Du Yuheng didn’t respond for quite a while.

Jiang Ye wondered if maybe he wasn’t very good at telepathic communication in this dual-soul fusion mode?

Suddenly, he heard this guy mumble a vague response: “I, I don’t know…”

“However, I did actively accept you, senior. I beg you to be merciful and not kill me.”

This guy seemed to be a habitual offender at playing dumb and eating the tiger.

That timid tone made it sound like Jiang Ye could really wipe him out with a casual flick of his hand.

Jiang Ye couldn’t be bothered to argue with him and directly asked again:

“The ability in your eyes probably isn’t as simple as [True Sight Eye], right?”

“Just now, did you use some kind of detection skill on me? You saw through a lot of things directly?”

“…” Du Yuheng fell silent again, then replied in that same timid tone: “It, it wasn’t that I saw through a lot of things…”

“Senior, I only see what you want me to see; what you don’t want me to see, I absolutely won’t see!”

“…”

Fine, very pragmatic.

But the meaning behind these words…

He probably really did see quite a few key pieces of information!

Jiang Ye thought for a moment and decided to stop pretending, laying his cards on the table.

He directly said in a deep voice: “The deal we made earlier, are you still prepared to honor it now?”

This statement was equivalent to directly admitting—he was Cheng Lin.

Jiang Ye, Cheng Lin, Witch Gui… they were all him!

He originally thought Du Yuheng would still play dumb.

Unexpectedly, this kid was quite smart.

After a moment of silence, he deliberately spoke ambiguously: “What does senior want to know?”

This way of speaking neither admitted that he knew the Witch Gui was Cheng Lin.

It also amounted to agreeing to make a subsequent deal with Witch Gui Jiang Ye.

It meant that, although some things were left unsaid, everything was understood without words.

Jiang Ye quite appreciated his little cleverness, so he didn’t expose anything and directly asked:

“First, regarding the [Salvation Domain] skill—”

“First, I want to know, has the [Salvation Domain] skill you obtained already mutated? And what exactly has it mutated into?”

“Second, you waited for me in this Blood Pool space specifically to obtain the [Salvation Domain] skill? Did you know in advance that this skill would mutate?”

“Or, based on your ‘sinner’ theory… do you have any other understanding of this skill?”

This series of questions.

A significant portion were questions Jiang Ye had already asked Du Yuheng using Cheng Lin’s identity.

At that time, Du Yuheng kept putting it off, saying he hadn’t obtained the [Salvation Domain] skill yet.

Now, he had already obtained the skill Jiang Ye promised him.

So according to the deal, it was time for him to confess the answers to these questions to Jiang Ye.

As he asked this series of questions.

The surrounding players were also asking a series of questions about whether to explore the Blood Pool.

However, Du Yuheng had always acted very low-key among these players, with little presence.

At this moment, he also didn’t participate in these players’ discussions.

He only organized his words in his heart, responding to Jiang Ye.

After a short silence, the first question he answered was:

“First, the [Salvation Domain] skill should indeed have mutated.”

“However, the description of the mutated version of the skill might only be visible on Cheng Lin, the skill owner who caused the mutation.”

“Both Li Ku and I publicly displayed the skill description of our [Salvation Domain].”

“You should have seen it too, the skill description we displayed was exactly the same as the original [Salvation Domain], with no difference at all.”

Which means…

The skill description part didn’t change?

It means the hidden part not described by the skill mutated?

But if that’s the case…

Jiang Ye immediately asked again: “Since the skill description didn’t change, how are you so sure the skill ‘indeed mutated’?”

This time, Du Yuheng answered without hesitation:

“Because a third option appeared during the ‘Salvation’ judgment between me and He Yuliang.”

“The third option was displayed as—forgiveness.”

“Of course, between me and He Yuliang, we still followed the agreement: he chose trust, I chose betrayal.”

“Neither of us touched this third option that doesn’t exist in the skill description.”

“But I suspect the Salvation judgment between Li Ku and that Sun Person player probably involved the third option.”

“Because this third option is clearly prepared for the betrayer.”

“If you predict the other’s ‘betrayal’ in advance, you can choose forgiveness and obtain greater benefits?”

“Based on the situation between Li Ku and the Sun Person player at the time, the Sun Person player must have chosen betrayal. Then Li Ku had a very high probability of choosing forgiveness.”

I see…

So that’s how it was.

Only now did Jiang Ye finally understand what exactly happened between Li Ku and Qi Lin.

If Li Ku had indeed become an obedient Sun and Moon Person, then even if a third option appeared, it wouldn’t matter to Qi Lin.

Because an obedient Sun and Moon Person had already been instructed to choose trust.

Qi Lin only needed to choose betrayal as planned.

However, this Sun and Moon Person, Li Ku, hadn’t lost his self-awareness.

He didn’t follow Qi Lin’s instructions, so naturally, he didn’t choose trust.

Instead, using the certainty that Qi Lin would choose “betrayal,” he secretly chose “forgiveness”…

So, the effect of choosing “forgiveness” was actually that strong?

It even allowed Li Ku to directly strip Qi Lin of his abilities?

Jiang Ye found it somewhat hard to understand.

And Du Yuheng seemed to guess what he was thinking, so he tried to explain: “Actually, I think the forgiveness option should be the one that best fits the concept of ‘salvation.'”

“In Christian concepts, life is a journey of cultivation burdened with sin.”

“As long as a person sincerely repents their wrongdoings, the Lord, that is God, often chooses ‘forgiveness.'”

“So, the forgiveness option might come with a divine halo.”

“Therefore, among the three options, the player who chooses ‘forgiveness’ might gain the greatest benefit.”

Explained this way, it seemed to make sense.

However, Jiang Ye suddenly remembered a story he had read before.

After thinking about it, he still told it to Du Yuheng: “I don’t remember where, but I once read a story like this—”

“In the story, a mother, having lost her daughter, drowned in grief every day.”

“Seeking relief, she began to believe in Christianity.”

“Day after day of devout faith, she truly gradually freed herself from the pain, regaining her reason and peace. She was grateful to God, grateful to the Lord.”

“Until one day, the murderer who killed her daughter was arrested.”

“So this mother went to the Prison to visit the murderer.”

“However, she found the murderer wasn’t weeping bitterly, begging for her forgiveness.”

“On the contrary, the murderer was calm, peaceful, like a priest in a church.”

“After a conversation, the mother learned—”

“Turns out this murderer was also a Christian.”

“The reason he was calm and peaceful was because… the Lord had forgiven him.”

“In that instant, the mother broke down.”

“She suffered a pain greater than losing her daughter.”

“Because in that instant, her faith collapsed.”

“What she couldn’t understand was—”

“Clearly, she, the victim, hadn’t forgiven the murderer…”

“How could the Lord she believed in forgive the murderer on her behalf?”

The story ended here.

Inside this dual-soul fusion body, there was a long silence.

After quite a while, Du Yuheng objectively commented:

“Yes. God has no right to define sin. Nor does He have the right to forgive anyone.”

“So, whether it’s the view of ‘Sun and Moon Sharing the Same Guilt’ or ‘humans are born sinful,’ they might both be wrong.”

“It’s just that such views are beneficial for ruling.”

“Beneficial for that ‘God’ who comes wearing the halo of salvation to rule over all sinners.”

Huh?

Hiss…

Thinking about it this way…

Then the Cheng Lin clone possessing the [Salvation] talent…

Wouldn’t that be equivalent to wearing a divine halo?

Salvation…

Jiang Ye repeatedly pondered these two words and couldn’t help but guess:

“True salvation isn’t trust and betrayal, but forgiveness…”

“Perhaps all players who choose ‘forgiveness’ have obtained true salvation?”

After saying this, he couldn’t help but sigh: “But what’s the meaning of forgiveness that’s forced?”

“Just like the mother in the story, God forgave the murderer on her behalf, so should she also choose forgiveness as a matter of course?”

After briefly saying this, Jiang Ye finally asked Du Yuheng again:

“In the Salvation judgment with He Yuliang, you didn’t choose forgiveness…”

“Was it to avoid disrupting the plan? To avoid being seen through?”

“Or is it that you yourself never even considered choosing ‘forgiveness’?”

After a moment of silence, Du Yuheng’s answer was:

“If choosing ‘forgiveness’ is the only path to ‘salvation’…”

“Then my choice is to not be saved.”

After this sentence, another moment of silence passed, then Du Yuheng suddenly uttered something that horrified Jiang Ye—

“If the only way to escape Reincarnation is to choose forgiveness and obtain salvation…”

“Would you choose insincere forgiveness? Or follow your true heart and sink into the cycle of reincarnation?”

“…”

This question completely stunned Jiang Ye!

What the heck?!

How did it suddenly get dragged into reincarnation?!

If Du Yuheng’s words truly pointed to a way to escape reincarnation…

Then did that mean…

The Nomadic Merchant, or rather the true Jiang Ye main body…

Had long ago found a way to escape reincarnation in the endless cycles?

It’s just that this method went against his true heart, so he was unwilling to choose it?

That’s why he continued searching for another answer within the reincarnation cycles?

But why did Du Yuheng suddenly bring up such a question?

What kind of existence was this guy?!

Returning to the question itself, Jiang Ye suddenly thought of the mythological figure most closely associated with “reincarnation”—Sisyphus.

Like Prometheus, Sisyphus was actually a hero with tragic undertones.

Prometheus was punished by Zeus for stealing the Fire Seed for humanity, chained to a cliff, exposed to sun and rain, with an eagle pecking at his liver.

However, in the end, Prometheus was rescued by Hercules.

Sisyphus, on the other hand, kidnapped Death, committing a crime to eliminate death from the mortal world.

He pushed a giant rock up a mountain day after day, consciously fighting against the absurdity of the gods and fate.

And in the myth, no one saved Sisyphus.

That is, assuming the myth is true…

Then to this day, Sisyphus is still trapped in the cycle of pushing the rock.

No one can save him.

Perhaps only Sisyphus himself can save himself.

Hiss…

Jiang Ye’s thoughts didn’t drift too far.

His attention quickly returned to Du Yuheng.

After pondering for a moment, he directly asked: “What do you mean by this? What does escaping reincarnation mean? What does sinking into reincarnation mean?”

“If ‘forgiveness’ can lead to salvation… then what exactly are we supposed to forgive?”

“And what is it that you choose not to forgive?”

Du Yuheng didn’t answer, only fell silent for a moment before suddenly mentioning:

“Zhou Qiming is still sleeping in the Grand Auditorium; perhaps you can wake him up.”

Then, he returned to Jiang Ye’s initial question:

“I did know in advance that the [Salvation Domain] skill would mutate.”

“However, it wasn’t like your earlier speculation, thinking this skill would mutate into something that could save lives.”

“In fact, compared to saving lives, I cared more about what this skill would mutate into…”

“In my expectations, reality and deduction could be somewhat different.”

“For example, as I mentioned before, the ‘Birth of the Moon Infant’ situation never appeared in the Deduction Mode.”

“So I also hoped this skill would mutate into something different from what was in the Deduction Mode.”

“The third option I hoped for was ‘no forgiveness.’ Unfortunately, it didn’t appear…”

No forgiveness…

“You mean the salvation you hoped for was no forgiveness? Then in your Deduction Mode, or in your reincarnation cycles… did a salvation of no forgiveness ever appear?”

Du Yuheng: “Obviously not. That was just my wishful thinking.”

Jiang Ye was dazed…

If that was the case, did it mean this cycle of reincarnation was also a failure, one without liberation?

At this point, Jiang Ye seemed to understand why Du Yuheng’s request was merely to obtain the [Salvation Domain] skill.

Because he might not be afraid of Jiang Ye killing him at all.

Or perhaps, Jiang Ye might not be able to kill him at all.

Or perhaps, from the perspective of reincarnation, killing him held no meaning.

After a period of silence, Jiang Ye collected his emotions and returned to the question he truly cared about when he made the deal with Du Yuheng:

“The questions about Salvation Domain can be considered perfectly explained by you for now.”

“Then, regarding this Blood Pool space…”

“Regarding that Giant Skeleton, and the terrifying creature it later transformed into…”

“Regarding Lin Jing’s Jade Flask, the Curse of Despair on Chen Cang and He Yuliang, and those three pairs of Eyeballs that sank into the Blood Pool…”

“I want to know, what kind of secret is hidden within this Blood Pool?”

Just as he was questioning Du Yuheng about this.

The players present were also questioning Li Ku about the secrets of the Blood Pool space.

After all, it was Li Ku who initially swore confidently to take refuge in the Blood Pool space.

It was also Li Ku who firmly asserted—

This Blood Pool space couldn’t be refined by any player;

They wouldn’t be trapped to death in this Blood Pool space after entering.

He even knew that the Moon-Devouring Giant Toad’s tongue couldn’t reach into this Blood Pool space.

Then…

This time it was Lin Jing who questioned: “You must have some understanding of this Blood Pool space, right?”

“You believe the terrifying creature in the Blood Pool shares the same black origin as you…”

“This ‘belief’ shouldn’t be your own wishful delusion, should it?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep