From the end of the world

Chapter 490: Little Bowl's Clue 1
The man in front of me kept talking about "old civilization", "doomsday" and "forgetfulness", making me feel that my previous speculations were quickly becoming a reality.

And his next words made me even more convinced.

"It seems that you have been overly corroded by madness and have lost too much memory." The man looked at me with sympathy. "No wonder you don't even know this level of common sense, and you are acting alone... Have you even lost your former companions? Do you still remember your own name?"

As he spoke, his previous alertness seemed to be restored a little, as if he was going to decide his next attitude based on my answer.

He even said the word "madness"... It seems that I have really traveled to the apocalypse. And I am not completely clueless about his heightened sense of vigilance at this moment.

In the apocalypse, if you can't even say your own name, it means you are very close to becoming a demon. That means you are undoubtedly a dangerous person. In a zombie movie, it means you are about to become a zombie, and the survivors must be more vigilant.

In order to facilitate the communication later and as a test, I replied: "Are you worried that I will become a demon? Don't worry, I remember my name. My name is Zhuang Cheng."

The man showed no doubt about the word "karma demon", but asked: "Do you still remember the karma demon?"

"I don't know what a Karma Demon is. It's just that if you lose your name, you will become a Karma Demon... Just now when you asked me if I still remembered my name, I suddenly remembered this." I pointed to the strange thing nailed to the outer wall of the bungee jumping machine not far away, "Is this the Karma Demon?"

"No, the Karma Demon doesn't look like this. It should just be a monster wandering around the area."

The man moved a little closer to the monster, which struggled like a cockroach nailed to the wall.

After a closer look, the man's expression changed slightly. He said, "I seem to have heard of this type of monster somewhere else... It seems to be targeting you. You've really encountered a difficult thing."

"Difficult?" I was curious. "Is there anything special about this monster?"

The most special thing about it is that my power of words failed to activate when it was targeted. However, this should have nothing to do with the monster itself.

I have made a brief analysis in this short period of time. The reason why the power of words and spirits is ineffective is probably because of the chaotic space-time environment. In essence, the power of words and spirits is the privilege of the Great Impermanence in the natural world, which is based on the order of heaven and earth.

Unlike ants and bees, which are true social creatures that can judge social status through physiological structure and can manipulate subordinates at the neural level through secretions such as pheromones, the superiors and subordinates in human secular society are creatures of the same level at the biological level. However, ancient kings can command subordinates to fight for themselves or even order them to die, just like true social creatures. This is the power of order.

Once out of order, the king is nothing more than a human being with bare hands, and after taking off his clothes, he is no different from other humans. And after being out of the natural order of heaven and earth, the Great Impermanence is nothing more than a simple powerful individual life, unable to command everything in the universe with words.

The doomsday era is a chaotic world where the social and natural order has been shattered. Not only the power of words and spirits, but also the laws of heaven and earth are probably not able to be exerted here. After all, even the original natural order formed after billions of years of evolution has collapsed, and the so-called power of "re-determining the laws of heaven and the image of earth" of the Great Impermanence cannot be relied upon.

Xiaowan had mentioned to me in the virtual world before that her ability to right the heavens and earth was not fully utilized in the apocalypse. The most important of these, her ability to communicate with all things in nature, was the most limited, because according to her, if the world was likened to a huge life, this life was actually dead in the apocalypse, or on the verge of death, and could not respond normally to her calls.

She could only barely hear some vague sounds, but could not interpret the meaning, or it might be that there was no meaning at all. She just felt that it was very chaotic, like the mumbling of a mentally disturbed person.

Because his power was too limited, Ma Zao in the past didn't even know that Xiaowan had special abilities.

Combining these characteristics, I have completely come to believe that I am in the end times.

Back to the topic, after hearing my questions about the strange creature, the man gave me answers without hesitation.

"First of all, the most special thing about this monster is that it will not die." He said, "It seems to live in the memory of the witness. As long as the witness still remembers it, it will be resurrected again and again and appear in front of the witness.

"Secondly, it will persistently try to prey on people who have seen it, and it will resurrect very frequently, randomly attacking witnesses from a few to a dozen times a day, or even more times... Don't ask me how long a day is. I calculate a day based on the interval between each sleep. Other survivors may have given up this time unit, or they may calculate it using other methods.

"Even when you are sleeping, it will suddenly appear and try to prey on you. This is the most disgusting thing about it. And even if you are in a secret room with closed doors and windows, it will 'refresh' in. There is basically no way to stop it from attacking you."

"I see. But this guy looks very weak. There should be many ways to deal with him, right?" I said.

"Looks weak? The power of this monster is determined by the first impression of the first witness." The man said, "If the witness is frightened by the bloody and terrifying appearance of this monster, then its power will automatically increase to the level of overwhelming the witness.

"In that situation, even if the witness is a powerful blessed monk who can destroy a street with one strike, he is no match for it. It will be useless even if you are no longer afraid of it. Its power will not decrease until the witness dies; if you become more afraid afterwards, its power will increase further.

"However, this property will not work on multiple witnesses at the same time. As long as the first witness is not strong, it is possible to temporarily repel it with the help of others and get a moment's respite."

After his explanation, this seemingly disgusting monster suddenly had the absurd and dangerous flavor that a monster from the doomsday era should have. I tried to check my mind and memory. Although he said that this monster could live in my memory, it should be just a metaphor. My memory did not show any signs of being parasitized. At the same time, even if the opponent was a doomsday monster, it was hard to believe that it could parasitize my mind with the nature of fire and high temperature.

The man looked at my paused expression, as if he had realized something, and said, "Oh, sorry, I made a mistake. I didn't mean to incite you or make you afraid of it... It's all because this guy looks too weak now. Aren't you afraid of this?"

"I just feel a little sick, not scared," I said.

"Really? Maybe it was unnecessary for me to save you just now. You can actually solve it yourself." The man looked at me deeply.

"Instead of that, could you introduce yourself?" I asked.

"You can call me 'Cartographer'," the man said, "It sounds like you're using your real name, but I'm not avoiding it on purpose.

"Because I was heavily infected by madness in the past, I have forgotten my original name. As for why I am called this name now, it is because I seemed to have wanted to make a map in the doomsday era for a long time in the past... It sounds funny, right? I think it's funny too. Why did I have such a goal at that time..."

The cartographer read in confusion, then shook his head and continued, "From your previous look, you seem to have forgotten what Madness is, right? I will explain it to you later. In short, due to the existence of Madness, it is best for us survivors not to act alone.

"Actually, I'm also currently looking for a new partner. You seem to be alone, would you like to join me first?"

Ma had mentioned to me before that in the apocalypse, acting alone is a taboo. Not only is one's power small, but also because no one calls out one's name in such a situation. People who act alone are likely to forget their own names and eventually become demons.

Even Ma Zao, a "blessed monk" who has mastered the great power of return, has to work together with Xiaowan to avoid becoming a demon, not to mention the ordinary survivors.

And for something like the weirdness just now, the difficulty of dealing with it with help and without help is completely different.

But I was surprised that the cartographer would want to invite me.

I thought that the survivors of the apocalypse would be more distant from strangers. When Ma first came to the modern world, he was always wary of everything around him. In fact, the cartographer was now looking at me with scrutiny and suspicion.

Could it be that for the survivors of the apocalypse, the need to team up with others will force them to ignore the potential risks of acting with strangers, and they would rather form a team first and then observe each other's character, rather than miss the great opportunity to meet other living people? Or is the cartographer the character with bad intentions, who wants to do something to me, a lone amnesiac?

"Are you serious about this invitation?" I took another look at the weird thing nailed to the outer wall of the bungee jumping machine. "Now I have become the target of this weird thing, and it is very likely that you will be dragged into trouble. Treating me as a teammate is not a wise choice no matter how you think about it."

"This monster will not change its target until it kills its chosen prey, and you are not afraid of it, so you can say that it is in a state where it can be easily killed. As long as we take turns to sleep and rest, it will not be a problem. On the contrary, it can help us maintain the most basic vigilance." The cartographer laughed, "As for danger... In today's world, where is there no danger? Compared with those real dangers, the current state of this monster is completely funny."

His remarks were simply outrageous. I just remembered the previous incident where someone opened my skull without telling me and destroyed my brain instantly. I could relate to him and nodded.

"Then I will honor your kindness and go with you first."

I am unfamiliar with the place and I need a guide.

"But before that, I have to make it clear that I have things I have to do," I said.

"Oh? You don't remember anything?" The cartographer asked curiously, "Tell me first, what happened?"

"I may have two lost companions, one is called 'Ma Zao' and the other is called 'Xiao Wan'. Both are very young girls. Have you heard of their names?" I said.

I know very well that Ma Zao is in the safe modern world. The reason I mentioned Ma Zao's name here is because I want to collect as much information about her as possible in this doomsday era, in this place that is like Ma Zao's hometown, and I want to get to know her better.

As for collecting information related to Xiaowan, it goes without saying. After losing contact with Xiaowan, Ma Zao and I have been worried about her safety. Although it was an accident to come to the doomsday era, since I am here, I want to try to meet up with Xiaowan in the doomsday era and protect her from the wind and rain.

Now that I have personally experienced the tip of the iceberg of the dangers of the doomsday era, I can't help but worry about the safety of my friends' lives.

"Ma Zao... and a small bowl...?" the cartographer pondered.

(End of this chapter)