From the end of the world

Chapter 573 "No Other Way"

The will of nature can obviously have an impact on the afterlife, so Ma Zao always suffers bad luck in the afterlife.

However, to say that this is all the efforts of the will of nature to save itself, and that the entire burden is placed on Ma Zao's shoulders, is a bit of an exaggeration. The will of nature is likely to have made efforts in other areas as well, and Ma Zao may just be one of them.

I couldn't help but think of the huge full moon hanging above the night sky of the afterlife. The Naraku Gospel that is now worshipped in the Gospel Temple is also suspected to be an existence that invades the human face of the afterlife from the outside, an unknown will of unknown origin. Could this be the same existence as the natural will that can also radiate its power to the afterlife?
But it doesn’t seem to make sense. Since it is the manifestation of the natural will of the earth, it should be manifested in the form of the earth. Why does it appear as a full moon?
Am I doubting in the wrong direction? Is the Gospel of Naraku not the natural will of the earth?

Xiaowan's thoughts seemed to have shifted to another place. "...It seems that the reason why Sister Ma Zao couldn't connect Brother Zhuang Cheng's mana fluctuations with the Great Demon of Disaster was probably also partly influenced by the will of nature."

From the cultivators we have captured to the little girl adopted and cared for by the cartographer, in the afterlife, anyone who can sense the fluctuations of mana and has a certain understanding of the Great Demon of Disaster can connect me to the Great Demon of Disaster at a glance.

However, it is somewhat unreasonable that Ma Zao, who had once had a direct encounter with the Demon of Disaster and was almost killed by it, was unable to do this.

It was fine when we first met. At that time, Ma Zao was seriously injured in the soul and had low perception, and I was still at the Great Perfection level at that time. The gap between me and the Great Demon of Disaster was too big to be compared. But later, I became the Great Impermanence, and she also greatly restored her soul, but she still seemed to be unaware of the connection between me and the Great Demon of Disaster.

Was it because Ma Zao was worried that I would think that my "future self" had hurt her and Xiao Wan, so she deliberately didn't mention it? It was definitely not. She was not good at lying and acting, and she couldn't hide it from me.

Xiaowan seemed to have found the answer at this moment.

"This may be because if Sister Ma Zao had realized that Brother Zhuang Cheng was the Great Demon of Disaster at the initial stage, she would not necessarily choose to act with you." She said, "From the perspective of the will of nature, a natural god like you, Brother Zhuang Cheng, can be said to be one of the ultimate mistakes between heaven and earth, so the will of nature will tend to create a situation that is convenient for Sister Ma Zao to be with you.

"The soul is a collection of consciousness. People who have suffered such a serious injury are prone to memory errors. Although Sister Ma Zao later restored the soul through the Shengui Lingdan, it is estimated that there is still some loss. Important memories may be recovered under the power of return, but minor details such as the 'magic fluctuations of the Great Demon of Disaster' may not be included. This creates room for arranging 'coincidences'."

“…It sounds like Ma Zao is the protagonist of the story,” I said.

In many fantasy adventure stories, the "shocking truth" that "the protagonist's life background and journey so far were all carefully arranged by the final villain" is often revealed in the later stages.

Ma Zao also revealed similar characteristics. The misfortunes she had endured until now were all due to the heavy mission of "saving the world" given to her by the will of nature; her subsequent life experiences were also arranged by an invisible hand.

Some fantasy novels will collectively refer to "people like the protagonist" as the so-called "sons of luck". Their lives will be filled with countless hardships and opportunities, and they will also be accompanied by the luck of "being able to survive no matter how desperate the situation is". All this is just for the "sons of luck" to grow up quickly - this may correspond to Ma's experience of quickly growing into a great master during his time at the Gospel Academy.

The more you stand at the center of the stage, the more you are bound. The seemingly glamorous leading actors are often the most helpless puppets. All the gifts given by fate are secretly marked with a price.

Even if Ma Zao knew the truth, he would most likely choose to accept the mission of "saving the world" after being shocked. This is very similar to the protagonist in an adventure comic.

Xiao Wan quickly understood what I meant, and then said, "But most of the coincidences that occurred in order to bring Sister Ma Zao and Brother Zhuang Cheng together probably came from my wishes."

"So you are also one of the 'invisible hands' that arranged Ma Zao's fate?" I complained.

Xiaowan gave an embarrassed smile.

Number Seven looked at the cultivator who was pretending to be an ostrich next to him.

"Then next, I will investigate his memory to see if I can get clues about the technical data of Mount Dushuo and the fragments of the divine seal," she said.

The Chengjing monk showed a fearful expression and said, "You...you won't kill me afterwards, right?"

"Don't you think you shouldn't be killed? You are determined to enter the world of the living and kill eight billion humans, and you have already killed countless survivors in the afterlife?" Number 7 asked. "We have no other choice!" The accomplished monk said excitedly, "We have also explored other directions... But for the continuation of our race and the world, this is the only way!"

Hearing this, No. 7 was surprised, and then said, "You can actually hide part of your thoughts... Oh, is it because Zhuang Cheng said before that you can't lie or hide things when we ask questions, so you can just take the initiative to speak out? You are such an old hand, I found a loophole for you so quickly.

"Or have you been hypnotizing yourself for so long that you've made yourself believe it? What do you mean by 'exploring other directions'? Do you really think I don't know your character? Huang Quan did order you to explore other directions, but you were just pretending and didn't actually make much effort. I've already learned about these things through intelligence personnel.

"The Human Genocide Plan is the first method found, but it may not be the last. If you had come to the conclusion that 'this is the only possibility' after trying to explore all directions, then I would have nothing to say. But after you found this method, you stopped researching all other routes and gave up all other possibilities on your own initiative. Isn't the fundamental reason because you think that humans other than you are insignificant?

"What do you mean by 'the only way'? Don't use such sophistry in front of me!"

The monk of the Chengjing realm was sweating coldly on his face, and then he looked at me. He obviously knew that my words were the most effective here, and he said tremblingly: "You... No, since you were summoned as the Great Demon of Disaster, you should not be a hypocrite like Hongcao, I..."

"I don't care." I said, "I'm not hostile to you, the Gospel House, for that reason. You can do whatever you want, whether it's killing humans or running a supernatural organization, you are free to do whatever you want. Just don't complain or regret when it's your turn to be killed.

"Don't rush to die now. First, reveal all your memories of the internal situation of the Gospel Court to her. Once we have extracted all the information from your brain, leave this room, remember to close the door, and then find a place where no one will notice you and end your life."

I used the power of the Word Spirit in the second half of the conversation, and the cultivator could not disobey and could only obey with despair on his face. Number 7 walked up, grabbed his head, and began to establish a telepathic connection, receiving the memory images transmitted from him.

I have no right to blame this accomplished monk, because there is not much difference between him and me. Not in terms of morality, but in the point of "taking the first path I find as the only path".

Seriously speaking, I actually have no motive to be an enemy of Huang Quan, nor do I have to stand on the opposite side of the Gospel Court. It's just that Huang Quan has an unknown motive to kill me for some reason, and he put it into practice twice in a row. Since the other side wants to kill me, I have to kill back, it's only natural.

Having said that, I am not really following the crowd or acting under external pressure. I enjoy conflicts and pursue conflicts of higher intensity. Therefore, even if I need Huang Quan's Dushuo Mountain technical information and the fragments of the divine seal, I will not try to have a dialogue first, asking Huang Quan what kind of essential contradiction there is between him and me, and I will not seek to resolve the conflict or de-escalate the conflict.

Retaliate with tooth for tooth, blood for blood, and push the conflict to its most intense stage. I accepted this approach from the beginning as if I had no other choice. Did I really have no other choice? Did I come to this conclusion after trying to explore other routes?

"There is no other way" is just an unnecessary excuse. I just want to have a good time with Huang Quan.

It was very likely that Xiaowan had seen through my thoughts, but she didn't comment and continued to look through the documents on the desk.

In addition to the documents related to Ma Zao, there were some other documents scattered on the table. Xiao Wan seemed to quickly select the noteworthy parts from them and his eyes stayed on one of the documents.

She picked it up, frowned and examined it for a moment, then said hesitantly: "This is..."

"Did you find anything?" I asked.

"...This is information related to Taoyuan Township." Xiaowan said, "Brother Zhuang Cheng, I remember you said that the Gospel Institute has reached a cooperative relationship with Taoyuan Township in the world of the living...Is that right?"

"Yes." I became very curious.

Ever since I heard about the Gospel House’s human genocide plan from No. 7, the cooperative relationship between Taoyuan Township and the Gospel House has been a big mystery in my mind.

(End of this chapter)