Chapter 821: God's Stone

"Oh?" Di She blinked. "You even managed to do that?"

"Lucky break," Qi Xia said. "You can say whatever you want. If I think it's inappropriate, I'll speak up and stop you."

Di She nodded hesitantly, then said, "In that case, I'll go all in with you folks. After all, I'm in a good mood right now, so I can share a bit more."

"I'm listening," Qi Xia said.

Di She didn't speak right away. Instead, he looked up and raised his voice slightly. "I'm about to explain the 'Sheng Xiao Yong Bu Hui Xiang'!"

The air above remained completely silent, without a single sound.

"Damn it... You little brat actually nailed it," Di She said. "The heavens are like they're deaf. Can't he hear this?"

"He can't hear it, but I can," Qi Xia said. "What's the connection between 'Sheng Xiao' and 'Hui Xiang'?"

Di She thought for a moment before replying, "From what I know, there are only two ways to make 'Sheng Xiao' gain 'Hui Xiang' right now."

With every sentence, he glanced upward warily, as if still afraid of Qing Long.

"First," Di She said, "the person gains 'Hui Xiang' before putting on the mask. Then, their identity reverses the moment they wear it, turning from a 'participant' into a 'Sheng Xiao.' But because of 'Sheng Xiao Yong Bu Hui Xiang,' they can't engage in any actions related to 'Hui Xiang' anymore. That means they can't gain it or escape it, becoming a 'permanent Hui Xiang holder.' However, this method has a huge downside: you absolutely can't let any administrator find out, or the next time you meet, you'll be reduced to an 'ant.'"

"So that's you, right?" Qi Xia said. "You became a 'Sheng Xiao' with some strange power, which caused you all sorts of trouble, leading to your awful personality. That way, not many people would approach you, and no one would get too close. To avoid being discovered by more people, you created that creepy-sounding 'Hu Zhu Hui.' So even if someone walks out of your place in tears, you can brush it off as just sharing life's hardships in the 'Hu Zhu Hui.' Now it all makes sense. It's not so much that you're 'doing as you please,' but more like your 'self-preservation strategy' up to now."

Di She paused for a moment, then slowly smiled. "I don't get what you're saying. The person I just described isn't me. I'm just your average 'Sheng Xiao.' As I told you, my 'Hu Zhu Hui' is purely a way to mock the participants, which helps me do my job better. And they all leave my place in tears because sharing their miserable experiences affects their emotions, so everyone ends up a bit sad."

"Alright, I'll take that as your way of admitting it," Qi Xia nodded. "What about the second situation?"

Di She was a bit taken aback by Qi Xia's retort but didn't argue. He just continued, "The second one is all thanks to my esteemed teacher, even though 'Di Ji' types don't really need a teacher. But he's still the person I respect the most!!"

As he spoke, Di She suddenly raised his voice, as if addressing someone else.

But Qi Xia could clearly see that his expression wasn't right—it carried a hint of fear.

"My teacher is so great!" Di She continued, raising his voice even more. "He single-handedly changed the dynamics of this place! All from the knowledge of 'Tian She.' How wonderful it would be if I could achieve even half of his greatness?"

The four of them exchanged glances, knowing there was more to this story.

After thinking for a while, Qin Ding Dong said, "Are you saying that crazy 'Tian She' is your teacher? And you call him 'great'?"

"Of course!" Di She replied, his voice trembling. "Besides 'Tian She,' who's in charge of 'research,' who else could be the next-best thing to a god around here?"

Qiao Jia Jin frowned and whispered to Qi Xia beside him, "I suspect this white-skinned snake has been scared witless by that guy. I've seen this kind of underling behavior with a lot of bosses before."

Qi Xia nodded and said, "Since he's in charge of 'research,' what do you handle?"

"Me...?" Di She blinked, then sighed slowly. "Each 'Di She' has different roles... Some provide 'experimental subjects' for the teacher, others supply various resources and funding, and then there are those who can't provide anything... Like me."

"What happens if you can't provide anything?" Qi Xia asked.

Di She squeezed out a faint smile, then reached up and unbuttoned his suit, tossing it aside.

As everyone looked on in confusion, he unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his pure white skin.

This was the first time the group had seen a 'Sheng Xiao's body. They seemed to be half-human, half-beast—human bodies with beast-like heads, and even the bodies had animal traits. In Di She's case, his pure white skin was covered with snake scales on his sides and shoulders.

He didn't say anything, just smiled bitterly and slowly turned his back to show the four of them.

They all gasped in shock, their skin crawling with goosebumps.

His scarred back was covered with dozens of eyes.

But almost all of them were injured or completely blinded, with dried black blood streaked across his back. Some eyes seemed to be healing, but they had already lost their sight.

Only one eye was intact and moving, located on his spine between his neck and shoulders. It darted around wildly, as if it hadn't seen light in ages, full of terror.

Besides that, Di She's back was riddled with horrific scars—burns, knife wounds, tears, bites, and even gunshot wounds.

"You brats," Di She said in a low voice, still facing away. "Those of us who can't provide anything and have leverage held over us by the teacher just end up as one of his experiments. Pretty lucky, huh?"

Chen Jun Nan swallowed hard and said, "You call this lucky?"

Di She didn't turn around, as if he was grieving himself.

"The teacher told me I'm a stepping stone on his path to godhood," Di She replied. "He'll perform all sorts of experiments on me to find the best 'path to godhood' for the higher-ups here."