After getting lost in the abandoned village, they gradually became confused and infatuated

However, Mitsutani Hayabusa always believed that this song originated from the girl in white, Mitsutani Misaki.

However, this argument lacks evidence and there is currently no way to draw a conclusion.

Mitsutani Hayabusa did not blame Hotsujiji, but quietly waited for her to continue speaking.

Be silent, close your eyes, take a deep breath, adjust your sitting posture, then take a long breath and open your eyes.

Hotsujiji said again.

"During this dream, I felt like my consciousness was dissolving little by little..."

"Then, completely become one with the ocean."

"Now that I think about it, the ocean in the dream may be a collection of some kind of consciousness."

Working hard to adjust his mentality, Hotsujiji once again showed his insightful ability when he was still a folklorist.

Searching for the memories in my mind, I tried to draw out a clear line.

"The following speculations are all my subjective assumptions."

"There is no evidence."

"But we can use it as a reference."

Hotsuji took out paper and pen and recorded while narrating.

"I am a shadow, but a shadow with self-awareness. This is an indisputable fact."

"Then, this also extends to another existence, which is the shadow without consciousness."

"In other words, a shadow that follows instinct, or a shadow that is controlled by some higher-level being."

"In short, no matter what, these shadows should be the lowest level existence."

"In other words, the shadow should originally exist like this."

"Whether it's me or the shadow miko named Izanagi, we are both aliens in the shadows."

"You can also call it...the superior."

Suguwu Zun agreed with this conclusion.

Because in the shrine's information, shadows are also divided into several levels from top to bottom according to the degree of threat.

Hotsujiji continued.

"Shadows are usually formed after a person dies, something similar to a missing person."

"So, where did the original consciousness of these shadows go?"

"Where do the instincts that drive them to action come from?"

"If there is some kind of superior control, similar to the hive consciousness, then what is the matrix that controls their actions?"

"And Izanagi and I, as aliens in the shadows, why didn't our consciousness die?"

"Is it intentional by the hive consciousness, or is it the influence of some uncontrollable factors?"

"I think these answers are hidden in dreams, that endless sea of ​​consciousness."

"And this leads to my biggest doubt."

"Does the sea of ​​consciousness really exist?"

"If it exists, where does it exist? And what is its purpose?"

Optics Valley Falcon was thinking about these two questions.

For him, it is more inclined to the real existence of the sea of ​​consciousness.

Because Hotsujiji's words reminded him that he had fallen into the Underworld Gate in his physical body, recast the seal and fell into a coma.

Afterwards, Optics Valley Falcon came to a strange space.

It is also a world like a dream, where it is boundless and everything is so peaceful.

There, he smelled the sea breeze and met the girl who had been secretly helping him seek good luck and avoid evil.

Perhaps, at that time, he was deep on the edge of the sea of ​​consciousness.

Mitsutani Hayabusa and Hotsujiji exchanged glances, and then came to the same conclusion.

The two said in unison: "The sea of ​​consciousness should be real."

As the shrine maiden of the shrine, Suguwu Zun felt a little embarrassed for a moment while watching the tacit conversation between the two.

It is true that her martial arts has reached its peak. She has lived in the shrine all year round and has learned a lot about shadows and the Gate of Underworld.

But what she knew was what the shrine wanted her to know.

In other words, it’s just scratching the surface.

The Gate of Hell, the Sea of ​​Consciousness, and the Hive Consciousness... were like a fantasy to her.

At this moment, she was like an ignorant child, unable to speak at all.

Chapter 444 Everything Everything

However, the derivation of the truth will not stop because of Su Mingwu Zun's ignorance.

Mitsutani Hayabusa and Hotsujiji continued to deduce the cause and effect.

"If it is assumed that the sea of ​​consciousness is real, then the derivation of the next thing will be relatively smooth."

Hotsujiji drew a guide on the paper to help him streamline his thoughts.

After regaining her sanity, Hotsujiji's thinking ability and intelligence are no less than those of Yamashita Miao and Oike Mai. In some cases, she can even take care of a wider area than them.

"Since it is a hypothetical guess, we might as well be bold."

"In my research, it is generally believed that the shadow is born from the death of human beings."

"That's why during the Warring States Period, heroes fought and a large number of soldiers and civilians died. That's why a large number of shadows were produced and discovered and recorded by humans."

"If we follow this line of thinking, we can make a bold guess about the sea of ​​consciousness."

"After death, the body decays and becomes part of the natural cycle, and the consciousness will completely melt and drip into the sea of ​​consciousness like water drops, integrating with it."

"Under normal circumstances, the sea of ​​consciousness and the outside world will perform certain cycles to ensure circulation, just like the water cycle in nature."

"The ocean evaporates water vapor, which rises to the sky and turns into clouds. When it accumulates to a certain extent, it turns into rain. The rainwater falls to the ground to form rivers and lakes."

"Finally, hundreds of rivers reach the sea."

As Hotsuji spoke, he used branches to draw a simple natural cycle ecosystem on the ground.

Immediately afterwards, he continued.

"It's just that due to war, plague, famine and other factors, there are problems with this circulatory system."

"The rain that nourishes all things has turned into a catastrophic storm. Rivers and lakes burst their banks and turned into floods that swallowed up all things. The calm waves in the ocean have also turned into raging tsunamis, destroying life on the land."

"And this disaster is the shadow."

Take a wild guess!

This speculation went straight to the root of all problems, and even Sumitomo was surprised by Hotsuji's boldness.

It seems that the truth hidden in this white mist is surfacing little by little.

Hotsuji drew a shadow pattern with a branch, and then drew a symbol of the ocean next to it.

"The shadow is born in the sea of ​​consciousness, and the purpose of the shadow's appearance is to restore the circulatory system to normal."

"We can understand it as a self-healing process of nature."

"Without human intervention, the shadow will disappear after completing the repair work of the circulatory system."

"However, the daimyo and lords of the Warring States Period kept shadows captive for their own benefit."

"The result is that this self-repairing program has been artificially developed into an erroneous program that may run wild at any time."

"Later, these rampant erroneous programs came back to bite humanity."

"There are also records in historical materials to support my point of view."

Hotsujiji's point of view is indeed logically consistent.

After exchanging glances with Mitsutani Hayabusa, and receiving a positive reply from him, Hotsujiji continued to speak.

"Afterwards, in order to suppress the shadow, the Onmyoji sealed it in the Gate of Underworld."

"These descendants of the Onmyoji and the troops of the shogunate guarded here for the peace of the world, established villages, and settled here."

"However, there are still problems with the circulation system of the Sea of ​​Consciousness, and tsunamis and heavy rains are still raging."

"Just like the ebb and flow of the tide, when the tsunami comes, the seal of the Gate of Hell will be shaken, and when the waves subside, the Gate of Hell will be stable."

"The above are some basic inferences I have made."

"Based on these inferences, several conclusions can be drawn."

"First, the other side of the Gate of Hell is not the purgatory we imagined. It should be the endless sea of ​​consciousness, the final destination of consciousness after death."

"Second, there is a tidal pattern in the sea of ​​consciousness, and the turbulence of the Gate of Hell is completely consistent with this cycle."

"Third, there is a maternal consciousness, or collective consciousness, in the sea of ​​consciousness. The shadow is born from this collective consciousness and is controlled by the collective consciousness. However, the powerful Izanagi and I are exceptions. We do not accept the maternal consciousness. Control and have an independent personality."

"Fourth, as long as the problem of the circulatory system still exists, as long as the maternal consciousness still exists, the shadows will not disappear, and they will never disappear. If we kill ten thousand shadows, the maternal consciousness will produce ten thousand shadows."

"After all, there is the human race in the sea of ​​consciousness. All those who have died but have not participated in the cycle so far are the collective body of human consciousness."

"As long as there is birth, old age, sickness and death in this world, there will be no end to the shadows."

"I think this is also the fundamental reason why, in that golden age when talents emerged in large numbers, countless Onmyoji couldn't kill the shadow despite all their efforts."

Having said this, Hotsujiji let out a long sigh.

The gaze is deep and far-reaching.

On the side, Su Mingwu Zun was so surprised that he could not speak, and there was only endless shock in his heart.

In a few words, the essence of the other side of the Underworld Gate was revealed.

That is the destination of the soul and the other side of the end of life.

For a moment, Suguwu Zun seemed to see the endless ocean and the blooming flowers on the shore.

"Of course, these are all basic guesses."

"The main point I want to talk about is the birth of the Shadow Witch."

"As I just said, the problem of natural circulation has always existed, so repair programs will continue to be produced."

"Just like viruses and medicines, they compete with each other and escalate each other."

"Perhaps the maternal consciousness felt that a simple shadow could no longer complete its mission, so it gave birth to a superior being like the shadow witch."

"Or maybe a powerful soul replaced the maternal consciousness that was originally similar to biological instinct, and stimulated the sea of ​​consciousness to produce a large number of shadow witches."

"In short, the appearance of these shadow witches means that the sea of ​​consciousness has changed."

"She is no longer kind and tolerant, but has become more dangerous and more ferocious."

"Please understand this."

"Himeka Village is just one of the Underworld Gates. In addition to this, there are 35 other Underworld Gates distributed across Japan."

"Here, I can make an explosive statement."

"If this cycle problem is not solved in time and the sea of ​​consciousness continues to be violent, even if there is no problem with the gate of hell here in Jixiang Village, other gates of hell will be opened."

"At that time, disaster will still come to the world."

"Countless powerful shadows like Izanagi may plunge the entire Japan into an unprecedented disaster."

"Bodies are everywhere, undead are everywhere, and people are dying in despair."

That's all.

Tsuji Hosatsuji has explained all his thoughts.

It includes the Gate of Underworld, the Sea of ​​Consciousness, the Shadow Witch, and even the shaking of the seal.

It can even be logically self-consistent.