Weapon System 66. The Web of Fate (1)

“If you get trapped in a certain illusion, you might get corrupted by it and turn into a demon. Would you be willing to accept that?” asked young Zhang Mingjing.

“Ahem, the reason I came here this time wasn’t to return to the source of the projection—I don’t have the courage for that yet. I just want to sense it, borrow some computational power from it.”

“Sensing it is just as dangerous. These illusions are intertwined with the information from the projection source, and much of their information actually originates from the source’s derivatives.”

“My little brother, we’re family. Surely you have a method to sense the projection source. You shouldn’t hide it from me!”

At this moment, young Zhang Mingjing shot him a cold look.

Zhang Mingjing couldn’t help but comment, “You’re so young—shouldn’t have such a cold demeanor!”

“Hmph! You want to sense the projection source, but I am a projection of the source, and so are you. We are information from the projection source itself! Why not just sense yourself properly?”

“That’s a profound statement—one sentence to awaken a dreamer.” Zhang Mingjing recognized the truth in his words. Yet, he knew that doing so was akin to entering an illusion, never truly touching the legendary clear fountain of the source. So he praised him deliberately, “Though you’re young, your thoughts are impressively deep.”

He continued to express his feelings, “But you and I are essentially illusions created by the projection source, mere projections, derivative information. What I need is the information from the source itself, not transformed derivatives.”

“Why are you so verbose? Original information, derivative information—it’s all a matter of distinction.”

“Could you explain it more simply, little brother?”

“Come on! Just follow the projection and you’ll find the source.”

“Another statement to awaken a dreamer! It seems your realm is higher than mine, despite your age. How exactly should I do it? Guide me!”

“Come on! Are you trying to trick me into telling you?”

“Do you want to charge me for this knowledge?”

“Fine! I’ll tell you, but the consequences are yours to bear.”

“Naturally!”

“You’ve heard of fate, haven’t you?” asked young Zhang Mingjing.

“Uh! I’ve heard Zhang Yidao mention it, but I don’t really understand.”

“Fate is entanglement—like the interplay of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. You’re in me, I’m in you. There’s a web of fate in this universe, omnipresent, spanning every dimension. If you can see it, you can sense the projection source, for it’s very close to the source.”

“How close?”

“As close as right before your eyes, but you just can’t see it.”

“Profound words always sound so peculiar!” Zhang Mingjing laughed, then asked, “How can I see the web of fate?”

“Go to a place of deep concentration and comprehend it yourself!” With this, young Zhang Mingjing left, but he didn’t take the labyrinth with him.

“Hey, take the labyrinth away with you!” Zhang Mingjing called out.

A moment later, a reply came from what seemed a very distant place, “It fills your heart. Where could I possibly take it?”

“I never expected to have such a young version of myself in my consciousness, and his voice even has a hint of Zhang Yidao. Truly unbelievable!” Zhang Mingjing remarked.

At that moment, the voice of the Five-Dimensional Mind Model appeared, “Nothing unbelievable about it. He’s one of the projections of your true self.”

“Wow! I thought you couldn’t enter such deep levels of concentration, yet you managed to slip in!”

“Bah! Why would I need to slip in? I’ve become more attuned with you—naturally, I can follow you into deeper concentration.”

“I see.”

“And I’m here to help you. Without me, you’d be much more susceptible to falling into demonic states.”

“You’d better be my protector, then.”

“Of course!”

…

Zhang Mingjing tried once more to go deeper into concentration, but it was extremely difficult. He always felt something disturbing him; every step forward was accompanied by persistent anxiety he couldn’t shake off.

He calmed himself, attempting to ignore the feeling, but it clung to him relentlessly. Somehow, he was gradually drawn into it.

He was completely unaware, utterly immersed in a panic.

Zhang Mingjing tried desperately to climb out, but invisible, sticky tentacles kept grabbing him, as if they belonged to a living creature—and he realized that creature was panic itself.

He couldn’t see it, but he was forced to read it, his energy consumption dozens of times higher than usual. Exhausted in body and mind, he gradually lost the will to fight, his thoughts becoming rapidly clouded.

He felt himself being wrapped in the creature’s tentacles, slowly delivered into its mouth. Despite this, he was too weary to resist.

A second later, he sensed countless steel teeth in its mouth, ready to grind him into powder.

Suddenly, he was overwhelmed by immense fear and summoned his last ounce of strength to struggle, but could not break free.

He thought for sure he was doomed.

Just then, he was enveloped by a surge of negative rotational energy. Not only was his mind clouded, but he also sank into deep negativity—completely resigned to fate.

He was on the verge of falling into a demonic state.

Suddenly, his physical body extended his right hand and slapped his own face hard. The pain twisted his face, but it didn’t wake him from concentration, so his right hand delivered two more heavy slaps. At last, he cried out in agony and emerged from his trance.

“What the hell happened?” Zhang Mingjing shouted.

Then the Five-Dimensional Mind Model responded, “What else? You were caught in an illusion. That illusion was saturated with negative rotational energy, so I didn’t dare approach to wake you. Instead, I quickly took control of your brain, made your right hand slap you hard three times, and woke you from concentration—thus saving you.”

“So that’s what happened!”

“I warned you this path was dangerous. Do you still want to go?”

Zhang Mingjing hesitated for a moment, then said, “Yes! I’ve already experienced an illusion once. If I encounter it again, I won’t be afraid.”

“Oh, come on!” the Five-Dimensional Mind Model complained. “I truly admire your stubbornness. You think the illusion will just wait there for you? Next time you encounter it, you won’t recognize it—it’ll change forms to destroy you.”

“Uh! So what should I do?”

“I’ll implant an awakening program in you. In case you become clouded or agitated, it will activate and hopefully wake you in time, keeping you from falling deeper into hallucination.”

“Hallucination! It didn’t feel like a hallucination—I could read it, and it felt incredibly real.”

“That’s because you and it are both hallucinations, mutually compatible, so you can sense each other. As scientists would say, you and the illusion share the same physical properties and obey the same physical laws, thus acknowledging each other’s reality.”

“You’re really full of nonsense!”

“Don’t worry about whether I’m nonsense or not. Are you going or not? Who knows how much danger lies ahead!”

Zhang Mingjing hesitated again, then said, “Let’s go! I’ve come this far; to give up would be a pity. Besides, I’m brave—I shouldn’t give up easily, right?”

“Your confidence has multiplied since before.” The Five-Dimensional Mind Model laughed. “Alright! I’ll support you and continue as your protector.”

…

Zhang Mingjing crossed his legs once more and sank into concentration.

He pushed himself as deep and subtle as possible. After about twenty minutes, he approached another illusion.

This time, the illusion was filled with mist. As soon as Zhang Mingjing arrived, he knew it was an illusion, so he proceeded with utmost vigilance, encountering no obstacles.

But he didn’t realize that his vigilance itself was gradually leading him into a demonic state.

Within this illusion, he became increasingly nervous about every movement. At the slightest disturbance, he became exceptionally agitated, eventually hallucinating.

He sensed a shadow circling him, but no matter what, he couldn’t reach it, and grew anxious.

He continued forward with a pounding heart, suddenly sensing the shadow making a wide circle before lunging at him.

In a panic, he counterattacked with the Divine Palm technique, and simultaneously his physical body followed his consciousness, delivering dozens of Divine Palm strikes.

Fortunately, the Five-Dimensional Mind Model had temporarily sealed his energy system, or else those strikes would have demolished the house.

Having no other choice, the Five-Dimensional Mind Model took control of part of his consciousness, making him slap himself hard several times until he finally emerged from the illusion, avoiding the demonic state. If his face hadn’t been battered, he might never have come out of concentration.

“What on earth happened again?” Zhang Mingjing complained, clutching his swollen face. “I clearly reminded myself that it was an illusion—how did I still get corrupted?”

“When facing an illusion, you can’t allow a single thought to stir. Any thought opens a loophole for it—if it doesn’t corrupt you, it’s a miracle,” said the Five-Dimensional Mind Model.

“If there’s no interference, not having any thoughts is doable. But as soon as I enter the illusion, something always feels off—it’s really hard not to think!”

“So, as Taoists say, your concentration isn’t strong enough. You need to build a solid foundation first, don’t be reckless. If I weren’t here, you’d have fallen into a demonic state long ago—who knows what you’d do, maybe even take a knife to yourself.”

“No way! I value my life.”

“If you fall into a demonic state, it’s out of your hands… Enough! Let’s stop arguing. I think we should put this search for the web of fate on hold for now.”

“Hey! Why didn’t your awakening program activate?”

“Oh!” said the Five-Dimensional Mind Model awkwardly. “Maybe its version is too low—it doesn’t pick up on these illusions. But I’m already optimizing it.”

“Come on!”

…

The Five-Dimensional Mind Model advised Zhang Mingjing to stop searching for the web of fate for now, but Zhang Mingjing remained silent for two minutes before saying, “No, let’s try again. With you here, I won’t fall into a demonic state, right?”

“Your face is already as swollen as a pumpkin. Aren’t you afraid of ruining it?”

“You could make my hand slap lighter next time.”

“If it’s lighter, can you escape the illusion? Besides, your meridians are all open now—your power is deep, it’s hard to go easy.”

“Uh! Maybe next time slap the left side.”

“Sigh!… Since you’re so determined, I’ll try with you two more times. But if we still don’t find the web of fate after two tries, we’ll stop for today.”

“Ok!... Is your awakening program optimized yet?”

“These illusions’ parameters change frequently, and they’re quite advanced. I need to optimize a few more times, just in case. So it probably won’t work today.”

“Oh, looks like my left cheek is at high risk.”

…