Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 291 - 271 Afterlife World 2

Chapter 291: 271 Afterlife World 2

Seeing me pose this question, Lu Chan pondered briefly, then continued writing with a black fountain pen, first reversing the question to ask me: "How much do you know about Naraku?"

This wasn’t the first time I had heard the name Naraku. From what I know, Naraku is the origin of Luo Mountain, and it is also another name for hell. Also, from Lu Chan’s earlier words, it can be derived that Naraku doesn’t hold any other special meaning at Luo Mountain; it simply refers to the "afterlife."

In other words, Luo Mountain was an unambiguously existing force in the afterlife.

I directly shared the information I understood, and Lu Chan slightly nodded, beginning to formally reply: "Your understanding is not incorrect. A long time ago, the headquarters of Luo Mountain was situated in the afterlife - that is, ’Naraku.’

"That dates back to before I was born, and about which I know very little, as there is not much data retained within Luo Mountain. I only know that at that time, it was not uncommon for demon hunters to travel between the Living World and the afterlife, and the demons primarily handled by Luo Mountain were mostly spirits from the afterlife. From this perspective, the reason Luo Mountain established its headquarters in Naraku was likely also to monitor the changes in the afterlife.

"Until more than a hundred years ago, roughly at the end of the Qing dynasty, Gua Tianshi predicted that Naraku would soon undergo a drastic upheaval - the afterlife was about to be destroyed and would spill out toward the Living World. Therefore, Luo Mountain decided to withdraw its headquarters from Naraku, to brace for the imminent catastrophe.

"However, the subsequent development did not fully follow what Gua Tianshi had predicted. Hell did not actually spill into the Living World, yet an unknown drastic change did indeed occur. Luo Mountain could not observe what exactly the drastic change was, only knowing that they suddenly could no longer contact the afterlife.

"The once intercommunicating worlds suddenly became disconnected, and even Impermanence could not cross this newfound chasm of unknown origin, nor could they obtain information from the other side. The same was true for Ming Zhuo, who now wants to cancel the agreement with Naraku, but is stuck due to being unable to make contact."

Honestly, as he wrote on the paper and suddenly brought up the "Qing dynasty," I nearly couldn’t react in time. Sometimes I tend to forget that the history of the common world and the history of Luo Mountain coexist; while those historical events mentioned in textbooks were happening, Luo Mountain was always operating in the shadows, only never able to step onto the historical stage due to the mysterious influence of the divine seal.

Perhaps, for the demon hunters of that era, the world they inhabited might have been the real one, and the history they experienced might have been the genuine one. The abnormal world back then possessed a depth far greater than today, with realms beneath the surface far richer and more varied than those above.

An era where the Living World and the afterlife could intercommunicate... I cannot imagine what that scene would have been like, and Lu Chan, who was not yet born then, probably cannot accurately describe it to me either. Although it was only event from a little more than a century ago, it is unbelievably akin to a mythological era.

"But, you can still resurrect the dead, can’t you. Even if you can’t resurrect those with powerful mana, can’t you acquire information about the afterlife through the resurrection of ordinary people?" I asked.

"Luo Mountain can indeed resurrect ordinary people, but this does not mean information about the afterlife can be obtained. Because after the drastic change occurred, the souls of the deceased no longer go to Naraku, but are intercepted within the Living World. Either their souls are scattered, or they wander as isolated spirits... Likewise, we cannot summon souls that entered Naraku over a hundred years ago to the Living World," said Lu Chan.

"How then did Ming Zhuo confirm that Mazao’s soul went to the afterlife and returned?" I asked.

"It’s because Mazao is a soul-loss patient. And for every soul-loss patient, their souls are untraceable," he replied, "No trace of their souls scattering has been detected, nor have their spectral forms been found. Moreover, according to results of various Divination and Spell investigations, their souls are in a state of death.

"It would have been another matter if no soul-loss patient had awakened, but since some have awakened, it means that between their slumber and awakening, their souls must have existed somewhere... Where do you think that might be?"

The afterlife—this was naturally the only inference I could come to.

That’s why Lu Chan previously said that "merely resurrected ordinary people" do not meet a certain necessary condition, which refers to having traveled to and from the afterlife. And soul-loss patients do meet this necessary condition.

But then, this is only conjecture, right? To use it as a definite premise, would that not be too rash?

No, it may not be rash at all; it’s highly likely that Ming Zhuo is completely convinced that the souls of the soul-loss patients went to the afterlife. If you’re wondering why, it’s because Ming Zhuo originated from an era when the Living World and the afterlife were still intercommunicative.

Demon hunters who have not lived through that era might, through methods like Divination and other investigative techniques, obtain relevant information but can only sceptically speculate whether "the target’s soul has gone to the afterlife, a realm they had never experienced." However, including Ming Zhuo, those older demon hunters who lived for over a hundred years might likely reach a more accurate judgment through their own insights and experience.

Moreover, the attitude of Lu Youxun from the past seems to corroborate this point.

From Lu Youxun’s perspective, although I am eligible to be recruited as an Impermanance, I am ultimately not as vital as an explicitly aligned, monumental Impermanence from Transcendentalism Mountain. Kidnapping Mazao would certainly cause a rift with me, but it would still be preferable than letting Transcendentalism Mountain lose Ming Zhuo within a decade.

But if all...

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