Absolute Gate

Chapter 74: All are Disaster Aspects

At first, Yak only focused on eating and drinking.

However, as he listened further, he understood what the two were talking about; they were discussing his fate.

It was clearly close to the truth, which reminded him of something.

Seeing the confusion in his eyes, Wu Zhong pressed, "Did you remember something? Yak?"

“Eternal horizon...between life and death...guardian of the entrance to the underworld? Ho ho ah ah!” Ark suddenly became excited, a hoarse growl escaping his throat. He abruptly stood up and overturned the food carts.

Then, some painful memories surfaced, like a red-hot knife suddenly plunged into his brain and began to stir.

"Best, you betrayed me..."

"Ugh!"

He suddenly clutched his head, a movement that resembled more of a terrified child being pushed onto an altar than that of a god.

Yak curled up as if trying to avoid a non-existent blow.

"No...no...it wasn't me who caused all things to suffer the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death. I couldn't do it! This isn't my fault! What right do you have to judge me!"

He stammered, his voice trembling with extreme fear: "Bones... my bones..."

Yak's fingers gripped his arms tightly, as if trying to confirm if they were still there.

"Only by getting infinitely close to death can one avoid death! Ugh..."

His pupils were extremely dilated, as if he were staring into the darkness at a vision from four thousand years ago.

"They are singing... a song of praise..."

"Hehehehe..."

Yak convulsed and collapsed onto the bed, making a chilling sound.

His hands and feet twisted into a zombie-like shape, accompanied by violent, epileptic-like spasms throughout his body.

It seemed like a terrifying memory, so painful that it triggered a physiological stress response in him.

"The internal organs... were warm... when they were pulled out... they were... warm..."

He convulsed, clutching his abdomen in a bizarre posture, a feeling of tightness washing over him, as if he were being bound.

Ark's bright eyes gazed expectantly at the ceiling: "I can see you... La... I can see the sun! Why... won't you save me..."

"Is it really...four thousand years? Four thousand years...where are you? Waaaaah..."

Yak's words began to break down, mixed with sobs and incoherent wails.

Wu Zhong and Yang Chunsha were shocked and felt their scalps tingle; they were terrified by his current state of pain.

What kind of terrifying experience could have caused his memories to surge back, resulting in such agonizing physical spasms?
That was truly heart-wrenching; it was physically being torn apart.

"Darkness...stones...crowding me...I can't move...four thousand years...I can't move!"

"I'm not breathing... air, the last bit of air..."

Yak lay curled up on the bed, as if he were in a cramped crevice in a rock.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he frantically banged his head against the wall behind him, making dull thuds—a more desperate accusation than any cry.

"Alright, alright, stop thinking about it, those things are all in the past!" Wu Zhong quickly pressed him down.

Ark pointed to the center of his chest and wept, where the inverted obelisk had pierced through: "And the pillar... the black stone went in... from here..."

"The entire mountain above... is pressing down on me! It's a temple!"

“I can hear them walking…praying! Again and again…singing above my head!”

He practically screamed the last sentence.

Fragments of memory, betrayal, excruciating pain, suffocation, eternal oppression, and blasphemy from the altered divine authority converged into a torrent at this moment, almost overwhelming his remaining sanity.

It's been too long, too long, he's going crazy.

"Stop thinking about it! Stop thinking about it!"

"I understand. The past is meaningless. Forget about it and get some sleep." Wu Zhong hugged him tightly, like an older brother hoping to soothe him to sleep.

Yak stopped trying to remember, and just held his head in his hands, burying his face deep in his knees, just like when he was first found in the rocky peak.

She sobbed, letting out suppressed cries.

It was the pain of a person buried alive, diluted by time over four thousand years, until the memory collapsed, yet it remained as fresh as ever when it suddenly surged back to mind.

Yang Chunsha covered her mouth, her eyes filled with pity, finding it hard to imagine what Yake had gone through.

That must have been unbearable to recall, so even the memories have decayed. How can one not forget? One's mind would collapse.

After forgetting, he will only remember some common sense about humanities from back then, and otherwise remain as innocent as a child.

This is probably a self-protection mechanism that has developed after a long period of suffering.

"We don't need to delve into his past; that bloody and terrifying theocratic era is none of our business."

"Let him get a good night's sleep. Hopefully, he'll wake up to bright sunshine tomorrow and feel better."

"From now on, he will be a member of my End Clan, my younger brother, not some ancient god."

Wu Zhong said that rather than helping the other person recall the past, which might lead to a drastic change in the situation, it would be better to let him just be a simple-minded boy.

Yang Chunsha also agreed, saying they would explore its characteristics gradually later.

There's no need to dig into his memories; it's too cruel.

Moreover, if his characteristics were truly remarkable, how could he have ended up in such a state?
Its greatest potential should be its innate nature, but unfortunately, in those days, there were no primitive stone slabs or diverse systems.

"Huh? He probably can't sleep, right? Didn't you help him overcome his insomnia?"

The two tried to comfort him for a long time, but found that Yak couldn't sleep and was still curled up there.

Yang Chunsha suddenly remembered that his mad vampire's illness was insomnia.

Wu Zhong curled his lip: "Damn, I forgot, just change it."

He absorbed Ark's illness, and the latter immediately fainted, as he was too weak.

Then Wu gave him another dose of bulimia nervosa. He's so thin, it's good for him to eat more.

Anyway, given his own characteristics and the fact that he's a member of the Mad Blood Clan, he shouldn't be afraid of something as trivial as bursting his stomach.

……

The next day at noon, the sun was high in the sky, scorching the earth.

Yake had just woken up and was lying on the balcony, basking in the sunlight, staring blankly at the city view outside.

The streets were bustling with activity, with a constant flow of traffic, and locals and tourists from all over the world could be seen everywhere.

Wu Zhong walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder: "I didn't know what you liked to eat, so I bought a whole bunch. Just eat whatever you like."

Yak looked back at the abundant food and started eating without saying a word.

He seemed to be used to being served food to others, and he didn't appreciate it at all.

Seeing that he had eaten all the chocolate first, Wu Zhong couldn't help but smile: "It seems you really like sweets."

"That's good. You're too thin now, so don't worry about gaining weight."

Yang Chunsha returned shortly afterward with several sets of clothes: "You're so thin you're practically skin and bones, I'll just buy you children's clothes."

After finishing his meal, Yak changed into more fitted clothes.

But he refused to wear shoes no matter what!
"Yak, you don't wear shoes, are you always barefoot?" Yang Chunsha asked, puzzled.

“These are the real shoes.” Yak stubbornly ran into the bathroom and put on his slippers.

"..." The two were speechless, but neither of them corrected him.

It's definitely more comfortable to wear sandals or slippers here. After eating and drinking his fill and getting dressed, Yak looked much more normal, just a skinny young man.

No one could tell that this was an ancient god.

Since he had no identity, Wu asked Edelweiss to help him book a boat ticket, and then took him on a boat to leave along the Nile.

Everything along the way was unfamiliar to him. The river was obviously the same one, but the scenery on both banks had changed drastically.

Upon arriving in Cairo, disembarking from the ship, and walking outside the city, Ark stared blankly at the pyramids.

Wu Zhong was taken aback: "You don't recognize the pyramids?"

Ark thought for a moment before realizing, "This is Shenqiu, isn't it? It's so bare I didn't recognize it."

Wu Zhong asked curiously, "Shenqiu?"

Ark explained, “You don’t know this? Our world began with a mound that rose from the primordial waters. That is the Mound of Creation, the ladder by which our gods ascended and descended to the heavens.”

"That's it?" Wu Zhong pointed to the bare pyramids.

Yak shook his head: "No, these are human replicas, built to imitate the Hill of Creation, the tombs of the gods returning to the true Hill of Creation."

"After the gods die on earth, they lie in the 'Box of Osiris' inside. By communicating with the power of the sun, they can repeat the birth of the world, and thus Kaba ascends to heaven and is reborn."

He used some technical terms, speaking in a very serious and earnest manner, which made people feel impressed but not fully understanding them.

Wu Zhong and Yang Chunsha exchanged a glance. The latter did some research and found out that the Box of Osiris was a stone coffin inside the pyramid. Legend has it that after Osiris died, he was resurrected through the stone coffin and entered the underworld to become the King of the Underworld.

As for "Ka" and "Ba", they can be simply understood as "soul" and "spirit".

The two understood, which is why when the pharaohs built the pyramids, they would place a sarcophagus inside, not actually a tomb, but a device for the soul to ascend to heaven...

After the soul ascends to heaven, the body is buried in the Valley of the Kings, so there are no bodies or burial objects in the pyramids, only empty stone chambers and sarcophagi.

Wu Zhong thought for a moment and then realized, "No, the gods you're talking about are all dead?"

Ark said seriously, "It's just that when the human body dies, Kaba will ascend to heaven or enter the underworld to be resurrected and return to his true divine body."

Wu Zhong's expression was strange: "Is the God of La you mentioned also like this?"

Ark nodded: "Ra was the first god to rule the human world, and then he returned to heaven to fight against Apophis. Later, Osiris ruled for hundreds of years, but was killed by Set and returned to the underworld to continue ruling."

"His son Horus, after avenging his father, ruled the earth for hundreds of years. After his death, he returned to heaven to serve Ra and became the king of the sky."

He was about to continue when Wu Zhong interrupted him directly: "Stop for a second. Are you saying you've never seen these gods?"

Ark paused for a moment: "These are all ancient gods who ruled over the human world. They have long since completed their missions and departed. I have never seen them."

"But I've seen God La before! I see him every day when I look up!"

Wu Zhong sighed, "My foolish brother, that is the sun."

Yak said earnestly, "The sun is Ra."

“The sun is the sun…” Wu Zhong thought for a moment, “Alright, then let me ask you, have you ever been to the underworld?”

Yak shook his head: "No, I'm not dead yet, but I also came from heaven. I am the child of Ra. I will also enter the sacred mound after I die, but I am still young, and the Pharaoh has not yet built my sacred mound for me."

"No, how did you know? Who told you?" Wu Zhong pressed.

Ark said blankly, "Everyone says that..."

Wu Zhongzhi rolled his eyes: "People say you're a god, so you're a god? Okay, okay, I get it, you've been fooled, haven't you!"

Yak frowned: "This is common knowledge."

"Pfft..." Yang Chunsha finally couldn't hold back anymore.

Wu Zhong covered his forehead and laughed, "I think I understand now... Brother, I'll ask you one last question: have you ever seen a god from your time?"

Ark said, "Yes, there are several. My closest friend is Best."

Wu Zhong was stunned. Wasn't this the god who betrayed him last night? The closest? He was also the one who hurt him the most.

He wanted to press Ark about the betrayal he had experienced, but then decided against it, deciding not to make him recall the details of the defeat and being buried alive.

Yang Chunsha said, "Is it the Cat God Best?"

Yak nodded: "Yes, she likes to be wrapped in black cat skin and also likes to keep a large group of cats. She is my sister, but she was born two hundred years earlier."

Yang Chunsha covered her mouth: "Huh? You mean she's two hundred years older than you? And she's your sister?"

Yak said in a serious tone, "No, no, no, you don't understand. In heaven, I am older than her; I am her brother."

"She was born two hundred years ago, then died, but did not ascend to heaven from the sacred hill. She was born again to continue protecting the human world, and thus she was resurrected several times."

"On the sixth time, I was born as the human form Ark to help her."

Wu Zhong said quietly, "Don't you remember anything from before you were born?"

“Yes.” Yak nodded seriously: “The memories of the gods remain in the heavens, kept by the god of wisdom.”

Wu finally understood everything. What bullshit about gods? This was nothing like the group from Mount Lu.

Ancient Egyptian gods were all possessors of calamities, but their long reigns led to the formation of a deeply entrenched pantheon and even a distinct culture.

They built pyramids during their lifetime and claimed they would ascend to heaven after death to maintain God's authority and dignity, but in reality, only Akhenaten should have achieved eternal life.

As for the cat god who lived for two hundred years, it was actually a family inheritance. After his death, a new owner of the calamity object wore a cat-head mask and became the new cat god.

Two hundred years, six times... that means each generation averaged more than thirty years? But that was considered long in that era.

He immediately told Ark all of this.

Ark was bewildered: "What kind of calamity? What are you talking about?"

Wu Zhong sighed, “Your faith has crumbled. Think back carefully, did those gods only possess one or two powerful items, or have some absolute characteristics?”

"Like the Cat Goddess, by the way, what are her abilities?"

"She is the goddess who protects families, and can know what is happening in every family from a great distance, and guide her followers," said Yak.

"She can also find all the hidden beasts, insects, and monsters and give warnings."

"No swords or blades can harm her; even if heavy boulders were to fall upon her, she would not fall."

"It can even shed its own black cat skin and send it out to fight, and can even transform at will."

"She once used a knife transformed from a black cat to slay the Chaos Serpent Apep. In short, she is far more powerful than me."

Wu Zhong was stunned, and Yang Chunsha covered her mouth and said, "Best Metal!"

Ark nodded and said, "Yes, she is the Black Cat, and the Black Cat is her. The sword she transforms into is also called the Best Blade."

The two understood that the Cat God Best's ability was mental power, plus the possession of Best metal.

The family's secret has been passed down through generations, with each generation encasing themselves in Best Metal and appearing as a black cat woman.

So, are all the animal gods of ancient Egypt similar?

Whether it's a black cat, a jackal, or Set, the god of the desert, the murals all feature animal heads, dark skin, and clothing.

Aren't they just people wearing Best Metal armor? Best Metal can be stretched and deformed at will, covering the whole body, so of course they are invulnerable to swords and spears and impervious to water and fire.

However, no matter how strong a divine body may be, it cannot withstand the ruthlessness of time.

These so-called gods will still die, die of old age.

Even family traditions cannot withstand wars, conspiracies, and various accidents and disasters.

Then time passed, things changed, and thousands of years later, all the gods were in twilight.

In the end, only Yak will live on.

……

(End of this chapter)