Zongman: The post-2D era

The lake water was as thick as ink, yet surprisingly without any resistance, slowly lifting them up.

The darkness around us gradually faded away, and a strange light bloomed in front of us, like the first ray of light before dawn.

In the light, an illusory figure loomed, and its voice was low and distant, echoing in this strange space:

"In this endless abyss, what you see and feel, why is it evil?"

As they spoke, the air around them seemed to freeze. An indescribable sense of solemnity and oppression made their hearts beat faster involuntarily.

Feng Feng's eyes flickered as he speculated on the identity of the illusory figure and whispered, "Alaya?"

Upon hearing this, Sakura Matou unconsciously increased the strength of her fingers and held Feng Feng's hand tightly, as if to convey her determination to him.

She looked firmly at the figure in the light, and spoke with an unquestionable determination:

"You have harmed Feng Feng to this point, isn't that evil? He shouldn't have endured this, it's you who forced this endless pain on him!"

The figure in the light trembled slightly, and the light around it seemed to tremble because of Sakura Matou's words, and an extremely tense atmosphere filled the air.

Sakura Matou's eyes flashed with stubbornness in the dim environment. She stood side by side with Feng Feng, facing the unknown existence without flinching.

Feng Feng was quick-witted and saw the figure in the light, Alaya, slowly raise his hand. An indescribable power gathered in his palm. He immediately raised his right arm, palm facing outward, trying to resist with his remaining strength.

However, Alaya's power was beyond his imagination, like a mountain torrent, unstoppable. Matou Sakura just opened her mouth, as if to say something.

But they only saw a bright but extremely cold light flash by, and the two were instantly sucked in by an invisible force and fell together into the black lake that was as thick as ink and bottomless.

The lake water instantly submerged their heads, and it was pitch black all around. Only their tightly clasped hands conveyed a faint warmth and strength. In this endless abyss, they seemed to be each other's only support.

Sakura Matou hugged Feng Feng tightly as he struggled out of the black lake, calling his name anxiously, her eyes flashing with anxiety and fear in the dim light.

Her fingers gently touched Feng Feng's face, but it felt cold, without any warmth at all.

Feng Feng's eyes were like an empty abyss, having lost their former brilliance. The corners of his mouth were slightly open, but he didn't utter a single word.

Sakura Matou's heart sank suddenly, and she seemed to be able to hear the sound of her own heart breaking.

She hugged him tightly, trying to warm him with her body temperature, but she felt that Feng Feng's body was as stiff as a dead person and there was no response at all.

Sakura Matou's tears slid silently and dripped onto Feng Feng's cheeks, but failed to awaken him to consciousness.

"Alaya, I will go back to the Type-Moon World with you and let him go!"

Matou Sakura hugged Feng Feng's gradually cooling body tightly, raised her head and shouted into the endless darkness, her voice filled with endless sorrow and determination:

"Alaya! What do you want? Why do you have to force me to fulfill the fate of being used as a toy and an experimental subject!"

From afar, the voice sounded again, as if coming from the depths of the void, with endless majesty and indifference:

"What is evil? What you see and feel is just one of the phenomena in the world. And he bears the evil of this world. It is his own choice and the destination of his fate."

When Sakura Matou heard this, tears fell like beads from a broken string. She bit her lips tightly to prevent her tears from spilling out.

She looked up at the ethereal place, her eyes flashing with determination and anger:

"No! This is not his choice! It is you who forced his fate upon him! If you don't let him go, I will perish with you!"

No one knew how many years had passed in the Black Lake. When Feng Feng slowly woke up from the endless darkness, there was silence all around. Only the Mountain Sword held tightly in his hand emitted a soft glow, like the brightest star in the night sky, warm and firm.

He looked around in a daze, but found that Sakura Matou was no longer by his side. An indescribable sense of loss and panic surged in his heart.

The sword trembled slightly, as if responding to his emotions, and the light became softer, as if carrying some kind of comfort and strength.

Feng Feng lowered his head and stared at the sword that had fought alongside him. The warmth of Matou Sakura seemed to still remain on the hilt. He gently stroked the sword, and a hint of tenderness and determination flashed in his eyes, as if Matou Sakura was silently protecting him in another form.

"Alaya, the Sword of the Mountain is the killing sword of the first assassin of mankind, and it is also the original evil that you do not understand!"

Feng Feng tightly grasped the Sword of Mountain, with the tip of the sword pointing straight to the sky. The light on the sword suddenly intensified, like the rising sun, illuminating the entire Black Lake.

He shouted loudly, and the remaining strength in his body seemed to be completely awakened, surging out along the sword. The surface of the Black Lake actually split in the middle, as if split by a huge blade, and surged to both sides.

On the lake, Alaya's figure gradually solidified. He was wearing a black robe, his face hidden in the shadow of the hood, but his eyes were like the abyss, revealing endless indifference and majesty.

Feng Feng leaped up like an agile eagle, with the cold light of the Mountain Sword, and stabbed straight into Alaya's chest.

The tip of the sword rubbed against the air, making a sharp whistling sound, as if even the space was split in two.

Alaya moved slightly, his black robe fluttering, and he narrowly avoided the fatal blow. The confrontation between the two instantly burst out with dazzling light, illuminating the endless abyss.

Feng Feng used the Sword of the Mountain to fly from the sky. With the first ray of dawn, he suddenly pierced into Alaya's chest which seemed to be woven by endless nothingness. The tip of the sword penetrated half an inch and stopped at an incredible distance.

At that moment, the air seemed to freeze, and a dazzling light burst out around the tip of the sword, forming a sharp contrast with the darkness of the Black Lake.

A hint of astonishment flashed across Alaya's eyes under his black robe, which was then replaced by deeper indifference.

"Alaya, when humans kill other humans in their own consciousness, that is evil, the first evil!"

Feng Feng's mouth curled up with a hint of sarcasm as he said, "Hua Tian Foreign Fairy, you don't understand it either!!"

Chapter 847 The Final Evil

Sunday, October 30

In the Black Lake of the Holy Grail, Feng Feng's hair was flying, his eyes were bright, and the strange black lines on his skin began to fade.

Matou Sakura hung in the air like a ghost, observing Alaya and asking, "Is he dead?"

The runes on the Sword of the Mountain seemed to be activated, flowing with ancient power, colliding with some unknown energy in the body of Alaya, who looked like an old man.

The conflict caused visible ripples that spread throughout the Black Lake, and strange waves appeared on the surface of the lake.

Feng Feng tightly grasped the Sword of Mountain, and the tip of the sword lightly touched Alaya's calm chest. His eyes were as heavy as iron, and his furrowed brows seemed to be able to catch the dust in the wind.

On the lake, Alaya's body was like a forgotten dead leaf, floating quietly, gently wrapped in circles of ripples. Those ripples carried a strange glow, sometimes converging, sometimes dispersing, like a faint flower quietly blooming under the night sky.

Feng Feng's heartbeat resonates with the ripples, and every beat seems to be questioning an unknown fate - has he entered eternal sleep?

"I do not know either."

Matou Sakura squatted lightly on the lake, next to Alaya's seemingly sleeping body.

Her short skirt swayed gently in the wind, revealing a pair of long, snow-white legs that looked even brighter against the dark lake water.

Her delicate fingers rested lightly on the corner of the black robe, as if she was afraid of disturbing something. She tapped lightly with her jade fingers, her eyes filled with some confusion and curiosity.

"How...do we get out of here?"

Her voice was soft but a little confused, and her eyes were searching around, as if she was looking for an answer or a clue.

The ripples around were still rippling gently, and Alaya was still lying there quietly, as if the hustle and bustle of the whole world had nothing to do with him.

"I'll look for it again."

Sakura Matou slowly stood up, leaving Feng Feng with a light back. She decided to explore this dark and mysterious Black Lake alone.

The ripples on the lake swayed gently under her feet, as if every step was stepping on soft silk.

She walked along the lakeshore, surrounded by dense ancient trees, whose branches and leaves rustled in the night wind. The occasional cries of unknown creatures added a bit of weirdness and desolation.

Sakura Matou's eyes moved between the shadows of the trees, hoping to find some fruits or other edible things, while also keeping an eye out for any clues to leaving here.

The moonlight shines through the sparse treetops and falls on her, giving her a layer of silver glow.

Feng Feng's eyes lingered on the receding figure of Matou Sakura for a moment, and finally slowly fell back on Alaya's face that was as calm as dead water.

At this moment, Alaya's face changed miraculously. The wrinkled face that looked like an old man gradually became smooth, and his facial features became deeply defined. He turned into the appearance of a middle-aged man, who was three-quarters similar to Fengfeng, as if he was his mirror image many years later.

Feng Feng's heart was shocked, and a hint of disbelief flashed in his eyes.

In the moonlight, Alaya's face revealed a strange holiness, which was in sharp contrast to the ancient and powerful power in his body.

Feng Feng unconsciously increased the strength of his grip on the Sword of Mountain, and an inexplicable emotion surged in his heart, a fear of the unknown, as well as curiosity and confusion about the intertwined fate.

In Feng Feng's mind, the middle-aged man's voice was like an echo from ancient times, deep and powerful, penetrating the surrounding silence and the murmur of ripples.

He seemed to be in a void, surrounded by endless darkness, with that voice as the only guide.

“If killing is the original evil,” the voice echoed in his mind, with a hint of questioning and contemplation.

"In this vast world, lies, betrayal, greed... these sins other than murder, do they have their own weight and meaning?"

Scenes flashed before Feng Feng's eyes: a sharp blade hidden behind a false smile, a pledge of loyalty vanished in the face of interests, greedy eyes devoured everything...

These images were like sharp fragments, cutting through his thoughts, causing him to stagger and the Mountain Sword in his hand to tremble slightly.

In the distance, there was a sudden noise in the forest. A large number of birds flapped their wings and flew high. Their dark wings cut through the night sky, like a sudden storm.

Feng Feng was awakened by the sudden noise. He came back to his senses abruptly, his eyes once again focused on Alaya's unpredictable face.

At this moment, Alaya's face was 60% similar to his. His tightly closed eyes seemed like they would open at any time, revealing the same tenacity and determination as his.

Under the moonlight, the face seemed both strange and familiar, causing Feng Feng to hold his breath. The Mountain Sword in his hand trembled slightly due to nervousness.

The Sword of the Mountain stabilized again, and the runes on the sword seemed to become brighter at this moment, flashing a heart-pounding light.

In the distance, at the edge of the forest, the figure of Sakura Matou gradually became clear. She seemed to have sensed something and was hurried back.

The moonlight outlined her light yet anxious steps, and every step stepped on Feng Feng's tense heartstrings.

Feng Feng raised the corners of his mouth and waved his arms to her, his smile warm and firm in the night.

However, when he looked down at Alaya's face again, which looked increasingly like his own, his smile froze instantly.

The moonlight was like a blade, reflecting the cold light flashing in his eyes. It was a resolute murderous aura, like volcanic lava about to erupt.

He tightly grasped the Sword of Mountain, the tip of the sword trembling slightly. With each increase in the similarity between his face and Alaya's, the murderous intent in his heart grew stronger, and the air around him seemed to solidify due to this invisible pressure.

"You want to become me, take me over, and defeat me? Alaya-vijnana is indeed the latent consciousness of all human beings, including me!"

The murderous intent in Feng Feng's eyes surged, as if two cold rays of light cut through the night.

He suddenly raised the Sword of Mountain, and the sword drew a brilliant trajectory in the air, heading straight for Alaya's heart with a fierce murderous intent.

The tip of the sword pierced through the black robe and accurately stabbed into Alaya's chest. The bright red blood instantly dyed the surface of the lake red, turning the surrounding ripples into a strange red.

Alaya's body trembled violently, and then was nailed firmly to the lake surface by the Sword of the Mountain like a rag. His face, like Fengfeng's, had wide-open eyes, full of shock and unwillingness.

Under the moonlight, the scene looked particularly tragic. The Black Lake seemed to be torn apart, and endless darkness and murderous intent surged out of it.

"This is the second lesson I'm teaching you. The ultimate evil of mankind is to kill oneself!"

"The nameless is the beginning of all things, the named is the mother of all things, and having a beginning and an end is called the way of man!"

Feng Feng walked slowly towards Matou Sakura. The moonlight cast his elongated shadow on the sparkling lake, like an ancient painting.

A relieved smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and that smile seemed particularly warm in the silence of the night, as if it could dispel all the haze.