Aside from their sheer numbers, the ghosts surrounding him had no other advantage.
Naturally, they could not stop Yue Shi's progress.
Their resentment was real, their shrieks were ear-piercing, and their appearances were tragic.
But to a man like Yue Shi, who killed without blinking, these ghosts were more like actors in a comedy skit—devoid of any threat.
In fact, they were somewhat hilarious.
In death, they had once again managed to amuse Yue Shi.
Yue Shi actually quite liked their wails, especially the grand, shocking spectacle of countless people crying out, "Give me back my life," in unison.
It made for excellent background music for his entrance.
Unfortunately, these ghosts were far too ugly.
Yue Shi liked things that were twisted, sinister, and fallen—but they had to be beautiful.
The most important thing was beauty!
He was cruel to others, but he had always been very kind to himself.
He would never allow ugly things to be associated with him.
If he made an entrance in the future surrounded by such a group of ghosts, what if people misunderstood him for some kind of evil god?
“Since I could kill you once, I can naturally kill you a second time.”
“If you insist on seeking death, then don't blame me.”
Yue Shi didn't even use his common abilities.
He simply released a tiny sliver of his own Extreme Evil aura.
It was like toxic gas spreading through a swarm of insects.
When the twisting, crawling ghosts, the charred, shrieking ghosts, and the dripping, sodden ghosts touched this Extreme Evil aura, their own malice was amplified infinitely.
Every single ghost immediately fell into a frenzy, launching indiscriminate attacks on everything around them.
Thousands of ghosts slaughtered each other, and countless souls dissipated, turning into wisps of smoke in the void.
Their souls were shattered, never to be reborn.
Satisfied, Yue Shi continued forward toward the direction of the "dessert" he sensed, never pausing his step.
The absolute void seemed to have no end.
Suddenly, in the deep darkness ahead, a faint point of light appeared.
It wasn't a flickering fragment like before, but a steady, solitary lamp.
Yue Shi walked toward the light.
As he drew closer, the light became clearer, illuminating the outlines of its surroundings.
It was an ordinary, even somewhat old, wooden desk and a matching wooden chair.
Strangely, the four legs of the desk and chair were not standing firmly; instead, they extended into countless fine, flexible roots that delved deep into the surrounding void.
Like tree roots, they anchored the desk and chair in this space.
Aside from a glowing desk lamp, the desktop was empty.
The lamp was also quite strange.
The base was dark wood covered in fine growth rings, while the lampshade was a translucent, milky-white petal.
The light shone through the petal—not particularly bright, but soft and steady, illuminating a small area around the desk and chair.
It also clearly outlined the figure sitting in the chair.
It was a young man who looked completely unremarkable.
He wore an ordinary light gray shirt and dark trousers, with common short black hair. His face was handsome but lacked any distinguishing features; he was the type who would vanish instantly if thrown into a crowd.
Yue Shi saw that the man was slightly bowing his head, focused on fiddling with something in his hands.
Click, clack.
The rhythmic, subtle sounds were exceptionally clear in the silent void.
His fingers were very nimble.
As Yue Shi approached, he saw exactly what the man was doing.
He was assembling a ballpoint pen, placing the refill into the barrel and screwing on the metal tip.
An ordinary, common click-top ballpoint pen was formed in his hands just like that.
At that moment, the man stopped, raised his head, and looked calmly at the slowly approaching Yue Shi.
His gaze was gentle and entirely non-aggressive.
“Finally, I meet you officially.”
The man's voice was warm, carrying a strange rhythm that put the mind at ease.
The assembled ballpoint pen was placed gently on the desk, making a light sound.
“It was quite a hassle just to see you.”
The man continued, his tone sounding like the helpless complaint of an old friend.
“Your instinct will avoid all dangers and unknowns that you are not yet prepared to face.”
“Until you truly became strong and reached certain levels, I could never face you directly; I would always miss you.”
“I could only cross paths with you briefly through indirect methods that you could accept and understand.”
“But now, we can finally speak face-to-face.”
Hearing this, Yue Shi stopped at the edge of the lamp's light.
The shadows carved his features deeper as he stared quietly at the man behind the desk, not immediately responding to the other's sentiment.
After thinking for a few seconds, he spoke a name.
“Tree of Truth?”
A faint smile appeared on the man's face, and he did not deny it.
“That is one of the names the humans of this world have for me. If you wish to call me that, you may.”
“What are you doing?” Yue Shi asked, his gaze sweeping over the brand-new ballpoint pen and the strange lamp.
Encountering this ubiquitous master of the Mysterious Garden here, in the core area of Old Dream, Yue Shi didn't actually find it very surprising.
After all, this meddler's tentacles seemed to reach into all sorts of unexpected places.
“I am observing,” the male incarnation of the Tree of Truth answered calmly, his finger gently brushing the ballpoint pen.
Yue Shi asked, “Observing? Observing what?”
“History.”
“The history of the past. The history before the Outer Gods... or rather, before existences like us came to this world on a large scale.”
The Tree of Truth looked up, his gaze casting into the distant void.
Yue Shi had little interest in history, but that didn't stop him from using it as a conversation starter to deal with this mysterious entity.
“I didn't expect you to be interested in history.”
“It's like watching true short stories; it's very interesting,” the Tree of Truth said casually.
“On your way here, you should have already learned about Old Dream's past, right?”
Yue Shi nodded.
“Old Dream is what others call him now.”
“Back when he could still maintain his sanity, during his peak, he called himself the Lord God.”
The Tree of Truth spoke slowly, his fingers tapping the desk with a crisp thud.
“He originally had the chance to become the only god of this world.”
“It's a pity. He was too high-profile, too eager. Before one has fully grown and developed, one must keep a low profile and hide oneself well.”
“Many who have just gained power do not understand this principle. Or they understand it, but cannot suppress the desire to show off.”
There was regret in the Tree of Truth's tone, but also mockery.
Yue Shi didn't entirely agree with this.
Some things couldn't be hidden, just like the moon in the sky; when it appeared, it would surely draw attention.
However, he did not voice his disagreement.
He simply listened as the Tree of Truth continued his narration like a patient history teacher.
“In the beginning, Old Dream only possessed four core authorities: Strange Tales, Memes, Ghosts, and Dreams.”
“During his growth, he gradually collected and fused more scattered authorities.”
“Unfortunately, an accident occurred later. Most of those painstakingly collected authorities were shattered and scattered into the reality outside.”
The Tree of Truth's gaze swept over Yue Shi meaningfully.
“Today, the source of many transcendents' abilities and the foundation of many supernatural births in the real world may, if traced back to their origin, come from the authority fragments that shattered and drifted away from Old Dream back then.”
“Even though Old Dream has completely fallen into madness and lost his mind, he still stubbornly holds onto his four most primitive and powerful authorities.”
“He is instinctively running this Supernatural Game Show to collect more authorities.”
“This is likely his backup plan for resurrection? Or perhaps it is just pure instinct.”
The Tree of Truth shook his head slightly. “Unfortunately, he doesn't understand that when it comes to authorities, more is not necessarily better.”
“Being too greedy and forcibly accommodating too many authorities will surely lead to major problems.”
“Especially certain conflicting and irreconcilable authorities; they will lead to extremely serious consequences.”
“If he hadn't already had problems himself and begun to collapse from within, the Outer Gods wouldn't have had the chance to crush him in one go back then, leaving him in this state of being neither alive nor dead.”
“Of course, those Outer Gods didn't gain any benefits either; most of them perished along with him.”
Yue Shi quietly listened to this secret history of Old Dream's fall before suddenly asking.
“Why are you telling me all this?”
He leaned forward slightly, the lamplight dancing in his eyes.
“I originally thought that when we officially met, it would be a tense standoff or a battle of wits, with us ready to strike at any moment.”
“This current situation feels a bit strange.”
Hearing this, the Tree of Truth tilted his head, and three question marks appeared above him like a 2D paper character.
He studied Yue Shi carefully and said slowly, “That is only your one-sided thought.”
“Just as I originally thought, one-sidedly, that you would be a beautiful woman holding a rabbit, but you turned out to be a man.”
“It is clear that many things in this world are different from what is expected.”
“I don't seem to have shown any malice toward you, so why are you so guarded against me, assuming a hostile stance?”
Yue Shi suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.
The deeds done by some of this old tree demon's scions were not few.
He curled his lips. “You don't look like a good person at all.”
“Hahahaha.” The Tree of Truth laughed softly, his voice warm.
“I am indeed not a good person, but I feel that I am just a little bit kinder than you.”
“I commit evil to become stronger by any means necessary.”
“But you, my friend—you become stronger by any means necessary just so it is more convenient for you to commit evil.”
Yue Shi also laughed. It was rare for someone to see through his essence at a single glance.
“This pointless conversation can end here.”
“What exactly did you come here to do?”
“Surely you didn't come specifically to tell me a story?”
“Let me guess. You want to take over all the legacies left by Old Dream, clean up the mess, and swallow this cake?”
The Tree of Truth shook his head, his movement light yet firm.
He watched Yue Shi, his own reflection clear in the man's eyes.
“Projecting your own thoughts onto others is a bad habit. What you just described is what you want to do.”
“I only came here specifically to wait for you.”
“Huh???”
Yue Shi froze for a moment, genuinely surprised.
“Wait for me? Wait for me for what?”
“Are we that close?”
His surprise quickly turned into alertness, his gaze sharpening.
“I'd still rather believe you're here to collect authorities. After all, there seem to be many ownerless good things here.”
Hearing Yue Shi's doubt, the Tree of Truth appeared quite troubled.
“I knew you would think that. With your personality, it's truly hard to communicate.”
“If you don't state your purpose, I can only make wild guesses,” Yue Shi said calmly.
If it were anyone else standing here, Yue Shi would have already made a move.
But facing the Tree of Truth, he didn't have much confidence.
The Tree of Truth fell silent, reaching out to flick the ballpoint pen on the desk.
“Explaining this would be very troublesome; it involves levels that you might not be able to fully understand for the time being.”
“But I can guarantee—please, you must believe me—that I have no malice toward you at this moment.”
He chose a relatively vague explanation, his tone exceptionally sincere.
“I know, you still don't believe me. Empty words are indeed hard to trust.”
“How about this? All these legacies left by Old Dream belong to you; I won't take a single bit.”
“If you need it, I can assist you so that you can accommodate them more stably. How does that sound?”
Yue Shi raised his chin slightly, speaking with perfect confidence, “These things were mine to begin with.”
“You're using my own things to do me a favor. Quite a clever calculation.”
The Tree of Truth: “...”
It was a truly difficult-to-evaluate bandit logic.
He opened his mouth, about to say something, but his expression suddenly changed slightly.
“Oh dear, midnight has arrived.”
The warm male voice suddenly pitched higher, turning into a crisp, charming female voice!
As the voice changed, the Tree of Truth's physical form began to reshape in sync.
A layer of bark-like texture flickered over the skin, the originally flat chest swelled into full curves.
The shoulders became rounded, the waist narrowed. The facial structure adjusted slightly, the jawline softened, and the eyes became seductive and elongated.
The originally short black hair grew wildly, turning into a thick, slightly wavy, waist-length mane.
With a flicker of her eyes, the male appearance faded away, and even the clothing changed, becoming a dark green long dress.
The entire process took no more than two or three breaths.
The originally unremarkable young man had turned into a glamorous big sister.
Brother Tree had become Sister Tree.
She rested her chin on one hand, looking at Yue Shi with a smile, her eyes like shimmering water.
“Everything you just said was right. These things belonged to you from the start.”
“...” For a moment, Yue Shi didn't know what to say.
“Your gender is certainly... flexible.”
The Tree of Truth smiled sweetly. “Gods have no fixed form; we can take a thousand shapes. You can do it too.”
Yue Shi: “No, I cannot.”
The Tree of Truth: “No, you can!”
“You can be a straight man, a straight woman, gay, lesbian, transgender, a hermaphrodite, mixed-gender, a succubus, the male lead, the female lead...”
Yue Shi: “...”
Me?
The Tree of Truth: “Women love you, men love you, the elderly love you, children love you, furries also love you—everything loves you.”
Yue Shi: “...”
Me?
“How could anyone in this world like me? Are they blind?”
The Tree of Truth: “No, everyone loves you!”
“You are the most brilliant pearl in the night sky, the most delicate rose by the Milky Way, and the supreme masterpiece of the mysterious world!”
Yue Shi: “...”
Me?
The Tree of Truth: “When the Creator was creating you, you asked him loudly, ‘What about my gender?’”
“So the Creator specifically installed a massive piece for you, and gazed at you with those deep eyes, just like the shockwave produced by a supernova explosion.”
“The Creator said, ‘Obey my arrangements, Little Yueyue! This world only has winter; don't let your love be like ice—I want your hate to be like fire~’”
“...” Yue Shi was completely speechless.
He felt as if he had just heard something filthy.
The Tree of Truth didn't just change gender; the male incarnation and the female incarnation...
Weren't just slightly different.
They were vastly different!
It was as if she were suffering from some kind of severe mental illness.
END
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