A Tale of Forgotten Gods

Chapter 110: The Celestials

Mo Fei walked toward the police. He stopped behind the crowd and tried to pass through it, and the officers pushed him backward; he only saw a glimpse of a man whose face was hidden behind a fedora.

He slowly pushed through the officers, his boots scraping against the cold stone. It was a tall man with bloodsoaked clothes; the clothes were similar to those of a detective. The officer beside the body pulled the fedora away, and there was the man... Murphy Law.

The officer looked at the face in horror and stepped back. ”Impossible...”

Surrounding people stepped back too; many sharp intakes of breath escaped from the crowd.

Mo Fei’s gaze locked onto the dead body of the man; his breath almost stopped when he looked at the dead face he was wearing. He knew that identity was not alive and it was just a spirit; then he heard the denial of officers. ”That man can’t be beaten... it’s simply not possible that he died today.”

Another whispered. ”We told him it was impossible to solve...”

Just then their eyes landed on the diary inside his coat; one of them reached toward it and gripped it in their hand. The man read through it, his hand trembling as he read the words and his pupils dilated in pure shock. ”No... we were wrong.”

The officer gulped and looked at the dead body, then at the diary again.

The second police officer looked at his wide eyes and asked. ”What happened to you?”

The man took a long breath as he still couldn’t believe what he had just read. ”Murphy Law... won.” ℯℯ𝑙.

The officer flinched at the man’s words. ”Wait, what? How are you so sure? He is dead!”

”He solved the impossible case before he was killed...”

Both of them looked at Murphy’s corpse, their gazes finding the almost unnoticeable smile on his pale, cold face.

Their body hair rose in goosebumps as they stared at the detective, whose revolver was scattered nearby and the clothes were butchered. ”What... was wrong with this man’s mind...”

Mo Fei heard the words as a sudden wave of wind blew, forcing him close his eyes. Just then, the scene shifted as he opened them. The officer’s voice faded as the wind picked up again.

People were looking at the poster of the Detective, and beneath his name was written... ”The Unbeatable Mind.”

He glanced at a streetlamp and saw a figure standing beneath it. The figure lifted his head and pulled out a cigarette as Mo Fei walked toward him. The face of Murphy cleared as he stopped near him.

”Great work, boy.” Murphy blew a puff of cigarette out sideways and slowly leaned forward.

”Where am I?”

”In the spirit world... you are currently looking at my past. Yes, I have called you since I have permitted you to use my identity.” His piercing grey eyes locked on Mo Fei as he inhaled a long drag of his cigarette.

Mo Fei watched him for a moment. ”Why then?”

Murphy chuckled slowly and spoke. ”You know what, I’m actually surprised by your brain. Even though you were using my act, it caught my attention how well you behaved as me.” He paused for a few seconds and exhaled a smoke. ”You can keep my identity for longer, though I’m not surprised that you couldn’t control my obsession... I suppose that’s a payment of wanting to know everything.”

”I didn’t expect a compliment.” Mo Fei narrowed his eyes.

”I don’t really have much to say. I have been someone who has never really been good with people; the obsession for answers had consumed me so much that it took my life in the end.” He closed his eyes and slowly walked toward Mo Fei. ”A brain that doesn’t have peace in the human skull is the biggest curse.”

”You only called me to talk to you?”

”You can say that.” He put both his hands in his pockets and looked toward the poster. ”You are being me, so I warn you, don’t be me. You can’t outrun the past, but you can outrun the people who are still stuck to it. Even after death I’m still stuck on one thought: if I had lived more, I’d have understood more. That ’more’ and ’if’ still bothered me and gave me no peace.”

Mo Fei couldn’t speak anything as he heard the dead detective’s words, although he knew they were his failures, and maybe Mo Fei himself could follow that regret...

With that, Murphy looked at Mo Fei in the eyes and muttered again. ”Go now, I’d love to see through your eyes, at least to imagine myself in your place. You have people, which I never had; some things in this world would always remind you that it is too late now. Farewell, boy.”

He snapped his fingers, and Mo Fei returned.

’Nothing there is truly regrettable; everyone dies with regret. There are no exceptions, regardless of what they achieved, regardless of what they did, no matter how kind and cruel they were... all of us feel regret. We think that the things we are going to regret are the things that we didn’t attain, but that’s not simply true for that. We’re going to regret the things we didn’t give, the love we didn’t show, and the time we didn’t spend on the importance of what mattered... What we didn’t give is what we regret, and I regret.’

Murphy glanced at the poster again before walking away with another cigarette in his lips toward the darkness with his hands in his pockets. ”Humanity is regret.”

***

Mo Fei was back in the emerald town, remembering the words of Murphy Law. His face shifted behind his mask, changing to the face of the dead detective.

With that, he looked at the village and entered inside the chief’s house.

From the sudden loud voice, the chief came out of his room; the very next second he came out, he saw a shadow walking toward him as the light dimmed, hiding the silhouette.

The chief’s voice came next, staying behind him as the man glanced at the figure approaching them.

The trench coat fluttered as the wind blew; he quietly pointed his revolver and shot the man without thinking twice.

BANG!

The sound echoed as the chief stumbled backward and screamed, but before he could register the pain, another bullet stabbed his guts. Murphy kept pulling the trigger as he walked forward, leaving the chief screaming before his throat dried up and bloodsoaked body fell.

The woman stood horrified; she couldn’t even move as the figure came out of the shadows and Murphy pressed his fedora down and said in a flat tone. ”Are you with this man?”

”Why did you...”

Murphy tilted his head slightly. ”I don’t discriminate between criminals.” He paused and pointed his revolver at her. ”So, tell me now, lady. Were you with him?”

The woman’s scream died in her throat as she watched the blood pool on the ground, while her lips moving with... maybe prayers, or maybe curses, or who knew if both?

”I... wasn’t.” She started.

Murphy let out a long sigh and shot her directly in her head. ”I hate lies; well, either way I’d not have spared even if you had confessed.” The revolver smoked in his hand. Murphy stared at the bodies; he had killed them without any pity, rage, or satisfaction. It was just an act of judgment in Murphy’s eyes.

He tucked the revolver in his pocket and walked out of the village toward the Tower of Light, although he didn’t know where it was.

He came out of the village and looked at the endless stairs once, and with a yawn he looked at the sky; it was night. He didn’t sleep tonight as his body began to ache and the tiredness started to settle down on him.

He walked toward a nearby tree and jumped onto it and pressed his body against the cold branch. ”I suppose I have to sleep outside tonight.”

He looked at the stars, then his gaze landed on the moon. One thought crept into his mind...

Who are they?

Will he have to confront them someday?

That thought alone made his expression flicker. When Gods were nothing, what could someone like him... a human could do against whatever those things were.

He thought again about the Celestials. They were not as strong, but what were they? They weren’t human for sure. What were Celestials, were they also entities? He couldn’t sleep even after he tried hard, the thoughts were persistent... tomorrow would bring him to the place where his authority’s truth could be revealed.