The Story of the False God and the Onlookers

This stretch of sky was the desert sky, searing with heat.

The blazing sun beat down, baking the ground and sending waves of heat shimmering upward.

Zhu Zhengwei had been busy outside hunting for animals and taking exams. Though he hadn't actually set foot in this land for a while, he never imagined it would have changed so drastically.

In this four-dimensional "Rational World," he was already over a hundred years old—enough to be called a long-lived being.

He blinked.

Whoosh!

The entire world seemed to turn translucent and virtual before his eyes.

After all, this was a root world ultimately built on his own dreamscape, and in dreams, he was omnipotent.

When establishing the biological database, Zhu Zhengwei had modified the world's underlying program for ease of viewing, creating an interface.

Biological Database: 12,518 species. Server Count: 1000

He walked through the desert as a few simple lines of virtual text appeared before him.

Tapping into the biological database, he could see detailed pages with specific life data for each animal and plant.

"Looks like the collection over the past half-month went well. After all, a single scan covering a few hundred meters can instantly pull in a large batch of insects and plants. Running around like that just to project these in—it wasn't easy!"

"And the physics and various constants of this world are actually the same as reality. It feels like another real world! Maybe this four-dimensional world, this Dream World, has already taken root above Earth—some higher dimension formed from the convergence of human minds?"

He had visited many zoos.

Various fish and marine plants were also included.

"But bringing in this root-world biological cell gene bank is just the foundation—it's the starting point for the future. Starting from the modern human ecosystem might lead to some unexpected changes and developments."

Zhu Zhengwei glanced around a few times, then walked across the desert, approaching that city of giant stone.

"Move aside, you lowly slaves."

In the distance, a giant elephant bore a finely woven red blanket on its back, topped with a small square house. Inside the house, a noble seemed to be cursing as they crossed through the city gate.

Pfft!

Zhu Zhengwei stepped aside, but a cloud of yellow sand still splashed onto him.

"I see." Zhu Zhengwei felt a flicker of anger, but then glanced at the giant elephant and chuckled wryly. He walked over to a cloth awning outside the city gate.

An old man was selling tea.

Several desert merchants, wearing square headscarves, had removed their face-covering wind cloths and were drinking tea under the awning.

One middle-aged traveler spotted Zhu Zhengwei and waved him over. "Young man, come sit here. The nobles these days are getting more and more foul. Brush off the yellow sand—where are you from?"

Zhu Zhengwei approached and sat down. "Bronze Country."

"Oh."

The traveler looked him up and down and couldn't help but laugh. "You really do look like a scholar. Here for research, are you? This place can be a bit dangerous—didn't you bring any attendants?"

Zhu Zhengwei shook his head and pointed into the distance. "Why do they ride elephants in the desert?"

Elephants are heat-tolerant animals, but you don't see them in deserts.

Because desert sand is shifting—elephants would sink straight into it.

The middle-aged man laughed. "Back then, the First Generation Stone Light Emperor Changheng paved countless kilometers of stone roads through the desert, working countless people to death—all because the woman he loved wanted to ride an elephant in the desert."

"That man, who ruled over endless fertile lands, oases, forests, and plains, chose to set his capital in the most forward desert and build the City of a Hundred Stones. He said: other royal capitals are built in the rear, but he would build his in the front. He would guard the nation's border with his capital. As long as he stood at the front line, no one could destroy his kingdom."

The middle-aged man's face showed a hint of admiration. "They say back then there were a full ten thousand slave laborers, spending over ten years building the city. Countless slaves died from exhaustion, even a few hundred elephants were worked to death, before this legendary Royal City was built."

Zhu Zhengwei nodded. "But he didn't lie—he held the line. No one could breach his City of a Hundred Stones while he lived. It was easy to defend and hard to attack."

"Yes."

The middle-aged man took a sip of tea. "A hundred years ago, in that Battle of the Gurbantünggüt Desert, Bronze Country and Ghost Country joined forces to attack. They besieged it for years but couldn't take it. In the end, they couldn't withstand the harsh desert environment, their national strength was exhausted, and they had to retreat. He led the army alone and held the entire dynasty's front line."

"But he still died."

Zhu Zhengwei listened quietly, then interjected.

"Yes. He was assassinated in the palace. That man who called himself a god was betrayed by the woman he loved and died at the hands of a ridiculous slave—a slave who dared to call himself the Stone Light Emperor Changshou? Saying he wasn't as foolish as that blind ruler before him, that he would never trust anyone."

"He became the next tyrant. Now he's just an old man who fears death and clings to wealth and glory. People say he's already over a hundred years old and nearing his end."

Zhu Zhengwei suddenly smiled. "You seem to admire the First Generation Stone Light Emperor Changheng a lot? Even though he was a tyrant who built the City of a Hundred Stones and brought misery to the people."

"But he's truly worthy of admiration. This city is already the world's most invincible miracle fortress. That powerful man was an epic, heroic figure—he was destined to be recorded in history!" The middle-aged traveler had his own unique insights, spilling out his observations of the current dynasty and his dissatisfaction with this era.

"I've always believed that ordinary people's despair mostly comes from their own incompetence."

The middle-aged traveler's gaze grew deep as he continued, "But a strong person's despair is mostly limited by the powerlessness of the era."

"That heroic man didn't lose to that despicable little man—he lost to the entire era. He could have been stronger, but the heavens wouldn't allow it. The gods wouldn't allow it. He was shackled by the whole world! How could a god be stabbed to death in his sleep by an ordinary woman? He should have been able to become even stronger!"

"Perhaps so. The people of this world can't see the road ahead. Countless heroes have died in regret, turned to yellow earth and white bones." Zhu Zhengwei listened and suddenly smiled. "If there were a long-lived being in this world, he would surely find a way to seek the next path."

"Then he must bear the hopes of the entire land. He must carry the dreams of all heroes. And he must be very, very lonely," the middle-aged traveler said.

Suddenly the traveler's expression turned serious. "I see you're no ordinary man—we hit it off at once. We could go deeper."

"I'll pass."

Zhu Zhengwei shook his head. "The nobles in that Giant Elephant are your people, aren't they? They deliberately pass by to provoke anyone who looks remarkable, giving you an excuse to strike up a conversation at the Tea Shed, curse the nobles together, build common enmity, and then recruit them to your side."

"You??"

The traveler looked as if he'd been seen through, stunned.

Zhu Zhengwei couldn't help but sigh at how the world had changed.

This was no longer the simple Zhujing Village of years past. The cities were full of tricks—even a con game like this.

"We're just not stuck in old ways!"

"We do need to recruit a band of skilled warriors and wise men. This is a mortal war to slaughter the False God!"

The middle-aged traveler gazed deeply at Zhu Zhengwei, a flash of boldness in his eyes. He pointed at the high city tower. "Tell me, what do you think our outcome will be?"

"The boulders will be stained with much blood and many tears."

"I know that. No era of change comes without bloodshed."

The middle-aged traveler stood up, looking at the passersby on the road. "They all live in suffering. My parents, my grandparents—all died at the hands of nobles. I once read a line in an old book: 'Where there is warmth, give warmth; where there is light, give light. If in the darkness there is no torch at all, then I will be the first light.'"

Zhu Zhengwei nodded.

The man continued calmly, "But in the end, he is the legendary Blessing Shaman, who swallows wind and drinks dew, a Divine Person descended from the heavens. We are only mortals. Killing a god as mortals is no easy task! He's old now, which is why we chose to act. We don't just need to win—we need to find a way to stop his death throes."

If they couldn't stop him and he escaped, the Consequences would be too severe.

The royal houses of the Three Great Dynasties had all survived that decades-long era of chaos, carving up the "breath" of the legendary three hundred women to establish their "kingly power"—divine right by rule.

If they didn't kill the Second Generation King and seize his breath, it would mean their new kingdom lacked a deterrent-level combatant. They could never truly secure the throne.

"To be honest, we can't ambush him."

"Back then, he only succeeded in ambushing the First Emperor, Shi Guang Chang Heng, while he slept. Sleep was his only chance to strike. Now that coward has learned his lesson—he locks himself in his Stone Chamber and sees no one at night. If we try to break in, he'll wake up in the chamber. We can only kill him head-on."

What a turtle.

A total shell.

No wonder he called himself Long-Life.

Zhu Zhengwei didn't continue the conversation. Instead, he looked up.

He saw a weed taking root and sprouting on the roof of the shed, and he smiled wryly. "The things you struggle so hard for are often right beside you."

The middle-aged traveler didn't understand.

But the weed on the roof was a young man who had just logged into this tabletop game, Mortal World, marveling in awe.

"So beautiful, so beautiful."

He watched the yellow sand stretch endlessly, a great city towering, with elephants and camels passing by from time to time. "Wow! An ancient desert town scene! Travelers coming and going—they said it was all wilderness, but there's a hidden scene like this with so many people!"

He swayed atop the shed roof, watching the passersby below and the mottled stone walls in the distance, listening to the guests whispering beneath the awning. Overcome with emotion, he exclaimed loudly:

"We are all solitary plants enduring through the ages—mere Onlookers of this Mortal World!"