"Perhaps, for you, it was just a hot-headed choice of a young man, but for them, you are a true hero." The Great Sage inexplicably patted Xue Dili's shoulder, "Thank you, for not choosing to run away at that time... But, do you regret your choice?"
"Regret what?" Xue Dili asked puzzled.
"If you had run away back then, you would have had a wife who absolutely depended on you, possessing the entire knowledge and magic of the Church Court." The Great Sage said, "You know, in this world, she has no one to rely on but you, the only family she has is you."
"Come on, I can't do something so despicable." Xue Dili said indifferent, "Besides, I couldn't stand watching people like me die under the massacre of the Undead."
Before long, the bus stopped at the entrance of Kujukuri Beach Park, which is a niche but famous coastline, a location for many Japanese dramas, tokusatsu dramas, and even horror movies.
A JK in an unknown cosplay costume handed a flyer to Xue Dili, and he glanced at it casually. It was a promotion for a stage area while he was chatting with the Great Sage in his mind.
Through Xue Dili's vision, the Great Sage looked at the leisurely and relaxed tourists, most of whom probably had the same thoughts as Xue Dili, coming here with a sense of "sacred rapid travel."
"What a peaceful world." The Great Sage sighed.
"It's not this world that's peaceful, only the places where I can live and travel are peaceful." Xue Dili reminded the Great Sage.
In a brief interaction, Xue Dili felt that the Great Sage's mental health might be much worse than the old Undead's heart ailment.
The old Undead, though initially crazy and ranting, had simple thoughts. He just wanted revenge and to let his family name inherit and pass down again.
He was completely disappointed with the Empire, so in the end, he only wanted Xue Dili to take his granddaughter and flee, to carry on the Barak name. He would die without regrets.
However, the Great Sage looks like a normal old scholar, but Xue Dili, with a deep and complex mind, couldn't see through him at all.
Even though glimpses of his memories were seen through dreams, it was only known that he, in his youth, watched a short-haired girl die in front of him to save him.
Then it seemed he died that summer, the rest of his life was just this frame.
In that frame, how old was the Great Sage? 13 or 14?
Now, however, the Great Sage is already hundreds of years old, but connected to Xue Dili, only experiencing this repeating frame.
It seems that this has become his heart demon.
Thinking of this, Xue Dili had a question that he hadn't asked for a long time. He looked at the Great Sage, who was emo again and decided to divert the topic by saying: "Old man, do you have a Treasure?"
A Treasure is a Conceptual Armament formed after the World Consciousness focuses its gaze on a person, condensing a history worthy of becoming a "feat".
The Birdman Armor represents the passionate combination of him and the old Undead, representing the heroic deeds of them killing the Witch Demon King, forming a Treasure for the last humans in that world, perhaps also containing the sublimated Skeleton Demon, which further resembles an armature of armor.
Since the setting is like this, at least, one can deduce a person's image and story before death from his Treasure.
"Yes, but I haven't used it for a long time." The old man now seemed unapologetic to Xue Dili and directly responded.
This made Xue Dili curious about the old man's Treasure, is it his magic staff? Or that white robe?
However, in the old man's hand, a swirling mass of blood appeared. That blood seemed to come alive, and the old man calmly said, "My Treasure, 'Cursed Blood'."
"Its foundation can finely manipulate the molecular structure of organisms, and after development, as long as it touches others, it can instantly absorb all their diseases, injuries, and sufferings." The Great Sage explained his Treasure.
Xue Dili: "..."
Isn't that a bit off-script? Sir, you look like such an academic old scholar, how come your Treasure looks like this?
"Absorb others' sufferings?" Xue Dili suddenly realized the word choice in the Great Sage's introduction.
"Because all the sufferings you absorb will ultimately act on yourself, that is the price." The Great Sage murmured, "it's also my fate..."
Xue Dili was silent.
Indeed, a Treasure represents a true reflection of a person. The Great Sage's Treasure absorbs others' sufferings and bears it himself...
What a... ridiculous Treasure...
As the name of the Treasure suggests, it is a power of curse, except the one cursed is himself.
To possess such a power, indeed, that old thing and he are in the same camp. He could even mentally fabricate thousands of words about the origin of this Treasure.
"This is my curse and my atonement." The Great Sage looked at the blood in his hand, its luminescence reflecting in his pupils.
Perhaps, he could gather more information tonight. Xue Dili thought so.
...
The two chatted casually, then arrived at the beach, where there was a crowd of people seemingly excitedly watching something in the distance.
Xue Dili squeezed in curiously and came to the railings.
Below the railings was a large group of professional photography props and staff. He also saw two actors in suits fighting on wires.
It was the filming set for "Masked Rider."
Xue Dili instantly took out a monocular and pressed it against his eyes, and indeed, coming here allowed him to see the filming of a tokusatsu show on site. Although he was a few hundred meters away from the filming location, just observing the shoot made this trip worth it.
"Is 'Ultraman' filmed like this too?" The Great Sage naturally saw the filming in the distance and asked.
"Yes, but there would be many miniature models used there to highlight the large scale, but the general process shouldn't be much different." Xue Dili replied to the Great Sage while adjusting the focus of his monocular.
"In 32 seconds, the wire tied to the third male lead will malfunction." The Great Sage suddenly said.
"What?" Xue Dili immediately pulled back the monocular and then zoomed in, looking towards the direction of the third male lead.
The next moment, as they were shooting a scene of jumping from a hill, the wire indeed snapped, causing the third male lead to stumble and fall to the ground, seemingly injured, clutching his calf.
The entire shooting paused, and all the personnel were in an uproar.
"Old man, you..." Xue Dili looked at the old man in shock.
"Great Prophecy Art, a high-tier spell, you need to be at least Tier Five to use it." The Great Sage quite plainly mentioned something remarkable.