Chapter 46: The Emerald Lama

Inside the Amber Lodge, including Lu Mingfei, there were forty-five people in total.

Before the ritual truly began, everyone believed this was merely another one of Lu Mingfei's hysterical episodes.

Such twisted and grotesque behaviors felt entirely normal for this newly enrolled "S"-rank newcomer.

He had suddenly collapsed right upon admission, leaped from a building before the eyes of the psychological counselor and professors, shrieked aloud in plain sight of everyone, and performed comically during a critical, life-or-death mission.

Even if he truly possessed the unimaginably noble "S"-rank bloodline, even if he genuinely wielded "Time Zero" identical to the Principal's, his proper destination ought to be receiving a lobotomy and being shipped off to some tiny Hawaiian island to be utilized as a research apparatus.

The empathy and morality inherent to social beings reminded everyone that such conduct was ruthlessly cruel, yet, whether they admitted it or not, deep in the heart of every single person at Cassel College, such dark and sadistic thoughts lingered to varying degrees.

Yet within this lavishly decorated Amber Lodge, all of those aforementioned perceptions about Lu Mingfei held by everyone present were utterly shattered on this murky, ominous, and rainy night.

Upon the pristine white tablecloth, only the three joss sticks ignited by Lu Mingfei cast an imperceptible source of light.

This light source was so feeble and powerless; it could only illuminate Lu Mingfei's pale and joyful countenance, alongside his eyes that remained unfathomably deep beneath the illumination.

Rain clouds blocked the moonlight, and neither heaven nor earth bestowed a shred of illumination upon the spacious Amber Lodge.

Someone could no longer endure this eerie silence and darkness, pulling out a smartphone in hopes of providing a sliver of light for their field of vision, but just as their finger was about to touch the power button, a fear originating from nowhere caused them to abandon the thought of breaking the atmosphere.

Even though they felt as though they were about to drown within this darkness, they could only gaze quietly.

Gazing solely at that single source of light.

Lu Mingfei, standing beside the joss sticks.

Everyone present felt that they had lost their minds as well.

Because Lu Mingfei, whose pale face was the only thing illuminated, had his head constantly twitching, shifting, and rotating, as though, as though...

As though what was concealed by the darkness was not a human torso at all, but rather some writhing, slick, unmentionably grotesque monstrosity, and that pale human face was merely something akin to the lure dangling from an anglerfish's head to attract prey.

Because this notion was simply too insane, everyone could only carefully conceal it within their hearts, lest they be mistaken for madmen just like Lu Mingfei; thus, they grew silent and alienated.

Lu Mingfei cared nothing for any of this.

His hands instinctively formed mudras, his feet stepped in ritual paces, and his mouth continued to chant incomprehensible gibberish, while his spirit drifted to infinitely high and infinitely distant realms.

Lu Mingfei's sense of time and space grew dulled to the extreme, plunging him as if into the deepest of dreams, where ten thousand years felt merely like a fleeting instant.

I know not how much time had passed, when Lu Mingfei suddenly felt something grab hold of his scalp, followed by a rapid descent.

He knew his spirit-channeling art had likely succeeded.

Lu Mingfei had originally dutifully memorized the position and name of every single student inside the Amber Lodge to prevent offending the holy carriage of the "Central Yellow Taiyi Immortal Monarch," but once his consciousness truly returned and he opened his eyes, he realized his previous preparations had been entirely redundant.

This great "Shepherd of the Woods," the "Unnameable One," the "Lord of the Deep Starry Seas" had not the slightest intention of concealing His whereabouts or engaging in mystification.

In the completely lightless environment, the exact center of the Amber Lodge's second floor played host to a flickering, emerald-green glowing humanoid figure, firmly drawing the attention of everyone present.

A sacred halo surrounded His entire body, and one could vaguely discern a form clad in green folds, with tattered robes tightly enveloping His entire form save for the exposed human-like neck and head; His visage remained indistinct beneath the radiance of the emerald light, revealing only a pair of green eyes devoid of pupils.

And beneath His feet stood the naturally noble half-bloods, towering far above the suffering and feeble mortals.

When a benevolent Great One manifests in the world, He generally does not carry mental corruption sufficient to drive people directly insane, but the half-bloods beneath His feet seemed disinclined to agree.

A myriad of mortal reactions manifested before this saint radiating an emerald-green halo.

A portion of the half-bloods seemed to have witnessed the truth of the universe, rejoicing and dancing with abandon;

Another portion fell into a state of fervent fanaticism, instinctively mastering bizarre prayers as they knelt upon the ground like pious believers, palms pressed together, lips twitching and chanting in soft whispers.

Yet another portion seemed lost within a profound daydream, their expressions placid, occasionally revealing faint traces of happiness and sorrow;

Naturally, the majority of half-bloods were not so fortunate.

They appeared to witness terrifying imagery surpassing their mental endurance, clutching their heads in their hands while emitting silent screams and wails, and the person with the most dramatic reaction was...

Finger.

This rough-hewn man with a fierce and burning venom hidden within his heart had no idea what terrifying imagery he had beheld, collapsing to the ground and emitting unimaginable wails as emerald-green blood tears streamed from both his eyes.

For reasons unknown, the avatar of this great existence seemed to have cast extra attention upon him.

Unlike this bunch of worldly-inexcusable Earth bumpkins, Lu Mingfei merely felt somewhat puzzled.

The avatar projected by that "Lord of the Deep Starry Seas" turned out not to be the "Central Yellow Taiyi Immortal Monarch" whom he had feasted and honored during his otherworldly "registering-of-talismans" ceremony, but rather this sacred entity unrecorded within the *Seven Scriptures of the Mysterious Monarch*.

The emerald-green saint silently gazed down upon the multitude of living beings below, slowly extending a hand wrapped tightly in dark-yellow bandages from within His tattered robes, and then He curled His thumb and pinky finger, leaving three withered fingers exposed.

Lu Mingfei failed to grasp the meaning, blanked for a moment, and asked:

"My Lord, can my spirit-channeling art be considered a success?"

Great forms are shapeless; great sounds are silent. Lu Mingfei suddenly heard a soundless reply.

He knew not whence this voice originated: from the mouth of the emerald-green saint? Within his own mind? Across this heaven and earth? Or perhaps from within the void beyond human comprehension?

It could be Chinese, it could be English, it could be Draconic, R'lyehian—any sentient race could comprehend its meaning.

It was a simple, singular, affirmative expression:

"Yes."

Subsequent to this, Lu Mingfei watched as the great entity standing upon the second floor of the Amber Lodge slowly retracted His ring finger.

He still had two questions remaining.

Silence had persisted throughout the Amber Lodge.

Had he not wished to avoid showing disrespect before the holy carriage, Lu Mingfei truly wanted to grab a handful of his own hair and roar aloud in frustration.

Even this counted as one of his questions?!