Chapter 255 The Truth About Asaha's Time Travel 1
Being pulled into the virtual realm within the Fufeng base seems like an unexpected complication that has no impact on the current situation, but upon reflection, it may actually have considerable significance.
By offering a fragment of the Divine Seal to the Lord of the Divine Seal in a trade, one can obtain the answers to their questions. While not every question can be answered, since the Lord has stated he knows most things that happen in this world, there are likely many secrets that cannot be obtained through ordinary means. For example, the truth behind the apocalypse, and the secret behind the origin of my superpowers…
For example, the true identity of the mastermind behind the divine spear, Da Wuchang, and where Yin Yue took Chang'an's soul.
Especially the last one. Even now, I have leads in the investigation related to the identity of the hostile Great Impermanence; but regarding the whereabouts of Yin Yue and Chang'an's souls, I'm completely clueless. Anyone could see that the longer this is delayed, the worse the consequences will be, yet neither I nor Old Master Zhu have any leads whatsoever. Perhaps this is a problem that can only be solved through some kind of cheating.
However, I still have some doubts about proposing a trade to the Lord of the Divine Seal. It's quite possible, as Ma Zao and Zhu Shi have said before, that the Lord of the Divine Seal is harboring a conspiracy and malice. Now that I've successfully arrived in the Void Realm, I won't rush into any communication. The other chosen ones might also try to propose a trade to the Lord of the Divine Seal. To be on the safe side, I'll wait until everyone is present to observe their attitudes and actions before considering whether to trade, and how to trade.
Right now, I want to ask Little Bowl No. 2 a question that has been bothering Asahi and me for a long time—why did Asahi, who was originally in the apocalyptic era, accidentally travel to the modern world?
From Asaho's own perspective, this was a mysterious malfunction that occurred unexpectedly when she manipulated the power of return to initiate a spatial transfer; however, when I first met No. 2 Xiaowan, she mentioned a very important piece of information—that Asaho's arrival in the modern world was due to a certain inextricable causal relationship with her.
At that moment, I asked her this question directly.
She nodded as expected, then paused, seemingly considering her answer. My heart skipped a beat. Although her memories had been recovered and processed, the post-apocalyptic era was filled with a madness that could drive people insane, making it easy to lose memories and a sense of self. Even if she had escaped the crisis of karmic demonization, it didn't mean she was without any aftereffects. It was very likely that some of her memories contained elements that she couldn't retrieve due to the madness.
Fortunately, I still got the answer I wanted.
“Yes, I remember everything about that accidental time travel incident, Mr. Number Three,” Little Bowl Number Two said slowly. “It might take a little more time to explain, is that alright?”
"no problem."
It concerns one of the biggest mysteries to date, so even though I was sleepy, I forced myself to stay alert and focused: "Go ahead and tell me."
“First of all, the reason why Asahi-neechan time-traveled is related to my ability,” she said. “Do you still remember what my ability is?”
"It's the ability to see through lies, right?"
Strictly speaking, that's definitely not the whole story. Based on my observation, what Little Bowl Number Two truly possesses is an extraordinary level of perception. That's why she was able to recognize me as the "ghost" who initially intruded into the virtual realm before Number One. The "ability to see through lies" is most likely part of this super-sensory ability.
I seem to frequently encounter people with extraordinary perceptive abilities. Aside from No. 2 Xiaowan, there's Zhu Shi, and recently Dong Che, and even I myself am gradually developing an unbelievable intuitive power.
“Actually, my real ability is not ‘seeing through lies’ or so-called ‘perception’,” Little Bowl No. 2 continued. “Although I have almost lost all memories related to my upbringing, based on the few remaining impressions, it seems that I have been able to communicate with nature since I was a child.”
"Natural...communication?" I asked.
"Simply put, I can hear the thoughts of flowers, trees, and animals, and I can communicate with them spiritually. I can even communicate with certain spiritual objects, and I can even listen to the voice of the natural world itself and try to have a dialogue with it," she said.
"It sounds like an ancient shaman who performed rituals to worship heaven and earth," I said.
"In fact, I used to be able to do similar things."
As he spoke, the second bowl explained the details of its power in more detail.
Just as I had preconceived notions, she could be like the divine sorceresses of some ancient religions, able to foresee astronomical and geographical changes by listening to the sounds of nature. She could also, to some extent, pray to nature for blessings, such as rain or clear skies, or to keep natural disasters away from her land, or even to ensure a bountiful harvest.
Although she herself has no fighting ability and could be easily subdued by any adult, she does possess some means of handling danger. Because she can coexist peacefully with nature, she is also very lucky. The ancients believed that as long as one acts in accordance with the will of Heaven, everything will go smoothly, while acting against Heaven will bring endless disasters. Therefore, she can not only make herself very lucky, but also make those she hates extremely unlucky.
If Asahi is a jinx, then she is a lucky star.
However, the forces mentioned above are all quite unstable and unreliable. Let's leave aside luck, which is inherently unstable; for example, if you pray for rain, you might pray for rain tomorrow, but sometimes it might be delayed for a week. Nature seems to have its own temper; sometimes it wants to be lazy, and sometimes it pretends not to hear. Forces that don't belong to you are just that inconvenient.
Moreover, in terms of intensity, her good fortune was clearly far inferior to Asaha's misfortune. When she was with Asaha, her good fortune did not improve Asaha's situation of frequently attracting strange events in the slightest—yes, not only did it not completely offset the bad fortune, but there was not even a sign of it being weakened. On the contrary, it almost caused Asaha herself to die several times.
On the other hand, if it weren't for Masako's rescue at their first meeting, she would have become a karmic demon from the very beginning, so she has no complaints about it.
I asked halfway through, "When Asaha mentioned you to me before, she said you were just a ten-year-old girl without any special powers... Did you never mention your special abilities to Asaha?"
"If I tell anyone, Asahi-neechan will definitely feel very guilty," she said.
"That's true." I thought for a moment and then said, "What about the ability to change the weather? Haven't you used this ability in front of Asahi before?"
"I've never used it... or rather, I can't use it."
She continued to explain to me.
While she theoretically possessed the ability to alter the weather, this power of prayer to the heavens and earth was unusable on the post-apocalyptic earth. The problem wasn't with her, but with the world. The world seemed dead, or on the verge of death, and therefore unable to respond to her voice.
That was a desperate era in the literal sense, a time when no one could help you cry out to heaven or earth.
She was born into the wrong world.
Aside from her unreliable good fortune, even her ability to communicate with nature was severely limited. The plants and trees on the post-apocalyptic land were mostly withered and dead, animals were extremely rare, and monsters and demons were overwhelmingly numerous. Even she couldn't communicate with those crazy and bizarre creatures.
She could try to communicate amicably with humans—because she can communicate amicably with animals, so if she uses this ability on humans, she could gain a decent initial level of goodwill from them. Unfortunately, the survivors of the apocalypse might at any time be corrupted by madness and turn into demons, making them ultimately untrustworthy.
Even excluding factors like madness and demonic possession, humans living in that era naturally suffered from various mental illnesses and insane emotions, with countless individuals exhibiting pathological personalities. Even those capable of "friendly communication" might not be able to trust those around them, and some might even commit immoral and twisted acts simply because the other person is a loved one.
In my eyes, Asaho's personality also has pathological symptoms, but according to Little Bowl No. 2, among the group of post-apocalyptic survivors, Asaho, a lone wolf survivor who doesn't interact much with others, is actually considered to be in a better mental state.
All things considered, during the time she was with Asahi, the only consistent ability that No. 2 Xiaowan could offer was her powerful insight.
If I had to say anything else, it would be that she seems to be able to bestow blessings upon people, making them healthy and energetic—I suspect that Asahi's "relatively good" mental state may also be thanks to her.
Then comes the most crucial part.
One day, during a routine exploration of ruins, Little Bowl No. 2 found a mysterious black jade stone. Her intuition told her that this was no ordinary object, while Asaha, relying on her mysterious knowledge, immediately identified it as a fragment of a divine seal.
After a brief discussion, the two decided to abandon this hot potato in the ruins. However, no matter how they abandoned it, the fragments of the divine seal would eventually return to the hands of the second small bowl.
Just as they were figuring out how to completely get rid of the divine seal fragments, a monster engulfed in black flames suddenly appeared in front of them.
The great demon of calamity has descended.
(End of this chapter)
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