Chapter 151: I Want to See You
"The more you talk, the more ridiculous it gets." The middle-aged man said impatiently. "Big sister, we trusted you and followed you here. Why are you feeding us this nonsense?"
"Child, you still don't understand." Aunt Tong shook her head. "But that's alright. The Mother God will forgive you."
She extended her hands, making a gesture as if to embrace someone: "Zhong Zhen, the Mother God will forgive your sins."
"You..." The middle-aged man furrowed his brow, but his expression remained skeptical.
These people here kept insisting they had seen him before, so it wasn't surprising that she knew his name.
"Why does the 'God' want us dead?" a handsome young man asked.
"Child, you're mistaken." Aunt Tong shook her head. "Think carefully. God isn't making us die. We were already meant to die."
"We were meant to die?" The crowd still didn't understand.
"You must all remember what happened before you came here. We all died." Aunt Tong lifted her head and said. "We were destined to die, but the 'Mother God' resurrected us. She isn't killing us—she's giving birth to us! No matter how many times we die, we will be reborn in a new form! The 'Mother God' has granted us a different kind of life!"
Qi Xia felt a chill run down his spine.
What kind of twisted logic was this?
If this "Mother God" truly existed, why would she resurrect them here instead of in reality?
And after resurrection, why would she make her children die again?
"This is a cult." Qi Xia let out a deep sigh. "The people who managed to reach 'Heaven's Gate' alive aren't stupid. Probably not many will believe her."
Just as Qi Xia had predicted, no one in the room responded. Everyone wore uncomfortable expressions.
They weren't just suspicious of Aunt Tong—they were beginning to doubt "Heaven's Gate" itself.
At that moment, a thin, dark-skinned girl raised her hand and asked, "Then why, after we die, don't we go to the underworld instead of coming here?"
"That's precisely because we have sins." Aunt Tong explained. "I may not know everyone's past, but I know you all carry sins. We are all here to atone."
Upon hearing this, some people slowly furrowed their brows.
"Are you saying we broke the law?" the middle-aged man named Zhong Zhen asked.
"No." Aunt Tong shook her head. "Having sins in your life doesn't necessarily mean you've committed a crime. But at the end of the day, the sins we've committed are the kind that send people to hell. Sowing discord is a sin. Spreading rumors is a sin. Abandoning those you love is a sin. Even wasting food is a sin."
"What this auntie is saying sounds somewhat familiar..." Han Yimo whispered to Qi Xia. "When I was writing books, I once looked up information. In the eighteen levels of hell, many levels were created to punish people for trivial matters. What she just mentioned—'wasting food,' 'sowing discord,' 'spreading rumors'—they're all in there."
"Is that so?" Qi Xia looked at Han Yimo with doubt. This was the first time he had heard such knowledge.
"But isn't 'hell' a Buddhist term?" the thin, dark-skinned girl continued asking. "Auntie, with all these items you're carrying, what exactly is your faith? Which religion does the 'Mother God' belong to?"
"Child, how could the 'Mother God' be a figure from just one religion?" Aunt Tong patiently explained. "She is 'Everything'! All the items I carry, all the religions in this world—they were all established by the 'Mother God'! Only by believing in all the faiths she has created can I truly strive to understand her thoughts."
"But auntie, not a single religion in this world was founded by a 'god.' Religions were founded by people. That's all historically verifiable." The thin, dark-skinned girl said bluntly. "If you're willing to look up information, you can even trace the entire development history of a religion. Then you won't say things like this anymore."
"Child, you will understand one day." Aunt Tong continued smiling. "If you only believe in one religion in this world, you will always encounter things you cannot comprehend. But if you follow in the 'Mother God's' footsteps, everything in this world can be explained."
At this point, Lin Qin gently nudged Qi Xia with her elbow and asked, "Don't you find it strange?"
"What aspect?" Qi Xia asked, slightly puzzled. There were so many strange things about this auntie.
"I mean, why did Chu Tianqiu bring her into 'Heaven's Gate'?" Lin Qin pondered for a moment. "Didn't he say everyone here is a 'formidable person'?"
Qi Xia frowned upon hearing this.
Lin Qin was right. What exactly was so remarkable about this auntie?
Could it be...
Did Chu Tianqiu actually agree with what she was saying?
**CLANG!!**
A loud bell rang in the distance.
Qi Xia blinked slightly but quickly shifted his focus back to the auntie.
None of the people he knew had participated in the game yet. This "Echoer" was probably not one of his own.
"Now for the second topic of this lesson: What is the 'Echo'?" Aunt Tong smiled as she looked at the crowd.
Everyone in the room could only endure and listen to what this second topic entailed.
Aunt Tong first briefly explained the timing of when the bell would ring. It was essentially the same as what Qi Xia already knew.
The only difference was that Aunt Tong claimed the "I" written on the screen referred to the "Mother God."
"I" heard the "Echo."
That is, the "Mother God" heard the "Echo."
It had to be said that her explanation currently had no loopholes.
"When we sense the 'Echo,' we can temporarily borrow the power of the 'Mother God.' She will grant us infinite possibilities."
Seeing that the crowd still didn't believe her, Aunt Tong said, "There are paper and pens in front of you. Please write down a sentence at will. I will prove to you the existence of the 'Mother God.'"
With that, she turned her back to them, facing the blackboard.
The crowd whispered among themselves for a moment, then hesitantly wrote something on the paper.
There was also a piece of paper in front of Qi Xia and his three companions. They looked at each other and handed the paper to Qi Xia.
It seemed none of them had anything they wanted to write.
A hint of sadness crossed Qi Xia's face. He took the pen and thought for a long time, then silently wrote: "An, I really miss you."
"Now, you may ask me anything you want." Aunt Tong said with a smile. "I will know the contents of every single paper you've written."
"Bullshit." Qi Xia was the first to raise his hand. "Auntie, what did I write?"
Aunt Tong paused to think for a moment, then said, "What you wrote is undoubtedly about someone important to you. If I'm not mistaken, it's 'An, I really want to see you.'"
"Heh." Qi Xia let out a cold laugh. "Close enough, but not exactly accurate. Your 'Echo' might need some more practice."
Qi Xia picked up the paper from the table. Just as he was about to show it to the crowd, his eyes flew wide open as if a thunderclap had struck him right there.
The paper clearly read: "An, I really want to see you."
These five words were unmistakably in Qi Xia's own handwriting, the ink still wet.
What was going on?
Had he misremembered what he wrote?
"Lying bastard... what are you doing?" Qiao Jiajin asked, puzzled. "Didn't the auntie guess it right?"
"You... didn't all of you see what I originally wrote?" Qi Xia asked, his eyes wide.
"What you originally wrote was exactly this sentence." The three of them said simultaneously, all wearing confused expressions.