Chapter 516 Communication Across Time and Space (Continued)
Based on my understanding of Mingzhuo, he wouldn't dare to make a move against Mazao for at least six months after my "disappearance".
With just six months of effort, Zhu Shi, though not yet fully mastering the White Tiger's killing power used to forge the Yama Sword, would at least avoid being reduced to a helpless prey. The White Tiger's killing power is a force specialized in combat; even with only a preliminary grasp, he could probably exchange blows with enemies at the Mingzhuo level, making him reasonably capable of defensive warfare.
If we could delay for another two or three months, allowing Zhu Shi to fully master the forging of the Yama Sword, perhaps he could rise to a level where he could rival Ming Zhuo...
However, all of this is based on optimistic estimates. What if Mingzhuo attacks Mazao ahead of time? What if my calculations are wrong, and the six months I spent communicating with Zhushi, who forged the Yama Sword, is still not enough to defend against Mingzhuo's offensive? What if Mingzhuo uses some trickery to make the next two or three months unavoidable?
Should I abandon my nostalgia for the post-apocalyptic world and return to the modern world?
Purely from my initial perspective, Asahaya is no longer of any use to me; the post-apocalyptic era is where I most want to stay. However, the thought that Meizumi might attack Asahaya again, or even kill her, fills me with intense anger. Even if I were to forcibly choose to stay in the post-apocalyptic era, I might not be able to fully immerse myself in its adventures in the future.
No...maybe I really can do that kind of thing.
Because I will never regret what I've done. I've sworn this to myself, and I've never felt I couldn't do it. I'm the kind of shameless person who quickly forgives myself even when I've done something wrong; that's just my nature. But at least right now, I don't aspire to be that kind of person.
Is there a way to have the best of both worlds? If there were a way to freely travel between the post-apocalyptic world and the modern world, wouldn't I no longer need to be torn between the two?
Since the God-God Yomi of the Gospel Institute can travel to the modern world and, by some twist of fate, send me to the end times, this wish may not really be a pipe dream.
The surrounding gray mist was thinning, and the communication with Yuchi seemed to be nearing its end. Yuchi himself seemed to realize this, muttering to himself, "...I will...connect...again..."
He probably meant to say that he would try to reconnect again.
It suddenly dawned on me—did this mean that in the apocalyptic era, I would have the opportunity to establish a stable exchange of information with the modern world?
If even something this absurd can be done, then wouldn't returning from the apocalypse to the modern world... or even freely traveling between the two eras, be something that isn't entirely without direction?
Could Yuchi really have researched and developed a "time machine"? This surprising thought popped into my head. If he really could, then maybe I wouldn't be so conflicted anymore.
Finally, the humanoid figure formed from the gray mist disintegrated and disappeared before my eyes, along with the surrounding gray mist, which vanished completely.
The communication connection between Yuchi and me was thus severed.
When I came to my senses, I had returned to the abandoned Gospel House. The wandering spirit and Sandalwood stood on either side of me, their bodies tense and alert to any changes in their surroundings, while they observed me with inscrutable expressions.
"—Were you attacked in some kind of way?" Sandalwood asked anxiously. "You've been frozen in place since just now, without any reaction... Is there some powerful monster lurking nearby? In which direction?"
The wandering spirit was also glancing at me out of the corner of its eye, as if silently assessing my mental state.
I gathered my thoughts. This contact wasn't exactly smooth, and it was hard to tell if the message I wanted to convey had been accurately delivered. But as the saying goes, "once is never enough," so I could just hope for a second attempt. I couldn't immediately return to the modern world; I hadn't even figured out the direction yet, so worrying was pointless. For now, I should focus on continuing my search for the Three Lives Stone Powder.
"It's nothing, I wasn't attacked, I was just thinking," I said while pondering. "As for the monster..."
As I was speaking, I suddenly realized something and stopped talking.
Because I vaguely sensed that somewhere nearby, in a corner beyond our sight, something was indeed lurking silently in the shadows.
The other side is observing us.
However, the other party is probably not the monster that Tanxiang described. If I'm not mistaken, this feeling of being secretly watched suggests that the other party is human. I can sense the "human emotions" contained within them.
Vigilance, doubt, curiosity, rejection... This lurking human seems to be scrutinizing and analyzing us just like a human being, unsure how to deal with us.
I can't immediately pinpoint where this person is hiding. Despite the apocalyptic environment, their stealth skills are quite remarkable. Even though my mental perception isn't very accurate, I can enhance my hearing to scan my surroundings. Inside this abandoned gospel hall, I can clearly detect even the slightest movement of bubbles rising and falling underwater. For someone to remain undetected is no small fry's feat.
I feigned ignorance and continued exploring the abandoned gospel temple with the wandering spirit and sandalwood. The lurking figure seemed to have secretly followed us, observing us from different angles.
Exploring the interior of such a dilapidated building is a rather appealing form of ruins adventure for me. But Sandalwood seemed to be the opposite, or perhaps he simply couldn't stand the eerie atmosphere created by the combination of the strange occurrences that could appear at any moment and the current silence; he spoke to the wandering spirit again.
"This place used to be the Tai Sui Gospel Temple, and Tai Sui was the deity you used to worship, right?" Tanxiang asked. "But it seems like we can't see any sculptures or images of the deity here... What kind of deity is he exactly?"
“I only vaguely remember it, but I can tell you directly why there are no sculptures or portraits,” the wandering spirit replied. “In my memory, Tai Sui is a god who doesn’t like being worshipped. He even hates being treated as a god.”
"Although there is a place for worshipping him in the Tai Sui Gospel Temple, it is rarely used. In the past, some believers secretly carved his statue out of wood and worshipped it. After Tai Sui discovered this, he severely criticized it. Therefore, since then, even making his idols has been regarded as an unwritten taboo."
"In the headquarters of the Gospel Hall and the Yellow Springs Gospel Hall under Yama's management, there are many sculptures and portraits of gods. Although I have never visited the Shen Tu Gospel Hall, it is probably similar. Only Tai Sui is an out-of-place exception. He always tells his believers that he is just a human being who happens to have very strong power."
Hearing these words, Tanxiang was somewhat stunned: "Uh..."
I never imagined there would be a god who hated being treated like a deity.
I also feel a bit ashamed to be worshipped as a god, but I've never thought of forbidding others from doing so. Objectively speaking, although I'm far from being an omniscient and omnipotent god like those in monotheistic religions, I at least fit the definition of a god in polytheistic religions. I wouldn't say I can grant all the wishes of ordinary people, but I can at least grant about 70-80%.
It's not that I genuinely believe I'm not human; I'm just "a human who happens to possess immense power"—if others define me that way, I won't deny it. It is indeed a fact.
But if I were to say such things to ordinary people and demon hunters, I would inevitably feel that this approach might be a bit hypocritical.
A being who can destroy a city with a mere thought, destroy a country with all their might, and wipe out a planet's surface and cause a mass extinction with just a little time—no matter how many times such a being repeats the phrase "equality of all beings," it's hard for anyone to truly believe it.
But putting all that aside, aside from Tai Sui's own attitude toward his own position, I still feel that he is out of place when placed alongside the other four members of the Evangelical Fellowship.
Yama, Huangquan, Shentu, and Zhuanlunwang... these four deities all have names closely associated with death.
Yama is the "first dead," Huangquan is a synonym for the underworld, and King Yama is one of the Ten Kings of Hell. Shen Tu is a deity in mythology who guards the gates of hell, and is therefore regarded as a door god, and occasionally as a god of the underworld.
The Tai Sui is different. Some people might think of the Ganoderma lucidum (a type of fungus) in traditional medicine when they hear the term Tai Sui, but in the mythological system, Tai Sui is short for "Tai Sui Xingjun" (太岁星君). Just from the name, you can tell that Tai Sui is a star god, originating from the ancients' observation of planetary cycles. Therefore, it is also an astronomical god, which is very different from the divinity of the underworld.
The relationship between the Tai Sui deity and the concept of "death" is also quite distant. If one had to put it into words, Tai Sui possesses the divine power to govern good and bad fortune in the human world. To elaborate further, Tai Sui possesses the divine power to govern time and destiny. The ancients had a saying, "Don't disturb Tai Sui's head," meaning that if someone dies unexpectedly, one could almost blame Tai Sui.
In conclusion, if "naming" can even influence the fate of gods and men, then just by analyzing the names, it is clear that Tai Sui and the gods and men of the other Gospel Houses are not on the same level at all.
While thinking this, I finally figured out the direction of the person lurking in the shadows.
(End of this chapter)
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