Chapter 553 The Last Moon
I held Xiaowan's hand as we walked through the Tai Sui Army's stronghold. Number Seven had already issued troop mobilization orders; we could see people all around, busily preparing for battle. Xiaowan and I, being "idle," stood out somewhat. However, no one really treated us like lowly idlers. The occasional glances we received were tinged with a mixture of awe and respect.
Although holding hands is unnecessary, and no one is likely to kidnap Xiaowan here, seeing her small body closely following me always gives me the urge to "keep an eye on her." This is probably an instinctive impulse for adults when caring for children.
Maybe Asa did the same thing when she was adventuring with Kobo before, even though Asa was a child herself.
Of course, Xiaowan and I weren't just taking a walk to clear our heads. Along the way, we also exchanged information from the intelligence provided by Number Seven, sharing our perspectives. Because we received so much information in such a short time, even Xiaowan experienced some indigestion. We were so focused on the information at hand that we might not have asked some of the questions we should have. We'll need to go back to Number Seven later to fill in any gaps in our understanding.
As you pass the outer perimeter of the stronghold, you can see the sky outside through some observation windows. It's still so dark; there are no clouds, yet not a trace of stars or moon, which reflexively evokes a feeling of suffocation. I've always found this puzzling, but now, the thought that this is the afterlife brings a strange sense of relief.
As the fortune teller once said, the end of the world cannot be a cosmic-scale disaster, but rather a disaster occurring on the planet where humanity lives. Its scope may change with the expansion and movement of human history, but it will not affect the entire universe.
The sky is so dark not because all the stars have been destroyed, but because this is not the real world, and the sky does not connect with the universe.
This is the place that Mingzhuo desperately wanted to enter... I thought to myself.
The will of Naraku is currently in a state of inability to communicate; even Little Bowl, the child of divinity, can only hear its indistinct, confused ramblings. It seems that even if Misery truly enters the afterlife, it will be difficult for him to immediately fulfill his wishes.
He wants to break the contract with Naraku's will, but the key contract partners have all become mentally ill people. How can he apply for contract termination? It might sound a bit unkind, but just thinking about it makes me want to laugh.
Xiao Wan then asked about the afterlife.
"Lady Seven mentioned earlier that the afterlife is a common dream of humanity, a part of human history itself... So what about other creatures?" she wondered. "Where do the souls of other creatures go after they die? Are they left with nowhere to go? Or do they also have their own afterlife?"
"Could it be that the reason there is no life other than humans in this 'apocalyptic era' we live in is not because all life other than humans has been extinct, but because this spacetime does not accommodate souls other than humans?"
This question was exactly within my ability to answer, and it's rare for Xiaowan to ask me for knowledge; perhaps it will become increasingly uncommon in the future. I cherished this opportunity, satisfying my inner desire to teach in front of Xiaowan.
"The afterlife can be divided into a narrow sense and a broad sense," I explained. "The narrow sense of the afterlife is the common dream of mankind, and the space-time that human souls go to after death; while the broad sense of the afterlife refers to the space-time that the souls of all creatures in the planet's ecosystem go to after death. When witchers mention the afterlife, they generally mean the former."
Xiao Wan asked in confusion, "Why are there two different versions of the afterlife?"
"The afterlife is a spiritual world, governed by laws different from the material world. Some materialists, when criticizing idealists, use this argument—does the moon cease to exist if a person closes their eyes and stops looking at it?" I said, "Of course, the moon doesn't cease to exist just because a person can't perceive it. But in the spiritual world, things that cannot be perceived are equivalent to non-existence."
"Shared dreams are like a network of radio waves, with different channels. The parts that resonate with your own frequency will appear, while the parts that don't will not. It's similar to how we perceive objects in a three-dimensional world; we can't see all angles of an object with our eyes, and at any given time we can only see one aspect of it."
"What we are seeing now is the human face of the afterlife."
Therefore, when we move around in the past, we mostly travel to urban and rural areas. Even when we do venture into the wilderness, traces of human activity are easily found. This is because these are spaces where memories of human death are deeply ingrained; finding an area completely devoid of human presence is impossible.
And since the word "moon" was mentioned, I couldn't help but think of the moon in the "doomsday era," which is said to be visible only to those on the verge of karmic corruption and blessed monks.
What exactly is that legendary moon?
Xiao Wan looked understanding and then asked, "Can't we connect to other 'channels'?"
“Yes, it’s possible,” I said. “Although we couldn’t do it before because the afterlife was modeled as the ‘future world of the living,’ we have now gained the understanding that ‘this is actually the afterlife.’ As long as we overcome the influence of chaotic spacetime, we will probably be able to perceive other aspects of the afterlife.”
"Even if we could perceive them, there probably wouldn't be anything interesting about them. Based on the information I've come across, even when the Luoshan headquarters was still based in the afterlife, other aspects were rarely discussed. This is because the aspects formed by the accumulated memories of the souls of other animals and plants are things that cannot be understood by human sensibility."
“Sometimes, some mediums try to perceive those faces, but what they perceive are incomprehensible light, sound, and touch... These beings perceive the world with sensory organs that humans cannot empathize with while they are alive, and the things that settle out after death are even more so.”
However, the situation might be different if it's a small bowl.
She was born with the ultimate spiritual medium ability to communicate with all things in nature, and is the rightful owner of the Dharma of Heaven and Earth. Perhaps she can easily interpret the afterlife beyond human history.
It's truly unbelievable that the contradictions in human history, which defy explanation, could transform into an ultimate catastrophe affecting the objective world. Simply relying on science as an explanation is utterly insufficient. A mystical dimension must be incorporated to make sense.
In the Great Spirit hypothesis mentioned by Mr. Zhu in the past, the "world" is a dream created by the Great Spirit, and all living things inhabiting the world are roles played by the Great Spirit. The event that "human history cannot be self-consistent" may be equivalent to the Great Spirit's dream encountering a logical conflict that cannot be ignored, and this play can no longer continue, the dream can only end here.
When the Lord of the Divine Seal wished to merge the two worlds, did he not realize that this problem might occur? Thinking about it calmly, although the Lord of the Divine Seal has lost his omniscience and omnipotence, he must have been omniscience and omnipotent at the time he made the wish, so it is hard to imagine that this situation was caused by his "accidental mistake".
However, I also find it hard to imagine that he was using this situation as a means to pursue a deeper purpose. The theory remains the same: an omniscient and omnipotent being doesn't need to use any means other than omniscient and omnipotent power to pursue any purpose; omniscient and omnipotent power itself is the universal solution.
Unless... this situation is his goal, he wants to see the end of the world.
Even the shattering of the divine seal might be something he welcomed. Although losing his omniscience and omnipotence would put him in a dangerous situation, he might simply enjoy dangerous situations, or this kind of "playing"...
Could there really be such a busybody besides me? Could I be the "true master of the divine seal"? I even had such an absurd thought.
However, I am also self-aware. This world has never lacked "adventurers who disregard life and death," and I have never considered myself to be uniquely individual. There are plenty of madmen even more reckless than me.
At that moment, I noticed that the small bowl had stopped in front of one of the observation windows, looking at the dark sky outside.
"What are you looking at?" I asked.
“The moon,” said the little bowl.
Only those on the verge of karmic corruption and blessed monks can see the moon in the afterlife. Xiao Wan was not a blessed monk, so upon hearing this reply, my heart tightened reflexively.
“It’s okay, Brother Zhuang Cheng, I’m not severely infected by the madness now,” Xiao Wan explained in time. “Actually, I can always see the moon—as long as I want to.”
The ability to perceive things that others cannot is a common ability of children of divinity. I believed this, and then I felt Xiaowan initiate a mental connection with me by holding my hand.
I accepted the connection, and then Little Bowl sent me her sensory information. She shared what she was seeing with me.
The world before my eyes suddenly changed.
A bright white light shone in through the window, like a white veil floating in the air, mysterious and beautiful, yet tinged with a strange sense of danger.
I looked out the window following the light and saw a bright, full moon.
It's hard to pretend you can't see it; this full moon is ten times larger than a normal moon. It hardly resembles a scene from Earth; it looks more like a satellite from another planet. Its unusual size might even trigger a sense of colossal dread.
"After hearing the truth from Ms. Seven, I couldn't understand why some people could see the moon in the afterlife, where there are no stars or moon." Xiao Wan also looked at the nightmarish full moon. "But after listening to Brother Zhuang Cheng's explanation, I finally understand."
"This moon must be the evil will that the Gospel House is now worshipping, an invader that intends to kill all of us humans."
(End of this chapter)
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