Chapter 248: The Kind and Enthusiastic “Hanged Man”

Chapter 248: The Kind and Enthusiastic “Hanged Man”

Compared to before, the Sun, Derrick, was clearly much smarter. He did not clumsily rely only on verbal descriptions.

After receiving Mr. Fool’s permission, he materialized one image after another that he could recall, showing the exploration process and the details he considered important, intermittently, before the Hanged Man, Justice, Magician, and the World. Afterward, he supplemented them with certain explanations.

The city wall collapsed into darkness; streets passing through destroyed buildings one after another; the white and blue, covered in dust, illuminated by the light of beast-hide lanterns; the ancient temple supported by stone pillars; the idol hanging upside down on a pitch-black cross; the series of murals depicting the Fallen Creator bearing mankind’s sins in their place; the beautiful, abnormal, tempting “mushrooms”; the altar where the idol’s eyes had opened eerily; and the yellow-haired little boy Jack hiding behind it—all these scenes took form one by one, reflected into the eyes of every Tarot Club member in the most direct and authentic manner.

That sinister, gloomy style, that atmosphere of danger at every step, that strange and uncanny development—all of it made Justice Audrey rather excited, producing an extraordinarily strong interest in her.

So this is what the area around the City of Silver is like… It’s more captivating than all the novels I’ve read… This is the charm formed by combining mystery, the unknown, and horror… Of course, for the humans living there, it is not beautiful at all… Audrey’s thoughts spread. She wished she could immediately become a powerhouse at the level of half-god and half-human and go adventuring in that land ruled by darkness and storms.

The Fool, Klein, watched with a mixture of sighs and emotion.

He sighed because it truly was not easy for the City of Silver to survive until today in such an environment. And he felt emotional because Little Sun was still not quite sharp enough, and his knowledge remained lacking. Otherwise, if he had presented his experiences fully in the form of a documentary or film, it would certainly have been thrilling and captivating beyond compare!

But if that happened, the explanation would take longer. My spirituality can’t support everyone watching an entire film here. Besides, the longer we remain above the gray fog, the greater the possibility of adverse changes occurring in the outside world… Klein suddenly felt somewhat fortunate.

The Hanged Man, Alger, quietly watched until the end, then carefully reviewed it in his mind. He asked the Sun to present several key points he had selected once more above the long bronze table. Among them was the mural of the Fallen Creator resisting the six great “evil gods.”

“Which evil gods are these?” Alger looked at the octopus-headed monster wrapped in lightning, standing atop black waves, wearing a cloak of bird feathers and holding a trident, and found strange associations rising in his heart.

The Sun, Derrick, honestly shook his head.

“I do not know. I thought you would recognize them.”

Justice Audrey and Magician Fors both looked over at the same time, carefully examining the mural several times, yet were still unable to come up with any guesses.

They had originally thought these were six of the eight ancient gods from the City of Silver’s myths and legends, but they could not find enough corresponding traits. After all, among the ancient gods were dragons, elves, giants, phoenixes, and demonic wolves of destruction, while only one giant existed on the mural.

This… The Fool took a serious look, and his pupils nearly contracted.

Because he had been mindful of his bearing during the first viewing, he had not studied this mural clearly. Now he finally noticed what was wrong.

This is very close to the statues of the six gods I saw inside the Tudor family’s underground ruins. It’s just that one is the normal version, while the other is the darkened, fallen version… It is rather unbearable to look at, especially the Mother Earth, the Lord of Storms, and the Eternal Blazing Sun. They aren’t merely blackened into evil gods; they are closer to ugly monsters… Klein did not feel any sudden enlightenment at discovering the truth. It had been within his expectations that the True Creator’s side would slander the six gods and twist their images.

However, the possibility revealed by this mural cannot be completely ignored either. It is like how I previously always believed that orthodox gods no longer had human forms, only symbols remaining. But the statues in the Tudor family’s underground ruins made me less certain… It seems the establishment of divine images has undergone a long evolution, hiding many secrets… Seeing that Miss Justice was focused on examining the mural and not paying any attention to Mr. Fool’s attitude, Klein immediately breathed out in relief.

Because this concerned whether Little Sun could escape that strange predicament of repeating a short segment of his life, he decided to describe the situation he knew.

Of course, delivering a long-winded explanation and showing the six gods’ images from the underground ruins did not fit the Fool’s identity. He planned to manipulate the World to accomplish the task.

And this also matched his ongoing efforts to equate the World with Sherlock Moriarty.

The Fool should simply utter something profound and mysterious, like, “Night, Sun, Storm, Wisdom, Earth, Giant,” then give no explanation and not a single extra description… Klein fantasized for two seconds, then made the World speak in a hoarse voice:

“I have seen similar statues.”

After attracting everyone’s attention, he paused and added, “During an adventure exploring Fourth Epoch ruins.”

Justice Audrey was extremely interested in this, but outwardly she maintained basic restraint.

“Mr. World, what were those statues like? Can you show them to us? Of course, if you are unwilling, or if you require payment, we can discuss it further.”

“There is no need. This may also answer certain questions of mine.” The World laughed gloomily.

Putting on an act, he requested permission from Mr. Fool. After receiving it, he materialized the six divine statues he had seen, along with their corresponding sacred emblems, one by one.

The lady resting upon a full moon, dressed in layers that were not overly elaborate, appeared hazy yet gave others an extraordinarily beautiful impression. On her black gown, points of starlight likewise glittered, like the sky in the depth of night. Together with the iconic sacred emblem of darkness, Justice Audrey recognized immediately that this was the Evernight Goddess she believed in.

And this statue was seventy to eighty percent similar to the evil god depicted in the upper left of the mural. It was only that the statue’s face was closer to human, and no strange eyes were hidden in the surrounding environment!

Blasphemy! This is blasphemy against the Goddess! Audrey was suddenly somewhat furious, but swiftly calmed down again.

As the most notorious evil god, it is only to be expected that the True Creator would have His believers vilify the Goddess… But why would there be a humanoid statue of the Goddess in those underground ruins… Wasn’t it said that orthodox gods only have symbols? Audrey frowned slightly and sank into thought.

The Hanged Man, Alger, however, seemed to realize something. With a sighing tone, he said, “So the mural depicts twisted images of the six gods.

“They once truly had human appearances…”

Perhaps this hides the reason why the major Churches have always wanted to find the Forsaken Land of the Gods… And the Forsaken Land of the Gods is probably truly deep within the Sonia Sea. Mm, it definitely does not exist there in a normal state. Otherwise, deities could not possibly fail to find it… Alger silently added two sentences inwardly.

The Sun first froze, then understood.

“Mr. Hanged Man, are these the Evernight Goddess, the Lord of Storms, and the other gods you mentioned before?”

“Yes,” the Hanged Man answered affirmatively.

“What is Their relationship to the apocalypse? What is Their relationship to the land we live on being abandoned by the Lord?” the Sun, Derrick, instinctively pressed.

Unfortunately, no one could answer him.

Magician Fors, meanwhile, raised her hand in some confusion.

“Why is there no God of Steam and Machinery?”

This was the deity she believed in.

Across the Northern and Southern Continents, people had always spoken of the seven gods together.

“It is rumored that the God of Steam and Machinery, originally the God of Craftsmanship, was not born until the Fourth Epoch. It seems this is true. And the point of His birth seems to have been in the mid-to-late Fourth Epoch rather than its early or middle stage…” the Hanged Man explained and speculated at the same time.

He possessed a difficult-to-conceal passion toward topics like these.

So that’s how it is… Fors felt inexplicably guilty, because she had never seriously read the Steam and Machinery Bible. Her faith seemed to be merely a habit of life.

The Sun, Derrick, did not continue dwelling on the earlier matter. Instead, he asked, “Is this mural the key point?”

“Perhaps. You can try breaking it, but do not—heh, do not let the Chief suspect anything.” The Hanged Man had originally wanted to say not to attempt to recite the honorific name of one of the six gods. Otherwise, He—or They—might very likely descend directly upon the Forsaken Land of the Gods. But after careful consideration, he discovered that Little Sun did not know the corresponding honorific names at all.

“All right. Thank you, Mr. Hanged Man. You are always so kind and enthusiastic. And Miss Justice, Miss Magician, Mr. World, you are just as kind.” Derrick thanked them sincerely.

Kind? Enthusiastic? For a moment, the Hanged Man did not know what reaction to make.

This was the first time someone had described him with words like that.

Seeing that their discussion had finished, Klein suddenly remembered something. During the previous exploration of the True Creator’s half-abandoned temple, the City of Silver had discovered the name Redemption Rose, but this time, they did not seem to pay attention to that point.

It cannot be ignored… According to the evil spirit in the underground ruins, this extremely secretive organization dominated by corrupted angels is likely not much inferior to the Twilight Hermit Order. The “time loop” might be their arrangement… Thinking this, the Fool, seated on the high-back chair, leisurely adjusted his posture and lightly tapped the edge of the mottled long table with one finger.

Justice Audrey immediately turned her head. She looked toward Mr. Fool with clear excitement, eagerly waiting for Him to provide a hint.

The Hanged Man, the Sun, Magician, and the World also turned their expectant gazes toward Mr. Fool one after another.

Within the thick fog, the Fool, Klein, gave a soft laugh and said, “Redemption Rose.”

“Redemption Rose”? What is that… The key to escaping the predicament? Right, that name was in the corner of one of the murals above the temple! The Sun, Derrick, seemed to understand something.

The Hanged Man, Alger, Justice Audrey, and Magician Fors also recalled and placed importance upon the name Redemption Rose, but they could not thoroughly understand Mr. Fool’s true meaning.

“Honorable Mr. Fool, what does Redemption Rose represent?” Audrey raised her hand and took the initiative to ask.

This time, Klein did not answer. He merely chuckled.

His thoughts were simple. The organization Redemption Rose was closely connected to the True Creator, so no matter how the events inside the temple twisted and turned, they could in some way be linked back to them.

As for whether that name was truly the so-called key point, Klein was not certain, nor was he worried. After all, the right of interpretation remained in his hands.

If the Sun and the others misunderstood the true meaning, how could that possibly be Mr. Fool’s problem?