Chapter 551 Evil Will
Asahi has a dark past, filled with bloodshed and crime.
Whether she was just a child then, unfortunately receiving a flawed education and being driven to such a state by evil teachers and environment; or whether she has lost her past memories and is therefore not the same person as her past self… I believe many people wouldn't consider this a reason to absolve themselves of their sins. Zhu Shi would probably make that judgment, but the world isn't that forgiving. I also believe that one cannot so easily sever ties with their past.
At the same time, I think those are all irrelevant issues.
Because I'm a scumbag. If the same thing happened to me, I wouldn't even care. Therefore, after hearing about Asahi's dark past, I just felt that I understood Asahi better. Beyond that, I didn't have many other thoughts.
I can still embrace Mazao without hesitation.
However, if Asaho herself knew these things, she probably wouldn't be able to let it go so easily. It's likely that this self-destructive personality is what fueled her determination to save the world.
Number Seven looked at me, seemingly unable to hold back any longer, and finally asked, "I heard that Ma Zao came to your side after that... How has she been lately?"
With Number Seven's "secret intelligence channels," we should be able to grasp the basics of Asahi's activities since arriving in the modern world. However, what she probably wants to know isn't rational, objective, or neutral information, but rather my subjective impressions as someone close to her. So I said, "At least you've been smiling more than when I first met you."
"Is that so..." Number Seven seemed unsure how to handle the message.
“Ms. Seven, there’s something I’m concerned about regarding what you said earlier…” Xiao Wan said earnestly, “May I ask another question?”
Number Seven nodded and said, "Of course."
"Why would the Gospel House massacre the survivors of the afterlife?" Xiaowan asked. "Compared to the humans in the living world, the number of soul-destroying patients transferred to the afterlife is overwhelmingly small. Simply massacring them won't stop the apocalypse."
"Furthermore, the spacetime of the afterlife is incredibly chaotic, and the human cost of slaughtering the survivors is obviously extremely high. Rather than wasting our energy on that, we should focus our efforts on invading the world of the living. Huang Quan's activities in the world of the living should be partly part of the plan for this, right?"
“Even if the survivors are all destined to be wiped out sooner or later, it is obviously much easier to eliminate their sleeping bodies in the world of the living. I don’t see the value in the Evangelion forcing the executors, including the former Asahi sister, to complete that inhumane task ahead of time.”
Seeing that Xiaowan had so clearly articulated the contradiction, Number Seven replied after some thought: "There is actually more than one reason. One of them is to train troops in advance for the large-scale formal execution of the plan in the future. And behind the scenes, I guess there is another reason, which is to obtain the 'blessing'."
“Blessings?” I asked in surprise. “I have indeed heard that all the blessings come from the Gospel House… How is this related to the survival of the massacre? Could it be that the blessings are made from human souls?”
That last sentence is just my guess. The idea that some sacred treasure's raw material is actually human souls—this kind of setting seems to appear in many fantasy stories.
“The Gospel House doesn’t have the ability to create blessings; they obtain these through sacrifices to some being,” Number Seven said first. “Do you know about ‘Naraku’s Will’?”
"The Will of Naraku—as the name suggests, is the will of the afterlife." I explained my understanding. "It is said that Naraku's immortal body, which is tainted by fate, was obtained through a contract with the Will of Naraku."
Considering that the afterlife possesses the characteristic of being a shared dream of humanity, the so-called will of the dead is actually the collective unconscious of humanity.
However, based on the knowledge here, strictly speaking, the afterlife is not merely a shared dream of humanity, nor can it simply contain only human souls. The afterlife is actually the final resting place for all dead beings in this planet's ecosystem. The "afterlife as the embodiment of human history" and the "abyssal will as the collective unconscious of humanity" discussed here are only one aspect of the afterlife.
It is said that before the afterlife was completed, the souls of those who died in the Earth's ecosystem had other places to go... However, for some reason, all knowledge about that was destroyed and sealed. I only learned about its existence when I accessed the sealed part with the authority of the Great Impermanence, and there was no more specific record of that part.
"The object of the Fukuin Temple's sacrifices is the will of Naraku?" I naturally made that connection.
Number Seven shook his head and said, "After the apocalypse descended upon the afterlife, causing chaos and disorder, Naraku's will fell into severe exhaustion. At the same time, an unknown will replaced Naraku's will in its original position, causing huge changes in the afterlife."
Have you ever wondered why the afterlife resembles the post-apocalyptic world after the end of the world?
I hadn't really thought of it that way, but Xiaowan seemed to tacitly agree.
Question number seven is truly baffling at first glance. If the apocalypse has arrived in the afterlife, then what's wrong with the afterlife becoming an apocalyptic era?
Fortunately, while my brain isn't as sharp as Xiaowan's, it's not stupid either. Soon, I realized the problem.
If the apocalypse befell the afterlife, then the afterlife should have been destroyed. But the truth is, the afterlife was reorganized, becoming a "future form" of the "modern world evolving into an apocalyptic era"...
It's like a young man whose heart is pierced by a weapon; he should become a corpse, but instead, he inexplicably becomes a terminally ill old man.
This is why all survivors believe they are in a world after the apocalypse, not in the afterlife.
And that's not the only problem.
The afterlife is supposed to be a world of souls, but when I sense other people, the result is not a spirit, but a living person with a physical body.
Otherwise, there would be no need for Number Seven to tell me that from the moment I met the cartographer, or even earlier, I could have determined that the "apocalyptic era" was the afterlife.
"The current afterlife has been simulated as a 'future world of the living trapped in apocalypse,' and the souls inhabiting it have also been automatically simulated as having physical forms," said Number Seven. "Due to the impact of the spatial-temporal chaos on perception, as well as preconceived notions, you probably won't be able to spot the flaws."
"I see, that's why you said at the beginning that this place 'used to' be the afterlife..." I suddenly realized.
"All of this is most likely the work of that unknown will that resides at the top of the afterlife," Number Seven said in a deep voice. "At the same time, this unknown will is also the source of all the Gospels. The reason why survivors become karmic demons at the end of the madness infection is ultimately because of its existence. It is also the source of the power of all Blessed cultivators."
"The Gospel is a hallucinatory voice that incites demons and blessed monks to kill. There is no doubt that the unknown being that makes this voice is something like a demon with the aim of slaughtering humanity."
"Yama seems to be able to communicate with that evil will and agree with it in some ways. The Gospel House wasn't originally called the Gospel House; it was renamed that after that."
"The gospel that incites murder... So it's not just the delusional claim of fallen blessed monks, but the gospel that's actually tempting blessed monks to kill?" I asked.
Number Seven nodded gravely and said, “The massacre at the Gospel House can also be used to exchange for many benefits in the afterlife from that evil will… Blessing is a major part of it.”
Xiao Wan pondered.
As far as I know, there are two “mysterious voices” in the apocalyptic era.
One type is what Xiaowan describes as the "sound of the world" that he can hear, vague and chaotic, like the delirious ramblings of a mentally deranged person, perhaps already on the verge of death;
There is another kind of voice that can only be heard by those on the verge of demonic possession and blessed monks, inciting them to kill.
It now seems that the former is probably the severely depleted will of Naraku, while the latter is the "evil will" that replaced Naraku's will.
The exchange was drawing to a close.
Afterwards, Xiaowan and I asked Number Seven a few more questions, and she answered them all without reservation.
"One last question..." I said, "As you know, Xiaowan's memory has been wiped away by the madness to the point that she doesn't even remember her own real name. Do you know any way to help her regain her memory? Besides the Three Lives Stone Powder?"
The truth about the apocalypse, the purpose of the Gospel Institute, Asahi's past... Number Seven has already answered many important mysteries for me. But if there's one mystery I still can't let go of, it's the true identity of Little Bowl.
Only by helping Xiaowan regain her memories can this mystery be solved.
Number Seven replied, "I'm sorry, but if you're going to ban the answer 'Three Lives Stone Powder,' then I can't offer any solutions."
Little Bowl seemed to care a lot about her origins, and when she heard Number Seven say that, she sighed softly.
Then, Number Seven changed the subject again, saying, "But then again... the reason you can't accept the answer 'Three Lives Stone Powder' is because taking it will lead to death, right?"
"If I told you there was a way that could not only eliminate the side effects of the Three Lives Stone Powder, but also enhance its effects and restore all lost memories...would you accept that?"
Xiao Wan's eyes widened as she asked, "Such a method actually exists... and Ms. Seven just happens to know about it?"
"It's not a coincidence; it would be strange if I didn't know," Number Seven said matter-of-factly. "Not long ago, Zhuang Cheng went to the ruins of the Tai Sui Gospel Temple in order to obtain the Three Lives Stone Powder..."
She turned to look at me. "Although I don't know why you know that the Three Lives Stone Powder is there, it's no coincidence that it appeared there. It's a product born from the research of Tai Sui in the past. I was also deeply involved in the research and development process."
"Due to its major flaws, it can only be described as a failed product."
As she spoke, she held out her hand. A small paper packet appeared in her palm, containing the same Three Lives Stone Powder she had given me last time.
She gently tossed the paper package over to me, and I raised my hand to catch it in my palm.
“The Tai Sui Army still has several doses of Three Lives Stone Powder. If you need them, I can give them all to you,” she said.
Hearing her say this, I really don't know if the Three Lives Stone Powder she handed over last time was something she originally carried with her, or something she recovered from the ruins of the Tai Sui Gospel Temple.
“Thank you for your kindness, but we only need this one dose,” I said. “Then, what do we need to do to avoid the side effects of the Three Lives Stone Powder?”
(End of this chapter)
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