Chapter 1733: Chapter 1733: Nothing Is Emptiness, Emptiness Is Nothing
"As long as thoughts remain, one can think. When a spiritual body contemplates complete annihilation, most choose to be consumed. If lucky, they might be consumed by the Ghost King, as the Ghost King’s consumption is swift, avoiding the painful feeling of being sliced slowly. However, some don’t encounter the Ghost King but instead encounter spirits of the same rank or those that have become evil spirits after long wandering. In such cases, the consumption process slows down, becoming a torment akin to slow slicing of flesh."
Upon hearing this, Little Taotie shrunk back: "It’s like dying while alive, and even after death, dying yet again. Just thinking about it feels so painful."
The elder sighed: "Obsession is the most terrifying thing in the world. Once you plunge into it and can’t extricate yourself, any sacrifice to achieve your goal seems trivial."
Little Taotie whispered, "Obsession is so scary."
Lou Lan asked, "If the spiritual body is consumed, shouldn’t the obsession end?"
The elder shook his head, eyes deep: "What is ’nothing’ is also ’something.’ Existence of emptiness is also a form of existence. Since existence occurs, it cannot completely vanish. The physical body can perish, the spiritual body can dissipate or be consumed, but it won’t entirely disappear. In one grain of sand lies a world; as long as trace particles exist, so does existence."
Lou Lan gasped: "Somewhat profound, yet I vaguely understand something. I can’t quite explain it but feel a chill creeping in, scared to think further."
Little Taotie’s big eyes blink, filled with confusion, trance, and a galaxy-like shimmering glow.
The elder, meeting Little Taotie’s sparkling eyes, asked with surprise: "What did you understand?"
Little Taotie responded in a soft, childlike voice: "There’s no true death. The obsession with wanting to die can never be fulfilled, resulting only in a more painful existence. Thoughts and consciousness might linger, the obsession perpetually torments, with no relief in sight."
The elder chuckled lightly: "That, I do not know. Consciousness and thoughts might exist or vanish, perhaps merely remaining as unaware floating beings. What’s in the box are particles left after consumption, appearing once again due to circumstances over time. Hence, I and those present who can see spiritual bodies cannot see them, yet you two kids seemingly can due to your youthful connection."
Little Taotie sympathetically glanced at the tiny spiritual bodies in the box, now smaller than her fingernail. Her childlike voice carried an aged tone: "The ones in the box chose suicide, trapping themselves so they can’t reincarnate, resembling ghost-like existences? And so small, so pitiful?"
"How did you make them smaller?" Hua Jinyan inquired.
The elder pondered, then produced a snuff bottle, adorned with a depiction of a scholar climbing a mountain, so lifelike it seemed alive.
The elder opened the snuff bottle, and to everyone’s surprise, the scholar floated out, gradually expanding.
"Ghost?" The team members from the Special Department who could see ghosts exclaimed.
The elder nodded: "This is my companion. Through coincidence, I formed a contract with him."
Lou Lan frowned: "Is it your Ghost Servant?"
The elder shook his head: "Not a Ghost Servant contract, but an equal contract."
Lou Lan’s expression improved: "I didn’t expect you to keep a ghost."
The elder remarked indifferently: "It’s merely coincidence."
Little Taotie’s eyes blinked as the ghost floated beside her, offering a polite smile: "Child, would you like to learn to read? How about I teach you the Thousand Character Classic?"
