Chapter 554 Crisis Arrives
“An evil will… an intruder…” I said, “Why did you come to this conclusion?”
“The source of the Gospel is the evil will worshipped in the Gospel Institutes. Those who can hear the Gospel are either on the verge of demonic possession or blessed monks. They can also see the moon in the afterlife.” Xiao Wan continued to look up at the huge and bright full moon. “What the Gospel and the moon have in common is that they are objects that can only be perceived by humans when they are in a specific mental state.”
"To put it another way, their images and information are 'radio waves' that humans cannot receive under normal circumstances. This aligns with Brother Zhuang Cheng's definition of other aspects of the afterlife. The simultaneous appearance of the Gospel and the Moon means they are 'things on the same frequency'."
"Therefore I believe that the Gospel and the moon are of the same origin. Since the former originates from evil will, the latter must also be so."
"The evil will is an alien entity that has invaded from other channels."
I understood her logic, and then asked, "But according to you, the moon hanging in the sky doesn't seem to be 'something that flows from evil will,' but rather evil will itself?"
“Because the moon doesn’t show any influence on the afterlife, it merely exists,” Xiaowan said clearly. “The Gospel at least incites demons and blessed monks to kill, but the moon shows no such influence. I think this shows that the Gospel is a means of evil will, while the moon is not.”
"The fact that it exists there even though it has no inherent meaning suggests that existence itself is the purpose. In other words, it is probably something that symbolizes the essence of evil will."
Upon hearing this, my first reaction was to try firing a flamethrower at the moon in the sky.
Seeing me raise my hand, with flames gathering in my palm, Xiao Wan was startled: "Brother Zhuang Cheng, you're not planning to attack the moon, are you?"
"Um……"
I carefully aimed at the moon, but in the end I put my hand down. "...No, I'll pass."
I found that my mind was completely unable to lock onto that enormous, terrifying full moon.
It's not because the target is too far from the Earth's surface. In the real world, even if I were standing on Earth, it wouldn't be impossible to snipe a target in space 400,000 kilometers away. Furthermore, based on my ability to ignore spatial distance, the attack power wouldn't decrease much. I could even pierce through the moon.
The moon in this afterlife is completely different. In reality, there isn't a physical moon hanging there; rather, people who receive relevant "radio waves" can hallucinate its existence.
Of course, the Great Impermanence is an unreasonable being. "Because what one perceives is merely an illusion of the opponent, even if one hits it, it doesn't count." This level of common sense cannot stop the power of the Great Impermanence. Through one's own perception, one can forcibly observe an objectively unmanageable object into a form and state that one can intervene in. This is what Zhu Shi's "Mount Buzhou" could do, and I can now forcibly simulate the same effect.
However, this time the opponent was vastly different in scale. The opponent was a colossal being that had replaced the original will of Naraku and now reigned supreme in the afterlife, essentially the very afterlife that was now masquerading as the "apocalyptic era." Attacks of that magnitude would likely be insignificant to the opponent.
To truly injure the opponent, one must at least unleash power capable of destroying the entire afterlife.
Simply wanting to do that isn't entirely impossible, but that would be tantamount to waging war single-handedly against the entire community of gods and men in the Evangelical Fellowship, and against the evil will that has taken over the afterlife itself. If I were to fall into such a desperate situation, I would muster all my courage to face it, but I am not foolish enough to initiate a battle that I can never win.
It's best to focus on the battles to come... Speaking of which, when I raid Yomi Gospel Institute later, will the moon suddenly shoot some beam of light from the sky to ambush me?
Seeing that I had extinguished the flames in my palm, Xiao Wan exhaled. I then focused all my attention on observing the moon.
Since the world we currently inhabit is a product of stitching together two worlds, from which world did this thing originally originate? Was it from World B—the strange world—that Number Seven mentioned?
Is our world in its original form truly a bizarre world?
What exactly is the worldview of this primordial, bizarre world? Perhaps it's not necessarily Earth, but rather a worldview like those in some fantasy novels—a world with a flat Earth and a celestial body, large enough to reasonably contain all the impermanence of existence. And in that worldview, there might be more than one moon in the sky, or perhaps the moon itself is as large as the one currently in the sky.
And why would an evil will use the shape of the moon as its symbol?
Since the other party is an alien entity that invaded us from another aspect of the afterlife, from which aspect specifically did it invade? And which aspect would harbor such intense murderous intent towards humans?
It's not that I can't think of a non-human species that could use the moon as a symbol; on the contrary, because there are too many to think of, I can't pinpoint a specific one.
Since ancient times, the moon has been regarded as a symbol of femininity and magic, and has been deeply associated with many kinds of animals and demons.
The essence of moonlight is also known as "the Emperor's Dew," which is said to transform plants into monsters, and grant spirits and ghosts supernatural powers upon consumption. However, moonlight is also associated with many legends of bewitching and driving people mad. Some modern surveys have even shown that crime rates subtly increase on the night of a full moon compared to normal days.
Humans who become karmic demons or blessed monks under the moonlight may also be subject to the curse and blessing of the moonlight.
As if sensing what I was thinking, Xiao Wan said, "If I regained my past memories, perhaps I could know more."
"Do you believe your past self knew the truth about the evil will?" I asked curiously.
“No, that’s not it.” Xiao Wan shook her head. “It’s related to the power of the Heavenly and Earthly Directions. I think I haven’t been able to unleash my full potential, including my sensory abilities.”
"The essence of the 'Correct Position Law of Heaven and Earth' is to emulate the power of Heaven and Earth. In other words, it is the power that can be correctly exerted only if one clearly understands one's own position in Heaven and Earth. But right now, I don't even know who I am, which is very strange no matter how you look at it."
"It's clearly my own power, but using it feels somewhat out of place. Treating it as part of myself seems too close; treating it as something external or a tool seems too distant. I believe I must recall my true self in order to make the gears of power mesh precisely."
“Brother Zhuang Cheng, do you remember what I said before? As long as we can further strengthen the connection between you and the candlelight in the fifteenth-floor basement, we will be able to pinpoint the boundary between the fifteenth-floor basement and the ‘Apocalypse’ – the afterlife.”
"And once I regain my memories, I should be able to do it."
She glanced in the direction of the previous meeting room and continued, "I don't think Ms. Seven deceived us before. The method she mentioned should indeed help you return to the world of the living. But in any case, it's not advisable to put all your eggs in one basket. We must also master our own method of return."
That's the basement on the fifteenth floor.
Although the conversation revolved around regaining memories and finding oneself, Xiaowan didn't offer any guesses about her true identity. I suspect she wasn't completely without clues. As more information came in, the circle of suspects regarding Xiaowan's true identity shrank smaller and smaller.
Since the "apocalyptic era" is not the future, but the afterlife, the idea that "Xiao Wan is my and Zhu Shi's daughter in the future" can be completely disregarded.
Similarly, the idea that the small bowl represents "Zhu Shi, who inexplicably becomes a young girl in the future" can also be discarded.
With the emergence of the information that "the souls of those suffering from amnesia are transferred to the afterlife," it has become an undeniable fact that Zhu Jiu's soul was transferred to the afterlife. If Xiao Wan is neither my daughter with Zhu Shi nor Zhu Shi herself, then the possibility that she is Zhu Jiu increases dramatically.
Furthermore, considering that Xiaowan could not find Zhujiu's whereabouts in the afterlife no matter what, "Xiaowan herself is Zhujiu" can almost be included as a conclusion in the subsequent analysis.
If that's the case, how should I calculate my relationship with Xiaowan? Considering that I will marry Zhu Shi in the future, and that sometimes the man will call the woman's parents "Mom and Dad"... so in a sense, is Xiaowan a woman who could potentially become my mother?
Wait, calm down... things aren't completely settled yet.
The reasoning still has flaws. For example, why is Xiao Wan's appearance not exactly the same as Zhu Jiu's, but rather as Zhu Shi's when he was a child? It's not that I didn't investigate Zhu Jiu's appearance when he was a child; although he was very similar to Zhu Shi when he was young, they weren't so similar that they were completely indistinguishable.
If Xiaowan is the embodiment of Zhu Shi's dream, it could explain this contradiction. However, the afterlife is a place that Mingzhuo tries every means to avoid. How could the embodiment of Zhu Shi's dream be able to enter? Moreover, that would make it impossible to explain why Xiaowan couldn't find Zhu Jiu's whereabouts in the afterlife...
Just as I was racking my brains, I suddenly heard extremely hurried and frantic footsteps in the distance.
Turning my head, I saw Number Seven running anxiously towards me and Xiao Wan, shouting, "Something's wrong, Zhuang Cheng, they—"
Almost simultaneously, two overwhelming waves of magical power swept through the Tai Sui Army's stronghold.
(End of this chapter)
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