Chapter 92 Going Home 2
Before I learned of the existence of the Great Impermanence, I always believed that I possessed the power to stand against the entire world on my own. Even if I couldn't defeat them, I wouldn't be defeated by them either. Although I didn't have the ambition to oppose the whole world, I did have this confidence in my heart, though I couldn't say whether it was confidence or arrogance.
However, Zhu Shi had told me that the Great Impermanence beings of Luoshan could manipulate large-scale natural disasters with energy equivalent to the explosion of hundreds or thousands of atomic bombs. Compared to such inconceivable powerhouses, I was clearly far inferior, and therefore I never again considered comparing myself to the entire world. Given that the Great Demon of the Apocalypse was a fallen Great Impermanence level powerhouse, my speculation that the Calamity Demon was myself in the Apocalypse was clearly an overestimation of myself.
I could never voice that kind of speculation to outsiders. It sounds like a middle school boy fantasizing that he'll become some kind of formidable villain after "turning evil"—I'd probably just laugh at him to myself. However, my speculation isn't entirely unfounded. Even though I'm probably far inferior to the Great Impermanence now, my power hasn't stopped growing. Maybe in the future I'll grow into a powerhouse at the level of the Great Impermanence, and then fall into the clutches of a great demon?
Of course, it's better to avoid falling into depravity if possible. While I really enjoy the plot of "my future self being a notorious supervillain," however…
Thinking about it carefully, there's nothing really important about the "but." Anyway, I won't tell anyone else, so I'll just admit it to myself. I really am a naive person, actually secretly hoping for this kind of scenario.
As for my question, Ma Zao gave a negative answer—she couldn't remember whether she had seen Zhu Shi in the post-apocalyptic era.
Due to the madness of the apocalyptic era, aside from her ever-present companion, Number Two Bowl, she could no longer remember many faces. "If we had the chance to meet again, I might recognize them. Or maybe they'd just look familiar," she told me.
Asaha gradually calmed down, and seemed to notice some problems that she hadn't been able to see when she was in a state of panic.
"Zhuang Cheng, may I see your divine seal fragments again?" she asked.
I had no objection, and I took out the fragment of the divine seal again and handed it to her generously.
She glanced at it a few times before handing it back to me, looking very puzzled.
"Is there anything unusual about this fragment of divine seal?" I wondered.
“Rather than saying there’s something unusual about this fragment…” she said, utterly perplexed, “it’s more accurate to say that the very existence of this fragment is an anomaly. The divine seal I’m looking for shouldn’t be like this…”
"Isn't this the fragment of the divine seal you're looking for?" I asked curiously.
“I did say I wanted to find the Divine Seal, but I never said I was going to start by looking for the fragments,” she said, puzzled. “According to the records of the Divine Seal from the post-apocalyptic era, the Divine Seal shattered after the apocalypse. In other words, the Divine Seal from this era should still be intact.”
Completely intact? I immediately realized. That's right, the reason the divine seal is so closely related to the coming of the apocalypse is because of its power to change the world. If that's the case, the divine seal of this era must be complete. Only a complete divine seal has the power to change the world.
So how do I explain this fragment of the divine seal in my hand? I obtained this fragment of the divine seal from the basement of the fifteenth-floor room. Could it be that the basement of the fifteenth-floor room is actually connected to the future after the apocalypse?
That kind of speculation is too far-fetched. And if that's the case, let's set aside the issue of the second small bowl, how did Xuanming the first and fourth obtain the fragments of the divine seal?
After some thought, I came up with a hypothesis: "Could it be that the divine seal of this era was broken from the very beginning, and was only later collected and put together? Then, the apocalypse came, and it fell into disarray once again?"
"...Based on the information I've gathered, the Divine Seal should have only shattered once, during the apocalypse. There shouldn't have been a previous shattering..."
Ma Zao fell into confusion and contemplation.
After a long while, we finally arrived home, and she was finally able to emerge from the mire of deep thought.
I opened the door and welcomed her into the entryway, turning on the lights as I did so. Since she had only been gone for three days, everything in the living room was basically as it had been.
She took off the cat whisker mask, looked at the familiar living room scene, and revealed a hint of nostalgia.
"Welcome back." I tried to make it feel like home. "Would you like to eat first, or take a shower first?"
“I don’t need to take a bath. Zhu Shi should have explained my ability to you, right? I can use my ability to clean my body and clothes,” she said. “As for eating, I don’t need to eat either. I can reset my hunger level with my ability. However…”
As we talked, she seemed somewhat tempted. She probably hadn't eaten anything for the past three days. Before she could say "Never mind," I immediately said, "I'll make it for you right now."
"Um..." she nodded shyly.
I took the ingredients out of the refrigerator, went into the kitchen, put on an apron, and cooked for Ma Zao, just like I used to do. As I went through these familiar steps, I couldn't help but feel like a runaway train had finally gotten back on track, and a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
Asahi is finally back...
I couldn't help but relax all my strength, and my usually stiff and tense mind suddenly became lively.
Whether it was the apocalypse that resembled a collapsing building or the unfathomable Luoshan, neither was as important to me as Mazao, who truly changed my life.
Actually, I have thought that if the end of the world is inevitable, I can simply sit at home and wait for an epic adventure to unfold. But is the future truly predetermined?
What if the apocalypse doesn't come? What if, while I'm sitting at home waiting idly, the apocalypse is aborted or prevented by something else? The apocalypse is ultimately a matter of the future, something uncertain. In my eyes, it's no different from an empty promise.
Even though I now believe in the existence of the apocalypse and can carefully analyze its details, I still can't wholeheartedly look forward to it. Nor can I compare it to something truly certain, something tangible that I can touch with my own hands.
This applies even to Luo Shan. Zhu Shi once told me that if I couldn't find out why I was repelled by the supernatural, even if I became a member of Luo Shan, I wouldn't be able to connect with them. And now, although I've found out the reason, I still can't find a solution. That would only lead to repeating the same mistakes.
Honestly, I'm actually quite curious about that kind of development. Now that I've connected with Zhu Shi and Lu Youxun, and become a heretic in Luoshan, how is the repulsion effect going to drive me out of this strange world? It's clearly impossible.
However, I'm not impulsive enough to try and solve this mystery myself. Like I said, I know the difference between being full at one meal and being full at another. I can't accept the idea of sacrificing a future of ordinariness to unravel this not-so-exciting mystery. At most, it'll just be a thought.
In my worst-case scenario, if I never find Ma Zao, perhaps the world around me will return to normalcy. "Witcher Zhu Shi" will vanish, and all that will remain before me is "College Student Zhu Shi." The Zhu family will no longer be a witcher family, but merely a local, reclusive wealthy family. Characters like Lu Youxun will disappear without a trace, never to appear before me again.
I understand that such changes are illogical, but if my inability to connect with strange things is also a manifestation of some kind of strangeness, then expecting them to operate according to common sense is undoubtedly wishful thinking.
Even if things don't turn out so badly, like when I teamed up with Detective Kong to investigate abandoned construction sites, even though we used the Soul-Attracting Talisman, the evil spirit still didn't appear—even that's unacceptable to me. It means that wherever I go, I'll just be stuck in stagnant water, and even being with people who would normally encounter strange beings won't help.
Come to think of it, when I was with Detective Kong, I should still be under the influence of Ma Zao's jinx constitution... Does that mean there really were no evil spirits in that place?
Just then, my phone rang.
I'm stewing meat right now, so I have a moment to spare and took out my phone to look at it.
It was Zhu Shi calling. I went to the stairwell first and then answered the phone. Her voice came from the other end of the line, saying that she had handed the severed hand over to Lu Youxun.
"What did Lu Youxun say?" I asked.
"Things aren't going well for him," she sighed. "That weirdo really does have the ability to ward off divination. Lu Chan and I analyzed it and think the problem lies in that teleportation ability."
"Unlike the previous monster who could only transfer damage elsewhere, this monster, when its ability is passively activated, can transfer all the causal effects acting on it to other beings. The divination spell may have been affected by the properties of this ability, which is why it deviated from the previous monster's target last time."
"In short, we can't count on Lu Chan this time. Didn't Ma Zao say before that she could also use her abilities to track targets? Could you ask her about it later?"
“Okay, I’ll ask,” I said.
"Also, don't forget to remind her to be careful not to be discovered by the supernatural," she said seriously. "It's best not to let Lu Chan know that we've found her."
“I understand,” I said. “Also, I have a very important question I want to ask you.”
"What's the problem?" she asked curiously.
“Didn’t you say before that the reason I couldn’t encounter the supernatural was because its power was too great, and that the Great Impermanence had the same problem?” I asked.
“Well, to be precise, besides the Great Impermanence, a very small number of exceptionally powerful Witchers also encounter the same problem,” she replied.
"So, how did they solve this problem?" I asked.
(End of this chapter)
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