Chapter 513 The Rules of Murder 2
"—Did you take them down?"
Watching the bizarre scene of everything turning to ashes, Sandalwood seemed to unconsciously utter those words.
Based on my experience reading many fantasy stories, if a character utters this phrase during battle or crisis, the source of danger will almost certainly return. Sandalwood seemed to belatedly realize the ominous nature of her words and quickly covered her mouth as if she had messed up.
This time, however, I believe that strange phenomenon will not reappear.
The wandering spirit silently got up from the ground, first glancing in the direction where the strange creature had disappeared, and then looking at me.
He seemed to want to inquire about my power, but after hesitating for a while, he asked about what had just happened first: "What... did you do? To me, it seems like you just burned that monster very simply... Did you erase the murderous rules that were its source from this world?"
After thinking about it, I replied, "That's the result."
"...'The result'?" the wandering spirit asked.
My method for dealing with that strange thing was actually not complicated at all.
Even if that anomaly can transform into something like the laws of physics, it will ultimately reveal a flaw that the true laws of physics would not reveal in some way.
As the saying goes, "The highest good is like water, which benefits all things without striving." The rules of the world are similar, distributed equally and evenly throughout every corner of it. Given my current strength, I cannot destroy or delete anything of such a vast scale.
However, that anomaly is different; as a rule, it targets specific objects—its prey.
Just as the cartographer said, this murder rule doesn't apply to multiple witnesses simultaneously. And since it targets only me, it means the scope of this rule has narrowed from the world to the realm of this single individual. And as the Great Impermanence, while I can't stop a physical law from functioning globally, I can certainly make it malfunction around me.
So what I need to do next is simple: manipulate my power to travel through time from the present to the future, killing not only the present version but also any future version that might be resurrected. To put it more bluntly, I've infused my flames with a powerful curse, not only targeting the present version but also vowing to work against any future version that might appear around me.
The fickle nature of the Great Impermanence's likes and dislikes can be transformed into blessings and curses that affect others—I rarely use this skill, but once I do, its power can far exceed the definition of a curse in the Witcher's common sense system.
This could even be described as establishing a new law within one's reach. But perhaps this is how power should be used. To declare one's will, then enforce it with violence, forcing everything around to submit to one's will—this is how the rules of the human world are established.
Of course, this is something that can be easily done in the modern world, but it would not be so natural in a chaotic apocalyptic era.
The wandering spirit must have thought of this too. After hearing my explanation, he asked incomprehensibly, "After the apocalypse, the concept of 'time' was shattered, and there was no longer any 'past and future'... How could you possibly launch an attack on a future target?"
“What doesn’t exist is only the objective timeline; our subjective timeline still exists,” I said. “For example, I first met the cartographer, then I met Sandalwood, and then I met you… No matter what time we are randomly transported to afterward, the order of this series of events will not change in my consciousness.”
The wandering spirit asked uncertainly, "So, you rebuilt the timeline with yourself at the center in a post-apocalyptic world where there was no timeline?"
After thinking about it, I nodded. "Pretty much."
Time can also be interpreted as a narrative tool. "Re-establishing time" may sound mysterious, but anyone with narrative ability can recreate their own timeline. Not only can I, but sandalwood and wandering spirits can theoretically do the same.
Having just transmigrated, I couldn't have found this angle. This is one of the results I obtained after constantly observing and analyzing the chaotic spacetime of the apocalypse through the blessing lantern in my hand.
Based on my observations, the chaos of time and space doesn't necessarily cause the survivors' minds to become chaotic... No, perhaps the reason why the survivors lose themselves one after another and turn into karmic demons in the apocalypse is inseparable from the chaos of time and space. But at least while they are still conscious, their mental memories can serve as the most stable frame of reference.
Especially since madness seems unable to easily corrupt my soul, I myself can become the best reference point for re-establishing the timeline. This is not just empty talk; the existence of the Great Impermanence is itself the most powerful occult medium, and the timeline I personally endorse possesses immense power.
And if my Dharma of Heaven and Earth is restarted in the future, I might be able to stabilize the surrounding time and space with my own will.
"But you still can't observe your own future, right? If you can't even observe it, how can you interfere with the future?" The wandering spirit still seemed a little confused.
“Of course I can,” I said.
"How is this possible? Even gods and humans, under such a time and space..." The wandering soul found it hard to believe.
"This isn't anything mysterious. You can do it too, even an ordinary person like Tanxiang can," I said. "As long as you have a strong enough will and make a vow to yourself that you can live up to, such as never giving up a promise you made even if it means death, or never regretting what you've done no matter what happens..."
"So even without the extraordinary ability to observe fate, one can still modify one's future within the limits of one's power, removing certain elements from destiny. Perhaps one still cannot know what path one will take in the future, but at least one can know what path one will not take."
"This is also a 'power to intervene in fate' that ordinary people can master."
This isn't something I made up; it's a occult theory I saw in Luo Shan's materials. To be honest, even I think it sounds a bit like "inspirational platitudes." However, in Luo Shan's occultism, the strong and unwavering willpower, execution ability, and action power possessed by mortals are often regarded as a kind of "powerful magic," and can even serve as the basis for immunity to some powerful spells.
Actually, as I mentioned earlier, it's not impossible for Wandering Souls and Sandalwood to do it, but it's asking too much of them. It's not that I look down on them or think they can never have an unbreakable will, but in a post-apocalyptic environment, the very idea of always remembering one's past vows is a luxury.
Hearing this completely unmysterious theory, Tanxiang was dumbfounded and said, "What kind of power to interfere with fate is this...?"
"So... you used similar imagery to eliminate all those monsters that might be resurrected in the future..." the wandering spirit pondered.
"Whether they have all been eliminated or not depends on subsequent feedback," I said.
Then, we left the area.
After some time, the strange phenomenon did not reappear.
The power I used to destroy that strange force was mostly intended to eliminate any future resurrection of it; it didn't possess much destructive power against the present form. If it could truly be resurrected, its resurrection wouldn't have been delayed; it would have reappeared long ago.
"They've really been wiped out..." the wandering spirit murmured.
Then he looked at me, his voice filled with awe, "You...are you really a god?"
“That’s right.” I admitted directly, “What you said before made sense. Being with Xiaowan would indeed lower her luck. But now that Xiaowan is being hunted by the Great Demon of Calamity, the problem can’t be solved by her good luck alone. I have to get to her side.”
Actually, before the wandering spirit pointed it out, I really hadn't thought that being with Xiaowan might put her in danger. The banner I'm raising now is something I came up with on the spur of the moment. The reason Xiaowan hid her true power of the Heavenly Manifestation from Asahi in the past was because she didn't want Asahi to have to worry about that.
At the same time, I could also see that the reason why the wandering spirit questioned me ultimately stemmed from his negative emotions. He couldn't help Xiaowan, who was in imminent danger, and could only turn around and run away in a sorry state. Could this person, who came from who-knows-where and claimed to be Xiaowan's friend, really do the same? He seemed to have this thought.
In addition, I sensed a more special emotion from him.
"Just like I could destroy that monster, Wandering Soul, I can also break your immortality and kill you directly," I said. "Your wish is to die, isn't it? I have the ability to grant your wish directly."
The sandalwood incense, who was listening in, was stunned for a moment, while the wandering spirit fell into a long silence.
Of course, I wouldn't actually kill the wandering soul, because I still need him to find the Three Lives Stone Powder. However, I can observe that whenever he mentions the Three Lives Stone Powder, a certain longing that I can't understand always surfaces in his soul.
The only thing we can understand right now is that he not only longs for death, but also for the Three Lives Stone Dissolved itself.
I want to know his true feelings. Since his regaining his memory is deeply connected to resolving Xiaowan's crisis, his motivation for pursuing memory recovery might be a clue.
After a long while, the wandering spirit finally spoke again.
"...Please have mercy and forgive my previous disrespect, stranger, god."
He humbled himself greatly, speaking in a subservient tone: "But... I don't want to die now. If you intend to punish me with death, I hope you will wait until I have taken the Three Lives Stone Powder before executing me. No matter how tragic the death may be, I will accept it willingly."
(End of this chapter)
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