Chapter 262

"Don't tell riddles."

Arjuna nudged his shoulder.

Krishna turned his head, looked at the part of himself that had been shoved, and twitched the corner of his mouth.

"Your two brothers had their spirits and bodies burned by the Heavenly Demon Fire, which manifests as mental deficiencies and physical disabilities, essentially turning them into complete cripples in every way."

Krishna stretched out his hands and said, "But I have a way to turn two wounds into one."

"And the cost?"

After a long silence, Bhima suddenly spoke up, "We can't just come away without any cost, can we?"

"If we say that Anapasrita Sahasra now, it is because half of them are mentally and physically disabled."

Krishna spoke softly, "After my treatment, they will become completely brain-dead and physically disabled."

"This isn't a case where nothing was cured... huh?"

"Looks like you've figured it out, Partha!"

Krishna, with his hands behind his back, said, "One of your two brothers will become a complete idiot, but he will become incredibly strong, invulnerable to weapons, and able to sweep away all enemies; the other will become physically deformed and ugly, but he will become incredibly intelligent, able to calculate every move, and possess unparalleled wisdom."

"This..."

Arjuna could not bear it.

"Bhima, take your mother to another palace for a while."

A sigh of Yudhishthira.

Kunti had been weeping ever since he heard about Krishna's healing methods.

After Bhima and Kunti left, Yudhishthira clasped his hands together before Krishna and said, "Your Highness has mercy. I thank you on behalf of the Anapasrita and the Sahasra."

"No need to thank me. It was you who ultimately made the decision."

Outside the window, the summer night was filled with the chirping of insects. Krishna and said, "But you need to make a decision soon. After tonight, I won't be able to help you."

"Madhava".

Arjuna, who was standing to the side, interjected, "You should be able to communicate with Sahasra and the Anapasrita, right?"

"Heh, you're always the one to bother me, Partha."

Krishna turned around and said, "In that case, I will let them make their own choice."

He placed his hands on the two brothers' foreheads, and soon they opened their eyes.

"I've made my choice."

"Anapasrita choice but to abandon the physical body and devote oneself to the study of the Path of the Spirit Body —that is, the Path of Spirituality under the Principle of the Wing."

"Sahasra chose to abandon his brain and walk the Path of the Body from then on— the Path of the Beast under the Blade Principle."

"From now on, the two brothers will become each other's body and mind."

Krishna solemnly proclaimed.

Yudhishthira and Arjuna they listened.

Anapasrita was the most handsome of the five brothers, yet he willingly gave up his appearance.

Sahasra, who had always been proud of his intellect, would now become a beast driven purely by instinct.

Krishna snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, the surroundings became extremely quiet, except for the chirping of insects outside the window, which became exceptionally loud.

As Krishna gazed at the two brothers on the bed who were gradually changing, the image of Hebe appeared in his mind.

At this very moment, what is she doing, having planned this for so many years?

"Krishna must be constrained at this moment by the two cripples, Anapasrita and Sahasra."

"At that time, if I were to do something, he would have no time to worry about it."

Hebe looked at the cards that were faintly flashing on the dark green table and felt reassured.

[Hebe Stanton / "Patriarch Bodhi" Vyasa]

[Path: Awakened One (Limited to the Lostbelt). The awakened one, having seen the true nature of all phenomena in the void, can thoroughly investigate the mechanisms of the arising and ceasing of causes and conditions in the three periods of time.

"Contemplate yourself as the vast emptiness, and that you are neither one nor different from the emptiness."

[Principle: Wing (Lostbelt- only). Represents the principles of creation, protection, and transformation.]

[Rank: Twilight (Lostbelt Limited). The Third Tier of the Path of Ascension, just one step away from ascension.]

[Achievements: Ramayana, Book of Ages of the Void Pure Land (Completed); Mahabharata, Pure Land of Book of Ages (Incomplete)]

[Lostbelt Objectives: 1. Revitalize the April Archon Fisher King; 2. Compile any historical record, the "Book of Ages".]

[Current time: Year?, _____]

[Current Lostbelt Completion Rate: 50%]

[You have one chance to log out midway, which you can give to another person.]

She looked at Wang Xuance.

The man holding the staff looked desolate and old, but still exuded an indescribable determination.

Even when he was stranded in a foreign land and sold into slavery, even when the Tang Dynasty might have already collapsed, he never gave up the idea of returning home.

Moreover, a flame burned within Wang Xuance's heart.

This was a feeling that arose naturally after he was sold into slavery and saw the scene of Bharata.

To be precise, anyone who has grown up in the civilized world will develop this simple feeling upon arriving in Bharata.

—What the hell is this place?

This then gave rise to a strong urge to change the world.

But in addition to that, Wang Xuance also had a strong desire for revenge.

It wasn't just for him personally; it was also to avenge the thirty Tang envoys who died unjustly, and to avenge the humiliation of the Cathay staff!

Otherwise, it would be insufficient to demonstrate the majesty of the Celestial Empire.

Hebe and Wang Xuance locked eyes again.

She hesitated whether to place a bet.

Before this, Hebe always had a real way out, no matter which Lostbelt she was in. It was just that she used all her skills to conquer it in order to get a good score.

But if she were to grant Wang Xuance the "opportunity to log out midway"... she would truly have no way out but to completely break through this Lostbelt.

He had lived in Bharata for thousands of years, and if he were to make a mistake, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Wang Xuance".

"What are your instructions, Master?"

Wang Xuance, who was holding the staff, immediately stood up.

"I do have a way to get you out of this trouble."

Hebe stared into the Chinese man's eyes, "But I also want a promise from you."

"No matter what, I will Skullshatterer to repay my ancestor!"

Wang Xuance replied in a deep voice, "Please speak, Ancestor."

"Good."

Hebe reached out and gave Wang Xuance a push on the shoulder. "Then I'll wait for you to mobilize your troops and conquer Bharata!"

Wang Xuance's eyes widened.

What Hebe said was exactly what he was thinking.

But then came the whistling wind in her ears, and the figure of the girl with long flaxen hair in front of her became more and more distant and small, like a green star.

Wang Xuance fell endlessly downwards, as if he could hear the rushing water, as if he were in a Taiga that encompassed everything.

For no apparent reason, the words of the Confucian scholars came to his mind, and they went something like this.

Confucius, standing by a river, said, "It flows on like this river, never ceasing day or night!"

Confucius stood by the river and sighed, thinking that the past was like the flowing river, disappearing without a trace, day or night!

Just as Wang Xuance felt he was about to turn into millions of drops of "water" and fall into the Taiga, a thick fog suddenly emanated from his body.

A massive and solemn bell rang out from that emerald star.

"The enlightened one visualizes himself as the vast emptiness; I am neither one nor different from the emptiness!"

—An enlightened person observes themselves as if they were observing the boundless void, and "I" am no different from the void!

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

The enormous bell tolled again.

Within this vast, endless Taiga, four equally enormous figures stand faintly, like lighthouses.

However, they were all extremely distant and indistinct, and in an instant they transformed into stars of different colors, joining the ranks of the previous emerald stars.

The white candlelight suddenly lit up in front of Wang Xuance, and he was enveloped in a light gray mist as he traveled down the path of history!

[Nine logout opportunities remaining.]

Hebe watched Wang Xuance disappear from the spot and smiled silently.

She doesn't like gambling, but she always has the courage to place her bets.

Of course, given the current situation, Eris, who has been demoted to "Krishna," has no chance of defeating himself.

But what if?

Sending Wang Xuance out was also a way to prepare for the future.

"Let's just consider it a spur-of-the-moment thing."

Hebe let out a sigh of relief.

Ring ring.

The wind chimes at the door rang.

Hebe looked up, but it was not Kama and Karna who entered.

Instead, it was a young man from Nishada and his family.

It is truly Ekalavya.

The Bharata have always enjoyed fortune telling, and they can seriously calculate all sorts of trivial matters.

Not to mention the Ekalavya family, who are indeed celebrating their "housewarming."

After Ekalavya explained his purpose, Hebe secretly shook his head.

She thought that with Karna's help, Ekalavya had escaped the fate of losing a finger and should rise to prominence.

However, a thick aura of death still lingered over Ekalavya, and even over his family.

Why is that?

Hebe continued to calculate with great interest, only to find that the future was vague and unclear, as if someone had covered the truth with their wings.

It seems this matter is related to Eris.

Hebe raised an eyebrow.

She recalled the scene from her past life when she read the epic.

—On the advice of Duryodhana, Shakuni built a palace using flammable lac, invited Kunti and the Pandavas to live there, and then bribed the palace servants to secretly set fire to the palace, burning their entire family to death.

Pandavas seized the opportunity to hold a banquet, inviting a Nishada woman and her children. They got the woman drunk and then had her die in their place. The Panditas then escaped unscathed, beginning their life in exile.

"One, two... five."

As expected, the Ekalavya Clan was destined to be the scapegoats of the Pandavas.

Ekalavya waited for a long time but received no response.