Your Story Told in a Thousand Homes, Your Good Name Spread by Ten Thousand!

"Your big brother Xiaochen was a great hero who stood tall between heaven and earth!"

A familiar voice rang out, as though Phrolova were calling.

The button, a gift from Triss, felt heavy and was glowing now.

"Huh?"

Truth turned his head, a rare note of puzzlement entering his voice.

"What is that?"

"Those are ordinary stories, each one wonderful in its own way."

Triss told them in a clear, lively voice that made one want to stop and listen.

"Once upon a time, there was a big brother with golden eyes. He was very strong, strong enough to defeat any bad guy. But he was fragile too, so fragile he couldn't even shed a single tear..."

"Sister Lolo said that hero saved lots of people. He defeated the Threnodian of war and brought peace to Jinzhou."

Her voice echoed through the void beyond the Gate of Truth, like a pebble dropped into a still lake, sending ripples spreading outward.

"Sister Lolo also said the hero came down from the sky riding a divine dragon, wrapped in golden light, and blew the Black Tide back three hundred li in a single breath!"

Something trembled in the void.

Truth abruptly looked up at the doors in the distance.

Countless doors stood in the void. Some were intact, some broken, some reduced to half a frame, and the marks on some had long since been worn smooth beyond recognition. But behind every door was a blurry human figure.

They were all people who had passed away, yet as if anchored in place, they appeared at this moment, faint murmurs on their lips as they recounted their memories.

"The golden-eyed stranger..."

An aged voice came from a door a hundred years in the past, muddy and slow, as though recalling something from long ago.

"I remember him. He defeated the Faceless Inferno Lord and saved us. I was little then, hiding under the ruins. I saw a golden light descend from the sky, and then... then the war was over."

"I remember too."

Another door lit up, and a much clearer voice spoke with an accent from a thousand years ago.

"There was a savior who descended upon the world riding a divine dragon and helped us drive back the Black Tide. We raised a monument to him, but it was later destroyed. The story never died, though. It was passed down from generation to generation, right up until the day I died."

"I remember too."

From a door ten thousand years in the past came a voice as deep as an ancient bell.

"That man commanded a giant that towered into the sky. He cut through mountains to open roads, leveled peaks and filled seas, and built us a home. Back then there were no cities, no fields, nothing at all. Once he came, we had everything."

"The ancient texts said that wherever there was suffering, a golden-eyed man would descend from the sky. Wherever there was danger, one had only to call his name, and everything would be resolved."

An even older voice chanted softly, as though singing an epic.

"His story was told in a thousand homes, his good name spread by ten thousand!"

Rover's stone statue stood where it was, those voices pouring in from every direction. He listened, his petrified face expressionless.

"These... are all true?"

The faceless figure's voice carried a barely perceptible tremor.

"Sister Phrolova made some of them up."

Inside the button, Triss's voice suddenly softened, as if she were sharing a secret.

"She said she'd looked for big brother many times, and every time she found him, he was different from the last time. Sometimes he remembered her, sometimes he didn't. Sometimes they'd only said a few words before he forgot again."

"She told me not to tell anyone. She said she secretly followed him for many years, and sometimes, just watching big brother made her feel peaceful."

The little girl answered readily. The button should only have been able to record stories, yet it had displayed intelligence. Perhaps this was Triss's resonance power.

The button's light grew brighter and brighter, golden light seeping through its holes, as though something were awakening.

"Sister Lolo said big brother gave everything he had to other people, so someone ought to leave something for him. That's why she told his stories..."

"Hum..."

The entire space beyond the Gate of Truth began to tremble. The doors standing in the void lit up one after another, golden light shining from the patterns on their panels as though something had set them ablaze.

"The savior... what happened to him?"

The aged voice rang out again from the door a hundred years in the past, this time with unmistakable urgency.

"He's in trouble. We have to help him!"

"How?"

"Lend him our strength!"

"You are nothing but people who have passed away. You can do nothing at all. Go back."

Truth spoke, his voice cold and brooking no argument.

"Never!"

"It's because we're long gone that we have nothing left to regret! We're willing to give everything for the living! The savior must return!"

"Thump, thump, thump..."

A heart beat inside the stone shell, like the drums of liberation. No matter how long ago a person had lived, hearing it could free them from their daze, as though they had been reborn.

"Strength. Rover needs strength. I beg you all, lend him yours!"

A woman in red appeared among the crowd. It was Phrolova. She stood among the doors, her figure illusory yet clear, a sea of light reflected in her emerald eyes.

This was, of course, not Phrolova herself, merely the will she had left in the button. But if she were here, she would do the same.

"Don't go near him. If you do, you will become the price he pays, and you will disappear forever. Can you accept that?"

Truth's voice finally wavered.

"We no longer exist to begin with. If we can bring light to the World of the Living, why should we begrudge our lives?"

"If we can become firewood and light the road ahead, would that not be wonderful?"

The sea of light surged, brilliance sweeping across the void as streams of golden light poured from countless doors and converged around the statue from every direction.

Some streams were thick, others thin; some bright, others dim. Some burned like flames, while others were gentle as streams of water. Yet every one of them carried the same resolve.

"I have just one thing to say."

The old man from a hundred years ago gradually faded in the light, but his voice remained perfectly clear.

"Tell him that the child who hid under the ruins lived to be eighty-seven, had a house full of children and grandchildren, and lived a good life."

"Tell him it's true that the divine dragon drove back the Black Tide. My grandfather's grandfather saw it with his own eyes. We weren't lying."

"Tell him the home he built is doing well. We've lived there all this time. Thank him for us."

The voices faded one after another, and the lights joined the flow, one cluster after another. The seal over the statue's eyes broke, revealing those golden pupils that would never dim.

"Light, so much light!"

Truth shuddered. His form crumbled, turning him into a blank figure once more.

Rover reclaimed himself.

He came back to life.

"Boom!"

A door appeared behind him. It was his own Gate of Truth. On the door, Rover stood below, looking up at the clouds, where all living beings reached out to lend him a hand.

At this moment, mortals and god had changed places.

He was no longer the savior, but a god saved by the people.