Two Hypotheses
By now, night had fallen. Xi Guican spread his wings and held He Ruge, flying into the sky, while He Ruge cradled the trembling treasure-hunting mouse pup in his hands.
He Ruge clasped his hands together gently, protecting the treasure-hunting mouse pup. This was his first time carrying someone high in the air, and he was afraid that the furry little ball might slip from his hands.
As if drawing warmth from He Ruge’s palms, the treasure-hunting mouse pup gathered courage and peeked down through He Ruge’s fingers.
“What hypotheses?” Curious about Xi Guican’s earlier words, He Ruge asked.
Xi Guican didn’t respond immediately.
“Some things shouldn’t be heard by others, even by a pup.”
The mentioned treasure-hunting mouse pup was still clinging to He Ruge’s fingers, looking down. When he saw the vast darkness below and heard Xi Guican’s voice, he couldn’t help but emit a trembling squeak, then collapsed feigning death in He Ruge’s palm.
He Ruge lifted the treasure-hunting mouse pup and infused spiritual energy into its throat. With warm black eyes, He Ruge stared quietly at the pup in his palm, singing a lullaby, “Sleep, sleep, my dear baby…”
The treasure-hunting mouse pup rubbed its eyes with its little paws, yawned softly, and fatigue overwhelmed him. It had been a long time since he had truly fallen asleep.
Now, in He Ruge’s palm, Zhi Zhi found long-awaited peace and curled into a ball, closing his eyes and falling asleep.
“Our mission in the game is to find Mao Zhengqi’s laboratory.”
Xi Guican’s voice, carried by the wind, continued, “The game hints that Mao Zhengqi’s lab involves human experiments. The problem we faced earlier was how to find this lab, akin to finding a needle in a haystack.”
He Ruge murmured in agreement.
“Just now, I realized our approach was wrong.”
Xi Guican’s blue eyes gleamed faintly.
“Why must we seek out this lab? Why not let the lab’s people find us?”
He Ruge: “???”
He admitted honestly, “I don’t understand.”
Xi Guican chuckled softly, “This is another hypothesis.”
His silver hair tousled by the wind, Xi Guican flew faster now that he no longer needed to match the speed of the pigeons. He would soon return to the Eternal Tower. During the short return journey, Xi Guican first explained his initial hypothesis to He Ruge.
“Do you remember the dove, elephant, and mouse in the animation?”
He Ruge nodded.
“The dove identified the villain, which meant that Shang Zhaoqi identified the villain. What did Shang Zhaoqi use today to identify the villain?”
Xi Guican led him on, and He Ruge blurted out, “The Good-Evil Meter!”
“The dove informs the elephant of the villain’s message, Shang Chaoqi informs Xiang Zhongzheng of the villain’s message. How does he inform Xiang Zhongzheng of the villain’s message?”
Echoes of Wu Chengdeng’s words resounded in Xi Guican’s mind: It seemed to be some kind of crime information system that was discussed with Xiang Zhongzheng.
That parrot wasn’t sure.
“Through a monitoring system composed of the Good-Evil Meter, this detection system might also include a system for criminal information.”
The fog gradually dispersed, and Xi Guican’s thoughts became clearer.
“Xiang Zhongzheng is the Chief Justice; his authority allows him to access these systems. Then, another crucial question arises—”
“The elephant in the animation knocked out the villains. Xiang Zhongzheng incapacitated these villains. How can Xiang Zhongzheng incapacitate these people? He’s just a judge; his role is to judge. A judge who kills criminals with his own hands is no longer a judge but an executioner.”
His previously bright idea was once again overshadowed by a thick fog.
He Ruge suddenly said, “No, in the animation, the elephant didn’t harm those villains; he just knocked them out. The real executioner was the mouse, Mao Zhengqi, who killed them.”
“Mao Zhengqi killed the villains… the heart of a doctor… human experiments…”
He Ruge muttered, speaking faster and faster, as if he realized something in an instant, taking a sharp breath, “Guican, do you think there’s a possibility that those villains were used by Mao Zhengqi for human experiments?”
He remembered the game’s comment on Mao Zhengqi, using flesh as soil, blood as irrigation, making the flower of sin bear fruit of virtue.
Using sinful people for human experiments, those subjects were flowers of sin, and the results of the experiments were fruits of virtue.
“That’s one of my hypotheses,” Xi Guican said, seeing the Eternal Tower not far away.
He flapped his wings harder, appearing on the sky ladder like teleportation. He Ruge stood on a higher step, and Xi Guican was four steps behind, allowing them to see each other on eye level.
He Ruge cast a barrier to shield them from the outside world.
“My second hypothesis involves the Good-Evil Meter. The lingering instinct of the Taotie tells me that the Good-Evil Meter is filled with evil energy, necessary for setting up certain formations.”
“Do you still remember the shadows in the animation?”
He Ruge certainly remembered that eerie shadow, which he thought symbolized the Gourmand.
“From the beginning, the dove has been observing the villains from the shadows. And tonight, Shang Zhaoqi used the Good-Evil Meter to observe the villains.”
Xi Guican raised the hand that crushed the Good-Evil Meter, his bones clearly visible under pale skin, submerged in darkness.
“Rather than calling it the Good-Evil Meter, it’s better to say it’s an instrument capable of detecting negative emotions, suitable for evil formations.”
“The Good-Evil Meter detects negative emotions related to greed, desire, and murder, much like the mysterious live broadcast in the beginning. So does this mean that Taotie can absorb negative emotions from the Good-Evil Meter? Do you remember that as the dove, elephant, and mouse appeared in the animation, the shadows grew larger?”
Xi Guican voiced his conjecture, “Taotie’s breeding ground was mostly destroyed by us, so now he needs a new source of food. Shang Zhaoqi and his team are influenced by Taotie’s consciousness, and their monitoring system is akin to Taotie’s hunting net.”
He Ruge was deeply shaken. If Xi Guican’s speculation was correct, then Shang Zhaoqi and his team were doing something extremely terrifying.
Once the monitoring system covered successfully, Taotie’s hunting ground would be larger than the mysterious broadcast!
The mysterious broadcast was a field that only a few knew about, while the monitoring system could openly cover all planets!
By then, all planets would be Taotie’s breeding grounds!
“What makes me more certain of my speculation is the readings on the Good-Evil Meter. Mao Zhengqi believes that the Good-Evil Meter can detect the spiritual sea, but in ancient times, we preferred to call it spiritual awareness.”
Xi Guican looked at He Ruge, “Human spiritual awareness is not divided into good and evil; it oscillates between them. But Bai Ze and Qiong Qi have transcended mortal existence. Bai Ze symbolizes pure goodness.”
Xi Guican pointed to himself, “Qiong Qi represents extreme evil.”
Therefore, one value is 0, and the other is 100.
“I think the Taotie uses the carriers to set up a massive formation.”
If successfully arranged, all negative emotions will flow continuously to Taotie, enough to feed this monster.
As two evil spirits, Xi Guican thought of the scene after completing the formation, as if seeing a feast. But soon he suppressed his desire.
Despite being Qiong Qi, Xi Guican didn’t need to search for food as desperately as the Taotie did.
Just recently, he had slain the insect race, reclaimed his power, and combined with the faith power gathered by the entire Federation, ensuring that Xi Guican wouldn’t go hungry for a long time.
But Taotie was different. He had lived for a very, very long time. Even if he did nothing to conserve energy, merely slept, after a long passage of time, Taotie would still hunger. When starving, even people on Earth are likely to make desperate acts of cannibalism, not to mention a beast like him, who lacks moral consciousness.
In that instant, Xi Guican suddenly felt enlightened, understanding Taotie’s thoughts. Dividing himself into twenty parts was also a way to share his hunger.
If only one of the parts awakened each time, the other nineteen pieces would be asleep, allowing the Gourmand to endure one-twentieth of the hunger torment without losing his sanity.
The interstellar world could no longer contain Taotie. What awaited him were only two outcomes: consuming all the energy of the interstellar world or leaving for the higher realm.
The higher realm, with even richer energy sources.
But why hadn’t Taotie gone to the higher realm?
There seemed to be a problem with this world.
Xi Guican looked up at the sparkling starry sky, a hint of inquiry in his eyes.
Speaking to himself, he said, “Who created the game ‘Your Exclusive Lover’?”
He Ruge also looked up at the stars above his head.
Whenever he stared into the vast starry sea, he understood his own insignificance more deeply, “…What does He want?”
He Ruge used the title “He” to refer to the deity with powers higher than those of the ancient demons, perhaps only the gods.
He activated the Light Brain and lowered his gaze to contemplate the task at hand.
“Guican, you mentioned having a strategy to complete the mission. What do you mean by ‘let the people from the laboratory come find us’?”
“Role-playing.”
His deep blue eyes, like those of a cruel predatory beast, gleamed.
“Our mission is to find the laboratory, the one conducting human experiments. Therefore, there must be something that laboratory needs—”
“Test subjects.”
Xi Guican looked at the stunned He Ruge, a faint smile playing on his lips. He could even joke about his scars from past experiences as a test subject.
“You know, I have experience being a test subject.”
“But… but you’re no longer a child.” He Ruge’s thoughts were in disarray.
“Mao Zhengqi’s chosen subjects aren’t children; they’re sinners.”
Fate had taken many twists and turns. Seventeen years ago, he was forced to become Mao Zhengyong’s test subject, but today he volunteered to play Mao Zhengqi’s test subject.
“The Good-Evil Meter registered my value as 100. If I were Mao Zhengqi, I wouldn’t miss such a test subject and would go to great lengths to capture him.”
“But you’re Marshal Xi; you protect the Federation. Even if Mao Zhengqi wants to capture you, Shang Chaoqi and Xiang Zhongzheng wouldn’t agree.”
He Ruge presented a myriad of reasons in rebuttal.
Xi Guican watched He Ruge’s slightly panicked black eyes. In those clear eyes reflected endless starry skies and his own face.
Xi Guican took He Ruge’s hand and said, “Do you remember the last mission? I can use possession again. No one will know it’s me.”
“But you have the enthronement ceremony the day after tomorrow; you can’t be absent.”
He Ruge cradled the treasure-hunting mouse pup with one hand, unconsciously tightening his grip on Xi Guican’s hand with the other. He didn’t know what he was afraid of, but he didn’t want Xi Guican, who had finally moved on from his past, to become a test subject again.
He didn’t want the person before him to reopen old wounds that had just healed.
“One day is enough for me to resolve all this. I must thwart Taotie’s plan. Otherwise, when he solves his food problem and controls all the carriers, I’m not even sure I can kill him.”
Xi Guican kissed He Ruge’s lips, rested his forehead against his, their noses touching. He whispered softly, “The day after tomorrow, when the enthronement ceremony begins, I will definitely come back.”
I’ll resolve all troubles and come back to propose to you.
The enormous wings flapped silently, their kiss fleeting. In almost an instant, the silver-haired man with blue eyes vanished into the endless darkness.
He Ruge reached out, touching only a single white feather.
“The day after tomorrow…”
He Ruge felt empty inside. He sighed and dispelled the tranquil barrier, carrying the treasure-hunting mouse pup toward the Eternal Tower. Without the Big White Tiger, he could only manage to get by for now.
