Chapter 714 — Speaking the Truth

More than a month had passed since that dreadful man-made god was reduced to feed for the sea demons at the end of the Baishui River. By now the grass on the grave of the Order of All Things' End had likely grown a hundred meters tall...

In every sense, that was a pretty fitting reality.

Beiyila appeared to have awoken, but she was undoubtedly no longer a normal human. Her body had fused with that colossal tree, transformed inside and out, and this had affected her mind and her capacity for speech: when she opened her mouth, a low, hoarse sound blended into her voice. Her speech was slow, her expression dull and vacant—everything about her inevitably brought a plant to mind.

Gao Yang looked at her. Though the situation before him exceeded his original expectations somewhat, he had nonetheless finally gotten the chance to speak face-to-face with this "old acquaintance": "It's a regrettable situation. Beiyila, is there anything you'd like to say to me?"

Beiyila gazed at Gao Yang quietly. After two seconds of silence, she spoke slowly: "Outland... wanderer. I want to talk with you in private."

Gao Yang frowned. After a brief moment of thought, he instructed those beside him: "You lot go outside the hall and keep watch first. Amber, you go too."

"Are you sure?" Amber's eyes immediately went wide. "This woman looks downright eerie right now. Who knows what kind of scheme she might be plotting..."

"Whatever scheme she's plotting, in her current state she probably can't pull it off anyway," Gao Yang waved a hand. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I'm curious what she actually wants to say."

Amber thought it over, then reluctantly agreed. She answered while leading the others in retreating outward: "All right. Be careful."

Soon the soldiers in the hall withdrew outside under Amber's lead, and Bard departed along with them. When only Gao Yang and the half-plant Beiyila remained on the scene, he cleared his throat twice: "Ahem, ahem. You can speak now if you have something to say."

He looked calm, but in truth Gao Yang was still a little tense. Every time he met an "old acquaintance" from seven hundred years ago, he grew cautious, because after all he was occupying a body that was not his own—and those "old acquaintances" from seven hundred years ago had known the real Gao Yang Cecil.

The first time he felt nervous about this was when he met Solin, and then when he met Soyou. But neither of those two had put much pressure on him: Solin's personality was hardly the meticulous sort, and Soyou devoted most of her energy to nagging Solin about getting married. The Beiyila before him was different. Who knew what ideas would pop into the head of this woman who carried a pile of secrets once she sensed that another soul dwelt within Gao Yang Cecil...

Gao Yang's mind raced through calculations—but the instant Beiyila opened her mouth, all his calculations stopped.

"Who exactly are you?"

Beiyila stared fixedly into Gao Yang's eyes. The expression on her face was unprecedentedly grave, and her tone carried a full measure of caution and coldness.

Gao Yang's guard shot up instantly, but the expression on his face did not change in the slightest: "What do you mean by that? Can't you recognize me anymore?"

"...There's no need to waste effort. I know you are not Gao Yang Cecil," Beiyila said, still staring hard at him. "Outland wanderer... what exactly are you? Why have you taken possession of this body?"

She was no longer asking "who" he was—she had simply switched to words like "what."

Upon hearing the words "outland wanderer," Gao Yang abandoned any notion of continuing to communicate with her under the identity of this body.

The Beiyila in the dream was probably just a small fragment of the waking Beiyila's subconscious, lacking the necessary memories and the wisdom of experience—but the one before him now would not be so easy to hoodwink. Still, it did not matter much. Speaking openly would actually spare him the effort of considering his "role," which was a relief in its own way.

"Where did you hear the term 'outland wanderer'?" he said casually. "From those Evernighters?"

"It seems you're quite clear on the name the Evernighters gave you..." Beiyila said in a low voice. "I learned your true nature from them. But long before that, I already knew you could not possibly be Gao Yang Cecil—that you are merely an alien soul who stole his body."

Gao Yang's brow twitched slightly upward: "What do you mean by that?"

A hint of mockery seemed to surface at the corner of Beiyila's mouth: "Gao Yang Cecil cannot possibly come back to life. I know this better than anyone. His soul withered long ago. What lies in the iron coffin in the Southern Frontier is nothing but a soulless husk. Perhaps, under the blessing of the elements, that body will not decay—but resurrection from death... is absolutely impossible."

Gao Yang could not suppress his eyes from widening slightly.

This was the first time since he had risen from the coffin that he had heard intelligence about the secret of his own resurrection from another's mouth. It was only a fragment, but one thing was beyond doubt... this Beiyila before him knew part of the truth!!

"Gao Yang Cecil's soul withered? Why do you say that? What do you know? Do you know the arrangements behind his resurrection?"

But Beiyila did not answer his questions: "Ah, outland wanderer... so you have curiosity too. But why should I tell you everything?"

Gao Yang looked at Beiyila quietly, at the other party's emboldened manner—or rather, the manner of one who had already given up on life and death. Even if he cut her down with a single sword stroke, it would probably be useless.

After a moment of pondering, he broke the silence: "Then let's make an equivalent exchange. Is there anything you want to learn from me?"

"Outland wanderer, it's still the same question," Beiyila said slowly. "Why have you taken possession of this body?"

Gao Yang thought it over carefully.

The other party clearly understood some intelligence regarding the outland wanderers. This intimidating identity, which Gao Yang had forged with his own hands, had been through the post-processing of the Evernighters' expert brainstormers and then a bit of fermentation in online discussions. By the time it reached Beiyila's ears, it had probably become an even more bizarre and dangerous version.

The best option now seemed to be to find a point of entry within this identity and let the conversation continue.

He lowered his head, calculating what kind of "persona" he should establish, and what kind of "persona" could shake this druid whose faith had been twisted. His thoughts raced at tremendous speed.

This did not seem difficult, because... the identity of "outland wanderer," though somewhat intimidating, could not exactly be called entirely false.

He truly was a soul that had wandered in from another world. He truly had taken possession of another's body. He truly had "descended" from the starry sky, and he truly had caused an enormous ruckus in this world.

It was just that he had not, as those CG shorts mentioned, piloted a giant robot to save the world, or led a gang of fifty-buck brothers to engage in interstellar pest extermination—and these little details did not matter at the moment.

As he calculated, he had already worked out a mature draft in his mind.

"It seems we 'travelers' have brought you a great deal of pressure," he said, raising his head with a relaxed, calm expression. "I don't know how those Evernighters described me and my kind to you, but I can assure you, I bear no ill will toward this world."

Beiyila furrowed her brow, clearly listening earnestly to Gao Yang's words while also full of doubt.