This time I chose Paladin

Once upon a time, Nie Weiyang saw illusions in countless moments.

He saw the destroyed civilization under the scarlet sky, saw the ruins of the city covering the wilderness, saw the wind blowing, in this world with only the smell of blood, everyone around him was dead, and only he was sitting there.

In that world full of cracks, the most broken thing is himself.

But at that time, when Nie Weiyang closed his eyes and opened them again, he saw the sun of a new day.

What was he doing at that time?

—he was laughing.

The world can tolerate me.

Because people can tolerate me.

"Don't be afraid," the old Taoist said. "Nothing is chasing you."

He patted Nie Weiyang's arm.

"We are number one in the world."

I cried immediately, I was one minute late

Chapter 96 They said it was a dream

Rebirth.

The word is simple to say, like picking up a box of beads that have fallen to the ground and putting them back in their proper places one by one. As long as the beads are still where they belong, everything is fine.

But in fact, rebirth is to cut off a piece from the far end of a bundle of ropes and use it to replace the earliest part of the bundle of ropes.

At first glance, the rope's fiber structure is normal, the weave is well-aligned, and everything seems to be fine. It might even be stronger than it should be...

Only the piece of rope itself knows that everything has changed.

Because the rope of life is woven by time, experience, memory, and the entire era. It is closely connected with the past, present, and future, and it is impossible to truly return to the original state.

It had seen the worst days, the days when all the ropes were soaked in mud and water, so it could not avoid worrying about the future no matter what.

Sometimes people cannot distinguish between worry and fear, because the former is the desire not to have something happen, while the latter is the fear of something happening.

Nie Weiyang raised his head, his eyes behind his sunglasses as calm as ever.

But he himself knew very well that everything had changed.

“Fear is what motivates me.”

Nie Weiyang said that he understood what fear felt like, so he was good at inflicting fear on his enemies. He had done so in the past and still does so now, but he usually doesn't say it that way: "But now, I am more worried."

The old Taoist priest asked solemnly, "What are you worried about? What is there for you to worry about?"

"Eating and drinking aren't just a soldier's responsibility. As for the dangers hidden in this 'new world,' that's a matter for all of us. No one can handle everything on their own. Look, there are people everywhere. If you encounter trouble and don't seek help, you're separating yourself from your compatriots."

Nie Weiyang's eyes flickered.

He knew that the four months of tension had caused a serious rift between him and human society.

This is totally inappropriate. What he has to do is too heavy, and it is something that cannot be lifted by someone who only stands high and far away.

But he was indeed afraid, afraid that his long-term impact would make the world a worse place, afraid that he might eventually lead to complete destruction.

Although this fear couldn't shake his actions at all, he still believed that if he was afraid of this, then he shouldn't do anything at all. If he had already done something, he should be less afraid, or at least not let it influence his choices. Doing it, moving forward, was much better than doing nothing or just pursuing perfection...

But people are afraid of the unknown, this is human instinct.

As this exploration unfolded, he learned more and more information, and he became increasingly aware that the new world was more vast, complex, huge, and dangerous than what he had known in his previous life. If he wasn't careful, he could bring those who trusted him down the cliff.

And now, his charisma also makes him more trustworthy than others...

Well, sometimes you have to think more before making a choice. When a normal person needs to be responsible for others, overthinking becomes an instinct - at least for Nie Weiyang.

"I've become a fool too," he sighed softly. "Well, it always has been like this."

"My son," the old Taoist priest was a little confused. He observed Nie Weiyang and asked cautiously, "Do you... know something that we don't know?"

"We can't know." Nie Weiyang said.

Second Administrator, Terrain Editor, Link Shelter, Space Station Lost Contact. World Barrier, External High Temperature, Abnormally Low Temperature, Pre-Civilization, Communications Leading to the Netherworld… and so on and so forth.

Which of these things could a normal person know the truth about? If he said a few more words, he would be setting off fireworks in other people's minds.

Among these information, the Netherworld needs to be kept secret in particular.

After all, the first few are things that exist in reality, and the netherworld... well...

It's different.

In Nie Weiyang's understanding, the netherworld is a strange space between reality and illusion. It is attached to the material world, deep, dark, and fragmented, like a distorted reflection of "reality" on the water somewhere.

When life in the material world dies, the soul, free of attachments, travels to the netherworld. This is a shift in time and space, often manifesting in a bizarre transformation: when the soul flows to the netherworld, a reaction known as 'netherworld advent' briefly darkens the surroundings and increases the color density, as if a ray of light belonging to the material world has been lost, or as if the netherworld is simply eroding reality.

This is the origin of the name "Yujie".

It's worth noting that the phenomenon of the Netherworld's arrival is very similar to the manifestation of the 'Dark Zone'. The only difference is that the establishment of the Dark Zone is blatant, while the Netherworld's arrival is often so subtle that others don't even realize it has occurred.

At this moment, the old Taoist priest has realized the seriousness of the problem.

His face became serious, and one hand subconsciously tucked into his sleeve, fiddling with something. His eyes, emitting a light blue light, stared at Nie Weiyang intently, but he didn't say a word for a long time.

There was silence all around, the wind blew between the two of them, and everyone had unknowingly moved a little further away. Here, everyone knew that there were some things that could not be heard.

dark.

unknown.

destroy.

end.

unknown.

fighting.

struggle.

survive.

unknown……

The atmosphere was solemn, and the old Taoist priest stared at Nie Weiyang intently. After a long moment, he slowly spoke, as if to inquire about a profound secret.

"Do you eat cilantro?" he asked.

Nie Weiyang: “……?”

His thoughts were interrupted, and at that moment, Nie Weiyang's brain almost froze. He opened and closed his mouth two or three times, and finally replied with difficulty: "...No, I don't want to eat it."

"Where are the onions, ginger and garlic?"

"Eat. Garlic is not very edible." - This thing is really a bit torturous to the taste buds of vampires. I don't know why...

"Are there any other dietary restrictions?"

"No...Oh, I don't eat Houttuynia cordata."

"Very good. Let's go and have dinner." The old Taoist priest waved his hand. "I... no, that's not right." He pulled the old pastor next to him and said, "He'll treat me!"

The old pastor, who had always maintained a low profile, widened his eyes and said, "Huh?"

—My treat? Me?

He opened his currency interface, looked at the pitiful number of silver rings, and then showed it to the two of them.

"How come you only have 30 yuan left?! Only enough for six meals?" the old Taoist priest was shocked. "Even if the higher-ups don't allow us to accept donations, you can't be so poor, right?"

"I bought rice for the monks! The things in the vending machine are so expensive! How much do you have? Let me see! If it's more than a hundred, it's your treat today!" the old priest shouted.

The old Taoist priest calmly showed his currency interface.

11 yuan.

“…” Nie Weiyang sighed deeply.

"It's my treat," he said.

Even if he spent 300,000, he would still have several thousand silver rings in his hands. After all, he didn't have much expenses on a daily basis, so he could save a lot by doing anything.

"That... isn't necessary." The old Taoist priest looked a little embarrassed, but he had already walked out. It was obvious that this refusal was just to create an atmosphere. "The doctor said that we are both too old and need to eat more meat, eggs and milk. Actually, I couldn't get used to the taste at first, but I can't not eat it..."

"Then we'll eat meat," Nie Weiyang said, "but isn't it said that the cafeteria has a unified diet?"

This reallocation of necessary resources should not be allowed at the current stage.

"Next door, there's an artist's market. There's a kid in the cafeteria who's really good at cooking meat, and he goes out every day to dig wild onions.

"After the granary was stolen, the higher-ups had no choice but to relax some of the restrictions. Now you have to spend silver rings to eat, or work to earn tickets," the old Taoist priest replied. "By the way, I don't eat beef."

……

That’s it for now, let’s eat first.

Although people cannot empathize with each other on some things, what tastes good is delicious. Food, water and safety are the original common language of human beings. Enjoying the most basic food and water in a relatively safe place is the greatest satisfaction.

"This part is good." The old Taoist priest commented on the skewers of tender white grilled meat in his hand and gave half to Nie Weiyang.

Nie Weiyang took it and took a bite.

The meat has the texture of crab legs and the flavor of shrimp or garlic-marinated fish. Due to environmental constraints, it's lightly seasoned, but once the chef's skillful hands remove that hint of fishiness, the original aroma and sweetness of the ingredients are enough to sustain a meal.

It's really good.

Nie Weiyang quite likes eating shrimps. It reminds him of his childhood days when he would go to the river to catch fish and shrimps. Thinking of this, those distant times from twenty or thirty years ago seemed to be right in front of him.

"Very good," he said, waving to the chef nearby. "Ten more skewers, two for each person."

"Okay!" the chef responded with a smile.

This canteen is very large, with about dozens of chefs. Some cook big pots of food, while others run small stalls.

The chef was young, short and thin, with his face blackened by cooking fumes, but his professional level as a chef was as high as 13. At this moment, his character information panel was floating next to him. The big number and the strong aroma attracted wave after wave of diners.

Next to the stall, there were several people sitting on small wooden benches, quickly stringing up marinated white and tender meat on bamboo skewers.

"This cafeteria is quite considerate. They've even displayed the chef's level and ingredients, indicating that the official pricing is correct. It's just that this string of three silver rings is a bit too expensive for a normal person. The average person would earn less than 3 silver rings after completing a day's worth of tasks."

Peng Tianyu sighed. He raised the bamboo skewer in his hand and pulled off a piece of meat. "...It's indeed delicious. What kind of fish is this?"