Chapter 1492: The Purpose of Yu Yuan's Visit
If, by chance, a camera had captured Lin Sanjiu as she plummeted, some might have thought she was flying.
Within the dusky walls of the deep well, the only source of light was the dim, milky glow above. It illuminated the rapidly descending silhouette in the elevator shaft. Arms outstretched as if she was a goose taking flight, Lin Sanjiu's back, waist, and legs were fully extended, like a straight arrow, channeling countless energy, aiming for the heart of darkness below.
Her shadow escaped from the hazy light and merged into the deep darkness, like a fish leaping out of the sea and diving back into the abyss – she was heading to her destination.
Even though Lin Sanjiu had told Yu Yuan to hold on tight, she herself had no intention of grabbing the cables on the shaft wall. To stop her descent in the elevator shaft was easy; but she didn't want to.
Lin Sanjiu intended to seize this moment, just after the elevator disappeared and before the game organizers could react, to dash to the very depths of this game, of this world — at least as deep as she could reach.
"Five meters left!" Mrs. Manas's voice echoed in her mind. The [Higher Consciousness Scan] that served as a height detector also collided with something solid in the deep darkness. Almost instantly, Lin Sanjiu reacted; she slightly spun, kicked off the wall, caught a cable on the shaft wall, and slid down into the pitch-black.
When her feet gently touched the ground, she suddenly realized: Yu Yuan hadn't held onto her.
The light, created by Yu Yuan, still floated tens of meters above, now only a faint speck in the darkness. At the deepest part of the elevator shaft, there was a cold, metallic scent. Lin Sanjiu looked up for a few seconds, still unsure of Yu Yuan's whereabouts, then released the cable and whispered, "Yu Yuan?"
As her voice faded, she heard a "thud" next to her. Turning around and reaching out, she expected to help Yu Yuan up but instead felt a warm and wet back of a head — a strong scent of blood hit her nostrils.
"Yu Yuan?!" she exclaimed.
"It's me," the Veda said, his voice as calm as ever, albeit muffled, as if his nose and mouth were pressed against something. "My head has cracked open, and its contents have spilled out. I am repairing it."
Lin Sanjiu quickly retracted her hand, wiping it on the wall behind her. "Didn't I tell you to hold on tight?"
"I initially assessed that I didn't need to hold onto you to prevent falling." His muffled voice contained an odd gurgling sound, suggesting that speaking caused air to flow over damaged organs. "After stabilizing my fall, I noticed you were still descending. Since I didn't know where the bottom was, I couldn't use my teleportation ability. So, I let go and jumped."
He jumped. Almost like a suicide attempt.
"You might be a Veda now, but you're still wearing Yu Yuan's body, aren't you?" Lin Sanjiu frowned. "The Yu Yuan I know wouldn't die from a fall from this height."
Yu Yuan remained silent for several seconds. "There's a reason. You'll understand when I tell you my purpose."
Lin Sanjiu was burning with curiosity about Yu Yuan's unknown purpose, but this wasn't the time or place for a long conversation.
"It seems we're still in an elevator shaft," Lin Sanjiu said, using a flashlight Silvan had left her with to sweep around, being careful not to shine it on Yu Yuan. "Maybe it leads to an underground parking lot. You continue with what you're doing; I'll try to pry open the door."
"Okay."
Two minutes later, Lin Sanjiu realized she couldn't pry open the door on the shaft wall. The only way out would be to utilize Advaita's spatial traversal ability, which would send her into another bout of mental turmoil. Fortunately, Yu Yuan, having recovered from his severe fall, was there to stabilize her mind. He stood behind her, asking, "Are you ready?"
Taking a deep breath, Lin Sanjiu nodded.
For some reason, she felt like crying.
She felt someone bend down, and a warm touch gently pressed against her forehead before retreating. In a tone filled with pity and understanding, a voice whispered in her ear, "You take, you absorb, you want, you act. You don't think, you don't need to, because the world wants your destruction. Nurtured by chaos, by yearning, by irresponsibility, you youths live on. I just wish I saw it."
Even though she felt she shouldn't understand, she did. An overwhelming sense of impending loss gripped Lin Sanjiu, causing her to double over—until someone tugged at her collar from behind.
"Are you back to your senses?" Yu Yuan asked calmly, grounding Lin Sanjiu back to reality.
"I feel like it's more than just hallucinations," Lin Sanjiu, still slightly disoriented, said, turning to face Yu Yuan. Her breath was ragged—more so than when she had fallen down the elevator shaft. "The characters in my visions felt real..."
"That's unlikely," Yu Yuan, looking as he did before his fall, interjected. "Besides, discussing the authenticity of your visions isn't our main concern right now. You should look behind you."
Closing her eyes momentarily to push the hallucinations to the back of her mind, Lin Sanjiu turned and truly saw where her spatial traversal had taken her.
As she had expected, she found herself in the underground parking lot of the building, on the fifth basement level—the deepest the elevator could go. However, no one in the world would recognize this space as a parking lot upon seeing it.
As Lin Sanjiu stared, about to step forward, Yu Yuan abruptly pulled her back by her collar.
"I think it's best if you don't move around carelessly right now," he advised. "Besides, you almost walked right into this stroke."
He pointed to a giant brushstroke next to Lin Sanjiu, part of a huge character.
Looking up, she recognized the character "管" (meaning 'tube' or 'pipe'). Just one glance was enough to understand its implication. Its intricate strokes replaced the elevator, forming a clear passage that one could use to move up or down.