Chapter 1570: Number 4

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Han Sen himself was surprised. Although he had seen Luo Haitang in Godslayer Shelter, he hadn’t agreed to any of the man’s requests or given him anything. So, why would the old man send a gift? It seemed as if he really wanted to re-establish a connection with Luolan.

But given Luolan’s personality, Han Sen knew what Luo Haitang might have been like. It had been many years since he saw her, and there had been no texting or form of communication in the meantime. If he’d really wanted to send her something, he’d had plenty of time to do it. It wouldn’t have had to be that day, of all days.

Now that he had sent something, it obviously had something to do with him having just met Han Sen.

“Mom, I didn’t do anything for him. I didn’t agree to anything.” Han Sen went on to relay the story of how he encountered Luo Haitang.

“You dodged his palm?” Luolan looked at Han Sen with wide open eyes. She looked as if she was in shock.

“I didn’t learn the Falsified-Sky Sutra, either. But you know that I knew about it and what to expect. Is there something wrong with the fact that I managed to dodge it?” Han Sen didn’t think there was a problem.

“No, there’s nothing wrong. You did a great job.” Luolan was very happy to hear this. She put her fingers on Han Sen’s cheek and rubbed it. “My good son, you really did a great job.”

“What does that mean?” Han Sen looked confused, not entirely sure what had just happened. He had very rarely seen her this happy.

“Nothing. It’s just good, that’s all.” Luolan smiled and left, not really answering Han Sen’s question.

Han Sen rested at home for another two days before returning to the sanctuary. When he got back, he went directly to Gu Qingcheng’s room.

Just as he was about to knock on the door to her chamber, he heard Gu Qingcheng’s voice say, “Come in, the door isn’t locked.”

Han Sen lightly pushed the door open. Gu Qingcheng was in front of a table, drawing with an old pen.

Han Sen learned about what she was doing in a history lesson; it was calligraphy. She was using a brush pen, a tool devised by ancient humans to write. They weren’t really used anymore.

The few that still existed were typically used by artists for a few odd tasks. He hadn’t expected Gu Qingcheng to be the sort to love them like so.

Han Sen wasn’t very good with art, but he could tell that she must have had a lot of practice to draw with the level of talent she had.

Gu Qingcheng lowered her pen. She took a moment to admire her own artwork before asking, “Why were you looking for me?”

Han Sen smiled and then said, “I met someone who told me some wild things about you. I don’t know if he was a liar, so I’d like to ask you for the truth about these things he said about you.”

“Oh? What did he say about me?” Gu Qingcheng looked at Han Sen as if her curiosity had been piqued.

Han Sen had already established how he’d approach this conversation in his mind. Now, he smiled and said, “He said you killed Cruel Chi. Is that true or false?”

Gu Qingcheng frowned and said, “Maybe. I don’t remember. I have killed many creatures in my lifetime.”

“Cruel Chi was a famous demi-god super creature. If you killed one such as that, you wouldn’t have forgotten, would you?” Han Sen didn’t believe her.

“I really did just forget. Why would I lie about this?” Gu Qingcheng said, with lifted lips.

Han Sen thought that if Gu Qingcheng wanted to lie, she would have just said a simple yes or no. He couldn’t quite tell from the answer he was given.

“It’s okay if you don’t remember that. He said a lot of other things. He said you drank the pee of a Jade Beast to avoid dying of thirst out in the desert and…” Han Sen was going to say a few similar statements, but before he could finish speaking the first, Gu Qingcheng’s face changed.

“Impossible! No one knew about that. How would you know?” Gu Qingcheng stared at Han Sen as if she had seen a ghost.

“You really did this? Then did you hide inside the Hunting Sky Beast’s egg and end up getting sat on by the Hunting Sky Beast for an entire month?” Han Sen asked.

“Impossible! No one should know about this. Who did you hear it from?” Gu Qingcheng’s face changed. She ran in front of him and grabbed him by the sleeves.

“I said I met someone, didn’t I? He told me these things, saying that he saw you commit these acts. I thought he was lying. I had no idea he was telling me the truth.” Han Sen was both surprised and happy. He was now sure Gu Qingcheng was the Number 4 in the diary.

“Impossible! When I did these things, humans did not even know what a steamer was. Who could have seen me?” Gu Qingcheng looked annoyed.

Han Sen froze. His eyes opened wide as he looked at her, and he said, “Steamer? That is something from ancient times. Were you in the sanctuary all the way back then?”

Han Sen couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but Gu Qingcheng had unwittingly proved what he wished to know.

Gu Qingcheng frowned as she stared at him. She said, “You are right. I am from that era. I was in the sanctuary even during ancient times. Tell me who told you this stuff. When I did these things, humans could not appear in the sanctuaries. They shouldn’t have been able to see me.”

“No way. Back then, there were no teleporters. There weren’t even generators. How were you able to enter the sanctuary? You’re joking, right?” Han Sen heard every word, but he found it hard to believe.

“Does it look like I am joking?” Gu Qingcheng said coldly.

“But that is not right. Even if you entered the shelter, that would have been at least ten thousand years ago. Even as a demi-god, your few-hundred-year lifespan should have long been over. How have you lived for so long?”

Gu Qingcheng had admitted to something quite strange. He didn’t believe it.

“I don’t care if you believe it or not. I only want you to tell me who told you this stuff.” Gu Qingcheng’s face looked dim.

A chill had run down her spine. The things she had done were something no other human could have seen. The things Han Sen spoke of were events she believed no one else would know about. Spirits and creatures couldn’t have known, either.

Now that Han Sen had said this, it spooked her quite a bit. If someone knew about these things, then it meant someone had been watching her in ancient times and even up until now. This was a pretty scary thing to learn.

“Is there a way for you to prove to me you hail from ancient times?” Han Sen saw that she wasn’t actually joking. He had a number of different questions he wished to ask her.

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Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“It doesn’t matter if I can or not. If you don’t believe me, just pretend I’m not. But just tell me who told you these things.” Gu Qingcheng knew Han Sen, and she knew it couldn’t have been Han Sen who saw those events. Someone must have told him. So, Gu Qingcheng had no reason to be suspicious about what he had told her.

“I’m not sure. I met someone, but I don’t know anything about him. I never saw him again, after that.” Han Sen didn’t know who the person was, so he couldn’t tell her.

Gu Qingcheng frowned and looked at Han Sen. She didn’t believe what he said. After all, why would some random stranger tell him such stories?

Han Sen kept talking about things that didn’t matter, now wanting to slip away. He had at least confirmed that Gu Qingcheng was the elusive Number 4.

But if Gu Qingcheng was a human that had been in the sanctuaries in ancient times, like she had just told him, how did she enter? And how was she still alive after all that time had passed?

Something else confused Han Sen, too. If Number 4 was a number the observer had just written down, did that mean the other numbers were humans, too?

If they were humans, how were the numbers decided? If the numbers were given by order of entry into the sanctuaries, then that meant three had already come before her.

Of course, this was all just guesswork. The numbers might not have even represented humans.

“You can leave, but you need to explain things to me first.” Gu Qingcheng raced to the door and blocked the exit, prohibiting Han Sen from leaving.

Han Sen looked at Gu Qingcheng. He thought what she said was fairly believable. When he first met her, he thought she was strange. He never thought she fit into this world, anyway. The name Gu Qingcheng itself was something rather old fashioned. It wasn’t a modern human name, at all.

And some of her behavior flat-out made Han Sen feel strange. She was both mysterious and hauntingly beautiful, and that in itself was odd. Her being different might have been something to expect, then.

Now that he thought about it, Gu Qingcheng didn’t look like a modern human, either.

“I can tell you what you want to know, but first, I need you to tell me who you are,” Han Sen said quietly.

“I told you already. You’re the one who chose not to believe me,” Gu Qingcheng said.

“Even if I did believe you are an ancient human, you should have a historical identity. Back then, humans were separated by countries. Which country did you hail from? What did you do before?” What Han Sen wanted to know the most was how she had managed to enter the sanctuary.

He was afraid that by asking her directly, he wouldn’t receive an answer. First, he had to test the waters.

Gu Qingcheng looked at Han Sen with strange doubt, but answered, “I am from the Chu State. I am a Qi Gong Caster.”

“Qi Gong Caster? Which faction did you belong to?” Han Sen asked politely.

“That’s none of your business,” Gu Qingcheng answered.

“How did you get into the sanctuary?” Han Sen asked.

“If I answer this question, you will have to tell me who told you all that stuff.” Gu Qingcheng looked right at Han Sen when she said this.

“Okay, it’s a deal,” Han Sen agreed.

With no hesitation, Gu Qingcheng said, “I am from Chu State, but I practiced at sea. Once, when I returned to land in my boat, a weird vortex appeared. I fell into it, and when I came to, I was in the sanctuary.”

“Which planet was the vortex on? And where?” Han Sen asked.

“That’s pointless information. I left the sanctuary many times to search for the vortex, but I learned nothing. I have even used powerful submarines to search underwater. All I’ve found are ordinary seas and nothing else special,” Gu Qingcheng said.

Han Sen nodded. “According to what you have said, if you are from Chu State, it has been tens of thousands of years. How have you managed to live so long?”

“I told you. I have answered your original question, and now it is your turn to answer mine. Answer my question; who told you this stuff?” Gu Qingcheng said.

Han Sen pulled out a book and showed it to her. It wasn’t the diary he found in the control room, though. It was a copy he had made. The Number 4 sections were there, while he had left the original at home.

This was why Han Sen did not go see her immediately.

Gu Qingcheng took the book and opened it with confusion. After seeing it, her face changed. She flipped through the book really quickly and soon looked ill.

“Who is this person?” Gu Qingcheng closed the book and stared at Han Sen. She looked very angry, and goosebumps ran up and down her skin after having read all the complaints.

From what she asked, it looked as if something she never thought would be known had now been exposed for all to see. She felt naked.

“I don’t know the writer, but I copied it from a book I found in God’s Ruin.” Han Sen went on to tell her what happened.

Gu Qingcheng wasn’t too convinced with the tale, though. She stared at him for a good long while. She wanted to find the truth from his face, but she was disappointed.

“If what you’re saying is true, there must be more numbers. There has to be another three, at least,” Gu Qingcheng said thoughtfully.

“Yes, but there isn’t much about them. Just two sentences. You were the focus of the record.” Han Sen smiled.

“Let me see the other parts.” Gu Qingcheng reached out her hand.

“Okay, but you need to tell me how you’ve managed to live all this time.” Han Sen blinked.

Gu Qingcheng did not hesitate, and it looked as if she had just thought of something. She had to confirm her thoughts and said, “I had been here for a dozen years when I explored God’s Ruin. I entered a strange place and got trapped there. It felt like a short time, maybe a few months. But when I came out, the teleporters in the shelters that were previously not available for use, now were functional. I used one of them to leave the sanctuary, and then I learned that tens of thousands of years had passed.”

Saying this, Gu Qingcheng then thought of something quite upsetting. She looked darkly at Han Sen and said, “Not long after I returned to the Alliance, I met your liar. I met your great-grandfather.”

Han Sen could imagine what would happen if a person displaced from the ancient past met a liar.

“The place you went to; were there many crystal machines?” Han Sen asked.