From the end of the world

Chapter 645 Gods and Believers

The city center barrier... I can't believe there's something like that.

Although Jiao Shu had strong faith in the god he believed in, so much time had passed and Xuan Ming still hadn't been able to break the city center barrier. This showed that it was an incredibly powerful barrier, so strong that even the Great Impermanence, who possessed more than eight fragments of divine seals, couldn't penetrate it. It was hard to believe that Xuan Ming was 100% confident of breaking through it later.

Even Xuanming couldn't break through the barrier on his own, so I don't think I can think of a way to break through it. As for the large barrier covering the southern cities, I mostly cheated by having "fireflies" happen to enter the barrier.

How exactly was such a powerful barrier around the city center established? Could it also be the power of "Shangri-La"?

Not only Xuanming, but also Meng Zhang, the lord of Taoyuan Township, is someone I must eliminate in my plan. Although there is no deep hatred between us, in order to deal with Shan Liangyi in the future, he cannot ignore me, and I cannot be passively attacked. Taking the initiative to challenge him is my usual approach.

Normally, I would think that with the power of the Broom Star, there would definitely be a chance to break through the city center barrier. But this time, the obstacle is something that even Xuanming, who has more than eight fragments of the Divine Seal, cannot overcome. Can the power of the Broom Star really be invincible again? Admittedly, the power of the Broom Star is a world destiny vortex so vast that even the Great Impermanence cannot compare. However, the one here is not Asaho herself, but just me, an indirect person around her who is affected.

Judging from the current situation, perhaps I need to cooperate with Xuanming before the battle is decided, and eliminate Meng Zhang, the lord of Taoyuan Township.

Xuanming and Meng Zhang, the lord of Taoyuan Township, are both my enemies. In fact, joining forces with Meng Zhang to eliminate Xuanming wouldn't be a bad strategy. However, I have a stronger urge to personally defeat Xuanming; more importantly, compared to Meng Zhang, who has sealed himself inside a strong barrier, Xuanming is currently the only potential collaborator I can find and establish communication with.

I continued to gather information from Jiao Shu. What we knew for now was that we were in the western part of the city, quite a distance from the city center. From here, it was impossible to see the city center's protective barrier with the naked eye. My current perception could only reach a kilometer at most, making it impossible to observe the city center's barrier.

Jiao Shu dealt with five more waves of monster attacks, leaving her even more exhausted. Her face was covered in sweat, and the pendant hanging around her neck was flashing red. She quickly pulled me to a secluded spot, cast a spell to conceal our voices and presence, and rested again.

I could tell that although she looked exhausted, she actually had a lot of energy saved up. This in itself wasn't surprising; recklessly pushing yourself to exhaustion in a dangerous area before realizing you need rest is extremely unwise. Ideally, you should consider yourself to be in danger when your energy is at most half depleted. However, her performance was a bit exaggerated, almost like she was putting on a show.

Why would she put on such an act for a "child" like me? What's the point of deliberately acting exhausted for me? Judging from her detailed behavior, she seems quite adept at this kind of acting. Perhaps she wasn't deliberately acting for me, but rather that this kind of performance is just part of her daily routine. So what is she trying to hide?

"How far are we from the shelter?" I asked.

Jiao Shu tugged at his collar a few times, revealing his sweaty collarbone, as if trying to blow air into his burning body, and replied, "It's not far, just a few more streets away. Don't worry, we'll be safe once we get to the shelter."

"Since it's called a refuge, does that mean there are many survivors there?" I asked. "Won't the monsters find us there?"

“There are barriers we’ve erected to keep the monsters away, as well as spells to conceal the presence of people.”

Perhaps due to the power of the Word Spirit, Jiao Shu became more friendly to me, his voice became gentler, and he was more willing to answer my questions: "As for the survivors, there are about sixty or seventy of them."

"Our followers rescued many surviving residents after the disaster, and were attacked by the monks from Peach Blossom Village more than once. Later, in order to avoid being wiped out, we built many shelters in various hidden places in the city and settled the survivors in different locations."

"Next, I'm going to take you to one of the shelters. There are not only survivors there, but also some of my companions. I'll introduce them to you later."

"Although we are far outnumbered by the cultivators of Peach Blossom Village, we are all elite experts. Thanks to the high pressure of Mount Bailuo, we devout believers who have survived are very good at infiltration and guerrilla warfare, and we will not be easily discovered or surrounded."

"I can assure you that I will absolutely not allow those man-eating monsters and Peach Blossom Spring cultivators to threaten your life."

She made a firm promise to me like a hero whose ideal was to save lives, but I sensed something unusual in her words. I possess the ability to read the nuances of emotion from the surface of a soul, although these nuances can be concealed through training. However, she wasn't so wary of me, a "child." I could tell—she was hiding something very important from me.

Moreover, I sensed something else amiss in her demeanor; she seemed to harbor ulterior motives towards me. At the same time, listening to her profess her faith as a devout believer, I noticed a new problem.

"Don't you hate Xuanming?" I asked.

"hatred?"

Jiao Shu's breath hitched, her gaze turning cold as she stared intently at me. "Why would you ask that? Although we believers left behind in Luoshan have had a very difficult time since Xuanming left, and a small number of less devout followers have even shamefully joined Zhuang Cheng's faith, but..."

“I’m not talking about that,” I said. “When Xuanming clashed directly with the Lord of Taoyuan, he destroyed everything in this city. Not only us weak ordinary people, but also the monsters roaming the city, the insane cultivators of Taoyuan… even you Xuanming’s followers should have experienced the impact and death.”

"Although it was revived afterward, it was probably the power of the Peach Blossom Village Lord that was at work, not Xuanming's own doing. He probably didn't even foresee this before the battle started."

"He should at least know that his followers are in this city, and that his rash attack would affect you. Even so, he still chose to take action... Don't you have any thoughts about this?"

"You've devoted so much faith to Xuanming, yet he repays you with such an attitude. Aren't you disillusioned with him?"

I ask this question not only out of curiosity about the question itself, but also because I want to know Jiao Shu's—this devout believer's—view of the deity.

I've never been sure how to maintain a proper distance between myself and those who believe in me, or how to approach them. I've never been interested in faith, nor have I ever believed in any deity or ideology, so I can't understand those who fanatically worship me.

For a long time, I didn't consider personally contacting those believers, largely because of this. Lu Chan and Elder Zhu did tell me that "there's no need to get close to those who worship you," and rationally, I understand that this is the most reasonable approach. However, even if one wants to maintain a superior attitude, one shouldn't do it haphazardly. Besides, being showered with so much fanaticism, I can't help but be curious about the true details of that mindset.

Perhaps Jiao Shu's answer can resolve my doubts.

Jiao Shu's emotions did not become agitated; instead, they gradually calmed down.

“I’ll let you off this time. You’re just a mortal who has no knowledge of the gods, so I won’t take it as a questioning of my faith. As for your question, I don’t know how to answer it perfectly…” She seemed to be organizing her words, “It’s like… earthly emperors need their subjects and people to be loyal to them, and the subjects and people can offer their loyalty in an attempt to gain the emperor’s favor and appreciation.”

"If both sides get what they want, it's a mutually beneficial relationship, and neither side will feel dissatisfied. On the contrary, if the emperor doesn't receive loyalty, or if his subjects and people give their loyalty but don't receive favors or rewards, or are even deprived and persecuted, resentment and hostility will inevitably arise. ...Isn't this the point you were trying to make?"

“That’s how it is,” I said. “You gave your loyalty to Xuanming, but Xuanming wants to destroy you. Although it wasn’t his intention to do so, it still objectively led to this outcome. So it’s only natural that you would feel resentment, isn’t it?”

Jiao Shu shook his head.

“The reason I made this analogy to you is not so that you would follow the reasoning, but so that you could understand that you have misunderstood a major premise—the Great Impermanence is not an emperor on earth, but a transcendent deity,” she said. “No matter how high and mighty an emperor on earth may be, he is essentially just an ordinary person who is no different from his subjects and people.”

"They need to rule over all people by extending their will to their subjects, so that they can use the power of civilization to create mountains and rivers and change the world. If they are not worthy of their position, neglect the power in their hands, and fail to handle this power well, they may be devoured by it and die without any face."

"Deities are completely different. They possess the great power to change the world and have no need to increase their followers as a supplement or extension of their power. At the same time, even if a hundred million or two hundred million followers are gathered, they cannot cause any significant harm to the gods."

“We believers in God were never needed from the beginning.”

(End of this chapter)