Free Web NovelChapter 104: Chapter 22: Humanity’s Fate
In the shadows, the Corpse Puppet possessed by Xu Yuan stared coldly at Gao Tian, its eyes bloodshot:
"Before I answer your question, I’d like to tell you a little story, starting from my childhood. It might be a bit long. I hope Mr. Memory Ghost doesn’t mind?"
Gao Tian:
"Please, take your time."
Xu Yuan:
"It was a long, long time ago. So long ago it feels like a past life.
"When I was very young, I displayed extraordinary supernatural talent. I had a Ghost Eye that allowed me to see things ordinary people couldn’t. Because of this, I was ostracized by other children my age. They thought I was a bad omen..."
...
"Until I met my teacher. He was an expert in the field of Supernatural Studies. He taught me the fundamentals, how to control my Ghost Eye. He helped me understand that I wasn’t a jinx, but a genius..."
...
"Through intense training, my Ghost Eye unlocked even greater power. Not only could I see the invisible ghosts around me, but I could also see the future—countless fragments of what was to come..."
...
Gao Tian listened quietly, not interrupting.
He already knew all of this.
Xu Yuan:
"Later, something happened. My teacher, though it pained him, had no choice but to gouge out these eyes that could see the future. Do you know why?"
Gao Tian was taken aback:
"How is that possible?
"Are you saying you’ve lost those eyes?"
’And besides, Xu Yuan never went blind later on.’
The Corpse Puppet with the blood-red eyes gave a faint smile:
"My teacher, of course, did it for my own good back then. Gouging out my eyes was a last resort. It was because I saw something I never should have seen."
He elaborated:
"I saw the future of humanity.
"The grand finale that awaits this world’s civilization in fifty years."
This was also related to the fourth condition Xu Yuan had given Gao Tian at Jin Hai Mansion.
’I never expected it would also be connected to young Xu Yuan’s future-seeing eye.’
Xu Yuan summarized it with a single, simple word:
"Hell."
He said:
"Honestly, since the start of the Era of the Supernatural, I think you and I both know what our planet is destined to become.
"We just don’t want to admit it.
"When people die, they become ghosts. But ghosts never truly die. Their numbers only increase, never decrease.
"It’s simple, one-way addition that even a grade-schooler could understand. The number of ghosts is constantly growing. Sooner or later, they will outnumber the living on this planet. Think about how many people have to die for each ghost to be born. When ghosts outnumber humans—or even before that, once we reach a certain tipping point—what do you think will happen to human society?"
The question was so simple it didn’t even need an answer.
The instantaneous extinction of all humanity.
From then on, the dead, silent Earth would be home only to eternally undying, mindless, vicious ghosts wandering aimlessly.
Such an ending was the most hopeless future imaginable, even for "espers" like them, who had been granted new life by the Divine Tree.
With no living people left, where would they get the lifespan from the living needed to maintain their own sanity?
Xu Yuan gave Gao Tian a moment to think, then continued:
"Unfortunately, my power was too strong when I was a child. I accidentally saw the Earth fifty years in the future, a world overrun with vicious ghosts.
"There were no humans left. Only ruins of all kinds—cities, hospitals, shopping malls. The entire planet... forget humans, there wasn’t a single living creature to be found.
"The land was covered in either corpses or ghosts.
"If that was all, it wouldn’t have been enough for my teacher to make such a cruel decision.
"After a month of nightmares, I finally recovered. My teacher, who had stayed by my bedside for that whole month, told me something even worse.
"Because of my distant glimpse into the future, among the countless vicious ghosts roaming the Earth, I saw a male corpse that perpetually wore a smile. Even though its entire body was rotting and its facial features had melted beyond recognition, it still maintained that twisted grin.
"That strange thing... I called it the Smiling Man. It actually had the ability to perceive space and time.
"It sensed that, fifty years in its past, a living person had peered at it from across the river of time.
"That... filthy thing, the Smiling Man, could potentially follow my line of sight back through time, corrupt history, and even arrive fifty years ahead of schedule.
"The probability was small, but even if it was just 1%, if it happened, our world would be destroyed decades earlier than foretold."
At this point, Xu Yuan briefly closed his blood-red eyes.
"To prevent that from happening, I had to willingly gouge out my own eyes and forget every memory related to my future-seeing eye.
"I asked again and again if there was another way. ’There has to be another way.’
"My teacher just told me, gently but firmly, that this was the only way. I had to think from the perspective of all humanity and make a sacrifice for the greater good.
"The greater good, the greater good, always the greater good... I hate those three words."
Xu Yuan’s fists slowly clenched, emitting a terrifying sound of cracking bones. Gao Tian had no doubt how horrifying a punch from him would be in his current state of rage.
"The surgery was performed as scheduled.
"Under anesthesia, my Ghost Eye was removed. But it wasn’t just my former power that was taken. My teacher used a special Supernatural Artifact to strip away most of my memories related to the Ghost Eye. This was to prevent that unbelievable, filthy thing from the future from tracing the source of that gaze from fifty years ago and arriving in our time ahead of schedule."
’No wonder.’
’The younger Xu Yuan had seen the future Gao Tian and his own future self, but the adult Xu Yuan had no memory of Gao Tian holding the Ghost Transformation Spear, nor of his own childhood self.’
’It was because his teacher had taken most of his memories along with his eyes.’
On top of that, there was even worse news.
According to Xu Yuan, the "world fifty years in the future" that his younger self saw... that vision happened over twenty years ago.
In other words, from now until the full supernatural revival and the extinction of humanity, there were only about twenty years left.
Xu Yuan’s story wasn’t over:
"It took me a long time after growing up to gradually remember that I once possessed a future-seeing eye.
"Of course, it was just the concepts in my mind—the Smiling Man, the vision of Hell. It’s impossible for me to recall what they looked like in detail. That’s to sever the channel the Smiling Man could use to track me to the past.
"As for the other, insignificant little things the future-seeing eye saw, I’ve long since forgotten them. They’ve never come back to me.
Gao Tian:
"But your eyes... they were fine later on..."
Xu Yuan said flatly:
"As compensation, my teacher dug out a ghost’s eyes and placed them in my sockets.
"That pair of ghost eyes also possessed a certain amount of supernatural power, but it was nothing compared to my original Ghost Eye.
"Whatever. That’s all in the past. It’s not important anymore."
He stepped out of the darkness. Above his suit was the half-ruined, indescribably grotesque face of a man:
"Don’t you want to hear the rest of the story?
"About my plan to break this fated deadlock and end this Era of the Supernatural, where vicious, undying ghosts run rampant?
"It took me a long time to come up with such an ingenious method.
"In this world, I’m afraid there isn’t a single other person who could have thought of it, much less had the resolve to carry out this plan."
Gao Tian:
"I’m all ears."
