Quadruple split.

Chapter 2853 The Unknown (XVI)

"You mean..."

The man paused for a moment, then suddenly laughed and nodded slightly, saying, "Divided into four... I see."

Watching the other person's every micro-expression, Xiao Motan leaned back on the sofa and said in a tone as if she were the master of the place, "It seems you are not surprised."

"No, I'm very surprised, child, I'm really surprised."

The man shook his head and chuckled, “But after thinking about it for a bit, I realized it’s actually quite logical. Two hazy, confused consciousnesses are sharing the burden of the power of sin. One is accepting and bearing it from the front, while the other is supporting and sharing it from the back. How absurd is that? But if you think about it carefully, isn’t the concept of sin itself the most absurd thing?”

The boy looked at the other person expressionlessly and said indifferently, "I don't understand, and I don't care."

"Yeah yeah."

The man shrugged and spread his hands, saying, "You may not understand, and you may not care, but you should know very well that one day you will face its true nature and be devoured by it in the next instant. You are not me, and I am not the one who was chosen. So back then, I was able to actively approach it after I grew to a certain level, gradually understanding it, controlling it, using it, and even changing it. But you... are not as lucky as I was."

"Luck is a false proposition."

The boy shook his head slightly, a cold smile curving his lips: "And we're not the same kind of people either."

"But we will eventually become the same kind of people."

The man's gaze sharpened slightly as he said earnestly, "Perhaps you are not my past, but I am destined to be your future. Perhaps we came into contact with it for different reasons, but even if I am the ambitious one who tried to seize it, and you are the poor one chosen by it, in the end, in the very end... we cannot escape a future where we are devoured, assimilated, influenced, and distorted by it."

"so what?"

The boy stared at the other person expressionlessly, as if he were watching a bad joke.

"So even if you say with certainty now that 'we are not the same kind of people,' one day you will still end up like me."

The man smiled slightly, then changed the subject and said softly, "But... if you are good enough, there might be a glimmer of hope at the end of this dead end."

The boy looked at the other person noncommittally and asked, "So, you're planning to make a deal with me?"

“A deal? No, no, no, you have nothing to trade with me, child.”

The man couldn't help but chuckle and waved his hand, saying in a light tone, "Perhaps you are indeed much more mature than ordinary people under the impetus of [Sin], but what you have seen, heard, known and learned is still too little, so much so that you can hardly understand that in this situation, I do not intend to ask anything of you, but rather intend to give you some gifts unilaterally."

Xiao Motan twitched the corner of her mouth and said softly, "Every gift has already had a price tag attached in secret."

“But I have no future, my child. Not only that, I have no regrets.”

The man grinned and said in a relaxed tone, "Because I forcibly devoured, distorted and integrated the sins of this world at the last moment, I have transcended the shackles of karma and become an existence absolutely independent of the rules. At this point, my soul, my existence, my mark, everything about me is no longer tolerated by this world. In terms that you can accept, it is probably what is called 'transcending the three realms and not being within the five elements.' And I, who was defeated under these circumstances, have no other ending but 'annihilation'."

The boy looked at the man's increasingly blurred features and asked, "Then what are you now?"

The man laughed merrily and countered, "If I told you that there was never any 'I', would you believe me?"

"explain."

The boy's words were concise and to the point.

"The person in front of you is, strictly speaking, a 'memory' of the [Sins of This World]."

The man casually picked up a glass of cloudy, dark red wine that had appeared on the table at some point, took a small sip, and then smiled as he explained, “Don’t misunderstand. Sin is different from karma. It absolutely cannot produce any so-called ‘self-awareness.’ It is merely a simple, malicious ‘phenomenon’ and ‘concept.’ It has no distinction between good and bad, right and wrong, and it doesn’t even have the ability to ‘think.’ It’s like a tsunami, a typhoon, an avalanche, or a volcanic eruption—it cannot be defined by any sense.”

The boy nodded slightly and said, "You are a corpse."

"Ok?"

The man paused for a moment, then asked curiously, "What do you mean by me?"

"You are a corpse."

The boy casually repeated a sentence, and said indifferently, "According to you, if we compare [sin] to a tsunami, then you are a corpse that was swept to me by this tsunami, right? A tsunami cannot be defined by emotion, but your 'corpse' can carry a lot of information."

"A very vivid description."

The man gave a bitter laugh, then corrected him somewhat helplessly: "There's just one thing that's not quite right. It wasn't 'my' corpse that was swept to you by the tsunami, but rather you, who were caught in the tsunami, who saw 'my' corpse in your dying moments."

The boy didn't speak, but just looked at the other person noncommittally, waiting for him to continue.

"But a corpse is just a corpse. Although throughout history, only 'I' have left a corpse in the concept of 'sin' like I have, even so, the traces 'I' have left are almost completely gone, especially in the case of talking directly with you like this... If nothing unexpected happens, when this unprecedented conversation of ours ends, the last trace I left in 'sin' will be completely erased."

The man smiled, saying nonchalantly, "But none of that matters. After all, the story of 'me' is long over. The reason I'm telling you this is simply to let you know that as an echo, a lingering sound, a corpse, 'I' who cares about nothing has no interest in making a deal with you, so—"

Tell me about your gift.

The boy interrupted the other person, still keeping his words concise and to the point.

"First of all, at this very moment you have already been drawn into [Sin]. Although you have managed to control its corruption out of instinct, this is not a long-term solution. As you grow, the [Sin] within you will become increasingly mad and will completely distort the person in front of me named 'Mo Tan' within just a few years."

The man pointed at Xiao Motan and said softly, "After that, you, whose 'self' has been completely overturned, will become a puppet of [Sin]. Although you will gain power that is unimaginable to ordinary people, you will gradually lose everything else. Of course, it is more likely that you will be nipped in the bud by someone who senses something is wrong before anything even begins."

Tell me about your gift.

The boy looked at the other person impatiently and repeated what he had just said.

"My gift is actually very simple."

The man smiled and readily agreed, saying, "As the only person who once came incredibly close to completely controlling [Sin], even though 'I' am now just a memory, a corpse, I still have the means to influence it. If you're willing, I can teach you how to control it. Of course, this kind of control is not something that 'you' who is talking to me right now can do alone. Even if you just want to control 'it' to the bare minimum, you must be a complete person."

The boy frowned and asked, "Why?"

"Because a fragmented consciousness is unworthy to control [sin]. Although it does not have any so-called 'consciousness,' this does not prevent it from using the simplest, most direct, and most violent backlash to directly obliterate those who try to control it but are not qualified."

The man wagged his index finger and said softly, "Therefore, 'Mo Tan' must be reunited. Although you have been fragmented from the very beginning, if you want to embrace, control, and master [Sin], you must reunite into a 'complete' person." "So, if you want to control so-called [Sin]..."

The boy lowered his eyes and asked in a cold voice, "Is this the only way?"

"To be precise, this is the only way at this stage, and it is also the only way for 'Mo Tan'."

The man chuckled and said leisurely, "If you were given another ten years or so, and with some opportunities, perhaps 'Mo Tan' could really become complete on its own after losing its unity. At that time, perhaps even a single consciousness of yours could control [Sin], given your extraordinary talent. But unfortunately... these assumptions are impossible."

The boy squinted and asked, "Because I don't have time?"

"That's right, you don't have time."

The man nodded slightly and said solemnly, "As I said before, if you don't do something, you will become a complete puppet of [Sin] in two years at most. And no matter how hard you try, you are destined not to become whole within two years if you refuse 'integration'. So, you only have one path."

"Do not."

The boy calmly denied the existence before him that had left a huge wound on countless worlds, so much so that even [Sin] would remember it to this day, and said lightly, "I have time, and there is more than one path."

"Oh?"

The man looked at the boy with some surprise, then asked with interest, "Tell me about it?"

"What you just said is all based on an absolute premise, which is to control so-called 'sin'."

The boy looked up, staring directly into the other's face, which, though indistinct, clearly showed a hint of surprise: "But what if I don't try to control it?"

The man stared intently at the boy: "You...aren't you going to control it?"

"The possibility of neither being devoured by it nor trying to control it also exists, doesn't it?"

The boy smiled genuinely for the first time since entering this place, and said in a cheerful tone, "As long as you become a part of it, as long as you become a part of it, to bear its distortion, to merge with its essence, to assimilate with it, to coexist with it... isn't that enough?"

This time, the man remained silent for a long time.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally spoke slowly: "You want to become [Sin]?"

"what happened?"

The boy continued smiling, opening his arms and saying, "Can't 'I' be 'sin'?"

“You’ve lived with it for so many years, you should know what that means.”

The man took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Even if 'you' are carried together with another 'fragment' that doesn't seem to have developed consciousness yet, it's still far too much..."

"Do not."

The boy shook his head to interrupt him, and said softly, "Obviously, 'I' won't bear anything with anyone. Since the time is almost up, it's a good time for 'he' to replace me and become a part of the person 'Mo Tan'."

"What did you say..."

"It's not that he hasn't developed self-awareness; he's just been asleep, always dreaming. In his dreams, he might read emotions and understand feelings from the perspective of 'Mo Tan'; or he might practice righteousness and exercise justice from the perspective of 'Mo Tan'; or he might embrace that [sin] from the perspective of 'Mo Tan'... Of course, in the future, he will forget this nightmare under the drive of instinct, leaving only that vague, ominous, and terrifying 'déjà vu,' which 'Mo Tan' will bear alone."

"And what about you? I mean, what about 'you' right now?"

“I will relinquish this name, fall asleep with the power you speak of that seems capable of overturning everything, and, as I said before, become a part of that [sin], making myself its 'only one'.”

"This is a terrible decision, child. You have no idea what it means..."

"This means I will lose my 'self'... at least my current 'self,' becoming someone I can't understand or even utterly despise right now, but so what?"

"So what? Child, you must know that even if you are willing to fall asleep right now and sink into an absolute nightmare, it will never be the end. Even if you abandon your identity and name, your personality will still gradually become whole. At that time..."

"When that time comes, we'll leave everything to the future 'me' and 'Mo Tan'."

Do you really think that your future self will be as clear-headed as you are now?

Why should the future "me" be as clear-headed as I am now?

"...It seems you've already made up your mind."

"That's it."

"In that case, let me give you one last gift."

Is this not a 'gift' but a 'gift'?

"Haha, what right do I have to 'gift' you?"

"Tell me about it."

“I will erase this trace that once represented my existence, so that the ‘sin’ that you will use to avenge the dead, which will appear here in the next few seconds, will deceive everyone.”

Thanks.

"How about you call me teacher?"

"Since it's just a lingering echo, don't presume to help others share their unwarranted guilt."

"You are a gentle child."

"I'm just selfish enough."

Chapter 2844: The End