From the end of the world

Chapter 585: Logout
Although not as old as Gua Tianshi, Xuanming is also a great impermanence that has existed since ancient times. He has a life scale and perspective that is very different from ours. He also grew up in a cultural background that is completely different from modern society, and the foundation of his values ​​is also completely different. It is really too difficult for Xiaowan and me to empathize with such a character.

But since we are likely to have a direct conflict with him in the future, even if we know it is a stretch, we can only speculate on his mentality. Is there any other reason why Xuanming reminded Xiaowan, besides the motive of "can't stand it" that I speculated earlier?
For Xuanming, who came from an era where human sacrifice was taken for granted, if someone was captured for sacrifice, both the person who captured him and the person who was captured would know what would happen next and regard it as a legal procedure. But it is not the case at all in modern times.

From the perspective of a character who maliciously sacrifices others, this may be a "convenient era full of ignorant fat sheep". But compared to that kind of thing, Xuanming may care more about "the state that certain things should have been in". That's why he has some behaviors that are incomprehensible to modern people. I hope Xiaowan can have the most basic self-awareness.

These are just my personal opinions. As I was exploring, I realized that I actually knew nothing about Xuan Ming. We had met many times, even had brief conflicts, and I had investigated a lot of intelligence in the past, but the image of the other party was still vague in my mind.

After temporarily ending the conversation, we called back No. 7 from the distance. By the way, just in case, we confirmed with No. 7 as Xiaowan said, to see if Xiaowan's information was leaked to the Gospel Institute from the other party. The result was naturally not.

"We've cooperated on the battlefield before, but you still don't trust me? This really hurts me." Number Seven's tone was more casual than when they first met.

"Let's put things in perspective. Since there are conditions for confirmation, then we should do it well. We can't just skip such boring things for the sake of face. Besides, we don't know each other very well, right?" I pointed out, "Or are you planning to tell us the truth about your relationship with the Lord of the Divine Seal?"

Hearing this, No. 7 immediately changed the subject and said, "By the way... since we have obtained the technical data of 'Dushuo Mountain', then it is time for us to move on to the next stage, right? Return to the world of the living and hand over the technical data to No. 5 Yuchi of the Fazheng camp... and in order to return, we must first sneak into the Gospel Academy headquarters and use the Dushuo Mountain formation there..."

“——There’s no need for that.” Xiaowan said.

"What?" Number Seven paused.

Xiao Wan looked at me and said, "Brother Zhuang Cheng, I should be able to show you the direction of the basement on the fifteenth floor and take you to the border between the basement and the afterlife."

"You mentioned this 'basement on the 15th floor' before, right? What is it?" Number 7 asked in confusion.

Since I have mentioned it to her before, I will not avoid her at this moment. Although she is a suspicious collaborator, she is still a collaborator after all, and there may be a chance to join forces with her again in the future. I explained it to her directly, including the principle of going to the real world through the basement on the fifteenth floor.

After hearing this, No. 7 was stunned and said to himself, "...Is this possible? Is this reasonable?"

"Then...Xiao Wan, I'll trouble you from now on."

I turned to look at Xiao Wan and stretched out my palm. Xiao Wan raised her small hands, held my palms, and began to establish mental synchronization with me.

It was like playing a paper cup phone with each other. The emotional fluctuations in Xiaowan's heart were vaguely heard from the other end, as if she was listening to the sound of waves in the conch; I believe she can also hear my voice at this moment.

Business was more important. I didn't let myself eavesdrop on Xiao Wan's thoughts, but focused on sensing the candlelight in the basement on the 15th floor. Xiao Wan used her own power to strengthen the connection between me and the candlelight. It was no different from what we did when we just met in this "doomsday era", but this time, Xiao Wan's power became even stronger.

No... "becoming stronger" is not enough. The power of the small bowl did not increase. To be precise, this power became more "clear".

What she said before was not wrong. The power of the correct position of heaven and earth requires a clear understanding of one's position between heaven and earth. People who don't even know who they are cannot fully exert this power. Even if there is no difference in the absolute value of strength, there will be deviations and disharmony somewhere. It's like not finding the state of the run-up in the long jump. And now she has finally made up for this shortcoming.

This clear power made the connection between me and the candlelight in the basement clearer than ever before. It was as if the last layer of window paper had been pierced, and a clear sense of direction emerged in my heart. To be honest, this sense of direction did not come from my heart, but from Xiaowan's heart. I just shared this experience through mental synchronization.

"Great, we found the direction, Brother Zhuang Cheng!" Xiaowan made a joyful sound.

I could sense that she was feeling a little uneasy. What if even my current self couldn't find the direction to the basement on the 15th floor and failed to live up to my expectations? I could sense that she was feeling that way through the telepathic connection. At this moment, she finally let out a sigh of relief, and the tension in her shoulders was slightly relieved.

After locking the direction, we left the gas station and started moving.

In the afterlife where even the sunrise and sunset and the sky full of stars do not exist, there is certainly no concept of east, south, west or north. In addition, the surrounding scenes are constantly changing, so it is not easy for me to explain in words what direction I am moving.

With my current understanding of the time and space of the afterlife, I can also unfold the Law of Heaven and Earth. Relying on the power of the Law of Heaven and Earth, I can suppress the surrounding time and space so that it will not change easily. However, considering our current mobility needs, plus the correct position of the small bowl, the Law of Heaven and Earth can allow me to constantly approach the place I want to go during the scene switching process. This phenomenon of chaotic changes in time and space can actually help us reach our destination faster.

The strange phenomenon that was so dizzying and a headache for the doomsday survivors at the beginning has now become our "convenient means of transportation", just like going from a landlubber to a swimmer. Such significant progress makes me feel that I am constantly conquering the "doomsday era".

Combined with the two facts that I killed "the great demon who is the king of the doomsday monsters" and "the human-god who is the pinnacle of the doomsday monks", if the "Doomsday Era" is likened to a single-player level-breaking game, then I have obviously pushed its progress to a very late stage.

Maybe it's time for me to leave here... I naturally had this thought. Some time ago, I was still struggling and hesitating whether to stay in the "Apocalypse Era", but now I feel that this is not a question worth hesitating about at all. Maybe I am a person who is more fickle than I thought.

This may be because this "end of the world" is not the end of the world I thought at the beginning, and also because I know too many key truths and can no longer look at the world with the same eyes as before. When I first arrived, I faced the land that fell into the end of the world, and now I am facing the Gospel Institute and the Human Genocide Plan in the afterlife, and the possible conflict between them and Luoshan in the world of the living.

This is fine, I told myself. What I pursued was not the destructive result of the end of the world, but the colorful changes in the process of the end of the world. The various disputes presented to me now are exactly the stage I want to see.

However, there is another voice in my heart, a mocking voice - I have never been a high-handed spectator, but one of the members on the stage, and on this stage, there is more than one person I value.

As time goes by, the number of people I value is increasing. Originally, I only had Changan as my friend, but now I have Ma Zao, Zhu Shi, Xiao Wan, Mr. Zhu, and Lu Chan, who are either showing goodwill to me or swearing loyalty to me...

I looked into my heart with a cold eye and tried to ask myself: Zhuang Cheng, how long can you maintain this "my own way" style? When all the beautiful and important things you have are destroyed by the end of the world, can you really not regret it until the last moment?

Did the enlightenment I had in the basement on the fifteenth floor come from my inner strength, or was it because I didn’t have many concerns at the time that I was able to display such a carefree and optimistic state of mind?

My questioning of myself at this moment is not out of hesitation or fear, but out of a psychological state close to exploration. I want to know what color my soul will show in real danger, despair, and death. This is a question that can never be verified in boring daily life, but the end of the world can tell me the answer.

While carefully examining my mind, I clearly felt that we were getting closer and closer to the basement on the fifteenth floor, and the exit to the afterlife seemed to be just around the corner.

(End of this chapter)