Chapter 775: Whispers of Fear and Truth

All the chaos and resistance vanished in an instant.

Yet Lu Xin still stood his ground, a bizarre sensation stirring inside him.

Was what he experienced earlier an illusion or reality?

Had he truly clashed with that Old Man, or was it merely a mental battle?

A wrenching, tearing sensation emerged.

Now, his mind was calm—he even commanded the power of illusion, capable of conjuring deceptions while unmasking falsehoods in others. Yet at this very moment, he couldn’t discern what was truly real.

……

……

“You…”

As Lu Xin replayed the battle in his mind, Mom’s voice sounded from behind.

Her tone wavered with perplexity and reluctant sorrow: “If you never intended to fight to the bitter end, then why act this way?”

“Why risk losing your eyes for such a test?”

……

Without turning, Lu Xin recalled the look in Mom’s eyes—a mix of pity and wistful reflection.

Across from him, the blind Old Man seemed to sense Mom’s compassion. His aged, frail face softened into a gentle smile as he advised, “Don’t worry. My eyes have been blind for a long time…”

“Ever since I lost sight of truth.”

“It’s comforting in its own way to have these useless eyes witness something new.”

……

……

Mom fell silent, letting out a deep, mournful sigh.

The Old Man now bore no trace of hostility; he even ignored the Black Box.

Slowly, he reached out with both hands toward the row of benches and then settled down. His body trembled—whether from pain or excitement, his face relaxed at last.

It was evident he had given up, no longer intent on interfering.

“Whew…”

Suddenly, Father gasped heavily, like someone surfacing from a deep ocean trench.

He scanned his surroundings with a mix of fear and exhilaration, as if reborn after a near-death experience.

Moments ago, he had been utterly swallowed by despair.

When the whole small town was engulfed, he saw the closing of the prison-like cage but didn’t run.

Yet, he lacked the confidence to face the worst; he was merely torn, trapped in hesitation.

Amid that internal strife, he clung to a flicker of fragile hope.

In the final moments, he did not abandon his family.

Emotionally, it might have seemed less than ideal.

Because he wavered.

But, in truth, he defied his nature to make a choice that truly mattered.

Lu Xin understood his father, even thinking his actions were commendable.

In life, you can’t force someone to exhibit or feel emotions they don’t possess.

That kind of behavior is unreasonable and invites only disappointment.

In the end, Father staying with the family rather than fleeing was a satisfying outcome.

So, Lu Xin turned to his father and gave a gentle nod.

……

……

It took Father several seconds to confirm that the promising situation before him was real.

Then his shadow began to tremble, like a scared creature cautiously creeping forward.

From within the shifting shadows, a hand slowly reached toward a hidden compartment in the box.

He probed with an urgency tinged with tension, ready to retract at any moment.

But the blind Old Man simply sat on the bench, making no move to intervene.

A soft smile appeared on his face as he murmured, “Take it.”

“Long ago, I reclaimed this from you because I couldn’t allow fear to rule the world.”

……

Father suddenly became alert, his entire focus fixed on the Old Man as he inched closer to the box.

Mom shook her head slightly, clearly disapproving of Father’s actions.

In a low murmur, she replied to the Old Man, “But you’ve never truly eradicated fear from this world.”

“Indeed.”

The Old Man answered calmly, “At first I believed that truth could banish fear.”

“But then I realized the very pursuit of truth is fraught with terror.”

“And so, I fell into confusion…”

……

His voice, laden with endless despondency, eventually gave way to a faint smile:

“You’ve done well, Kuimeng.”

He then told Mom, “At this moment, you’re one step closer to truth than I am.”

Lu Xin noted that he only said ‘closer’—never claiming the truth was completely found.

“Crash…”

At that very moment, a sudden, violent noise erupted.

Father finally grasped the Black Box and, in one forceful motion, yanked it toward him.

That meek hesitation of a thief instantly transformed into the desperate urgency of a robber.

His wild motions shattered an entire row of benches, producing jarring, piercing clatters.

Both Mom and Lu Xin exchanged disapproving glances toward Father.

Even Sister, who had been carefully crawling inside the Church in curious pursuit, jerked her head around in alarm.

They all thought, “You’re far too tense—completely devoid of calm.”

And isn’t such a lack of composure rather unbecoming in front of others?

……

……

“Hehe, there’s no need to be so anxious,”

the Old Man said with a gentle smile and warm tone.

“Back then, I stripped your authority only because I couldn’t let you hold the switch that could destroy this world.”

“You were too powerful at that time.”

“When the first calamity struck, seventy percent of the world descended into madness, while the rest were gripped by fear.”

“If I had let you roam free, you might have become a true monarch, ruling over this world. But once the remaining thirty percent lost their reason to fear, all hope would have abandoned us.”

……

Lu Xin’s pupils constricted slightly.

In the Old Man’s words, he glimpsed fragmented truths of the past.

Had they all been ushered into this world during the Red Moon Incident?

Perhaps the Old Man—no, the Fire-Thief—attacked Father because he realized that the remaining thirty percent could no longer be enslaved by fear in that chaotic world, thus granting a hope for civilization’s rebirth.

That made sense…

In the wasteland, amid the madmen, survivors gathered and built high walls to stave off panic—it was nothing short of remarkable.

For if even then they had been subjugated by fear, the world would have truly lost hope.

“Then why are you willing to return it now?”

Father looked at the box, almost greedily wanting to embrace it.

Listening to the Old Man’s words, he suddenly revealed a fierce side, his gaze turning icy as he glared.

“Because Kuimeng was right.”

The Old Man continued slowly, “Fear has never truly vanished from this world; in fact, some people, starved for fear, turn extreme and mad. That’s why I must restore your authority to you…”

“Perhaps…”

After a brief pause, he softly sighed, “The process of imperfection can never reveal the true outcome, can it?”

His voice gradually faded as he spoke.

With both hands raised to his chest, he silently gazed at the faceless divine statue, lost in his prayers.

Watching his back, Father’s eyes blazed with a fierce resolve.

In a sudden, resolute move—as if winning a huge lottery—he forcefully pried the box open.

Ugh…

As if an endless host of tormented souls burst forth from the box, they wailed and floated in the air.

They whirled madly inside the Church.

They sliced through every body, sending a bone-deep chill straight to the heart.

Lu Xin even felt his mind freeze as though encased in ice.

Every pore in his body contracted, the penetrating cold seeping into his bones and making him tremble.

He turned to look at Father, who was fixated on the Black Box.

An unending terror emanated from the box.

It was as if the box itself were hell incarnate, bearing the primordial agony of everyone.

In that moment, he could feel his heart pounding wildly.

An instinct urged him to slam the box shut and bury it deep underground where no one could ever find it.

Yet a hidden curiosity compelled him—he had to see what lay inside.

Mom’s scissors, the Dark Queen’s Mirror, the Judgment Sword of the Sword-Bearer—and what of Father’s…?

……

……

Father’s gaze lifted from the box; he glanced toward Mom in the distance, then at Lu Xin, his expression complex.

After hesitating for a few seconds, he steeled himself and slowly plunged his hand into the box.

The next moment, Father slowly extracted an object, shrouded in endless black mist, from the box.

The instant Lu Xin saw it, darkness enveloped his vision; it was as if the object had stolen his gaze and filled his ears with infinite whispers—leaving him with nothing but cold terror.

“Hehehehe…”

Father, transfixed, let out a deep, uncontrollable laugh as he stared at the object.

Lu Xin’s pupils narrowed.

Inside the box lay a mask—black and gleaming with a metallic sheen.

It seemed as though the deepest night had been condensed, filtered, and forged into this mask.

Lu Xin only needed a glance to feel that it embodied the very essence of night.

Deep night harbors the most profound terrors.

For many, night itself is the embodiment of fear—an instinct woven into their very genes.

“Hahahaha…”

Father’s laughter suddenly grew uncontrollably, as if shaking the entire world.

Then, taking a deep breath, he greedily and forcefully pressed the object onto his face.