From the end of the world

Chapter 147 Imaginary Enemy 1
In Luoshan, the demon hunter who is responsible for dealing with strange things is called "Impermanence".

Dealing with strange things does not necessarily require fighting and killing. Zhu Shi told me that strange events are sometimes caused by monsters or humans with strange powers, and in this case, violence is indeed needed to solve them; while some strange events do not have concrete enemies, but appear in front of people in the form of phenomena. The "Basement on the 15th Floor" that I have come across in the past is closer to this type.

Amnesia is also a strange event that appears as a phenomenon. Although it is hard to say whether there is a mastermind behind this phenomenon, at the current stage, it is more of a phenomenon-based research topic.

The impermanence in charge of this kind of work is the "White Impermanence", and they are also good at dealing with strange phenomena caused by Feng Shui chaos and other problems. The person who was responsible for contacting us about Luo Shan's amnesia should also be a White Impermanence.

Compared to the "Black Impermanence" like Zhu Shi who is good at violent fighting, the White Impermanence is indeed not so eye-catching, and I can hardly raise a strong enthusiasm for overly complex knowledge and technology. On the other hand, they are also an indispensable part of the demon hunter world, and may bring me unexpected surprises. Therefore, while I am vigilant, I also have some expectations in my heart.

However, they have not contacted me or Ma Zao yet - why is that?

You have to know that it has been a week since Lu Youxun confirmed where Ma Zao was.

Of course, it's not impossible for us to take the initiative to contact them, but when I think of the unorthodox ways that Luoshan's supernaturalists used to track down Ma Zao in the past, I don't feel like contacting Luoshan. Since they need our help, they should take the initiative to contact us - I have some thoughts about this. But this time, it was as quiet as death.

Not only did Lu Youxun's Transcendentalist faction not come to us, but even Zhu Shi's Governance faction - I think that's what it's called - was completely silent. All the forces were stagnant, which made me suspicious.

I also consulted Zhu Shi about this matter. Zhu Shi was also very confused and asked Mr. Zhu about it. He wanted to investigate the matter through the family's connections. Mr. Zhu also wanted to save his daughter Zhu Jiu from amnesia. Although he did not bring up amnesia when he met Ma Zao last time, he must still care about it.

Not long after, when I had just finished lunch at home, Mr. Zhu called me.

I heard that he seems to be out and about a lot recently.

"There is something wrong with this matter." Mr. Zhu said in a deep voice.

"What's the problem?" I asked. "I know that Luoshan seemed to have a dispute over the matter of Ma Zao. It was said that there was a conflict over the distribution of credit and benefits. Each faction did not want the other to take the lead, so they hindered each other in the stage of searching for Ma Zao, resulting in no one being able to free up their hands... Is it the same this time?"

"On the surface, it's similar. The people at the top are engaging in a secret standoff, while those in the middle and at the bottom are asked not to act on their own," he said.

I asked with concern: "—On the surface?"

"Curing amnesia is indeed a huge achievement. Although it is not a major event worthy of attention in the eyes of the Great God, under the Great God, if anyone can find a way to cure amnesia through that little girl, he will definitely gain both fame and fortune and be unrivaled for a while." Mr. Zhu said seriously, "But no matter what, this time it's too much, Zhuang Cheng. The hilltops of Luoshan not only hinder each other, but also discuss and cooperate with each other. You know, amnesia is a public nuisance. If left alone, it will sooner or later lead to a disaster. In fact, from the perspective of the general society, this is already a disaster, but it has not been disclosed yet.

"As for the twisted situation at the top level, with the disaster outside getting worse and worse, and the internal stalemate first...Excuse me for being blunt, Luoshan is indeed not a perfect organization, but it is definitely not a makeshift team to this extent.

"I can't find out what happened to the top leaders of Luoshan in one or two days. It will take some time. The Zhu family has been adhering to the policy of staying away from the weird world for many years, which has also made us stay away from many social circles. Although we are returning now, we have not yet regained the distance we once had.

"But there is one thing I can tell you right now. The matter of that little girl may have attracted the attention of the Great Impermanence."

"Great Impermanence?" I wondered. "Didn't they say that amnesia is not something that Great Impermanence should take seriously?"

Mr. Zhu said on the other end of the phone: "So, if there really is a Great Impermanence paying attention to that little girl, perhaps it is for reasons unrelated to amnesia."

His words left me in a cloud of doubt.

If the special title of "The Case of Awakening from Amnesia" is taken away from Ma Zao, in Luo Shan's eyes, Ma Zao should be just a civilian demon hunter girl with unknown background. Although she has strange powers, that's all. Unknown background, strange, these labels should be everywhere in the weird world, how could she be taken so seriously because of this.

Great Impermanence... What on earth are the Luoshan higher-ups paying attention to about Ma Zao?
"Old sir, in your opinion, if someone in Luoshan is hostile to Ma Zao, what should I do?"

Thinking that the person on the other end of the phone was Mr. Zhu, I humbly asked for his advice and recalled the impression he gave me of an old private school teacher when we first met. The tone of my questions involuntarily became semi-literary.

Mr. Zhu said without hesitation: "Kill."

"Ah?" I was stunned.

"Whoever dares to stretch out his hand will have his hand chopped off, whoever dares to speak rudely will have his tongue pulled out, and if you meet someone who shows his claws and fangs to you, just kill them all." He responded in a matter-of-fact tone.

"No, that..." I said, "Do you really want to kill me?"

It's not that I don't dare to kill people, and the imaginary enemy may be someone who is bad for Ma Zao, so I am even more eager to kill. But if it really comes to that, Zhu Shi will probably try his best to stop me. What about Mr. Zhu, Zhu Shi's grandfather? Anyway, I didn't expect him to encourage me to kill people.

Or was he trying to dissuade me in another way? Was he deliberately saying what I might do in a more extreme way, so that I would feel that it was impossible and would back off?

Suddenly, I remembered something.

In Mr. Zhu's generation, all of his brothers and sisters killed each other over the forging of the Yama Sword, and he was the only winner among them.

"Zhuang Cheng, are you good at conspiracy and calculation, or are you good at political mediation? You are not only not good at these, but also a young man who is annoyed when he hears about topics like temple calculation and politics, right?" Mr. Zhu said, "What you are best at is power and destruction, and you are still a 'greenhorn' who has just debuted. You have no idea about the power relations in Luoshan, but this is your biggest advantage." Don't play tricks with those senior people who regard themselves as the masterminds behind the scenes, but pull the competition into the field you are best at. Kill whoever wants to harm you! In their eyes, you have the natural rationality of doing so, and even the legitimacy of fighting back. Those who assassinate you will definitely come up with all kinds of reasons, but such reasons cannot deceive themselves, and most likely cannot deceive other onlookers. Just keep your head held high and kill, and make them afraid of you!

"As long as no demon hunter above the Great Perfection level dies, you are invincible. Even if a Great Perfection level Impermanence does die, don't be afraid. If it is an opponent you can beat, beat him to death! But it's best not to really kill him. Most of the Great Perfection level Impermanence are the Great Impermanence's confidants. If you really kill them, you will be against the Great Impermanence. If you feel you can't win, just quit while you are ahead. Your goal is not to really kill people, but to intimidate those monsters.

“The first appearance is very important. As long as you act ruthless enough, you will find that there are actually no monsters in Luoshan. Everyone is a good person who makes money by being friendly.

"Also, remember not to take the initiative to provoke a fight. Once you take the initiative to provoke a fight, you will be the one in the wrong. But as long as the other party takes the initiative, you can kill them. After all, you are young and hot-tempered, and it is easy to get angry. It is completely understandable that you accidentally killed a dozen or twenty people. As long as you show overwhelming power, then the fault lies with the person who provoked you...

"besides……"

Mr. Zhu imparted his experience to me in great earnestness and detail. Words like "beat", "kill" and "die" frequently appeared in his speech, which completely overturned my impression of him.

Is it really okay to do what this person says? Is it true that the Zhu family's poor interpersonal relationships in Luoshan are just because they used to stay away from the weird world? What about killing more than ten or twenty people? I didn't think about killing so many people at the beginning.

As he was talking, Mr. Zhu seemed to be thirsty. He could vaguely hear the sound of drinking water from the other end of the phone. Then he sighed and said, "That's about it. Is there anything else you don't understand?"

"Hmm..." I hesitated for a moment and asked, "Excuse me, is Zhu Shi really your granddaughter?"

He could not help but be speechless, and then sighed dejectedly: "Alas, Ajiu... My daughter has always refused to let me interfere with my granddaughter's moral education..."

Normal parents would not allow their children to receive that kind of sentimental education.

Moreover, I find it hard to imagine Junior Sister Zhu taking the attitude of "those who obey me will prosper, those who defy me will perish."

No, if I must say, she seemed to have that meaning after her eyes changed color during the battle. She had a cold temperament that treated human life as worthless. Zhu Shi, who was usually kind and almost naive, turned into a cold fighting machine at that moment. The contrast was like the transformation of the weak and tepid protagonist in some animations into a dignified and reliable image, which had a different kind of charm.

It seemed that Mr. Zhu wanted to vent to me about his regret for not being able to take over his granddaughter's moral education in the past. Because his remarks were really to my taste, I was worried that if I continued to listen, I would really turn into a murderer, so I wanted to find a reason to end the call.

But before that, a dark cloud appeared in my mind.

"Old man, I have a question," I asked.

"You say." he said.

“What if the source of the evil is not even the Great Perfection Level Impermanence, but the Great Impermanence?” I asked.

Even through the phone, one could hear that Mr. Zhu's breathing stopped briefly.

Although I mentioned before that Da Wu Chang might also be paying attention to this matter, Mr. Zhu did not seem to have thought that Da Wu Chang might be on the opposite side. Whether he simply did not think of it or was unwilling to think about it, it is unknown. I also understand that my question is a bit beyond the scope. Using Da Wu Chang as an imaginary enemy without any basis may sound like a joke to him.

In the worldview of the demon hunter, being an enemy of the Great Impermanence is probably synonymous with being an enemy of God.

The difference between "great impermanence" and "impermanence" seems to be only one word, but there is more than one dimension in between.

In terms of level, ordinary impermanence are all within the four levels of creation, existence, destruction and emptiness, while the great impermanence has to jump out of this level and then to another level; in terms of strength, no matter how powerful an ordinary impermanence is, he will only be regarded as a powerful person, while the great impermanence is regarded as the embodiment of natural disasters; in the organization, ordinary impermanence have to form cliques and factions, forming various mountaintops within Luoshan, while the great impermanence stands above the organization. It should not be said that the great impermanence belongs to Luoshan, but that Luoshan belongs to the great impermanence.

Even in the relationship with the monsters, Wu Chang was troubled by the fate of being attracted to the monsters, while the monsters would flee in all directions when facing the Great Wu Chang. Even on the topic of waging war with official forces, Luo Shan, without the Great Wu Chang, could easily conquer the country with the help of the Great Perfection Wu Chang and the Level Wu Chang. The existence of the Great Wu Chang was completely the part of Luo Shan's heavy overflow of combat power.

To use the description from novels about cultivating immortals, the Great Impermanence are just like powerful beings who should ascend to another world. It is because our world does not have the setting of "ascension" that these immortals have no choice but to stay in the real world.

Being an enemy of the Great Impermanence - to be frank, this idea is even more important than being an enemy of Luo Shan.

Perhaps it is because I don’t know much about the Great Impermanence, and I have some characteristics similar to the Great Impermanence, and I have even been evaluated as “likely to become the Great Impermanence in the future”, so I lack fear. In the eyes of Mr. Zhu, this problem is probably not something that can be taken lightly.

After a moment, Mr. Zhu gave his answer.

"If it turns out to be like that, my advice is to try your best to resolve the other party's ill will, or just give up the girl next to you."

I said without hesitation: "There is no way I'm going to give up Ma Zao."

"If you can't give up, then you should take that little girl and run away immediately," he said.

(End of this chapter)