From the end of the world

Chapter 501 Bare fangs
"In the future, when you meet other blessed monks, you must not ask about their abilities right away. This is personal privacy."

The cartographer seemed to have forgotten that he had asked me before whether I had any other abilities besides controlling fire. He first reminded Tan Xiang seriously, and then replied: "As for my ability, I can tell you. My ability is 'guiding direction'."

"Guidelines?" Tan Xiang asked in confusion.

"The most basic application of this ability is to let me know which road will better meet my needs when I face a fork in the road." The cartographer said calmly, "And the more advanced application is that when I face a multiple-choice question, it can remind me which side is the right one. When I am facing life-and-death danger, it can also let me immediately determine which direction is the way to survive...

"The reason why I can find you based on the bloodstains and shoe prints is also because of this ability. Of course, under the influence of the chaotic time and space, this ability cannot be 100% successful. It must be combined with the guidance of the blessed lamp to improve the confidence.

"There is no absolute power in this world. My power will fail when facing an overly huge existence. But it is because of this that I have been able to live safely until today..."

When he said this, he smiled self-deprecatingly.

Tan Xiang, however, became more and more envious, and finally asked, "Then...what should I do to become a blessed monk like you and Zhuang Cheng?"

The cartographer said calmly, "It's very simple. All you need to do is be deeply infected by madness."

"You said...what?" Tan Xiang's face changed.

"Blessed monks and demons have the same root, which is madness." The cartographer said, "The most obvious characteristic of being infected with madness to a deep stage is the chaos of thinking and the hallucinations and auditory hallucinations produced in the process. You will see a non-existent full moon in the night sky and hear crazy and messy mumblings from unknown sources.

"That illusory whisper is also called 'Gospel' by the survivors. It will instigate you to kill people when your mind is confused. Most people will lose their ability to resist at this stage and become karma demons.

“Only a few people can stand out and become blessed monks.”

I asked in confusion: "How could the voice that instigates others to kill be called 'gospel'?"

"It is said that in the old civilization there was an allusion to 'Pandora's Box', which was a box that contained countless despair and a glimmer of hope, and the gospel has the same nature." The cartographer said lightly, "People believe that there is a voice of blessing hidden in the gospel filled with crazy curses, and only the lucky ones who can hear the latter in a trance and confusion can be blessed.

"As to whether this is true or not, even I, a monk who bestows blessings, do not know. This is because I cannot remember the mental journey I went through when I was on the verge of becoming a demon. In fact, now I can occasionally hear those illusory and crazy whispers that order me to kill people, but I cannot find the so-called voice of blessing."

I remembered what Xiaowan once described, the "voice of the world" that she listened to.

It was a very chaotic sound, like the mumbling of a deranged being on the verge of death.

Although it sounds a bit like the "gospel" described by the cartographer, Xiaowan never said that the voice she heard would instigate her to kill.

Could it be that what Xiaowan heard was the sound of blessing hidden in the chaotic "gospel"?
What the cartographer said was more comprehensive and in-depth than what Ma Zao had told me before. However, Ma Zao also mentioned something that the cartographer did not mention, which was that in the end times, only the gods of the Gospel House could interpret the content of the gospel. What she was pointing to should be the hidden sound of blessing.

Combined with the fact that the Gospel House can produce "blessings" with natural rhythms, it is very likely that the Gospel House really has some unknown connection with the dying "voice of the world".

"If you want to become a blessed monk, you must be deeply infected with madness..." Tan Xiang struggled, "You can't get a tiger cub without risking it..."

"I advise you not to have too many fantasies about the power of blessing." The cartographer poured cold water on him. "Even if you are lucky enough to awaken the power of blessing you want, you may regret it."

"Why is this?" I asked on behalf of Tan Xiang.

The cartographer said: "The essence of the power of blessing is to materialize the desires in people's hearts. The more they desire, the less likely they are to get it. No, it should be said the other way around. It is because we cannot get it that desire can be transformed into the power of blessing." In other words, once we are satisfied, we will no longer be hungry and thirsty, and then lose power.

"As if to avoid this, the fate of the blessed monks is always contrary to what they desire. The more they want something, the more they miss it. This is the power of the curse."

Hearing this, Tan Xiang was stunned for a moment, then said, "Wait, according to this logic, Cartographer, your power is to 'guide the direction', which means that your destiny is to be lost forever?"

"..."

The cartographer did not respond, but clapped his hands.

As if they had heard the call, the boy and the girl came out from the shadows. The boy held the cartographer's cloak and lantern in his arms, and the cartographer walked to his side, put on the cloak, and took the lantern in his hand.

It was at this time that I noticed something.

Now, I can also vaguely sense the changes in the boy and girl's soul and emotions. Just like the cartographer, the taciturn boy also has clear malice towards others. I can understand this emotion appearing in a blessed monk like the cartographer, but it is puzzling to see it appear in the boy. For ordinary people, it is not as simple as thinking about it in their minds, but a will to kill that will definitely be put into practice.

The same malice could be seen even in that dull girl. It was not an emotion with a clear direction, but more like a chaotic instinct directed against everyone around her.

From the first meeting till now, the two children have not said a word. I used to think that it was their natural wariness towards strangers and the dullness and introversion caused by being innocent children living in such difficult conditions. But now it seems that the silence again and again was an effort to cover up their malice towards the outside world that was about to get out of control.

This is a symptom of a deep infection of madness.

Such strong malice towards an adult is enough to drive a person crazy, so why can these two children remain indifferent?

Looking at the cartographer again, I noticed more abnormalities. The cartographer's malice was only directed at me and Tan Xiang, not at the two children. If it was the instinctive malice of a blessed monk towards others, it was too targeted.

The cartographer's words just now also have a worrying part. Ma Zao once said that only corrupted blessed monks would believe that the "gospel" is guiding the blessed monks to kill, and the cartographer directly defined the "gospel" as "the voice that instigates humans to kill" in the explanation. Does this mean that the cartographer is originally a corrupt faction of the blessed monks?
"Let's go, Zhuang Cheng."

The cartographer walked to the door, then turned to me and said, "Let's go outside together."

"Cartographer, before that, can I ask you a question?" I asked.

"You say." The cartographer looked at me.

I asked directly, "Why do you want to kill me and Tan Xiang?"

Upon hearing this, Tan Xiang's expression suddenly changed drastically.

The cartographer was silent for a moment, then snapped his fingers.

Tan Xiang was raising his feet and quietly moving towards the window, but with the sound of the finger snap, his body suddenly fell heavily to the ground like a puppet with its lifeline cut.

Almost at the same time, I felt my vision suddenly go dark, and a strong feeling of weakness appeared out of nowhere and spread to every corner of my body, as if I could no longer stand up from the chair.

(End of this chapter)