Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 181 Wang Chengen

Where do people go after they die?

Different sects have their own interpretations of this, but the most widely known and accepted theory in this world is naturally the "Western Paradise" theory passed down by Zhou Tianzun.

The great Zhou Tianzun promised the world that he had opened up a "paradise" for people. As long as everyone died healthy and long-lived, they would ascend to paradise after death, to an eternal paradise flowing with milk and honey, free from disasters and eternal immortality...

【Everyone didn’t believe this at first.】

[After all, you, Mr. Zhou, have no evidence to back up your words. How could you possibly fool everyone in the world into becoming superstitious just by talking?]

[But your deception is truly unfathomable. That unknown telekinesis, that innate wisdom, that aura you create, plus the fact that you frequently attach your spirit to corpses, creating the illusion of "an ascended being descending to earth to share his experiences"... So, after all this time, everyone was finally fooled by you...]

【Thus, the fantasy worldview of the Western Paradise has become deeply rooted in people's hearts.】

[But unlike the believers who have been deceived and don't know the truth, you know it very well!]

As the saying goes, every superstitious organization has a leader who doesn't believe in ghosts or gods at all. Furthermore, you built this entire sect from top to bottom, even writing its basic theories yourself. Naturally, you don't believe in the so-called "Western Paradise" at all.

[There has never been any paradise in the world. No matter how devout a person's faith is, they will not ascend to the Western Paradise to enjoy happiness after death. Once dead, they are dead!]

【At least for people other than you, death is the end of everything.】

【As for you...】

【…】

[Accompanied by a roar that exceeded your limit, an endless stream of shattered light appeared before your eyes. It filled the sky and the earth, as well as your vision, causing you to briefly lose consciousness...]

[Of course, when I say it's short, I don't actually know how much time has passed. Or perhaps... time has lost its meaning at this moment.]

[In short, this is a feeling of death you've never experienced before... It's not like you haven't died before, but this time it feels so different from any other time before, to the point that you're not even sure if you can continue to exist in your spirit form for another ten years like before.]

After all, no matter how you died before, it was only in the illusory world, but this time, the entire world is destroyed... As the saying goes, if the skin is gone, where will the hair be attached? You think you will probably just start over.

[But to your surprise, you didn't restart to the last selected node, nor did you return to the initial node, but...]

【"woke up?"】

[A sharp, old voice awakens your dazed consciousness.]

【Is someone talking?】

【"who?"】

You asked subconsciously, and then opened your eyes naturally.

[What you see is a vast expanse of mountainous land... You are very familiar with this mountainous land. Throughout your three reincarnations, you have come here countless times, for this place is, in a sense, the "Dragon's Birthplace" for the Ming Dynasty.]

【This is Coal Hill! 】

In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen's reign, the resurrected Divine Emperor stepped out of the old crooked tree on Coal Hill and, from then on, broke history with one punch... This was the turning point of history, and the beginning of everything.

You once hoped to discover the reason for the Divine Emperor's ascension to godhood, so you could use it to defeat Him... but you always found nothing. No matter how hard you searched, you could only conclude it was just an ordinary place, and so you gradually lost interest.

"But the question is, why are you here now? Heaven and earth have perished, so Coal Hill should no longer exist, right?"

You frowned, then turned your head... Instantly, your pupils shrank! Next to you, you saw an old, crooked tree. It was almost identical to the one you remembered, the only difference being that there was an old man standing beneath it!

[The old man was emaciated, with a feminine demeanor and no beard at all... Especially with his eunuch-like attire, he looked like a zombie...]

Apparently, it was he who woke you up.

Who is he? Why is he here? Why are you here?

[Full of questions, you hesitated for a moment before asking, "I wonder... what's your name?"]

He smiled and said, "Your Majesty, please call me Wang Banban. Heavenly Lord, please call me Wang Chengen..."

【Wang Chengen?!】

【You are immediately shocked! 】

[Because there is only one Wang Chengen you know, and that is the eunuch who accompanied Emperor Chongzhen to hang himself!]

This man wasn't particularly famous, and little of his life story remains. The only thing he did in history worth recording was hanging himself alongside Emperor Chongzhen.

"But... why is he here? Didn't the world perish? Even if Wang Chengen survived in the dream world like the Divine Emperor, he shouldn't be able to talk to you at this time, right?"

[Becoming increasingly confused, you can't help but ask him: "Why... are you here? What is this place?"]

"This is Coal Hill, of course."

Wang Chengen seemed to have known you were going to ask this, so he smiled and said, "However, this Coal Mountain is not the Coal Mountain of the imaginary world, but the Coal Mountain of the real world..."

[Real world?]

You were stunned at first, but then suddenly realized: That's right! The illusionary world was shattered, and the real world shrouded in illusion naturally appeared!

[So, I came to the real world with my soul...]

[Wait, the soul?]

You suddenly raise your eyebrows, first confirming that you are indeed in the red spirit state, then look at Wang Chengen... Taking a closer look, you finally see his abnormality: although at first glance he looks no different from a physical body, his form is actually half-real and half-illusory, so he must also be in the spirit state!

"Are you also a spirit?"

You are very surprised: your soul body was given to you by "your other self" later. Otherwise, you would not have a soul at all, and your death would just be a restart... Just like everyone else in the illusory world, they also have no soul.

Even if Wang Chengen survived the illusory world, how could he possibly have a soul?

[“It seems that Tianzun has discovered it.”]

After hearing your question, Wang Chengen smiled and nodded. "As the Celestial Lord said, I am indeed a primordial spirit... But I am different from the Celestial Lord. The Celestial Lord is a saint born from thin air in the realm of illusion, while I am merely a real soul, relying on the legacy of the Long Lived One to survive under the protection of the Divine Emperor."

【ah? ! 】

You can't help but widen your eyes, because the information packed into this short sentence is so overwhelming that it almost makes you want to burn KFC...

……

(End of this chapter)