Chapter 409: Only Forgetting Can Break Cause and Effect

The Old Ancestor of the Vajra Sect was startled, and the shadow also opened countless eyes.

" 'Could this sentence be an explanation for an entity I haven't noticed?' Xu Qing asked calmly.

" 'Moreover, the Danqing Old Ancestor has always addressed me as "Lord Guardian"—a four-character title. Yet, in this specific explanatory sentence, he only used two characters: "Lord."'"

" 'This is such an obvious detail, yet I strangely overlooked it before.' A cold glint appeared in Xu Qing's eyes.

" 'So, how many prisoners are actually in Sector D-132, which I guard?'"

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, replaying memories in his mind.

" 'The first is the Cloud Beast.' "

" 'The second is the human girl.' "

" 'The thirteenth—' Xu Qing's voice trailed off. At that moment, a chilling aura emanated from his entire body.

" 'Who is the fourth one?' Xu Qing murmured, his pupils beginning to contract.

The Old Ancestor of the Vajra Sect, who was standing nearby, was about to speak, but he too froze. He couldn't recall either. Then his entire body trembled, and horror appeared in his eyes.

The shadow, too, was bewildered.

" 'Who is the fifth one?' Xu Qing asked softly. 'Or rather, who are all the prisoners from the fourth to the twelfth? Why can't I remember them?' " He took out the jade slip containing prisoner information from his person. No matter how he counted while checking it, there were always fourteen.

But strangely, he just couldn't recall the nine in the middle.

It was incredibly strange.

They were in the jade slip, and Xu Qing felt he had seen them, but when he tried to recall them, he couldn't.

" 'The previous guardian had also introduced the prisoners, and he also seemed not to mention the nine in the middle. Strangely, I found that normal at the time.' "

" 'Interesting,' Xu Qing said, a cold light flashing in his eyes. He opened his storage pouch, intending to record everything he had just realized. But after a moment's thought, he didn't use a jade slip; instead, he took out a blank bamboo slip.

He had many bamboo slips in his storage pouch.

On this bamboo slip, he meticulously carved every thought he had, character by character.

On the last line, Xu Qing wrote five characters and a question mark.

Power of a deity?

Having finished this, Xu Qing stood up and walked out of the Sword Pavilion into the night.

Outside, the rain continued to fall, creating puddles on the ground. Xu Qing walked over them, continuing through the night until he reached the Judicial Department.

As he walked up the steps of the Judicial Department, his footsteps echoed far, forming concentric rings of sound.

This was Xu Qing's first time visiting the Judicial Department at night. The surroundings were even darker, with only the lamps lit at intervals along the walls casting a dim, faint glow.

In the pervasive darkness, the lamplight was insignificant.

Xu Qing's expression was calm as he descended the steps one by one. He didn't want to wait until dawn, as day and night held no distinction for him.

But once time passed, he worried his memory would blur again. So, he intended to deal with it immediately while his realization was fresh.

He was going to see the prisoners from the fourth to the twelfth.

Thus, in this quiet and darkness, Xu Qing arrived at the fifty-seventh floor of the Judicial Department. He reached the dark-green cell door of D-132 and pushed it open.

" 'Are there prisoners from the fourth to the twelfth, or are there not!' "

As a creaking sound echoed through the silence, Xu Qing walked in expressionlessly. With a thud, the door closed.

Sector D-132 was as dark as ever.

The moment he entered, Xu Qing vaguely sensed gazes from within the cells watching him. At the same time, the figure of the little boy appeared beside him, with a look of helplessness and concern in his eyes.

Xu Qing noticed it and frowned.

He had come this time precisely for that gaze!

When he had checked the jade slip earlier, he had noticed the little boy's figure was absent from the recordings, but he remembered the boy's helpless gaze.

He had only come here late at night with the sole purpose of figuring out why the little boy's gaze was like that.

This was his only objective.

" 'What's here?' Xu Qing raised his right wrist, looking at the little boy.

The little boy opened his mouth as if to speak, but no matter what he said, Xu Qing couldn't hear him. It was as if they were separated by time and space.

Even though Xu Qing tried many methods, such as writing, he still couldn't communicate with the little boy. When he finally felt that dawn was approaching outside, Xu Qing sighed softly and had no choice but to give up.

He looked up at Sector D-132. His gaze swept over the fourteen prisoners, and everything was as usual.

So he turned to leave. But the moment his hand touched the cell door, a hint of confusion suddenly appeared in Xu Qing's expression.

" 'I came here in the middle of the night just to communicate with the fortune? This doesn't align with my personality!' "

" 'I could have easily done this during my day shift. Why did I come at night?' "

" 'It seems I've forgotten something.' "

Xu Qing murmured. He turned to look at Sector D-132. It was just as he remembered, unchanged.

" 'No!' A sharp glint appeared in Xu Qing's eyes.

" 'My memory isn't that bad, yet I can't recall it.' "

" 'Could some power be influencing me?' "

" 'When I came here, perhaps I wasn't influenced. That's why I came. But after entering, I forgot my purpose. So, I must have discovered some clues.' "

As he continued to look, he suddenly raised his right hand and opened his storage pouch. He rummaged inside, and after carefully examining every item, he took out a bamboo slip.

On this bamboo slip, numerous characters were densely carved.

Xu Qing frowned. He was familiar with the bamboo slip, but he didn't remember any writing on it. So he examined it closely, and as he read, his expression changed.

" 'What is confined in cells four to twelve?' "

" 'The power of a deity?' "

Xu Qing's mind was greatly agitated. The handwriting was familiar; it was his own. But the content was utterly foreign to him. Finally, he abruptly looked up and surveyed his surroundings.

" 'It affected my memory?!' " A murderous glint flashed in Xu Qing's eyes. His third heavenly palace within him suddenly vibrated, and the aura of poison restriction within it spread, enveloping his entire body. Then he took a deep breath, for the first time activating the power of his fourth heavenly palace.

That was the Violet Moon Heavenly Palace.

As Xu Qing willed it, the fourth heavenly palace trembled. A wisp of purple moonlight bloomed within Xu Qing's sea of consciousness, and as it enveloped his entire body, his invisible spiritual rank suddenly increased at that moment.

His expression became cold, and his eyes held an ethereal quality. Though his appearance hadn't changed, he gave off the impression of no longer being a human with emotions, but a deity looking down on all living beings.

In this state, Xu Qing looked at Sector D-132 again.

With this glance, Sector D-132 appeared completely different in his eyes.

It was not black at all, but red—a vivid, crimson red. The ground was covered in fresh blood. Both the walls and the cells were blood-colored.

Only one area emitted light. That was where the little boy was, right beside him.

Because they were very close, the light emanating from the little boy also enveloped Xu Qing.

He was within the light. Outside the light, in addition to the blood color, there was a dense, bloody mist. It seemed to be trying to invade but was being blocked.

Xu Qing's mind trembled. He abruptly looked at the cell where the Cloud Beast was supposed to be. Inside was not the Cloud Beast, but a headless stone lion!

It was dark-green all over, emitting a dense aura of ominousness.

Next, he looked at the cell where the human girl was. That place had also changed, as if a veil had been lifted, revealing the true scene. The woman inside was no longer enchanting but a skeleton.

A giant scarecrow now stood inside the cell. It was entirely blood-red and continuously swayed, shedding countless scraps of straw that transformed into smaller scarecrows. These continuously devoured the woman's skeleton, then spat it out after eating, reassembling it.

It was as if they were perpetually tearing at each other, generation after generation.

Noticing Xu Qing's gaze, the giant scarecrow even turned its head, glanced at Xu Qing, and grinned.

The cell holding the millstone and the head was also different from before. The millstone had disappeared, and in its place, a massive water vat had appeared, emitting an ancient aura. Inside the water vat, there was murky liquid, and a black lotus had grown out, spreading countless tendrils that permeated the cell.

Many of them directly pierced into the head, making the head's expression one of pain.

At this moment, the head noticed Xu Qing's gaze. But its expression was very strange; it was helpless, and a weak voice emanated from it.

" 'Only I haven't changed. I told you, I'm good.' "

Xu Qing was silent. His gaze swept over the other cells, and everything he saw caused immense waves of shock in his mind.

He did not see the fourth to twelfth prisoners.

He saw a massive finger that pierced through hundreds of cells. This finger emitted an indescribable divine might, and the flowing blood illuminated the entire cell block crimson.

The bloody mist and blood were all born from it.

That was a deity's finger.

In the last cell, the elder of the Danqing race, his face was twisted in a grimace. His body was emaciated, half-naked, covered in bite marks. He was drawing with his finger.

Inside his cell, countless scrolls floated, so densely packed they were hard to count. The ground was also covered with discarded paintings. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that every single painting depicted Xu Qing!

Noticing Xu Qing's gaze, the elder turned his head and grinned.

" 'Good morning, Lord Guardian.' "

This was the true appearance of Sector D-132.

The prisoners here were not fourteen, but six.

Xu Qing's expression was grim. After gazing at all of this, he walked to the location of the headless stone lion. With a wave of his right hand, the cell's formation activated, and with a rumble, the stone lion crumbled and shattered.

Next was the scarecrow; it also disintegrated within the formation. Then came the water vat, black lotus, and the head.

The head was crushed by Xu Qing's foot. Before disappearing, it let out a sigh.

" 'Why don't you ever believe me?' "

Finally, the Danqing race. Under the elder's eerie grin, Xu Qing flicked his sleeve, and a burst of flames roared past, incinerating everything.

Having done all this, he looked at the finger. After a long silence, he turned and walked out.

This finger was the true secret of Sector D-132.

What was ultimately imprisoned here was actually this deity's finger. Xu Qing simply didn't understand why such an item would be placed in Sector D.

Xu Qing looked at the little boy, watching as the light around the boy's body resisted the bloody aura emanating from the deity's finger nearby. Suddenly, he understood.

" 'The Old Ancestor of the Vajra Sect was wrong. Misfortune isn't caused by an inability to withstand the blessing of fortune. Instead, it comes from a curse—a deity's curse. The fortune here is meant to suppress this curse.' "

" 'Therefore, successive guardians are indirectly affected by the curse, leading to misfortune.' "

" 'This is a cognitive curse. The way to break it is simple: see through all of this.' "

" 'So, you are the true guardian here.' "

Xu Qing said softly.

The little boy nodded.

Xu Qing was silent. He walked to the cell door, looked down at the bamboo slip in his hand, then crushed it, scattering the pieces on the ground. This item was no longer needed. He intended to resign from his position as guardian of Sector D-132. This place was too bizarre; even if he understood the cause and effect, he was unwilling to stay here any longer.

So he retracted his Violet Moon and poison restriction auras and pushed open the cell door.

The moment he stepped out, as the door closed, Xu Qing took a deep breath and frowned.

" 'It's a pity I can't communicate with that little boy. However, it doesn't seem to have any ill will towards me; it's mostly curious.' "

" 'Never mind,' he thought, 'but Sector D-132 only has fourteen prisoners, which is a bit few.' "

Xu Qing pondered. He felt he should find a way to add more prisoners. With these thoughts, Xu Qing gradually walked away. He was going to see Kong Xianglong, who was imprisoned here.

After Xu Qing left, everything in Sector D-132 was as usual.

The Cloud Beast was still chewing, the human girl was still coaxing the scarecrow to sleep, the millstone was still turning its head, and the Danqing clan's paintings hadn't disappeared. The old man inside sighed.

" 'How did such a terrifying fellow come here?' he muttered. 'He wakes up every day. When will it end? Warning him doesn't help; he just kills us when he wakes up. Not warning him doesn't help either; he still wakes up every time after analyzing things.' "

The head at the millstone shrieked upon hearing this.

" 'I'm more annoyed than you!' the head shrieked. 'This guy was normal only the first time he came. He woke up after his second visit. Since then, he wakes up every day he comes. And every time he wakes up, he steps on me—it never changes!' "

" 'Am I really meant to be trampled like this?' the head continued. 'I've told him countless times not to step on me! Damn it, I'm going to kill him! No, wait, the Straw Hat will kill him. He's destined to die!' "

Amidst this clamor, the little boy's figure appeared at the cell door. He bent down and picked up the shattered pieces of bamboo slip from the ground. After picking them up, he went to a hidden, imperceptible corner of the cell and threw the bamboo slip fragments there.

There was a pile of bamboo slip fragments.

On every fragment, there was writing, all of it Xu Qing's handwriting.

If one were to count carefully, it would be found that the number of these bamboo slips was just one less than the number of days Xu Qing had served here.

Perhaps tomorrow, one more would be added.

The little boy sighed. His body flickered, disappearing without a trace. He reappeared outside Sector D-132, behind Xu Qing.

No one could see him. Xu Qing couldn't see him either.

He silently followed. He seemed to be constantly fulfilling an agreement: protecting Xu Qing in the commandery capital until the young lady who was willing to be his friend arrived.

This was the agreement.

But he was a bit troubled because he found that the person he was supposed to protect hadn't needed his protection since the second day he arrived.

On that very day, Xu Qing had seen through everything in Sector D-132. He had also seen through everything about himself. The careful resolution of his misfortune wasn't something he had done; he had broken it himself.

Therefore, every day he would awaken, gain understanding, and commit slaughter here.

And because of the influence of the deity and the Judicial Department's own suppression power, he would forget everything each day.

This cycle repeated daily.

This was Sector D-132, and it was also the core of the Judicial Department's power.

Misfortune, indeed, did not come from fortune. It came from a curse—a deity's curse.

No one could withstand it. Only by forgetting could the karma be severed.