My autobiography is definitely not a tragedy!
Chapter 651 - 411: A Promising Life Cut Short_2

Chapter 651: Chapter 411: A Promising Life Cut Short_2

Iwazaki Hanzo said this with a complex expression on his face.

"Jianzhen only revealed this matter to his most trusted disciple, Si Tuo, on his deathbed. Si Tuo then passed it on to his descendants, who are the ancestors of the Iwazaki family.

Thus, the secret of this extraordinary book became the family’s greatest secret and has been passed down through generations..."

At this moment, Iwazaki Hideyoshi’s mind was somewhat chaotic.

Jianzhen was a revered High Monk, so it seemed unlikely that he would fabricate such an unbelievable lie to deceive his most trusted disciple.

But... how could such an unbelievable thing exist in the world?

He felt that the information he had just received was violently shaking his entire worldview.

However, he soon realized a problem.

"But if there really were such a heaven-defying thing, wouldn’t the person who obtained it be invincible across the world?

But Zhang Jiao’s Yellow Turban Rebellion clearly failed!"

"Yes! As you said, it must have some sort of limitation!

Perhaps it cannot see too far into the future, or perhaps it can only randomly see some parts of the future.

Therefore, the person who obtains it might have extraordinary vision and insight, but cannot do as they wish.

From various clues, it seems that the book reacts differently to different people.

Each person who obtains it gains different information from it.

If one wishes to control the world, it might show military strategies; if one wishes to save humanity, it might show medical treatments and prescriptions."

However, human abilities are sometimes limited, and in those times of natural and man-made disasters, when humans were like ants, individual power was ultimately limited.

The future is always changing.

Knowing the future does not mean one can rewrite the future according to one’s own ideas!

Moreover, this book... must have a huge side effect!"

"Side effect?" Iwazaki Hideyoshi looked puzzled at Hanzang.

"Indeed! As the saying goes, revealing heavenly secrets will invite heavenly retributions!

At the very least, neither Zhang Jiao nor Zhuge Kongming died a natural death...

As for what exactly the side effect is... the answer might just be on this Buddha head..."

Iwazaki Hanzo pointed to the genuine portrayal of Jianzhen on the table.

"Buddha head... Right, Grandfather, are you saying that this book later ended up in the hands of Xue Huaiyi?"

Iwazaki Hideyoshi finally grasped it.

If this book truly existed, then what was its relation to that Buddha head?

"Exactly! After Xue Huaiyi obtained this book, with his unbelievable physiognomy skills, he predicted that Wu Zetian had the bearing of an emperor!

Under his guidance, the Empress avoided several deadly threats and finally entered Ganye Temple where she became a nun. There, she met Tang Gaozong Li Zhi who changed her destiny.

Ultimately, with her extraordinary political acumen and tactics, she created an almost impossible miracle!

After ascending to the throne, because Xue Huaiyi was devoted to Buddhist studies, the Empress heavily promoted Buddhism and constructed Mingtang.

Due to her near absolute obedience to him, it was misunderstood by the world that Xue Huaiyi was her lover..."

Iwazaki Hideyoshi’s face showed astonishment, but here he realized another problem.

"But according to Huaxia’s historical records, after Xue Huaiyi gained favor, he became arrogant and prideful.

Due to setting fire to Mingtang, he eventually fell out of favor with Wu Zetian and was supposedly put to death. If he could foresee the future, how could he not know that the Empress would want to kill him?"

Iwazaki Hanzo shook his head.

"No, Xue Huaiyi was not killed by the Empress, but died by self-immolation!"

"What?"

"In fact, that great fire at Mingtang was caused by Xue Huaiyi going mad and setting the fire himself, resulting in his own death!

The notion of his execution was merely a means for the Empress to cover up the truth."

"Went mad?" Iwazaki Hideyoshi was startled.

"Exactly! That’s the side effect I mentioned..." Iwazaki Hanzo sighed.

"According to Monk Jianzhen, although Xue Huaiyi joined the monastery mid-life, he devoted himself to studying Buddhism.

However, as time went on, he became increasingly erratic.

Sometimes he would recite Buddhist Scriptures and act as compassionate as the Buddha, other times he would furiously slaughter people, like a demon.

Outsiders saw this as arrogance and indulgence due to favoritism...

In the end, Xue Huaiyi could no longer control himself.

Thus, after driving out his only disciple, Jianzhen, from Mingtang, he went mad and set Mingtang ablaze, perishing in the fire himself.

Jianzhen only remembered that in the last moments amidst the great fire, Xue Huaiyi was looking up to the sky, laughing madly while repeatedly muttering a phrase...

"What phrase?"

Iwazaki Hanzo looked at the portrait depicting the Buddha head’s face, which seemed to be both smiling and not, both righteous and evil, and slowly said...

...

"Flowers bloom on different faces, life lies between Buddha and demon...

One thought can make a Buddha, one thought can lead to demonhood..."

Meng Lang closed the book in his hands with a somewhat complex expression.

He hadn’t expected Xue Huaiyi to be the owner of this book from a thousand years ago.

Knowing his end, Meng Lang felt conflicted.

On one hand, he had finally confirmed the existence of his "senior," and now he could finally "grope his way across the river by feeling the stones."

But on the other hand, touching this "stone" felt so prickly...

Reading too many books is known to change a person’s mentality, that’s common knowledge.

But reading too many books can also cause schizophrenia, which is absolutely daunting!

He had been reading books for merely a few months; the effects might not be obvious yet, but it was evident that Xue Huaiyi was someone who had "read books" for many years.

Clearly, he hadn’t managed to close this Pandora’s box and had driven himself into schizophrenia...

Perishing in a sea of fire... perhaps it was his last bit of rationality that led him to choose to end his own life.

From this perspective, he felt a respect for this "senior" he had never met.

Otherwise, a man with his biography once out of control and corrupted by demons would surely lead to the destruction of his country and family, with certain rivers of blood.

It could have triggered another Yellow Turban Rebellion...

"Ah! The worst has happened..."

Meng Lang couldn’t help but sigh.

That previous speculation had finally been cruelly confirmed by reality...

Now he somewhat understood why the few brothers before him always avoided talking about this Buddha head.

It wasn’t that they were careless or had forgotten, but they discovered that the truth greatly affected internal unity...

[Life is mundane, opinions are long, yet it doesn’t consider that glory and decline are predestined, gains and losses hard to estimate.

For me, living long is a victory, but for you, that may not be the case...]

[In fact, living too long might not be a good thing for me...]

The brothers in previous episodes had, in fact, been frantically hinting at this themselves, the keyword: "living long!"

It was only at this moment that Meng Lang realized the complex emotions the person must have had while saying these words.

The experiences of Xue Huaiyi made it very clear that "brothers" were his "burden."

And "long-lived brothers" were even more of a "heavy burden!"

The longer a brother lived, the greater the influence on Meng Lang’s own spirit and personality.

Although he felt somewhat unrighteous thinking this way, various natural and man-made disasters had prevented Meng Lang from dying a natural death every time.

Maybe it was actually a good thing for him?

So his best choice was either to resist the temptation and stop reading, letting fate decide, or... persuade his brothers to die early and transcend sooner...

But the problem is, schizophrenia means death, and the destruction of humanity also means death...

It seemed he only had the second option.

But this thought... could those brothers who had charged into battle agree?

Oh! I’ve worked hard all my life, and then you tell me to die early instead of receiving a pension?

Who would be happy about that?

Meng Lang recognized that his mental state had not yet reached the point of immediately preparing for his own funeral upon finding he had no more "books" to read...

Still, that old saying that zero-sum games test internal unity the most, and resource distribution most easily sparks internal conflicts, held true.

If this wasn’t handled well, the internal unity would completely collapse.

Then countless brothers wanting to "Scream" would collectively rebel.

You resort to unscrupulous means, I commit murder like hemp, several dark personalities return, and a clash with my own upright and kind Meng Xiaolang in this mess...

It’s not schizophrenia, it might well turn into schizophrenia!

Originally, everyone might have been able to live peacefully for three to five more years, but if you start acting recklessly...

Then I really could only "die young from a split personality"...