From the end of the world

Chapter 410 Eve 2
Fortunately, I have never done many embarrassing things in front of outsiders, at least not serious enough to worry about it. Although people often laugh at me for having unrealistic fantasies about supernatural things since I was a child, I have never been particularly bothered by it.

Those believers who investigated me only did so in a limited way, at least it did not affect the daily lives of the people related to me. After all, if they went too far, they would truly bring about "heavenly punishment" - that is, my curse.

When I talked to Lu Chan in private, he asked me about my attitude towards this kind of thing. I had some reflexive resistance, but in the end I chose to let it go. Forbidding others to investigate my past always feels a bit cowardly and inferior. I'm just not used to exposing myself to many people for the time being.

"This is probably the price of becoming a public figure," Lu Chan said.

He is now assisting Mr. Zhu in his work. In terms of work ability, he is actually much better than Mr. Zhu. The "Possibility Clone" not only makes him an all-round player, but also allows him to do the work of many people.

The problem is that his reputation in both governance and transcendence is quite bad. Few people are willing to trust him as a "traitor", and he has not tried to clean up his stigma. In fact, if he had gone all out, even with the dishonorable title, he could have made the cultivation of believers many times faster. But he seemed to want to avoid the possibility of usurping the throne, and honestly did the work of an assistant.

"I feel like I've become an idol star rather than a god, and some of my followers are just radical fans," I said.

"It's not surprising that you would have such an association. The original meaning of 'idol' is mixed with some religious connotations." Lu Chan said, "'偶' is a human figure made of wood or clay, and '像' is an object made to imitate a person or an object. Therefore, the original meaning of the word 'idol' is a sculpture made of wood or clay and made according to a certain image.

"In ancient times, idols were always combined with religious beliefs. People would use idols to simulate the appearance of imaginary gods, and then kneel down and worship them, which is called 'idol worship'.

"Last time I compared your believers to fans, and that was not a random analogy. Some young people today are fanatically following idol stars, worshipping them as gods, and even forming special support groups. This behavior actually has many similarities with ancient idol worship. In a sense, it can be called a 'modern religion.'"

He paused and continued, "If you really don't want others to track you down, you can actually stop them. You or we don't need to do anything, as long as you strongly think so in your heart. The thoughts of the Great Impermanence can not only affect nature, but also the people around you.

"According to recent surveys, after the barrier between the weird world and the common sense world is removed, the idea of ​​the Great Impermanence can even directly affect the society as a whole, causing the emergence of thoughts that conform to the idea of ​​the Great Impermanence. For example, if there is an evil Great Impermanence, the crime rate of the whole society will rise sharply, and the so-called criminal aesthetics will become popular.

"The reason why there is so little information about the Chakravartin is probably because he has used this ability. As long as you want, anyone who tries to investigate your life history will either actively or passively give up the investigation, whether they are from Luoshan or the common sense world. If you force the investigation, you may even encounter all kinds of misfortunes, just like the Grim Reaper."

"No need," I said. "I don't mind other people finding out what I did in the past. It's just that there are too many people this time, so I'm not used to it. Anyway, if I have enemies in the future, they may try to understand me in various ways. I can't forbid everyone to understand me, but only let my enemies go, right?

"The King of the Wheel of Time may have his own reasons for choosing to do so, but I will not hide like him. Everyone can know who I, Zhuang Cheng, am. I just need to greet their gazes openly."

"This is the right way." Lu Chan nodded with a smile.

The matter of believers ends here, and there is another matter that may need to be discussed next.

This happened on the third day. Luo Shan was going to hold a collective burial ceremony in the cemetery for the dozens of demon hunters who had died in the battle at the Humanitarian Division's headquarters.

The destruction of the Humanitarian Department meant that Luoshan had eliminated a threat, which was considered a great event by the demon hunters. The demon hunters who died in the battle were given a very high standard of funeral treatment. Although they were all subordinates of Mingzhuo, that is, demon hunters of the Transcendentalism, both the Transcendentalists and the Governanceists were members of Luoshan in the final analysis, and the Governanceists emphasized unity and involvement in the world, so Fazheng and Jian Feixian both attended the funeral ceremony.

As a member of the nominally political camp, I naturally attended the event as well, provided that there were no other important matters. I still have basic respect for the dead in battle, especially those who have participated in the same battlefield.

Originally, Ming Zhuo should have presided over the funeral ceremony, but Ming Zhuo seemed too lazy to attend, so Gua Tianshi kindly took over. Old Fist God and Willow Shadow did not participate either, and of course, the Wheel King was not there either.

Unexpectedly, although Shen Zhao's attitude towards the dead in battle was as indifferent as Ming Zhuo's, he was also present at this time.

I don't know if it's because Luoshan was once located in the afterlife, and there is a culture that attaches great importance to death and funerals, the cemetery of Luoshan headquarters is quite large. If Luoshan headquarters is said to be a circle, this cemetery is another circle of similar size. The two circles partially overlap, and the cemetery is close to the center of Luoshan headquarters. The cemetery is dotted with black stone pillars as high as a person. They are all tombstones, and the ashes of demon hunters are buried below. Some demon hunters were killed in battle, and their remains were placed below, which was considered a cenotaph.

Unlike the independent reality space where Dr. Silver Mask was last time, the independent reality space where the Humanitarian Division headquarters was located this time did not return any material to the real world after being destroyed. Maybe they originally thought, "If this place is also captured, we will die together." Although they failed, they swallowed up the bodies of the dead. Therefore, most of the victims this time did not bring back their bodies, and could only build cenotaphs.

At the funeral ceremony, the positions of the ruling class and the transcendental class were clearly divided. Yuchi also participated in the ceremony. Before the ceremony began, he came to my side, glanced at Shenzhao in the distance, and whispered, "I didn't expect Shenzhao to change his nature and actually attend the funeral ceremony."

I was a little surprised when I saw Yuchi coming over, and then I remembered that even though he had been hanging out with Shenzhao a lot recently, he was still a politically minded person after all.

"He really doesn't usually participate?" I asked.

"Shen Zhao despises the weak and mortals. Even demon hunters are no different from weak mortals in his eyes. All he wants is to become stronger." Yuchi said, "Didn't he ask the Lord of the Divine Seal how to open the third and fourth doors last time? This is because even though he became the Great Impermanence, he never gave up his obsession to become stronger. For him, becoming stronger is everything, because only the strong deserve dignity. It is no exaggeration to say that these two words run through his life so far."

That was why he couldn't accept that it might be that the Lord of the Divine Seal was a mortal being superior to him.

I also want to become stronger, but that is not my core obsession, and I can’t necessarily say that I understand Shenzhao.

According to the old boxing god, if Shen Zhao wants to continue to become stronger, doesn’t he have to let go of the desire to "become stronger" to do so?
"Also, although Shen Zhao is a Transcendentalist, he actually has no interest in Transcendentalism or its collective camp. This is what he said himself." Yuchi said, "His personality is more inclined to be a loner. It's just that the world described by Transcendentalism is more convenient for him than the world described by Fa Zheng, so he stands up for Transcendentalism."

So, when I met Gua Tianshi for the first time, although Gua Tianshi said that Mingzhuo and Zhuanlun Wang were both transcendentalists who wanted to treat mortals as consumable resources, he never mentioned Shenzhao's name.

"I heard that Luoshan's headquarters used to be located in another dimension... Has this cemetery been here from the beginning?" I asked.

"No, although that different space was shattered due to the battle between Xuan Ming, Fu Hongchen and Ming Zhuo, the cemetery part was not shattered. Later, I was responsible for transferring it here intact." Yuchi shook his head.

"By you?" I thought for a moment and asked, "Then you should also know what's there, right?"

Yuchi followed my gaze and looked over. Several kilometers away, in the center of the cemetery, there were dozens of black towers standing on the ground.

"Those are the tombstones of the Great Impermanence." Yuchi said, "Calling them tombstones is a bit of a misnomer. The Great Impermanence generally does not die of old age, and even if they die suddenly, there are not many. Most of them are missing, which means they have become the Lost Great Impermanence.

"Of course, lost does not mean dead. Those ancient lost great impermanence are likely still alive somewhere, but we can no longer observe their entities. Just like the common sense world defines those who have been missing for a long time as dead, Luoshan has similar rules. Those who can never be connected again are no different from dead."

I nodded: "That makes sense... But speaking of the impermanence of loss, I have a question for you, I wonder if you can answer it."

"What's the problem?" Yuchi asked.

"Generally speaking, Great Impermanence has various ways to establish connections in the strange world. Even establishing a force of believers is just one of their ways to anchor themselves. And the longer they live, the more connections they should make... If so, why are there still so many lost Great Impermanence?" I asked.

(End of this chapter)