One or two times was nothing, but after three, five, seven, and eight times... Master Lingqing knew he had fallen into a trap.
Gradually, people began to discuss a topic.
"In this world, can someone really see spirits?"
"I will first kill someone, then I will say I saw that person’s spirit, then I will find that person’s body, hahaha, will I become a hero then?"
"What mage? I think he’s just a cultist."
"If there really are mages in this world, then there are gods. If there are gods, why am I still living so bitterly? I worship gods every day!"
"He killed them all, he killed them all, he killed them all!"
"He is siphoning off fortune. Everyone knows that in Rokkasho, people die frequently! Why does he go to such a place?"
People love to create gods because gods can accomplish things they cannot.
But people love even more to see gods fall from their pedestals. That feeling of "he’s just like us" gives them a great sense of satisfaction.
Master Lingqing also tried to explain... but no one believed him.
Even he found it unbelievable.
Knowing in advance that someone would die, before he himself knew, and then immediately setting up various cultist scenes after that person’s death.
It was simply like being a "prophet."
Master Lingqing realized that his actions were all just and he needed not be burdened by others’ words.
He began to reflect, why explain? What does it matter if the whole world thinks I am guilty?
As long as he could do the right thing.
By rights, Master Lingqing should have fled, far away from "that person," but he didn’t. He was always worried that the wall of "dead people" he saw might represent a major calamity.
Since he had seen it, he had to prevent the calamity.
So Master Lingqing, enduring gossip and scorn, survived on Rokkasho.
At first, he lived in a dilapidated temple on the mountain, but gradually, people came to hate him because he always appeared at crime scenes, and there were always "arrays" and the like around him... People began to think he was the source of disaster.
So they cut off the road down the mountain.
In fact, there were still some who believed in the mage. Among them was Police Officer Murata Yuji.
At first, Murata Yuji did not believe in the mage, but once, the mage chose to call the police.
Yes, the mage said he saw a spirit and hoped to go with Officer Murata Yuji to the place where the spirit was.
At the same time, the mage used photos with timestamps and locations to prove he had been in one place all along.
Murata Yuji realized that the mage might have been wronged all along. And indeed, many strange things had been happening in Rokkasho recently.
It was as if there was a culprit behind the scenes, constantly toying with them.
Several times the police responded to a call, only to find emptiness, their logic was correct, and they felt the presence of crime...
But the criminal, as if prophetic, always managed to escape them.
After the mage shared his experience... Murata Yuji believed him.
But the mage was also very pessimistic:
"Mr. Murata, it’s best if you avoid contact with me, or you will be targeted too. Our enemy... might be a ’Transmigrator,’ and this Transmigrator can travel more than once."
This was the only conclusion Master Lingqing could come to.
Afterward...
Rokkasho was sealed off, and the radiation on Rokkasho became more ferocious for unknown reasons. However, the residents of Rokkasho no longer died from radiation. Instead, they merely mutated.
Soon, news came from Hujiang—
Regarding Rokkasho, radiation, apocalypse, and gods.
The gods ensured radiation could no longer take lives, but the radiation would transform people into bizarre forms.
Finally, certain monsters began to appear on Rokkasho, and these monsters... resembled the dead in the wall of bodies Master Lingqing first saw when he came to Rokkasho.
"That person" also conveyed the truth to the mage through a local resident.
Master Lingqing then learned—
That the apocalypse was imminent, and the Island Country’s foolish strategy to "create an apocalypse, acclimate people to it, and ultimately overcome the true apocalypse," was their way to respond to the end times.
Upon learning everything, Master Lingqing felt somewhat powerless.
On the island was someone who "controlled time."
And outside the island... were foolish decision-makers.
No matter how many people he saved, it was meaningless; a single misguided decision from the higher-ups could kill tens of thousands, maybe even millions.
Afterward, various monsters were born under the influence of radiation, and Master Lingqing himself began to transform into a monster.
But correspondingly, his "mana" grew deeper and deeper.
He felt that when the true apocalypse came... he would gain some kind of terrifying power.
This power, perhaps, could suppress the evil spirits.
He thought about creating a massive barrier to seal the monsters...
Maybe if he sealed all the monsters, the few survivors on Rokkasho... those who had resistance to radiation, could survive.
After the policy was enacted, for unknown reasons the radiation levels on Rokkasho exceeded hundreds of times the acceptable limit.
Countless people began to mutate.
And under the perverse rhetoric of "that person," people believed that consuming certain "things" would control the direction of their mutations.
Yet, despite this, many people on this island... did survive.
Yes, some did not mutate. Perhaps they were the true "seeds of fire."