Chapter 020: The Nether Mage

Du Fan didn’t know what to do now, but he could sense that the bells of death had rung. The problem was he had no idea who the other party was or where they were—let alone how to deal with them to save himself!!!
Yet Du Fan also knew he couldn’t lose his composure. If he did, the other two who weren’t entirely loyal to him might find out, and who knew what might happen—he might even be betrayed!
Du Fan was convinced that the creature in the darkness must be human! Otherwise, it wouldn’t possess such intelligence to adapt to his actions and decide what to do next. But who could be here?
Trying to stay calm, Du Fan kept a watchful eye on his surroundings. He was wary not only of the figure in the darkness but also of the two people beside him. If the other party was powerful enough, they might force those two to turn against him, leaving him trapped between enemies.
Du Fan tried to resist external influences using his mental power, and he detected a glimmer of hope! He sensed two strands of mental energy, a thousand times thinner than a hair, extending toward him. He swiftly severed those strands!
A soft “Huh?” came from deep within his soul, sending chills down Du Fan’s spine! It was indeed a human!
“Who’s there! Come out!!” Du Fan shouted into the endless darkness. “Don’t hide—come out! Whoever you are, show yourself now! Otherwise, I’ll use tons of explosives to blow this place up!!”
Du Fan was almost hysterical. He had been in life-or-death battles before, but facing this situation in utter darkness, without even knowing who the opponent was or what they looked like, and already under their control—how could he not go crazy?
“A human? Can I still be called human?” came a faint sigh. Just one sentence, eight words, but the person seemed to exert great effort to speak them, uttering them awkwardly so that they could barely be heard.
“Not human? An angel? A demon?”
Mandy and Qiyou also heard someone speaking. But when they heard Du Fan mention angels and demons, they were shocked. They never expected Du Fan to panic and blurt out such things—wasn’t this still the dazzling Du Fan who had been right in front of them just a few days ago?

“Angels? Demons?” He awkwardly repeated those two words again. Though he couldn’t see the figure in the darkness, Du Fan felt it shake its head twice. Yes! He clearly and eerily sensed it shaking its head, and he even knew it had shaken it twice!
“I’m not.” After a pause, the figure spoke again, “I used to be human.”
Human… Du Fan thought maliciously. If you’re human, why act like a god? Why play such tricks?
“I’m not playing any tricks.” The figure seemed less awkward now, perhaps because it had spoken more. But Du Fan was extremely surprised. How did it know what he was thinking?
“You don’t need to be so surprised,” the figure said calmly, sensing Du Fan’s shock. “I can only perceive what others think about me.”
Du Fan tried his best to stop thinking about the figure in the darkness, but it was difficult. Since he couldn’t help but think about it, he gave up and sat down on the ground, trying to regain his lost mental energy.
Mandy and Qis both heard Du Fan’s conversation with the figure in the darkness. After hearing “I used to be human,” they felt a cold wind blow from behind.
What does “used to be human” mean? So what is it now? A corpse? A ghost? Or…
Du Fan sat down. “If you’re not human, then what are you?”
“What am I?” The figure also sounded deeply puzzled. “I’m no longer human.”
As it spoke, two glowing balls appeared ahead, more like pulsating fireballs. Then they realized they weren’t fireballs at all—they were two eyes! What they saw next was just a large cloak. And beneath the cloak, there was nothing!
No feet…
Du Fan stared at that figure and sensed a powerful mental energy beneath the cloak. There was not a hint of danger in that energy. The reason it emitted such strong mental energy was simply because it was part of its very being. If it wanted to use its mental power to suppress Du Fan and the others, it wouldn’t even need to appear.
“A few moments ago, two little guys came and woke me up. When they saw me, they fainted without saying a word. Are they your companions?”
“Yes,” Du Fan said with a bitter smile. “Can you sit down? You’re the one who used magic on me, right?”
The cloak moved slightly, and the figure said, “It was me. I just wanted to test things out. I didn’t expect modern humans to be so weak. Those little guys are like that, and you’re the same.”

Du Fan knew that it was because he hadn’t encountered the essence of a deity; otherwise, he wouldn’t have said such things. Fortunately, he hadn’t encountered it, otherwise, if he had other intentions, who knew what he would become now! But his words were truly infuriating—after all, he was a ninth-level powerhouse!
“Never mind, it has nothing to do with me. What time is it now? Those two kids fainted without saying anything. I couldn’t even ask a few more questions. You’re not bad.”
It seemed he didn’t notice the two people behind Du Fan. They weren’t bad either, right? But hearing him speak like that about them, he probably disdained them too. Who exactly was he?
“Who are you really?” Du Fan couldn’t help asking.
“I’m no longer human,” Mr. Ghost said patiently. “You still haven’t told me what time it is.”
“Oh. It’s the 383rd year of the Imperial Calendar.”
“The Imperial Calendar…” Mr. Ghost pondered doubtfully but found no answer and gave up.
Du Fan watched him. Although he knew Mr. Ghost had no intention of killing him at the moment, who could guarantee what he might think in the next moment? Du Fan asked, “Those two are my companions. What did you do to them?”
Mr. Ghost glanced behind Du Fan and saw the two people who had collapsed in fear. “Aren’t you afraid of me?”
As he spoke, he casually created a spatial rift, pulled them out, and threw them on the ground. “They’re not dead yet, but if no one comes for them, they’ll have to stay with me.”
Du Fan stood up and checked on the two people—they were indeed still alive. “Why should I be afraid of you? How can you not be human? You speak human language, wear human clothes, and are human in spirit. So you’re human, no matter what your appearance is—your essence is human!”
Giving him a small comfort, Du Fan thought about waking the three of them up but decided against it. What if they woke up and saw Mr. Ghost faint again? Wouldn’t all his efforts be in vain?
“Can I really be considered human? How many years? How many years? Aside from that person, no one else has called me human. You’re truly special,” Mr. Ghost said excitedly. As he spoke, the green flames in his eyes flickered unstably, making Du Fan think he might kill him at the slightest provocation! It was strange—why wasn’t he afraid of him?
“Although you’re a bit weak, you’re a decent person.”

Does that mean he’s a good person? If he’s a good person, then there are no bad people in the world. Du Fan thought to himself. Just as he was about to ask who he was, the Ghost Mage said, “My name is… I’ve forgotten what my name is. No one has called my name in a long time. You can call me the Nether Mage. I remember that about twenty or thirty thousand years ago, that’s how they called me. Oh, I mentioned that I can sense others’ opinions about me.”
Du Fan could sense the Ghost Mage’s wry smile, even though his face no longer had any form. “I used to be a human hero!”
The Nether Mage said with a nostalgic expression, “Although I don’t care about being a hero or not, I have an unknown ability—namely, sensing others’ opinions about me. I’ve kept it hidden very well until now. But when my closest friend saw me as a human hero, he disappeared for a while before returning, and then I found out that he wanted to kill me!”
Du Fan could sense the anger emanating from the Nether Mage’s soul.
“It was then that my secret was revealed, and he was the one who told others. I trusted him so much, but he betrayed me. He wanted to be a hero and said he would support me, even giving me his title as a hero!”
“Ever since he learned about my ability, he manipulated everyone behind my back. Everyone saw me as an embodiment of evil. He said I could steal people’s thoughts, absorb their consciousness and strength until they died. As I grew stronger, they weakened for some unknown reason… Some of them even became as strong as you. They wanted to kill me!”
“I saved all of their lives. How could they treat me like this!!”
The Nether Mage, who hadn’t voiced his grievances for a long time, poured out his heartache. “Thank you for thinking I’m still human. That person also said I’m human. She’s my goddess. I want to serve her, even as the lowest of servants. She told me to wait for her. I don’t know what she wants me to wait for, but I’m so lonely.”
“It was then that I killed everyone. This city is the one where they used to live.”
Du Fan felt some sympathy for the Nether Mage. Although he didn’t know what had really happened back then, he wasn’t a bad person—far better than himself, at least. Even though humans betrayed him, he didn’t think of harming others anymore. He just sent those who wanted to harm him to hell. If it were him, it would be strange if he didn’t kill their entire families!

But destroying a city with one’s own hands seems no different from harming their entire family, right?
The Nether Mage said softly, “All I can do is wait for her.”
“She will definitely come!” For some reason, Du Fan couldn’t feel even a hint of negativity toward the Nether Mage, despite his rude behavior earlier.
“Thank you. I still don’t know your name.”
“Du Fan. My name is Du Fan Green.”
The Nether Mage repeated it several times, “I won’t forget you!”
Du Fan suddenly thought, “You don’t have a name. Choose one. After all, a name is just a title. If you forget it, just pick another! How about Mingwei?”
“Great!” The Nether Mage seemed very happy. “How about I give you this city? It’s a bit old, but it might be useful to you. Those people who came in were excited, saying they wanted to build a city here. Do you like it? I’ll give it to you!”
Du Fancertainly agreed. “But where do you live?”
Was this also his home? Was it right for him to take it?
Mingwei pointed to a distant, unclear place and said, “I live in that magic tower over there.” He seemed to remember something suddenly and asked, “Do you want immortality?”
“Immortality?” When hearing the word immortality, Du Fan thought of a certain man who had lived for ten thousand years, and also… But since he had just said those things, should he say “no” now? Could he say “no”?
Book 30: Destruction and Rebirth