From the end of the world

Chapter 596 Life or Death

The killing power of the White Tiger is specially created for fighting on the battlefield, and this is also reflected in the Dog.

Strictly speaking, the silver-white magic power of the dog is similar to the killing magic power of the white tiger. It is very likely that Ying Lingyun added his own understanding of the killing magic power of the white tiger when he transformed the dog, but it is enough to be used as a reference and become the material for evaluating the killing magic power of the white tiger.

As a man-made Great Impermanence, Xu Gou not only lacks the awareness of improving power density, but also lacks basic understanding of mysterious knowledge. However, he relies on his silver-white magic power that is good at killing to exert combat power on the battlefield that rivals that of the veteran Great Impermanence.

The White Tiger killing power that Zhu Shi unleashed with the forged Yama Sword was no less expressive than that one. Facing Ming Zhu's sudden attack, she actually seized the opponent's flaw of underestimating the enemy, who he thought was infallible. She first used a sword to offset Ming Zhu's attack, and then used another sword to force Ming Zhu back to a distance.

Ming Zhuo must have been very shocked at that time. He was not really seriously injured. With his vision, he could probably see that Zhu Shi was almost at the end of his strength after the two attacks. However, in his original calculations, there was definitely no such thing as "a Great Impermanence-level fighter appearing out of nowhere to counterattack him."

His miscalculation may have been due to the cautiousness he inherited from his master Huang Quan.

At that time, Zhu Shi actually anticipated that Ming Zhuo might take advantage of my absence to harm Ma Zao, so he temporarily put aside his studies at Xianshui University and lived with Ma Zao. But if Ming Zhuo had not spent so much time repeatedly confirming the safety of his move and had made the move two months in advance, then even if Zhu Shi had been inseparable from Ma Zao, it would have been useless, and everything would have gone according to Ming Zhuo's calculations.

Zhu Shi's blocking consumed all the golden time for Ming Zhu to attack, and Fa Zheng rushed to the scene immediately. Ming Zhu knew that the situation was hopeless, so he could only retreat temporarily and hide somewhere unknown.

"I owe Fa Zheng a big favor. He didn't even mention a word about this matter before..." I said.

Mr. Zhu said slowly: "From Fa Zheng's perspective, since you are still alive, the covenant between us is still ongoing.

"Ming Zhuo was obviously planning to kill everyone present except Ma Zao. Since he was going to break up with you anyway, he might as well do it thoroughly and kill all your companions. If Fa Zheng hadn't taken action when he should have, the consequences would have been very serious.

"All your reasons for staying in the hegemony camp will disappear, and you will likely resent Fa Zheng's inaction and become a complete enemy of the hegemony camp."

"Maybe that's the reason too." I said, "But since I owe Fa Zheng such a big favor, I have to repay him later."

Mr. Zhu nodded and said, "Well, we have almost finished talking about our side. Next..."

He looked at the small bowl hiding behind me.

"Who is this little girl who looks exactly like my granddaughter Zhu Shi when she was a child...?" Mr. Zhu asked tentatively.

Zhu Shi also cast a complicated look at Xiaowan.

While explaining the whole story to me, Zhu Shi spent most of her time observing Xiao Wan. She has an observational ability that was born from the law of the heavens and the earth, and can analyze the flaws of all things in the world with her eyes. Although this is a special ability born for combat like the White Tiger's killing power, it can also be used to a certain extent in a non-combat state. In this process of observation and insight, the other party's soul composition and structure will also be clearly presented in her eyes.

So now she may have more or less figured out what the ingredients of the small bowl are.

She looked at the small bowl and hesitantly called out those two words: "Mom...?"

"What?" Mr. Zhu was surprised.

Ma Zao looked at Zhu Shi, then looked at the small bowl, and opened his mouth slightly: "...Ah?"

Xiaowan had an expression that he was speechless about.

"No, wait... wait a moment! My dear granddaughter... what did you call her just now?" Mr. Zhu asked in a panic.

Zhu Shi seemed a little confused. She said lacking confidence: "Although the shape is completely different and the structure looks weird, the color and composition of this soul... is exactly my mother's?"

Mr. Zhu said frantically, "But she doesn't look like your mother at all. She doesn't look like your mother when she was a child! Isn't she exactly like you when you were a child? Although this kind of smart-looking temperament is indeed not related to you when you were a child, how could she be your mother?"

"Grandpa, didn't you just say something insulting to me without even noticing it?" Zhu Shi said dimly.

I turned around and looked behind me and asked, "Xiao Wan, are you going to explain next, or am I going to explain next?"

"...Let me explain it." Xiaowan seemed to have mustered up the courage.

She took two steps forward and came in front of me. Zhu Shi and Mr. Zhu both stopped and focused their eyes on her. She took a deep breath and explained her origins to the two of them and to Ma Zao.

In the process, she also explained to me the truth about the "end of the world" and our adventures in the afterlife.

The Lord of the Divine Seal, the Apostle of the Void Realm, the Fragment of the Divine Seal... She also explained everything related to her being the Second Apostle of the Void Realm. After listening, although Ma Zao was surprised, he seemed to have tried to accept it.

The "doomsday era" that she had been experiencing was actually the world after death... This incident certainly shocked and shaken her, but we had done a lot of speculation in this direction before, so she was not completely unprepared.

Xiaowan's true origins were definitely something she had never thought about, but even if she knew those things, it would obviously not change her views and feelings towards Xiaowan.

Then, as if she had thought of something, she muttered to herself, "Can the memories lost due to madness really be restored?"

Zhu Shi and Mr. Zhu looked at each other with an expression of disbelief, as if their worldview had been greatly challenged.

Rather than the "doomsday era" that they had never experienced before, their attention was more focused on the true origin of the small bowl.

"What does this mean... My granddaughter took over my daughter's body? And my daughter did it willingly?" Mr. Zhu seemed to be trying to sort out the logic. "Or did my daughter and my granddaughter merge? But the self-awareness does not belong to either my daughter or granddaughter... Does this count as a synthesis of a new self-awareness?"

"If I had to describe it... it's like a character in a card-drawing game that has the settings and appearance of a certain historical character, but is actually another character at heart? Or maybe it looks like an old character, but is actually a fusion character with the personality settings of a new character stitched in?" Zhu Shi stared at Xiao Wan in astonishment. "What kind of stitched character is this in a 2D mobile game? My mother has landed again after gaining the attributes of a lolita daughter!?"

Xiao Wan looked at Zhu Shi speechlessly, and then reminded: "The most important issue now is not how to define me, but to confirm the life or death status of Zhu Jiu's body."

"Yes, that's right..."

Mr. Zhu calmed down, then looked at me and said, "Zhuang Cheng, can you take us there?"

"no problem."

As I spoke, I summoned a flame that engulfed everyone present. Then I took a step forward, and the scene around me changed. After the flames dissipated, I took everyone present to the living room on the first floor of the Zhu family's villa in Xianshui City.

Zhu Shi's grandmother was also here, and she was startled when she saw us suddenly appear. Mr. Zhu explained to her, and then we moved together to the bedroom on the second floor where Zhu Jiu was.

At this moment, I feel a little conflicted.

There is one ugly thing that I must never say to Zhu Shi and the others, and that is that in my heart, there is a part of me that hopes to be able to confirm that Zhu Jiu's body is dead.

Because if Zhu Jiu's body is still alive, it means that the body is connected to the soul through a mysterious connection, confirming that "Zhu Jiu's soul can still be defined as alive". However, now Zhu Jiu's soul is being used as the material of the small bowl. If Zhu Jiu's soul is to be restored to its original state, the small bowl that occupies Zhu Jiu's existence must disappear.

With the mysterious knowledge I have mastered, I can think of at least two ways to restore Zhu Jiu's soul to its original state.

The first method, which is also the most direct and easiest to think of, is to use Ma Zao's returning power to repair it directly;

The second method is to forcibly strip away the dream obsession that belonged to Zhu Shi’s childhood from Xiaowan’s soul.

This approach is dangerous. It does not mean that as long as the childhood Zhu Shi elements are stripped away, the remaining Zhu Jiu elements will automatically reconstruct into the original soul shape of Zhu Jiu. The soul is a very fragile thing, and the result of this approach is likely to cause the soul to become unbalanced, and finally collapse and be shattered.

However, if the unbalanced soul can be transferred to Zhu Jiu's body in time while removing the childhood Zhu Shi's components, the danger may be eliminated.

The body is the container of the soul, recording the shape and structure that the soul should have. As long as Zhu Jiu's body is regarded as a mold and the "soul that has lost its own shape" is injected into it, the soul may find its own shape according to the container.

I don't really care about Zhu Jiu's life or death. Of course, Zhu Jiu is the mother of Zhu Shi and Chang An, and she is the important person of my important people, so if someone wants to harm her, I will definitely help them. However, in the final analysis, Zhu Jiu is still a stranger in my heart. If Zhu Jiu and Xiao Wan fall into the water at the same time, and only one of them can be rescued, and I am asked who I would save, then I would definitely choose Xiao Wan without a second thought.

But what would Zhu Shi and Mr. Zhu think? I really can't imagine that their feelings would be more biased towards Xiaowan.

Amidst the complex and conflicting thoughts, we arrived at the door of Zhu Jiu's bedroom on the second floor. Zhu Shi's face showed tension, as if she had made a great decision, and then she slowly pushed the door open and walked in.

We followed him into Zhu Jiu's bedroom.

In the deepest part of the bedroom, Zhu Jiu's body was like a sleeping beauty, lying peacefully on the soft bed.

She is still alive.

(End of this chapter)