A Manual for Surviving a Weird World

Chapter 379 My World
In the southeastern mountainous region of Taoyuan City, in a deserted town invisible to any satellite equipment, lies the home of the Four-Faced Buddha Taiyi.

An amorphous quantum cloud shrouds this deserted town called Zanju. If any outsider accidentally wanders into this place, they will gain a strange ability to 'make their wishes come true' under the watchful gaze of the Four-Faced Buddha.

Here, the observed results will be distorted.

Previously, Xia Yubing came here with Jiang Han, Shen Qing and others to do a live broadcast. In fact, from the moment they entered the town, all radio signals were blocked by the quantum cloud that covered the area, but the people involved were unaware of this.

If I don't know, then it doesn't exist.

Several streamers continued their broadcasts without knowing that the network signal had been interrupted. The live stream was running normally, and the screen was scrolling with viewers' comments, some serious and some joking. Everything was as harmonious as if nothing had happened.

After Xia Yubing realized that the signal had been interrupted, she finally saw that the seemingly lively live broadcast had actually been completely black all along.

The live stream had long been interrupted; there were no viewers or comments. What she observed was merely a virtual reality distorted by the quantum cloud that enveloped the area, based on the premise that she was unaware the signal had been interrupted.

This is the realm of Taiyi, where all desires come true; what one observes depends on what one is thinking.

Even if her companion Jiang Han had died at the bottom of the pool beneath the Four-Faced Buddha, as long as Xia Yubing didn't know he was dead, and as long as Xia Yubing believed he was still alive, she could observe the living Jiang Han under the interference of the quantum cloud.

It wasn't a false illusion, but a real, tangible, and genuine Jiang Han who could be communicated normally—a living, breathing person.

The essence of that probabilistic quantum cloud is the 'gaze' or 'observation' of the Four-Faced Buddha.

"The four-faced Buddha statue in the center of the town is the world axis of this Taiyi Realm where wishes come true."

A peregrine falcon flapped its wings and flew over the lush green mountain valley, landing on the rooftop of an abandoned building in a deserted town. Its feathers fluttered in the wind, transforming it into a boy with a somewhat scholarly air.

Ning Zhe sat on the rooftop, looking up at the enormous stone Buddha statue in the town center in the distance:

"For ordinary people who stray into this place, only their own observations are distorted."

"As for Taiyi the Four-Faced Buddha, who is the 'first observer,' even the real 'reality' can be distorted by his subjective will, forcibly turning reality into what he thinks it is."

When the reality that Taiyi the Four-Faced Buddha believes in deviates from the actual reality, it means that one of them must be wrong.

As everyone knows, Taiyi is never wrong, so the world must be wrong. Therefore, the real world must change itself to conform to what Taiyi believes.

Distorting objective facts with subjective will—this is the rule of [Taiyi].

Xia Yubing's body was frozen in time by Taiyi's observation at the moment she left Zanju Town. After that, no matter what she experienced in the outside world or what changes occurred in her body, as long as Taiyi did not see it, it was as if nothing had happened.

If your hand is broken, it will reattach itself; if your bone is fractured, it will grow back on its own. Even if you are killed, you will be forcibly resurrected because Taiyi believes you are alive, so you must live. What Taiyi considers you to be, that is what you are.

"Besides Xia Yubing, who was locked into a state of empowerment by chance, there is another person who is also using Taiyi's rules..."

Ning Zhe casually brushed a stray strand of hair behind him, turned around, and saw a humanoid stone statue dressed in long trousers and a mandarin jacket standing behind him. Its round, pleasing face was plastered with a fawning, obsequious smile, standing alone on the desolate rooftop, looking exceptionally eerie. Ning Zhe smiled slightly, stood up, walked to the statue, and gently patted its round face: "Getting impatient?"

The statue's expression remained obsequious, and it made no move.

Ning Zhe leaned against the stone statue and looked up at the Four-Faced Buddha in the distance. The face of the Buddha, which was covered with cracks, had no facial features carved on it. This was the north side of Zanju Town, a direction that the Four-Faced Buddha could not observe.

"I've actually been thinking about this for a long time."

Ning Zhe spoke softly, as if talking to himself:

"When I first came to Zanju Town, I had not yet mastered Jueyuan. I just used the incomplete rules that Taiyi copied, and accidentally stamped Taiyi with the thought that 'this guy is Ning Zhe'."

"However, since it is a simulated and false rule, the imprint of that thought is not very strong and will gradually fade away over time."

"But if I use the true 'Awakening Source' to solidify the thoughts of Taiyi and imprint them with the steel seal of thought, wouldn't that be able to permanently modify reality in a real sense?"

The boy's flippant words drifted in the wind, while the stone statue on the rooftop remained motionless.

Ning Zhe smiled and continued, "Since Jueyuan can influence Taiyi's thoughts, can other strange rules involving cognition and memory do the same?"

"For example, a certain ascendant who mastered the [Tai Chong] appeared before the Four-Faced Buddha Taiyi at some point in the distant past, and then left Zanju Town, never to return for the rest of his life."

"Perhaps the long passage of time has diluted Taiyi's memory, perhaps that ascendant possessed some kind of rule that could reduce his own presence, or perhaps he only appeared in front of Taiyi for a moment before leaving. In any case... Taiyi forgot him, forgot Taisui."

As he spoke, Ning Zhe's physique and facial features began to slowly change, transforming from a handsome young man into an ordinary face with no distinguishing features.

He continued, "From the moment Taiyi forgot Taisui, a parasitic worm appeared in His mind, feeding on memories. With that Taisui worm parasitizing Taiyi's consciousness, you can modify His memories to a certain extent."

Taiyi's consciousness can distort reality, while Taisui can distort Taiyi's consciousness.

Even if Xia Yubing drew ink lines outside the villa, it wouldn't matter. As long as Taiyi felt that she hadn't drawn them, then she hadn't drawn them. Taiyi's subjective will was above objective reality.

"No wonder Xiaolan said you've gone the furthest on the road to promotion; now it seems she really is right."

Ning Zhe laughed, a pure and simple laugh: "To modify reality at will, even the legendary 'god' who created all things is no more than that, isn't he?"

“Cherish this last bit of time you have to wield the authority of God, Fenwu.”

Ning Zhe pushed the stone statue aside, his ordinary, unremarkable face expressionless: "He will remember you soon."

(End of this chapter)