Chapter 534 The Unknown Psychic Connection Continues

The two white souls seemed to want the little bowl to ask more questions.

Was there some special purpose behind this behavior? I instinctively began to ponder it. Although pondering such things about something that seemed strange might be pointless, I couldn't completely ignore the unusual situation. At the same time, the other party's attitude of demanding "questions" reminded me of the Lord of the Divine Seal from the past.

The exchange of information—one party asking a question, the other answering—is a ritualistic act that deepens the connection between them. In the past, Ma Zao, Zhu Shi, and Xiao Wan all advised me not to ask the Lord of the Divine Seal too many or too significant questions. Doing so might further bind me to the illusory realm, ultimately turning me into an object of the Lord of the Divine Seal's life and death at his mercy.

Are the two souls before us also harboring such intentions? Could they also be apocalyptic anomalies, and will they soon reveal some kind of danger?

Reason told me it wouldn't develop that way, because I trusted Xiaowan. Although Xiaowan knew I possessed superpowers that generally surpassed those of apocalyptic anomalies, and that she enjoyed scares and danger, she certainly wouldn't have kept things a secret beforehand if what was happening now truly posed some kind of danger. In fact, I didn't have any premonition of danger either.

That being said, they gave me an unprecedented sense of alienation; I had never encountered such souls before.

Xiao Wan didn't ask the two white-clad souls any more questions, but instead said conservatively, "That's all, thank you both, farewell."

They still hadn't disappeared. At that moment, the soul that had just handed over the map asked, "Are you an enemy of the Tai Sui Army?"

“The Gospel House is our enemy,” Little Bowl said. “Therefore, we might also become friends of the Tai Sui Army. So please rest assured, you are not pointing the way for the enemies of the Tai Sui Army.”

"……Yeah."

The soul's expressionless face relaxed slightly, as if a touch of humanity had appeared in it. "That's good..."

As he spoke, his body, composed of white light, disintegrated and vanished like a snowball melting in hot water, turning into specks of firefly light. The other soul nodded and disappeared along with its companion.

The little bowl gently exhaled a breath.

So the reason they didn't retreat immediately was because they were worried about attracting enemies to the Tai Sui Army?

So why were they so quick to answer questions? Was it because they were influenced by Xiaowan's ability to communicate with nature, or were they suffering from some kind of spiritual problem? I was initially thinking they had been replaced by something indescribable, but now I feel they are the deceased themselves. However, that "unusual" feeling I caught along the way is hard to ignore. There's a very contradictory feeling of being in the middle of nowhere.

Seeing that the matter was over, I asked Xiaowan, "How did you do that?"

As if she had been prepared, Xiao Wan said, "Brother Zhuang Cheng, do you mean... how I managed to summon back a soul that had already been scattered?"

"What just happened, supposedly a communication with the soul of the deceased, seems a bit strange," I said.

“To be honest, what I just used was indeed the power to communicate with the souls of the dead. And it’s true that the souls of these corpses on the ground have all been scattered.” Xiao Wan showed a very complicated expression. “So… I don’t actually know what I was communicating with just now.”

Was she really communicating with something indescribable just now?

"Is it really okay to come into contact with something of unknown origin?" I asked.

“Those ‘souls’ should all be harmless. At least, that’s what I feel,” Xiao Wan replied. “Of course, I also know that it’s a bit unreasonable to make a harmless judgment about something whose nature I don’t understand. I always feel a little nervous when I come into contact with these ‘souls’ and I try to control the number of questions I ask.”

Although she possesses a higher intellect than I do, she seems to be just like me, placing great importance on her mystical intuition.

It's no wonder, in bizarre worlds, especially in apocalyptic times, relying heavily on logical thinking is a very dangerous tendency. Because in the post-apocalyptic land, there are all sorts of strange things that don't follow logic.

Xiao Wan continued, "However, in order to delve deeper into the truth of the apocalypse, I have done this hundreds or even thousands of times, and there has never been an accident."

"Hundreds or thousands of times?" I asked in surprise. "Why push yourself so hard?"

If it were me, I'd be willing to do it hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of times, let alone hundreds. The matter concerns the truth of the apocalypse, and taking some risks during the exploration is entirely acceptable. In fact, if it were too safe, I'd be disappointed. But I don't think Xiaowan has that inclination.

“Brother Zhuangcheng and Sister Mazao are tirelessly investigating the apocalypse in the modern world, so of course I can’t slack off. Even if I only find a few useful clues in the end, I still want to help you.” Xiaowan said matter-of-factly, “I was sad for a long time when the Void Realm was destroyed, thinking that even if I could find something here, I might not be able to pass the message on to you.”

"Although I had thought that I might be reunited with Brother Zhuang Cheng by fate, I could only imagine it after the virtual realm was rebuilt. I never expected that Brother Zhuang Cheng would enter this era on his own..."

She sighed, looked at the map she had written down, and said, "Then, let's set off, Brother Zhuang Cheng."

There was nothing more to do in this survivor settlement. I nodded and started moving with her.

“Oh, right, there’s one more thing I almost forgot to mention…” Xiao Wan turned to look at me, “Using my ability to ‘communicate with the dead,’ I not only tried to investigate the secrets of the apocalypse, but also the news related to Zhu Shi and Zhu Jiu… especially to investigate whether Zhu Jiu was active in this apocalypse.”

If the souls of those suffering from amnesia truly travel to the apocalyptic era, then we might encounter Zhu Shi's mother, Zhu Jiu, in that era.

In particular, with the power of the Heaven and Earth in the correct position, enhanced by the fragments of the divine seal, even in this chaotic and disordered apocalyptic spacetime, it wouldn't be too difficult for her to find any object she wanted.

She could miraculously pinpoint the location of even the legendary Three Lives Stone, so what difficulty would it be to find a single person?

"What was the result?" I asked.

Xiao Wan stared at me for a while, then said, "I didn't find anything."

-

Xiao Wan's attitude seemed to have a hidden meaning.

Even with her power, she couldn't find Zhu Jiu in the apocalypse. So, from a common-sense perspective, we can immediately arrive at two possibilities: First, our hypothesis is wrong, and the souls of those suffering from amnesia did not travel to the apocalypse. Therefore, Zhu Jiu could not possibly be in the apocalypse.

Second, although Zhu Jiu is in the apocalyptic era, she is in a state that cannot be detected by Xiao Wan's power of the Heavenly and Earthly Manifestations.

Normally, it should be the former, but Xiaowan seems to have some lingering doubts about this post-apocalyptic era.

She didn't directly express to me what form her suspicion took. She had conducted various investigations into the post-apocalyptic world on her own, obtaining an immense amount of information. In this process, although she hadn't yet progressed to the point where she could analyze the results with her own intellect, she might have already glimpsed a vague conclusion through her intuition and instinct.

She seemed to value the hypothesis that "the souls of those suffering from amnesia travel to the post-apocalyptic world" more than I and Mazao did, to the point that she seemed to have put a lot of effort into "finding Zhu Jiu." Although she said that her ability to "communicate with the dead" should be risk-free, she wouldn't have used this dubious channel repeatedly in certain matters without a specific reason.

So, perhaps I should assume for now that Zhu Jiu is in the post-apocalyptic era. Then why can't Xiao Wan find her? I'll set aside the second possibility for now. Even if Zhu Jiu herself can't be found, she should have left some clues in the post-apocalyptic era that Xiao Wan can track down.

To put it extremely, even if Zhu Jiu had been killed by a passing monster when she first arrived in the apocalypse, Xiao Wan should have been able to trace her remains and use her spiritual powers to summon her "soul" and communicate with her.

Admittedly, Xiao Wan only knew Zhu Jiu's name but had never seen her face. However, this level of obstruction was not enough to explain why Xiao Wan couldn't find her. In the virtual realm, Xiao Wan had a clear connection to the names Zhu Shi and Zhu Jiu, which was enough to show that there was a mysterious causal relationship between Xiao Wan and them. This invisible connection alone was enough for Xiao Wan to distinguish them from the masses.

unless……

Unless, Xiaowan is Zhu Jiu, Zhu Shi's mother.

It's like someone who has their phone hidden in their pocket searching for it all over the room. Unless they remember to check their pocket, they could dismantle the entire room and still not find it.

But... is such a thing possible? Is it reasonable? My speculations are based on too many assumptions, most of which are just imagination. Should I really take this idea seriously?

I pondered my thoughts over and over again, and after a period of travel, Xiaowan and I finally arrived at our destination.

The entrance to the Tai Sui Army's stronghold is right in front of us.

(End of this chapter)