Why play in a band if you don't form one for life?

The sound was getting louder and louder.

Gradually, it became noisy, and became the cries of a few people, dozens of people, and hundreds of people. Their dying prayers came from ancient times and echoed in Ruiyi's mind.

"The Pure Land is about to be destroyed—"

"Bo Xun, Bo Xun..."

"The Saint went to the center--!"

"The Bodhisattva is still holding on!"

"fail--"

"——————!"

Rui Yi just moves forward.

All the muscles in my body seemed to have their own consciousness and wanted to escape. Although I was standing on flat ground, I felt like I was in the deep sea. Every step I took was a struggle against the world.

forward.

A skull rolled down under her feet. Ruiyi seemed to see flesh and blood growing on the skull, forming a human face. Before she could see clearly, the newborn's lips tore apart, and a shrill scream came out. The human face quickly melted, and the flesh and bones were kneaded into a ball, like all the swill mixed together in a garbage bag.

Rui Yi didn't care and walked past the minced meat.

What's ahead? Ruiyi lowered her head and could not see anything. Now she took a step forward, and the ground under her eyes was still stone bricks. But what was the next step?

The sky seemed to be raining. Black rain. Painful rain. Final rain. Despairing rain.

The rain fell on Ruiyi's head and back.

Go forward and step upwards onto the stone steps in front of the temple.

There was a heavy sound of a door opening. It seemed that the palace door was opened.

The auditory hallucinations in my mind suddenly stopped, replaced by an unbearable silence, as if everything had been destroyed.

Don't think about it. Ray knows.

I just need to see the figure in my memory. My desire to see her has never changed.

Then, what needs to be done is simple.

She numbly stepped over all the stone steps and crossed the threshold. A thin layer of dirt had already floated up in the hall, and there was a strong smell of mold. The center of fear was right in front of her. Something was standing right in front of her. Ruiyi moved instinctively. She raised the long knife in her hand and stabbed forward with her last bit of strength.

The feeling of piercing the flesh.

Then the view returned to normal and it was all over.

The fear that almost tore her soul apart had dissipated without her knowing when. Ruiyi fell to the ground, gasping for breath, her whole body exhausted and covered in sweat. However, she immediately looked up and saw the root of everything:

A dried corpse was sitting on a cushion. The corpse was wrapped in a loose and tattered cassock. If you didn't look at the eyes that still had a glimmer of light, she had no signs of life at all. The long knife pierced her heart, and purple-black liquid flowed out of the wound, staining the gold pattern on the cassock black.

The mummy slowly raised its head, a look of relief on its face.

An old voice suddenly sounded in Ruiyi's mind: "(How... did you... get here...?)" The mummy's lips moved, but no sound came out, only the thoughts were transmitted to Ruiyi's mind.

Rui Yi's face was calm: "If I don't kill you, I can't get out and I can't see the person I want to find."

The mummy's lips curled upwards, his eyelids narrowed slightly, revealing a terrifying smile, as if he was relieved or expressing emotion.

“(Come here.)” she said.

Rui Yi hesitated slightly, but still stood up, approached the mummy and squatted down.

The mummy raised his bamboo-thin right hand with difficulty, made a hand seal, and slowly pressed it on Ruiyi's forehead: "(Although you don't need it anymore... the last Fearless Seal... I will pass it on to you...)"

A faint light lit up in the dark hall. When Ruiyi opened his eyes again, the mummy's eyes were closed forever, and the poisonous blood in his heart had coagulated and clumped into a twisted mandala flower.

Ruiyi sighed and stood up. There were footsteps outside the palace.

PS: How come paranoia was reported? I already mentioned paranoia in the second and third volumes...

Chapter 47: Light

The firelight flickered on the faces of the onlookers.

The sound of roasting flesh.

The old nun's body burned in the flames of extradition.

Shizi turned around and saw Kita staring at the fire solemnly.

"Is she her partner too?" she whispered.

"Yes." Kita nodded imperceptibly, "This city is protected by two people together."

Layer 4 whispered: "I can feel that she was the one with the strongest will."

"What did you see?" LAYER asked.

Number Four dropped his eyelids. "Nothing. Just a feeling."

"Is that so?" LAYER No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 did not ask any further questions. Instead, they lowered their heads together with No. 4 and observed a moment of silence for the deceased.

After a long time, the flames died down. Nine relics were picked out from the ashes. Shizi took one and handed it to Kita: "Leave it as a reminder for her. The rest, place them here."

Kita took it obediently. The consciousness in his body seemed to calm down.

They walked around the temple again. Not only was Medicine Buddha enshrined here, but also other city guardians. Kita discovered that the Starry Sky Immortal Venerable was also enshrined there as a Bodhisattva.

“(The journey in this city is considered to be over...)” She turned her head, “(But...)” She turned her head and looked at No. 4.

On the ship, LAYER shared the information with No. 4.

"That means we still don't know who the real person is, right?" Number Four concluded.

"We should think of a solution for our problems." Layer looked troubled. The shadow cast by the cumulonimbus clouds in the matrix flashed across her face. Every time she arrived in a city, she would find herself. After getting used to it, this kind of thing even seemed a little humorous, but in the final analysis, they still knew nothing about it.

I don’t know the cause, I don’t know the consequence.

The only thing I know is that after comparing the memories of the four people, I found the only difference...

If this difference really meant something, then, LAYER thought, it would all be over in the next city.

The others obviously thought the same. Number 2, number 3, and number 4 all looked at her silently.

Number two, never died.

Number three, died once.

Number four, died twice.

"And I have died four times."Layer stood up. The light swallowed her.

A new city. This time Roman.

The other three stood up and looked at the figure standing on the dock.

The fifth LAYER. She stood under the shade of a tree, and next to her stood a complete animal skeleton.

It's a giraffe.

The dust settled. Layer suddenly understood.

The blinding light suddenly filled his entire field of vision. LAYER lowered his hands from covering his eyes.

She was in the center of the stage. The stage seemed to be located underground, and seemed to be as big as a martial arts hall. There were audience seats around the circular stage, but at this moment, no one was there.

Only the spotlight is shining, focusing on the five LAYERS.

There is also a giraffe standing opposite them.

All eyes were focused on the fifth LAYER, and everyone was waiting for her to speak.

"No need to introduce yourself, I know you guys, me." There was indeed no surprise on her face.

"Did you die three times? Or five times?" asked No. 2.

Number Five glanced at her and said, "Three times."

"Well, you already know it." said No. 3.

"That's right." Number Four turned to the giraffe in the distance. "Can you explain it?"

LAYER said nothing, just looked at the giraffe with everyone else.

A frozen city. Above the clouds.

The giraffe faced Shizi: "I said, I need to infiltrate the stage into the wilderness."

“Few people would choose to go into the wilderness on their own initiative.” The giraffe’s voice echoed on the stage, “For my friends, I understand.”

"She has made the decision a long time ago, and I can also make arrangements for her in advance." The giraffe said to Shizi, "Yes, make a small change." It lowered its head and looked at Shizi.

"Change...what is it?" LAYER asked.

"Your ability," the giraffe replied, "resurrection from the dead? No, no, no."

"It's just that, every time before you die, your ability will send your memories back to the past, to the you who was just attracted by the wilderness, and then send her to the world after your death."

A silence.

"Why?" Shizi suppressed his anger and asked in a low voice, "So, if LAYER dies, is she really dead? The one who appears afterwards is just her past self? She will die with the hope of resurrection, and then it will be over?"

The bloody bushes that I saw when I first met LAYER seemed to appear before my eyes.

“I said, I need to infiltrate the stage into the wilderness.” The giraffe repeated slowly, “After this process, my power can be more deeply embedded in this world.”

"I'm helping you." The giraffe lowered his head and whispered in Shizi's ear.

There was a flash of anger in Shizi's eyes, but he finally suppressed it.

"What are we?" Number Two asked. She already had some guesses, so she was very calm.

"Ghosts." Number 5 answered for her. Several people looked at her.

"There seems to be a facility called 'Fire Road' here. People who die outside can be reborn here, but they can't leave after that." No. 5 explained.

"Will we never be able to see Xiaohua again?" Number Four was confused.

"Then why have we worked so hard until now?" No. 3 asked the giraffe.

"There is another person." Number Five reminded.

Everyone's eyes were focused on LAYER.

LAYER lowered her eyelids. She was different from the others. She could leave the Garden of Eden.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered. Four people gathered in front of her. Four faces that looked exactly like hers, looking at her.

"Will you give up?" Five asked, "Will you stay here with your past because of guilt?"

"Or should we keep moving forward?" Number Four continued.

LAYER was slightly startled. Then she smiled apologetically. This kind of smile was common on her face.

I'm sorry, but I'll keep going.

Then, the four of them smiled in the same way.

"Then, before you leave, let us send you our blessings." Number Three stepped forward, and white mist rose from his palm. "The luck accumulated by Qingyu Town over hundreds of years is now transferred to you."

The misted luck flew into LAYER's seven orifices.

【Wish】: The attack will surely hit the opponent's weakness.

"Then it's me." Number Four stepped forward. "The Fearless Seal you just obtained will make you fearless of any obstacles." She raised her right palm, formed a seal, and pressed it on the top of LAYER's head.

[Courage]: No longer afraid, you will be able to exert your strongest strength.

Number Two stepped forward and said, "Take out that sword." Layer followed his instructions, untied the cloth bag, and handed it to Number Two. Number Two closed her eyes, and with a thought, several pieces of the bag flew out, gathered in the air, and emitted a dazzling light. When the light went out, she only had a complete spiritual sword in her hand, and the precious light was warm, like the drizzle in March.

"Sword name: 'Rain'." Number Two handed the spirit sword back to LAYER, "I remember now. When I landed in Suizhi Town, I accidentally resonated with it. I can also be considered half a sword spirit."

[Rain]: Blade for exorcising evil spirits, resistance to filth +10, with Earth Shinin-ryu swordsmanship.

Number Five stepped forward: "Finally, it's me."

She grabbed a ray of light and inserted it into LAYER's heart.

On board. LAYER stared at his panel.

[Light]: Go, don’t look back, catch up with that light for us.

She silently closed the panel. The light of the next city was already in sight.