Chase Game

High in the air, Shen Nianqing first posed this question:

"What image does 'god' have in your eyes?"

Ma Tuan thought for a moment, then casually said, "Power is the ultimate form of strength, oh right, and wisdom too!"

Sancai Tuanzi thought for a while longer, but then simply summarized with four words:

"Omniscient and omnipotent."

Shen Nianqing nodded:

"Yes, you mentioned 'ultimate power' and 'ultimate wisdom,' but besides those two, I see something else."

Shen Nianqing acted like a patient and persuasive teacher, and the two kitten students were already intrigued, quietly waiting for her to reveal the answer.

The teacher stared ahead, paused, and then uttered four words:

"Ultimate Justice!"

Seeing that the two kittens seemed puzzled, Shen Nianqing did not answer them immediately, but let them process it for a while.

After a short while, the tricolor dumpling asked, seemingly understanding but not quite, "Ultimate... justice?"

"Does it refer to emotions or order?"

Shen Nianqing then smiled and said, "That's right. So-called ultimate justice represents absolute, unconditional love, compassion, and fairness."

"In a world filled with suffering and injustice, the divine is where people place their hopes for 'ultimate justice.'"

"I see……"

The sesame ball seemed to understand, but the tricolor dumpling was more intuitive.

However, she quickly realized that this had nothing to do with the question she was going to ask.

Shen Nianqing continued, "Once you understand 'ultimate justice,' you'll understand why the story I'm about to tell is about 'ignorance and foolishness.'"

This time, she didn't pause and spoke in one breath:

"Long ago, before the phoenix fell here, this place wasn't called Fallen Phoenix Mountain."

"At that time, there was a tribe living here, let's just call them the 'Fengshan Tribe'."

"The Fengshan tribe worships the phoenix as their guardian deity. Half of the prey they hunt must be thrown into the fire as a sacrifice to the phoenix."

"This is simply the law of nature, and there's nothing wrong with it."

"Later on, they could no longer catch any prey, and coincidentally, a severe drought and locust plague struck, causing hunger and disease to spread in the Fengshan tribe."

"What was originally a natural disaster was seen by people as divine punishment."

"So they began an even more frenzied series of sacrifices."

Hearing this, the tricolor dumpling asked in confusion, "Didn't they say that it was impossible to catch any prey anymore?"

Before Shen Nianqing could explain, Ma Tuan casually said, "Aren't there other people around?"

Sancai Tuanzi suddenly realized what was going on and looked at Matuan with some surprise.

He got goosebumps from being stared at, shuddered, and said:

"Hey, what are you looking at me for? I'm not a psychopathic killer..."

Sancai Tuanzi said, "It's nothing, I just feel that you are indeed more suited to the [Martial Court]..."

At this moment, Shen Nianqing steered the conversation back on track: "That's right, it's 'human sacrifice'."

"The man was tied to a thick wooden stake, and dry firewood was placed around him. The fire burned from the outside in."

"The people on the thick wooden stakes will have to endure the fear of waiting and the torment of being burned."

"At that moment, the divine bird appeared."

"How do you think the gods' 'ultimate justice' will be applied to this tribe?"

Three-colored dumpling blurted out: "Punishment?"

Ma Tuan added, "Burn them all down!"

Shen Nianqing shook her head:

"The implementation of ultimate justice is not a simple matter of 'sent down divine punishment' or 'granting blessings,' but a complex process."

"This involves—ultimate compensation for the 'innocent victims.' And a complex judgment against the 'perpetrators.'"

"The greatest tragedy of this tribe is that they misunderstood the nature of the gods."

"The original practice of 'sacrificing half of the prey' was a simple belief based on gratitude and exchange."

"But when hardship strikes, they automatically upgrade this pattern to: exchanging more precious sacrifices (people) for greater blessings (rain and food)."

"From the perspective of ultimate justice, the essence of this belief is transaction, not reverence."

"So, the gods gave them a 'deal'."

"The divine phoenix appeared, transforming into an egg, and told the tribe:"

If they can successfully hatch this egg, then they will get everything they want.

"The conditions for hatching the egg are extremely demanding. It not only requires the popularity of a large gathering of people, but also the ability to endure the great pain brought by Shen Yun."

"If the people of Fengshan tribe migrate and find a new place to live, they may still have a chance to hatch the divine bird's egg."

"But they didn't. They just thought they were being played by the gods and fell into a kind of 'ultimate fear'."

"Ultimate fear breeds more madness and bloodshed, and ultimately, the tribe perished in infighting."

After hearing the story, Sancai Tuanzi and Matuan swallowed hard, unsure of what to say.

Shen Nianqing, however, kept her eyes fixed straight ahead, her expression unreadable. She calmly said:

"Gods are our imagination of the 'ultimate,' while justice is humanity's desire for order."

"When the two are combined, things seem to become simpler, given the immense power that the gods can achieve."

"But in fact, it's becoming increasingly complicated."

High in the sky, the discussion between the one person and the two cats about "ultimate justice" came to an end.

Not long after they headed towards the Meng residence, Ling Yi and Zhao Dayou also met on Dongshan Mountain.

Fortunately, Ling Yi spotted Zhao Dayou first, while the other party had not yet spotted Ling Yi.

"Damn it, you're so high-profile. We could hear you from far away. It's impossible not to see you."

Ling Yi secretly realized that he was hiding behind a tree, and not far away was Zhao Dayou, who was riding the wind and making the whole forest rustle.

But what's this kid doing here?

Could it be that Zhao Dayou took one of the [Burning Eyes] and [Burning Hands]?

Ling Yi guessed in his heart.

It wasn't until he saw Zhao Dayou's intact arm wrapped in flames, and he punched out a pillar of fire that struck the cave wall that he confirmed his suspicions.

"It really was you, kid!"

Looking at the move Zhao Dayou made, Ling Yi guessed that it was most likely the effect of the item [Burning Hand].

He gasped, then exclaimed, "Damn... he's kind of handsome..."

At the same time, a question arose in my mind: Who took away [Burning Eyes]?

He counted and found that, excluding himself and Zhao Da, there were five players left.

Zhang Qiang was ruled out first.

The remaining individuals are Wang Yun, Zhou Jie, Ding Guifang, and Meng Dong.

But in their own memory, none of these four people seemed to have come to Dongshan Village.

Or is there a location at the Meng residence that triggers a special storyline?

I can't figure it out...

It's quite normal for players' judgments to be misled by the interference of the Chosen Ones.

Just like the previous "Stolen Items" instance, due to interference from the Chosen One Ling Miaomiao, Ling Yi and the other three lost their way several times.

However, the difficulty of that instance was relatively low, and there were many clues, so it was still possible to solve the mystery by chance.

This mission is difficult, the map is large, and there are many players, so solving the puzzles won't be easy.