Harvest

Chapter 36: Harvest

The seven "stone coffins."

In reality, each was a narrow, rectangular space.

Like coffins shoved into the walls.

They were rather like the cells in the organization's underground laboratory.

The spot where each person's name was written marked the location of their "stone coffin."

Tang Luo threw one punch for each "person," opening them all.

The moment their own stone coffins were "opened," Zhou Zhenguo and Chu Chongtian were too stunned to react.

They felt a sudden daze, then found themselves lying inside the stone coffins.

After struggling their way out, they saw that they were still wearing their original clothes.

Tang Luo stood in the tomb chamber, now dressed in his original tracksuit.

Something bulged slightly beneath his jacket. It was the revolver Omen, partly tucked into an inner pocket so it wouldn't fall out.

Equipment that could be taken out of the mission world could also be brought in.

Tang Luo pressed his palms together, bowed his head, and silently recited a few lines of scripture.

The other stone coffins contained the corpses of Li Liang and the others.

Zhou Zhenguo and Chu Chongtian sighed as well.

They had only come together temporarily to complete the mission.

It was impossible to say they had any real affection for one another.

To claim they were deeply saddened would have been hypocritical.

They simply felt a little wistful.

The loss of one's own kind was hard to ignore.

"We should be able to open the door now," Tang Luo said.

Zhou Zhenguo went over and tried. Sure enough, the iron door that had been immovable before opened easily under his hand.

"So we've been moving around as disembodied souls this whole time."

Chu Chongtian said it aloud.

"This mission..."

Zhou Zhenguo found it hard to put into words.

The entire mission had taken place in a world of the dead.

Everyone had been a "soul."

Jack the Ripper, meanwhile, was a "soul within a soul," the "deadest of the dead."

That explained all the strange occurrences.

Why had Li Liang been able to "come back from the dead"?

Because he hadn't actually died in the first place.

At most, his "soul had been injured."

Why had the corpses of the Small City's residents—and even the bloodstains—disappeared?

Jack the Ripper had devoured them.

That also explained where the abyss-like chasm had come from.

It was probably the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead.

This almost-but-not-quite Small City had long since ceased to be part of the human world.

Perhaps it was only the events of the past, endlessly repeating themselves.

Maybe it would wait for the next batch of God and Demon Walkers to enter and begin the mission all over again.

The three of them walked down a path that led, in truth, to the "world of the living."

The surroundings seemed to sway slightly.

Although Jack the Ripper had died at the hands of Master Xuanzang,

Zhou Zhenguo and Chu Chongtian still couldn't help quickening their pace.

Tang Luo slowed for a moment and looked back, then continued down the path.

A few minutes later.

The carriage was hidden from view, swaying as if it were in motion.

It was carrying Tang Luo and the others back to the real world.

Three beams of light appeared out of thin air and fell upon the three of them.

"Ahh..."

Chu Chongtian couldn't help groaning.

It was like sinking into a warm hot spring after three days and nights of exhaustion, with all his fatigue beginning to fade away.

But the whole process was brief.

Just as Chu Chongtian felt he had "recovered" and was about to enjoy it, it stopped.

"This counts as treatment," Zhou Zhenguo explained. "Treatment after completing a mission, though it isn't absolute. 'Recovery' is actually a better way to describe it."

"Mm."

Tang Luo nodded.

Treatment, my ass!

At best, it was like being given a cup of water so you wouldn't die of thirst—a bare-minimum lifeline.

It merely gave a dying God and Demon Walker a chance to return to the real world and get to a hospital, where they could say they might still be saved.

For Tang Luo, it was over before it had even begun.

For a "god," they sure were stingy.

The God and Demon Game clearly didn't encourage throwing yourself at a boss, risking your life to complete a mission, and expecting to return at once for treatment.

What made it worse were missions like the one they'd just finished, where returning right away wasn't possible and even the way back was part of the mission.

It was bad enough to fight until you were on your last breath, only to find out you had to go somewhere else before you could return.

"Did you get a skill?" Zhou Zhenguo asked. "I got a new one."

Chu Chongtian nodded.

The beams of light had granted them more than a little recovery.

More importantly, they had rewarded them with skills.

After the light had descended, information about their skills had appeared silently, just as the mission had.

They had all received skills.

Zhou Zhenguo beamed, grinning so broadly that his gums showed. "So surviving six missions comes with a reward like this."

"What?" Chu Chongtian asked, still examining the "information" before it disappeared.

"Passive Solidification Skill," Zhou Zhenguo said. "You get it after surviving six missions. It comprehensively enhances your physical abilities, including strength, reaction speed, endurance, resistance to blows, and recovery."

"That's great,"

Chu Chongtian said.

It was an all-around improvement.

More importantly, it gave God and Demon Walkers a real edge over ordinary people,

instead of making them rely purely on "skills."

Without skills, they weren't much stronger than ordinary people.

"You can get it too, as long as you make it through six missions," Zhou Zhenguo said.

This wasn't a randomly awarded skill. Every God and Demon Walker who survived six missions received it.

As if they had been acknowledged by the gods?

Was this when they truly graduated from the novice stage?

"Besides that skill, my actual reward from this mission was a skill called Tide of Recovery," Zhou Zhenguo said, revealing the skill he had received.

It rapidly healed injuries and cleared various abnormal conditions.

Each use consumed at least a year of his lifespan.

The more severe the injuries, the more lifespan it consumed.

Zhou Zhenguo shared some of the information with Tang Luo and Chu Chongtian.

It was a gesture of goodwill.

If they ever encountered an opponent with a similar skill, they would have something to go on.

He was also showing them what he could do.

Of course, he wasn't showing off to intimidate them.

He wanted Tang Luo to know that he was capable enough.

If they met again in the future, they could complete missions together, and he wouldn't hold them back.

"Ha, mine's a Movement Skill!"

After Zhou Zhenguo, Chu Chongtian also shared the skill he had received.

Gale Dash.

It wrapped his whole body in the power of the gale, allowing him to make a rapid burst of movement over a short distance.

"The note says: 'As long as I E fast enough, my teammates' question marks can't catch me.'" Chu Chongtian laughed. "Do the gods play games too?"

"What game?" Zhou Zhenguo asked, confused.

"It's just a meme." Chu Chongtian scratched his head, unsure how to explain it in detail to Zhou Zhenguo, an older man.

As long as it was fun, that was all that mattered.

The skill information each of them received

wasn't as simple as they had described.

The complete information Chu Chongtian saw in his mind for his "Gale Dash" skill was as follows—

Gale Dash: Wraps the user in the power of the gale, allowing a rapid burst of movement over a short distance.

Level One: Maximum dash distance of 20 meters.

Level Two: Maximum dash distance of 40 meters.

Level Three: Maximum dash distance of 60 meters; inflicts tearing and cutting effects.

Note: As long as I E fast enough, my teammates' question marks can't catch me.

Cooldown: 2 hours at Level One, 1 hour at Level Two, and 30 minutes at Level Three.

Normally, no one would casually reveal the complete information about their skills.

Their cooperation might have gone smoothly,

but it was built on Tang Luo's strength.

Betrayals, sabotage, and killings among God and Demon Walkers were common.

It was rare for people like Chu Chongtian and Zhou Zhenguo to share even part of their information. It was a gesture of goodwill.

"So my note—'-1s'—means..." Zhou Zhenguo began.

"Uh, Master, your reward—" Chu Chongtian interrupted him, then stopped.

It was a little awkward.

It was all Zhou Zhenguo's fault for bringing it up.

Now he'd said something inappropriate again.

They were willing to share, but that didn't mean Xuanzang was.

Unless they planned to become partners and face future missions together, they would only reveal parts of their skills to each other.

Asking what reward someone had just received after a mission

was practically like asking, "Where do you live? I've got some souvenir razor blades for you."

It was highly inappropriate!

"Empty Palm. Strike through the air, turning close combat into ranged combat."

Tang Luo wasn't angry. He smiled and explained.

Empty Palm.

A palm strike through the air that released force to create an invisible attack.

Level One: Maximum range of 10 meters; power reduced by 50%.

Level Two: Maximum range of 30 meters; power reduced by 40%.

Level Three: Maximum range of 50 meters; power reduced by 20%.

Additional Ability: Expansion. The attack's area of effect can be increased to a certain extent.

Note: Do you still remember the palm strike that descended from the heavens?

Cooldown: 2 hours at Level One, 1 hour at Level Two, and 30 minutes at Level Three.

"I plan to call it 'Tathagata Palm,'" Tang Luo said. "Remember to keep it secret."

He was quite satisfied with this skill.

Tathagata Palm suited his identity as a "Buddha" perfectly.

To earn merit, he needed to look the part.

This was an age when appearances mattered.

Uh—no, that wasn't right.

It had always been an age when appearances mattered.

Even in primitive times, it was the same.

Don't just knock someone you fancy unconscious with a club and drag them back to your cave like a primitive.

What was it you fancied about them?

Wasn't it their "face"?

"Mm, that's a good name. Let's call it the Tathagata Palm." Chu Chongtian smiled and congratulated him.

Zhou Zhenguo did the same.

As for Empty Palm and the like, they could just forget about that.

"Oh, right!"

Zhou Zhenguo remembered something and pointed briefly at Omen beneath Tang Luo's coat. "I heard that in the real world, equipment can apparently be 'put away.'"

"Put away?"

He had barely asked the question when—

The surroundings suddenly grew noisy. The carriage, which had been quiet and shabby, became clean, bright, and bustling.

They had abruptly returned to the real world.

Tang Luo glanced at the passenger beside him.

The other person was still playing on their phone, completely unaware that Tang Luo had disappeared and then reappeared beside them.

Or, from their perspective and according to their senses,

Tang Luo had been there the whole time and had never left at all.

He turned his gaze back to the scenery rushing past outside the window and unzipped his coat halfway.

Reaching inside, he pressed his hand against Omen's barrel.

Before long, the flashy black revolver vanished without a trace.

Tang Luo could feel Omen in his right hand. He could take it out whenever he needed to.

But it would take some time.

In an extremely dangerous situation, he might not have the chance to take it out at all.

This "storage" feature was simply a convenience for God and Demon Walkers in the real world.

After all, God and Demon Walkers weren't allowed to reveal anything about the God and Demon Game to outsiders.

Omen was all right, actually. It wasn't very big, so he could hide it.

But if he got a piece of equipment like an RPG, then suddenly pulled it out after completing a mission and someone saw him, the scene would be quite something.

Thanks to book friends 201706, Mutable Eagle, Lamp Ghost 02, Surprised Beef Ball, Floating Cloud Business Book Friend 20180317, Fat Monkey with Premature Kidney Failure, and Red Sword for the tips!