Pursuit of the Truth
chapter-158

Dong Fang Hua was pacing back and forth before Su Ming. His loud bursts of joyful laughter were completely different from his usual careful demeanor and acts of relying on the strong. As of then, it seemed like he had become another person. That prideful look on his face and sparkling eyes revealed the secrets in his heart.

"Today, I have arrived at the Berserker Soul Realm. Since you have all come to attend my ceremony, then I will let you see how a Berserker of the Berserker Soul Realm creates his own personal statue of the God of Berserkers!"

Dong Fang Hua spoke loudly and lifted his arms, flinging them around wildly.

Su Ming looked at Dong Fang Hua quietly. He did not have a deep understanding of this person, but from the contact they had during the past few days, Su Ming could tell that this was a nobody who was as cautious as Su Ming was. He wanted to become stronger, and at the same time had the desire to be praised by those weaker than him.

‘His actions right now reflect his true self… but what about this is similar to the illusions I saw just now..?’

Su Ming quietly observed Dong Fang Hua. After a long while, he shifted his gaze to Chou Nu.

Chou Nu knelt on the ground as he panted harshly with a ferocious look on his face. His low growls gave people the feeling that he was in a bout of raging madness, but the weakness and flickering light in his eyes clashed against his expression.

"If what we show here reflect our true selves, then Chou Nu… I wonder if he was born with the word Nu (T.N. meaning anger) in his name. If it’s not, then it means that he believes that he needs this sort of rage the most…

"Since he needs it the most, then it means that he lacks that rage…" Su Ming mumbled.

He had a feeling that he had caught onto something, but it was still vague, as if the thought was still covered by a veil.

‘What do I need the most…?’

Su Ming closed his eyes and only opened them after a long while to look at Nan Tian.

Nan Tian was standing with his eyes closed. His expressions constantly changed. Pride, disgust, sullenness, cold sneers, these expressions fused together, but most of the time, his face showed pride.

"This is a person who likes scheming and plotting against others… I haven’t been around him for long, but from the things that happened, I can tell that he is a person who is very confident of his intelligence. He always feels that he can control others with clues that he discovered about them. They would have to follow his will, and they would have no choice but to do so."

Su Ming looked at Nan Tian and the expressions on his face as he mumbled to himself.

"And him…" Su Ming’s gaze fell on Xuan Lun. "He is a cruel person. This is evident from when he brought out the souls of He Feng’s family and crushed them one by one when He Feng challenged the Chains of Han Mountain.

"He’s cruel, ruthless, and would kill others when opinions don’t match. He’s a powerful Berserker in the Transcendence Realm, way above those in the Blood Solidification Realm. With his personality, he must have killed a lot of people in his life…"

Su Ming saw ruthlessness on Xuan Lun’s face, as if he loved killing and was passionate about slaughter. Yet underneath that ruthlessness was an unexpected hint of helplessness.

"I understand now…" Su Ming mumbled under his breath bitterly.

He was highly intelligent to begin with. There was in no way he would not find the answer he was searching for when he combined all the expressions and actions showed by the four people.

"Whatever you brag about the most is what you lack the most.

"Whatever it is that you want others to know that you own the most of is what you want to possess the most.

"Xuan Lun is cruel and ruthless. His thirst for blood is ingrained within him. This is what he is proud of and also what he wants others to know about. Yet in truth, this is what he lacks the most. He might have killed a lot of people, but all of these are to cover up his helplessness. He doesn’t have a sense of security.

"He doesn’t feel secure, that’s why he feels that he needs to boast about his kills and let others know that he loves killing so that they’ll know that he is cruel. It helps him to cover up the fear he feels in his heart.

"He needs cruelty, that’s why he saw cruelty. He is afraid and desires safety, that’s why there’s also a hint of helplessness on his face," Su Ming mumbled under his breath bitterly.

He understood now.

"Nan Tian flaunts about and wants others to know about his shrewdness and intelligence the most. Yet in truth, that is what he lacks the most…

"He wants others to know that he’s very calculative, but this also shows that this is what he desires.

"Chou Nu’s name has the word anger in it. He also presented himself as a person with a violent temper. This is what he’s prideful about and wants others to know… it’s also what he desires, because in truth, he’s very weak and faint in heart."

Su Ming looked at the terror hidden under the angry expression on Chou Nu’s face as he mumbled.

‘I truly understand now. Through them, I know what’s on my mind.’

Su Ming leaned against the stone wall by his side and smiled wanly as he looked at the roof of the tunnel.

‘I’ve always been aloof and made myself remain calm. This is what I lack and desire… I’ve always refused to think about the tribe, using indifference as a cover, but in truth, this is the most fragile memory within my heart.

‘Perhaps I’ve truly forgotten some of my memories… The illusions I saw on this path of blood, the eyes that appeared at the end and the words I heard, why did they make me so nervous, so aware, so afraid..? Perhaps this is what I don’t want others to discover the most in the depths of my heart…

‘Just like Xuan Lun’s fear and Chou Nu’s weakness.

‘Then what do I need the most..?’ Su Ming asked himself, but he found the answer very soon, because when he asked himself that question in his head, the image of the eyes and the words appeared in his mind.

"You truly… disappoint me…"

‘So this is the real me… Then I want to know whose gaze that belonged to… Why did he say those words..? What are the memories I lost?

‘In fact… if I truly lost some memories, then could my memories have also been altered by someone..? I want to know whether it happened…

Su Ming closed his eyes. His heart was clenching in pain and fear. He was afraid that all of his memories of Dark Mountain were changed, that some might have disappeared… that they were fake…

He had a feeling having been baptized when he walked through this path. It was as if he had transformed and changed. It was a vague feeling, but it existed.

After an unknown amount of time passed by, Dong Fang Hua stopped laughing boisterously. Instead, a shudder ran through his body and after a moment where he remained stunned, he silently sat beside Su Ming with his head lowered, a baffled look on his face.

Chou Nu also stopped growling and howling. The anger on his face disappeared and turned into a blank look as he sat by the side mulling over something.

Nan Tian trembled and slowly opened his eyes. There was a dazed look in his eyes, which only disappeared after a long while, replaced by shock and alarm. He had recovered, and some memories of what had happened returned.

From among these people, he had a vague feeling in his memories that Su Ming had seemed to have acted differently compared to himself. That man had calmly stood before him and looked at him. At that time, he was completely powerless to resist.

Nan Tian trembled. He did not know whether it was a mistake on his part. He would rather believe that all of it had been an illusion and it was not real, but when he looked towards Su Ming and saw him looking at him calmly, a shudder ran through Nan Tian’s body.

‘He changed…’

Nan Tian’s breathing became rapid. He could not describe clearly what had changed within Su Ming, but there was an incredibly terrifying feeling coming from him now!

The fear did not stem from Su Ming’s power, nor from his intelligence, but from his eyes. In Nan Tian’s view, Su Ming’s gaze held an imposing look that was not intentional, but seemed to have been ingrained within him since birth.

He had never expected that someone would be able to cause his heart to race in anxiety with just one look.

"Is there something wrong?" Su Ming asked softly.

"No… Nothing…"

For the first time, Nan Tian felt uneasy when he heard Su Ming speak. He quickly replied back.

Su Ming no longer spoke and closed his eyes.

Xuan Lun looked at Su Ming with mixed feelings. He woke up at the same time as Nan Tian. The feelings he had experienced were incredibly similar to Nan Tian’s. He also felt that Su Ming had looked at him calmly as he was caught in the illusion.

In fact, when Su Ming looked at Nan Tian, Xuan Lun also felt his heart trembling, and his breathing quickened. Yet there were still some differences between him and Nan Tian. He believed that everything that happened to him was due to him waking up from the illusion, not because Su Ming had changed. He simply felt that something was wrong with himself.

Yet no matter what, Xuan Lun still chose to fall into silence and sat down without a word.

Time gradually passed by. Two hours, four hours…

Silence still reigned at the end of the tunnel. Dong Fang Hua and Chou Nu had completely woken up, but the dreamlike memories remained in their minds and refused to disappear.

Dozens of hours passed by. Suddenly, a tremor shook the tunnel. Muffled booms arrived from above them. Dust floated down as if the entire tunnel was about to collapse.

The stone wall at the end of the tunnel shone brilliantly, as if it had suddenly become incredibly instable and was going to crumble at any moment.

The sudden change immediately filled Xuan Lun with vigor and he trained his gaze on the seal. By his side, Nan Tian too looked at the stone wall with a grave expression as desire grew in his heart.

The stone wall was a door. It was a door that led to either the isolation grounds or the grave of Han Mountain’s ancestor. That door had been around for centuries, perhaps even longer, and it had never been opened.

The existence of the seal blocked off all outsiders, but now, Lake of Colors Tribe was carrying out a large scale operation. They were using an unknown method outside, trying to break the seal and rush into where Han Mountain’s ancestor was.

Muffled rumbling sounds came from above them. The dark light on the stone walls flickered even more strongly, as did the one on the faces of people in the tunnel.

Chou Nu, Dong Fang Hua, Xuan Lun, and Nan Tian all had their eyes trained on the stone wall. Once Lake of Colors Tribe broke the seal outside, the seal in this place would also disappear.

Only Su Ming had his eyes closed. It was not that he did not want to open them, but at that moment, the aged and hoarse voice appeared once more in his mind.

"Come… Come here… I’ve been waiting for you… for a long time… for a long time…

"Destiny…"