Chapter 877: The Child

While the White Snake was searching for its own demise, Jiang Ruoxue and I hastily left the game area.

“Ruoxue… were you serious just now?” I asked, holding the comic book.

“Sort of,” Jiang Ruoxue replied.

“But would he really die that easily?” I pressed.

“Precisely because both he and I know that an Earth-level ‘Zodiac’ wouldn’t die so easily, that’s what makes the idea reasonable,” Jiang Ruoxue answered. “As long as he survives, he’ll realize he’s different from normal people. Injuries that would kill a normal person won’t kill him, and things that should evoke sadness in normal people shouldn’t affect him either.”

“Huh…?” I was stunned. “That actually works? Did you secretly use ‘Causality’ again?”

“This isn’t my ‘Causality’—it’s his own,” Jiang Ruoxue said. “It’s getting dark. Let’s find a place to rest and go see White Goat first thing tomorrow.”

We spent the night in a dilapidated building by the roadside. At the crack of dawn, we hurried toward White Goat’s location.

Normally, at this early hour, the streets should’ve been empty of any participants. But just ten minutes into our walk, we spotted a figure standing in the middle of the road, stretching in an exaggerated manner.

Was she… doing morning exercises?

Who does calisthenics in the middle of the street at this hour?

“One, two, three, four… two, two, three, four…” The person muttered softly, her back to us.

Jiang Ruoxue froze for a moment at the sight of her, then muttered, “She looks familiar.”

“You know her?” I asked.

“Seems like one of ours.”

We walked a few steps closer, just as she twisted her waist and turned around.

Now I could see she was a woman around fifty, slightly plump but in good spirits.

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow at Jiang Ruoxue. “Isn’t this Little Jiang? Child… what are you doing here?”

“Long live the Extremists, Auntie Tong,” Jiang Ruoxue said with a smile.

“Long live, and may all faiths live forever,” Auntie Tong replied cheerfully.

I noticed she wore both a cross and Buddhist prayer beads around her neck—her beliefs seemed eclectic.

“Zhichun, let me introduce you—this is a very interesting auntie,” Jiang Ruoxue said, grinning. “She believes in every faith in the world. One day, she chased me down to join the ‘Extremists’ because, well, it’s also a faith.”

“Believes in *all* faiths…?” That sounded absurd. Didn’t that mean she believed in nothing?

“Yep,” Auntie Tong said, still twisting her body. “Child, are you an ‘Extremist’ too? Since you believe in that, why not consider Taoism, Buddhism, Catholicism, Allah, and Christianity as well?”

I nearly lost it. Could someone *actually* believe in all of them?

And since when was the “Extremists” a religion?

“Auntie Tong, let’s leave Zhichun out of it for now,” Jiang Ruoxue interjected on my behalf. “Spare her—just the ‘Extremists’ are enough to keep her busy.”

“Oh, alright then,” Auntie Tong nodded. “Everyone has the freedom to choose their faith. So, where are you kids headed?”

“We have some business to take care of,” Jiang Ruoxue said. “Something for the ‘Extremists.'”

“I’m an ‘Extremist’ too,” Auntie Tong declared. “I’ll come with you.”

“Huh?!”

I frantically waved my hands. One eccentric like Jiang Ruoxue was enough—if we added Auntie Tong to the mix, I’d *die* of embarrassment in front of White Goat…

“Sounds great!” Jiang Ruoxue agreed. “More hands make light work! Let’s go together, Auntie Tong!”

“Oh!” Auntie Tong beamed. “Good, good. Finally, I can do something for the ‘Extremists.'”

Before I knew it, the three of us were actually setting off together.

Would White Goat blame me? The number of people I brought to him seemed to grow by the day.

Though I felt uneasy about it, Jiang Ruoxue insisted, “Everything is causality. Just let things unfold naturally.”

It sounded logical, but something still felt off…

When we arrived, White Goat was standing at the entrance of the venue. As I’d guessed, he wasn’t staring at a mirror in the morning—just muttering to himself.

“Hey!” Jiang Ruoxue waved from afar.

White Goat turned his head at the sound and frowned when he saw the three of us.

“Is this some kind of tourist spot?” he asked coldly.

“No, no,” Jiang Ruoxue shook her head. “This is our teammate. You can call her Auntie Tong.”

“Spare me the introductions,” White Goat cut in. “I’m not interested in her. Did you find the cartoon character?”

“We did.” I pulled the comic book from behind me and handed it to him.

“It’s the only one we could find,” Jiang Ruoxue added. “It’s really hard to find a complete cartoon character in a place like this.”

White Goat flipped through the book—a black-and-white, line-drawn vintage comic. He didn’t read it, just skimmed until he landed on a female character.

He stared at it for a few seconds, then slowly closed his eyes.

A minute later, his eyes snapped open, and the comic fell from his hands.

“What’s… wrong?” I asked, sensing something amiss.

“No…” White Goat muttered. “A completely distorted face made of lines only makes it more terrifying. A faceless figure at least resembles an incomplete person, but if she had this kind of face… she’d be an outright monster. This won’t work.”

A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead.

Jiang Ruoxue and I exchanged glances. It wasn’t just this comic—*all* cartoon characters were out of the question.

But then how could we possibly create this face from nothing?

Before we could brainstorm, Auntie Tong stepped forward and asked gently:

“Child, are you facing difficulties?”

“I don’t know you,” White Goat replied bluntly. “This has nothing to do with you.”

“No, no… oh, dear,” Auntie Tong continued, walking closer. “We’re all brothers and sisters, children of the same being… We should help each other here.”

“Fascinating,” White Goat sneered. “You look like you’re about to retire, yet you claim we’re children of the same being?”

“Child…” Auntie Tong remained unfazed by his hostility, her expression kind as she approached.

When she was just a step away, she placed a hand on his chest and said solemnly:

“I don’t know what troubles you, but child… to fulfill your wish, you must let go of all lingering doubts in your heart.”