Chapter 133 The Long Night

Tonight was destined to be a restless night.

Moonlight draped over Snow Forbidden City.

The small courtyard of the Wine God Throne was silent.

A youth draped in a white robe slowly emerged from the wooden house. His face was veiled in the pale moonlight, like a god descending to earth. Behind him... in the dark house, the rich aroma of wine seemed to solidify.

For half a year, he had planted grapes in the courtyard.

Wind and rain had drenched them.

Now... the grapes were ripe.

Mr. Jin and Xu Yan were not serving at the side of the young god. In the darkness, a faint breeze flowed, sweeping out of the courtyard, seemingly pointing to the distant horizon.

More than just those two had entered this courtyard.

At this moment, the wind that drifted from the small courtyard traveled through the streets and alleys of Snow Forbidden City... heading towards the figures who had once entered the courtyard and then chosen to leave.

Each wisp of wind was like an eye.

Compared to the electronic instruments arrayed over Nagano.

This was the true "Wind Eye."

An invisible mental force enveloped the vast city. After darkness fell, the Wine God Throne opened its "eyes" for the first time, following the wind to every street, every patch of darkness in this ancient city.

"Gu Changzhi... seems to be truly dead."

The youth murmured softly.

Alone, he left the small courtyard and walked north on foot.

His eyes were closed, yet he walked the shortest, most direct route, surrounded by swirling winds.

The Wine God Throne walked across the bustling Ning River Bridge.

He walked through the ancient alleyways adorned with lanterns.

Beside the Ning River, people danced with lion puppets and played music. The handsome youth walked straight through the crowd. The dancing lions and applauding people seemed to be blindfolded, immersed in their world, oblivious to the figure passing before them. These people were like puppets manipulated by the threads of fate, their every move, sleeve lift, and step, perfectly timed to avoid colliding with the handsome youth's path.

It was as if...

The entire world was making way for him.

He walked on quietly, leaving Snow Forbidden City and arriving at the empty, peaceful cemetery north of Nagano. It was a place where his "Wine Wind" could not reach, a place of true darkness and eternal night.

For the first time, the Wine God Throne stopped.

Rarely in his life had he paused like this before a place.

Not because he wanted to "admire" it.

But because... although he held the Fire Seed and ascended to the god's throne, vestiges of mortal emotions remained in his heart.

That emotion was called fear.

Because of fear, he paused.

For a few brief seconds, the Wine God Throne recalled the scenes he had witnessed in the [Old World] many years ago.

Then he recalled what Gu Changzhi had said to him in the Golden Divine Domain a year ago.

But these memories were quickly cut short. He thought of his experiences after returning to the Tower of Origin, and the pain of countless times wanting to open his eyes but daring not to.

Finally.

The Wine God Throne took a deep breath.

...

...

Today, there was no flowing wind in Qing Mound.

The tomb guardian sat upside down on the ancient tree.

Countless golden divination threads缠绕缠绕 the tree.

The accumulated clouds above the Season's Wilderness had turned into lingering threads, peeled away layer by layer, weaving an outer garment for the ancient tree. From a distance, it looked like a glittering golden tree, and its crown was filled with the future that humans wanted to glimpse but could not.

Master Chino's eyes, beneath her mask, were filled with confusion.

The ominous premonition in her heart reached its peak today... but after using divination, the future she saw was a vast darkness.

Divination could not foresee everything.

Matters and people related to "gods" and "Fire Seeds" were forbidden to be窥伺.

Master Chino moved the golden threads, shifting the "eye" that divined the future to outside the cemetery.

What she saw was still darkness.

At this moment, the confused look in her eyes beneath the mask cleared.

She understood where the darkness came from.

So she began to activate the great formation of Qing Mound.

...

...

Outside the cemetery, the first wisp of wind poured in.

Then the second, the third...

It was like a pebble had been dropped onto a calm lake, except the subsequent movements grew larger and larger... Countless gales swept through the乱云, scattering all the transcendent source matter from Qing Mound's dome. The clouds in the sky continued to retreat toward the inner陵.

Qing Mound was a lake.

But what fell now was not a pebble, but a massive meteorite.

The Wine God Throne entered the cemetery.

The moment he stepped into the cemetery, the array patterns began to activate. But what was terrifying was... that after he took his first step, silent gales surged in, and the divine domain spread out in an instant. Within this domain, everything was under absolute control.

Divine power oppressed the array patterns of Qing Mound, causing the streaks of light that were about to burst forth to extinguish before activation.

The entire sky above the cemetery was covered in dark clouds.

The bright moonlight vanished at this moment.

Qing Mound fell into a long darkness.

The distance from the cemetery entrance to the Colossus Ruins was not long, but the time it took for the Wine God Throne to walk that distance was longer than it took to leave his small courtyard and exit Snow Forbidden City.

Here, there were no dancing masses, nor were there lit lanterns.

For him.

Only darkness remained here as well.

With each step, he had to face the deepest fears in his heart.

Finally.

He stood in the mist of the inner陵.

...

...

Before the Wine God Throne, appeared a figure with fluttering robes.

Chino had not continued to guard the Season's Wilderness.

She knew very well.

At this moment, Qing Mound's great formation no longer needed her as a guardian... The乱云 on the dome, the surging, disordered transcendent source matter, began to pour densely toward the inner陵.

Without the constraints of the great formation, this transcendent source matter would no longer flow slowly.

"Chino..."

The youth smiled.

His eyes were closed, yet he raised his head.

"The 'Divine Advent' in Da Du, that was you, wasn't it?"

The tomb guardian did not answer.

She stood quietly at the entrance of the inner陵 wilderness, looking at the youth before her. Like everyone who directly faced the god's throne, a powerful oppression descended directly from the spiritual level.

This oppression made her want to kneel, to worship.

But... in the end, she stood straight.

Straighter than the colossi whose bodies reached the clouds as the穹云 pressed down.

After a moment, Master Chino spoke.

"Do gods also have questions they don't understand?"

There was laughter in her voice.

A laughter of sympathy, of pity.

The Wine God Throne quietly waited for what she would say next.

"Like that pitiful ghost locked in the Tower of Origin, because of the favor of the Goddess of Fate, I have mastered the ability to foresee the future... But I also know very well."

"There are too many things in this world that divination cannot discern."

Chino would certainly not answer the Wine God Throne's question. She merely said coldly, "Just like I would never have imagined that a dignified god's throne would actually condescend... to come to Qing Mound."

Every god should appear where they are needed.

The Wine God Throne could appear in the fortresses of the Northern Continent, in the broken sea lanes outside the Great Wall, in every black spot in the Five Continents... But he should not be here.

"You should know... I am not a very patient person."

The youth said softly.

"I also know that the reason you asked me is because the question in your heart, no one but me can answer."

Chino said softly, "That prophet cannot see through the mist within the cemetery... In the entire Five Continents, only I know what happened in Qing Mound. More than the 'Divine Advent' in Da Du, you want to know Gu Changzhi's state."

The Wine God Throne was silent.

"Isn't the answer obvious?"

Chino looked calmly at the youth and said, "You... still dare not open your eyes."

A layer of mist covered the youth in the moon-white robe.

As far as the Wine God Throne was concerned.

He could choose not to be seen.

So... no matter how the tomb guardian looked, whether with her eyes or with divination, she could only see a blur of mist. She would not see his face at all.

"So... the last 'Divine Advent' was indeed related to you."

The Wine God Throne sighed softly.

He waved his hand gently.

The next moment.

"Tear!"

A sound like tearing silk rang out in the air!

Master Chino's fluttering robe was directly cut in half, and with it, her body was also cut open—

But no blood splattered.

After the black robe shattered, a section of withered bone body was revealed.

Her blood had long been drained by divination, and her body after being cut was transformed into串串 golden threads... After奉献饲品 through "divination," Chino could no longer be considered an ordinary person.

A mental diviner who could directly look into the future of fate could not be described with ordinary words.

And the price she paid with her physical body...

Was to become a monster.

The Wine God Throne's expression was very calm. He had already seen such scenes, because beneath the Tower of Origin, was also imprisoned a "prophet" whose physical body was more decayed than Chino's...

He said coldly, "Don't think that just because you have mastered 'divination' you can be fearless. Compared to a god... an異端 like you who cultivates ancient arts is just an ant. If I want to kill you, I only need a thought."

Chino's upper body fell to the ground. Countless divination threads spread out, and she struggled to support her half body, leaning against the stone wall. She smiled weakly and said, "Perhaps... you can try directly killing me."

She looked back at the inner陵.

"And see if he will appear."

The Wine God Throne did not move.

As far as he was concerned... killing Chino was meaningless.

People would not take an extra step to deliberately step on an ant.

And since arriving at Qing Mound's inner陵.

He had sensed some unexpected "气息"... In the depths of the inner陵 entrance, something seemed to be growing, and he had not personally sensed the "气息" of that thing for a long time.

It was somewhat familiar.

And somewhat strange.

His expression changed slightly, unsure.

"If I'm not mistaken, you've been in Nagano... for some time, haven't you?"

Chino lowered her eyes.

The ominous premonition of the past few days had been answered today after meeting the Wine God Throne.

"No wonder Nagano has been so unstable recently..."

"Xu Yan, Zhu Wang, Gu Lushen, and perhaps many others, the things they have done under your instruction, seem to be challenging the established system in Nagano... but in reality..."

"You just want to verify an idea..."

"Gu Changzhi's Fire Seed has been extinguished, so... no matter what is done to Nagano."

The tomb guardian's voice was hoarse. She laughed self-deprecatingly and said, "He won't wake up."

The Wine God Throne personally coming to Snow Forbidden City was actually a very absurd thing...

Since he was so afraid of Gu Changzhi, why would he come here in person?

But at this moment, Chino suddenly understood the reason.

The meeting with Gu Lushen gave her the final inspiration.

For so many years, Gu Lushen had been able to窥伺 the secret of the "Fire Seed," hiding it from everyone.

That was why he had fearlessly launched the Gu family's internal strife.

And... gained the upper hand!

No one knew better than him the specific situation of Qing Mound's "Fire Seed."

And... if such a person joined the Wine God Throne's sect... then everything that happened in Nagano would make sense.

"I think..."

Master Chino slumped at the entrance of the inner陵. She turned her head slightly, looked at the inner陵 where countless transcendent source matter surged in, smiled with a complex expression, and said to the Wine God Throne, "Since you want to know the final answer so much, why not open your eyes and see for yourself?"

On the Wine God Throne's face, there was hesitation, doubt, and struggle.

Finally...

These emotions all disappeared.

Of course, he would not let anyone see the appearance of these negative emotions.

Having already come here, how could he retreat?

Thus.

The youth opened his eyes.

And the next moment.

He saw a huge barrier, wrapped in blazing light, propped open from within the inner陵. At this moment, he received the answer, which was the familiar Fire Seed aura of Gu Changzhi. Having lost the control of the array patterns, Qing Mound's transcendent source matter accumulated for decades surged into the inner陵. That Fire Seed was like a bottomless cave, frantically devouring the transcendent source matter within the Qing Mound cemetery—

The source matter cloud layer that had been压积 for more than ten years was broken through at this moment.

The Wine God Throne's divine domain was also covered at this moment.

The speed at which this huge barrier grew was simply unbelievable. After receiving the灌注 of transcendent source matter, it silently凝聚 into a huge ball of light in just a few minutes, and the subsequent speed increased exponentially... When the Wine God Throne opened his eyes, all he saw was a vast golden holy light, and an unstoppable force.

The Fire Seed barrier covered the inner陵 in an instant.

At this rate of the Fire Seed barrier's expansion, it would not be impossible to devour the city of Nagano south of Qing Mound within a few minutes... However, countless blazing rays of light ultimately suspended at the outer edge of the Qing Mound array patterns.

This barrier only formed within the cemetery.

Looking from afar.

The sky above Qing Mound in the dark night was like a large cocoon.

Yes.

This was a cocoon.

A cocoon of the Fire Seed created by a god himself, forged for twenty years.

...

...

(ps: 1 I was too tired today. I took a nap after dinner, and when I woke up it was almost ten o'clock, so this chapter is a bit late. 2 There is only one chapter today, and there will be fewer updates these days as I am resting. I should also take a day off, and will resume on the 6th.)