From the end of the world

Chapter 686 The Difficulty of Resurrection
"I see. No wonder you were so sure that the Lord of Peach Blossom Village had the technical knowledge you wanted..." I understood.

The dog nodded and then added details of its subsequent experiences.

As a powerful warrior of the Great Impermanence level, Xu Gou's status in Peach Blossom Village is second only to the village lord Meng Zhang himself. He possesses extremely high authority and therefore has access to many secrets, including a considerable amount of technical knowledge shared from the Humanitarian Affairs Bureau. Although he failed to obtain the most crucial part of the resurrection technology, his exploration and investigation were not without results.

The deeper he went, the more painfully he realized something... that even if he did obtain the resurrection technology developed by Ying Lingyun before his death, he might not be able to reunite with the female researcher Ai Ye.

The death of female researcher Ai Ye is a separate story from the one Ying Lingyun wanted to resurrect, the great demon Yin Yue. The latter was simply killed; although her body and soul were reduced to ashes, making her utterly mortal, the manner of her death wasn't particularly unusual.

The former is much more complicated—the most troublesome aspect is that the female researcher Ai Ye died because she consumed herself as a living sacrifice to activate the rebirth method.

In other words, she sacrificed herself as the cornerstone of the existence of "the reborn Dog".

From this perspective, female researcher Ai Ye cannot be considered an "ordinary person who accomplished nothing," but rather a great figure who gave birth to a human god at the cost of her own death.

If I were to attempt to prevent its death by altering history, it would be tantamount to using time travel to turn some unpredictable being into something that "never happened." Anyone with even a basic understanding of mysticism knows that this is impossible.

Even if it's not through rewriting history, but rather an attempt to resurrect him in other ways, it's tantamount to retracting his self-sacrifice, denying the second life of the Dog. Therefore, resurrecting Ai Ye is likely as difficult as resurrecting a deceased Great Impermanence. In reality, this becomes an impossible task.

Xu Gou still harbored a bit of wishful thinking, wanting to get his hands on the resurrection technology that Ying Lingyun had developed before his death. However, Taoyuan Township Lord's actions challenged his moral bottom line time and time again.

Although Xu Gou had experienced hellish torment in the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, which tainted his personality with cynicism, he still retained a kind and ordinary side to his heart... It may also be that his love for the female researcher Ai Ye prevented him from truly becoming insane.

When the Lord of Peach Blossom Village unleashed an unprecedented massacre in the southern city, he was plunged into great torment.

On the one hand, in order to resurrect his beloved, he must stay by the side of the Lord of Peach Blossom Village; on the other hand, he cannot accept that he has become an accomplice in the heinous massacre of 30 million people.

He did not personally participate in the massacre of the southern cities in Peach Blossom Village, nor did he participate in any indirect killings. Even if he had betrayed the Lord of Peach Blossom Village at that moment, he could not have stopped it with his power... However, when so many humans died tragically, he was indeed on the same side as the murderers, bathed in the endless screams of agony—this is an undeniable fact.

When he fought me before, he might not have been as foolish as he appeared on the surface. He might have genuinely believed that as long as he and Meng Zhang's avatars attacked together, they could overwhelm me with sheer numbers... As a user of silver-white gold elemental magic, he should have extremely strong intuition in combat. Assessing the situation in battle is something he excels at.

In his heart, there may be a thought that he himself may not even be aware of—a deliberate pursuit of defeat.

His sudden change in behavior is perhaps partly due to that reason.

"To be honest, I have considered whether or not to rely on 'Shangri-La'..." Xu Gou said in a complicated tone. "Although I have not yet made a deal with the Lord of the Divine Seal, I should at least try that direction first... But I don't know if I can resist the temptation when 'Shangri-La' is completed and descends... the temptation to meet Ai Ye again."

He paused slightly, then looked at me and asked, "Number Three, why did you become an enemy of the Peach Blossom Village Lord? I don't know what your dream is, but with such powerful magic, you must have a goal you'd do anything to pursue."

“I am indeed an outsider to the realm of mystery, but I do know one thing. A person who does not have a clear will and ideals in their heart will have loose and weak magic power, and you are not that kind of person at all. But whatever the dream, it can be realized in the ‘Shangri-La’, even to a degree of perfection that is impossible to reach in the real world... Why would you rather risk your life to stand against the Lord of Shangri-La?”

I replied, "If my future self were to fall into a 'paradise,' perhaps I could truly find contentment there, but I cannot accept that kind of future now."

My dreams seem to contain everything I want, but what I truly desire is not something "easily attainable."

I hate battles that are guaranteed to be lost, and I hate battles that are guaranteed to be won. Nothing makes my wishes come true more than an adventure where "everything is guaranteed to be fulfilled." Adventures in a dream world where dreams come true are like having a cheat code in a virtual game; it might be exhilarating at first, but you'll quickly fall into emptiness.

Of course, since it's truly a dream where anything can be yours, it might also conjure up an extremely difficult nightmare, making it impossible for me to move an inch within it. But the thought that it's a dream intentionally catering to my interests inevitably makes me feel nauseous.

Perhaps this "Shangri-La" could make me forget I'm dreaming, or even change my personality in the dream to one that "can accept that kind of pleasure." But for my conscious self right now, that's an intolerable development. I'm not just dismissing "Shangri-La" without thinking. Is it possible that I myself might actually join this Shangri-La? I occasionally try to think about it. Even if it's just to prevent myself from being suddenly questioned by the enemy in battle and becoming wavering on the battlefield, it's necessary to consider different possibilities in peacetime.

No matter how many scenarios I devise, I can't imagine a reason that would convince me to accept that dream.

"Is this so..."

The dog seemed to be trying to understand my thoughts, then he asked with a complicated expression, "So... don't you hate me? Don't you want to kill me?"

"Why do I hate you?" I asked, puzzled.

“I’ve faced you with swords more than once… Generally speaking, you would want to eliminate me completely, right?” said Dog.

"You just want to kill me, don't you? I won't bother with something that trivial," I said.

"'Just'?" Dog exclaimed in astonishment.

Rather, I would say I welcome people like him. But if someone poses a threat to those around me, I would never let them live. The Dog (戌狗) is the opposite, so I've never felt any ill will towards him.

"Getting back to the main topic, Mr. Xu Gou, let's begin our communication with Ms. Ai Ye now," said Xiao Wan.

"Is it right here?" the Dog asked cautiously. "Is there any need for any special preparations?"

“No need.” Xiao Wan looked around. “If you feel it’s inappropriate to do this on the street, then let’s find another place.”

I don’t know when it started, but the city center area, which was completely destroyed by our battle, has now been restored to a relatively intact urban street appearance.

We entered a chain clothing store on the street.

The black power armor that Xu Gou was wearing was so huge that it damaged the main entrance when he entered. Xiao Wan glanced back at Xu Gou and said, "Mr. Xu Gou, could you please come out of that armor? I need to use your body as a medium."

"Do we really have to take off the armor?" Dog asked hesitantly.

Xiao Wan asked curiously, "Is there some reason why I can't take it off?"

Could it be because there's a woman's body beneath that armor? That's my guess. I've suspected before that since Xu Gou achieved his rebirth using the body of the female researcher Ai Ye, his current physical appearance might actually resemble his beloved woman. Xu Gou's reaction seems to somewhat support this.

But since they're all Great Impermanence, even if it's a human Great Impermanence who's different in some ways, changing their appearance should be a piece of cake, right? I can't imagine why he can't do it. Or is it not that he can't, but that he's unwilling to?

Setting aside reasons like cross-dressing, perhaps the real reason is that he feels he's using a "borrowed" body and shouldn't alter it arbitrarily… Because the original owner of this body holds an incredibly important place in his heart, he cherishes it all the more, and preserving the body's original appearance might also have a sentimental aspect. I can understand that feeling. A Dog (戌狗) might occasionally look in the mirror, reminiscing about memories of past interactions with loved ones.

These are just my guesses, and the truth may not be so. The Dog didn't answer the Little Bowl directly, but fell into an awkward silence.

Little Bowl said considerately, "It's alright, Mr. Dog. Since you don't want to, then just continue wearing this armor. Staying like this is fine too."

Xu Gou breathed a sigh of relief, then seemed to remember something and said nervously, "By the way, about what you said before... that you can revive Ai Ye, is that true?"

(End of this chapter)