This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 194 Preparation
Igor's embarrassment was quickly replaced by intense curiosity. He forgot about the bottle of Moutai and the delicious food, moved forward, almost pressed against the railing, and stared intently at the unusually bright starlight in Ping Xingdou's eyes.

"Integrate? Become?"

Igor repeated some words, his tone no longer sarcastic, but with the focused concentration of a scholar exploring the unknown.

"What kind of theory is this? Some kind of... consciousness uploading? Collective ascension? Or some kind of cosmic consciousness hypothesis? What do you know? No, wait... you said 'real'... you think our current state is 'unreal'?"

His questions came out like a machine gun, his eyes sparkling. The task of getting information out of him seemed to have been thrown to the winds. At this moment, he genuinely wanted to understand what kind of logic or discovery was hidden behind Ping Xingdou's astonishing remarks.

Ping Xingdou watched as Igor's state changed instantly, his fervent thirst for knowledge almost overflowing through the railing. He paused for a moment, a slight blue light flickering in his eyes.

“Theory? No, this is not a theory.” Ping Xingdou slowly shook his head, his voice carrying a strange ethereal quality, as if coming from a very distant place. “This is… ‘seeing,’ this is reality. The truth behind the veil awaits our meeting…”

He raised his hand, his fingertips gently tracing the smooth stone slab in his arms, which was covered with intricate star maps, all carved by him stroke by stroke.

“Class, barriers, front and back, high and low… even ‘self’…” Ping Xingdou spoke calmly, yet his words were shocking, his voice carrying a strange rhythm. “These are all just dust covering the truth, prisons that limit our perception.”

"The starry sky... the real starry sky is not the specks of light you see through your telescope. It is... the sum total of everything, the ultimate destination, a boiling fire, and a cold, lifeless silence. And life is a part of it, but civilization has made us forget."

Igor was stunned, his mouth slightly agape.

The things in Ping Xingdou's mind probably went far beyond the scope of physics, and even beyond normal philosophical thinking. They were imbued with a strong, almost religious, mystical color, but also seemed to contain some kind of... strange logic.

"See it? How did you see it?" Igor stared intently at Ping Xingdou. "Also, they said the system determined your star map to be 100% accurate... How is that possible? How did you do that?"

“Recite, memorize, let your thoughts wander within it,” Ping Xingdou said. “When you have a sincere love and dedication to the starry sky, the starry sky will also face you in its most authentic form and remain in your memory…”

He raised his eyes, his gaze seemingly piercing through the thick prison walls and reaching into the infinitely distant depths of space.

"And when the final judgment comes, when all the dust is blown away, all things will return to their original place. We will return to the sea of ​​stars, without pain, without separation, only... eternal peace and truth."

Igor was completely speechless. He looked at Ping Xingdou, at this imprisoned astronomer, and felt as if he were talking to a visitor from a distant galaxy, or rather... listening to a prophet convey a divine message.

Why are you acting like a charlatan, bro?
He had originally come to extract information about the true starry sky and the Star God Cult, but now he felt he had touched upon a maddening illusion, or something far larger, more fundamental, and more unsettling than any of those…

The truth? Or just wishful thinking?
Igor couldn't judge, he couldn't even be sure, whether the person in front of him was 'Ping Xingdou'.

And is there some unknown connection between those statements about the 'real starry sky and merging into the universe' and the 'return' pursued by the Returning Church?
"Is there anything else you want to say?" Igor asked softly. "You know, I can understand you..." at least in terms of intelligence and knowledge.

Ping Xingdou seemed to want to say something more, but he paused for a moment and then shut his mouth. He picked up the stone slab, took out other stone slabs and combined them with it, revealing a vast starry sky. The magic of the flickering stars suspended them in mid-air, and he lay back, as if the prison bed were actually a platform for stargazing. He looked at the starry sky on the stone slab as if looking at that real past. No matter how hard Igor tried, he couldn't get another word out of Ping Xingdou, and the guy lay on the bed, humming a tune softly as if he were having a hysterical episode, a clear and gentle melody.

This guy won't cooperate. Igor knew that.

He shook his head and got up to leave the cell. But after taking only a couple of steps, he suddenly turned back and picked up the food and drink from the ground.

"Look at you, acting like you're about to become an immortal. You probably won't need to eat anymore." Igor sighed slowly. "I hope you understand that even if you seek knowledge for yourself, technology and knowledge are meant to serve people. You can ponder the theory as much as you want, but when you take action, don't ignore ethics and morality."

"If you seek knowledge, no one will care. But if your way of seeking knowledge is to become a traitor or to harm your fellow countrymen, I would have to advise them not to be so inhumane even if they were to kill you."

After he left, Ping Xingdou turned back, looking at the empty prison, his gaze vacant and sorrowful. Deep within his eyes, blue starlight seemed to move as if alive, flickering and resonating with a strange melody.

……

Nie Weiyang crouched quietly in a thicket of bushes, like a rock blending into the mountain shadows, only his scarlet eyes slightly shifting as he processed the subtle information from all directions.

His senses were like an invisible spider web, spreading outwards from him, capturing the scents carried by the wind, the vibrations from the ground, and the whispered reports from the stalkers.

The situation around Xunshan was being rapidly outlined. The distribution of believers was far more chaotic than it appeared. Beneath the seemingly fervent prayers lay different factions and subtle signs of complacency.

The locations of both visible and hidden sentries were marked one by one. The birds circling in the sky had vacant eyes, clearly controlled informants. The madness and pain emanating from the direction of the Bone Temple continued unabated, like a constantly spreading source of pollution.

Meanwhile, news also came from the other two teams.

"Second team reports: An abandoned village has been discovered three kilometers to the northeast, showing signs of a large-scale massacre. The bodies have been disposed of, but bloodstains and signs of fighting cannot be completely concealed. The incident is estimated to have occurred about a month ago. In addition, a cellar suspected of having been used for some kind of ritual has been discovered, and the remaining traces of corpses are extremely disturbing. No survivors have been found."

"Team Three reports: Four small, destroyed settlements have been discovered in the western valley. The fortifications were violently destroyed, with traces of energy blast-type spells used. No supplies were left behind, suggesting they were recovered by the enemy. We are currently conducting further investigations of the surrounding area."

Useful information was gathering. Nie Weiyang silently noted down each piece, clutching the Phantom Spirit Orb in his hand—this thing had a terrible information delay; he had reported on the vanguard's situation earlier, and still hadn't received a reply. For intelligence from Xunshan, it was faster and more reliable to simply send people on their way rather than sending messages.

Based on his understanding of the Returning Church, they would receive the message no later than the next morning.

"Get ready, we're launching a surprise attack tonight," Nie Weiyang ordered softly. "Note: Do not approach the central peak. Your movement is limited to the outer ring. Understand?"

Those around him were used to obeying his orders, and they subconsciously replied, "Understood!"

(End of this chapter)