From the end of the world

Chapter 667 Different Ideas

When Dongche asked her this, Xiao Qiao, the junior student, showed a conflicted expression.

"Am I required to express my opinion?" she asked.

Dongche said sincerely, "If it's really difficult, you can choose not to say it, but I hope to hear your answer."

Xiao Qiao hesitated for a while before expressing her thoughts.

“I think… these things seem to have nothing to do with us anymore,” she said.

"It doesn't matter?" Dongche was taken aback. "What does that mean?"

"It's the meaning of the words themselves," said Xiao Qiao, a junior student.

"I don't understand..." Fuyusha said, completely bewildered. "You've suffered such a massive disaster; it's questionable whether even one out of ten thousand people survived. The future world faces even more terrifying apocalyptic calamities, and the Evangelismos Institution, which intends to slaughter all of humanity, is an imminent threat... How could these things not concern you?"

"But isn't that how it is?" Junior Sister Qiao seemed to have mustered her courage. "I heard Zhu Shi say that the demon hunters of Luoshan can be roughly divided into the transcendentalists and the socialists. But even for the latter, who want to coexist with ordinary people, this direction was a choice you made yourselves. We ordinary people had no choice from the beginning."

"You previously mentioned that you included some ordinary people in the shelter's management team in pursuit of your vision. But if you hadn't done that, they wouldn't have been able to have a say in the shelter's management. It's not because they worked hard that they were allowed to participate in management; it's simply because you allowed their participation."

"And now, it's not us ordinary people who decide our fate, it's you demon hunters. No... even you demon hunters can't decide your own fate. The ones who truly control the fate of the world are a handful of gods like you, senior."

"No matter what we think, say, or do, we can't decide anything... It feels like even our life and death have nothing to do with us anymore."

After hearing Xiao Qiao's heartfelt words, Dong Che seemed unsure how to respond, standing there with his mouth slightly open.

Jiao Shu coldly observed all of this.

“I never understood why Xuanming would betray Luoshan, but now I might understand it a little better,” she said. “Sociologicalism, transcendence… although you’ve been arguing about it, in some ways you may not be different.”

"How could there be no difference?"

Dongche first retorted, then looked at Xiao Qiao, her junior, and said, "Thank you for being willing to tell me these true thoughts... Is there anything else? I will definitely keep it in mind."

“That’s all… If I had to say a few more words…” Junior Qiao said hesitantly, “I’m so scared… I don’t know what the world will be like in the future. Even if we overcome the apocalypse, what if we ordinary people are enslaved by demon hunters…”

"It definitely won't turn out like that."

Dongche first asserted, then paused, and then said, "However, it's possible that demon hunters will indeed become a privileged class in society in the future, and that might really be hard to avoid..."

"Special privileges? There's no need for that." A voice came from the side.

The leader of the believers reappeared here. He seemed to have superhuman hearing, as he clearly heard all our conversations on his way here.

"The world allows witchers to do far more than society allows them," he said dismissively. "We can run faster than cars, some can even fly. Better eyesight, greater strength, and a wider variety of magic..." "What are the privileges that civilized society grants us compared to this? Although I do feel superior and more advanced than ordinary people, I have never considered expecting them to grovel before me, nor have I ever felt the need to waste my time and energy on enslavement. Why make everyone so unhappy?"

I don't know if I should praise him, but he truly is my follower. What he said was almost exactly what I was thinking.

However, upon hearing him say that, Xiao Qiao's expression became somewhat subtle, and Jiao Shu even showed a strange expression.

“I never imagined you were a potential antisocial individual,” Jiao Shu said.

"How am I antisocial?" the leader of the believers retorted.

“What you just said, wasn’t it just that you don’t need this society?” Jiao Shu said in a deep voice. “Even if demon hunters integrate into society as a privileged class, at least they are integrated into society. But you don’t even care about social rights, and you don’t want to spend your energy on how to get along with others.”

"Of course, you might say you didn't mean it that way, that you still cherish the conveniences of industrial civilization, and that you might need some social activities. But you don't think you can't live without them, do you? Besides, as a witcher who has mastered many mystical arts, if you just want to satisfy your own needs for convenience, you don't really need a society with such a huge structure as it is now."

"If society gets in the way of your goals, witchers like you will not hesitate to destroy it and will not rebuild it from the ashes. Both transcendentalism and social order require the existence of a society. Isn't it your kind of thinking that is truly dangerous?"

The leader of the believers smiled and said dismissively, "You really know how to smear people. You interpret being uninterested in social privileges as antisocial. Unfortunately, the reality is that you Xuanming believers are arresting people everywhere to perform human sacrifices, while we Zhuangcheng believers are building shelters and protecting ordinary people, without even asking for a needle or thread... So which side is antisocial, huh?"

“If Zhuang Cheng hadn’t suddenly appeared, you would have been leading everyone to a slow suicide. What’s the use of protecting the shelter if you can’t defeat Peach Blossom Village? It’s all meaningless.” Jiao Shu then looked at Dong Che, “You previously completely denied our human sacrifices and killings, but do you have any specific plans for the believers of Peach Blossom Village?”

Dongche didn't respond, likely because he genuinely had no alternative solution for the time being. Of course, it's clear he hadn't given up thinking, but rather was determined to actively seek a brighter future. While one could say he wouldn't abandon his moral principles and hope until the very last moment, criticizing him for being overly idealistic is understandable.

This seems to explain why Dongche left the Gua Tianshi's tutelage—he couldn't accept imposing heavy sacrifices on people in the present for the sake of a better future. While somewhat naive, for those living in the present who are being sacrificed, no matter how wonderful the future may seem, it's irrelevant to them. Rather than a future yet to be born, he chose to stand with those living in the present.

Even now, he still holds this position. However, in the eyes of someone like Jiao Shu, his views still lack persuasiveness. The crisis of destruction is imminent, so even methods with huge moral flaws must be used—that's probably what most people think. On the other hand, perhaps by continuing to delay, a better solution can be found, so everyone should wait and wait some more—this kind of argument, whether right or wrong, is certainly difficult to convince people of.

Jiao Shu's thoughts may reflect Xuan Ming's thoughts. Taking a little girl who had no grudge against him and had not done anything wrong to sacrifice to the heavens might be something that Xuan Ming himself could not agree with, but since it was the only way at the moment, he would act on it immediately, even if it was a direction he could not agree with.

After some time, Dongche, the leading believer, and a dozen or so other Zhuangcheng believers set up the venue for the spirit-summoning ceremony. Other demon hunters also joined in to help. The news that I am Zhuangcheng the Great Impermanence also reached their ears through the Zhuangcheng believers. After their initial shock, they were filled with passion and motivation, greatly shortening the time that would have been needed.

They had all assumed they were in a desperate situation, and their defense of the shelter was a last-ditch effort. But now, with the glimmer of hope for escaping the city right before their eyes, everyone seemed to be brimming with inexhaustible energy.

The hundreds of survivors protected in the shelter had all heard more or less about what was happening here. Most of them were clueless about concepts like the Great Impermanence and the Summoning Ritual, but they could all sense from the attitude of the demon hunters that something good was about to happen.

A large open space had been cleared out of the vast exhibition hall, with numerous ritualistic magic circles carved into the ground. Symbolic ritual objects were placed in various locations, the most numerous being candles painted orange-red. Dozens of demon hunters gathered around the perimeter to maintain order, while hundreds of survivors huddled further out, whispering amongst themselves, hoping for something good to happen while also feeling uneasy about whether their hopes would be dashed.

Being surrounded by so many people felt like a religious ceremony was being held—and that was indeed the case.

After the setup was complete, Dongche came over to me and gave a report. I then slowly walked towards the center of the ceremony venue.

(End of this chapter)