Under One Person: Starting from the Inheritance of Gods

Chapter 434 Wu Xie: I don't remember having a twin brother!

Where is my tree?

"Where did my big tree go?!"

Lao Yang let out a furious, questioning roar that echoed through the vast underground space.

At this moment, the place where the bronze divine tree once stood was empty, but instead there was a large pit, as if it had been uprooted.

Lao Yang ran downhill desperately, searching everywhere as if he had gone mad, but only to be disappointed. Wu Xie and Liang Shiye followed behind him.

Wu Xie stepped forward, grabbed Lao Yang, and asked, "Lao Yang, what happened? What tree?"

"You don't understand, the tree is gone, the tree is gone!"

"My hope, Mom—!"

Lao Yang was on the verge of collapse, speaking in a language Wu Xie couldn't understand. Just then, a voice with a Sichuan-Chongqing accent suddenly came from behind the three of them.

"Bronze Tree, is this what you're looking for?"

The three of them turned around abruptly and saw four people standing about ten meters behind them, as if they had appeared out of nowhere.

Wu Xie swallowed hard and asked, "Who are you?"

Feng Baobao scratched her face: "Me? My name is Feng Baobao. This is Chen Duo. And those two silly kids are Zhang Chulan and Wang Ye."

Wu Xie slowly shone the flashlight on them and leaned closer, only to see a scene that shocked him so much that he dropped the flashlight on the ground.

"Wang Ye, he looks just like you!"

Chen Duo spoke up.

Wang Ye frowned slightly and took a few steps forward, startling Wu Xie, who retreated repeatedly, shouting, "Don't come any closer!"

After all, anyone would be scared if they suddenly saw someone who looked exactly like them in an ancient tomb!

Wang Ye rubbed his chin and suddenly appeared behind Wu Xie. This strange movement made Wu Xie even more certain that there was something wrong with the people in front of him.

After the initial shock, Wu Xie regained his composure, and his first impression was that the person was wearing a human skin mask.

Just then, Wang Ye pulled Wu Xie up from the ground, his lips twitching as he said, "Before I came, Heaven didn't tell me about this surprise!"

Are they isotopes from different worlds?

Wu Xie didn't understand anything about the Heavenly Dao that Wang Ye was talking about. Suddenly, he tried to pull at Wang Ye's face, but found that he couldn't budge him at all.

Oh no, it looks like genuine leather!

Wang Ye gave a strange smile: "Is it fun?"

Wu Xie was on the verge of tears: "This isn't fun!"

Wu Xie's inner monologue: Brother, where are you? Come save me!
At this moment, Wang Ye let go of his hand, and Wu Xie quickly stepped aside, pulling Lao Yang and saying, "Lao Yang, forget about that tree, let's go!"

Lao Yang looked up at Wu Xie in a daze, and then saw Wang Ye. He immediately exclaimed, "Two Wu Xies, the Bronze Tree, yes, it must be the Bronze Tree!"

As if grasping at the last glimmer of hope, Lao Yang rushed towards Wang Ye and shouted, "Tell me, where is the Bronze Tree?"

"Bronze Tree?"

Wang Ye smiled gently, then suddenly raised his palm, from which a spatial bubble appeared, containing the vanished bronze divine tree.

"Look, isn't it right here?"

"Bronze Tree, Bronze Tree..."

Lao Yang shakily stepped forward, trying to grab it, but before he could even get close, his outstretched fingers seemed to be forcibly erased and disappeared.

Lao Yang's pupils contracted, and he looked at his hand in shock: "What did you do?"

Wang Ye shook his head and laughed, "Have you forgotten? You died a long time ago, and you even killed yourself. As the saying goes, dust to dust, ashes to ashes. Your time has come!"

"A clone, or rather... an obsession!"

"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible!"

As if his defenses had crumbled, Lao Yang roared loudly to cover his guilty conscience, but then his face turned deathly pale. He looked down at his fingers, which were gradually turning transparent, and murmured, "No... I'm still alive... I can still save my mother..."

Wu Xie stared at the scene in shock, his voice trembling: "Lao Yang, what's wrong with you?"

Lao Yang abruptly raised his head, his eyes filled with madness and despair: "Wu Xie! Help me! Help me get the Bronze Tree! Only it can grant wishes! Only it—"

His voice abruptly stopped, and his body vanished into thin air, starting from his fingertips, as if erased by an eraser.

"Old Yang!" Wu Xie rushed forward to grab him, but only grasped at nothingness.

The clerk was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, screamed, and stammered, "A ghost...a ghost!"

Zhang Chulan scratched his head and looked at Wang Ye with some helplessness: "Old Wang, you're too quick! At least let him finish what he was saying."

Wang Ye shrugged: "His obsession runs too deep. It's a good thing for him to be free from it sooner rather than later."

Feng Baobao squatted down, picked up the flashlight that Wu Xie had dropped on the ground, and handed it to him: "Yours."

Wu Xie took the flashlight blankly, looking at the group of mysterious people in front of him, his heart filled with a mixture of fear and doubt.

"Where's Lao Yang? What did you guys do to Lao Yang?" Wu Xie seemed very agitated.

But that's understandable. Lao Yang, also known as Xie Ziyang, is Wu Xie's best friend since childhood. They grew up together like brothers.

Looking at the agitated Wu Xie, Wang Ye couldn't help but sigh and said, "Let me tell you a story. The protagonist of the story is the Lao Yang you mentioned."

"Three years ago, while tomb raiding in the Qinling Mountains, he accidentally touched the bronze tree in this tomb and gained the ability to materialize his subconscious. He discovered this ability when he was trapped in a cave in the tomb and his food was almost gone."

"At that time, he was trapped in a place and had run out of food, but he still subconsciously touched his backpack and found that there was still food in it."

"And he discovered that as long as he believed there was food in the bag, there would always be food. Later, he found that this ability would gradually weaken over time. So, after being trapped for four months, he began to create a way for himself to escape the cave, and he actually succeeded."

"So, the created 'Old Itch' had Old Itch's memories. Later, in order to prevent the original body from eliminating its existence, 'Old Itch' blew up the cave, causing the original body to die in the cave and escape in its place."

"But he was arrested while handling the stolen goods, and was given a pair of silver bracelets. He stayed in jail for three years. When he returned home after three years, he found that his mother had passed away."

"So he desperately wanted to bring you here so that you could remember what his mother looked like, and 'resurrect' his mother just like him!"

Upon hearing this explanation, Wu Xie clearly didn't believe it, because it completely defied science and sounded like something out of a novel. He angrily retorted, "Are you kidding me?!"

Wang Ye smiled and suddenly flung out the bubble containing the bronze tree. The bronze tree grew rapidly in the wind, transforming into an enormous bronze divine tree carved with cloud and thunder patterns.

It was like a giant bronze pillar about ten meters in diameter. At first glance, it looked like a curved bronze wall, rising straight up, seemingly unreachable. Wu Xie swallowed hard in shock. His eyes widened, his mouth slightly open, but he couldn't utter a sound. Looking up at the towering bronze divine tree, he felt a chill run up from the soles of his feet, and his scalp tingled.

"How...how is this possible?" he muttered to himself, his voice trembling so much it was almost inaudible.

Wu Xie's mind was in chaos. The image of Lao Yang disappearing, the story told by Wang Ye, and the bronze divine tree that appeared out of nowhere before him were all impacting his understanding.

He suddenly grabbed his hair and shook his head violently, trying to clear his head.

"No, this must be an illusion, or some kind of mechanism."

He muttered to himself, but a voice inside him told him: It’s all true.

Feng Baobao tilted her head and looked at him: "Why is this kid so stubborn?"

Zhang Chulan stepped forward and patted Wu Xie on the shoulder: "Brother, accept reality. There are too many things in this world that science can't explain."

Wang didn't say much, but instead pulled him forward and said with a smile, "You can try it out and see what happens, it's very interesting!"

Wu Xie hesitated for a moment, then shakily reached out his palm and touched the rough branch.

"Yes, that's it. Imagine something and then think of it as being right in front of you."

"Wu Xie, Wu Xie..."

For some reason, Wu Xie seemed to hear Lao Yang calling his name. When he opened his eyes, he saw a phantom that looked just like Lao Yang standing right in front of him, slowly solidifying.

Upon seeing this, Wu Xie immediately withdrew his hand, and the illusory figure gradually disappeared in his terrified gaze.

At this moment, Zhang Chulan playfully patted Wu Xie on the shoulder and laughed, "It's incredible, isn't it? You can create whatever you think of, just like my power of thought!"

Wu Xie was startled. He hadn't evolved into the Evil Emperor he would become yet, and he was like a frightened puppy.

At this moment, Wu Xie looked at the tall bronze divine tree and couldn't help but be skeptical of Wang Ye's words. Suddenly, he remembered the conversation of the group.

This is an exceptionally fine tomb, beyond the reach of ordinary people. Could this be what it refers to?

However, Wu Xie still had a question: "Why did Lao Yang specifically choose me?"

Wang Ye explained, "As the saying goes, everything has a price. Have you ever heard of drawing a cake to satisfy hunger?"

Wu Xie nodded.

"From the perspective of us Taoist practitioners, this is actually a way of materializing spiritual energy. Deities live by consuming qi, so why do they need incense?"

"It's because of the power of faith within!"

"People offer their faith in exchange for divine protection, which is also a kind of transaction. The bronze tree is the same; it absorbs people's memories and spiritual energy to create what people need."

"For us Taoists, what we take is the essence between life and nature!"

"When sex becomes scarce to a certain extent, there are risks such as memory loss and mental instability. Your friend is not trying to drag you into this, but he can no longer remember what his mother originally looked like."

This explanation seems reasonable enough.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Ye gently tapped the bronze tree, and an invisible membrane enveloped it again, causing it to shrink rapidly and fall into Wang Ye's palm.

Wu Xie forced himself not to look at the bronze tree and asked, "Who exactly are you people?"

Chen Duo said softly, "We were just passing by and stopped by for hot pot."

"Just passing by? Hot pot?!"

Wu Xie smiled wryly, "In a place like this?"

But you know what, Wu Xie sniffed and there really was a smell of hot pot with butter, which made him hungry.

Zhang Chulan chuckled and leaned closer, saying, "Hey, don't be nervous, we mean you no harm. But this place really isn't safe, you should leave as soon as possible."

Wu Xie stared at Wang Ye and couldn't help but ask, "Why do you look exactly like me?"

Wang Ye stroked his chin: "Well, it's a bit complicated to explain. You can think of it as another you in a parallel world, although our experiences may be a little different."

Wu Xie: "Parallel world?"

After listening for a while, Master Liang realized that the four people in front of him were not ordinary people. He immediately got up shakily and said, "Gentlemen, we'll be leaving now, we'll be leaving now!"

He tugged at Wu Xie's sleeve, "Brother Wu, let's go!"

Wu Xie stood still, his gaze resolute: "You took the Bronze Tree, what exactly do you want to do with it?"

Feng Baobao tilted her head, without a trace of scheming, and said, "Heaven needs this tree. We can exchange it for merit, and merit can be exchanged for many, many things."

As she spoke, Feng Baobao gestured a large circle with both hands.

Wu Xie remained silent for a moment, then finally sighed. Although it sounded absurd, the fact that these people were saying it made it seem like there might actually be some truth to it.

After all, it's such a big tree, and people can just harvest it whenever they want. It's completely beyond scientific explanation. What else can he say?
Believe it!

"Okay, I believe you guys, but Lao Yang..."

Zhang Chulan patted him on the shoulder: "He's gone, but his obsession has also been released."

Master Liang urged, "Brother Wu, let's hurry up and leave! This place is very eerie!"

Wu Xie took one last look at the empty site of the bronze tree and nodded: "Let's go, let's go find Fatty and Xiao Ge first."

Just as they turned to leave, the entire underground space suddenly shook, and rubble fell from the top.

Wu Xie's expression changed: "Oh no, this place is going to collapse!"

Wang Ye remained completely calm and said, "It's alright, just follow me!"

Wang Ye stretched out his hand, and a dark passage suddenly appeared in front of them. It was the Eight Gates Transporting Technique that Wang Ye had mastered.

He led the group quickly through the swaying passage, and the cave behind them began to collapse. Wu Xie and Liang Shiye were so frightened by this sudden change that they turned pale and could only follow closely behind them.

Finally, everyone rushed out of the cave and returned to the ground. Sunlight shone on their faces, and Wu Xie felt as if he had been through another world.

He looked in the direction of the tremor and saw the distant mountains beginning to sway and collapse.

"Oh no, the young man and the fat man are both underground!"

Wang Ye laughed and said, "Don't worry, you won't die!"

Wang Ye snapped his fingers, and another passage appeared, from which three figures fell out.

(End of this chapter)