As it turned out, no matter how times changed, the human species would ultimately resort to harming one another.
Xin Yu had initially harbored a sliver of illusion, hoping that the civilization of this era might tread a better path than the civilization of the future. After all, in the future, most of the knowledge and power to combat the Honkai had originated from the previous civilization.
Since technology had advanced so significantly, other aspects should not be too far behind, he reasoned. But reality proved Xin Yu wrong.
He had underestimated the darkness of human nature.
In this era, what he still saw was—a group of ignorant and benighted people.
Some individuals, fully aware that the Honkai would bring harm and suffering, nevertheless regarded the phenomena brought by the Honkai as a test from the divine.
They actually worshipped the Honkai, believing that by embracing it and surviving this divine trial, they could receive the gods' favor, obtaining great power and eternal life.
To this end, they even sacrificed other humans, merely to gain the so-called favor of the gods, to seize that sliver of a chance for transcendence amidst the Honkai.
Were they completely foolish? Xin Yu knew that Herrschers, under certain circumstances where they retained a degree of self-awareness, could indeed gain immense power and, if not killed, possess exceedingly long lifespans.
But were they intelligent? They actually attempted to use humans as sacrificial offerings in exchange for divine favor.
It was hard to imagine that in this era, a technologically advanced human society still clung to such primitive and barbaric beliefs.
Xin Yu watched as an eight-year-old child was made a sacrifice, and couldn't help but recall everything he had changed when he first went to Yae Village. At that time, he had believed it was the inevitable ignorance and benightedness brought about by underdeveloped technology and lagging productivity.
But in this current society, humans still retained such foolish beliefs. The darkness within their hearts remained unchanged. Therefore, what he was doing was necessary, and the goal he aimed to achieve was also necessary. Otherwise, humanity would merely continue to delay its progress through internecine conflict, constantly advancing its weaponry, only to ultimately destroy itself.
Xin Yu indulged the anger in his heart, allowing it to control him, and completely obliterated those so-called believers of the divine who manipulated people and used the purported faith in Honkai to achieve their various aims.
Yes, among the upper echelons of this Honkai-worshipping cult, not a single one truly believed in the Honkai.
Most of the Honkai worshippers were from the middle and lower classes. The upper echelons, however, all used this guise to swindle money, satisfy their filthy desires, conduct human experiments, or even purely for their own amusement.
Xin Yu found numerous documents and records. He even saw infants being sacrificed. The materials in his hand instantly turned to ash and dissipated.
Xin Yu silently took a step, and his entire being vanished from this spacetime.
On a certain night two years prior, a group of people had organized themselves to undertake a major endeavor: to establish a religious cult.
And just as these people were excitedly discussing the future, sharing their dreams, and planning their strategies, an invisible, colossal hand swept over them. In pain and despair, they watched themselves continuously wither and age, feeling their bodies decay bit by bit. They could even smell the putrid stench of their own decay wafting around their nostrils.
They screamed in agony, trying to find salvation. They cried out in despair, unsure why they were suffering such a calamity.
In the end, no god answered their prayers, and no one came to try and save them.
Time returned to the present. Xin Yu stood high in the sky, looking down at the land below. The place that was once the supposed headquarters of that cult was now just an ordinary office building. He then departed with a flourish.
Next, he went to the hospital.
Here, he witnessed life and death, partings and reunions.
He saw a middle-aged man, holding a critical illness notice, smoking by a window, his eyes filled with an indescribable, complex emotion.
He saw a young man, pale-faced, his hair unshorn, with no desire for life in his eyes.
He saw an old woman, her face full of wrinkles, wearing an oxygen mask, her eyes extremely clouded, yet showing no fear of death or desire for life, only looking at the children陪伴ing her with those turbid eyes.
He saw someone kneeling before a doctor, begging the doctor to save their loved one.
He saw someone clutching a doctor's clothes, unable to believe their beloved had already passed away.
He saw someone who didn't believe in any gods kneeling on the ground, praying over and over like a devout believer.
He saw a person sitting silently on a bench, looking as if nothing was wrong, but the ground around him was littered with extinguished cigarette butts.
Sorrow, pain, despair, unresignation, longing.
But the hospital was not solely filled with these negative emotions.
He saw a doctor snatch a patient from the clutches of death, the weariness on the doctor's face unable to conceal a profound joy.
He saw a new father holding his newborn child, his face full of hope and happiness for the future.
He saw a baby's first cry, saw a baby's first smile when being held.
He witnessed the purest emotions that arise amidst life, death, and separation.
Xin Yu stood in an alternate dimension, separated from everyone, following each person, watching every story unfold within the hospital.
These past few days, apart from returning home to accompany Mobius, Xin Yu spent all his other time in the hospital.
Naturally, he wouldn't remain a mere spectator. Sometimes, when faced with a tragedy that was difficult to accept, he would intervene to change it.
A young life should not end at this moment. A future that should have been more beautiful should not be cut short by a temporary predicament.
Your responsibilities are not yet fulfilled; your family is still waiting for you to return.
Your beloved is weeping for your death, so please, temporarily halt your steps towards that end, and go back.
In the hospital, one after another, events that left the doctors baffled and bewildered occurred.
Some patients who were already terminally ill and on the verge of death inexplicably found their illnesses vanishing.
Some who had clearly died, their bodies about to be transported to the morgue, suddenly came back to life, their physical condition even returning to a healthy state.
If it were just an isolated case, everyone might have dismissed it as an anomaly, perhaps a misdiagnosis of apparent death or faulty medical equipment. But when such situations occurred in the majority of cases, it was clearly an abnormality.
Yet, no matter how thoroughly they investigated, they couldn't find a single strange thing. Perhaps it could only be attributed to the so-called miracles of life.
Meanwhile, a certain great lord, a purveyor of miracles, sneezed. After rubbing his nose with some bewilderment, he continued licking the ice cream in his hand.
It was from a child he had saved, an ice cream the child had been yearning to eat.
It really was sweet.