Should we transfer the entrance and exit to the fifteenth-floor basement to Weichi to use as materials for the Du Shuo Mountain teleportation array?

After thinking it over, I replied, "Yes."

Although this entrance is very important and the fifteenth-floor basement holds a sacred place in my heart, important things should be used in important places. I believe what Weichi plans to do next has that kind of value.

"Go ahead," I said.

Weichi let out a huge sigh of relief, saying, "I can't thank you enough."

"By the way, shouldn't this question be asked to the owner of the property?" Little Bowl remarked teasingly.

"Well, that's true," I almost forgot about that.

Fortunately, that's not really an issue. Since this concerns whether we can stop the Evangelical Institute's human massacre plan, the national government, after learning of the situation, would probably be even more anxious than we are. And even without public power and strange forces, with the wealth that Weichi and I can now mobilize, it's a simple matter to buy the whole neighborhood, let alone that tiny house. Both Weichi and I are not hooligans without class; we certainly won't shortchange the landlord.

As for Changan, he moved out long ago and is not within the scope of the discussion.

The severely obstructed development work finally became smooth sailing, and Weichi seemed to be relieved of a heavy burden. Then, he looked again at the chaotic scene around us and sighed, "However, the post-death world has become quite a mess... Is this the visage that the Doomsday Era presents?"

"Looking at it now, many of the original functions of the post-death world probably can't operate normally anymore."

"Functions..." Weichi's words made me ponder deeply.

This expression makes it sound like the post-death world is some sort of artificial creation. Generally speaking, words like "function" are rarely used for natural objects, just like rocks in the wild can be used to smash things, but nobody would say that smashing things is the inherent function of rocks; it's just humans using them this way of their own accord. Only objects designed by humans with a particular purpose inherently possess the attribute of function.

Based on the knowledge I possess, the post-death world indeed wasn't naturally born as a Different Space alongside Earth. In some fragmentary historical records, it is suggested that the post-death world was completed in a very distant era.

Some Believers of the Impermanence believe the post-death world was created by some ancient Impermanence figures with earth-shattering power, but no Impermanence has ever acknowledged this. And in some forbidden materials I accidentally browsed through with Impermanence access, it was further hinted that the emergence of the post-death world is entirely unrelated to the great Impermanence known as the God of the Underworld.

So who exactly created the post-death world? Or am I mistaken, and the post-death world is actually a naturally arising product in the evolutionary history of Earth's ecosystem, with Weichi's talk of "functions" just being a casual remark?

I tried asking Weichi about it, and he shook his head, saying, "If you want to ask about other things related to the post-death world, I might be able to answer you, and in those areas, I am quite knowledgeable. But as for the true origin of the post-death world, I know no more than you do. Whether the post-death world was artificially created can only be said to be a popular hypothesis at Luo Mountain, but no evidence can be found.

"The only thing that can be certain is that the post-death world is an extremely, extremely ancient product, far preceding human history. If anyone on Luo Mountain knows the truth, only Gua Tianshi comes to mind.

"Perhaps due to its extreme age, or perhaps because of other influencing factors, from the time records began, the post-death world already had quite obvious flaws."

I curiously asked, "What flaws?"

"That is the fact that 'the post-death world can be easily entered and exited,'" Weichi said. "If the post-death world was really created, the creator would certainly not want this world to freely interact with the Living World. The living belong to the living, the dead belong to the dead. That's the normal way. Otherwise, what's the point of dividing into two worlds, and how does it differ from 'two regions in one world' of the past state?"

"If only a few Great Success Rank people, or stepping back, if only highly ranked living beings above that rank could easily enter and exit the post-death world, then that would be one thing. But in Luo Mountain, from its ancient founding to just over a hundred years ago, any demon hunter could act as Black and White Impermanence, freely entering and exiting the post-death world. How could that possibly be considered the normal state of the post-death world? I think the state of the post-death world in the past hundred-plus years is actually more 'normal'."

"That actually makes sense," I reflected.

When I first heard that over a hundred years ago at Luo Mountain, people could freely enter and exit the post-death world, my initial reaction was, "To cross life and death at will is so magical and fascinating," yet I overlooked the reasonableness of this phenomenon.

Perhaps because I have been immersed in the common sense world for nearly twenty years, I can accept the unreasonable aspects of the abnormal world without any qualms. In fact, the abnormal world is not truly unreasonable; it merely doesn't conform to the logic of the common sense world. With patience and observation, one can find that most things can be explained.

Yet within this seemingly abnormal system, the post-mortem world is exceptionally difficult to justify.

"It is due to this abnormal fluidity that in the past, there were frequent incidents of the dead intruding into the living world. Most of the unusual events handled by Luo Mountain at that time were disturbances caused by spirits. Luo Mountain used to oversee the post-mortem world because it was the source of most abnormal incidents. If one wanted to manage such events, this was the most convenient place," Weichi said.

The souls of the living are changeable, possessing the nature to grow and evolve according to the environment, like water, which is why they require a body as a container. However, the souls of the dead are different; no longer possessing the attribute of change, they are static entities and thus more resistant to their surroundings, like a stain that is difficult to scrub off a wall.

As long as on land where they have enough fate entwined, or with sufficiently strong obsessions, it's possible for them to operate in the material world. The fierce ghost that once haunted the abandoned construction site where I first met Mazao is probably of this type.

However, not every soul of the deceased may operate in the material world. The current Little Bowl and the girl Lu Chan of the past, as "self-entities weakly strangled by their past selves," are strictly speaking another kind of deceased, yet because their intentions are overly illusory, they cannot manifest in the material world. Little Bowl can overcome this entirely due to the support of the Divine Son identity.

"Of course, not all issues brought by this phenomenon are bad. Precisely because they could freely travel to the post-mortem world and contact the collective unconscious of humans, the demon hunters of the past, even if they had friends and family who died, could possibly converse with them using methods similar to dreams from the spirit of the deceased. Moreover, as long as the soul entering the post-mortem world is complete enough, there's even a possibility of resurrection..."

Saying this, Weichi seemed to be reminded of the long-dead Qilin, and his tone became somewhat entranced.

He once said he did not intend to resurrect Qilin, but what about merely conversing with her?

"Mr. No. 5, do you want to talk to your deceased wife?" Little Bowl suddenly asked.

Weichi was taken aback, snapping back to reality, and said, "This... of course I want to, but it's impossible to achieve. When Qilin was killed by the Old Fist God, the post-mortem world had long been sealed, and no spirit of the deceased could settle here.

"Moreover, anyone who died at the hands of Impermanence was unlikely to have any remnants of soul components, literal soul dispersal, let alone those killed by the Old Fist God. If souls were made of atoms, Qilin probably wouldn't even have a soul atom left."

Little Bowl pondered for a moment and said, "... I also learned about you from Brother Zhuang Cheng before, Mr. No. 5. You hate the Old Fist God immeasurably, regarding him as a brutal murderer to his adopted daughter without mercy, and you believe that Qilin must have died with grievances. That's why you made killing the Old Fist God your life goal.

"On the contrary, the Old Fist God believes differently. He thinks that Qilin, like himself, was a martial fanatic who would have died without regret even by his hand, and thus he never felt guilty about killing his adopted daughter... is that correct?"

"... More or less," Weichi said, "Qilin pursued power because, in her youth, I failed to protect her, forcing her to face extraordinarily terrifying things... She never aligned with the kind of monster like the Old Fist God who pursued power for its own sake."

Then he suspiciously asked, "... Why do you ask this?"

"I have a way for you to talk to your deceased wife, Mr. No. 5," Little Bowl said.

"Ah?" Weichi appeared puzzled.

It took him two or three seconds to seem like he finally understood Little Bowl's meaning, and he incredulously said, "You can perform spirit communication with Qilin?"

"Yes," Little Bowl said earnestly, "Although it's only a temporary conversation, I can achieve it. As for between you and the Old Fist God, whichever side is correct, as long as we summon the person involved and ask them face-to-face, the truth will naturally come to light."

"This... this is impossible!" Weichi shouted, "Communicating with Qilin... performing spirit communication with the past deceased Impermanence, do you know how difficult this is? Although this is not resurrection, only temporary conversation with the deceased, using Impermanence as the medium for spirit communication is no easier than fully resurrecting a strong Great Success Rank.

"I know you are a Divine Son; to converse with Heaven and Earth Spirits or with Spirits of the Dead is like lifting a finger to you, but you shouldn't be capable of that degree! Moreover, this is a deceased whose soul was entirely decomposed, with no chance to settle in the post-mortem world... there's no reason it can be done!"

Hearing these doubts from Weichi, Little Bowl merely made a brief, forceful response, "I can do it."