From the end of the world

Chapter 524: The End of the Wandering Soul

The true identity of the wandering soul turned out to be sandalwood.

In the doomsday era, it is possible to meet your past self or your future self. Although I am not unprepared for this, actually witnessing this phenomenon, even if it does not happen to me but to people around me, I still feel dizzy, which gives me a new feeling about the chaos of the doomsday era.

Then, I recalled what he had instructed Tan Xiang to do before, and connected it with the clue that "Xiao Wan will resolve the crisis after the wandering soul recovers his memory", and then came up with a guess.

"Could it be that the place you guided Tan Xiang to before was the gathering place of survivors where Xiao Wan stayed when you separated?" I asked.

In order to avoid confusion with Tan Xiang who left earlier, I will continue to call the man in front of me "wandering soul". He nodded and said, "Yes, at this time, I - Tan Xiang will arrive at that place after parting with you and me, and under my instructions, I will hand over the cartographer's map to the person in the black cloak.

"This person is Xiaowan. In order to avoid being discovered as a wanted person by the Gospel Temple, she covered her face with a hood. I wrote marks and letter text on the cartographer's map. Next, she will follow the instructions on the map and come here to meet you.

"And the survivor team that Tan Xiang will join later under the introduction of my letter is affiliated with the Gospel Institute. He will repeat the loss and growth again and again in a series of twists and turns and painful experiences, and then leave the Gospel Institute after Tai Sui's forces suffer a devastating blow, and in the distant future, he will become me - a lonely ghost wandering in the land of doomsday.

"Until I was rescued by a girl named Xiaowan from a life-threatening situation, and then I embarked on the last journey of my life. Then I met you and my past self... Finally, I sent my past self on the same journey here, and welcomed the end of my life."

The wandering soul recited slowly as if he was telling someone else's past, but this was definitely not a story that had nothing to do with him, but his own recurring fate.

"Why did you do this? Your choice itself constitutes this absurd cycle, and as long as you hadn't sent away Sandalwood in this way, this fate would not exist, right?" I asked.

"Xiao Wan not only saved my life, but also helped me realize my last wish. Since my decision can help her escape from danger, then of course I have to do it." Youhun said as if he didn't care. "Besides, I was a dying person anyway. I just sent my past self to the same path as myself. From the perspective of 'my present self', what is the price of this?"

Could this be considered a different kind of "I'd rather die than let my friend die"? I was stumped by his logic.

"Besides, if he stays with you or finds another way out, he will die sooner or later." Youhun continued, "After all, he is my past self. I sent him away not only to help Xiaowan, but also to show him a way to survive."

I asked back, "But isn't your wish to die? Letting your past self die early may be a bad ending for others, but it should be a good ending for you, right?"

"My wish is not to die, but to remember who I am and then die. But in the final analysis, my real wish is the same as Tan Xiang's." He said sadly, "He wants to escape from this era full of disasters and wants to go home... I do the same. However, I have given up this wish myself.

“It’s not because I’ve reached the end and finally hit a wall that’s beyond my ability; it’s because this road is too long and too hard. I can’t see the end no matter where I go, and I can’t see the scenery when I look back. I’m really tired, so I give up…

"Even though I have regained my memories of the past, I still cannot clearly picture what my home looks like in my mind. As long as I can see the hope of returning, I will go there at all costs. No matter what I am asked to do, I am willing to do it. But I can no longer hold on to hope.

"He is the exact opposite of me. Although he is naive and fragile, at least he still has hope. So maybe there is still a chance for him to take a different path from me."

Perhaps this is the biggest reason why he pointed out a way for Tan Xiang to survive.

As long as I can see the hope of returning, I will go there at all costs - his words seemed to touch a corner of my heart.

Return, return... and attract the strange power of the unlucky star...

I kept repeating it in my mind, feeling as if I had grasped some clue, but I didn't know how to express this feeling. "Even if I can't return to where I came from, I want to know where I came from. I want to die with this awareness." The wandering soul said, "At least I have to remember... I am not from this hellish place, I don't belong here..."

As he spoke, his voice gradually became weaker. I could clearly sense that his vitality was rapidly fading away and his soul was failing. I couldn't tell what force had caused this, only that death was undoubtedly approaching. This was the price of taking the Sansheng Stone Powder, and he was about to die.

"Do you have any last words, or anything you want me to do?" I asked.

"No more. I have done everything I should have done, and I have let go of everything I wanted to do. I feel very at ease now."

The focus in the wandering soul's eyes was slowly disappearing. He sat on the ground, looking at the completely dark doomsday sky, as if he was pursuing something with an increasingly distracted gaze.

"Ah... But there may be one last thing..." He said, "Can you tell Xiaowan for me? Just say... Thank you for fulfilling my wish..."

"I will," I said.

"Thanks……"

The wandering soul lowered its head, slowly closed its eyes, and completely stopped breathing.

he died.

Until the last moment, he did not reveal his real name.

At first, when Tan Xiang met me and the cartographer, he avoided revealing his true background by using the online nickname "Tan Xiang". This was a clever way to avoid disaster by disguising his identity. However, could his real motive be a resistance to the apocalypse?

Real identity and virtual identity. In the modern world, people can use different identities to move around in the offline and online worlds, show different social personalities, and have different social circles. As long as they don't move around with their real identities, they can draw a line between themselves and the world around them, and won't really integrate into this inexplicable and terrifying place. Although it's not known whether it's conscious or unconscious, perhaps Tan Xiang has this emotion in his heart.

This desire for resistance even became his greatest weapon after he became a blessed monk.

As long as the other party doesn't know your true identity, no matter how much damage you suffer, you can recover as before, and even death can be blocked by your heart.

However, the more the Blessed Monk desired something, the less likely he was to get it. Sandalwood, who resisted the apocalypse, eventually died in the apocalypse, and even his future self had to send himself into this cycle of reincarnation again.

The "selves at different times" encountered in the doomsday era often have pathological personalities and will lead themselves to a devastating end... Could it be that the situation between the wandering soul and sandalwood is also consistent with what the cartographer said before his death?
After a while, Xiaowan will come to this place, so it is better to stay here and not leave casually. While I was thinking about whether to bury or cremate the wandering soul, I found a stone of suitable size and shape nearby and sat down on it. Then I put the blessing lantern at my feet and waited silently for Xiaowan to come.

I don't know how much time has passed. There is no clock around me, and the night has not changed at all. The longer I stay in the apocalypse, the more blurred my concept of time becomes. The contact with wandering spirits and sandalwood has aggravated this chaotic experience. It may have been two or three hours. During this time, several monsters groped out of the darkness and tried to attack, but I easily killed them all.

A slight noise was heard again in the darkness in the distance. This time it was not strange, but human. The footsteps were too light for an adult, but were made by a child's feet stepping on the soil.

After a moment, the little figure appeared in my sight.

(End of this chapter)