This assassin is upright

Chapter 253 The Days of the Past (Two in One, monthly ticket requested!)
"Are you sure... this is what the Eclipse Tower looks like?"

Yu Zhu couldn't help but ask, "Isn't this a sword?"

"Now that you mention it... it does look a bit like it." Kled scratched his head, "But the Eclipse Tower does look like this."

"That, I am sure of."

Yu Zhun and Yu Zhu couldn't help but look at each other.

No matter what civilization or culture, the sword represents weapons and killing.

If the shape of the Eclipse Tower is really a sword, and the tip of the sword is pointing to the sky, then on the night when the moon rises, isn't it pointing to the God of Eclipse who is the incarnation of the moon?
Would a god ask his followers to make a sword to point at him?
This is obviously unreasonable.

Combined with what Kled described, the lunar eclipse when the oracle appeared...

Obviously, when the Eclipse Tower was first built, the oracle of unknown origin was itself problematic!
The two then asked Kled about other aspects, but unfortunately they did not gain any more.

After leaving some food for each other, the two said goodbye to each other and headed to the ruins of the fourth city.

"The situation is not good..." Yu Zhu took a deep breath, his face quite solemn, "If it is really as we inferred..."

"Then our strategic goal will have to change."

"Yes." Yu Zhun nodded slightly, looking thoughtful.

Before this, the two had always believed that there was no problem with the construction of the Lunar Eclipse Tower itself. Their main task in returning to the past was to protect the Lunar Eclipse Tower and prevent it from collapsing.

But now it seems that their mission may well be the exact opposite.

Yu Zhun said softly, "The Eclipse Tower has already collapsed. If our purpose in going back to the past is not to save the tower, then is it to save those believers who disappeared along with the collapse of the Eclipse Tower?"

"That should be the case." Yu Zhu nodded, "There are still four cities to search. If we can find the people who stayed behind, we may be able to gain more."

Just finding the two people who stayed behind brought them such important information, which made her more confident about the next strategy.

"In addition, we also need to find the group of people who captured the people who stayed behind." Yu Zhun's eyes flickered slightly, "They are also the key."

As they were talking, the two had already stepped into the outer area of ​​the fourth city ruins. Before they had time to search separately, a faint exclamation made them both stop in their tracks.

There is movement!
Without any hesitation, Yu Zhun and the other man suddenly accelerated their pace and quickly headed in the direction where the sound came from. They soon came to an open space with relatively less rubble and broken walls.

Seeing the scene in the open space, the expressions of both of them changed at the same time.

There were seven or eight figures covered in robes of the same style standing around the open space. One of them was wearing a purple robe and was dragging a struggling girl violently. There was another person lying on the ground in a pool of blood, and it was unknown whether he was dead or alive.

"Stop!" Yu Zhun shouted in a low voice, and with a flash of his body, he was already between the two men. He slashed with the dagger, leaving a bloody wound deep enough to see the bone on the arm of the purple-robed man who was dragging the girl.

Because the identities of both parties could not be distinguished for the time being, his attack was just a normal deterrent and did not sound the death knell.

But even so, the damage caused by this attack caused the purple-robed man to be instantly reduced to little health. After a muffled groan, he let go of the girl as if he had been electrocuted.

The expressions of the other people who were originally watching the show changed at the same time. They quickly moved towards the battle circle and surrounded Yu Zhun and the girl.

"What a courage!"

With a low shout, a middle-aged man in a black robe strode forward with a gloomy face, "It is useless to resist stubbornly. You sinners who have committed heinous crimes will surely be punished by God!"

"I was just looking for you guys, but I didn't expect you to show up on your own." Yu Zhun snorted, "What crime? What crime?"

"Of course it's a crime of blasphemy!" another white-robed woman shouted, raising her hand and pointing in the direction of the Eclipse Tower. "The sinners of the Seven Cities built the Eclipse Tower, offending the majesty of God and blaspheming God. They deserve to die!"

"The others have already accepted God's judgment and received the punishment they deserved. The blasphemer who managed to escape must not be let off!"

Blasphemy...

Yu Zhun's eyes narrowed slightly.

After the conversation with Kled, he knew very well that the behavior of the believers of the Seven Cities in building the Tower of the Lunar Eclipse was indeed consistent with what the other party said.

In a sense, there is nothing wrong with the accusations made by this group of people.

"What kind of gods are you talking about?" Yu Zhu stepped forward and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you and what qualifications do you have to judge on behalf of the gods?"

"How can you be sure that their survival was not intentional by the gods?"

Hearing Yu Zhu's question, all the robed people were stunned, and then the black-robed man who had spoken earlier snorted, "Slippery tongue."

"We don't need to explain to you what we do..."

A streak of red text appeared above the black-robed man's head, instantly clearing his health bar. Then a streak of green text appeared, and the black-robed man's health bar returned to full.

"This is a warning." Yu Zhu raised the pastor's book.

"What do I ask and what do you answer?"

"Otherwise, I won't revive you next time."

The face of the man in black robe suddenly turned pale, and the blood bars jumping out made him feel like he was on the verge of death. The faces of the other people were not much better, and they looked at Yu Zhu with fear in their eyes.

After a moment of silence, the man in black robe spoke in a hoarse voice, "The God is naturally the Lord of the Lunar Eclipse."

"We are the executors of the Inquisition. We heard that there was blasphemy here, so we rushed here as soon as possible."

"The Inquisition is qualified to judge and punish any blasphemous acts. We are naturally qualified to punish those who blaspheme."

"The Inquisition..." Yu Zhu's eyes flickered slightly, and he looked at Yu Zhun, "This was mentioned in Croesus's poems."

“They said there was no problem.”

“Is that so…” Yu Zhun nodded slightly.

The situation is roughly clear now.

The believers of the Seven Cities were deceived by an unknown entity, so they built the Tower of the Lunar Eclipse and blasphemed the God of the Lunar Eclipse.

The collapse of the Eclipse Tower and the disappearance of its believers were all due to this, and the Inquisition came for this reason.

He was about to say something but was interrupted by the crying of the girl he had rescued.

“We are not blasphemous!”

The girl had already knelt beside the figure lying in a pool of blood, her frail body trembling with sorrow.

"We clearly received the oracle from the Lord of the Lunar Eclipse and built the Lunar Eclipse Tower for the Lord of the Lunar Eclipse."

"Because of that tower, I lost my father, and now my mother too..." She stood up suddenly, tears streaming down her young face, with the despair and anger of a trapped beast.

“Why should we be accused of blasphemy?”

Yu Zhun was silent for a moment, then sighed.

"You guys should leave here." He looked at the man in black robe and said calmly, "They were also deceived."

"It has come to this, why bother forcing it?"

"Hmph..." The black-robed man's face was gloomy. He knew that with the two people suddenly appearing in front of him, it would be impossible for him and his group to punish the girl in front of them.

"You can protect it for a while, but not for a lifetime!"

After saying that, the man in black robe waved his hand, and the others followed closely behind him, quickly disappearing on the spot.

After the few people left, the girl knelt down again on her mother who was lying in a pool of blood with a plop. Feeling her mother's gradually getting colder, she cried out in despair.

"Let's go." After watching quietly for a moment, Yu Zhun looked at Yu Zhu whose eyes were a little moist.

The latter nodded, gently placed some food next to the girl, and then trotted to catch up with Yu Zhun and headed towards the next city.

With the deterrence they just showed, the group of executors from the Divine Inquisition should not come again in the short term.

However, this is only a temporary solution and not a permanent solution.

Thinking of this, Yu Zhun's eyes became more determined.

Only by going back to the day when the Eclipse Tower collapsed can he have a chance to prevent all the tragedies from happening.

The remains of the fifth city…

The remains of the sixth city…

The remains of the seventh city…

Yu Zhun did not meet the executors of the Divine Inquisition again. There were also very few survivors in the last three cities, but none of them brought more useful information to Yu Zhun.

After distributing some food to them, Yu Zhun and his companions, who had already traveled to seven cities, finally turned around and headed towards the Eclipse Tower, which had turned into a stone mountain made up of countless rubble.

"What a spectacular building." Standing in front of the base of the Eclipse Tower, Yu Zhun couldn't help but sigh.

The base of the tower alone was several thousand meters in size. He could already imagine how magnificent the Eclipse Tower would have been if it had not collapsed.

"How about... going up and taking a look?" Yu Zhu was eager to try.

Although countless pieces of rubble have been scattered in every corner of the map, the stone mountain formed by the remaining rubble is still hundreds of meters high.

"Okay." Yu Zhun nodded and took a step forward.

The next moment, his expression suddenly changed, he raised his head abruptly, and then his pupils contracted violently.

On the mountainside, another Yu Zhun was looking back at him.

Their eyes met, and Yu Zhun on the mountainside nodded at him. The next moment, Yu Zhu appeared beside him. He followed his gaze to Yu Zhu at the foot of the mountain and waved excitedly.

Then the two of them took a step forward and disappeared on the spot.

"That's me?" Another Yu Zhu appeared beside Yu Zhun in surprise, with a curious look on his face, "What's going on?"

"It's the chessboard of time." Yu Zhun took a deep breath and understood something.

"I know it's the Time Chessboard." Yu Zhu nodded. "Just now you took a step and disappeared right where you were. I knew there was a Time Chessboard here."

"But why do we see another self in the chessboard of time?"

"Could it be because the location just now corresponds to the same time as our current location?" Yu Zhu frowned, unable to figure it out, "But at the same time, we should be in the same location..."

After hearing this, Yu Zhun thought for a moment and then slowly spoke, "I have a guess."

"Perhaps this happens because the time intervals between different time squares are very short."

"Let's take a very simple example. There is a square that corresponds to the time point of 30 minutes in the 'past.'" Yu Zhun paused, "but it took us 30 minutes to get to that square."

"What will happen at this time?"

"We..." Yu Zhu's expression changed, "will we return to the beginning of time? And be in a completely new location?"

"Yes." Yu Zhun nodded. "The time point corresponding to the time grid is not a static time point. Time will also pass with the outside world. It's just that the gap between different grids is fixed."

"So we consumed time during our actions, and the time corresponding to the time grid will also move backwards. However, the span of the time grid in our previous two stages was larger, so this situation is not obvious."

“Now, the time difference between different time squares may be only one hour or less, and the difference will appear.”

"I understand." Yu Zhu suddenly realized, "Then if we continue to go up, is it possible that we will meet another self?"

"It's possible." Yu Zhun nodded.

The two were intrigued by this speculation, and after leaving a mark of the number "0" on the spot, they began to explore all the way upwards.

Time passed minute by minute, and the two followed the "past" sign and successfully reached the halfway point of the mountain.

During this period, the two of them saw another version of themselves in front of them many times. There were several times when the other party did not notice them, and there were several times when both sides saw each other, nodded to each other and continued to act.

Soon, Yu Zhun casually carved the number "-302".

Then he seemed to realize something and turned his head to look down at the foot of the mountain.

Another self was looking at him in astonishment.

interesting.

Yu Zhun smiled strangely and nodded at his other self.

Yu Zhu, who followed Yu Zhun out, saw Yu Zhun's movements and followed his gaze to look down the mountain. He happened to see another her coming to Yu Zhun's side and immediately waved with joy.

"Let's go." Yu Zhun smiled, "Now it's my turn to give hints to my past self."

As he spoke, he pulled Yu Zhu into the next square.

One step, two steps...

There is no longer another self in front of them, because they have become the one in the lead, followed by the other self behind.

Finally, Yu Zhun took a step forward.

The desolate and silent stone mountain was no longer beneath his feet, but instead a tower of stone bricks engraved with countless patterns.

The area around him was no longer a deserted ruin. Countless figures seemed to appear out of thin air and were working among the towers.

Loading and unloading bricks, carving patterns on bricks, stacking and gluing...

Countless believers worked together lively and enthusiastically, with laughter and shouts coming one after another.

A line of small words appeared in front of Yu Zhun.

[Days of the Past]

This is the fourth stage of the special copy [Tower of Eclipse]. If nothing unexpected happens, it should be the last stage.

"It's... so lively here."

Yu Zhu, who followed Yu Zhun into this place, couldn't help but speak softly.

"Yeah." Yu Zhun nodded and took another step forward.

This time, his figure did not disappear.

Just like when we first entered the [Tower Ruins], there is no time chessboard here.

The appearance of the two had already attracted the attention of the believers here. After a brief commotion, a man in priest clothing strode towards Yu Zhun and the other man, "Who are you?"

"Why are you here?"

"us…"

Yu Zhun was speechless for a moment, but a flash of light suddenly flashed through his mind.

He reached into his arms, took out a notebook full of poems, and opened it to show everyone present.

"I am a wandering bard." Yu Zhun said with a smile, "The one next to me is my sister."

"We heard that believers from seven cities received an oracle from the Lord of the Lunar Eclipse and planned to build a tower that would shake the world."

“So, we hope to learn more about it, write down poems of praise, and spread them to different places so that more people can know about them.”

Croesus's poetry book was naturally not in Yu Zhun's hands, but Yu Zhun had the secret treasure [Gloves of Creation] in his hand, so it was not difficult for him to temporarily make a poetry book to get away with it.

As for why I chose the identity of a bard...

Naturally, it is because this identity can explain why the two are not residents of the Seven Cities, and can quickly gain each other's trust.

After Yu Zhun finished speaking, the hostility in the eyes of the audience around him quietly dissipated, and was replaced by enthusiasm and pride.

Obviously, what Yu Zhun mentioned about spreading the poetry to different places so that more people would know about it directly touched their hearts.

This is a miracle that took ten years to build!

It would be an honor if more people could know about it!

Even the priest who had questioned the two earlier had a smile on his face, "Bard..."

"You two have come from afar, we should have entertained you, but..." He pointed to the busy crowd around him, "Now is the critical moment for the construction of the Eclipse Tower, everyone is very busy."

"If you two are willing to stay for a few more days until the Eclipse Tower is completed, we will certainly entertain you with warm hospitality."

"No need to be so polite." Yu Zhun's eyes moved slightly, and he said with a smile, "My brother and I are both devout believers of the God of the Lunar Eclipse. Now that the Lunar Eclipse Tower is about to be completed, we naturally have to focus on its construction."

"Can I ask when the Eclipse Tower will be completed?"

"If everything goes well, it should be tomorrow." The priest said with a smile, "We plan to hold a lunar eclipse festival on the night of the completion, so that the lunar eclipse god can see the tower we built for him."

tomorrow?

Yu Zhun's expression remained unchanged, but his heart suddenly sank.

There is not much time left for him and Yu Zhu!

Originally they planned to wander around to see if they could find any clues, but now time is running out, so they might have to use more radical methods.

Thinking of this, Yu Zhun smiled and said, "To be honest, when I saw the Eclipse Tower, I felt really bad."

"I can feel everyone's sincere belief in the God of the Lunar Eclipse. I believe the God of the Lunar Eclipse will be pleased with this."

Seeing everyone's increasingly proud expressions, Yu Zhun changed the subject and said, "So..."

"Can my sister and I also contribute to the construction of the Eclipse Tower?"

"You guys want to help too?" The priest looked surprised, then nodded, "No problem."

He glanced at Yu Zhun, and then said, "You are not strong enough, so the task of carrying bricks and stones may be difficult."

"How about this? I'll find a brick carving craftsman to take you with me, and you can follow him to carve patterns on the stone bricks. How about that?"

Sculpture?

Yu Zhun's heart moved, and he nodded with a smile, "Of course no problem."

"As for you..." The priest glanced at Yu Zhu, "Please help the women over there to cook food for everyone."

Obviously, the priest didn't think Yu Zhu could be of any use because of her small stature.

"No problem!" Yu Zhu nodded with a smile and looked towards the other side where the women were.

There are a lot of people here, so it's a good place to get information.

After watching Yu Zhu blend into the female family, Yu Zhun retracted his gaze and looked at the honest middle-aged man beside him. He smiled slightly and said, "Mr. Fonte, I'll trouble you to teach me how to carve brick patterns next."

This man named Fonte was the one arranged by the priest to lead him. He was said to be the most experienced sculptor here. He carved nearly 10,000 stone bricks in the Tower of Eclipse.

"No problem." Feng Te nodded and motioned Yu Zhun to follow.

As the two of them were on their way to their corresponding locations, he began to briefly introduce the work involved in carving brick patterns.

"The Eclipse Tower is a sacrificial tower built in accordance with the oracle of the Lord of the Eclipse." Fonte said slowly, "Because it is a sacrificial tower, the patterns that need to be engraved on the stone bricks are fixed."

"These are all the patterns that need to be engraved on the stone bricks." Feng Te took out a drawing from his arms and showed it to Yu Zhun, "There are 36 in total."

Yu Zhun observed these patterns with great interest and asked casually, "Do these patterns have corresponding meanings?"

"Of course there are." Font nodded with a smile, pointing to the lines on the drawing. "For example, this youth line represents the new life bestowed by the Lord of the Eclipse to the old. It is born out of a legend."

"Legend has it that there was an old man who had done good deeds all his life and was blessed by the Lord of the Eclipse, who made him return to his youth."

Yu Zhun nodded slightly.

There are similar records in previous poems.

"And this revival pattern represents the revival of all things with the arrival of spring. This is also the power of the Lord of the Lunar Eclipse."

"and this…"

Talking about these lines, Font seemed very excited. While chattering, he had already introduced the meaning of thirty-five lines, each of which represented a legend of the God of Lunar Eclipse.

"What about the last one?" Yu Zhun looked at the last remaining pattern, his eyes flashed slightly.

He didn't know if it was a coincidence, but he felt that the pattern looked familiar.

"This one." Font smiled with a proud look on his face, "This is the oracle pattern."

"It means that the Lord of the Lunar Eclipse has sent down an oracle, ordering us to build the Lunar Eclipse Tower."

"It was recorded on the drawing left by the oracle. After discussion among the seven high priests, it was determined to be the thirty-sixth line."

As he spoke, Font stopped and proudly stroked a stone brick beside him that was engraved with oracle patterns.

“It’s not a legend, it’s what’s happening right now.”

Oracle Pattern...

Recorded on paper...

Yu Zhun's expression changed slightly.

Combined with the previous inferences, he suddenly felt that this so-called oracle pattern might be the key to the problem.

Taking a deep breath to calm his fluctuating emotions, Yu Zhun slowly spoke, "So... what patterns are we going to carve next?"

"In order to make it less likely for the carving craftsmen to make mistakes, each craftsman only carves one fixed pattern." Font smiled and pointed at the oracle pattern, "This is what we want to carve."

"I heard from the priest that you hope to participate in the construction of the Eclipse Tower. This is great, but the carving of the patterns is very important, so I can't let you start right away."

Feng Te looked at Yu Zhun and paused. "If you can help me in the next two days and satisfy me, I can let you carve the last brick that needs to be engraved with the oracle pattern."

Carving oracle patterns?

"No problem." Yu Zhun nodded.

His purpose of coming here was not really to work.

The job of helping out was easier and would give him more time and opportunities to observe the situation inside the Eclipse Tower and find a breakthrough.

Now, he has found it.

So Yu Zhun had no intention of objecting at all.

Seeing Yu Zhun being so tactful, Fonte was relieved.

He was originally worried that Yu Zhun would ignore the advice and insist on starting, thus delaying the construction of the Lunar Eclipse Tower.

"Come on, let's carve this one first." Feng Te smiled a little more and led Yu Zhun to a stone brick that had not yet been laid into the corresponding position. "When we carve stone bricks, we carve first and then lay them."

"This way, even if we make a mistake in carving, we can just change a brick and carve it again." Font paused, "Of course, we should try not to make any mistakes, because every time we make a mistake, it means that others have to carry an extra brick up."

This is tens of thousands of meters in the air. Even with the help of pulleys and other tools, it is not easy to move a stone brick.

Yu Zhun nodded to indicate that he understood, and then watched quietly as Fonte took out a carving knife and skillfully carved on the front of the stone brick.

Fonte was indeed the most experienced sculptor. His carving knife was about to leave an afterimage. Stone powder kept falling down, and soon an oracle pattern that was exactly the same as the drawing appeared in front of Yu Zhun.

After successfully completing the carving, several strong men who had been waiting on the side picked up the heavy stone bricks together and carefully placed them on the position where the adhesive had been applied.

After making sure that the brick fits tightly with the other bricks, the stacking is completed amid the cheers of the crowd.

Without stopping, Fonte took Yu Zhun and quickly hurried to the second stone brick that needed to be carved.

Time passed minute by minute, and after successfully carving 5 bricks, Fonte looked at the sky and stopped.

"It's time to eat."

He turned to look at Yu Zhun and said with a smile, "Among the women in charge of cooking the food today is my wife. She is a very good cook. You must try it later."

"I will." Yu Zhun nodded and smiled, feeling a little bit of anticipation in his heart.

Of course, I was not looking forward to seeing Fonte’s wife’s craftsmanship, but looking forward to meeting Yu Zhu.

Although he had only carved five bricks, he had already made a new discovery.

Soon, Yu Zhun and Yu Zhu, who had received a portion of food, came to a corner and started talking in low voices while eating.

"I suspect that the so-called blasphemy is related to the carving patterns..." Commander Yu told Yu Zhu about the oracle patterns, and then paused, "I followed Fonte to carve five stone bricks and found that the distribution of the oracle patterns on the stone bricks is regular."

"In other words, the positions and order of the carvings of all thirty-six patterns are regular."

"If nothing unexpected happens, I should be able to use this pattern to find all the oracle patterns."

"But... I'm still thinking about what to do with it after I find it."

Simply erasing or destroying everything is not advisable. Not to mention that such an approach is extremely labor-intensive and will inevitably be discovered, it is also completely unknown what will happen after the erasure.

So, Yu Zhun planned to observe it for a while longer.

Font said that the last oracle pattern could be given to him to try to carve, so he might be able to tamper with the last pattern.

"It seems that you have made good progress here." Yu Zhu nodded in understanding, and then smiled, "I have also made a new discovery here."

"What discovery?" Yu Zhun became curious.

Yu Zhu took a deep breath, his smile faded, and his expression became serious. "I heard about some strange things that happened during the construction of the Eclipse Tower."

"The women used these strange things as gossip while cooking, but I extracted some doubts from them."

"Tell me about it in detail." Yu Zhun's expression also became serious.

"The first strange thing is falling bricks." Yu Zhu took a deep breath. "During the ten years of construction of the Eclipse Tower, there have been many cases of people being injured due to bricks accidentally falling during transportation."

Upon hearing this, Yu Zhun couldn't help but think of Kelie.

The other person's leg was broken by the falling bricks.

Of course, Yu Zhun knew that this alone was not enough to make Yu Zhu feel strange. After all, it was normal for some accidents to occur during construction sites.

"What's more suspicious is that all the accidents involving falling bricks happened at night." Yu Zhu said slowly, "There is a moon at night, which is when the power of the God of the Lunar Eclipse is the strongest."

"This should be the safest time, but a rockfall happened..." Yu Zhun touched his chin, "Wait, you just said..."

"Rockfall caused injuries?"

"Are there only injuries but no deaths?"

Yu Zhun witnessed the entire process of Fonte carving the stone brick and knew very well how heavy a complete stone brick was. Such a stone brick could easily kill an ordinary person even if it fell from a height of several meters.

What's more, it is normal for bricks to fall from a height of several thousand meters during the construction of the Eclipse Tower.

Such bricks could easily smash a living person into a pulp.

"That's right, only injured." Yu Zhu nodded, "Those injured people were not hit directly by the bricks, but were hit by the rubble splashed by the bricks that fell to the ground."

"And every time a rockfall is investigated, it is determined that no one deliberately pushed the bricks down, but it was a natural accident."

Yu Zhun frowned slightly.

Only at night do rockfalls occur...

If it was not man-made, then this matter was most likely related to the God of Lunar Eclipse.

The God of Lunar Eclipse controls the bricks to fall and injure people but not their lives. Is this a warning?
In order to tell the believers in the seven cities that building the Eclipse Tower was not His will, and to try to stop it?
Yu Zhun frowned and thought.

This speculation makes sense, but he feels a little uncomfortable.

"Anything else strange?"

"Yes." Yu Zhu nodded, "The second strange thing is the flying birds."

“…Flying bird?” Yu Zhun couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

"The place where the Eclipse Tower was built is where the oracle descended ten years ago." Yu Zhun pointed to the ground below him. "Before the oracle descended, this area was a forest with countless birds living in it."

"But all these birds mysteriously disappeared on the night the oracle came."

“Since then, there has not been a single bird in the seven cities.”

(End of this chapter)