Eternal Night

Chapter 558 Returning to Song
Wu Pifu indeed did not have a clear understanding of his own position.

His self-perception has remained unchanged: he is an ordinary person struggling in a dream world.

Enemies, monsters, nightmares, the bizarre, corruption...

There are too many things that could kill him, and if he is not careful, he may suffer a fate worse than death. Especially after witnessing the ready-made cases of spiritual civilization, he is even more wary of it, and at the same time, he feels more pity and urgency for the three little animals and the golden tree that are trapped in it.

That's why he didn't seriously consider his place in current human society.

The three giants of humanity!
These weren't his words, but rather a fact universally acknowledged by all of human civilization ever since Chu Minghao rescued Yi Zhan. He, Chu Minghao, and Liang Min are the pillars that hold up humanity, the core reason why human civilization is protected from being polluted by the source!
Whether he admits it or not, he has become powerful enough to represent the highest level of human civilization.

In fact, it was precisely for this reason that when he made up his mind to fight the Mind Civilization, Chu Minghao and Liang Min decided that all of humanity should participate in the war. This was not simply because the three of them had a good relationship, but because as the cornerstone of the stable existence of human civilization, he himself could not be destroyed. If he wanted to fight, even if the conditions were unfavorable, human civilization had to follow suit.

Chu Minghao and Liang Min hadn't told him these things, so he was unaware of them before. But Xu Ruonan and Gao Changgong brought them up indirectly, making him start to think about his own perceptions, positioning, and various behaviors.

After thinking for a long time, Wu Pifu still couldn't figure it out. In the end, he made a decision in his heart... He was still too soft-hearted and weak. If he hadn't been soft-hearted and had eliminated all the root of the trouble and killed everything that should be killed, then his companions and human civilization wouldn't have been implicated. If he were strong enough, he could have destroyed the Mind Civilization on the spot, and none of what happened afterward would have occurred.

So... keep going recklessly, that's the fastest way to get stronger!
Wu Pifu reaffirmed his idea, and then felt at ease resting in the lounge of Gao Changgong's guild building.

That afternoon, Huang Rong, who had been having a blast all day, skipped and hopped into the guild building with several large bags of snacks in her hands. Then, with the enthusiastic guidance of a bunch of people, she found Wu Pifu, who was playing a Souls-like game, with a bright smile.

Huang Rong watched with great interest as the humanoid figure controlled by Wu Pifu rushed into a ball of flames, and then the screen went completely black the next second.

Wu Pifu silently put down the cracked handle, turned to Huang Rong and said, "Don't eat too many snacks before meals."

Huang Rong chuckled and said, "Brother Ant is really bad at this. I can play it after just watching you play for a couple of seconds. Do you want me to teach you?"

Wu Pifu silently turned off the holographic projection. After sitting down, he said to Huang Rong, "Rong'er, tomorrow I'm going to patrol the dream world where I established my sanctuary. There are several worlds, and it may take three to five days. Do you want to stay here, or come with me to see those dream worlds?"

Huang Rong's eyes immediately lit up as she said, "Then I'll naturally go with Brother Ant to explore the myriad minor worlds!"

The entire dream world system, in Huang Rong's mind, is actually more in line with the Buddhist concept of the small chiliocosm, middle chiliocosm, and great chiliocosm. According to her understanding, the world of The Legend of the Condor Heroes is a member of the small chiliocosm, and worlds like the spiritual world and the containment world belong to the middle chiliocosm. Only the world where the Gaia civilization is located is the great chiliocosm. After all, the clever Huang Rong has already learned about the vast universe outside the small room of the Gaia world through sweet talk, curiosity, and exploration.

Although she couldn't yet comprehend what a visible range of 93 billion light-years meant due to her limited knowledge and experience, she did know how incredibly vast the world was.

Therefore, Huang Rong easily integrated into the dream world system and had many fantasies about traveling through the heavens as a celestial being.

Wu Pifu nodded, but didn't say anything more.

Nothing much happened that day except that Gao Changgong held a party during dinner, and Wu Pifu brought Huang Rong to the party. All the guild members were overjoyed and treated him with great respect.

Wu Pifu didn't care. He nodded to those he knew but didn't intend to get to know those he didn't. He just ate his food. Huang Rong, on the other hand, was quite adept at social interaction. No matter who came, she greeted them with a smile. If someone offered her wine, she would drink it down in one gulp. She was practically fearless of anyone who came.

This action was very well-received. Apart from a few people who had a close relationship with Wu Pifu, everyone else treated Wu Pifu with great respect. His status and strength were far beyond their reach, and they didn't dare to talk to him. However, with Huang Rong acting as a mediator, everyone was all smiles.

Wu Pifu did not stop her. From his memory of works such as The Legend of the Condor Heroes and The Return of the Condor Heroes, Huang Rong's personality was actually very similar to Guo Xiang's: forthright, generous, and intelligent. It was really hard to dislike such a woman.

Meanwhile, Huang Rong was also secretly observing Wu Pifu and the people around him. Based on what she had seen and heard, she roughly understood Wu Pifu's status and level in the Celestial Civilization.

In short, nothing happened that day. The next day, Wu Pifu slept in late. When he got up, he heard Huang Rong's silvery laughter coming from the guild building. When he came to the lobby, he saw Huang Rong watching a 29th-century children's cartoon, laughing as she watched. She really looked as innocent and carefree as a little girl her age.

"Then let's prepare to return to Gaia and then patrol the dream worlds where I established my sanctuary."

Wu Pifu said to Huang Rong.

Huang Rong paused for a moment, looking somewhat reluctantly at the guild building's dining and lodging area. She asked, "Aren't you going to have lunch before you leave?"

Wu Pifu shook his head and said, "No need, let's eat in the dream world... By the way, I said I'd take you to eat royal food before, but the food in that world's royal cuisine wasn't very good. This time, I'll take you to eat royal food; it tastes even better than the food here." Huang Rong's eyes lit up, and she nodded repeatedly.

Without saying much, Huang Rong followed Wu Pifu back to the cramped Gaia, where Wu Pifu gave a brief introduction to the situation in Gaia.

A colossal interstellar mothership carrying all of humanity across the stars would indeed appear small.

There's not much to say about these things. Wu Pifu then carried Huang Rong into the hibernation pod. Since he wasn't sure if Huang Rong could be recognized and approved by the main brain on her own, she was treated the same as the three little animals. He lay down below, and Huang Rong lay on top of him.

Huang Rong blushed deeply, even the tips of her ears turned bright red. She carefully curled up on his chest, not daring to look at him at all.

"Mastermind, travel back to the Song Dynasty dream world."

"Penetration confirmed...Penetration activated."

With the mastermind's voice, Wu Pifu and Huang Rong disappeared from Gaia.

When the two came to their senses, they found themselves in a garden, with magnificent ancient buildings not far away.

Huang Rong first looked at Wu Pifu beside her, then slowly looked at the surrounding gardens. After a few seconds, she smiled and said, "This garden is really well built. It has both a grand and solemn, magnificent style, and a sense of mountains and forests within a small space, and a poetic and picturesque feeling. Although it is a decorated landscape, it is not much less charming than my father's Peach Blossom Island."

Wu Pifu looked around and walked towards the main building, saying as he went, "I don't understand these things, but anyway, it was a gift from the Zhao Song emperor."

Huang Rong pressed on, "Is this minor world also from the Song Dynasty? Which emperor was in power? Why was it given to Brother Ant? Could it be that Brother Ant also has an identity in this minor world?"

Wu Pifu said directly, "During the Jingkang era, when I arrived, it was right when the Jurchens launched a major attack. Uh, this world is different from the Song Dynasty and Jurchens that Rong'er knows. The Jurchens in this world are descended from a giant boar demon with three hundred years of cultivation..."

Huang Rong covered her mouth and exclaimed, "So it was Brother Ant who defeated the wild boar demon and saved Emperor Zhao, which is why Emperor Zhao gave this mansion to Brother Ant?"

Wu Pifu said, "Not really. I did kill that wild boar monster, but I also killed Zhao Ji at the same time. Then, in order to eliminate any future threats, I went north and wiped out all the Jurchen tribes. I even chased them all the way to the far north. When I came back, I found that the Song emperor did not treat the common people like human beings, so I killed Zhao Huan as well. The current emperor is Zhao Gou. But speaking of which, this mansion was indeed given to me by Zhao Ji when he was in power."

"?"

Huang Rong looked completely bewildered. These words had completely thrown the story she had initially thought of into a jumbled mess. However, upon closer reflection, she realized that if Wu Pifu had the same temperament as the Jingkang Incident, he might actually have gone so far as to "kill them all."

As soon as the two walked out of the garden, they were spotted by the guards on duty. They all recognized Wu Pifu and greeted him respectfully. Wu Pifu was friendly to them, nodding to each of them. Soon, he led Huang Rong to the main building and ordered the palace maids to prepare lunch.

Not long after, Zhao Fubao arrived at the main building with her personal nanny, Madam An. She clearly already knew that Wu Pifu had brought a beautiful young woman. She arrived in full dress and bowed deeply to Wu Pifu before sitting down to the side.

Huang Rong and Zhao Fubao immediately looked at each other. They were close in age, with Zhao Fubao being slightly younger. In terms of appearance, Huang Rong had bright eyes and white teeth and was incomparably beautiful, while Zhao Fubao was slightly inferior. However, having been taught by the royal family since childhood, his etiquette and demeanor were elegant and graceful, so they were not much different.

However, Huang Rong was skilled in martial arts. After only a few glances at Zhao Fubao, she immediately noticed that his features were still distinct. She then smiled and asked Wu Pifu, "Brother Pifu, who is this younger sister?"

Wu Pifu sat and waited for lunch to arrive, not paying attention to the expressions and actions of the two women. He casually said, "Princess Zhao, Fubao, is the younger sister of the current emperor Zhao Gou. However, she is also a pitiful person. She was almost captured by the Jurchens and then was angered by that bastard Zhao Huan, almost dying in the palace. Because she is destined to live with me, she is now staying with me."

Although Huang Rong was somewhat sensitive to the word "fate," she also felt pity in her heart.

Although she wasn't a learned woman well-versed in poetry and literature, she had been carefully taught various subjects by her father, Huang Yaoshi. Moreover, the era she lived in, the Legend of the Condor Heroes, was not far removed from the Jingkang Incident, and she knew it very well. Naturally, she also knew the tragic fate of the beautiful women of the Zhao Song imperial family. Therefore, her expression softened considerably, and she said to Zhao Fubao, "Sister Fubao, I am Huang Rong, the celestial companion of Brother Pifu. You can call me sister."

Zhao Fubao felt a pang of sorrow in her heart, but being a true political creature, she didn't show it on her face. She simply said obediently, "Hello, Sister Rong, hello, Mr. Wu."

Huang Rong smiled in response, while Wu Pifu didn't care at all. He was sitting in the main seat with his eyes closed, resting. But Zhao Fubao's next words made him open his eyes. Like a tiger opening its eyes, the whole room seemed to light up, as if lightning was flashing.

"Sir, Mr. Yang Zhewan was assassinated in Yangzhou at the beginning of the month and is still in critical condition."

(End of this chapter)