CHAPTER 979: CHAPTER 976 - ’LI MINGYUE LINE - RULE BOOK

The entire morning, Su Ming’an spent in study.

The female students from the church gradually returned from school. Su Ming’an collected a pile of gifts; they asked him to pass them on to Su Wensheng.

They probably all didn’t know that Su Wensheng had long since disappeared.

In the afternoon, Su Ming’an stood by the stained-glass window memorizing the book, and suddenly, he saw flames burning in the sky, lasting for nearly an hour before dimming.

"Is someone setting fire to the sky?" Su Ming’an turned and ran inside the church.

He wanted to inform Li Mingyue about this, but when he opened the door, Li Mingyue was nowhere to be found, only leaving behind a partially written rule book on the table.

It seemed that Li Mingyue was in the midst of continuing the rule book. Su Ming’an glanced at the book’s undried ink. The doors and windows were tightly shut; where did Li Mingyue go?

At this moment, there was a knocking sound from the church.

Su Ming’an opened the door, and Lv Shu was at the entrance.

"It’s you?" Lv Shu frowned as he glanced at Su Ming’an: "Su Rin, I’m here looking for Bishop Li. I want to ask how to help Su Ming’an. Now the sky is ablaze with fire, it must be Su Ming’an battling a deity."

For the first time, Su Ming’an saw such a cold expression from Lv Shu. This kind of gaze, Lv Shu had never shown before.

"Stay in the small town. It needs your guard," Su Ming’an said.

"Are you sure that’s okay?" Lv Shu retorted: "The small town is protected by Bishop Li, Su Luoluo went to the relics, do I still need to stay here in the town?"

Su Ming’an didn’t expect Lv Shu’s attitude to be so sharp. It had always been Su Ming’an suggesting, and Lv Shu directly adopting.

He didn’t want to inform Lv Shu about the consciousness swap; fearing Lv Shu might do something to save him.

"That’s Su Ming’an’s thinking." Su Ming’an said.

Lv Shu was silent for a moment: "Alright, then I’ll continue staying here. By the way..."

Lv Shu searched his pocket for a while and took out a bag of tea leaves: "This is the tea you wanted; I bought it while passing by the tea shop."

Su Ming’an was shocked—why was Su Rin still fixated on this?

Did he have no self-awareness of his tea brewing skills? Isn’t this a kind of cognitive distortion?

"Throw it away directly; never give me tea leaves again, never give me the chance to get close to tea sets. The Te Ni Tea I brew is simply awful," Su Ming’an said.

Lv Shu froze for a second, and then was surprisingly shocked as well.

"Is this what you really think?"

Su Ming’an said: "Yes."

Lv Shu nodded his head, turned to leave, looking back every few steps, as if confirming whether Su Rin had taken the wrong medicine today.

Su Ming’an kept a straight face. He remembered that Su Rin always kept a straight face, without much other expression; this seemed more in line with the image.

Finally, Lv Shu said: "You’ve finally realized it. I hope Su Ming’an can understand soon too..."

The church door closed, and Lv Shu left.

Su Ming’an pretended not to understand what Lv Shu meant in the end.

He continued searching for Li Mingyue. Li Mingyue definitely hadn’t left the church, neither the Scarlet Bird nor the Black Cat responsible for patrolling around noticed Li Mingyue leaving.

He returned to the table; the ink on the "Rule Book" was undried, the pen lay in an unnatural direction, as if Li Mingyue had suddenly disappeared while writing, causing the pen to slip from his hand and fall on the table.

Just as Su Ming’an wanted to search, he suddenly heard a "bang" sound, like a heavy object hitting the ground.

He turned to look. Li Mingyue was lying on the ground, as if he had just been transported back from somewhere, his hair like moonlight spilling on the floor, eyes tightly closed, body extremely rigid.

"Godfather." Su Ming’an went to check Li Mingyue’s situation. Li Mingyue’s whole body was tightly tensed, without any injuries on his body, but his expression was very painful, it seemed he was spiritually harmed.

Li Mingyue slowly opened his eyes, bloodshot.

Su Ming’an helped him to the bed and poured him a glass of water. It took ten minutes for Li Mingyue to come back to his senses hoarsely saying: "...I’m fine."

"Where did you just go?" Su Ming’an asked.

"...You shouldn’t worry." Li Mingyue said: "Don’t... interfere with my work."

"You say I’m the Savior, then you should try to inform me of the facts." Su Ming’an said: "Otherwise, if it fails in the end, Su Wensheng and others will have wasted their effort."

He said this to encourage Li Mingyue to divulge more clues. However, Li Mingyue seemed stimulated by these words, showing pain in his eyes.

"Wensheng..." Li Mingyue said softly: "I’m sorry..."

Su Ming’an could not respond to him.

Li Mingyue seemed somewhat mentally unstable, repeatedly apologizing, his fingers clutching Su Ming’an’s sleeve:

"I’m sorry."

Su Ming’an said softly: "...But what did you do wrong."

Su Wensheng bore the fifty torch, destined not to live long. Even Tang from the Human Self-Rescue Alliance only lived for a short period. Li Mingyue’s act of watching Su Wensheng die can be seen as wrong, and also not wrong. These things are inherently difficult to clarify. It was Li Mingyue who protected Su Wensheng, allowing him to grow up safely, and again Li Mingyue witnessed his death.

Perhaps when Su Ming’an first came to the church as Su Wensheng, Li Mingyue looked at him and could see Su Wensheng’s shadow—they were already very similar...

...

[The phone rings, Su Ming’an checks, the caller ID shows [Moon (Note: Godfather)].]

[Su Ming’an answered the call without speaking.]

[The other side remained silent for a full ten seconds.]

[Su Ming’an also kept silent, waiting for the other party to speak first.]

[Moments later, the other party spoke, a voice clear as jade beads:]

["...Wensheng, why didn’t you greet me today?"]

...

It was, indeed.

The first day Su Ming’an arrived, Li Mingyue knew it was Su Ming’an, so why did he ask, "Why didn’t you greet me today?" He clearly knew the answer inside, no one knew the answer better than him.

He was expecting, who would respond? Su Ming’an, or someone else?

At that moment, Su Ming’an was silent for three seconds, not knowing how to reply. In that instant, Li Mingyue already understood the truth.

Su Ming’an suddenly understood Li Mingyue’s change in thought during that phone call.

"Godfather... no, Li Mingyue..."

Li Mingyue closed his eyes, falling asleep.

Su Ming’an turned and left the room, continuing to read the books Li Mingyue gave him. Now, Li Mingyue was equivalent to his game guide, instructing him on what steps to take.

...

[Through reading, you have mastered the Way of Method "Matrix Orders—Blazing Fire" (Talisman mastery count: 4/39453)]

[Through reading, you have mastered the Way of Attack "Matrix Orders—Spear of Deadly Thorns" (Talisman mastery count: 5/39453)]

[Through reading, you have learned three methods to discern illusions.]

[Through reading...]

...

The sunset fell, and the flames in the sky seemed smaller. Su Ming’an gazed into the distant fire, feeling something significant had happened.

He felt the candy inside his pocket slightly heating up, taking it out, found the lemon candy had shattered. He peeled the wrapper, putting the broken candy into his mouth. The candy Chao Yan gave was very sweet; he wondered what she was doing now.

"Boom!"

Another dull sound rang out. Su Ming’an heard it and immediately rushed into the inner chamber; Li Mingyue was again lying on the ground, still with a pale complexion and stiff body.

"Where did you go again?" Su Ming’an truly couldn’t understand why this incident was repeating for the second time.

"...Don’t interfere with my work," Li Mingyue answered as she always did.

Su Ming’an could only help Li Mingyue onto the bed to lie down properly.

Throughout this afternoon, Li Mingyue had experienced at least five such instances: disappearing from the room—lying on the ground with a "boom"—resting on the bed—disappearing from the room again. This cycle repeated.

The fifth time he helped Li Mingyue onto the bed, Su Ming’an was cautious. He quietly waited at the door, and after a while, he returned to the room; sure enough, Li Mingyue had already disappeared from the room.

Su Ming’an approached Li Mingyue’s desk, where the "Rule Book," pen, and ink lay. He wanted to know what method Li Mingyue used to leave.

He searched the desktop and found nothing special, but he discovered a wooden butterfly token engraved with the words "Li Mingyue" on the ground.

...Did Li Mingyue leave through this?

Su Ming’an, tentatively, tapped the wooden token—

In an instant, white light enveloped him.

After the white light faded, he found himself in a pure white space, where there was nothing, utterly blank, intangible and formless. He couldn’t touch anything, as if floating in white void.

At the top left corner of his vision, a large amount of data appeared, such as [Environment Settings], [Character Settings], [Temperature], [Humidity], [Vegetation Coverage], [Soil Composition], [Sunlight], [Wind Strength], and other adjustable data. It’s somewhat like the creation mode in sandbox games.

...Where is this?

Su Ming’an clicked [Environment Settings], and there were thousands of data items inside. He casually clicked [Build Soil], and in the next second, endless soil suddenly appeared beneath his feet.

He clicked [Sunny], and arbitrarily adjusted the humidity, vegetation coverage, soil moisture, and other miscellaneous settings, selecting [Grassland Area], [Sunflowers], [Wildflowers], and [Butterflies], then clicked [Confirm]. In the next instant, dazzling sunlight appeared in the pure white space, wild grass and sunflowers sprang up crazily, forming an endless grassland, and colorful butterflies danced around him.

He touched these wild grasses and butterflies, and they all had real tactile sensations.

So... this is a sandbox simulator? He could autonomously create a small world in this space. It seems Li Mingyue was playing such a little game, so he’d suddenly vanish indoors.

But why would Li Mingyue play a sandbox game?

Moreover, why did Li Mingyue always appear extremely spiritually pained whenever he returned to the room?

Su Ming’an stepped forward, intending to walk casually, yet he suddenly heard a "snap" underfoot.

He had accidentally snapped a twig.

This wasn’t a big deal, and Su Ming’an didn’t really mind.

But at that moment, he suddenly felt intense pain throughout his body, as if his bones were breaking—

...

"Ding-dong!"

[You triggered an instant death rule.]

[Rule 9217: If butterflies and sunflowers coexist within your surroundings, breaking a twig in any form can bring about death.]

...

Wait, wait a minute...

Su Ming’an felt severe pain all over, his breath waning until death... When he opened his eyes, his face was as pale as paper, and his whole body was extremely rigid due to the aftermath of death.

"Boom!"

He fell to the ground, producing a "boom" sound.

The clock on the church wall showed time moving normally. He hadn’t triggered a death rebound; this didn’t count as real death; he just died in the simulator game, so he returned to the church. And the butterfly token is the entry switch into the small game.

At this moment, inspiration flashed through his mind like lightning.

—He seemed to understand something.

He seemed to... understand.

"Boom," five minutes later, a loud sound.

White hair like spilled moonlight, spread beside Su Ming’an; this was the sixth time Li Mingyue appeared in the room all afternoon.

Li Mingyue’s eyes were brimming with bloodshot veins, his body was rigid; he forcibly supported himself, climbed to the desk, and with trembling hands, picked up the pen, writing down the 9216th instant death rule.

Bloodshot veins filled those pale-colored eyes, seemingly about to drip blood. Yet, he continued to persist in writing.

After finishing writing, Li Mingyue noticed Su Ming’an in the room. Instantly, Li Mingyue showed rare panic; he clearly didn’t want Su Ming’an to witness this scene.

"You..." Li Mingyue started.

"Godfather." Su Ming’an’s voice was somewhat hoarse: "Nine thousand two hundred and sixteen rules—how many times have you died?"

...

[How many times have you died?]

...

Initially, there were no rules summarized in The World of Old Days; people would die if they violated the rules. They lived in constant fear.

If humanity wanted to survive, someone had to test the instant death rules and countermeasures.

—Until after a prolonged period, the entire system was perfected and became a book.

But with so many instant death rules. Relying solely on humans using their lives to test, it would be impossible to probe such meticulous details, and fear thousands of deaths would not be sufficient.

"..."

Therefore, Li Mingyue constructed an illusion realm—the butterfly token should be an Immortal’s Talisman, capable of constructing the illusion realm.

He personally attempted it, simulating various real situations, directly navigating various dire scenarios, exploring specific conditions for death triggers, exploring how to handle them. Even if he triggered instant death rules and died, in reality, he would not die, most he endured various severe pains of death, sustaining severe spiritual trauma. Then, again and again, countless times.

Continuously lying on the ground due to death, continuously re-entering the illusion realm.

Using death to piece together this book that would bless the mortal world.

...Nine thousand two hundred and sixteen instant death rules.

How many times has he died?

How many others supplemented these death counts for him?

Su Ming’an gazed into Li Mingyue’s serene, pale-colored eyes, his pupils like being surrounded by ice and snow.

"Wen... Ming’an." Li Mingyue’s face remained pale: "...This matter is something only I need to do; you have more important tasks."

"I know." Su Ming’an shook his head: "Godfather, I have now profoundly recognized one thing."

"I have already said, you cannot completely comprehend certain things." Li Mingyue said.

"This thing, I think completely comprehending it has no issue." Su Ming’an said.

"What is it?" Li Mingyue asked.

"I really..."

Su Ming’an raised his head.

A dazzling torch and glass bottle, fluttering psalms and paintings, pages recording nine thousand two hundred and sixteen rules swayed past his eyes. Li Mingyue stood beside him, snow-white hair waving in the wind, eyes possessing a gentle and pure hue.

Finally, Su Ming’an gazed at the splendid yet tranquil blue full moon on the dome. It seemed to tenderly look back at him as well.

"I really... quite like this world."