Stone Village's Secret

"You can't see me? Why not?"

Di Yi was puzzled. This strange stone could speak and fly, so it was clearly extraordinary, almost exactly like the sentient beings in his memories of "common knowledge." It ought to possess the five senses of ordinary living creatures.

Yet it said it couldn't see him. That was strange, hardly normal.

"I don't know..." The strange stone adopted a more deferential attitude. It was pondering the same question. As a divine stone born of nature, it should have been able to pierce all falsehood beneath the heavens.

Yet it truly couldn't see the person before it, or even sense his presence, as though its eyes had been blindfolded.

Still, whatever the reason, someone was indeed standing before it.

It knew perfectly well that it couldn't afford to provoke this invisible person. Though he exerted no pressure on it at all, it vaguely felt that he must be a mighty expert who could send it to its death with a casual wave of his hand.

"Never mind. If you can't see me, so be it." Di Yi stopped dwelling on the matter and turned to glance at the broken willow, charred black all over and devoid of vitality. "You were communicating with the Willow Tree earlier. What happened? Why did you suddenly decide to leave Stone Village?"

"The Willow Tree is very powerful. I can't compete for the position of Sacrificial Spirit, so naturally, I must leave." The strange stone gave its reason frankly. Though powerful itself, it was no different from an infant before that old Willow Tree.

"Why compete?" Di Yi didn't know how Sacrificial Spirits came to be, but judging by how the people of Stone Village had treated this strange stone today, they were on its side.

There was a phrase in his memories of "common knowledge": "the hearts of all living beings turn toward you." Since the people of Stone Village acknowledged and accepted this strange stone as their Sacrificial Spirit, they couldn't possibly shift their faith and offerings immediately just because a new Sacrificial Spirit arrived.

"There are many considerations, but the main one is that the Willow Tree is better suited to being their Sacrificial Spirit than I am." The strange stone felt some reluctance, but far more relief. "This place has a special significance. It must not be drowned in history, nor must its legacy be severed. As for me, I can do little more than preserve what is here. The Willow Tree's arrival showed me another possibility. Perhaps this place will no longer need to seal itself away from the world."

"Why?" Di Yi pressed.

"Because this place is... Did you come from the world beyond the Great Wilderness?" Just as it reached the crucial point, the strange stone changed the subject and asked about Di Yi's origins.

"Yes," Di Yi said with certainty. From the old clan chief's earlier explanation and his own experiences, he had already realized that he wasn't from within the Great Wilderness.

"You know of the Stone Kingdom, don't you?" the strange stone asked.

"I do, but not everything about it," Di Yi replied. Everything he knew about the Stone Kingdom came from his conversation with the old clan chief; the details remained unclear.

"The Stone Kingdom has a vast territory out there. It is an ancient kingdom, and this place is where it originated." The strange stone revealed the truth about this place, explaining what made it special.

Originally, it had hesitated over whether to reveal everything, and hadn't intended to let the secrets of this place slip out even indirectly.

This place was far too important. Protecting it was its mission, a duty passed down from its ancestors, and it feared that this invisible person might be tempted by the prospect of gain.

But it soon decided that concealment would be pointless. This invisible person was too powerful. As long as he remained here, he would eventually discover clues.

It might as well lay its cards on the table and show its sincerity. An old Willow Tree had already arrived, after all; one more presence wouldn't make much difference.

Besides, it felt that it could use this invisible person to keep the old Willow Tree in check. It recalled his first words to it, acknowledging its status as Stone Village's Sacrificial Spirit. That suggested he was friendly toward Stone Village.

"Oh." Di Yi had expected some momentous revelation, but that was all there was to it. He immediately lost interest.

Hearing Di Yi's brief response, the strange stone froze. This wasn't the reaction it had expected. Shouldn't his reply have betrayed barely suppressed shock and delight? This was the Stone Kingdom Ancestral Land, after all.

In the outside world, beyond the Great Wilderness, countless people had sought the Stone Kingdom Ancestral Land without success.

All of them hoped to obtain the Stone Kingdom's most authentic legacy, to acquire those five elusive pill formulas. Those were extraordinary formulas that even many mighty figures of antiquity had coveted but failed to obtain!

"You... have no thoughts about it?" The strange stone could puzzle over it a hundred times and still find no answer. It simply couldn't understand why Di Yi was so calm, as unruffled as drifting clouds in a light breeze.

"What thoughts?" Di Yi set the strange stone back on the altar. Rather than pursue the subject, he asked another question. "So you really have to leave?"

"Taking everything into account, yes." The strange stone seemed determined to go. "I've protected Stone Village for many long years. It's time for a change. I also want to venture out and follow the path of the only Stone Kingdom Sacrificial Spirit that ever found its way back, to search for my ancestors."

"All right." Di Yi no longer tried to stop the strange stone from leaving. He had only prevented its immediate departure because he didn't want to be left unable to explain things. "Then leave a written statement before you go, making it clear that your departure has nothing to do with me."

"A written statement?" The strange stone "looked" strangely at the space before it. Though it couldn't see Di Yi, that didn't prevent it from making the gesture.

"Yes. You were doing perfectly well in Stone Village before. Then I arrived, and in just one night, they lost their Sacrificial Spirit. If I tell them it wasn't my doing, will they believe me?" Di Yi spoke as though this were perfectly obvious.

"But... didn't you just arrive? Weren't you drawn here by the disturbance from that sea of lightning?" The strange stone's heart leaped in alarm. From this invisible person's words, it was clear that he hadn't come to Stone Village only tonight, or just a short while ago.

It hadn't noticed him at all.

But it soon came to terms with that.

It couldn't detect this invisible person in the slightest. Even when it had still been Stone Village's Sacrificial Spirit and could borrow the power of the deity buried beneath the village, the result would probably have been no different.

If it couldn't see him, it couldn't see him.

"Of course not. I was already in Stone Village when that disturbance began," Di Yi explained.

"You were here before that? Then why..." The strange stone "drew in a sharp breath" and involuntarily looked toward the charred old Willow Tree.

If this invisible person had already been here when everything began, how had the Willow Tree dared descend upon Stone Village?

Although the old Willow Tree could wipe it out effortlessly even in this condition, contending with this invisible person was simply unrealistic.

Unless...

Unless the old Willow Tree hadn't noticed this invisible person either.

Or perhaps...

The old Willow Tree thought this invisible person posed no threat.

But judging by its own experience, the first possibility was the most likely. After all, it could see the old Willow Tree, whereas it couldn't detect the being speaking to it even when he stood right before it.

The gulf between them was immense.

"Um, if I may be so bold as to ask... are you... are you a deity from some divine kingdom?" the strange stone asked in a trembling voice. To encounter a possible deity, perhaps even a being beyond the gods, while it was still so weak-it didn't know whether that was misfortune or good fortune.

"A deity? No, I'm human." Di Yi didn't know what sort of creature the word "deity" referred to, but he was certain he wasn't one.

"Human?" The strange stone neither agreed nor disagreed. "If you say so, then so be it."

"You seem nervous?" Di Yi noticed a strange fluctuation emanating from the stone. According to the descriptions in his memories of "common knowledge," it seemed to be an expression of emotion.

"I'm not. Not at all. Right, you wanted a written statement, didn't you? I'll write it now." The strange stone stiffened and left a "divine decree" as quickly as it could.

"By the way, is the Willow Tree still alive?" While the strange stone wrote its statement, Di Yi asked about the broken Willow Tree and its current condition.