Chapter 1059: Incomprehensible Existence

Qinglong withdrew his gaze from Chutian Qiu and turned it toward Qi Xia's direction.

Little did he expect that Qi Xia was staring at him just as intently.

"Interesting," Qinglong said, "even a foreign language has come into play... What exactly did that snake say?"

"Aren't you a 'shen'?" Dìlóng asked with a hand over her mouth, laughing. "'Shen' don't know foreign languages? You're a local 'shen', right?"

Qinglong didn't respond, and Dìlóng laughed again. "But Chaoxian language isn't really a foreign language, since we're all fellow countrymen. As a 'shen', how could you not understand that?"

"You only need to know that you've got a companion on your path to death," Qinglong said. "That snake will be walking it with you. Daring to pull tricks right under my nose... Do you really have no fear of death?"

"Who in this world isn't afraid of death?" Dìlóng replied. "As long as there's a will to live, who would choose to die on purpose?"

"Oh?"

"'Seeking survival' is an instinct, just like 'eating' and 'reproducing' are for humans," Dìlóng said. "Although 'fear' is one too, it can usually be overcome."

"Is that why?" Qinglong murmured, narrowing his emerald-green eyes. "For ordinary people, does 'will' take priority over 'fear'?"

"Qinglong..." Dìlóng didn't answer. Instead, she turned around, her bright yellow eyes flashing and her tiger teeth showing. "I'm actually curious—what are you living for?"

Qinglong paused slightly at that. "You're asking me...?"

"Yeah, can't I ask you?" Dìlóng laughed. "Let's chat. This isn't just you interrogating a prisoner."

"I..." Qinglong seemed to have never considered this before. He paused and said, "'Shen' don't die. I don't need to think about why I'm alive; I just need to know I can't die."

Dìlóng burst out laughing, covering her mouth with her hand. "Qinglong, have you called yourself a 'shen' for so long that you've even forgotten who you are?"

"You..."

"In the myths, have you ever seen a 'shen' like yourself?" Dìlóng continued. "With just a handful of abilities, and never caring about the masses in this 'Taoyuan'—countless people want to kill you. It's like... a new kind of 'shen'?"

"Ordinary people fear what they can't understand, like the darkness, the deep sea, or the universe," Qinglong replied gravely. "So it's reasonable they want to kill me. I'm something beyond their comprehension."

"So that makes you a 'shen'?"

"What else could it be?" Qinglong gently waved his sleeve, brushing off the dust. "I can hear clearly from a thousand li away, move as my thoughts command, seize others' sanity with ease, and summon heavenly thunder with a wave of my hand... How could this still be called 'human'?"

"I suppose you're right," Dìlóng said after thinking for a moment. "Even I don't count as 'human', so calling you 'human' would be strange."

"So, why are you asking me what I'm living for?" Qinglong said. "Because I don't want to die, so I live."

Dìlóng pointed down at the bustling crowd below. "Do they want to die?"

"They don't have a choice," Qinglong said. "Because I chose first."

"Isn't that just unreasonable?" Dìlóng asked. "You're clearly stronger than them, yet you get to choose first. How is that fair?"

"Reason... fairness...?" Qinglong chuckled lightly. "Dìlóng, that's just how the world works. All resources go to the strong first, then trickle down to the weak. The reason and fairness you think of have never applied."

"So, could there be someone like that... someone who rises to your level and then helps us weak ones make choices?" Dìlóng said, looking at Qinglong seriously. "To us, that person would be the true 'shen'."

"Is it that simple for 'ordinary people'...?" Qinglong paused after hearing this. "That person wouldn't even need to reach the heavens or the earth, or have immense power. Just caring about you would make them a 'shen'?"

"You throw around 'ordinary people' all the time, but you don't know this basic truth?" Dìlóng replied. "For 'ordinary people', we don't need 'shen' to show off moving mountains or filling seas, or to ascend to the heavens and descend to the earth. If something impossible for me happens because I prayed for it and it comes true, then that one is my 'shen', and I'd keep their incense burning day and night."

"So what...?" Qinglong asked. "For that 'incense', you're not even afraid of death, overcoming your 'instincts'?"

"Ha." Dìlóng laughed, amused by Qinglong. "Too bad, what I'm praying for isn't my own survival, but for everyone to end this suffering. So under that condition, the 'shen' is doing my work. If they say my death would answer that prayer, then I'd die."

After saying that, she thought of something else and stared at Qinglong. "Oh, and just so we're clear, the 'shen' I'm talking about isn't you."

"I don't think it's me either," Qinglong replied. "I haven't even answered a single 'plea', let alone a 'prayer'."

"So why do you call yourself a 'shen'?" Dìlóng asked.

"That's an interesting question," Qinglong said. "Who says 'shen' in this world have to serve 'ordinary people'? Did I gain these heavenly abilities just to serve them? What a joke. Since I'm stronger than them all, why shouldn't I do as I please instead of catering to their feelings everywhere?"

Dìlóng stared into Qinglong's ink-green pupils for a moment before slowly saying, "That just shows you're still viewing 'shen' from a 'human' perspective."

"What...?"

"That statement you just made reveals your human nature..." Dìlóng answered with a smile. "You can't understand why 'shen' with such great power would help weak 'ordinary people', but you said 'shen' are beyond human comprehension. Since you can't comprehend it, you're not a 'shen'."

Qinglong's face turned ugly at that, veins bulging on his forehead.

"After gaining absolute power and authority, you end up tormenting others just to feel your own existence..." Dìlóng continued. "That sounds exactly like something a human would do—maybe one who's had a rough first half of life. What's it called...?"

Dìlóng scratched her head, then her eyes widened. "...Like revenge spending, right? When you grow up, you buy all the things you couldn't afford as a kid because you were poor, but once you have them, the happiness is gone."

"You're really pushing your luck," Qinglong said with an angry laugh. "Even if you're destined to die, I can decide how painful that death will be."

"What's it matter?" Dìlóng asked. "If you're about to be executed, do you still care about the bullet's caliber?"

Qinglong's expression turned cold, and he reached out to grab Dìlóng by the neck.