Facing an Ancient God for a Year

Chapter 426: Chapter 426 Servant’s Needle (19)_1

Although many things are uncertain, it currently seems that the probability of Rosetta being related to my mission is still quite high.

Recalling the gains from this trip, Fu Qian decided to not rush things for the time being.

After all, he was now deep behind enemy lines, so he might as well wait and see how things unfold.

After all, Rosetta had said if there were any problems, he could come to her. There would be plenty of opportunities to confirm certain issues with her.

Right, what else had she mentioned?

Food.

Fu Qian slapped his forehead. After returning to his physical body, his ability to control hunger had clearly worsened, and he could already feel the fatigue brought on by a lack of energy.

Remembering what Rosetta said, Fu Qian got out of bed, opened the door, and after walking a couple of steps, he actually found food on the hallway table—two fruits that looked serene and tranquil.

It must be as Rosetta said, someone who couldn’t finish their meal had put it out to share.

Sure enough, all the recluses from this world are the type to subsist on wind and dew, such a small portion and they still can’t finish it—looks like Rosetta isn’t the only one with a petite appetite!

Fu Qian looked at the two fruits, hardly much bigger than kumquats, and heaved a sigh.

At the same time, he didn’t disdain them but seriously took them back with him.

The fruits were small, but they were clean and looked crisp and fresh.

Fu Qian casually wiped them on his clothes, put one in his mouth, and took a bite.

He didn’t expect them to be some millennial azure fruits that could increase his strength by sixty years after eating, they just needed to be swallowable.

To his surprise, the taste was actually delightful, there was nothing wriggling inside like half a large maggot, and it was much crisper and sweeter than it looked.

Delicious!

However, as Fu Qian was savoring this gift of nature, the brightness in the room had visibly dimmed at a noticeable speed.

What’s happening?

Fu Qian quickly noticed that this was because the moon in the sky outside was rapidly dimming.

The once bright white disc was now tinged with a layer of dark red, spreading quickly in all directions with the moonlight.

This familiar shade.

Fu Qian muttered to himself in disbelief!

As he peered curiously out the window, clicking his tongue in amazement.

He wasn’t naive enough to deceive himself and interpret this as a natural phenomenon; it was clearly another incident occurring.

However, being well-seasoned, he had already grown accustomed to such occurrences.

In this world, stability seemed to be the hardest thing to come by.

The only puzzling part was that this event had come without any warning signs, without any visible trigger that could have caused the transition.

Crunch!

Mulling it over, Fu Qian naturally took another bite of his dinner.

Hmm?

The next moment his gaze intensified on the fruit in his hand.

It was still green-skinned and juicy, clearly showing it had been bitten twice.

Could this really be happening?

Fu Qian didn’t continue to eat; instead, he cradled the remaining core in his hand.

So, if saying that last time when he hid the transparent worm in his hand and was able to bring it into the interrogation room where Kelly and the others were, he suspected that the dilapidated world might be the real one.

What does the current situation indicate then?

Was the world in which he had meditated all afternoon also real?

These two deductions seem hard to coexist!

Fu Qian turned to look back at the room.

Although the furnishings were too simple to show any significant changes at a glance, Fu Qian still spotted something unusual.

On the sturdy stone walls, there were now vague hints of dark red, radiating streaks, and they were emerging haphazardly all over.

At a glance, the entire room looked like an ancient tomb.

There was a wild beauty to it!

After a brief comment, Fu Qian opened the door and strode away.

As expected, the corridor was empty of people.

Of course, this didn’t mean much, after all, these people hardly ever went out.

But whether it was the dim and gloomy lighting or the large, radial stains on the walls, the feeling of filth and decay deeply indicated that this place had changed from before.

Indeed!

They say chaos breeds demons, and Fu Qian’s mind spun rapidly; the next moment, he controlled the muscles of his face to show an expression that was a mix of shock and joy.

Not wanting to disturb others’ cultivation, he headed straight for Rosetta’s location.

She was the one who had said to come to her with any problem at any time.

Upon reaching his destination, Fu Qian found Rosetta’s door tightly shut. Without any courtesy, he stepped forward and knocked twice.

After waiting ten seconds with no response, Fu Qian knocked again.

Still, there was no movement.

According to what Rosetta had said previously, this meant she did not want to be disturbed.

Unless there was a special circumstance, one should simply come another day.

In the current situation, Fu Qian naturally classified it as a special circumstance without any psychological burden and pushed the door open.

The door opened with a sound, and it was not locked.

At a glance, compared to his own room, Rosetta’s was only slightly less spartan, with just an additional small table for placing things, on which lay some extremely simple daily necessities.

Besides that, the room was empty.

Just as Kelly and Brooke had said, after the accident, people had disappeared.

The same was likely true for the other rooms.

At this moment, the abandoned monastery seemed to truly reflect its age.

“Step on the toad, step on the eggplant, dreams and illusions are like empty flowers.”

The next moment, Fu Qian hummed to himself and actually sat down directly at the table, dignified and serious as he recited a couple of lines.

His eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, Fu Qian sat in stillness amidst the darkness with movements even more realistic than in the afternoon.

Obviously, this was following the advice previously given by Rosetta and Niwalis: in the face of falsehood, one must maintain a firm will.

All of this before him was an illusion!

Of course, Fu Qian actually held reservations about this view.

Because in his understanding, this was more akin to self-hypnosis than it was to a firm will.

What he was doing now was simply making himself appear to be reinforcing his will.

And the reason for doing so was because he had several deductions about the current situation.

Firstly, he was now playing the role of a mental patient tortured by illusions.

The current situation was likely triggered by his contact with Rosetta, causing this previously unprecedented anomaly.

This was undoubtedly a good thing; no matter what or who was orchestrating things behind the scenes, it showed Rosetta herself was indeed special.

At the same time, as a young man trying to escape a nightmare, the possibility that the dilapidated world could be real was definitely depressing, so any new, strange discovery was undoubtedly a ray of hope.

While he couldn’t deny the reality of that world, at least this world could not yet be proven illusory.

Therefore, the attitude Fu Qian displayed could be basically considered reinforcing his character.

In the darkness and silence, Fu Qian maintained his contemplative posture like a statue.

In his perception, such actions seemed to last for hours until he heard a voice calling his name.

“Fu Qian.”

When he opened his eyes, it was Rosetta standing at a distance, looking this way with a thoughtful expression tinged with surprise.

“Why are you here?”