Chapter 151 Long to See You
"This is becoming increasingly absurd," the middle-aged man remarked with a scowl. His tone carried a sharp edge of discontent. "Da jie, we joined this class because we trusted you. But now you're spouting these nonsensical ideas?"
"Child, you still cannot grasp the truth," Auntie Tong said with a slow shake of her head, her voice tinged with pity. "But it is of no consequence—Mother God will absolve you." She extended her hands gracefully, crossing them over her chest in a gesture that seemed both tender and reverent, as though cradling an invisible presence. "Zhong Zhen, Mother God will pardon your sins."
"You..." The middle-aged man frowned, his skepticism etched across his face. Everyone here seemed insistent that he and they were already acquaintances, so it wasn’t entirely shocking that the woman standing before him knew his name—though it did little to quell the growing disquiet within him.
"Why does {God} want us to die?" The delicate young man continued to ask.
"Child, you misunderstand," Auntie Tong shook her head, "Reflect deeply—{God} did not lead us to death; rather, death is what we earned, what we deserved."
"We deserve to die?" The crowd exchanged uncertain glances, their bewilderment palpable.
"You must all recall what happened before you arrived here," Auntie Tong said, her tone imbued with unshakable conviction. "We were already dead." She lifted her head, as though addressing an unseen divinity above. "Our deaths were inevitable, yet the {Mother Goddess} chose to breathe life back into us. She does not kill us; she nurtures us! No matter how many times we fall, we will rise again, renewed and transformed! It is the {Mother God} who has bestowed upon us the gift of another life!"
A cold shiver crawled up Qi Xia's spine.
And after bringing them back to life, why allow them to die once more?
"This is nothing short of an evil cult," Qi Xia muttered, his voice heavy with exasperation. "Those who have managed to survive, who have made it to {Passage to Heaven}, are no fools. I highly doubt many will buy into this rhetoric."
As Qi Xia had anticipated, a heavy silence descended upon the room. No one spoke; their faces wore expressions of discomfort and unease. The doubt that had lingered in their hearts about Auntie Tong now seemed to spread like an insidious contagion, and even the once revered {Passage to Heaven} began to feel less like salvation.
At that moment, a tan, slender girl raised her hand, her voice cutting through the tension. "Why didn’t we get sent to the netherworld after our deaths, but arrived here instead?"
"That's because we are sinners." Auntie Tong explained, "Though I cannot speak to the specifics of each of your pasts, I know one thing—we are all sinners. We have come here to atone for our wrongdoings."
Hearing this, some people slowly began to furrow their brows.
"Are you saying that we broke the law?" Zhong Zhen, the middle-aged man, asked.
"No." Auntie Tong shook her head. "Your lives are tainted by sin, but that does not necessarily mean you have broken the law. What matters is that we all bear the weight of transgressions that would send us to the depths of hell. It is a sin to sow discord, a sin to spread falsehoods, a sin to abandon those who love you, and even a sin to waste food."
"What this auntie is saying... these words sound oddly familiar," Han Yimo murmured, leaning toward Qi Xia. "When I was researching for a book I was working on, I came across references to the Eighteen Levels of Diyu (Hell). There, many layers exist to punish even the smallest of transgressions. Some of the sins she just mentioned—{wasting food}, {sowing discord}, and {spreading falsehoods}—are listed among those punishable offenses."
"Is that so?" Qi Xia responded, his brow furrowing in confusion. This was the first time he had encountered such knowledge.
"But isn't {Diyu} a Buddhist term?" the tan, slender girl pressed. "Auntie, you carry so many things with you. What exactly is your belief? Which religion does {Mother God} belong to?"
"Child, how could {Mother God} be confined to the limits of any one religion?" Auntie Tong replied, her tone patient. "She is {everything}! Everything I carry with me, every religion in this world, has been established by {Mother God}! Only by embracing every belief she has woven can one begin to fathom the depths of her will and understand her true thoughts."
"But auntie, no religion in this world was founded by a deity. It is people who establish religions, and all of it is traceable in history," the tan, slender girl countered bluntly. "If you took the time to research, you could understand the entire development of any religion. Then you wouldn’t talk ."
"Child, you will come to understand one day," Auntie Tong replied, her smile never faltering. "If you limit yourself to just one belief, you'll always encounter things beyond your comprehension. But if you follow the path of the {Mother God}, everything in this world will fall into place, and all will be explained."
At that moment, Lin Qin gently nudged Qi Xia with his arm. "Don't you think something about all this is... strange?"
"Which part are you referring to?" Qi Xia asked, his brow furrowing in confusion. After all, there were so many strange things about this woman.
"I'm referring to why Chu Tianqiu brought her into {Passage to Heaven}," Lin Qin replied thoughtfully. "Isn't it said that only {formidable individuals} are allowed here?"
Qi Xia's frown deepened as he processed Lin Qin's words. She was right—what exactly made this Auntie Tong so remarkable? What had Chu Tianqiu seen in her?
Did Chu Tianqiu actually agree with what she was saying?
A resounding bell echoed through the distance.
Qi Xia blinked, momentarily disoriented, but quickly regained his focus, his gaze shifting back to Auntie Tong. No one he knew had been involved in the game, so the {Reverberation} must not have come from any of his own people.
"The following is the second topic of this class—Defining {Reverberation}." Auntie Tong announced, her smile ever present as she surveyed the room.
A hushed silence fell over the gathering. Everyone present, though still unsure, found themselves forced to sit in patience, their attention riveted as they awaited the next layer of this strange lesson.
Auntie Tong began by briefly explaining the origins and purpose of the bell’s toll, which largely aligned with what Qi Xia already knew.
However, there was a crucial difference in her interpretation: Auntie Tong insisted that the {I} displayed on the screen was not a reference to an individual, but rather to the {Mother God}.
{I} hear the {Reverberation}.
According to Auntie Tong, this statement should instead read: {Mother God} hears the {Reverberation}.
It had to be said, her explanation seemed flawless, at least for the moment, and it left little room for immediate contradiction.
"When we experience {Reverberation}, we can momentarily tap into the power of {Mother God}, and through her, we are granted limitless possibilities."
Seeing the doubt lingering in their eyes, Auntie Tong smiled gently and added, "You all have paper and pen before you. Write any phrase you desire, and I will prove to you the existence of {Mother God}." She then turned her back to the room, facing the blackboard.
A murmur of whispers swept through the room as everyone hesitated, but eventually, they began to write, their skepticism still evident in the way they held their pens.
In front of Qi Xia and the three others, there lay a piece of paper as well. They exchanged glances, but none seemed ready to put anything down. After a moment, they all silently passed their papers to Qi Xia.
It seemed that they had nothing to write.
A hint of sadness crossed Qi Xia's face as he took the pen in hand. He paused for a long moment, lost in thought, before slowly writing, "An, I long for you."
"Now, you are all free to question me." Auntie Tong said with a smile, "I will know exactly what each of you wrote on your paper."
"Nonsense." Qi Xia was the first to raise his hand and asked, "Auntie, what did I write?"
Auntie Tong seemed to consider for a moment, as if reading the unseen. Finally, she spoke with calm certainty, "What you wrote is a reflection of the most important person in your heart. If I am correct, it reads: {An, I long to see you}."
"Heh." Qi Xia sneered, "The meaning may be close, but the content is off. Your {reverberation} could use some refinement." He picked up the paper from the table, ready to reveal it to the others, but as his eyes scanned the words, they widened in disbelief, as if struck by a bolt of lightning.
The paper clearly read: An, I long to see you.
The words were unmistakably his own handwriting, and the ink had not yet dried.
What... what was happening?
Had he remembered it wrong just moments ago? The disorientation gnawed at him, the strange sensation of reality slipping just slightly out of his grasp.
"Swindler... what are you doing?" Qiao Jiajin asked, his confusion evident. "Didn't Auntie guess right?"
"You... didn't any of you see what I just wrote?" Qi Xia asked with eyes wide open.
"That's what you just wrote," the three of them replied in unison, their expressions puzzled, as if they were witnessing something they couldn’t quite comprehend.