Chapter 340: Different Opinions
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
According to the law of teleportation in The Plane of Dreams, the point of exit during your previous visit would become the point of entry for the next one. So, Hao Ren as the "tour guide"—so to speak, was able to bring everyone back to where he had left off the last time. Just like Earth, The Plane of Dreams was a rotating planet. Its "location memory" was not an absolute coordinate in a space, but a relative one. However, Hao Ren did not have a clue how these things actually worked. He only knew about the teleportation law and made use of it in the simplest way: every time he left The Plane of Dreams, he would choose a place that was rarely accessible, spacious and safe.
The daze from the teleportation quickly subsided. Hao Ren opened his eyes and immediately scanned his surroundings, making sure that it was where he exited before. When they did not spot any passersby,they breathed a sigh of relief. The Blood Lake was still as dead as before. The Gnarled Grove nearby was still shrouded in an atmosphere of gloominess and creepiness. It was twilight, so the atmosphere felt depressing. Lily hid her neck, saying, "I really don't like this place."
Hao Ren did not say a word. He just smiled. The MDT said, "The area is clear. Let Kabala and his men out."
The MDT activated the hibernation pods in the Surface World remotely. The surrounding air warped again and the shadows of those little green men began to emerge. Hao Ren wanted the teleportation to be divided into two batches, because he was worried that they would be spotted upon arrival in The Plane of Dreams. If he was spotted, he could still explain it away, saying that he was just an inexperiened wizard. It would be hard to explain if the little green people appeared. They would be treated like some kind of monster—as you know, this dreamy world was not actually fond of aliens yet...
The little green men awoke from their daze, and were immediately amazed by their surroundings. Almost half of them were staring at the sapphire-red Blood Lake. Kabala and Tamula shouted in excitement, "Whoa! It's a new world. The kind of world where we would never be able to go with our spaceships!"
"Yeah, this day must be remembered. I have to leave something behind..."
"Get me my flags!"
Thw little green people began to yank something out from their pockets. They were little golden sticks, which when deployed, turned into flags of different commonwealths. The flags came in different colours and shapes. Before Hao Ren could stop them, the little aliens had already darted towards the pebble beach to plant their flags. Hao Ren almost went bananas as he yelled at them, "Come back! Come back! Keep those things to yourselves! This place is owned..."
Noticing the nervousness on Hao Ren's face, Lily's canine nature was triggered. She woofed and ran over to the pebble beach, herding the little green men back up. "Stop running around. Those who don't listen are going to be kicked out!"
Nangong Wuyue was amazed. "A husky is a sheepdog too?"
The four ascetics had been standing next to Hao Ren for a while. They carefully scanned their surroundings, and then they lowered their head. It looked as if they were communicating with some higher beings through telepathy, before they finally acknowledged that they had indeed returned to The Plane of Dreams. Big Beardy came up to Hao Ren and performed a religious ritual in all sincerity. He then said, "This is truly our hometown. My friend, what you said is true. You've brought us back."
Hao Ren was a little surprised. "What? You mean you didn't believe what I said earlier?"
Big Beardy nodded. "Just half of it."
Big Beardy's frankness left Hao Ren speechless. But then again, it was normal, he thought. The ascetics were not children; they would not be intimidated that easily. They did not fully trust in Hao Ren even after they saw the experiment of the Sacred Relic of Origins and the Orb of the Holy Synod. As people shouldered with great responsibility, they should always be suspicious. It was no wonder they had been guarding the Orb so closely. They did not allow anyone to even touch it and people were only allowed to look at it from afar during the experiment. Hao Ren could not help but nod in comprehension.
"We need to return the Orb to where it's supposed to be." Big Beardy pointed at the sack hanging around his waist. "Besides, you need to return the Sacred Relic of Origins to us. I know we're kind of insistant, but it belongs to the goddess. The people of the goddess should inherit it."
Big Beardy knew his demand would quite possiblly offend other, but Hao Ren was not offended. The Sacred Relic of Origins had already been replicated, and he had a few of them lying in his spaceship. He nodded happily. "That's okay. A promise is a promise. But before that, I need to solve the problem for the little green people first. We're going to Leyton in a short while."
Big Beardy understood, nodding back. Hao Ren walked up to the little green men and he could easily spot Kabala among the sea of green heads, as his head was a little faded in colour. "Your spacecraft is right at the bottom of this lake. The siren will bring us to the bottom and we have to bring the wreckage up without disturbing the structure at the bottom of the lake. I guess you know the situation down there. So, are your salvaging equipment good enough?"
Kabala swung his head proudly. "Don't worry. The Kabala Commonwealth's technology is flexible and reliable..."
Big Beardy came up to him. "You are going to dive to the bottom, am I right?"
Hao Ren understood that the ascetics were concerned about the operation. He nodded at Big Beardy and as if to assure him, he said, "Yes, but we have great respect for your faith. We won't disturb the geological environment of the Blood Lake. Besides, you don't really want a metal-pimple stuck in your holy place, do you? Let me help you get rid of it."
This was exactly what Hao Ren had told Big Beardy, the monk before. He knew that the land had a significant meaning to the believers—it was their holy land. So, the most effective way to convince them was to look at it from their religious point of view. He did not talk about humanity, laws and stuff like that. If members of the Disciples of Glory knew that there was a sunken "foreign object" at the bottom of the holy lake, they would want it removed. Hence, with this understanding, things would be easier.
Big Beardy was silent for a while. Gazing at the Blood Lake, he said, "I know, you've mentioned it before. But, I still have to warn you: keep it discreet. Do not alert the other guards, because they're not going to listen to you."
As Big Beardy finished talking, he withdrew back to his company. The four ascetics were not going with the group as it was considered taboo to them.
Hao Ren slid a glance at the four weird fellows and his gut told him that something was not quite right with those four. The weird feeling only became stronger with time: how could the four ascetics, fanatic followers of their goddess allow the salvage operation to go on? Especially when it was blasphemous, no matter how one looked at it from the perspective of their faith.
Hao Ren was putting himself in their shoes. He did not think that any normal believers of the religion would allow pagans to send dredging equipment into their holy land.
"Something wrong?" Vivian had snuck up to Hao Ren without him realising. She knew what he was thinking. "As ascetics, they're being too compromising."
"Just watch your back." Hao Ren shook his head. "They must have something else in mind. But, all we need to do is focus on our mission for now. MDT, please keep an eye on the lake bottom. If things go wrong, cut off the dream connection immediately."
"Roger that."
Nangong Wuyue had already shapeshifted into a siren. She entered the water, and was followed by the nervous little green men, leaving the four ascetics on the shore. Soon, the lakeside returned to its usual quietness.
They came to The Plane of Dreams using high-powered conversion equipment, so there was no more worry about being out-of-range. Even if Hao Ren, the tour guide had gone a far distance, the four ascetics on the shore would not have to worry about being kicked out of The Plane of Dreams.
The four monks waited quietly. Their faces were deadpanned and void of movement—like statues.
No one knew what was in their minds.
A long while had past when one of the monks asked, "Letting them into the holy lake, are you sure that's okay?"
"You know it yourseld. The true holy place is not at the Blood Lake," Big Beardy said. His eyes were still closed as if he was looking for something in the dark. "They're pagans, but the power of the goddess has accepted them. We should not have any objections. And furthermore, the key to openthe Sacred Cave may lie with these outsiders."
"...Then we shall wait and see."