: “It’s not your fault”
Old man Jiao suddenly spoke up again: “Lady Cold Night said to prove your identity, she wants you to say her vow”
“She vowed to protect me” Laura replied.
Old man Jiao stopped again, then nodded: “She’s now fighting off almost a hundred Entropy Ghosts so she can’t get away, but she knows an absolutely safe route that can lead directly to Tidal city’s outskirts”
“She wants you to reach her as soon as possible!”
“Yes, tell her that we will be on our way immediately”
“Then it’s decided, when you arrive, we will have people to receive you”
“On the other hand, we’ve told old Jiao the route, he’ll guide you here safely”
“Understood”
Right then, Gu Qing Shan could faintly sense a lot of inner sights suddenly leaving old Jiao’s body.
Super-distance inner sight possession?
How wondrous.
“Let’s go, I’ve just received a secret passage that can directly bring us to Tidal city where we can perfectly avoid the ghosts’ attack” old man Jiao said.
“Alright, we need to get going”
As soon as he said that, Gu Qing Shan abruptly looked up.
Old man Jiao and Laura followed suit.
In the darkness of the night sky, various rings of golden waves were expanding again.
Suddenly——
A blinding light began to erupt in the sky and expanded all around.
The entire night sky slowly but surely turned golden.
The golden light had chased the night away, completely covering the sky as light shined on the ground.
A wonderfully brilliant sight, just like sunlight at dawn.
But various strange creatures quickly appeared in the sky one after another.
They were quickly flying towards the ground.
“Ah… my god, my creator!”
Old man Jiao looked up to the sky, stunned.
He fell to his knees on the spot, feeling completely hopeless.
This never-before-seen brilliant sight meant that the entire Old God’s barrier has been fully activated.
Large numbers of Entropy Ghosts appeared in the sky.
They were quickly approaching.
Gu Qing Shan tried to count, but found that he couldn’t get an accurate number.
There were too many Entropy Ghosts to count.
They were breaking through the Old God’s barrier to attack this lost world at once.
“Wasn’t this type of Chaotic Demon Lord supposed to be rare?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
「 They are, they’ve only appeared twice in the last 1000 years 」the Earth sword spoke confidently.
“If that’s the case, [Origin] is currently using all the power it can muster” Gu Qing Shan said.
He suddenly thought of something.
[Origin] was so desperately trying to invade this world, enough to give him a chance to live, just so that he could help it do something.
[You received a chance to live because I need you to come up with a way to take over a certain place]
[Origin]’s cold voice still lingered by his ear.
Right after, he also recalled War God UI’s words.
[It requires a few special materials left behind by the Old Gods across the 900 million World Layers. These materials can help all non-organic life forms evolve]
[Once Origin evolves again, it will turn into Worlds Apocalypse Online: Revolution]
At this point, Gu Qing Shan’s mind was moving quickly.
I was exactly right.
[Origin] wanted to take over this world to collect the remaining materials left behind by the Old Gods.
It wanted to become stronger!
“This isn’t good, we need to go faster” Gu Qing Shan said.
He leapt onto the black horse, waved his hand to levitate old man Jiao and put him on the turtle shell.
“Are you in a hurry, sir?” the black horse asked.
“Full speed ahead!” Gu Qing Shan replied.
Boom—–
The black horse turned into an afterimage as it rushed towards the direction of Tidal city.
Time quickly passed.
In the sky, the golden light was getting brighter and brighter.
Countless Entropy Ghosts were getting through the barrier, falling to the ground like gigantic drops of rain!
Laura was now sitting in Gu Qing Shan’s chest and looked up.
The Entropy Ghosts were quickly approaching them.
In just a minute, they will have passed through thousands of meters to reach the ground.
At that point, there will be nothing but Entropy Ghosts here.
Even if Gu Qing Shan was vastly stronger, he couldn’t possibly win against such a large army of Demon Lords.
Laura gritted her teeth.
“Gu Qing Shan!”
Since the black horse was running at full speed, within the howling wind, she couldn’t help but shout.
“What is it?” Gu Qing Shan also shouted back.
“Are we going to die?”
“Before you actually die, stop thinking about dying!”
Laura pursed her lips, sobbing: “I’m sorry, it’s all my fault, if we had flown in the sky earlier, maybe we would’ve have already made it”
“Don’t be dumb, everyone has something they’re afraid of, we can’t blame you for that”
“I’m a coward—–”
“No, you’re just a bit afraid of heights, that’s nothing! And you have to believe in something else”
“In what?”
Gu Qing Shan pointed ahead: “We’re not going to die here!”
Laura looked forward.
A city.
A large city appeared in front of their eyes.
Unlike the cities they saw before, this city was situated high on the mountains, looking like a large-scaled war fortress at a glance.
Tidal city!
Finally, they’re about to reach Tidal city!
“Old man Jiao!” Gu Qing Shan loudly called out.
“I’m here, what is it?” old man Jiao replied.
“Coming up, you might have to join in the battle as well” Gu Qing Shan told him.
Old man Jiao looked towards Tidal city.
Among the jagged high cliffs, a large city that looks like a war fortress stood.
An army of ghosts and revenants had already taken over the area directly outside the city.
They had the entire mountain surrounded, laying siege to the fortress city.
The war has reached its fiercest point!
“No problem, for the kingdom of the Gods, I am willing to lay down my life right here and now!” old man Jiao roared.
“Very well, then we’re about to charge!”
Gu Qing Shan held the horse’s reins.
Three swords silently appeared around the black horse.
They weaved among each other, flying forward.
Laura had hidden inside Gu Qing Shan’s chest again.
