Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 395 - 368 Visit Gua Tianshi

Chapter 395: 368 Visit Gua Tianshi

Mazao repeatedly recited the word "parents" as if chanting an exotic language, and then fell silent.

"Mazao, do you want to meet your parents?" Zhu Shi asked.

"I... I don’t know." Mazao said confusedly, "You mean the parents of this body, right? But I don’t know if I am the original owner of this body, whether they are really my parents..."

She clearly realized the crux of the matter. More importantly, because this is probably a question she has never thought about before, involving unfamiliar concepts she has never encountered, it becomes even more difficult to make a decision.

Perhaps she wasn’t caught in a state of confusion, but rather entered a void of thought. In this vacuum, she couldn’t find a footing, nor a grip, even a sense of direction, a completely weightless and true void. Asking her which direction she intends to go is indeed asking for too much.

"Zhuang Cheng, what should I do?" Mazao cast a pleading look at me.

"I think you should meet them."

I didn’t say anything like "you should decide this entirely by yourself"; since she asked me, I directly gave my opinion: "Of course, I know that even if you meet them, you won’t know what to say or from what stance to speak to them, so when specifically to meet them is still up to you.

"When you feel ready, set off, but don’t use thinking as an excuse to continuously delay, or even in fact give up.

"Don’t worry about facing all this alone, I’ll be by your side when the time comes, and we’ll meet them together."

At last, Mazao’s tense and strained face gradually relaxed and finally revealed a look of relief.

"... I understand." She said, "Then... I want to meet them after I find out who I am.

"Whether I am truly their daughter, or an evil spirit occupying their daughter’s body... I want at least to clarify this before meeting them."

This request is beyond reproach, in fact, it’s only natural. If it were me, before talking with others, I would at least want to confirm whether I’m an enemy or an ally; otherwise, I wouldn’t know what to say.

At this moment, Zhu Shi seemed to remember something and turned to me, saying: "Speaking of which... Senior Brother Zhuang, you can’t stay out of this either."

"I never intended to stay out of it?" I replied, "I just said I would accompany Mazao to meet her parents."

Zhu Shi, with a constipated look, said, "No, I mean... how are you planning to tell Mazao’s parents that you intend to date their daughter, who turned into a vegetative state at the age of ten?"

"...It’s not ’intended’, I’ve already confessed to Mazao." I said.

"What!?" Zhu Shi was taken aback, "Wait... over these three days, I did notice that your interaction seemed to have gotten closer, but... you actually took my advice and went straight for it!?"

She promptly looked at Mazao, "Is this true!"

"It is." Mazao nodded.

"The always hesitant and cautious Senior Brother Zhuang actually..." Zhu Shi seemed to have a brain overload.

"Speaking of which... if I hadn’t confessed yet, wouldn’t what you just said have accidentally revealed my plan to Mazao?" I asked.

"Uh... that really is my fault! But Senior Brother Zhuang, how exactly are you going to explain this to Mazao’s parents?" Zhu Shi asked.

"..." I turned to Mazao and said, "Mazao, I think going to see your parents is something that can be planned for later, there’s no rush..."

"Didn’t you say you hated procrastination and overthinking the most?" Zhu Shi retorted.

I picked up the plate from the nightstand, "By the way, Zhu Shi, I initially asked if you wanted to eat cake, do you want some?"

"I want some! But don’t think you can just get away with it because of that!"

Then Zhu Shi took a bite of the cake and praised it endlessly, hugging Mazao in compliments, quickly forgetting the previous topic.

What I said earlier was just a joke. Regarding dating Mazao, I will of course explain it clearly to Mazao’s parents. Whether I can gain approval, I’m not fully confident, but even if they oppose, I won’t give up.

Getting the approval of her parents is not a necessity for me. Naturally, receiving blessings would be best, but if not, we will continue to date without their blessing.

By the afternoon, I was feeling much better; there was no longer the mild sensation of motion sickness. Although a detailed perception showed a bit of recovery to go, there was no more worry, and I could leave this sanatorium tomorrow.

It was about time to visit Gua Tianshi and Divine Light.

The reason to visit Divine Light naturally doesn’t need much elaboration; though there was no immediate motivation to oppose the Master of Divine Seal, from a precautionary standpoint, it might be necessary to understand other Void Envoy—especially other Great Impermanence Level Void Envoy’s analysis of the Master of Divine Seal.

If it weren’t for a fortuitous coincidence, I might not have specifically arranged to meet Divine Light, but now we’re so close, and the other party has actively given me a token, it’s only reasonable to go.

As for visiting Gua Tianshi, it’s to inquire about matters related to the doomsday prophecy.

From the words Ming Zhuo said when I suppressed him, it’s apparent that Luoshan’s Impermanence beings take the existence of the doomsday seriously. Therefore, inquiries about the specific attitudes of the Impermanence beings towards the doomsday from Gua Tianshi seem worthwhile. I didn’t think about this when speaking with Fa Zheng, but I could also ask for Fa Zheng’s opinion face-to-face later.

After finishing the cake, Zhu Shi was the first to leave the sanatorium, and just as I was about to set off, Mazao also planned to follow.

"I want to ask Gua Tianshi directly," She said, "Can I?"

After thinking for a moment, I said, "Sure."

Unlike Ming Zhuo, Gua Tianshi bears no ill will towards Mazao. The first time I met Gua Tianshi, although Mazao retreated as per our agreement, if Gua Tianshi had wanted to act, with Mazao’s power at the achieved level at that time, she wouldn’t have been able to escape.

We moved together towards Gua Tianshi’s residence.

The inner circle of Luoshan Headquarters is largely for official business, with the personal residences of Impermanence beings established in the surrounding areas. Gua Tianshi’s residence is a traditional Chinese-style courtyard, somewhat reminiscent of the tour gardens I initially visited when first meeting Water Master Xuanwu in Moon Hidden Mountain City.

At the entrance stood two guards, who recognized me before I presented my token, showing a respectful demeanor, and then reverently invited me in. One of the guards acted as a guide, leading us to where Gua Tianshi was.

On the grasslands and woods alongside the courtyard paths, there were some birds and animals, with monkeys and other creatures playing in the forest. Herbivorous and carnivorous animals seemed to cohabit peacefully and neither were wary of humans. As we walked along the path, the animals looked at us with a nonchalant glance.

Among the animals, I recognized some, like foxes and sheep, as well as the red-crowned crane, a nationally first-class protected animal; yet there were some I couldn’t identify, possibly demons or the like, subtly emanating an aura of power, yet lazily lying on the grass with no sense of threat to the outside world.

"Some of these creatures in here are exceptionally dangerous," the guard said, "Though they appear quite gentle, entering here without a token might prompt sudden attacks from them. Thus, they also serve as guards."

"Is that so? Then..." I handed the token given by Gua Tianshi to Mazao.

Mazao instinctively accepted it from my hand and blinked, "I don’t need this..."

I then remembered Mazao now possesses Great Success Rank power. No, it’s not that I forgot, but rather in many moments, I still instinctively regard Mazao as someone I need to protect.

No matter how dangerous the demons in this place are, they couldn’t pose a threat to someone at Great Success Rank. It would be awkward to ask for the token back once given, so I left it with Mazao.

Ordinary people might worry about being attacked by the animals, but if you regard them merely as part of the scenery, the natural beauty here is exceptionally pleasant. The air is fresh, with a charm completely different from urban landscapes, and it might even lead you to find the familiar cityscape disagreeable.

Relative to the lengthy evolution of human genes, the modernization of human civilization is indeed too short, so within human genes, there might still remain a considerable instinctual affinity for the natural world.

Incidentally, the Primordial Forest that was obliterated during my battle with Ming Zhuo was reportedly restored by Gua Tianshi afterwards. I checked it out with "firefly’s view"; the Primordial Forest, once seemingly ravaged by countless nuclear explosions, reappeared intact as if nothing had ever happened.

In Luoshan, there seems to be spells used to "restore damaged objects back," yet those spells either cannot perfectly restore the object to its original state, are limited to repairing only certain specific types of objects, or can repair anything perfectly but at a great expense of mana and only in small scale.

However, under the inexhaustible mana of Impermanence beings, those flaws are not an issue at all.

Possibly, Gua Tianshi merely used ordinary spells akin to those of demon hunters, achieving with ease what demon hunters could not in a lifetime through vast and mighty power.

It wasn’t long before the guard led us to a pavilion, where Gua Tianshi sat quietly, sipping tea.

This time, he didn’t transform into a divine beast from the Classic of Mountains and Seas like our first meeting, but sat within the pavilion in the form of an elder with a Daoist and immortal aura. The guard saluted him, and upon receiving a nod, silently withdrew.

"Gua Tianshi, I’ve arrived," I said.

"Welcome." Gua Tianshi smiled slightly, "I was worried you wouldn’t come."

I countered, "Do you really need to worry about that?"

Now I can perceive what Gua Tianshi’s Fatian Xiangdi truly is.

"Didn’t expect there to be a Fatian Xiangdi capable of mastering fate," I said.

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