Heaven, Earth, Me Chapter 1643. Hidden Information.

The eight Guardians were also somewhat nervous. Clearly, the dragon woman was not even the slightest bit comfortable with the mark. It didn’t matter if it was beneficial or not; her deep dislike came from a completely different stance.

Yasenia, leaning on Xyrona’s bosom, worked her mind. She collected all the information they had and what she had heard, and tried to find the true purpose behind it all. Honestly, she could ask Tatyana or the other seniors. With their experience, they would be able to tell her what was wrong with probably 99% accuracy.

However, relying on them far too much was never a good option. Even after she had matured through her experiences, her struggle to choose showed she still had a long way ahead of her.

’The sketchy map... couldn’t it have fallen into the sand ocean outside? Why was it in the hands of someone who could die easily?’

Even if the Guardians believed in fate, the loss of a treasure to the Forbidden Zone was so common it might happen daily. Someone being swallowed by a local beast, someone falling to the environment, someone failing to pass a trial and being buried in that place forever...

The number of methods with which someone could lose a treasure as simple as a map in a place as deadly as the Death Dunes was so many that Yasenia would feel bored listing them.

"Why a map?"

Yasenia decided to slowly deduce everything from the bottom up. When she asked this question, Tatyana, Mirrory, and Valeria showed a flash of approval in their eyes. Yasenia didn’t see it, though.

The guardians paused, confused. Murong Xianyu moved her white hair behind her ear and asked. "What do you mean, Madam Yasenia?"

Yasenia asked again, looking at her. "The map, it is not hidden safely anywhere. Anyone could take the map and lose it. Why was the map so easy to get?"

Murong Xianyu shook her head. "We are unaware."

"Lies."

Yasenia squinted, her body leaning forward as she rested her heavy breasts on the table. "I will ask again. Why was the method to guide people here as flimsy as some kind of abstract map?"

Murong Xianyu looked at Yasenia and frowned. After looking around her, she finally sighed and spoke. "That map is something that can be sent out at will. There are plenty of them."

With a wave of her hand, Murong Xianyu summoned several stacks of parchment paper with identical maps to the one Yasenia used to find this location.

Yasenia looked at them for a while and then looked up. "You can see the outside world from here."

It was not a question, but an affirming sentence. Murong Xianyu nodded again, waving her hand again and activating a formation. Once the formation activated, the empty table was suddenly covered in a sandy illusion.

Looking at it, Yasenia easily noticed that this circular table was covering the entirety of the Death Runes. Scanning everything with her powerful mind allowed Yasenia to find the few structures she had visited in the past. Even the inverted pagoda was visible.

"Alright. So us getting the map was not a coincidence."

This solved one mystery. However, Murong Xianyu spoke up. "No. It is a coincidence. Our intent was for the people you took the map from to carry it back outside the Forbidden Zone. If the map appeared outside, it would’ve been easier for its existence to spread."

"Why now?"

Yasenia asked another sharp question. From what she knew, those people had only discovered this map a few centuries ago. The guardans in front of her were long-lived individuals who had lived tens of thousands of years.

"We’ve tried before. However, our formation can only send these maps in this area."

Yasenia saw a ring of light covering up to the middle of the Death Dunes. That area, as Dune had explained to her, was considered a Death Zone that basically no one dared to approach. Murong Xianyu spoke. "In the last few thousand years, only that group entered a structure where summoning the map was possible. So, we did. That’s the truth."

Yasenia looked at Murong Xianyu and then nodded. "Understood. Now, the orb."

While talking earlier, Yasenia had been so focused and led on that she almost forgot the existence of what Tatyana had been carrying with her all this time. Tatyana, as if she had been waiting, raised and placed the orange orb onto the table.

Murong Xianyu looked at it and sighed. Then, she spoke. "This orb is both a seal... and a key."

"Key." Yasenia crossed her arms. "Why was this key in that particular structure?"

"The house you entered back then was the mansion of my ancestor, Murong Fuzhe. He was one of the last few to die and the one entrusted with guarding the orb you hold."

Yasenia placed her hands over her resting breasts. "Why hide all these things and rush us toward the Abyssal Human?"

Murong Xianyu chewed her lip for a bit. It was true that they had been hiding many things. However, it was not like they had intended to hide them forever. They just wanted Yasenia to be marked with the Guardian Mark first. Otherwise, things could get complicated. Who knew that the other side wold reject it so harshly?

Murong Xianyu spoke, choosing her words carefully. "We didn’t intend to hide it for long. After you took the mark, we intended to explain most things. Of course, the whys and hows on how you got here would have been superfluous. However, explaining what the orb is, why we need it, how we should dispose of it, and how it will affect dealing with the Abyssal Human. Everything was something we would’ve revealed with certainty."

Yasenia really didn’t like how these people worked. Yasenia was not really here willingly. Once they discovered the orb, it was natural that they would be guided together with the map to this location. They were, to put it crudely, here to wipe their asses.

Then, instead of being welcomed, they had been forced to go through trials and whatnot, almost failing because their "values" didn’t perfectly align with those of dead people from several hundred thousand or more years ago.

What if Yasenia’s group had not been strong enough? Things could’ve gotten incredibly complicated. ’They knew we defeated those Golden Guardians. But even then, I do not like it.’

It was not a situation where these people threw them here without knowing their strength. Of course, they probably needed to check their personality. Things couldn’t be seen one-sidedly. Yet, Yasenia still disliked it.

It felt as if she had been played.

"You are lucky." Yasenia almost spat those words.

Murong Xianyu frowned, not understanding. Yasenia looked at her somewhat coldly. "You are lucky that the evil you are facing is something from the [Abyss]. It is something that has to be dealt with. Otherwise, your luck would’ve run out."

If the enemy had not been something that needed to be dealt with, Yasenia would’ve stood up and left them to their devices. She was not a saint; on the contrary, she was quite ruthless. But if asked with proper intentions and rewards, Yasenia would not look away from people in trouble. If it was her whim or she felt some sympathy, Yasenia could even help for free.

The problem was when people tried to trick her into helping them. Even if their intention had been good, Yasenia disliked such things. Guilt tripping, emotional blackmail, concealing core information to make their explanations look more believable... Yasenia despised all these ways of manipulation.

Yasenia sighed. "Alright. Now explain in detail. The orb and everything else."

Murong Xianyu noticed that Yasenia’s mood toward them had become... detached. Before, there was a hint of interest and also a trace of willingness to help. However, those emotions had cooled down. The only thing keeping Yasenia seated and listening was duty.

The duty all creatures had against the [Abyss].

Murong Xianyu sighed internally. ’I guess we are at fault. We can be thankful that the threat is something they seem to detest enough to want to help.’

"The orb you hold is the seal for the Matriarch of the Orkwa."

"Orkwa?"

Xianyu nodded. "The mimicking creatures you encountered in the Value trial. They are called Orkwa."

Yasenia nodded and glanced at the orb. "From what I’ve learned, Orkwa can transfer their souls when their bodies are killed, right? Moreover, their souls are heavily protected and difficult to exterminate."

Murong Xianyu once more affirmed her words. "That’s why she was sealed. The Orkwa matriarch can revive as long as there is one child alive and she has a trace of soul remaining. Only thorough soul annihilation works."

This was quite outrageous. After losing a large part of the soul, a creature would be unable to continue living. So, their ability was truly monstrous. Murong Xianyu understood that and explained further. "The Orkwa are really simple-minded. So, their souls can recover more easily."

"Huh...?" Yasenia frowned. "How could a perfect mimic be simple-minded?"

"They are parasites. The mimicked creature doesn’t act differently not because they are controlling it, but because they absorb everything and perfectly mimic it. That’s the reason their mimicry is so perfect... they just transform into that being. The only thing added to that personality is to consume, attack, or mate when it is possible. That’s it."

Kali muttered, her green eyes shining. "Orkwa are a perfect humanoid parasite, so to speak."

Murong Xianyu hummed and nodded. "That’s a good way to put it."

Yasenia once more asked. "Alright. So can the creature inside be killed? Why use the orb as a key?"

Murong Xianyu answered. "Because once it is used as a key, the seal will be reinforced. It is a mechanism used so that the Abyssal Human doesn’t force it to escape. After all, that Abyssal Human is the being that created the Orkwa. They obey him by instinct."

"Let’s go, then. You said that you were unsure if my dagger can act as a key, right? Let’s try that first."

Murong Xianyu stopped her. "That’s reckless. If you are not recognized, you will be unable to enter that place where the Abyssal Human is suppressed."

Yasenia looked at her and spoke. "If we are not allowed after passing all your trials and opening the front door to this secret place by achieving a perfect victory against the two Golden Guardians outside, then this whole thing is a failed test trial. We will leave."

It was a duty, but Yasenia didn’t intend to spend her decades or centuries just to deal with it. There was still Aster waiting for her outside. Abyssal monster or not, Yasenia would not waste time with useless things.

"Guide me and explain a few more things along the way."

Her tone was commanding, leaving no choice but to agree. After looking at each other, they ended up standing up and complying.