Rong Yue wasn’t short of this jerky, and he did have a little interest in the pearls over here.
A place with a preliminary monetary system, near the sea, it made him excited …… seafood! He hadn’t eaten it!
Although the trio was arrogant, there were many people on their side, and the two men looked a bit afraid.
Rong Yue grinned, “Okay.”
“Okay, take it quickly!” The woman quickly handed Rong Yue the small cloth bag containing pearls. The three of them looked as Rong Yue calmly took six pieces of dried meat from the package on the back of Bao Di.
Woman: “?”
“What?” Rong Yue: “Not the jerky you want?”
“…… are you fooling anyone!?” The fat man’s mood went up and down, his blood was running high: “A bag of pearls! That’s all we get?!”
“Oh? I don’t know, you didn’t say ……” Rong Yue remained calm: “So how much should I exchange?”
Seeing that he still had room for discussion, and the trio really needed to eat, they forced themselves to hold down their anger: “At least twenty strips.”
Rong Yue waved his hand: “Twenty is too much, no more no more.”
The trio: “……”
If anger could kill people, the trio in front of them were already dying.
Rong Yue was in a very good mood and waited for a while before saying, “Forget it, I’ll bleed too, how about twelve?”
The trio accepted with humiliation.
Perhaps they were hit by the fact that the dried meat they cooked was too delicious, so the three of them temporarily stopped and followed Rong Yue and his entourage.
They were all going to the same place, there was no trailing, so Rong Yue let them follow.
Yue Dong said quietly, “Sister-in-law.”
“Yes?”
“We obviously used all the shredded meat, where did you get the dried meat from?”
Rong Yue replied loftily, “You’ll know later.”
The fog was getting thicker and thicker, almost only the heels of the people before them could be seen.
Even the trio didn’t dare to gossip anymore, they held hands to prevent sudden separation.
The next moment, Rong Yue feet met empty forum’s!
The shock lasted only three seconds, and then the thought seemed to be erased in an instant, and Rong Yue suddenly knew nothing. At that moment, a strong sense of powerlessness swept him away like a wave.
The last scene in his memory was a golden light that suddenly appeared in a pure white.
He didn’t know how long it took, Rong Yue gradually woke up, he was sluggish for several seconds, and his mind came up with three philosophical questions: who am I, where am I, where am I going?
It took a long time for the memory to come back, and when he lifted my wrist, the rattan rope on it had been shredded. There was no sound of people around, Rong Yue frowned and took a step: “Tian Yang -”
No response.
Only then did Rong Yue react to how unscientific the view in front of him was!
His bare feet stepped on a piece of emptiness, the touch felt like stepping on clouds, misty and slightly cool. Floating in the air was a piece of ruined wall, like a smashed palace, and on the pillars were exquisite patterns that shouldn’t exist in the barbaric world.
But what was even more absurd was the starry sky beneath his feet, as far as the eye could see.
He seemed to be suspended in the middle of the Milky Way.
Even in the Xingyue Era, there was no such view that defied common sense.
A huge stone pillar floated in front of his eyes, and Rong Yue made a forceful, gentle jump and stood on it.
Subconsciously, he wanted to tap on his game panel, but found that he couldn’t do so. Not only that, his staff was also not in his hand.
Rong Yue instantly tensed up and was relieved to find his clothes still properly on.
The stone pillars floated aimlessly, more broken pieces floated in the distance, and a small stone statue broken in half slowly swayed to Rong Yue’s eyes.
“……” With a shudder, Rong Yue’s eyes were frozen on the stone statue with only the head and half of the body left. He recognized it. It was a half-human, half-beast player profession in the Xingyue Era. The long rabbit ears wore the iconic earrings, that shape was an equipment that came out in the game not long ago, and many players wore it because it looked good.
What the hell was this place!
This thought had just flashed when the scene in front of him suddenly changed.
The golden red carpet, the red curtain hanging down from the high dome, the familiar nuns on both sides at the bottom of the steps.
The nuns were standing just now, but now they were sitting on the familiar throne.
Noble, magnificent, clean.
Was it a dream?
Rong Yue stood up, the various colors of his body ornaments tinkling, the hem of his long robe trailed on the ground.
A nun came forward: “Pope, where are you going?”
Rong Yue smiled, a cold smile: “Confession room.”
The nun’s eyes were pleased: “The faithful will be happy if they know you are there again.”
What was there to be happy about, this was his daily scheduled itinerary. Where he was at what time of the day and where he went during special events was clearly written on the announcement on the official website.
The shrine was off limits, but on weekdays from 3pm to 6pm, the Pope went to the confessional. Players who bought an admission ticket would be able to meet the gentle and beautiful Pope Rong Yue up close, confide in him about their troubles and get help.
Before he developed spiritual intelligence, Rong Yue thought from the bottom of his heart that it was his own decision to make the trip, but when he had a real mind, he was confused.
However, as an NPC, he could think, but not do, so he still followed the itinerary every day, living his “own life” as determined by others.
The sun was slanting down the long corridor of the palace, the light and shadows were divided by the pillars.
The Pope, dressed in a magnificent and heavy robe, passed through the light step by step, with a graceful and noble gesture and a calm and gentle smile, which fascinated all the guards on duty.
The confession room was a separate palace. The guards pushed open the heavy door, and Rong Yue stepped in and closed it quietly.
The palace was dimly lit, with a very high spire and a huge stained glass window opening high up on the front, where the sun passed by every afternoon, casting multicolored shadows on the pitch-black floor.
Rong Yue sat down in his seat and stretched out his hand, letting the pretty patches of light linger on it.
There was a creak at the small door and the first players came in.
It was a group of players doing a quest.
They repeated the keywords set by the game and asked the Pope if the “demons” in the “Kuwait town” had been eliminated.
Roing Yue slightly tilted his head: “My dear believers, you don’t need to worry about the demons. The matter of Kuwait Town has already been left to the guard. Thank you for your brave efforts.”
After the words were said, a ding ding quest alert tone rang out. The branch line was completed.
A cat-eared girl was beaming with joy: “I’m level 80! It’s hard to come in for once, I want to take a picture with the Pope!”
“Don’t waste time,” a boy in the team was obviously very bored with doing the task: “Do the main task then you can buy a ticket to come in, and take pictures until you puke.”
“It’s not easy to have no one at this time, six o’clock at night is super crowded!”
“They’re not many recently, everyone went to play the newly opened arena, if you don’t believe, try at night.”
“Eh, really?”
“……”
The squad left as they spoke.
The moment the door closed, Rong Yue frowned tightly.
Was this his memory, or was it his hallucination? There were many such questers, and he couldn’t remember if there had been such a squad when the new version of the arena was first opened ……
Not two minutes later, another person came in.
This time it was two male players.
“Holy shit! This place is so damn big!” One of them had a mess of equipment, obviously a newbie coming in for the first time.
“Yue Yue Yue Yue Yue Yue baby-” The other one was a full level player who rushed up and was about to jump on Rong Yue.
Then he was blocked by a wall of air.
“Wow you’re disgusting!” The rookie shouted: “Don’t defile Rong Yue, okay!?”
“I want it! I also ordered the Rong Yue baby’s equivalent pillow! I’ll receive it tomorrow, and then I’ll sleep with it every day!”
The full level player was a swordsman, carrying a flamboyantly shaped sword, with a demented smile on his face: “Pope, I’m coming hot, did you miss me?”
Rong Yue slightly tilted his head with smile: “My dear believer, I pray for your peace day and night.”
“Did you hear that!” The full level player waved excitedly: “Yue Yue said hello to me!”
The novice player was curious: “How many questions can I ask? Will he understand all of them?”
“As many keywords as he can distinguish, most of them have responses, look-” The full level player turned to Rong Yue: “Pope, how did you sleep yesterday?”
“Not bad. How about you?”
The rookie player let out a wow and followed with, “Pope, are you hungry? What did you eat for lunch?”
“I’m not hungry. How about you?”
“I’m hungry! Holy shit, why should I ask this question, I haven’t eaten outside the game …… words, why didn’t he answer what he ate?”
The full player obviously knew better and explained, “Because he doesn’t know what he ate either.”
“Ah!?” The rookie player was surprised: “He doesn’t eat?”
The full-level player spread his hands: “I don’t know, anyway, the invisible place setting is very perfunctory, I asked Rong Yue about several kinds of food in the game, he didn’t recognize anything.”
“Ah… It’s so pitiful. Outside, there’s pizza, steak, fried eggs, or something. I don’t even have a hamburger, so I can’t eat it. Suddenly I feel that my Shredded pork and green pepper with green pepper, Kung Pao chicken, steamed pork with preserved vegetables, and rice are delicious…”
Rong Yue remembered.
It was him, this was the player that gave him that recipe book.
In the holographic game, you can bring in something that wasn’t complicated to scan the internal structure. Books were the most convenient.
This player often came to him to chat, sometimes with a companion, sometimes alone.
In addition to him, there were a few young girls who liked to send him the book they bought at Comic-Con, and one who used to read little yellow texts in front of him.
[TN: yellow texts — po-rn]
There were also some that came to confession, to tell him their hearts untold secrets.
These were all precious memories of Rong Yue.
When slightly distracted, the two had already started three rounds of intense discussion on takeaway, and suddenly, the newbie player thiefly came over and asked, “Pope Pope!”
“Hmm?”
“Are you a virgin-”
“…………”
The full level player stormed up and slashed with his swords: “How dare you ask us such questions about Yue Yue! You pervert! Are you corrupted by rotten girls! Yue Yue can only marry me! Tell Zhu Xing to get lost!”
The two began to run around the pillar, after two laps, they suddenly dissipated into the air like a gust of wind.
As the sun set and the moon rose, and again day after day, Rong Yue rose steeply to high altitude and watched himself come and go on a regular daily basis.
Sometimes he would daze in his seat, or open the comic book given to him by the player before going to bed, and occasionally when there was a mainline quest, he would run into Zhu Xing or other people who had opened their spiritual wisdom, and could chat for a while where no one else could see.
But it was a cage in the end. He woke up every day and asked, “Who am I?”
I am Rong Yue, the pope of the temple of the five mansion continent. I was born out of the love of others, so what is it that they love? Is it this identity, this look, or this character set by planning?
Character was a nebulous thing, a few words and labels couldn’t be combined into a real person, not to mention the things on the profile, some even contradicted Rong Yue’s true nature.
He often fell into confusion.
However, the cage was broken one day.
Rong Yue had the freedom he had always dreamed of. Do whatever you like, laugh and joke, experience emotions, anything.
Then why show him such a past? This illusion or memory, what was it trying to say?
Once again, the image shattered and reorganized like a water mirror.
This time, Rong Yue was in a rugged style of low buildings.
He was draped in a large fashion, but still felt cold, and exhaled white vapor from his mouth. Looking out the window, a blanket of white snow.
“Would you like some water?” The man across the small table stretched his legs and pushed the teapot on the table, gesturing for Rong Yue to pour it himself. It was a lean and sturdy man with slightly dark skin, in this weather he still bared his upper body, many golden decorative rings were around his arm, it looked exquisite.
“Recently, I have been under maintenance for a long time. As soon as I maintain, I lose my memory and get bored to death. How are you doing? After the last activity this month, I will reach Level 100.”
“… Zhu Xing.” Rong Yue suddenly said, “Why am I here?”
“!? Are you okay? Don’t be fooled by maintenance!” He slammed his palm against the table, “No, it’s too much!”
Rong Yue: “………”
He blinked, and blinked again, and a half moment later, he spoke: “Zhu Xing.”
“Why don’t you call me brother?” Zhu Xing resignedly poured him a cup of water: “You are so used to being served that you won’t even pour your own water ……”
Rong Yue took a sip of hot water, his stiff body gradually warmed up, he clenched his fist and opened it again, asking faintly, “Have you ever wondered what kind of person you would be if you were not born here?”
“?” Zhu Xing was confused: “What nonsense, I am me, and where else could I be? Old me worked hard to fight for the kingdom, I mean it, it’s true.”
Rong Yue lowered his eyes: “Every day, you will not feel …… yourself in control.”
“That depends on how you think.” Zhu Xing spread his hands: “This is the day I worked hard to pursue to come, I have a good time. Whether my men have spiritual intelligence or not, I don’t think they are stupid. Pope, are you thinking too much?”
Rong Yue’s hand holding the teacup slightly hard.
“…… I ……”
I what?
Rong Yue’s eyes snapped open.
He stood up in shock and looked around, his heart thumping.
Just now he thought this place was real! He briefly lost his memory!
Zhu Xing was startled: “What’s wrong! Did you eat the wrong medicine!?”
“Eat your mother!” Rong Yue rubbed his hair grumpily, and the glittering hair crown was jerked to the ground by him. Zhu Xing was dumbfounded: “Crap ……”
Rong Yue gasped a few times, untied the big funky coat and threw it away, as he froze, his brain also cleared up.
He waved his hand to indicate Zhu Xing not to ask more questions.
“Let me ask you,” he said, “suppose, you went out to a free world.”
Zhu Xing wanted to say something, but closed his mouth at Rong Yue’s sharp eyes and nodded.
“In that world, you may not be able to call the shots, but you can do anything, and sudden whims can be satisfied …… would you stay there?”
Zhu Xing: “But here I have ties ah, a group of people under me, my brother, my old sister …… Of course, if I can’t return, I’m sure I’ll be happy to stay over there. But if I can choose, I ……”
Rong Yue looked at Zhu Xing with a calm gaze.
Zhu Xing’s image gradually blurred, as if enveloped by a mist, and then changed into Rong Yue’s appearance.
“I will not return.”
The two were facing each other.
Rong Yue: “This is the world I am familiar with, beautiful, peaceful, and I am the supreme ruler.”
Rong Yue: “I also have my attachments, my memories.”
Rong Yue: “But, I will never come back.”
Rong Yue: “I will do what I want to do.”
Rong Yue: “Choose the person I want to love.”
His tomato fields, his french fries, his planned slide, the reservoir, the ketchup-making factory, his own tribe.
And the people who liked him and were good to him.
Before he closed his eyes, he suddenly heard Zhu Xing’s voice, ringing out in the very near distance.
–Do you really think there is no god in this world?
The illusion shattered.
Rong Yue opened his eyes and found himself in an ordinary tribe.
He frowned and thought to himself, “Where is this again? Is it still an illusion?
Suddenly, the azure sky was torn apart and a huge, unreadable beast poked its head out of the cracked canopy.
Rong Yue: “……!?”