I want to just drift through life in Type-Moon.

Page 12

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Yue Zhengling's mind and body.

"Even if we travel through all the worlds, no one qualified to use that thing has appeared yet. The whereabouts of that thing are far more important than your life or death. Since Absolute Future Vision says you will die if you don't obtain that thing, then I'm sorry, please die. As for your last wish, I will help you fulfill it."

At this point, the other party hung up, leaving only the busy tone of the dial tone.

"..." Yue Zhengling stood there blankly, like a helpless person sentenced to death.

They finally found hope, only to be kicked back into the abyss of despair.

I want to cry.

My heart aches so much I want to cry.

But I just couldn't cry.

If an ordinary person were to suffer such a blow, they would definitely be devastated.

After hanging up the phone, I felt extremely painful, and a sense of helplessness and despair welled up inside me.

He punched the wall with all his might, and the pain in his hand made him feel a little better.

“Since we’re going to die anyway, we might as well…” He turned his head and looked in the direction of the gas pipe switch, his eyes devoid of any light.

Araya Sōren, who was waiting in the shop, was getting a little impatient. If he couldn't still sense Yue Zhengling's presence, he would have thought that the other party had already escaped.

Out of boredom, he saw the stack of manuscripts on the table and picked them up out of curiosity. The contents were all written in Chinese, so he couldn't fully understand them.

But this could not stop the raging storm in his heart.

What is this?! What is this?! What is this?!

What is this?! What is this?! What is this?!

He could no longer maintain his distressed expression; his face was filled with shock and fear as he trembled as he turned the pages of the manuscripts one by one.

The more he watched, the more he couldn't stop. Everything he knew shattered in an instant, and he felt how ridiculous the world was.

He spread the manuscripts out on the table and scanned them rapidly, his eyes darting around at an unprecedented speed.

Absurd! Absurd! Absurd! Absurd!

Absurd! Absurd! Absurd! Absurd!

How ridiculous! How ridiculous! How ridiculous!

How ridiculous! How ridiculous! How ridiculous!

My worldview, outlook on life, and values ​​all collapsed the moment I saw these manuscripts and learned this information.

Especially after seeing the general story of the world called "Kara no Kyoukai"—

Upon seeing that being called "Ryougi Shiki"—

After seeing the fate that awaited him—

Everything in his life became utterly ridiculous!

Just then, Yue Zhengling walked in wearing heat-resistant gloves and carrying a clay pot. In his shirt pocket was a black bottle, and in his trouser pocket were an envelope and a windproof lighter.

—Two people who have developed self-destructive and destructive tendencies are finally about to clash.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Four Gods Porridge

Araya Sōren looked at Yue Zhengling as she walked in, her eyes filled with hatred, an uncontrollable rage directed at her.

Yue Zhengling also looked at Araya Sōren, who was flipping through the manuscript, his eyes filled with hatred, but that was because his hope had been shattered, and he felt the same way no matter who he saw.

He no longer cared about the manuscripts that had been so important to him just moments before, and wanted to put the casserole on top of them directly.

"What are you doing!" However, Araya Sōren was extremely angry. To him, although the things recorded on it destroyed everything he knew, it did not mean that he did not value these things.

"Stop." The air seemed to shift as the magician spoke.

Le Zhengling suddenly stopped moving, the bottom of the pot almost touching the manuscripts.

Ignoring the frozen Yue Zhengling, Araya Sōren carefully gathered up the manuscripts.

After he finished tidying up, he did not release Yue Zhengling.

He raised a left hand from under his black coat, placed it on the manuscripts, and read aloud: "Invincible, Vajra, Serpent, Heaven-Defying, Top Sutra, King Manifestation!"

Le Zhengling saw six golden lights sweep across these manuscripts one by one, but he didn't know what Huangye Zonglian had done.

"Excuse me." After doing all this, Araya Sōren withdrew his hand and spoke to Yū Jīnglíng with an emotional tone.

"You really have no manners at all." Le Zhengling put down the casserole and looked at him with a gloomy face.

"I apologize for my rash actions just now, but those things are too important, and I don't want anything to happen to them." The hatred in Araya Sōren's eyes had subsided. Clearly, for someone as calm as him, even the most intense emotional fluctuations could be quickly quelled.

But deep within his eyes burned a cold fury—a fury born of contempt for the world, a murderous intent toward the person before him, and despair for his predetermined future.

"What I mean is that they went through my things without permission!" Yue Zhengling said through gritted teeth.

Although he couldn't see through the other person's thoughts, after he made that call, it no longer mattered what the other person's previous plans were or what their plans were after reading those manuscripts.

He went to the kitchen, took out a spoon, and placed a spoon and a porcelain bowl in front of the two of them. He then lifted the lid of the pot and added porridge to both bowls.

"Four Gods Porridge," the monk said, smelling the familiar aroma of medicinal herbs.

The so-called "Four Gods Porridge" refers to a porridge made with four medicinal herbs: lotus seeds, fox nuts, coix seeds, and poria cocos. It is a famous traditional Chinese medicine recipe for strengthening the spleen and has many benefits for the human body, such as strengthening the spleen, nourishing the skin, and reducing dryness. It has almost "invincible" effects, and the name "Four Gods" is well-deserved.

As a Tendai monk who once aspired to save the world, he was no stranger to this kind of medicinal diet that was both beneficial to the human body and could fill the stomach.

Picking up a spoon, I scooped up some still-steaming porridge and put it in my mouth. That nostalgic yet forgotten taste reappeared in my heart once again.

Yue Zhengling blew on the porridge in his spoon and put it in his mouth only when he felt it was okay. He had a bit of a cat tongue and couldn't eat things that were too hot. If he put something in his mouth when it wasn't cold, like Araya Soren, there would only be one result—he would burn the person so much that they would jump up (real experience).

Le Zhengling didn't add salt to this pot of porridge, so it only tasted slightly bitter.

Smelling the familiar scent of Chinese medicine wafting in the air, neither of them spoke while they ate.

If an outsider were to see these two people, he or she would think that they are very similar at this moment, equally focused, equally natural, and full of meticulousness.

Soon, Araya Sōren finished his bowl, but seeing that Yue Zhengling hadn't finished eating, he didn't say anything and naturally ordered another bowl for himself.

For some reason, after finishing the bowl of porridge, the resentment and anger in his heart disappeared, as if the porridge had soothed the wounds in his heart. However, he did not give up his previous plan. Rather, after seeing those things, he could not give up even more.

When Yue Zhengling saw him adding more bowls, he didn't stop him. He just glanced at it and then silently ate his own.

Soon, the two finished the pot of porridge. Incidentally, Huangye Zonglian ate three bowls, while Yue Zhengling only ate one and a half bowls, and even that half bowl was left over.

After finishing dinner, Yue Zhengling took the tableware and empty casserole into the kitchen and soaked them in water. He glanced at the hose under the high-pressure gas stove, and the happiness he had felt from being full vanished instantly, his eyes darkening once again.

Back in their seats, the two looked at each other, and the air grew heavy again.

“I find it very strange.” Araya Sōren pointed to the stack of manuscripts. “You clearly have no magic power, and your magic circuits are not activated, so why can you activate future vision?”

Yue Zhengling remained silent.

"You don't want to talk about it?" He wasn't surprised. "But that's okay, I'll just ask your brain later."

As a magician who studies the origin of the soul and has a deep understanding of the human body, he has countless ways to obtain what he wants from a corpse, and since he didn't intend to kill him, obtaining information from a living body would be even simpler.

"I don't see the future." Just as Araya Sōren was about to make a move, Yūjō Rin spoke up, but this answer contradicted Araya Sōren's previous answer.

"Not a lie?" Araya Sōren looked coldly at Yūjō Rin.

“Two days ago, someone with true futuristic vision warned me not to lie to the men in black, or I would die,” Yue Zhengling replied calmly.

"Then what's the deal with all this?" Araya Souren clasped his hands on the table. "You wrote this, didn't you?"

"Yes," Yue Zhengling answered truthfully.

"Since you don't have futuristic vision, where did you learn these things from? Don't try to pin it on your grandfather. I know that Yue Zheng Weng is just an ordinary person." Araya Sōren said these words with an unchanging tone.

"My grandfather was just an ordinary person?" Le Zhengling looked at him strangely, unsure whether to laugh at his ignorance or at herself for guessing wrong again.

"Yes, although Yue Zhengweng knows about the existence of the Otherworld, he is, like you, undoubtedly an ordinary person. I have no reason to lie to you about this."

Hearing him speak so sincerely, Yue Zhengling was confused, which made her previous guesses even more mysterious.

Judging from the mother's speculation, the guardian's words, the grandfather's letter, and his abnormalities, everything seemed to be buried in a thick fog that could not be seen.

"Do you mind if I ask some questions? Consider it payment for this dinner." Yue Zhengling wanted to know everything; even if she was going to die, she wanted to die knowing the truth.

“As a former monk, I have a duty to ensure your peaceful passing, so please ask,” Araya Sōren said solemnly, his hands clasped together.

If you ignore his sorrowful expression and only look at his demeanor, he looks like a highly accomplished monk.

"Is what I wrote true?" Just as Le Zheng asked this question, a clap of thunder sounded in the sky, seemingly foreshadowing the beginning of something.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Paradox of Theseus

Araya Sōren fell silent; he hadn't expected that Yue Zhengling would ask this question first.

—No, to be more precise, I never expected him to ask that question.

Araya Sōren didn't believe that Yūjō Rin wouldn't know whether these things were true or not, but since he asked this question, it meant that he really had doubts, which confused him.

"In my opinion, these things are real. This is what my intuition as a magician tells me, and after seeing these things, my 'Path' is a big step closer to the 'Root'." After careful consideration, Araya Sōren finally spoke, but he also concealed one thing, namely that there was something unusual about the records about him.

These are all true. After seeing Zhang Shuzhuang's diagram, his "Dao" inexplicably took a big step forward. If we calculate the time frame according to normal cultivation and research, it would probably take another two hundred years to reach this level.

However, in the past two hundred years, the manuscript recorded by Yue Zhengling has been completely omitted.

But Araya Sōren felt no joy whatsoever, because in the evaluation of him recorded by Rakujō Rin, there was this: a person who will never reach the Root.

The reason is ridiculous, because of his own internal contradictions.

He viewed repression as a major enemy, but he never imagined that repression would prevent him from reaching the root.

Reaching the Root and becoming a magician are two different things. Becoming a magician means that they have returned from the Root after reaching it, but he has no intention of returning. All he wants is an answer.

Now that even the existence of magicians is permitted, it should be much easier for him to get that answer. Although the restraining force will stop him, he believes that he will get that answer one day.

However, all of this is refuted in the records about him.

The simple entry for Araya Sōren, along with the timeline and brief description of "Kara no Kyoukai," reveals his greatest contradiction.

If you want to find the answer at the root, you must first know the answer.

It's incredibly ironic.

His fate was already sealed the moment he awakened his origin.

Once you awaken to your origin, you will eventually become a "concept" and revert to your origin.

He received the final answer without any warning, and the answer was even worse than not getting it at all. It shattered his strong heart and the obsession that had lasted for two centuries.

Thinking about this, he suddenly regained the feeling of despondency.

"In that case, the second question." Le Zhengling was unaware of the complex thoughts of the person opposite him. For him, it was more important to figure out some things.

"When you first met me, you asked me, 'What are you?' Am I not human? Or were you referring to something else?" Yue Zhengling asked the question that had been hidden in his heart.

“It’s both the former and the latter.” Araya Sōren looked at his eyes, which were as red as blood.

“Although I don’t know if you understand, the most important part of your body is not human,” he said, pointing to Yue Zhengling’s heart.

Knowing what Araya Sōren was referring to, Le Zhengling frowned and pressed his hand to his heart. Then he said seriously, "I know I have a problem with my heart, and someone has told me what it is. It's just congenital valvular heart failure. How can it not be human?"

“He didn’t lie to you, he just didn’t tell you the whole story.” Araya Sōren slowly withdrew his hand. “A heart like this wouldn’t be able to keep someone healthy to your age. Your heart was replaced with a special one.”

"So, this isn't my original heart?" Yue Zhengling's brows furrowed even more.

"That's not entirely true, after all, this heart was transplanted when you were born, and you've already used it..."

"I am thirteen years old this year."

"It's been in use for thirteen years. Do you consider it your original heart?"

Le Zhengling was also pondering this question, but it was too idealistic. "But just because I have a heart doesn't mean I'm not human, does it?"

Araya Sōren dipped a finger in water and drew two concentric circles, one large and one small, on the table.

"From a scientific point of view, your perception is not wrong, but from a magic point of view, you are absolutely non-human, a non-human as fragile as a human."

"This big circle represents you, and this small circle represents your heart right now."

Then he extended many straight lines from the small circle to the large circle, asking, "Do you consider the blood flowing from this inhuman heart to be normal human blood? And are you, who grew up using this inhuman blood, a human being?"

Upon seeing the drawing by Araya Sōren and the question he asked, Yū Jō Līng felt a chill run down her spine.

"The Paradox of Theseus?" Yue Zhengling asked blankly.