Chapter 507 The Little Bowl Being Hunted
The cartographer relayed the name "Wandering Soul" to us, and considering that he initially lied to us about the Wandering Soul's identity, this name might also be something he made up. The Wandering Soul seems to have forgotten his own name and many things from his past. If the name given here doesn't match, we might not be able to get the information we want from him.
Fortunately, after a while, the wandering spirit exhaled a breath of stale air, then nodded and said, "That's right, that's my name... Thank you."
"You're welcome." I breathed a small sigh of relief.
The wandering spirit glanced at the sandalwood incense, then looked at me, seemingly regaining its normal conversational abilities, and said with certainty, "You're the one who rescued me from that cartographer, aren't you?"
His voice was very hoarse. Although the wire had been removed from his throat, it seemed as if there were still unseen sharp objects blocking it. "I vaguely remember what happened before... You seemed to have some questions for me, but at the time I didn't have the rationality to communicate with you."
“Yes, I want to find out someone’s whereabouts from you, and I hope you can tell me the truth,” I said.
“I can’t guarantee I’ll answer truthfully, because I don’t know who you’re trying to find out about,” the wandering spirit said.
Tanxiang interjected, "Even if Zhuang Cheng is your savior?"
"First of all, I wasn't going to die anyway, so he can't really say he saved my life. Secondly, there are things in my heart that are more important than my life. Even if he did save my life, I can't guarantee that I would do whatever he wants."
In stark contrast to his disheveled appearance and past erratic behavior, the ghost's tone was unexpectedly orderly.
He looked at me again, then lowered his head and said, "I'm sorry, what I just said might make you feel that I'm an ungrateful person, but at least I can assure you of this—from now on, whether you want me to be your slave or to go through fire and water for you, as long as it doesn't violate my moral bottom line, I will agree to it."
“The cartographer cast me into hell, but you saved me. I swear I will repay you for this great favor.”
“I won’t ask you to be my slave or go through fire and water. You just need to answer my questions,” I said. “Do you know someone called ‘Little Bowl’?”
Upon hearing this, the wandering spirit's face was instantly filled with astonishment.
Seeing that expression, I immediately had a bad feeling—maybe I had just stepped into the so-called bottom line of the wandering soul.
On the bright side, at least during the days he was imprisoned by the cartographer, he didn't forget the clue about the small bowl.
"You mean... the small bowl?" the wandering spirit asked with difficulty.
“That’s right. I heard from the cartographer that you uttered the name ‘Little Bowl’ after you went crazy,” I said. “Little Bowl—small in size, bowl in chopsticks—that’s the name, isn’t it? It’s the name of a girl who’s about ten years old. Have you ever met her?”
The wandering spirit fell into a long silence, staring at me without saying a word, as if he were secretly assessing something in his mind.
After a moment, he said, “Yes, that’s the name…and I have indeed seen her. You want to know where she is?…Before that, could you tell me why you want to find her?”
“I am her friend,” I said. “She is now alone and adrift, and I want to offer her protection.”
"Are you telling the truth?" The wandering spirit stared intently into my eyes. "You really don't want to capture her... and offer her to the Evangelistic Institute?"
"The Gospel House?" I asked in surprise. "Why are you suddenly mentioning the Gospel House?"
“That girl named Xiaowan is currently a top wanted target of the Gospel Monastery, with a priority no lower than that of the remnants of the Tai Sui faction,” the wandering spirit said. “The specific reasons for the warrant are unknown, but it is known that it was personally ordered by the head of the Gospel Monastery to all the blessed monks under his command, requiring them to capture her alive. Those who perform meritorious service will have any one of their wishes granted.”
"This is a promise made by God, and everyone in the Gospel House is going crazy for it. This promise also applies to survivors outside the Gospel House. As long as that girl is offered to the Gospel House, God can grant his wish, and it will be easy to never have to worry about survival again in the future—who wouldn't be tempted by that?"
"Remnants of the Tai Sui?" I noted down the name first, then asked in return, "So what about you? Aren't you tempted?"
The wandering spirit said calmly, "My wish is something that neither humans nor gods can grant."
"You've got quite the nerve. I'm curious what your wish is. But before that, I'd like to ask you first: are you perhaps not planning to tell me where the little bowl is?" I asked.
“Yes, I can’t tell you where she is,” the ghost said. “But it’s not just because I can’t tell you based on my personal principles, it’s also because I don’t actually know where she is now.”
"Then can you tell me where you last met her?" I asked.
“I can’t answer your question. However, this time it’s not because I don’t want to answer you, but because I don’t know how to express the information of ‘where’ to you.” The wandering spirit pondered, “If it’s just describing what the scene is like, that’s fine, but when it comes to specific location coordinates…”
I understand his predicament. In a post-apocalyptic world where space and time are fragmented into countless pieces, the lack of even the most basic physical spatial reference makes it virtually impossible to express "what direction and distance a certain location is relative to one's current location."
"Okay, then I'll take a step back and ask... Under what circumstances did you meet her and then break up with her?" I asked. "I hope it's okay for you to tell me this kind of information, right?"
After thinking for a while, the wandering spirit said, "I understand. In any case, you are my great benefactor, so I will tell you everything I know without threatening her."
He began to tell me—
An unknown period of time ago, a wandering spirit encountered a lone figure named Xiaowan at an abandoned dock.
The phrase "sometimes ago" doesn't mean a very long time ago. Because time is chaotic in the apocalyptic era, it could also be a recent event. It might not even be an event from the past; it could be an event from the future.
The wandering spirit was being hunted by some strange entity. In the post-apocalyptic world, this was quite common. Survivors were either in situations where their lives were threatened by some kind of anomaly, or on their way to such a situation. For the wandering spirit himself, this was also commonplace; due to his remarkably strong immortality, his margin for error was far higher than that of other survivors.
However, as a price, things that would be "just a little pain and it would be over" for other survivors would become excruciating torture for him. What he encountered was the very thing that would inflict this hellish torment. If he were to truly fall into the clutches of that thing, unless he was extremely lucky, he would be plunged into a terrifying and irredeemable abyss.
Just as he was about to be caught, Xiao Wan appeared on his only way.
No kidding, due to extreme panic, he even had the idea of using the girl as bait to throw behind the monster and escape in the process. However, before he could do such a cruel thing, Xiao Wan saved his life and helped him escape from the predicament.
The spirit was vague about the details, but I knew roughly what had happened. Essentially, Xiao Wan used her powerful "Heaven and Earth Manifestation" technique, relying on her extraordinary luck and other miraculous abilities to resolve the dangerous situation. I explained to the spirit that I knew about Xiao Wan's abilities, and after a moment of surprise, the spirit opened up and acknowledged my speculation.
“Although we’ve only known each other briefly, I can tell that the girl isn’t a Blessed Monk. Yet she possesses a power far more mysterious than most Blessed Monks,” the wandering spirit said. “Take that cartographer, for example. He has the ability to ‘guide directions,’ able to determine the appropriate direction of movement in many situations, or find a way out of dangerous situations, right? Compared to that girl, the cartographer is nothing.”
"Even without the blessing of the lamp, she can move to any place she wants to go, or return to any place she wants to return to. Even places she has never been before, as long as you describe the features to her, she can reach them by relying on a vague feeling or purely by luck."
"Even when she was walking openly in an area with little cover, she rarely encountered any strange attacks. She could easily find food and water by simply sneaking into any ruin."
"If she hadn't forgotten her past like most survivors, and hadn't faced the threat of madness and demonic possession, requiring other survivors to constantly confirm her name, it would truly feel like living in a place without the apocalypse."
"However... perhaps luck really is conserved. People are blessed in some ways, but are inevitably subject to misfortune in others. That girl may have avoided minor misfortunes, but she could not avoid major calamities in the end."
"You mean the wanted notice from the Gospel House?" I asked.
“That was only a secondary threat. Compared to the real threat, the Gospel House’s wanted notice was like a gentle breeze,” the wandering spirit said.
The Gospel House is the only and largest human force in the apocalypse, and with the survivors who attempt to capture the Little Bowl and offer it to the Gospel House, it's hard to imagine any greater threat.
The wandering spirit's answer cleared up my doubts.
“The Great Demon of Calamity is hunting her down,” he said.
(End of this chapter)
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