Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 490 - 460 Let’s open the skylight and speak frankly

Chapter 490: 460 Let’s open the skylight and speak frankly

I followed the advice of Gua Tianshi and Lu Chan, and to avoid being seen by Liu Shuying, I decided to first arrange for Mazao to go to Saltwater City. After Liu Shuying came to visit, considering the historical perception that a seasoned Impermanence should have, I didn’t bring him into the mansion but instead found a place outside to talk.

We sat down at a newly opened café on the outskirts of the Luoshan Headquarters. From my limited understanding, the Luoshan people generally prefer drinking tea more than coffee, which is considered a foreign product. However, as Luoshan embraced modern society culture, some discreet international fast-food outlets and cafés have opened on the headquarters’ outskirts. This was one of them. Compared to the antique and elegant traditional atmosphere, I was more accustomed to this youthful space. Furthermore, it was close to the mansion.

Probably not just me; Liu Shuying also didn’t want to attract attention. Thus, the surrounding staff and customers acted as though they couldn’t recognize Impermanence, chatting among themselves, while the staff member taking our order served us like ordinary guests without any change in expression.

It wasn’t long before the staff brought two steaming cups of coffee to our table.

I observed Liu Shuying closely.

This person, known as the "Prophet," predicted the existence of Doomsday.

"I’ve already heard; you’re here to talk to me about Shan Liangyi," I said. "So, what exactly do you want to discuss about Shan Liangyi?"

Liu Shuying corrected, "More precisely, it’s not just about Shan Liangyi but also Taoyuan Village Master. In the upcoming discussion, the Taoyuan Village Master is the character we actually need to confront."

"—’We’?" I asked.

"Yes," Liu Shuying responded.

"What do you want to do to the Taoyuan Village Master?" was the question I chose to ask first.

"To get straight to the point, I want to kill Shan Liangyi, and the Taoyuan Village Master is currently the most likely person to be Shan Liangyi." Liu Shuying’s attitude was very direct.

This surprised me. Although I wasn’t sure if Liu Shuying was Shan Liangyi, I could certainly say he wasn’t a Liangyi Inheritor. The true Liangyi Inheritor would have all their talents transformed into forms corresponding to the Power Seed. If he were a contemporary White Tiger Inheritor or Green Dragon Inheritor, his power would be Gold and Slaughter Power, or Wood and Cultivation Power.

Though I wasn’t sure how exactly Wood and Cultivation Power would manifest, I believed the Taoyuan Village Master likely possessed this power. With the historical data Lu Chan had previously collected on my behalf, it’s clear that Green Dragon Inheritors never exhibit attributes related to "Prophets," while Liu Shuying not only can foresee but also seems like a versatile Impermanence.

As for what talents exactly, I’m not too clear. It’s really difficult to gather information related to Liu Shuying.

The Old Fist God killed Shan Liangyi in the past, and now both I and Water Navy Xuanwu are enemies of Shan Liangyi due to an irreconcilable conflict, mainly the Power Seed within us, which Shan Liangyi will inevitably attempt to seize. But Liu Shuying seems unlike us, so why would he develop a desire to kill Shan Liangyi?

"I’m sorry, I cannot explain my reasons for wanting to kill Shan Liangyi to you."

Liu Shuying appeared to anticipate my thoughts, preemptively providing an answer: "This is my personal privacy, and I hope you can understand. What I can tell you now is that the relationship between Shan Liangyi and me is utterly irreconcilable. I must kill him."

"Alright, then I won’t ask more," I said, "But you should at least tell me why you want to talk to me about this? What does it have to do with me?"

"Let’s be candid then, Zhuang Cheng," Liu Shuying said. "I know you are the Vermilion Bird among the Liangyi Inheritors. Any other Impermanence could also figure it out by analyzing the remaining power traces in various places. In the case of ’irreconcilable with Shan Liangyi,’ you and I should be aligned."

He indeed knew this beforehand.

"I admit, I am the Vermilion Bird Inheritor."

I didn’t intend to argue this, quickly moving on to the next question, "Then, why do you believe the Taoyuan Village Master is Shan Liangyi?"

"Is it because the peculiar entities from the Human Bureau and the seed of the heart reminded you of Liangyi Inheritors and Power Seeds, thus leading you to believe that the Taoyuan Village Master, as the source of the seed of the heart, is Shan Liangyi himself? But in my view, he more resembles a Green Dragon Inheritor.

"In fact, a few days ago, I also fought against his incarnation. He employed the Power of Lightning, which, according to the Four Symbols and Five Elements theory, belongs to the Wood Element Power."

"Just as you said, lightning is the power of the Cyan Dragon," Liu Shuying nodded. "Throughout history, dragons have been regarded as divine beasts that control rain in Chinese culture, often appearing alongside lightning.

"However, the Taoyuan Village Master’s ability to control lightning doesn’t necessarily mean he isn’t Shan Liangyi."

I asked, "Why is that? You’re not implying that because Shan Liangyi corresponds to the Yellow Dragon of the Earth Element, he can naturally wield the power of lightning as well, are you?"

"That’s one possible line of reasoning, but that’s not what I wanted to express." Liu Shuying seemed to be selecting the right angle to introduce his thoughts, "Where should I start explaining this...

"Hmm, got it. Zhuang Cheng, have you ever wondered... why, within the Four Symbols and Five Elements system, there would be both a Yellow Dragon and a Cyan Dragon?

"The Four Symbols’ divine beasts don’t repeat, yet the divine beast representing the central Earth Element is a dragon that seems redundant. Wouldn’t it be more aesthetically pleasing to replace the Yellow Dragon with another divine beast that also symbolizes the central Earth Element, like the Qilin...right?"

"I’ve indeed thought about it like that," I said.

"When something unusual happens, there’s usually a reason. Impermanence has been intertwined with human civilization since ancient times, just like Gua Tianshi, Xuanming, and Shan Liangyi, those ancient Impermanence. Our mythological culture largely reflects the early activities of Impermanence," Liu Shuying slowly said. "Although the abnormal world and the world of common sense were separated by the power of the divine seal, the divine seal wasn’t doing this since the origin of humanity.

"In the mythological era, there wasn’t a distinction between the abnormal world and the world of common sense, or, in other words, abnormal entities were part of the common sense at the time, with the God coexisting with people. The theory of the Four Symbols and Five Elements is one of the pieces of knowledge concluded by the people back then from observing the activities of the Impermanence, and it contains historical imprints of Shan Liangyi.

"The reason there are both a Yellow Dragon and a Cyan Dragon among the Five Directions Divine Beasts is because, sometimes, they really are ’repeated.’"

Perhaps because Liu Shuying was an Impermanence who emerged into the world four years ago, his tone was more modern, and the bizarre words he used opened up an entirely new perspective for me.

"You mean... Shan Liangyi sometimes directly reincarnates as a Green Dragon Inheritor, occupying the position of the Cyan Dragon with the body of the Yellow Dragon?" I thought, "Also, the Wood Element Power held by a Green Dragon Inheritor can counter the Earth Element Power of the Yellow Dragon. Since they are such troublesome opponents, wouldn’t it be better to prevent its birth from the start...

"No, if that were the case, wouldn’t he have prevented the existence of the Green Dragon Seed from the very beginning?

"The idea should be reversed; it’s not that Shan Liangyi occupied the Cyan Dragon’s position from the beginning, but rather, he killed the Green Dragon Inheritor and seized its seed... then disguised himself as a Green Dragon Inheritor?"

"Exactly," Liu Shuying affirmed, "The Cyan Dragon is sometimes referred to as the leader of the Four Symbols because, among the Liangyi Inheritors, the Green Dragon Inheritor is most likely to overthrow the Yellow Dragon.

"However, Shan Liangyi couldn’t prevent the birth of a Green Dragon Inheritor from the start, as you mentioned. Among the Four Symbols Inheritors, there must be one who curses him, so to speak, which is a risk he must take for accumulating power through such nefarious means. Therefore, Shan Liangyi often kills the underdeveloped Green Dragon Inheritor first.

"If the Green Dragon Inheritor killed hasn’t yet confirmed their identity with the other Liangyi Inheritors, Shan Liangyi will choose to use the seized Green Dragon Seed to masquerade as a Green Dragon Inheritor—this is a mere trifle for him, being the source of power.

"The purpose of doing so is to earn the trust of the other Liangyi Inheritors, nurture them while closely observing their development progress. Once they bloom and bear fruit, Shan Liangyi will kill them all and reclaim their Power Seeds.

"As this tactic was employed numerous times, later Liangyi Inheritors realized the danger and ceased to trust Green Dragon Inheritors... Although that was a very long time ago.

"As long as Shan Liangyi does not desire people to learn of it, such records will gradually be lost. Ultimately, only a framework like the Five Directions Divine Beasts will be passed down, something that most people unaware of the inside story may scarcely question. You probably couldn’t find similar records and are hearing for the first time that Shan Liangyi might disguise as a Green Dragon Inheritor? When records have been lost to such a degree, Shan Liangyi might resort to the same old tricks again."

"I see..."

I found no flaws in his reasoning and could only nod. Liu Shuying smiled and took a sip of coffee.

Liu Shuying did not definitively say Shan Liangyi was the Taoyuan Village Master, but with this, past clues aligned. Whether the Taoyuan Village Master was Shan Liangyi or a possessor of the Green Dragon Seed, I used to vacillate between the two. Now, there was reasoning that accommodated both possibilities simultaneously.

Nonetheless, I wasn’t naïve enough to just believe whatever he said.

Because, his theory hadn’t dispelled the suspicion around him.

"I have a question: if the records have been lost to the point where Shan Liangyi thinks he’s safe to revert to old ways, how come you know such secrets?" I asked.

"I have my own methods," Liu Shuying said. "You probably have heard that I have the power of foresight. Some things, I can just know directly without using any channel."

"Really? But I have a more plausible hypothesis. In mystery stories, only the culprit can know the case’s truth from the start," I said, "Even if we put that aside, your prophetic abilities themselves are quite suspect.

"Even Gua Tianshi couldn’t foresee Doomsday, yet you could. As far as I know, the only one capable of such is Shan Liangyi, who can reincarnate freely into the past and future.

"Moreover, I heard from Gua Tianshi that you lost the power of foresight last year. Now you tell me you obtained intelligence related to Shan Liangyi out of thin air through prophetic power; doesn’t that seem contradictory?"

Liu Shuying’s eyes sharpened, setting the coffee cup firmly on the table.

"What exactly are you implying?" he asked.

"Now it’s your turn to be candid, Liu Shuying," I straightforwardly said, "Are you Shan Liangyi?"