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墨書 Inktalez
“The Eternal Gate is not a door. I mean its appearance. Yet, it is indeed a door; opening it allows entry into another space.”
“A gateway?” A cartoon cat with a pouch on its belly popped into my mind.
“It can be seen that way.” Cao Mingzhe took a puff of his cigar and exhaled the smoke directly. “It’s weaker than I imagined, much like its companion, Heimanluo. A truly powerful Heimanluo wouldn’t let you trespass into its territory. I estimate that this Eternal Gate and its companion will vanish in the near future; I’ve already seen signs of its deterioration.”
I pondered for a moment. “I think it’s quite powerful. Its surroundings feel like a massive spatial maze. American Guy even believes we’ve crossed a spatial barrier and entered another realm.”
“American is not wrong. The power of the Eternal Gate is dissipating. Strictly speaking, when you descend from the Dam, you have already entered the Eternal Gate. The power emanating from the Eternal Gate causes the space there to warp. And that is abnormal. The moment I saw this scene, I knew my wish had failed; I intended to use this Eternal Gate to Dequantize, but its power cannot even restore me to my peak state. Its only current function is to open a short-distance portal, which is the passage through which you and I exited.”
“I still don’t understand. You have the key.” I pointed to the piece of Hexagonal Iron on the table. “You can open the Eternal Gate. But what about us? We don’t have a key, yet we still came out. How do you explain that?”
“There is an Awakener among you.”
“An Awakener is a god!?” Despite preparing for this conversation for a long time and mentally bracing myself, I couldn’t help but explode at hearing this perplexing term.
Cao Mingzhe showed no emotional fluctuation due to my outburst; in fact, I even caught a glimpse of faint sorrow in his eyes.
“No. Of course not.” Cao Mingzhe shook his hand holding the cigar as if signaling me to calm down. “I never thought of you as a god. What about you? You don’t think of yourself as one, do you?”
The cigar in Cao Mingzhe’s hand acted like a hypnotist’s tool, making my consciousness feel slightly hazy. I closed my eyes to steady my emotions. At this point in our conversation, it naturally transitioned to the second question I had prepared. Although I was dissatisfied with Cao Mingzhe’s answer to the first question, I believed continuing to dwell on it wouldn’t yield better answers, so I decided to move on.
“What exactly is an Awakener?”
“The Awakener is the highest-level awakener. His abilities are the strongest, and in a sense, he is the leader of all awakeners. Moreover, the Eternal Gate of the Hakka People has no power to awaken the Awakener. Only the Eternal Gate of Lop Nur possesses that power.”
“But how does the Hakka People know this? They think I am the Awakener. And it would destroy the sacred ground of the Hakka People,” I asked thoughtfully.
“The ancestors of the Hakka People were the descendants of Lop Nur. This information must have been passed down from their forebears.”
“And what about you? How do you know this?” I threw out a prepared bombshell.
Cao Mingzhe’s gaze dimmed instantly, and even his facial expression turned gloomy.
“Both Xiao Guolin and I know,” Cao Mingzhe slowly exhaled a puff of smoke. In the airless room, the smoke lingered, creating a barrier between us. His voice seemed to carry a distance as he continued. “Old Xiao believes that it will be difficult for you to enter the underground of Lop Nur through regular channels again. He didn’t even agree to let me accompany him. I think he knows what the outcome will be this time; he went down there to scout for us. He created conditions for me to accompany you. Before leaving, he told me that some potentially useful information has already been left for you; he was prepared for the worst.”
Yes. Xiao Guolin left me some strange information, but I didn’t think it would help me enter the underground of Lop Nur. I couldn’t act based on dream-provided information; that was too far-fetched. Besides, Xiao Guolin was a cautionary tale; he should have believed in that information, yet he never returned.
However, Cao Mingzhe’s words reminded me that Xiao Guolin indeed had high hopes for me. Not only did he provide me with some information, but he also used my name to trade for an Arms with the Vietnamese. This weapon was meant for me, as he never had a chance to retrieve it before going to Lop Nur.
This clarified Xiao Guolin’s intentions: his goal was to get me into the Lop Nur Underground Passage, find the Eternal Gate, and blow it up—specifically in the middle of the Underground Water Reservoir. That platform with a groove shouldn’t be the Eternal Gate, right? If it were, there would be no need for such elaborate efforts on Xiao Guolin’s part.
Yet, there was one thing that Xiao Guolin reminded me of in his letter: he left something with Cao Mingzhe. But Cao Mingzhe had never mentioned it. What could that item be? It wasn’t specified in Xiao Guolin’s letter, so it must be significant and highly risky; otherwise, he wouldn’t have entrusted it to Cao Mingzhe, but rather kept it at home or given it directly to Xiao Ting.
Still, I decided not to bring it up—at least not for now. I thought about a moment when Cao Mingzhe would hand that item over to me. He must be waiting for that moment.
“How did you and Xiao Guolin know this? Why don’t I know? We experienced the same things underground in Lop Nur,” I challenged Cao Mingzhe’s vague explanation and tossed the question back at him.
"I discussed this matter with Old Xiao. After leaving Lop Nur and the Underground Passage, both he and I saw Song Guilong in our dreams. During that initial period, my body underwent significant changes, and I kept seeing Song Guilong in my dreams, which nearly drove me to the brink of collapse. Old Xiao experienced the same; he even traveled from JD to Xi'an specifically to confirm this with me."
Through the smoke, Cao Mingzhe gestured with his cigar towards a direction, the glowing tip flickering in and out of visibility within the haze.
"Old Xiao mentioned this in the letter he left for you. When the Song Team appeared in our dreams, it was as a vague shadow in the pitch-black Underground Passage. Each time Song Team appeared in my dreams, it was in a different location; he seemed to be searching for a way out in the darkness. Do you know why I could see him in that lightless Underground Passage? I could see him because he was darker than the darkness itself."
At this point, Cao Mingzhe's words froze. Along with his words, he himself seemed to freeze as well. Through the smoke, I saw the glowing tip of his cigar, which had been moving just moments ago, now suspended in mid-air, emitting a dim red light.
I waved my arm to disperse the smoke that separated us and saw a look of terror and pain on Cao Mingzhe's face.
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