Chapter 250 A Counterfeit Moon in the Water 2
As I recited this mantra-like incantation, I kept my eyes fixed on Asahi's eyes. Those dark, clear pupils reflected a counterfeit moon reflected in water, and that counterfeit moon reflected her own pupils. The two became a pair of mirrors reflecting each other, within which an endless labyrinthine corridor formed.
The power of the illusionary moon reflected in water took effect. My mind was drawn into this mesmerizing mirage. It was as if I were being swept away by an irresistible current, helplessly drifting into it. Of course, with my own power, I couldn't possibly be manipulated by a mere illusionary moon reflected in water, but that was my theory from the perspective of the victim. Now, I am the caster, my own power is controlling me, and therefore I can only watch the changes unfold.
When I came to my senses, I was no longer in my room at the Fufeng base.
I stood in an empty courtyard, the sky dim, surrounded by flowerbeds and lawns. However, the flowerbeds were filled with withered, decaying plants, and the lawns were overgrown with weeds. In the distance, in all directions, were clusters of buildings of varying heights, their exact forms indistinct, appearing in the night like countless blurry, enormous figures, or perhaps rows of tombstones formed purely of shadow.
"Where is this..." came Asahi's voice from the side.
She appeared beside me without my noticing, looking around with a wistful expression.
Just now, I clearly used a fake reflection of the moon in the water to invade her soul, but now I'm facing this incomprehensible, bleak landscape. A vague answer is forming in my mind regarding this change. This place might be Asahi's inner world, or perhaps an illusionary space formed using Asahi's spirit and memories as its material.
If this place was formed from Asahi's memories, then it's quite intriguing. I'm certain Asahi has never been to a place like this in the real world. The building materials here might be Asahi's memories of her past life in the post-apocalyptic era.
I looked up at the night sky. There was no sign of the moon, no trace of stars, only a monotonous expanse of black. Even in the deepest night, the sky should be clear, yet here it felt incredibly oppressive. Was it shrouded in clouds? No, there seemed to be no clouds. Even so, this night sky felt like a vast, heavy block of iron, making me feel suffocated just looking at it.
"There are no stars in the sky," I said.
"The sky in the apocalypse has no stars. There is no moon or sun."
Asaho's tone was complex, containing an element of nostalgia, but definitely not the positive kind. She continued, "It is said that when the end of the world was just beginning, the nights grew longer each day, and the stars disappeared little by little. Until one day, the sun never rose from the east again, and all the stars vanished."
"However, some people can still see the moon normally. This is usually the blessing monks and those who are about to become karmic demons, with the latter making up the majority. Therefore, on the doomsday earth, the saying that the moon is a star of calamity is circulating."
"Is this your memory?" I asked.
She nodded: "This is my dream world, a place formed from my memories."
The so-called soul is the spirit, mind, and consciousness. To invade someone else's soul is to invade their heart. The current phenomenon of dream entry is probably a manifestation of successful invasion.
"So, exactly where in this post-apocalyptic world is this?"
As I spoke, I began to move forward, wanting to explore this apocalyptic dream more deeply.
"Let me think..."
As she followed, she observed her surroundings and tried hard to recall.
Is this something that requires such effort to recall? Since it appeared directly in the dream, it should be a place I could remember immediately, right? That's what I thought, but then I remembered something else. The post-apocalyptic land was filled with a madness that affected people's hearts. Many survivors gradually forgot their past and themselves, eventually turning into crazed demons. Even Asaho's memories were blurred because of this; it seems even the power of return couldn't make her an exception.
I looked up again at the oppressively dark night sky. The vanished stars, the sun that would never rise… it was all too illogical. The absence of daylight could be explained by the Earth ceasing its rotation… although the idea of the Earth ceasing its rotation was incredibly unbelievable, it was still an apocalyptic disaster, so such an event wasn't entirely unacceptable… but how could the stars disappear little by little? How could the moon become visible to some and invisible to others?
The doomsday prophecy circulating in Luoshan surfaced in my mind. It was said that when the apocalypse truly arrived, all humans, all living beings, all strange creatures would vanish into thin air, and even all matter would be reduced to nothingness. "In this world"—did this "world" refer not just to this planet, but to the entire universe?
If all matter disappeared, then it would make sense for the stars to disappear as well. But is that really possible? Is the apocalypse that Asahi and I were trying to challenge actually a cosmic-scale apocalypse?
Even if it were a divine seal that could grant any wish, I don't believe it's something capable of affecting the universe as a whole. As the saying goes, "discussing toxicity without considering dosage" is irresponsible. In my understanding, the power of a divine seal is ultimately a strange power. Just as Silver Moon couldn't unconditionally defeat me with her power to "turn illusions into reality," no matter how much a divine seal can distort the laws of the world, there must always be a limit to its existence.
In other words, the apocalypse wasn't caused by the divine seal? Or was the idea that the apocalypse would cause the end of the universe just a misunderstanding?
Or perhaps my thinking is merely the view of a common person, and the truly bizarre forces can disregard even such a principle?
So how do we explain the moon's intermittent appearance?
Perhaps accepting the incomprehensible is the quality one should possess when exploring the strange world; seeking explanations for everything would be endless. This path either leads to unfathomable explanations or to a complete lack of explanation from the beginning. Because the universe has no obligation to explain itself to humanity.
Even after being told this, we still want to keep thinking; perhaps this is an inherent human trait that we cannot abandon.
“Ma Zao, you just said that only blessed cultivators and those about to become karmic demons can see the moon…” I asked, “You are a blessed cultivator, so you should have seen the moon of the apocalypse, right? But this is a dream formed from your memories, so why is there no moon here?”
"The idea that blessed monks can see the moon is just a rumor I've heard. In reality, I've never seen the moon before I was transported to the peaceful era."
As she spoke, she seemed to finally remember the scene before her, saying, "I remember now... this is the Gospel House."
"Gospel House?"
I don’t know if it’s just my stereotype, but this name sounds like the name of an orphanage, a nursing home, or some other charitable facility.
“The Gospel House is the faction with the most blessed monks in the apocalypse,” she said. “Generally speaking, people in the apocalypse are afraid that their companions will suddenly become demons. The larger the settlement, the more likely this will happen, and once it does, it can easily turn into a catastrophe. So everyone lives in small groups or small settlements. The Gospel House is the only large human organization I know of.”
“In the past, when I was still very weak, I received training at the Gospel Institute to learn how to control my power. Then something happened, and I chose to leave the Gospel Institute.”
"Is it because you have a jinx constitution?" I asked.
“It doesn’t seem so. It’s something else. But… I don’t remember very clearly,” she said.
"Can't you remember anymore?" I asked.
“At least you can’t remember anything over there. It’s not just me, it’s everyone. All memories are like sand held in your hand, easily lost. As for whether they can be recovered after coming here… I don’t know,” she said.
And just as she hinted, the memory material in this space is actually insufficient. I've found myself unable to leave this courtyard. No matter how far I move, I can't get close to the courtyard's boundary, and the distant buildings look like low-resolution textures. It seems this courtyard is the entirety of the dream.
At the same time, I had a strange realization. According to Asaho, over there, human civilization was wiped out by countless bizarre phenomena and the rampage of monsters. But perhaps even without such intense destruction, civilization would have quickly declined and died out. In the post-apocalyptic world, it seems that the human spirit can no longer accumulate anything.
Although the space before her was merely a dream from a fragment of her past, in her narration, the people of the apocalyptic era were as numbly wandering across the sunless ruins, as if lost in a dream. It was difficult to sense any passion or desire in their desperate struggle for survival in the face of the apocalyptic disaster; instead, there was a cold indifference, like that of walking corpses.
The end of the world has not only befallen the material world, but also people's spiritual world.
And Asahi lived in such a world in the past.
I was curious about how Mazao and No. 2 Xiaowan survived, so I took the opportunity to ask them. She told me without any reservations, and it wasn't much different from what I had initially imagined. They usually searched for food that hadn't yet rotted in the ruins, while carefully avoiding any strange things they might encounter and staying away from dangerous humans.
"Do you still need to gather food? Can't you solve this with your power of return?" I asked.
“Both Xiaowan and I need to develop our bodies, and we cannot grow up if we always rely on the power of blessings. Moreover, if we can grow into adults, our souls can become stronger in a mature vessel.”
As she spoke, she seemed to remember something, turned to me and asked tentatively, "...would you prefer my body not to grow?"
If I say "yes" here, I'll really be misunderstood as a lolicon, so I say without hesitation: "I think it's better to grow up."
"Really..." she said, half believing it.
I felt it necessary to shift the topic away from this dangerous direction, and looking at the scenery before me, an idea suddenly popped into my head.
This idea might help us find the mastermind behind the sharpshooter.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com