Chapter 877: Child
Taking advantage of the White Snake's search for his own death, Jiang Ruoxue and I hurriedly left the game venue.
"Ruoxue... were you serious just now?" I asked, holding the comic book.
"Sort of," Jiang Ruoxue replied.
"But will he die that easily?" I asked again.
"Precisely because both he and I know that an Earth-level 'Zodiac' can't possibly die that easily, this idea makes sense," Jiang Ruoxue answered. "As long as he doesn't die, he'll realize that he's different from normal people. Normal people can die from pain, but he can't. Normal people can feel sad about things, but he shouldn't feel sad about those things either."
"Huh...?" I was a bit stunned. "Is that really going to work? Did you secretly use 'Cause and Effect' again?"
"This isn't my 'Cause and Effect,' but his own," Jiang Ruoxue replied. "It's almost dark. Let's find a place to rest. Tomorrow morning, we'll go find Aries."
Jiang Ruoxue and I spent a simple night in a dilapidated building by the roadside. As soon as the sun climbed into the sky the next day, we hurried toward Aries's location.
Logically, at this early hour, there shouldn't be any participants visible on the streets. But we hadn't even walked ten minutes when we spotted a figure standing in the middle of the road, stretching their limbs in an exaggerated manner.
Was she... doing morning exercises?
Who would do morning exercises in the middle of the road at dawn?
"One, two, three, four... two, two, three, four..." The person had their back to us, mumbling softly.
Jiang Ruoxue paused slightly when she saw that silhouette, then muttered, "Looks familiar."
"You know her?" I asked.
"Seems like one of our own."
We walked forward a few steps together and came up behind the person. Just then, they happened to turn around while doing a waist-twisting exercise.
Only then did I realize it was an auntie around fifty years old. Her figure was a bit plump, but her spirits seemed excellent.
"Oh my?" She raised an eyebrow when she saw Jiang Ruoxue. "Isn't this Little Jiang? Child... what are you doing here?"
"Long live the Extreme Path, Aunt Tong," Jiang Ruoxue said with a smile.
"Long live, may everyone's faith live forever," Aunt Tong replied with a smile.
I noticed that this auntie wore both a cross and a Buddhist prayer beads around her neck. It seemed her faith was a bit mixed.
"Zhichun, let me introduce you. This is a very interesting auntie," Jiang Ruoxue said with a laugh. "She believes in every faith in this world. She was the one who chased after me to join the Extreme Path that day, after all, the Extreme Path is also a faith."
"Believes in every faith...?" I found that a bit absurd. Doesn't that mean she believes in nothing at all?
"That's right." Aunt Tong kept twisting her body as she spoke. "Child, are you also part of the Extreme Path? Since you believe in the Extreme Path, how about considering Daoism, Buddhism, Catholicism, Allah, and Christ as well?"
I nearly broke down upon hearing this. Can you really believe in all of these things?
Besides, since when did the Extreme Path become a religion?
"Aunt Tong, our Zhichun will pass on that for now," Jiang Ruoxue declined on my behalf. "Let her off the hook. Just the Extreme Path is enough to keep her busy."
"Oh, that works too." Aunt Tong nodded. "Everyone has the freedom to choose their faith. Children, where are you headed?"
"We have some business to take care of," Jiang Ruoxue said. "Consider it the Extreme Path's own business."
"I'm part of the Extreme Path too," Aunt Tong said. "I'll go with you."
"Huh?"
I quickly waved my hands upon hearing that. One strange person like Jiang Ruoxue beside me was already enough. If I added this Aunt Tong, I would die of social embarrassment when facing Aries...
"That's great!" Jiang Ruoxue agreed. "The more, the merrier! Aunt Tong, come with us!"
"Oh my!" Aunt Tong looked very happy. "Great! Finally, I can do something for the Extreme Path."
I didn't even know what was happening... but the three of us actually set off together.
Aries wouldn't blame me, would he? The people I brought to find him seemed to increase every day.
Even though I felt this wasn't a good idea, Jiang Ruoxue told me, "Everything is cause and effect. Just let things take their natural course."
I felt she might have a point, but something felt off...
When we met Aries, he was standing at the entrance of the venue. As I had guessed, in the morning he wasn't staring blankly into a mirror but muttering to himself.
"Hey!" Jiang Ruoxue waved from a distance.
Hearing the commotion, Aries turned his head to look at us. When he saw there were three people, he quickly frowned.
"Is this place some kind of tourist attraction?" Aries asked.
"No, no, no." Jiang Ruoxue shook her head. "This is our teammate. You can call her Aunt Tong."
"Skip the introductions," Aries said. "I'm not interested in her. Did you find the cartoon character?"
"We found it." I pulled the comic book from behind me and handed it to Aries.
"This is the only one we could find," Jiang Ruoxue interjected. "Finding a complete cartoon character in a place like this is really hard."
Aries lowered his head and flipped open the comic book. It was an old-fashioned comic, drawn purely with lines and devoid of color. He didn't read the content but quickly skimmed through a few pages before locking onto a female comic character.
He stared at that character for a few seconds, then slowly closed his eyes.
A minute later, he abruptly opened his eyes, and the comic book dropped to the ground.
"What's... wrong?" I sensed something was off.
"No good..." Aries said. "A completely distorted face made of lines makes me even more terrified. A face without any features still looks like an incomplete person, but if she had a face like this, she would be a true monster... This really won't work."
I clearly saw a cold sweat trickle down Qi Xia's forehead.
Jiang Ruoxue and I exchanged glances. We knew Aries wasn't just saying this comic book didn't work—it meant no "cartoon character" would work.
But then, how could we create that face out of thin air?
Before Jiang Ruoxue and I could come up with an idea, Aunt Tong beside us slowly stepped forward and asked:
"Child, are you in some kind of trouble?"
"Sorry, I don't know you," Aries replied bluntly. "This has nothing to do with you."
"No, no... oh my." Aunt Tong kept walking forward and continued, "We are all brothers and sisters. We are all children of the same person... We should help each other here."
"Interesting." Aries sneered. "You look like you're about to retire, and yet you claim to be a child of the same person as me?"
"Child..." Aunt Tong seemed completely immune to Aries's attacks, walking forward with a kind face.
When she was just one step away from Aries, she reached out and placed her hand on his chest, then said in a deep voice:
"Although I don't know what trouble you're facing, child... if you want to achieve your wish, you must set aside all distracting thoughts in your heart."