Thirteenth month of death

Chapter 270 Who Convinced Whom
Li Daosheng stood before the door, with the projections of twelve worlds slowly rotating behind him.

There was no light or darkness on the other side of the door, only an indescribable existence itself.

The first step was that he felt himself being disintegrated.

The second step was that he felt himself being reorganized.

The third step was that he stood at the core.

There is no concept of space here, no flow of time, only a chaotic primordial state.

In the center of this chaos, a blurry outline floats—twelve ribbons of light extend from the void, winding around the outline like the strings of a marionette.

"Hello."

The voice rang directly in Li Daosheng's consciousness; it wasn't in any language, yet he could understand it.

This is not a greeting, but a simple statement of fact, as self-evident as saying "the water is wet."

"Hello."

Li Daosheng responded.

He was surprised to find that his voice had a physical form here, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples.

The outline of light trembled slightly: "Why did you come?"

"To stop you from devouring those worlds."

The outline remained silent for a moment, the light band flickering: "It's not about devouring them, but about saving them."

Li Daosheng frowned: "Turning every world into nothingness, is this your salvation?"

"Nothingness?" The outline seemed somewhat unable to comprehend the word. "What you call the world is nothing but a series of dying embers. I am the one who merges them into the eternal flame."

A beam of light suddenly extended in front of Li Daosheng, transforming into a mirror.

The mirror revealed twelve worlds—each collapsing in a different way, with life devastation and everything withering away.

“Look,” Outline said, “they were heading towards their end even without me. I just accelerated the process, sparing them a long and painful one.”

Li Daosheng stared at the horrific scene reflected in the mirror, then shook his head: "No, you caused all of this. You stole the origin of the world, which caused it to collapse."

"steal?"

The outline of light trembled violently, as if laughing, "I'm just taking back what rightfully belongs to me."

"What do you mean?"

The mirror composed of light bands shifted and revealed a more distant scene—a vast and boundless universe in which countless stars were born and died.

One of the points of light was particularly bright; that was... the prototype of the twelve worlds.

“Long ago,” the silhouette’s voice grew distant, “I created them. They were my dreams, my thoughts, my extensions. Now, I am simply waking up.”

Li Daosheng felt a wave of dizziness. This explanation was completely different from what Wudao had told him: "Are you saying... these worlds originated from you?"

"Just as branches originate from the trunk, and waves originate from the sea." The contoured light gently brushed across the mirror's surface. "Now, it's time to return to the source."

The image in the mirror changed again, revealing the "protagonists" of various worlds—Ren Ou, Yang Ya, Cheng Xue, Su Moshi… Each of them was connected by a golden thread leading to their outline.

“They are a part of me, the anchors I leave behind in various worlds. Through them, I can reconnect these scattered fragments.”

Li Daosheng suddenly realized something: "The 'Thirteenth Month' and the 'Fifth Season' are for finding these 'anchors' you left behind?"

“Find? No, awaken,” the outline corrected. “But you… are different.”

The light bands in the outline suddenly all pointed at him: "You are an accident, and so is Wudao. He created you using the characteristics of twelve worlds, but he didn't know that these characteristics originated from me."

"You are the perfect vessel, sufficient to hold my entire consciousness."

Li Daosheng suddenly felt a chill; he understood the unspoken meaning in the silhouette's words: "You want to take over my body?"

“No, it’s fusion.” The outline’s voice was almost benevolent. “You will retain your consciousness, your memories, everything about you. Only… you will no longer be confined to the narrow ‘self’.”

This proposal sounds very tempting.

To become part of a greater existence, to gain near-eternal life, and to no longer have to worry about the collapse and demise of the world...

But Li Daosheng thought of Su Moshi, Cheng Xue, and those people struggling on the verge of collapse.

"You knew I would come here?"

The light bands in the outline flickered slightly: "Of course, this is the world I created, and I should know everything. If... you are unwilling, then it's a great pity. You could have been a part of the greatness."

“Great?” Li Daosheng suddenly found it somewhat amusing. “You claim to have created these worlds, but who created you?”

The light band suddenly froze.

"Where do you come from? And what came before you?" Li Daosheng continued to press. "You say these worlds are your dream, but whose dream are you, the one dreaming?"

The light bands in the outline began to tremble irregularly, as if they had been disturbed.

“I… am existence itself.” The outline’s voice remained the same, but it seemed… less clear. “There is no ‘before’, no ‘outside’.”

"Really?" Li Daosheng pressed on, "Then why do you need to reclaim these worlds? If they are extensions of you, why not let them take their natural course?"

The light band vibrated more and more violently, and the image in the mirror began to distort.

"I... must be whole..."

“Complete?” Li Daosheng astutely grasped the word. “It means you are incomplete now. Why? What have you lost? Or rather—what has taken a part of you away from you?”

The outline suddenly emitted a piercing shriek, the light bands danced wildly, and the entire core space began to tremble.

"Stop...stop thinking about this!"

It felt like there was a screaming voice in my head.

But Li Daosheng couldn't stop.

He recalled Wudao's last hint—"Find what He doesn't have."

"You don't know where you came from, do you?" Li Daosheng's voice grew more and more resolute. "You're not even sure if you really created those worlds. Maybe you, like me, are just a vessel, carrying the will of some more ancient being."

"No! I am the origin! I am—"

"What is it? Say your name."

The outline froze.

It has no name, and it never needed one.

“Look,” Li Daosheng said softly, “you don’t even know who you are. You claim these worlds are yours, yet you want to reconnect through ‘anchors.’ Does a true master need to find someone else to get the key to open his own door?”

The tremors in the core space grew more and more violent, and the light bands began to intertwine and knot together.

The shape of the outline became fragmented, sometimes expanding and sometimes contracting.

"I...exist...therefore I..."

“You’re just repeating what others say,” Li Daosheng pointed out astutely. “You have no thoughts of your own, no real consciousness. You’re just an empty mechanism, carrying out some long-forgotten command.”

The outline suddenly quieted down, and the band of light glowed faintly.

"You... almost completely shook me."

He said.

(End of this chapter)