# 915
Chapter 916: The Final Piece of the Puzzle
"So the larger the faith, the stronger the divine system becomes……"
Lin Qiye nodded thoughtfully as he asked.
At this moment, he seemed to have thought of something and asked with confusion, "Then according to this logic, Cthulhu mythology didn't leave behind any faith in the world, nor does it have any heritage. Why are they so powerful?"
"That's why I said they might not be a 'mythology' at all." Merlin spoke slowly, his eyes flickering with profound light. "None of the current theoretical systems about deities in the world apply to them……
The truth behind Cthulhu mythology might be the greatest mystery in this world."
"I have another question."
"Go ahead."
"Can faith power amplify Forbidden Ruins?"
Hearing this question, Merlin was slightly stunned.
It seemed he had never considered this aspect before. After thinking carefully for a moment, he nodded.
"In theory, yes. Forbidden Ruins are a manifestation of the power of laws themselves. Fundamentally, they share the same origin…… though this situation couldn't possibly occur in reality."
"Why not?"
"Because Forbidden Ruins are things of humanity. Humans don't possess divinity and cannot absorb faith power. If they can't even absorb faith power, they certainly can't amplify Forbidden Ruins."
Lin Qiye's brow furrowed immediately.
He clearly remembered that on the Prayer Mat in the cloud palace, both his and Baili Pangpang's Forbidden Ruins had been amplified by faith power…… If one must have divinity to absorb faith power, how did they manage to do it?
"If, and I'm just saying if…… there was an item similar to divinity that helped absorb faith power, could human Forbidden Ruins be amplified?"
"An item similar to divinity?" Merlin shook his head. "Unless it's a Supreme God, one's own divinity cannot be materialized. And unless one falls, divinity cannot leave the body…… Why are you suddenly asking about this?"
"Nothing, just curious."
Lin Qiye shrugged.
It would have been better if Merlin hadn't explained it. With his explanation, the matter only became more perplexing…… Only a Supreme God's divinity, after falling, could become an item that might help amplify human Forbidden Ruins?
That Prayer Mat—it couldn't possibly be a Supreme God's divinity, could it?!
"Why is this mirror broken at a corner?" Jialan walked up to the Yata Mirror and asked with confusion.
"It was probably accidentally cut by Ame-no-Murakumo during the chaos in Takamagahara." Merlin said calmly. "Only Ame-no-Murakumo, known as the 'blade that cuts through everything,' could have caused this kind of damage to the Yata Mirror."
"Blade that cuts through everything? That impressive?"
"Ame-no-Murakumo is the foremost of Japan's Three Sacred Treasures. Legend has it possesses the power to cut through anything. Even other sacred treasures of the same caliber cannot withstand its strikes. It is the most deadly divine artifact in all of Japan."
Lin Qiye nodded slightly, recalling in his mind the massive mirror surface he had seen at the bottom of Japanese waters—there was also a sharp notch there, which should correspond to the slash mark from Ame-no-Murakumo.
"But why…… is it bleeding?" Jialan reached out, pointing to that notch at the corner of the Yata Mirror. A wisp of crimson was slowly spreading outward.
"That's not blood—that's the corruption of the Red Moon." Merlin explained. "When the Yata Mirror shattered during the chaos, it created an opening connecting the internal world with the outside world. The Red Moon's corruption can seep through this gap…… huh?"
Mid-sentence, Merlin froze.
"What's wrong, Lord Merlin?"
"No……" Merlin's eyes stared intently at that gap, puzzlement appearing between his brows.
"The Yata Mirror was shattered during the Takamagahara chaos. Based on the speed of the Red Moon's corruption, it should have been completely eroded more than fifty years ago, and the 'Human Enclosure' inside would have been completely destroyed along with it.
How could it have taken so many years to erode just this one corner?"
Since Merlin had left the hospital, Lin Qiye was still seeing the first look of bewilderment on his face. Those star-marked eyes of his stared intently at that notch in the Yata Mirror, yet he couldn't see through its fate's trajectory. His brows knit tightly together.
"Will the Red Moon's corruption through this gap affect the 'Human Enclosure'?" Lin Qiye thought back carefully and shook his head. "When I was inside the 'Human Enclosure' before, I didn't feel any trace of the Red Moon at all…… Could it be that the corruption is seeping too slowly?"
"Impossible." Merlin pointed to the red tinge at the corner of the mirror. "It's spreading quite quickly. Based on this speed, at most half a year, the Yata Mirror will be completely corroded…… It's not that the seepage is slow, but rather that it only started seeping in one or two months ago.
If I'm not mistaken, for the past fifty-plus years, something has been blocking the Red Moon's erosion of the Yata Mirror…… but one or two months ago, it stopped working."
One or two months ago?
Isn't that exactly when they left Japan and returned to Great Xia?
Lin Qiye lowered his head to think. His peripheral vision caught a river of aurora flowing slowly beside him. As if thinking of something, his gaze narrowed slightly.
Existing for over fifty years, but disappeared one or two months ago…… This timeline seems to coincide exactly with when Baili Pangpang sat on the Prayer Mat?
Could there be some inevitable connection between the two?
The instant this thought appeared, a faint thread of reasoning flashed through Lin Qiye's mind, connecting everything.
Fifty-plus years ago, Baili Pangpang, the mysterious Prayer Mat, faith power, Disarmament of All Things, Red Moon corruption……
In the future, Wang Mian sent the [Nightfall] squad to Japan. The other members' time only stagnated for a few months to two years. Why was Baili Pangpang alone sent back fifty-plus years ago?
What kind of connection does Baili Pangpang have with that Prayer Mat? Why could he hear its call?
If the mysterious force that blocked the Red Moon's erosion for decades was Baili Pangpang's [Disarmament of All Things] after faith amplification, then was Wang Mian's purpose in sending Baili Pangpang back in time to protect the "Human Enclosure" from Red Moon corrosion and eventual destruction?
Why would he do this?
Simply to save the tens of millions of lives inside the "Human Enclosure"?
Or for something else inside the "Human Enclosure"?
Thoughts after thoughts surged through Lin Qiye's mind. He could feel that the veil of mystery shrouding all unknowns was about to be lifted. Everything was about to be connected—only the final crucial piece of the puzzle was missing.
Where was this piece of the puzzle?