Free Web NovelChapter 402: Cain Never Lies
Cain was using not his own body, but that of Jiang Xuan. His aim was to retrieve something he had once lost here.
"I trust you unconditionally, of course. Whatever you say, I’ll do," he said.
Cain looked sincere, but Bai Wu shook his head and responded:
"Enough, there’s no one else here. Who are you performing for, the ghosts on the sixth level?"
Bai Wu walked ahead. Jiang Xuan followed behind, silently making some calculations. He soon found, to his dismay, that Bai Wu seemed to have surpassed him in every sense.
Attempting to seize Bai Wu here as a vessel was exceedingly unrealistic and even a bit foolish.
The vast stone forest very much resembled those ancient relics often hyped up in a previous era, but Bai Wu was quite sure that these were definitely not relics from the past.
Like the pyramidal black stones of the fourth level, they were arranged in a somewhat chaotic pattern that seemed to lack any order.
As Bai Wu walked in, instinctively, due to the guardian spirit within him and the abilities inherent to an Angel Envoy, he felt a "malice." freewebnσvel.cøm
In the Supernatural Tale Apartment building, a guardian spirit made it easier for Bai Wu to gain the trust of those who bore him malice.
An Angel Envoy, on the other hand, could sense and temporarily capture some of the abilities of those who bore him malice.
Since both were malice detectors, Cain didn’t notice anything off when he entered the stone forest, but Bai Wu kept feeling it.
There were eyes... perhaps many pairs, greedily watching him from every angle.
"It seems you’re puzzled by this style of stone," he said.
"If you know some clues, you can tell me now," Bai Wu said.
Bai Wu knew that Cain referred to why the monoliths in the stone forest were shaped like pyramids.
They were just like the black towers of the fourth and fifth levels.
Cain spoke:
"It’s not so much a clue as it is a speculation. You’ve been to the levels below, but I can tell you why these stones, including the buildings beneath, are all shaped this way."
"Then don’t beat around the bush, just tell me," Bai Wu said.
"It’s a key, you really are impatient," Cain said.
"A key?" Bai Wu asked.
"When I once came to the sixth level, I saw countless keyholes... huge recesses. I suspect these steles and buildings are the keys that fill the recesses," Cain explained.
Bai Wu found it strange. Should I say Cain has a vivid imagination? Or that he’s exercising traditional artistry, deceiving me?
Suddenly... Bai Wu remembered something.
The first time he met Jing Liu, he had fallen from a great height and eventually landed in the lower levels of the High Tower, where he saw Jing Liu.
But during the fall, he did seem to notice a ceiling with countless holes in it.
He had always felt a familiarity with the Black Tower. Now it seemed... the Black Tower indeed resembled a plug for those holes.
Cain hadn’t lied, or at least, Cain’s conjecture held some water.
There were many strange symbols carved on the giant stone towers of the stone forest.
Bai Wu had seen these symbols before.
So much so that the moment he saw the symbols, Bai Wu fixed his gaze on Cain:
"Don’t think I have forgotten these things. Cain, if you don’t explain clearly, I will kill you right now. You know very well I can easily do it," Bai Wu said sternly.
"We’ve just started exploring the sixth level, and we’re already falling into a trust crisis?" Cain replied with a somewhat helpless expression.
The next second, Bai Wu’s hand was directly on Cain’s neck, pinning him against the stone tower.
Cain found he couldn’t see Bai Wu’s moves at all.
His neck, grasped by Bai Wu’s hand, struggled for breath, and he began to cough.
"Cough, cough, cough... Relax, take it easy, you have a good memory, still remembering these symbols, hahaha... This is actually a kind of sequence language, a means of communication... If you kill me, cough cough... I won’t die, and you will have just wasted your time, right?"
Cain’s expression was calm.
Bai Wu’s gaze was sharp. He had seen these symbols engraved on the stone tower at the Ninth Psychiatric Hospital, in Dandelion’s gastric juice forest, and in Violet’s Manor.
Wherever Cain had laid his plans, these symbols could be found. Originally, Bai Wu did not understand what they meant.
But he had forcibly memorized them nonetheless.
In Bai Wu’s speculation, Cain could communicate with others across distances through these symbols.
"I’ve been trapped here for a long time. I’ve seen that monster, although I couldn’t make out its appearance, but that didn’t prevent me from communicating with it... During my days of captivity, I’ve been observing it, and gradually, I mastered this language."
"Sequence language?"
"Yes."
"Can you translate the content on these stone towers?"
"You could say that. But if you kill me, then I won’t be able to do that... Cough, cough, cough... Cough, cough..."
Bai Wu did not let go, even though it wasn’t greatly significant, this way of maintaining control over the other party enabled him to appear more dominant.
"What are the characteristics of sequence language?"
"You could think of it as an information transmission array. For example, I left some sequence language in the hospital where Elijah was, and after constructing the corresponding sequence language in another place of the High Tower, I could, within a certain time, at a specific place, converse with the hospital outside the High Tower."
Bai Wu understood.
In a certain sense, this was not any grand supernatural power, but a communication technology suitable for the Era of the High Tower post-tech isolation.
It was similar to one signal transmitting, and another receiving.
"This should be a force beyond the Sequence, but I still call it sequence language. I have some talent in languages, so if you continue to choke me and don’t let go, cough, cough, cough... I might forget how to parse it."
"Parse? Isn’t this just a communication structure?" Bai Wu was like a curious baby.
Cain was very proud, after all, there were things even Bai Wu didn’t know.
Of course, Bai Wu knew.
The moment these things appeared, he knew their meaning.
[Although the first time you went to Little Pitiful’s hospital, I couldn’t recognize... bah, I pretend I can’t recognize, but now after all I have evolved, I know, my strength no longer allows me to be low-key. This is a type of sequence symbol, capable of transmitting messages, but the arrangement of symbols itself can also convey certain meanings. For example, this stone tower here in front of you, it has this written on it: ’The High Tower cannot be destroyed from within’.]
Bai Wu remembered. The first time he went to the Ninth Psychiatric Hospital, the symbols, according to what his eyes told him were:
[What are you looking at? Am I insane? Are you insane? Since neither of us is, what makes you think I can decipher these damned symbols?]
It looked like after evolution, the scope of coverage had become even broader.
Of course, he still acted very confused:
"Well then congratulations, you’ve found your usefulness. But you had better not lie to me."
Cain could tell, Bai Wu needed him because this guy didn’t understand the language, providing Cain with ample "space for deception."
In this world, whenever someone tells you, "Don’t deceive me, okay?" it almost sounds to a deceiver like they are saying, "I’m so easy to deceive, come and deceive me."
This gave Cain a glimmer of hope.
"Of course, we are grasshoppers on the same rope now, why would I deceive you?"
Bai Wu’s acting was exquisite, as if showing the determination that should you dare to deceive me, I would kill you.
And Cain was confident that there was no way Bai Wu could have mastered this language in such a short amount of time.
And so, the two began to decrypt the first scene of the sixth floor—the Stone Forest.
They passed by the first stone tower.
Bai Wu signaled with his eyes, and Cain began to interpret—"The symbols on this stone tower are saying this: ’The High Tower cannot be destroyed from within’."
[Honest lies and swindlers’ truths, both come at a price.]
Cain hadn’t lied, but Prayle’s Eye considerately reminded Bai Wu that the most brilliant lie is to tell nine truths and one falsehood.
But Cain couldn’t wait that long, and once he saw that Bai Wu truly believed what he had said, he began to exercise his traditional skills.
They passed the second stele.
Cain said:
"What this sentence means is, under that great tree, I have buried a secret."
[Oh, this impatient deceiver! Clearly, the sentence means that even the hardest of things can become extremely soft. But no matter.]
Bai Wu was not surprised, and even felt like laughing in his heart. He asked naturally:
"What great tree?"
Cain shrugged his shoulders, also performing naturally:
"Who knows? Perhaps we need to continue exploring. The clues in this stele are probably just bits and pieces, not of much value."
It seemed indeed to be a scene related to a tree. Cain pondered, could that tree be related to his true form?
Is it possible to preempt it?
As Bai Wu quietly calculated in his heart, Cain put on a sincere smile. Bai Wu also continued to maintain that "Don’t lie to me, but I am easy to deceive. I completely cannot understand what these mean" appearance.
"Some significant clues are hidden in the trivial details. The sixth layer is a mysterious space; what we’re studying may be the ultimate secret of the apocalypse’s origin. I don’t want to miss any information," Bai Wu said earnestly.
Cain became even more sincere:
"As you wish."
The two came to the third stele, and Cain voluntarily translated:
"I cannot create a stele."
[I created a teleportation stele... but it only serves to deepen my confinement!]
Cain was cutting corners to the extreme, and to Bai Wu, his words had already become lies.
The fourth stele.
"Planting trees, planting trees, planting trees, planting trees... That tree is the key!"
[Get out, get out, get out! Out... I want to get out!]
The fifth stele.
"I cannot leave this place, and can do nothing."
[I cannot leave this place, but I will definitely find an alternative way out.]
Bai Wu had to admit, Cain was a very good deceiver, without any facial expressions giving him away thus far.
And Bai Wu echoed along casually, even occasionally bringing up the topic of "tree."
Cain was overjoyed inwardly and with a little guidance, Bai Wu indeed took the bait. The Angel Envoy couldn’t deal with you, but I can!
The disparity in information is the gap between you and me, a qualified swindler attacks from a higher dimension of information!
I will slowly lead you to that tree! Take back what’s mine and seize everything from you!
Suppressing the agitation in his heart, Cain continued patiently exploring the "ancient language" on the stele with Bai Wu.
Bai Wu guessed that this must be the language unique to the Level Six creature, finding it hard to imagine how Cain could decipher it.
Bai Wu estimated that even he would need at least ten days to half a month, plus a certain reference for comparison to solve it.
It seems that initially, Cain... must have communicated with the Level Six creature.
It might have been through a consciousness invasion, or some other means, or perhaps, if one were to think a bit more imaginatively, half of Cain’s soul was here, which led him to slowly learn these "ancient languages" over seven hundred years.
The next stele.
Cain continued to translate with patience:
"I will explore upwards and find higher levels."
[But I cannot go to the levels below. Damned Sealers! Forcing me to only ascend! We are of the same origin! We are of the same origin!]
Bai Wu pretended to analyze for a while and asked Cain several stylized questions, like whether exploring upwards and reaching higher levels meant that the High Tower would have even higher levels in the future.
Cain became more convinced that Bai Wu was being led by him.
Meanwhile, Bai Wu thought, the phrase "We are of the same origin" could it be revealing the relationship between the High Tower and the Well?
Inside the High Tower, there is a monster that the Jing Family wishes to release, an Origin.
And the High Tower and Well, are they of the same origin?
The monster cannot go to the levels below? Does that mean... the one that went to the seventh level, it won’t appear on the sixth level again?
The next stele.
"Seventy-two people have become eight... Too boring, I want to lure them upwards."
[Seventy-two people have become eight... Too boring, I want to lure them upwards, though I cannot go down, those who come up can take my things and leave!]
Many of the writings on the stone pillars in the Stone Forest were just the mutterings of Cain, like a prisoner who had been locked up for too long and was resentfully unable to leave,
But some steles provided information for deduction.
Bai Wu thought that among the initial seventy-two ruler candidates, Cain and Lilith were both included and were quite active, but could there also be other entities?
Cain was the only one to come here in seven hundred years, but could someone else have reached the fifth level during those seven hundred years and then stealthily proceeded to the sixth level?
Bai Wu continued the interpretation of the stone pillars with Cain.
Soon, Bai Wu found a crucial piece of information. Cain said:
"The Soul Tree is my masterpiece, I will surely figure out the logic behind your seal."
[The Soul Tree is my masterpiece, I will surely figure out the logic behind your seal. My six children will find me! One day, I will return to this world, I will reign over this world!]
Six children... Bai Wu found it hard not to think about the six Well Level.
He slowly recorded the contents inside the stone pillar.
Now Bai Wu was certain that indeed someone had come to the sixth level and, unlike Cain, managed to obtain an item from the monster of the sixth level.
This item, according to the description on the fifteenth stone pillar—[Distortion can be measured, I will give you the most precise help, to free me from the High Tower.]—Bai Wu was convinced that the monster of the sixth level had created some kind of instrument.
Perhaps this instrument could measure the density of distortion?
Recalling what Bai Yuan had said, that the High Tower appeared only at a certain concentration, Bai Wu guessed that the monster of the sixth level hoped the concentration of distortion would recover to a certain number as soon as possible.
And through the instrument, they would be the first to know when the High Tower reappeared.
The last stone pillar highlighted another piece of information, which was also Bai Wu and Cain’s next destination—
"The existence of the Soul Tree makes me believe that the High Tower’s control over me is not absolute, I still hold certain permissions. Pouring fresh blood onto the Soul Tree will grant the power of the Soul Tree."
[The biggest deception is here—the existence of the Soul Tree makes me believe that the High Tower’s control over me is not absolute, I still hold certain permissions. Pouring the blood of my prey onto the Soul Tree, I will obtain their soul!]
After dozens of stone pillars in the Stone Forest comes a small red path.
The white Stone Forest that seemed ordinary before suddenly turns into a frightening blood-red upon exiting.
Cain said:
"It looks like there is a treasure after all, it seems that tree... is a gift to us."
"Possibly."
At the end of the red path, the plant that loomed larger than the architecture of the Pyramidal Black Tower, resembling the World Tree, now appeared in the sight of Cain and Bai Wu.
Bai Wu guessed that soon, he and Cain would have to determine a victor.
(Taking into consideration the information about the sixth level, I decided to keep it ambiguous for now. It’s not quite time to lay everything out in the open. The main point is a transitional plot to shift Bai Wu’s focus back to the plot outside the Tower and the Mist. Today there is only one update, tomorrow also, unless something unexpected happens, and the day after that... I’ll try for two updates.)
