From the end of the world

Chapter 659 The Proclaimed Ideals

The other demon hunters seemed to be checking the battlefield to see if any stragglers or hidden Peach Blossom Village cultivators were around the exhibition hall, while Dongche was responsible for leading Jiaoshu and me into the exhibition hall.

As for who Dongche wanted me to meet, he remained tight-lipped. Although I had a vague feeling, I didn't want to be sure before we actually met. Since we'd be meeting soon anyway, I didn't rush to ask him what the truth was.

Meanwhile, I followed behind Dongche, observing the slender boy's back.

It's unknown whether the Divination Master knew about Dongche's current situation. Although Dongche had already left the Divination Master's tutelage, given the developments at Moon Hidden Mountain at that time, the Divination Master was likely secretly and continuously monitoring Dongche's movements, knowing from the beginning that Dongche was trapped in the Great Impermanence's battlefield.

However, the Diviner did not come to Dongche's aid. This was certainly partly due to the Diviner's inability to penetrate the city's barrier, but that didn't seem to be the whole story. Even Lu Chan knew I would go to great lengths to enter the city, so the Diviner must have foreseen this as well; logically, he should have mentioned it to me briefly.

Or did he foresee this situation from the very beginning thanks to his powerful precognitive abilities? That possibility cannot be ruled out, but I have other thoughts on the matter.

The Diviner Master valued Dongche highly, yet he also possessed an optimistic outlook, accepting Dongche's potential death. During the Moon Hidden Mountain incident, he could have intervened before Dongche fell into a state of mortal danger, but he chose to watch the situation deteriorate until the very last moment when all hope seemed lost before finally taking action.

A powerful figure like the Diviner Master certainly possesses immense protective capabilities, but if he truly cared about his disciple's life, he wouldn't allow the disciple to stand under such a precarious wall. I even think that even if the situation became irreversible, he wouldn't react negatively to Dongche's death. Or rather, even if he felt temporary grief, he wouldn't rashly intervene before things had settled down.

This does seem to be consistent with his usual style. When I clashed with Yinyue, even knowing that trying to curry favor with me in that setting would have been highly likely to bring huge future benefits, he chose not to do so, and even openly declared his neutrality. If I or Yinyue failed, it would mean that fate hadn't smiled upon us, and death was simply death. He was merely viewing everything and everyone around him with the same detached gaze.

Only when his true obsession—the future of human civilization—is involved will he be unable to remain calm and composed.

Even, though I'm not entirely sure, Xuanming might share a similar mindset. Those ancient Great Impermanence beings have experienced far too long a time, witnessed far too many partings and deaths; most people and things are merely fleeting clouds in their eyes. This applies to fellow Great Impermanence beings, as well as so-called direct disciples, and so on.

Although Dongche never looked back, he seemed to be secretly watching Jiaoshu, exuding an air of vigilance and wariness. Jiaoshu, on the other hand, maintained a low profile, following behind me without uttering a word.

"You seem to really dislike scorching heat?" I asked.

Dongche turned to look at me and honestly stated his opinion: "The believers of Xuanming have done some heinous things in this city."

"You mean they intended to sacrifice the survivors alive?" I asked.

Dongche seemed to know about that matter after all. He nodded and said, "That's part of it too."

“A portion?” I turned to look at Jiao Shu. “Besides the intention to sacrifice large numbers of survivors and contaminate the dream network, do you have any other plans?”

Despite Dongche's criticism that Xuanming believers were utterly devoid of conscience, Jiao Shu's attitude seemed to suggest that he had nothing to hide and directly answered: "Of course, the human sacrifice is a plan we've only been preparing to launch in the last ten days. In the early stages when the city was occupied by Taoyuan Township, we originally had other strategic plans to stop Taoyuan Township's ambitions."

Xuanming was able to infiltrate the city more than a week after it was sealed off by a barrier. During that time, it seems that Xuanming's followers were not a disorganized group.

"You..." I thought for a moment and then turned to Dongche to ask, "What did they do?"

“They are massacring the city’s residents,” Dongche said.

"A massacre? Why?" I asked.

Jiao Shu said in a emotionless voice, "From the moment the city was sealed off by the Lord of Peach Blossom Village, the thirty million people here had nowhere to escape but death. The only difference is whether they are killed by the cultivators and monsters of Peach Blossom Village, or by us..."

"If it's the former, the consequence is that the souls will be shattered and become material for the murderer to achieve his ambitions; if it's the latter, at least they won't be incorporated into the dream network. Since Peach Blossom Village's goal is the souls of these thirty million people, we only need to prevent the enemy from obtaining them. Although there are ways to protect them, our numbers are insufficient to do so. Moreover, even if our numbers increased ten thousandfold, if the Peach Blossom Village Lord himself intervenes, the protection strategy will become meaningless. Therefore, it's better to destroy them all first, preventing the enemy from effectively utilizing them."

"Of course, even if we were to destroy them ourselves, we couldn't eliminate the souls of 30 million people in one go. We could only kill as many as possible in order to delay the completion of the dream network."

"At the time, we didn't know that the city would be restarted."

Hearing this, I finally understood. "So that's how it is... Is this the purpose of the reboot?"

Those killed by the monks and monsters of Peach Blossom Village will have their souls devoured by "Peach Blossom Village," while those whose cause of death is not so will be resurrected until they are killed by the monks and monsters of Peach Blossom Village one day.

The purpose of restarting is likely to ensure that all the souls of this city will eventually enter the belly of the "Shangri-La".

"It's amazing that you can say these things without batting an eye. Don't you think what we've done is utterly shameful?" Dongche looked at Jiaoshu.

The latter calmly replied, "Once the 'Shangri-La' is created, human civilization will come to an end. Compared to that consequence, those are merely minor sacrifices. If it were us who had to sacrifice, not them, we would gladly accept it. What's shameful about that?"

Dongche questioned, "Isn't it shameful to arrogantly impose what you've accepted on everyone else? If you believe that everyone else must also genuinely accept what you truly believe in, then why don't you try to accept Peach Blossom Village? What's the difference between what they do and what you do in this respect?"

The activism of the Proclamation Christians in this city likely reflects their own ideology. At first glance, this seems to be a case of the pot calling the kettle black with the Evangelical Fellowship's plan for the extermination of humanity. To avoid the worst possible outcome, they are willing to sacrifice tens of thousands of people; given sufficient resources, they could even sacrifice tens of millions.

If one had to pinpoint the difference between Xuanming and the Gospel Institute, it would be that Xuanming shares the same bottom line as the Diviner Master: the continuation of human civilization. The Gospel Institute, however, is willing to discard all the human civilization accumulated to date, solely for the sake of perpetuating its race. If necessary, it would even modify its own genes and completely replace its consciousness structure, accepting the possibility of becoming a non-human race.

Xuanming once described the human extermination plan as "worthless," perhaps because he could not accept the Gospel House's disregard for civilization itself.

However, from the perspective of the victims, Xuanming and Fuguoyuan are mostly birds of a feather.

Jiao Shu seems to show a special kind of care for younger children, but when it comes to disputes over ideas and beliefs, her temperament immediately hardens.

She and Dongche argued back and forth, neither able to convince the other. Perhaps realizing that continuing the conversation would be a waste of energy, they simply stopped talking. Not long after, we arrived at a rather spacious exhibition hall inside the museum.

Numerous tents were pitched here, and hundreds of men and women had gathered. They whispered among themselves, the atmosphere quite uneasy, seemingly unaware that the monsters' siege of the exhibition hall was over.

A witcher arrived, carrying a large megaphone, and announced the end of the danger. People gradually quieted down, and the panic subsided.

"Doesn't the reboot phenomenon reset everyone's spatial location? A reboot happened just a few hours ago, and these survivors haven't left here?" I asked.

“Most of them are survivors who were taken in here before the last reboot. Even if the reboot occurs, their spatial location will only be reset inside the exhibition hall,” Dongche replied. “However, a few survivors are not so lucky. Fortunately, survivors who enter this shelter will report their past locations as required by us, so that we can find them after the spatial location is reset.”

"You're already struggling to survive, yet you still want to protect so many ordinary people? You're incredibly naive." Jiao Shu looked at the survivors. "With so many living people, if we use them all to corrupt the dream network, I wonder if it will have a sufficient effect..."

Dongche glared at Jiaoshu fiercely.

Just then, a woman stumbled out from the survivor tent area in the distance. She called out uncertainly towards us, "Senior... Senior? Are you your senior?"

(End of this chapter)