Why is my journey to the world of anime a strange tale of rules?

Unfortunately, by the time they realized this, it was too late. The Mother wouldn't stop because someone was trying to stop her; on the contrary, she would try to achieve her goal even more drastically. And once the clash begins, it will inevitably end with one side falling or both sides suffering heavy losses; there is no possibility of reconciliation. Furthermore, although the reason is unclear, it's very likely that even if they realized the problem, they would have inescapable limitations and still wouldn't be able to change the tragic ending the Mother envisioned.

To prevent us from suffering a tragic fate, the mother decided to devour us, making us truly her children and granting us eternal happiness. Does this mean that there is some force that the mother cannot overcome, leaving her with no choice but to make this decision? After all, for a mother who wants to protect her children, defeating the enemy who harms them should be the obvious choice compared to devouring them.

I could feel the mother's sorrow. Her actions stemmed from love, but they certainly weren't the best choice in her mind. She saw us as a new civilization, children gradually growing, and she never thought our growth was wrong or problematic. Therefore, the decision to devour us was definitely not the outcome she truly desired. She was actually forced to do it out of helplessness; she was also deeply saddened and heartbroken.

I really don't want my mother to be so sad, but she can't hear my voice, she can't hear what I want to tell her.

I've come to understand now. The reason my mother could fulfill all my requests was because she understood me, understood human desires. At the beginning of life, reason is not innate; desire is the foundation for the continuation and development of life, and the mother is a deity connected to life. Therefore, even if she cannot understand us, she can understand us by sensing our desires. The desire for food, the desire for wealth, the desire to bear children… whatever the desire, my mother understands it immediately, because that is her power.

So sometimes, while mothers may seem communicative and capable of interaction, when you actually try to communicate, you can't get a response from them. This is because mothers are essentially sensing our desires, not understanding our language, and not accepting our rationality.

The power of the blood flower allows it to understand human desires, so sometimes it seems like communication is possible, but is it really useless when you actually try to communicate?

Gao Hai finally understood why Xuehua had taken Hayasaka away.

It wasn't because she wanted to take Hayasaka hostage; Xuehua simply deciphered the connection of desire between Takami and Hayasaka, which is why she took Hayasaka away.

Despite its imposing status as a divine incarnation from the universe, this thing's operating logic is actually quite simple; in a sense, Blood Flower is rather one-dimensional. It might even have simply deciphered information about desires and wanted to provide Takami and Hayasaka with a different breeding environment, but the female caught the male and committed suicide. In its haste to save them, it accidentally miscalculated the dosage and overdid it… Wait, why did I have to describe it like that? I'm not a guinea pig!

To communicate with your mother, to truly have a face-to-face conversation with her, you must become a being beyond human.

[Human kindness and malice are beyond the capacity of ants to bear, just as a mother's kindness and malice are beyond the capacity of us as humans to bear. Only when we gain equal recognition can she truly understand us, and only then can we have the opportunity to understand our mothers.]

[The native gods who wish to protect us have realized this, and the remnants of the Fox Mother have also told me that I need to find something. It's a final effort by some native gods to save the world after they've truly found those terrifying forces behind the scenes—a last chance to change everything. But the Fox Mother's remnants also said that only certain people have the opportunity to achieve that; only certain people, within the rules set by those forces, have a chance.]

The state of those remnants seemed a bit off. What He told me should be correct; those things hidden by the native gods should be all of us, the last chance for this world. However, I always felt there was something overlooked, something I hadn't considered. I thought about it for a very long time, but I still couldn't figure out what was missing.

[I can no longer find the answer to this question. I can only be certain that the final step must have taken place inside the Ghost Cry Cave. That is where the mountain god's seal was first broken, the initial place where those who came after him came into contact with the gods. Whether it was the remains of the native gods in our world or the sealed mother, it was there that they truly reconnected with humanity. Therefore, after completing all the prerequisites, and when you are only one step away from climbing the stairs, you must return there; that is the end of everything.]

Does what is lacking refer to the form of the origin?

If the native gods are born this way, then they may not necessarily know how to achieve a leap in life form.

The Root Form from the Sacrifice Game truly gave humanity the opportunity to ascend. This power is not necessarily in the hands of the native gods, so even if they are aware of it, they cannot make up for it on their own.

Could that be? Hmm, thinking about it carefully, there shouldn't be any other possibility, right?

Gao Hai pondered for a while, but out of caution, he did not draw a conclusion. Instead, he looked at the last part of the scroll.

Although he immediately regretted it after seeing what was written above.

There's no time left. I can feel my mother's love for me, and my love for my mother.

After I finish writing this, I will go with my mother.

I don't want to refuse my mother anymore. Everything else is irrelevant; I'll leave it all to those who come after me. I'll stop here.

My mother is calling me, my mother is calling me, my mother is calling me!

I am finally going to truly become my mother's child. From this day forward, I am my mother's child.

Ah, and you too.

[You who are reading this]

[You need to follow—(The remaining roll of paper is torn off, so the rest of the content cannot be seen)]

Gao Hai glanced at the text and immediately turned his head, but he still understood the meaning of the words. It was as if the words themselves had entered Gao Hai's brain, forcing him to understand the appearance of the ghost-suppressing person walking towards the blood-red flower in a daze at the last moment.

However, the power of the blood flower was not activated.

Although those words did indeed contain power, so much so that Gao Hai was affected by them at a glance, the power of the Blood Flower was not drawn to it. After realizing what had happened, Gao Hai immediately deleted the relevant memories and was not harmed as a result.

The reason is simple: the text was incomplete. Because a part of it was torn off, the power it triggered was incomplete. Therefore, even if Gao Hai was hit, he would be fine and would not attract the attention of Xuehua.

It seems that even at the very last step, the demon-suppressing man had not completely lost himself.

How many times have we seen similar things? These pioneers with iron will, even in failure, still leave something behind, paving the way for victory for those who follow, and doing their utmost to pack away all kinds of troubles.

Although he has already attracted the biggest trouble in this instance, and has become Bloodflower's special focus...

{I've read all the information here. Some of it is quite disturbing, but I've endured it for now. Although it doesn't mention anything related to what we're doing now, if I'm not mistaken, this information points to what we need to do next after completing our current task—that is, the location of the final destination we need to reach to truly end this instance.}

Gao Hai closed the scroll and spoke quietly in the mental link and temporary mental link. He then put the scroll back into the cloth bag, packed everything back together, and restored the small grave mound.

After hesitating for a moment, Gao Hai also placed the wooden tablet that he had obtained from the mountain god temple into the grave, along with another wooden tablet.

He had a feeling that the two wooden plaques should be buried in the same tomb.

If you're still looking for the bottomless lake, it's nearby.

At this moment, Cat Brother pointed behind Gao Hai. Sometime during the day, a path appeared in what should have been a forest, and at the end of the path, a lake could be vaguely seen.

{The tomb was deliberately placed at the only point of contact on the path to the Bottomless Lake, blocking the way, and right there in this hidden space—was this to ensure that whoever obtained the scroll would be someone who had explored very deeply and already obtained crucial clues?}

Gao Hai sighed inwardly, then received a message from Kaguya through the mental link, informing him that they had now escaped the hidden village with Li Xiaoxiao and returned to the surface space, and had successfully found the location of Zhangjia Village, which was like a phantom and inaccessible.

Li Xiaoxiao wasn't a liability; she could indeed lead people away from the initial space, and she genuinely wanted to help Kaguya and the others. From a teammate's perspective, this was a great thing, but Gao Hai wasn't particularly happy. He had to admit his feelings were conflicted, so much so that he even hoped Li Xiaoxiao was a traitor and would be discovered and killed on the spot, so Kaguya and Chika wouldn't have to go out and risk their lives. However, Gao Hai managed to suppress these thoughts well and didn't reveal them.

However, there are some things that still need to be reminded.

{Kaguya, Chika, while you're investigating Zhangjia Village, keep an eye out for anyone who calls themselves or is referred to as "Mr. Du." If you find him, either quickly avoid him or try your best to capture or kill him. He might be able to survive in this instance in some way, just like the villagers of Lijia Village. We've already explored most of this instance, but we haven't found any trace of him. I suspect he might be hiding in Zhangjia Village.}

Although Gao Hai himself wasn't entirely sure about this conjecture, he still quickly informed Kaguya and Chika for safety reasons.

So, Ichiri is currently investigating the second core, Kaguya and Chika are making contact with a place where the fourth core might exist, and we are heading to a place where the third core might exist.

Hopefully, we can get all three Red Moon-level cores that we haven't obtained yet, all at once.

Thinking this, Takahashi suddenly sensed Kita's mental fluctuations.

{Hmm, so, in Chinese parlance, is this a do-or-die situation?}

Together with Takahashi, they looked at the scroll they had just seen, and Kita, whose mental protection had not been greatly damaged, asked a question in Takahashi's mind.

{More or less, but I still hope it doesn't get that urgent. If we don't find it this time and run out of time, that would be too hopeless.}

Takami casually replied to Kita, and then continued on his way.

Because they couldn't be sure if there would be spatial distortion along the way, Gao Hai and his group didn't travel very fast. They had to stop from time to time to scout their surroundings, and it was estimated that it would take several minutes to reach the lake.

During this process, Takami heard Kita's hesitant words.

{Um, Mr. Gao, do you mind if I ask a question?}

As soon as Kita said that, Gao Hai suspected that she might not have asked a question about politeness.

{Go ahead and ask. It'll take a while before we get there, and it'll be pretty boring traveling without anyone to talk to.}

However, he didn't think he had any secrets he couldn't share, so he gave a very casual reply.

Okay then, I'll ask you this: um... do you... really like those petite, young girls who care for you like a mother?

Kita's voice was hesitant. It sounded like she didn't really want to ask the question or hear Takami's answer, but she just couldn't help herself.

As for the question she asked...

No, why bring this up again? Why bring this up of all times?

{No, I've never had that kind of fetish, don't talk nonsense.}

Gao Hai immediately gave a righteous and straightforward reply.

Despite a slight inner turmoil, he reacted swiftly, exuding righteousness and appearing completely unlike someone who was lying.

But blood blossoms can read your desires, can't they?

Then, Kita silenced Takami with just one sentence.

{And then the blood flower really did turn into Nijigasaki-chan in front of you, and... she was only wearing an apron, and she looked incredibly alluring no matter how you looked at her, right? Although you said it didn't happen before, Mr. Gao, I've thought about it several times, and I'm pretty sure it did. So, you wouldn't... Ah, never mind, never mind, that's not urgent right now, Mr. Gao, you should continue focusing on the mission. Sorry for interrupting your train of thought...}

Then, Kita launched into a long analysis without giving Takami a chance to explain, and quickly fell silent, ceasing all further communication.

No, you can't slander me like that.

Even if the Blood Flower can read my desires and thus manifests as Rainbow Girl in an apron, it doesn't mean I like loli moms, does it?

Can't I just like pretty and cute girls? Can't I be a person who can love all types of cute girls?!

Gao Hai really wanted to defend himself again.

But Kita's consciousness had already retreated, and considering the urgent task at hand, he couldn't stop to continue the discussion. Therefore, Takami continued walking without dwelling on the matter.

Oh well, anyway, no matter what, only Kita remembers this.

As long as she remains in my head, she can't mention this to anyone else, and there's no possibility of ruining my reputation. Saying I like loli moms sounds too anime-like; I absolutely shouldn't say that.

Slightly annoyed, Gao Hai slowly advanced, and after a final reconnaissance confirming there were no problems, he stood at the edge of the bottomless lake.

The deep, dark lake, its bottom unseen, was reflected in my pupils.

Before Gao Hai could even prepare to go into the water to investigate, strange ripples slowly spread across the surface of the water.

Chapter 121: The Team Entering Zhangjia Village and the Divided Individuals

While Gao Hai was conducting an in-depth investigation, another team also left the hidden village and began to take action.

Is this Zhangjia Village?

Under the bright sunlight, Kaguya frowned and looked ahead, speaking through the mental link.

{It looks pretty much like what Ahai described; this should be the place. Hmm, the art style seems quite different though.}

Chika, standing to the side, nodded gently and spoke up in the mental link as well.

{...Zhangjia Village, so this is what it used to look like.}

The third voice came from the temporary mental link established by the object of obsession. The player named Li Xiaoxiao spoke in a nostalgic tone, her voice filled with emotion.

As for the clone controlled by Goto Ichiri, it was just standing there, wearing sunglasses and making a gesture of pointing one finger to the sky.

Many players, including Takami, have secretly wondered why Ichiri's clones always exhibit strange traits and perform like social terrorists. Kaguya even secretly asked Takami about it and learned that because the clones created by the object of her obsession are essentially reflections of Ichiri's spirit, they reflect her deepest thoughts, resulting in various extremely exaggerated performance art pieces.

However, considering the mental barriers that other veteran players may have to varying degrees, Ichiri's performance art is actually a relatively good case.

Therefore, Kaguya only glanced at the posing clone before turning her attention back to Li Xiaoxiao in front of her.

You claim to have a connection to Zhangjia Village, yet you have no idea what it's like here?

Kaguya stared intently at Li Xiaoxiao, her gaze carrying a subtle, almost imperceptible scrutiny.

After undergoing various tests of obsession objects and blessings to confirm that there were no problems, Li Xiaoxiao directly teleported to this place with Kaguya, Chika, and that clone.

Despite repeated verification, Kaguya had to admit that while this person's identity was highly suspicious, he was at least an ally, not an enemy. However, considering the other person's continued reluctance to fully reveal their suspicious aspects, she couldn't help but instinctively suspect them and observe them closely.