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Chapter 179 - 177: "I Shall Walk Towards My Magnificent Death

Chapter 179: Chapter 177: "I Shall Walk Towards My Magnificent Death

Su Ming’an was slightly startled.

Just then, he heard the sound of sleds scraping across the snow. Several adults dressed in tattered clothes hurried back from outside the town, gave him a few wary glances, and then quickly went to their children, taking them back home.

As if they feared any contact with their children, Su Ming’an noticed that those adults looked at Qingqing with the same kind of suspicion as they did him. It was an odd, rejecting look, as if they were staring at a "heretic."

"You just said that these children... are going to die today," he asked Qingqing.

"Yeah, probably before the polar night period starts." Qingqing pursed her lips, "Big brother, you came at an unlucky time. Today just happens to be the annual Offering Day in the town, not a good day at all."

Su Ming’an had a premonition—this piece of information that he hadn’t received in his last loop, because he had stayed indoors the whole time, seemed to relate to the people’s deaths at night.

"What is Offering Day?"

"Well, it’s like... on the other side of the mountain?" Qingqing tiptoed and pointed towards the end of the town, "Dad said there’s a very scary, very big monster that eats people over there."

She opened her arms wide, forming a large arc, seeming desperate to convey the terror of the monster, "It eats people! Whenever it gets hungry, it will eat people. If we let it get into town... we’ll all be eaten up.

So everyone came up with a plan. That big monster is quite lazy and needs to sleep for a long time every year, but before going to sleep, it wants to eat people. We offer up the children who haven’t awakened... so it won’t come and eat us!"

She gestured a large arc with her hands, her tone playful and her movements adorable, like a little child trying to tiptoe and grow taller quickly.

But Su Ming’an understood the extremely cruel content in her tone.

"Children who haven’t awakened..." Su Ming’an glanced at the spot where the children had been playing.

After being taken away by the adults, it was now quiet all around, as if even the slightest sound had disappeared.

The prime time for children to awaken their abilities is around five or six years old. After that, if they still haven’t awakened any powers, chances become slim. They would have to live as ordinary people with low abilities for the rest of their lives.

And in towns like this, where bloodlines had little to no heritage, and the Talent Awakening Formation hadn’t been developed, the people were almost entirely defenceless against man-eating demon beasts.

And the choice to relocate en masse, in this harsh environment, only led one way: to freeze to death.

Besides offering their not-so-valuable children and the old and infirm to the demon beasts, praying for them to hibernate after being sated and not disturb their homeland, people had no other way.

Qingqing was lucky; she had awakened an ability. Even if now she could only create a tiny flame, that was still a power. She had the basic "right to survive."

There was no need for her to be sent into the maw of a monster by her own relatives at an age when she couldn’t understand what was happening and die in the most brutal way.

...Sacrificing the lives of a few children in exchange for the survival of the entire town.

"Another scale where lives are the ’stake’," Su Ming’an murmured softly.

Only, this scale seemed, to him, to be even more bloodstained and evident.

"What scale?" Qingqing didn’t understand.

Though fortunate, Qingqing’s life was not easy.

Those children who were chosen, who were fated to die, even if unaware of their eventual fate, would subconsciously distance themselves from Qingqing amidst their parents’ sighs and lamentations. And the parents of those selected children, in spite of their deep sorrow and pain, had no power to refuse for the greater good. They could only push their children forward and watch them go to their deaths.

When they saw Qingqing who was well and alive, those parents who suffered the pain of losing a child inevitably felt aggrieved. Even if they recognized that an awakened individual had greater "value" than their own children, it made no difference.

— Why is it you who are awakened?

— Why is it not you who is to die?

— Why, just because of a simple awakening ritual, a single outcome, should their children be the ones to die?

Normally, they were angry, indifferent, and kept their distance because the awakened were "heretics." Behind every person with powers lay countless lives of children.

But when disaster struck, they would rely on the awakened, because they knew who could truly save their lives.

"I thought about helping Uncle Tom and Aunt Mei Yin next door," Qingqing’s voice was light, "But when I carried the firewood in and saw the empty baby crib in the corner of their room, I couldn’t bring myself to do it... I always feel like I owe them, no matter what I do to make it up, it will never be enough..."

Su Ming’an didn’t speak.

"I always feel that everyone looks at me strangely... I used to have a few good friends, but they were quickly sent to the mountain." Her fingers pinched the edge of the wooden bowl, seemingly very unsettled, "...I still remember the look in Alan’s eyes that day, her eyes were red as she stared at me, clutching the corner of my clothes, saying she didn’t want to leave me...

The adults lied to them, saying they were just going on an outing, to see the other side of the mountain.

"But Alana was precocious, and she’d overheard the grown-ups talking, she knew that this time she would not be coming back..."

"’Absurdity overflows in reality at all times, permeating the theme of the world.’" Su Ming’an said softly.

Qingqing turned her head, her eyes filled with confusion.

"’Survivors become the vessel for suffering, forever struggling in the future.’"

He looked at the quiet bungalow, his gaze was very serene, "Great causes always wear a sacred cloak, compelling everyone into compliance without words—and all the while, people think the future is bright until it all comes crashing down upon them."

"Big Brother," Qingqing cocked her head, "what are you talking about?"

"What I mean is... what appears to be tacit understanding of righteous words is actually the cruelest thing." Su Ming’an smiled and looked at her, "Qingqing, when everyone believes a rule is reasonable, those who are suddenly sacrificed seem insignificant. Because they themselves think—everything is for the greater good."

Qingqing blinked.

Her little head didn’t seem to catch up yet, wondering why this noble Big Brother suddenly started talking nonsense, but she roughly knew now was not the time to interrupt.

"So, you don’t have to feel guilty."

Su Ming’an spread his hands, his smile somewhat ironic, "Because we are all such beings—and we all have this bright future under such sacrifices."

Qingqing’s eyes rolled around.

Then, she flipped the bowl over and clutched it tightly in her hand.

"Big Brother... how about, how about I go make you some more medicine?" she said, turning around to leave, her movements swift like a rabbit, as if she was afraid of him.

Su Ming’an’s hand froze in midair.

He hadn’t expected Qingqing to react so strongly, to actually take off running... The Shen Xue and Moli from before had always listened quietly to his words till the end.

The live chat had gone wild with laughter, hailing the potential of this lass for not being brainwashed, which was indeed cause for celebration.

But Su Ming’an didn’t understand what they were laughing at, as he was very serious when he said those things.

Sometimes he tried to convey his own meaning through some words in the live stream, but the chat seemed to only ever play with memes, focusing on insignificant things. They were always more concerned about the newbie girls than about the task itself.

He stood there, looking around and seeing no one else, and then retreated his hand, somewhat stiff from the cold.

"—Sir."

There was a crunch of snow nearby, Mo Mo pushing a cart filled with various firewood came over.

"It’s very cold outside, you should go back to rest if you haven’t recovered..."

"What about the children?" Su Ming’an asked.

"Ah?"

"The ones who were taken to be sacrificed, those children."

Mo Mo’s face stiffened for a moment, immediately wanting to explain, "We didn’t want to send them to their deaths, but there was no other way..."

"It’s okay, I understand," Su Ming’an said. "What I mean is, bring them back—and from now on, you don’t need to keep sending those children there."

A pained expression froze on Mo Mo’s face for a moment.

But quickly, his facial muscles began to tremble, his emotions seeming very agitated:

"You... what do you mean..."

"Call everyone to the town’s central square, all of them," Su Ming’an said. "The larger square, your town should have one, go and gather the people."

This time, he wanted to try a different approach.

He remembered the task prompt stating that, aside from researching the Array himself, he could also push the final progress bar by helping others with their Awakening.

So, if he could awaken the entire town, wouldn’t that help with his final process?

After all, there were unlimited chances to trial and error, the key save point had already been set, as long as he chose to roll back before the tenth day, he wasn’t afraid of time passing and encountering a dead end in the game.

Before Xu Anna’s arrival, this period was absolutely safe.

"Good—I’m on my way!"

Perhaps he was dizzy with excitement, or perhaps it was absolute trust in the nobility of legends, Mo Mo didn’t carefully ponder the meaning behind Su Ming’an’s words. He simply felt that maybe the noble wanted to pick a few more children to take back, or to give them some assistance.

Su Ming’an then headed to the center of the town first.

The square here was somewhat similar to that in Terrily Town, except that the ground was a dirt road, somewhat uneven, with patches of snow of varying thickness, but it did not affect the inscribing of the Array.

He took out a dagger, cut open his palm, because the range of the Awakening this time was very large, just slightly smaller than the one he had performed in the Revolutionary Army. He made a few extra cuts, and his blood slowly transformed the soil of the square into the pattern of an Array.

According to Qin Wang’s notebook description, after completing the drawing, he carefully modified a few spots based on the terrain and orientation, and then lifted his head.

A dark mass of people, who had just rushed back from outside, carrying various farm tools, were staring at him, not daring to utter a sound.

"Those who wish to awaken, step inside," Su Ming’an said. "The number should be about right, you can all come in."

This group of people clearly still harbored strong resentment towards nobility, even though he had made the Array so obvious, no one dared to enter.

Perhaps they had never really heard about the Talent Awakening Formation, after all, they struggled with all their might just to survive.

But soon, Mo Mo became the first to step in.

He didn’t really believe that an Array could change the destiny of the Continent that had been established for thousands of years, but he had no choice, as it was he who had heedlessly summoned everyone here. If the noble was to take away his Qingqing, he couldn’t just give a cold shoulder.

But soon, he no longer regretted his choice.

As the Array emitted light and his originally dim Pattern Mark began to gradually brighten, he covered his chest, suppressing the shock in his heart.

...It was a success.

He had already awakened an Ability, and this time did not manage to awaken another Ability, but he could distinctly feel his own life force, which had been dissipating bit by bit, as though it had been caught in a net again, gathering all the escaping energy together.

...In other words, he could live longer.

He no longer needed to fear that this death-mark-like Ability would one day suddenly snatch away his life in the midst of use.

He could possess a safer, longer-lasting Ability.

At the same time, Su Ming’an also saw the progress bar indicating the overall process leap to 99.2%.

"I didn’t expect to be quite capable in researching talents," he chuckled.

The Array, originally intended for the powerless, unexpectedly had the effect of extending the duration of an Ability. Essentially, this effect was no different from dispelling impurities from the bloodline.

This meant that the conjecture of transforming the Array into one that could disperse Evil Dragon Bloodlines later on was entirely feasible.

The path of Qin Wang... had finally been the right one.

The proud scholar’s vision was confirmed by Su Ming’an on the ninth day after his death.

Su Ming’an noted down the points he had just modified, still feeling uneasy, and deliberately took out Qin Wang’s notebook to extract several pieces of content and added them to the end.

As he was recording, the other townfolk rushed in as if they were injected with an adrenaline shot, as though they were afraid of not being able to stand inside the Array, pushing and shoving each other, their eyes glowing with the desire for life.

...Indeed, it was the hope for life.

Having awakened an Ability was the capital for them to survive.

This Array was nothing less than a redeemer for them.

The red light shone.

"Ding Dong!"

[Personal identity task·Completed]

[Task completed, factored into the final route evaluation.]

[*You have received a key prop: Talent Awakening Bloodline Formation (First Edition)]

[(Talent Awakening Bloodline Formation): Modified by a flash of genius, the formation has reached the final achievement requirements. Handing it over to the Regular Army can be exchanged for a Perfect Pass route·Regular Army route.]

——"Before the final moment arrived, you successfully brought the future to this Continent."]

[You have earned 50 Exploration Points.]

[Your identity special skill·Bloodline Infusion has been activated.]

...

The Array emitted a red glow, enveloping every person who stepped into it.

In the midst of jubilation, patterns emerged on their bodies—one by one, these were their redemption.

"——It worked!"

"Did it really work?"

"I’ve awakened, I’ve awakened! My God, this can’t be just a dream..."

Some people laughed aloud, others cried with joy, and in the center of the crowd, a few children were hoisted high by their elders— they had escaped the tragic fate of ending up in the bellies of Demon Beasts.

Su Ming’an saw the clear smiles on their faces, saw the children reaching out to give him candy, saw someone kneel and kowtow deeply to him, saw the gratitude of the elders streaming down their faces with tears and snot.

He saw children singing around him, likely a local folk song, with their lips opening and closing, their smiles infectious.

...But he could barely hear any sounds anymore.

An Array of such a large scale for awakening was far more damaging to his spirit than mere bloodletting; the moment the second red light came on, he almost couldn’t catch his breath and was about to collapse into the snow.

His body felt heavier than ever, the ringing in his ears was incessant, and as he gasped for the cold, dry air, he could hear the near-tearing wailings coming from all over his body.

...He hadn’t expected that a simple awakening could weaken his body to such an extent.

It felt as if once he closed his eyes, he wouldn’t be able to open them again.

He lifted his gaze to the sky for a moment. In the distance, the stars fell like rain, icy particles congealed, seemingly brewing a storm for the polar night.

He felt himself being embraced, a warmth passing to him.

Qingqing was holding him, grasping his hand, and in her eyes, was a seriousness he had never seen before.

Gazing at the somewhat blurred scene before him, the revelry and ecstatic dance, Su Ming’an suddenly remembered a phrase Qin Wang had said,

"...[I am approaching a grand death.]"

Thinking of it, he couldn’t help but utter the phrase himself.

Qingqing held his hand.

As if by instinct, a warm heat emanated from where Qingqing held him, slowly coming through, burning hot.

Su Ming’an suddenly realized—Qin Wang, although a bit arrogant, wasn’t wrong in what he said.

All the reputation he wanted to leave behind now seemed to be truly coming to fruition.

One formation, a life, eighteen years... and the people of a Continent.

These two things seemed to have been silently placed on the scales, and the weight on the right side seemed much heavier than the left.

Exhaustion washed over him like a tide, and his body started to cool down bit by bit.

Su Ming’an closed his eyes.

"...What death, what grandness."

He heard Qingqing’s extremely faint voice.

She held his hand, which seemed to tighten even more.

"Stop talking like a child, saying such embarrassing, strange things, Big Brother. Qingqing is more mature than you."

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