FALLEN ORACLE

**Chapter 11: The Buried Book (3)**

"Chen Yi, you know you and I are the same kind of people. And the truth... needs to be verified by facts." Lisa's words seemed to come out of nowhere.At that moment, Lisa was like a moth drawn to a flame, knowing full well it would burn her."No, I don't think verification is necessary," Chen Yi said with a fawning smile. "Let's just assume Grandmaster Gu Tong's memory is correct."Lisa shot back, "You mean, faced with a memory that suddenly appeared this morning, I should accept it without verification, overturn thousands of years of common sense, and fight a nearly hopeless battle?""Ahem. Lisa, of course that's not what I meant. There must be other ways to verify it. You said you're the last descendant of Grandmaster Gu Tong, but you don't have to be.""You're still young. Get married, have a few kids. They can carry on the truth for you." Chen Yi forced a smile onto his face and pleaded earnestly."You mean I should pass the burden of verifying the truth—and fighting the upper realm—on to the next generation?" Lisa stared at him and asked, word by word.Chen Yi began to realize his persuasion might not work. He tried again, "What I mean is, you don't have to rush the verification. Now that I know too, we can discuss it together, see if there's another way. You know how smart I am."Lisa replied calmly, "You mean, when the entire continent of Alpha might be trapped in an absurd lie, I, the only one who knows the truth, should take it slow and keep watching our people being deceived, exploited, and even killed by the upper realm?""No, I mean... it doesn't have to be you who verifies it. To be honest, I've already experienced Divine Communion. I can do it for you." Chen Yi puffed out his chest with false confidence, even as he heard himself becoming incoherent, his excuses growing more pathetic."Enough, Chen Yi." Lisa cut him off. "I'm glad I got to know you. After I go back, I'll use magic to completely forget that I ever saw you tonight. You'll be safe."Seeing her turn to leave, Chen Yi panicked. He instinctively reached out to stop her."No, Lisa, wait... you..."Suddenly, his head grew heavy and his feet light. He collapsed to the ground.Lisa removed the now-dimmed "Memory" ring from her finger. With a wave of her hand, she easily undid the lock on Chen Yi's storage ring and placed both "Memory" and the Forgetfulness staff inside."This ring... I'll leave it in your care for now. If I survive my next Divine Communion, please give it back to me. If... if it comes to the other outcome... then it's yours. I'm sorry for putting such a heavy burden on your shoulders.""Oh, you still have some food?" Lisa pulled a piece of bread from Chen Yi's ring. "Mine now."She put the bread in her mouth, squeezed out one last smile, and mumbled:"If the worst really happens, don't be sad. I'm not some noble martyr. I'm just a cat that curiosity killed."Lying on his back, unable to move, Chen Yi heard Lisa's footsteps grow fainter. Then she came back, leaned down, whispered something in his ear, and walked away quickly.After vaguely hearing her last words, Chen Yi lost consciousness completely.---When he woke up again, he was in his own bed in the dormitory."How did I get here?""Someone told us last night that you'd passed out in the bamboo grove. The three of us carried you back," Phil said."But it's weird. I can't remember who told me." He scratched his head in annoyance."Oh, Chen Yi," Phil suddenly turned serious. "Listen calmly. This morning, I passed by the faculty dormitory and saw Lisa... she... she..."At those words, Chen Yi snapped fully awake.At the same time, he heard a sob coming from somewhere deep in his throat. It took him a moment to realize it was his own.Overwhelmed with grief, Chen Yi understood that he was now the only one who knew the world's truth—and the cause of Lisa's death.Not only that, he couldn't tell his close friends, who might undergo Divine Communion at any moment.He refused to drown in sorrow forever. After Lisa's funeral, he pulled himself together and vowed to use the truth to change the current situation on the continent of Alpha.---Over the next year, Chen Yi conducted many investigations in secret.He discovered that the statue of the Great God Yan Yan seemed to be made primarily of that dark cyan stone—the same kind that greatly enhanced the power of Psionic spells.Clearly, this stone was linked to the spell that manipulated the memories of the entire continent during the Rongqi Rite. The upper realm used these stones to alter everyone's memories.Also, Pope Rich of the High God Church moved in mysterious ways. Chen Yi suspected that Rich himself might come from the upper realm, sent by some organization there to rule the lower realm, hide his identity, and cement faith in the "gods."Behind several past wars between the Duchy and the Kingdom, Chen Yi seemed to see the hand of the "gods." The unnatural starts and stops of those wars were not driven by the interests of the two countries, but by the will of the upper realm.The peace and war of the entire continent were also under their control.Even the God-Demon War ten thousand years ago was not simply humans receiving aid from "gods"—rather, the upper realm's magical civilization and the people of the continent of Alpha worked together to repel the Demons.As his investigation deepened, the "f*******n content" in Chen Yi's spellbook grew. And the triennial Rongqi Rite drew nearer.Without a doubt, after the rite, he would forget the world's truth and the cause of Lisa's death."What should I do?" As the date approached, Chen Yi grew anxious.He knew only one thing: the truth that Lisa had risked her life to entrust to him must not die with him.The powerful spell during the Rongqi Rite would strip the truth from his memory. And the spellbook containing the truth would certainly not escape the Church knights' search afterward.No matter where he hid the book, the psionic mages assisting in the search would use magic to detect his lies and find its location.Then both he and his spellbook would be burned to ashes.There had to be a way.---The day before the Rongqi Rite, Chen Yi went to Lisa's grave with his spellbook. He carefully bored a small hole in the gravestone using magic. Then he dug a pit at the spot on the ground indicated by the hole's light.He placed his spellbook, the "Memory" ring, and the Forgetfulness staff into an iron box and buried it in the pit.He carefully filled the hole until it was indistinguishable from the surrounding soil. Satisfied, he left.He knew that after the Rongqi Rite, he would forget the truth—and the location of the buried spellbook. When questioned by the Church's psionic mages, he would truly know nothing.That would allow him to pass the Church's search without a flaw.But he also had no doubt that he would one day find the buried items again.A gentle breeze brushed past, like the touch of Lisa's hair on his cheek the night they parted.Her final whispered words came back to him clearly:"Chen Yi, if one day you lose everything—even your memory...""Then...""May you still be curious about the unknown.""May you still pursue the truth relentlessly.""May you still treasure friendship like a priceless gem.""May you still stand unwaveringly for justice.""If so, you will still be you. And sooner or later, you will find back what is yours."