The Everlasting Journey Sutra: Chapter of Gaining Insects
A classic text of the journey to eternal awakening, a part of which is entrusted to me, hoping to deliver it to that child.
I, the recipient of the insect, have had it for a long time.
To not die is to embark on the journey of eternal awakening.
But I must seek the reason for immortality.
It is said that the sacred dragon came from its western homeland; why would it bestow insects upon us?
Pure Black stared blankly at the prompt before him, feeling as though he was on the verge of grasping a crucial clue, yet it remained just out of reach.
He looked up at the somber sky beyond the water's surface, sensing a grand conspiracy brewing.
He had initially thought the booklet, which shone with the same brilliance as the Divine Dragon's Blessing material, would be some advanced combat technique. To his surprise, it turned out to be a clue related to insect possession.
The 'insect' in the text likely referred to the centipede that could grant immortality to living beings, and this insect also seemed to have a mysterious connection to the divine dragon in the Divine Dragon's Palace.
Glancing around, he saw overturned and collapsed walls at the bottom of the water, as well as a golden Buddha statue covered in water weeds and seaweed, which had long obscured its golden radiance.
Clearly, this place might have been land, or even a temple, a long time ago. But due to the changes of time, the plains became streams, and by then, the method of eternal life through insect possession had already spread.
It could be said that immortality has a long history throughout the entire Sekiro world. It wasn't that predecessors hadn't thought of severing immortality, but due to various problems, they hadn't succeeded, until the appearance of Wolf in this generation.
A heavy sense of history washed over him, giving Pure Black a more realistic feeling, as if these were events that had truly happened in some parallel world.
And the designers had merely opened Pandora's Box, revealing a corner of this fantastical immortal world to the players.
Besides this,
There was an even darker theory: a very long time ago, Senpo Temple had already been conducting various experiments in pursuit of immortality.
Pure Black had always had a question: what did the windmills and wooden dolls all over Senpo Temple represent?
Now, he had a somewhat reasonable guess: the monks of Senpo Temple would capture children for the Divine Heir experiments, the wooden dolls represented failed attempts, and the red windmills were a memorial to them. The single white windmill signified the one successful Divine Heir—Miyano—her name was Mi.
Thinking this,
Pure Black rushed to where Mi was located without delay. In less than two breaths, Pure Black successfully teleported to the entrance of Mi's room.
"Warrior of the Divine Heir, welcome."
As soon as he stepped into the room, Mi, who was facing away from the door, sensed Wolf's presence.
"This, do you understand it?"
Pure Black handed the classic from the Chapter of Insects to Mi. If there was anyone who could help him analyze the information contained within this classic, it would be Mi.
"That's..."
"I think only you can understand it."
"Thank you... Please allow me to accept it... Hiss!" Upon seeing the classic, Mi let out a heavy breath and said with great emotion, "I... still... cannot let go of my hatred for those people."
But soon, Mi's expression returned to normal, her tone no different than before, "Goodbye, Warrior of the Divine Heir."
"That's not right. She clearly showed hatred towards the people of the temple, so why wouldn't she say it? Do I need to refresh?"
Pure Black muttered, stroking his chin and staring intently at Mi's retreating figure. His intuition told him that this little girl, Mi, must have a profound story behind her.
Refreshing typically meant sitting by the Divine Dragon's Stone, which was equivalent to a form of fast-forwarding. After refreshing, NPCs would take more autonomous actions and reveal some hidden information.
As expected,
After refreshing once, Mi disappeared!
"She must have gone into the illusion!"
Arriving before the Divine Dragon's Stone, Pure Black found that the Divine Dragon's Stone in the illusion was still there, meaning he could still teleport in. Without a second thought, he willed himself to teleport into the illusory world within the painting.
In the painted world, the monk who had previously given Pure Black a hint was nowhere to be seen. At the end of the corridor, Mi sat alone with her back to him, cross-legged.
"I... don't want to lose them."
Wolf crept up behind Mi silently, but she didn't notice his arrival. She muttered in an excited tone, "But, if I choose to... return the Dragon's Heritage... I might have to part with everyone."
After listening for a while, Pure Black realized she was talking to entities he couldn't see.
"I am grateful that you are willing to say this..."
"Heh heh, no, everyone..."
"That warrior... is actually very gentle."
"He's the one who gave this to me."
Oh?
Pure Black's eyes lit up. Was she talking about him to her siblings? Her evaluation was quite high.
"Hey."
Pure Black wanted to continue listening, but to his surprise, the honorable Wolf spoke up first.
"Ah~"
Mi's body trembled slightly, then she turned her head slightly. Upon seeing who it was, she said softly, "Oh, it's the Warrior of the Divine Heir. You've arrived."
Her voice was a little flustered as she truthfully explained, "I was just having a heart-to-heart with my friends..."
Friends?
Wolf subtly glanced around the empty surroundings. There wasn't even a ghost in sight. Pure Black thought that his spiritual sight must be too low.
"Are they the Divine Heirs of the Divine?"
"Yes, I have something I want to tell you." Mi nodded obediently and said in a soft voice, "It's about a way to return the Dragon's Heritage without severing it."
"Return the Dragon's Heritage?" Wolf and the God's-eye view Pure Black echoed in unison.
"That's right. The Dragon's Heritage was cast out from its homeland and ended up here. It is not in its original place but has come to the wrong land. That's why people constantly try to create lifeforms that deviate from the norm like us. The Dragon's Heritage and those close to it, like us... should return to their original place, to the west... the homeland of the divine dragon."
Pausing, Mi wore a troubled expression. "It's just that I have no idea how to get there."
Understood!
Isn't this the way that Yongzhen asked me to seek, the way that could save the Divine Heir and also sever immortality?
"Cough cough..."
Pure Black, with a God's-eye view, cleared his throat and said calmly, "Did everyone understand? This conversation means that there is more than one ending to this game. Players can choose to sever the Dragon's Heritage, completely cutting off the power of immortality, or return the Dragon's Heritage as Mi said, to restore the Sekiro world to its proper course, because immortality is, in itself, an unhealthy ecosystem running off-track. Besides this, I think there should be other endings. Everyone can speak freely."
Pure Black's clear and logical theory instantly enlightened the previously bewildered audience, and gifts and bullet comments poured in.
'I think there should be a genocide route (sorry, undertale after-effects)'
'I think your thoughts are spot on!'
'I guess the bodies of other experimenters have died, but their souls can remain in the monkey's bodies, which is why they say these children just want to protect me.'
'Whoa, makes sense, makes sense!'
'Why does everyone watching the stream know so much? Only I keep saying 'amazing' and nothing else can describe my current psychological state.'
......
* (For the past two days, there have been comments that Sekiro is too long. Yes, I know, I know... I've explained the reasons before.)
Given up, but not entirely.
(The later stages will likely focus on the ending routes, with few bosses. Then a new game will begin. Also, I've learned a lot from this book, and I hope to learn even more when I start a new book.)
(Why is the protagonist's reality arc, which has been criticized, written so little? Because the initial pacing was for another platform, and the protagonist became invincible too early, leaving little to write about in reality. So, after Titanfall, the ending was quite good, but I wanted a million-word big recommendation, so I endured for a while longer.)
(So now I'm struggling: should I finish the book, rest for a while, and prepare for a new one, or should I continue writing and finish a few more games I've thought of but haven't written yet.)