The Gunsmith's Letter to the Dead

After the course ended, the gunsmith found Luo Ping'an alone, and the two squatted by the dock, watching the sun gradually sink into the Taiyin Mountain.

"Mr. Ping An, is there really Spirit Realm here?"

Luo Ping'an replied, "Of course."

The gunsmith changed his question and asked again, "I mean, is there such a place as Shambhala?"

As we learned from the previous episode, the Spirit Realm of Shambhala possesses an exceptionally powerful attraction—

--In times of war, there are also casualties in the battle groups. As the nameless army grows, there will always be bloodshed and sacrifice.

The dead do not leave the world immediately; they still have spirits that can be preserved for a short time, or they can find a vessel to which they reside as a coffin, becoming a painting in Galahad, or a spirit of the tower.

There are many methods of spiritual communication that can cross the boundaries between the living and the dead, and Jason Megan also knows some of these methods.

The ritual of informing the spirit is a one-way transmission of information to the spirit.

The purpose of a memorial service is to soothe the suffering of the spirit and heal the damage it inflicted during its lifetime.

The spirit-calling ceremony is a ritual to summon the spirit of someone who died far from home to their loved ones, allowing the spirit to meet with their family one last time, overcoming the barriers between the two places.

The simplest ritual for summoning a spirit is performed at the place where a comrade died, using psychic tools to call upon the deceased's soul.

The premise for holding these rituals is that the deceased's spirit has not gone far, has not completely dissipated, and has not been judged as "dead" by Mother Earth. The Original Seed still believes that this little life is still alive and is willing to provide it with a little bit of psychic energy pulse signal to maintain its spirit.

But in Shambhala, these rituals go unanswered; it seems that once a person dies, nothing remains.

Those who die on this land are like the cultists of the Madness Butterfly who enter Gongdelin; no matter how much others call out to them, they cannot escape this hell.

"Originally, there was one, about three hundred years ago. I could talk to all sorts of wandering spirits in the natural environment. Later, the Valley God became stronger and stronger, and the sun became more and more intense, and slowly it disappeared." Luo Ping'an answered without hesitation, "This Valley God is the Lord of Cinder in the heavens."

"The gates to the Spirit Realm of Shambhala are slowly closing, and it will be very difficult for ordinary people to awaken their spiritual abilities through psychic methods."

The gunsmith then asked, "So you can only eat meat?"

"Uh..." Luo Ping'an thought about it carefully, and finally nodded helplessly. "You could say that. In the past, my sect emphasized cultivating the mind and nourishing the qi, consuming metals, stones and herbs, and using brilliance stones as spirit stones—stones with various colored lattices as spiritual energy amplifiers, integrating them into the limbs and bones, and using this rudimentary method to cultivate spiritual energy users."

"As the gate to the Spirit Realm gradually closes, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth becomes scarce, and our sect is facing a shortage of successors. Therefore, I changed my path Daoist magic, and asked my disciples to go down the mountain to become True Immortals."

"The five elements—metal, wood, water, and fire—are also the four types of pyroxene in the yellow, green, red, and blue spectrum. Black and white White Stone represent Mother Earth and true qi and essence. Since arriving in the Nine Realms, I haven't paid much attention to the incantations and magic of Shambhala. Instead, I'm very interested in the Akashic Records, spiritual practices, Indian mythology, and Sumer civilization of the mortal world."

"Among the strange tales and legends recorded in early human civilizations, there is the Qishi Jing --"

"--Monks, those beings who consume the flavors of this land without ceasing will naturally develop a rough and unpleasant body, their skin will thicken, their complexion will become dark and turbid, their appearance will become strange, they will lose their radiance, and they will no longer be able to fly through the air, because the land is fertile, and their supernatural powers will perish."

"Humans come from the Abhasvara Heaven. In the Abhasvara Heaven, the celestial beings have no voice, but communicate with each other through the light emanating from their meditative minds, which replaces language. Hence it is called the Abhasvara Heaven."

"Everything in the world is made of light, energy, and information. In the realm of light and sound, there are no eyes, ears, nose, mouth, body, or mind; only light transmits information."

"This is very similar to our Inspiration. The Origin of the World Sutra says that humans themselves have no physical form, but are a kind of spiritual being."

"Having arrived in this chaotic land, I absorbed its primordial essence and tasted its fertile flavor. Growing addicted to this astringent taste, I gradually developed skin, which became cloudy and unable to fly. My spiritual powers also vanished."

"If the beings of Shambhala are vying for the earth's fertility, then this sun is drawing upon the spiritual light that nourishes that fertility."

The gunsmith then asked, "Why? What's the use?"

Luo Ping'an immediately replied, "Perhaps it's to go home. We were originally beings from the Radiant Sound Heaven, and by some twist of fate, we came to this planet— the Original Seed is the true master of this land, and we are souls in the vast universe whose forms are based on the medium of the cosmic field or ether."

"But one day, this planet was struck by a cataclysmic event. During a celestial conjunction, a planet collided with it, severely damaging it and creating the moon. It then developed four seasons, alternating hot and cold temperatures, and the continent of Pangu and countless other living beings."

"It was only after our consciousness energy from the Heaven of Light and Sound that we found the fertile earth."

"I know that Wood Plark has been studying an ultimate question, and we practitioners are also studying this ultimate question."

"If you're going to talk about the Spirit Realm, you can't avoid it—it's about reincarnation, past lives and present lives; it involves both philosophy and science."

"There's a concept called Poincaré recurrence. Our universe isn't expanding indefinitely; sooner or later, it will collapse according to the laws of thermodynamics and return to a singularity."

"So before the event horizon of the black hole, all our information will be recorded at the edge of the singularity, like a stack of paper-cut window decorations, a strange cardboard toy—in its contracted state, it seems to be nothing, but if you slowly stretch it out, everything will start anew."

"The Big Bang keeps happening, constantly returning to the singularity, endlessly repeating the cycle."

"Perhaps it will create a universe without people, or perhaps it will create a universe full of cockroaches."

"Perhaps this universe has never had any life from beginning to end, or perhaps it is full of sparks of civilization."

"Parallel universes are not parallel existences to ours, but rather exist in the far distance, in the future or the past, before the last Poincaré Return. Buddhism calls this 'immeasurable kalpa,' the time from the birth of heaven and earth to its destruction."

"FE204863 and you are not parallel entities, but rather one preceding the other. Observing you on this spatial and temporal scale, the concept of cause and effect has become very blurred; only energy and information themselves have meaning. You are not ranked in sequence; you are both within this cycle of reincarnation."

"Constant expansion and contraction, alternating between hot and cold."

As Luo Ping'an spoke, he opened his palms into the shape of a lotus platform, formed the Awakener's Mudra, and then clenched his fists, signifying the world's return.

"The Lord of Cinder in Shambhala should understand this cycle better than I do, after all, my body and most of my consciousness depend on [Earth Fertilizer] for existence -- but the Lord of Cinder is now in a different position, it has to find a way to compete with the Original Seed for spiritual bodies, steal ghosts, and return to the form of the Aurora Heaven."

"The Original Seed served as fertile soil, absorbing the spiritual light of all beings in the Radiant Sound Heaven. Thus, this planet gained consciousness, and countless intelligent spirits arose—it came to life, unlike any other planet or star. Compared to any other celestial body in the universe, its vitality was so extraordinary and radiant."

"The beings of the Radiant Sound Heaven have obtained various physical forms, and are constantly reincarnated within the shackles of the fertile earth provided by the Original Seed. They have endured life after life in this flesh and blood mill, unable to escape its clutches for eternity."

"This constitutes everything around us today, forming the most basic ternary substance."

"You want to seize a spirit from the Goddess Aio through a psychic ritual? That will likely be very difficult. She is the ruler of this land, and she has become a true god."

Jiang Xueming: "Is she competing with Earth for spiritual entities?"

"Yes, it's a very long process," Luo Ping'an explained. "She's like a ship. Once it's full of people, it will set sail. After the carnivore becomes the Lord of Cinder, it returns to the initial form of the beings in the Radiant Heaven. However, it cannot be separated from the Earth's resources. It still needs fuel to maintain fusion, firewood to fuel the fire, and strong primordial matter."

" For the Goddess Aio to end this eternity and be reborn, she needs to return to a state of pure information. When she obtains enough spiritual entities, this powerful spiritual energy will allow her to abandon the earthly fertilizer. At that time, the Hound of Tindalos might come knocking and take her away."

"My Dreamland" Xue Ming couldn't help but think of the Fragrant Dream; he knew of the existence of the Merit Forest.

"You're different." Luo Ping'an had once read the gunsmith's psionic research report in the Arcane Library: "At most, you've rented a server from the Original Seed —no matter how powerful a BOSS's elemental essence is, it still comes from fertile soil."

"Can I send a message to the Goddess Aio through a psychic ritual?" This was the question the gunsmith asked Luo Ping'an about.

He wasn't interested in the nature of the world; he just wanted to talk to the victims of this battle.

Besides Jianying, two other brothers from the assault team died in the battle against Taiye's army.

One of them suffered from a congenital Heart disease, the kind that Universal Elixir could cure. In the intense battle, he couldn't fight against nature and his body collapsed.

Another one was less fortunate, being struck by lightning. The thunderstorm that night served as a camouflage for the attacking side, and this quick-witted scout, who liked to climb trees to gain high ground, ended up with his fatal death.

"What do you want to say? I'll pass it on for you." Luo Ping'an stretched out his right arm, rolled up his sleeve, and prepared to cast a spell.

Jiang Xueming asked in surprise, "Mr. Ping An, do you have a solution?"

"The owner of this arm was once a demonic cultivator. She wanted to seize the Valley God's lineage, and if she was going to do something, she would do something big. She wanted to absorb this sun, but she was beaten to a pulp by righteous cultivators. Her body was sealed away, and by some twist of fate, she was able to maintain her consciousness by hiding in my body." Luo Ping'an explained, "I can forge swords, perform hand seals, and chant incantations. I have these Spirit Realm beliefs, and I can unleash the ultimate move, 'Ten Thousand Swords Return to One'—all thanks to this arm."

"Although her plan to eat the sun failed, it did yield some results."

"She still has a connection with the Grain God and can talk to the dead. When she was still alive, she was called a demon and the Death God Reaper. After losing her physical body, this little skill of communicating with the dead is still the most useful."

"What should we do?" Jiang Xueming asked.

Luo Ping'an cut open the skin of his right arm and collected the blood in a ceramic bowl. He used this crude method of using blood as ink to perform the spiritual energy ritual.

He didn't chant any incantations. Looking at the dark red, dirty blood showing through the sandy skin on his arm, he pulled out the iron ruler made from Mingde's remains and mixed the blood and ink together.

The pale, delicate arm gradually lost its color. Luo Ping'an said again, "Use this ink to write letters. Write down everything in great detail, without leaving any regrets. The next time might have to wait until next spring, otherwise my body won't be able to handle it."

While the blood was still fresh, Xue Ming immediately grabbed a fountain pen, drew ink, and quickly wrote a letter home.

He wrote two full pages just about the two brothers who died unjustly in battle. Before appealing to Mr. Ping An, he, as the leader, had already discussed the funeral arrangements with the brothers' relatives. The relatives' wishes and things to say were all listed in the letter.

Finally, it was Jianying's turn.

At first, Xue Ming didn't know how to begin writing or how to start the conversation.

What should I say to him? What should I say to this stubborn, cowardly, and lustful Great Xia?

"Your brother is with me now, he's free. He has no grudges."

"When I first came to Zhuzhou, I saw you brothers being bullied, and I felt that this world was too bad—I couldn't just sit idly by. Later, I became your benefactor. Before you died, you shouted at me, saying that it was all settled."

"Jianying, you don't owe me anything, except for a debt of affection between my younger brother and Xiangxiang."

"Speaking of this foolish thing, if only you hadn't sneaked away and had come to the city with me, wouldn't that have been so much better?"

"But time cannot be reversed. I don't have that power, I never have."

"Without you, I wouldn't have been able to capture Kunwu in the first round of the attack. If we hadn't captured this bandit leader, even more people would have died later, and I might have died too."

"I remember you and your younger brother brought some wine, it was ale brewed in the earthen cellar of Zhao Family Village. Your younger brother drank one bottle, but you couldn't bear to part with your own, so that bastard Wu Xiuwen stole it from you."

"I wonder if Mr. Ping An could help bring you some offerings, my comrade-in-arms."

"If your soul is with Ceres, will the goddess of fertility invite you to a feast? Will she treat you well? Will she give you wine to drink?"

"Kunwu told me that there was a deep sense of loneliness hidden in my soul. At first, I didn't understand. I couldn't understand what this scoundrel was talking about—I have a wife and children, how can I be lonely?"

"Only after the battle was over, after walking the entire road from Sendai to Taiya, did I finally have a little bit of personal space where I could Matsushita and catch my breath, and only then did I start thinking about you."

"There are so many friends and partners like you, whom I will never see again. My grades in psychic studies have always been terrible, but when it comes to rituals to comfort the dead, I remember them perfectly."

"Kunwu told me that you are just a meat dog, an obedient and loyal dog."

"I was so angry that I lost my temper and couldn't control my emotions."

"The Wu family once asked me why I liked dogs. I said that dogs are my gods. Dogs can distinguish between good and evil and understand reason, but people cannot—the difference between people is greater than the difference between people and dogs."

"When I first arrived in Taiye, I also met a young man who was out of his mind. He was older than all of you. His name was Liuzi. You don't know him, but your younger brother has met him. Wu Xiuwen even joked with me, saying that I had encountered bandits and that I should obediently pay money to save my life."

"Liuzi lost his parents and was raised by bandits. I killed the bandits, but he remains obstinate and insists on continuing to plead for the bandits' innocence."

"I also want to give him a chance at love, I also want him to open his eyes, unlock the lock in his heart, see clearly the chaotic world, and distinguish the true forms of demons—but I don't have that ability."

"After the victory, during the process of eliminating the remnants of the cult, I saw Liuzi again. Do you know what this guy was doing?"

"He shed his Government Soldiers's uniform, hid in the inner hall of the Yin Yang Qiankun Temple, changed into an embroidered dress, and applied rouge and powder to his face, disguising himself as a woman to take advantage of the chaos. He wanted to survive, to rely on his martial arts skills, and to enjoy the riches and glory of Kunwu. At this time, I missed you more and more—I was so lucky to meet you two brothers in the Great Xia, to meet Wu Xiuwen."

You can.

By the time I finished writing this, the ink in the bowl had dried up.

Luo Ping'an didn't read the contents of the letter. When Xue Ming put down his pen, he couldn't write another word.

He took out two fire spirit stones, tapped them together, sealed the wound on his arm with flames, and then burned the letter.

Jiang Xueming: "That's it?"

Luo Ping'an: "Hmm."

"Can he hear me? How can they receive these letters?" Jiang Xueming asked curiously.

A breeze stirred on the Mist River, and a golden sunset stretched from the mountains towards the horizon.

--The grass on the mountain was carried northwest by the strong wind, swirling up the willow catkins by the river.

The undulating rain clouds in the sky gradually cleared, and the clouds transformed into the shape of a galloping horse. Xue Ming clearly remembered that when Zhao Jianying died by disembowelment, the spurting blood was also in the shape of a horse.

Luo Ping'an blew away the dust and crystalline powder formed from the spirit stones, took out a pot of monkey wine from his bundle, and splashed it into the mud at the dock, then splashed it into the river.

Finally, I dipped my fingers in the liquor, patted them out to create a misty, alcoholic aroma, and then scattered it into the sky.

"It should have been received."