# 1180
Chapter 1181: The Key to Coming Home
Lin Qiye remembered that Gilgamesh had told him that combat could keep him sane.
Now it seemed that what could keep him sane wasn't just combat... more importantly, it was pain.
When memories were tampered with and it became impossible to distinguish the false from reality, pain served as the "anchor" that fixed Gilgamesh's consciousness, pulling him from illusory memories back to reality.
"Gilgamesh." Lin Qiye said deeply, "What just happened?"
Gilgamesh slowly climbed out of the deep pit on the ground, his gray robes covered in dust. He lowered his head to look at his own hands, his eyes flashing with pain:
"This king... This king saw the people of Uruk again."
"The people of Uruk?" Lin Qiye was stunned, "What were they doing?"
"...Being slaughtered."
Gilgamesh took a deep breath, "Sumerian gods and monsters charged into the city from all directions, madly slaughtering the people of Uruk. This king was fighting one of the gods, but actually couldn't defeat him..."
Lin Qiye turned to look at Sun Wukong.
In Gilgamesh's confused memories, the one he fought was a Sumerian god, but corresponding to reality, the one who clashed with him was Sun Wukong.
So in his distorted memories, the external battle aligned with what actually occurred?
Sun Wukong stared at Gilgamesh with complex eyes for a long while, then said calmly:
"If you want to fight again sometime, just call me."
With that, he gave Lin Qiye a meaningful look and walked out of the courtyard.
Lin Qiye understood his intent, nodded, and followed after him.
Bragi held his harp, pondering for a moment, then turned to look at Gilgamesh and said seriously:
"If you want to fight, don't come to me. After all, ten of me combined couldn't beat you... But if you want someone to chat with, I'm at your beck and call."
Gilgamesh silently watched those two departing figures, his eyes revealing a complicated expression.
...
Lin Qiye and Sun Wukong walked to the second floor of the ward building. The latter glanced down at Bragi and Gilgamesh below, then took the initiative to speak:
"His condition isn't looking good. The time left for you may be running out."
Hearing these words, Lin Qiye froze in place.
"What do you mean?"
"These past few days, every time I've sparred with him, I could sense his condition deteriorating. This complete loss of control might be a premonition—it means the external force manipulating his memories has broken through some kind of barrier and has begun affecting his behavior."
"Once there's a first time, the instances of him losing control will only increase, and the frequency will gradually rise. If this continues, he'll either go mad from completely falling into memory chaos, or... to maintain his sanity, he might start self-harming or even attempting suicide..."
Hearing these words, Lin Qiye's expression visibly darkened.
He had thought about these worst-case scenarios before, but in his estimates, the worst-case had only been the treatment progress resetting to 0%, returning to the state right after walking out of the ward.
But this situation was somewhat different.
If someone was indeed using external means to manipulate Gilgamesh's memories, the lower limit of deterioration might far exceed his imagination. It could even be worse than when he first left the ward—the treatment progress could drop below 0%, becoming negative. That wasn't impossible.
"I understand." Lin Qiye nodded gravely. "I'll quickly investigate the root cause of Gilgamesh's deterioration and eliminate it."
Sun Wukong nodded slightly, "Being able to manipulate a god's memories—this matter is绝对不会 simple... Be careful yourself."
"Yeah."
...
Lin Qiye's consciousness returned from the asylum. He immediately sat up from his bed.
He lowered his head to contemplate for a moment, dressed quickly, and walked out of the room, heading straight to Jinian's door and knocking.
Knock knock knock—!
"Tch, who is it? It's the middle of the night."
A voice came from behind the door, followed by the sound of slippers shuffling on the floor.
Creak.
The door opened. Jinian stood behind it in a brown fleece pajamas, her face full of irritation.
After leaving Great Xia, Jinian had restored her hair to its silver-white color, hanging in disarray to her waist, with a pair of round black-framed glasses perched on her nose. She looked more studious this way, completely different from the girl who worked on motorcycle modifications during the day.
"It's you?" Jinian glanced at Lin Qiye, speaking in a bad mood: "Do you know what time it is?"
"I know." Lin Qiye nodded, saying seriously, "But I have something important I want to ask you."
"Important thing?"
Jinian looked at his eyes with suspicion. After confirming he wasn't joking, she silently tightened her fleece pajamas and turned to walk into the room.
"Change your shoes and come in... Don't close the door all the way. Leave a crack, otherwise a man and woman together in a room late at night—if people found out, who could explain it clearly..."
Lin Qiye苦笑ed as he changed into slippers and walked into Jinian's room.
Warm-toned light spread halos, illuminating a corner of the room. On the desk in the center, thick books were stacked high, and several draft papers with wet ink were scattered across the surface, filled with complex formulas that Lin Qiye couldn't understand.
"Introduction to Plasma Physics," "Principles of Nuclear Fusion," "Research on Atomic Motion Trajectories at Critical States"...
"It's this late, and you're still studying?" Lin Qiye asked in surprise.
Jinian walked behind the desk, sat in her chair. Her silver-white long hair was like a golden waterfall under the warm light. She removed her round-framed glasses and wearily rubbed the corner of her eye:
"If I don't study, how can I get stronger?"
"You're already a Human Apex. How much stronger do you want to go?"
"...Still not enough." Jinian shook her head slightly, a hint of melancholy flashing in her eyes, "I still have a long way to go."
Lin Qiye asked puzzled, "This isn't enough? You want to break through to godhood? Even if that's the case, there's no need to be in such a rush, right... What are you trying to do?"
Jinian didn't answer. She just gently rubbed the back of her hand. After a long while, she slowly spoke:
"I want... to go home."
"Go home? Where is your home?"
"Wherever your asylum comes from—that's where my home is."
Lin Qiye's pupils constricted. He said in shock, "You and the Asylum of the Gods... are from the same place?"
"Do you think otherwise? Do you think I would appear in that asylum by chance, traveling through the mist with it?" Jinian leaned back in her chair, sighing as she spoke, "Originally, I fell into this world together with it..."
Lin Qiye stared into Jinian's eyes. It took him a long while to回过神来: "So that's it... No wonder your Forbidden Ruins are so special, along with all those strange talents."
Jinian smiled, lifting her hand to look at the intricate pattern woven from pixels on the back of her hand:
"This isn't a Forbidden Ruins... In my world, this thing is called [Leaf Pattern]. It's just that in terms of how the ability manifests, it's quite similar to your Forbidden Ruins."
She lifted her head, gazing at Lin Qiye, and said seriously:
"That asylum of yours is far more miraculous than you imagine. It carried me to this world, and perhaps... it can also carry me away from here...
Lin Qiye, you are the key to my coming home."
...
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