Chapter 78: Static Disy Space


    "Old Du, how are you?" Zhang Xingxing asked with concern.


    "I''m fine. There won''t be any issues for now," replied Old Du.


    "Old Du, did you make any new discoveries?" I asked.


    "Do you remember the creature in charge of arranging books when we first arrived?" asked Old Du.


    "Of course. The creature with no eyes, no ears, and only a mouth," I said.


    "Do you remember the sword''s position on its back?" Old Du asked.


    "If I''m not wrong, the sword was on the right side of its back?" I said.


    "We have not encountered the creature on our way here. I think it must have continued onward through this path and is ahead of us. If this V-shaped intersection is truly an exit, with a trap between the two paths, since the creature has a sword on the right side of its back, which path would it take?" Old Du asked.


    "A sword on the right side of its backif the divider between the two paths contains the trap mechanism, the monster was probably stabbed when taking the left path. In that case, we should pick the right path," I concluded.


    "That makes so much sense. Old Du, you''re a genius!" eximed Zhang Bao''er.


    "What if the creature was stabbed after it turned around to flee?" countered Domo, being as nitpicky as usual.


    "That''s possible, but from our observation, the creature does not have any sensory organs. Therefore, it is more likely for it to flee after being stabbed. Probability-wise, the right path has a higher chance of being the correct choice," exined Old Du.


    His analysis was reasonable. Everyone agreed to take the right path. Before entering the right path, Barak left a mark indicating the right path for the ones that woulde after them. Everyone helped Old Du and proceeded through the tunnel. The white tunnel was exceedingly long, as though there was no end to it.


    After walking for an hour, a different view apart from an endless tunnel was presented before us. Countless subsidiary tunnels had appeared at the two sides of the tunnel. We could clearly see the subsidiary tunnels shift their positions constantly. At that point, the temperature around us had reached negative 15 degrees.


    "We should stick to the main tunnel and ignore the constantly shifting tunnels," said Zhang Xingxing.


    The main tunnel waspletely silent. Even the constantly moving tunnels did not make any noise. It was rather unsettling to see so many movements without any sound. We advanced quickly. At this time, a mournful scream came from one of the moving tunnels.


    "What monster is it? Its scream is so terrifying," said Zhang Bao''er.


    "It almost sounds like the cry of Eternal''s vengeful spirits," said Prince Toruse. "I heard from Royal Father that in the legends, Eternal has a ck hell. There are countless vengeful spirits in it."


    "There are no ghosts. There is a reason for anything to exist. Some are unexinable merely because we have yet to understand them," I said.


    "There must be a lot of life forms we don''t understand under the ground. Everyone, we need to leave as quickly as possible and not waste any time with them," said Zhang Xingxing.


    We continued onward for several minutes. The cries became more and more concentrated, to the point it almost felt like there was a tempo to it. However, no creature was visible in the tunnel. As a precaution, we turned on our shields and gripped our weapons tighter our grips on our weapons. Suddenly, a ck dot appeared in the distance. It looked like we were reaching the end of the tunnel.


    "We''re reaching the end! Go faster, everyone," Zhang Xingxingmanded.


    We continued helping Old Du as we elerated toward the ck dot. Everyone wanted to leave this eerie ce as fast as possible.


    The ck dot became nearer and nearer. We were finally able to see that the ck dot was really an exit. In the middle of the exit crouched a big creature with a sword in its back.


    "Canyue, this must be the creature you talked about," Zhang Xingxing said.


    "Yes, it is. I did not expect it to be crouching here. That means we picked the right tunnel," I said.


    For some reason, the crouching creature was motionless. We slowly approached it.


    "This fellow is blocking the exit. We can''t leave,"ined Zhang Bao''er.


    "Barak, does the college have any records on this creature?" I asked.


    "No. The Dark Hall is the ce to store banned books. From the founding of the college, the first principal had issued a ban forbidding anyone from entering."


    "That''s a rule set by the first principal?" I asked.


    "Yes. It is rumored that Principal Yiman died of illness during the construction of the college building. The seeding principal buried him under the college," said Barak.


    "Are you saying that Principal Yiman''s body was buried here? How many people are buried here?" asked Zhang Xingxing.


    "Nobody apart from Principal Yiman," said Barak.


    "Are you suspecting that this creature is..." I asked Zhang Xingxing.


    "That was my initial thought, but that doesn''t seem possible. A life form can transcend the limitations of time, but how can one survive this long without being put in stasis? That is unexinable," said Zhang Xingxing.


    "Just attack. Why are we wasting time talking?" said Zhang Bao''er who was getting impatient.


    "No, we can''t. I don''t think it''s there to stop us," said Domo.


    "Domo makes sense. I agree," Old Du slowly said. "This creature has never shown any aggression since our arrival."


    While everyone was talking, the wails around us were getting louder and louder. Suddenly, several clumps of ck gas spurted out from the side tunnels and advanced toward us. A part of the ck cloud extended like an arm reaching out to touch our shields. Our powerful shields were able to block its advance, resulting in the formation of some sort of smoke ring around us.


    "My god. There really are ghosts here!" Zhang Bao''er cried out.


    "Shut up. Ghosts don''t exist. This is simply something unknown," I stopped Zhang Bao''er from further shouting.


    At this time, our radiation detector indicated that the radiation around us had reached 500 electron volts.


    "Canyue, the radiation is too high. This level is alreadyparable to a ck hole''s radiation field," said Zhang Xingxing.


    "Yes, we need to leave immediately," I said.


    More and more ck smoke covered our surroundings while the wails around us intensified. I suddenly saw a palm swinging at the smoke, dispersing some of the smoke.


    "It''s the creature. It seems to be helping us!" Zhang Xingxing eximed.


    "Looks like it can sense the radiation field as well," I analyzed.


    "Yes. Look at its appearance. It is smoking with pus all over its body. That is probably a result of long-term exposure to radiation," said Old Du.


    The smoke around us continued growing thicker. Suddenly, the creature opened its mouth and spat a clump of green liquid at the smoke. Any bit of smoke that touched the liquid would solidify into a clump before dropping onto the ground. A few minutester, the thick cloud of smoke had been fully cleared by the creature.


    "Just what is this smoke made of? Why is the radiation level so high?" Zhang Bao''er asked.


    "Ever since we got down here, I have been feeling that this ce is like the vestiges of a supernova," said Old Du.


    "Old Du, did your injury affect your head? This is a, not a star," said Zhang Bao''er.


    "It is very difficult to exin. Perhaps this is some sort of fake appearance," said Old Du.


    "Look, the creature ising," Prince Toruse suddenly shouted.


    Only then did we notice the creature with festering pus all over its body walking toward us. I could see Bao''er slowly raising his gun as the creature approached.


    "Everyone, stay calm. Move aside and let it pass," I said.


    Everyone parted to the side of the tunnel. The creature continued ahead,pletely ignoring all of us. Everyone heaved a breath of relief.


    "Looks like it was really here to help us," said Domo.


    "Yes. I agree with Zhang Xingxing. There is a possibility that the creature is Principal Yiman. At the very least, this is Principal Yiman''s body," said Old Du.


    "But it''s very hard to exin its appearance. Perhaps we''ll get an answerter," said Zhang Xingxing.


    After she spoke, the wails started to return as though the ck smoke was going to reappear.


    "Everyone, move quickly. Get through this exit and leave this ce," Zhang Xingxingmanded.


    Everyone started moving immediately. After helping Old Du up, we resumed our journey to leave the maze. After going through the exit, a massive cavern probably asrge as an ocean was presented before us. Multi-colored dots of light hovered in the air, constantly drifting about. Right in front of us were two paths, one up and one down.


    The lower path led to a massive ck hole. The ck hole waspletely still, a ball of pure darkness. The upper path led to a massive star resembling Betelgeuse, which was emanating gentle rays of light.


    The two paths were akin to two staircases, one leading up and the other leading down. Each step was supported by a massive pir that stabbed down into the immeasurable abyss below us, making the two pathways look even more majestic.


    "Why are there two paths again? Which do we pick this time?"ined Zhang Bao''er.


    "This is spectacr. This ce is like the birthce of the many star systems in the Orion Constetion," eximed Barak in admiration as he took in the sight before us.


    "You''re right. This is the birthce of the Orion Constetion. However, this is not the actual birthce. I have a feeling that this is a replica at apressed scale," said Old Du, ignoring the pain from his wound.


    "Old Du, tell us more about your theory," Zhang Xingxing said.


    "Aftering down here, we encountered the solid form of the vestiges of a supernova, something that only the explosion of a star will leave behind. A regr star explosion will fling nebulous substances away while the star''s core will turn into a ck hole. Only the powerful gravity of a ck hole is capable of creating the highly radiated smoke we encountered in the tunnel. Now that a ck hole has appeared before us, I can confirm that my guess is correct," said Old Du.


    "How do you conclude that this is apressed version of the real thing?" I asked.


    "The supernova vestiges we encountered were dormant, existing in a sponge-like state. I believe this is a static image space," said Old Du.


    "Wait, something doesn''t add up. If that is a ck hole, we would have been crushed from this distance. No life form can survive standing so close to a ck hole. Look, apart from the ck hole, everything else in this ce is moving. Nothing is static about them," argued Zhang Bao''er.


    "Your argument is reasonable. That is also why I''m still confused," said Old Du.


    "Is that an actual ck hole?" I asked.


    "From its shape, yes," said Old Du. "Look at the edge of the thing. All light vanishes upon reaching that point. That is the typical characteristic of a ck hole."


    "The ck hole symbolizes the end, while the star symbolizes life," muttered Barak.


    "In that case, should we pick the upper path?" I asked.


    "There is a saying on Blue that two negatives make a positive. Are we supposed to brave death before obtaining our salvation? Is the ck hole the right choice instead?" asked Zhang Bao''er.


    "If that is our sole option, of course we will give it a try. But there is a choice of life and hope. I suggest we pick the star," I said.


    "I agree with Canyue. We should pick hope, not death," said Prince Toruse.


    Bao''er and Old Du did not say anything else, tacitly agreeing with me.


    "Alright. In that case, let''s take the upper path," concluded Zhang Xingxing.