Volume 5

283 The Secret of the Split Zone

Seeing the shock on my face, Piercer explained patiently. “Even though they are parallel worlds, the Split Zone is a space where the consciousness of humans can exist. As humans grow, there might be new sides of them that emerge, something like a second self.

“With the increase in population and the increasing pressures of life, humans show a different side of themselves to fit in and integrate with their society. We can refer to the side that’s usually hidden as their hidden personality. If the hidden personality is triggered, it can then evolve into an independent existence. These end up being the soul splitters in the Split Zone.”

I interrupted Piercer as I asked, “Do you mean that soul splitters are a part of the human consciousness?”

“It can be interpreted in this way, but instead of being part of one’s personality, it would be more accurate to describe it as part of their humanity. I’m not sure if you’ve seen this animation called Dragon Ball when you were in the real world, but this is similar to the character of Piccolo in that show. This can happen when people choose to show only a certain side and suppress the other side of themselves.

“For example, they might always be portraying an image of being kind and fragile, but they might also be suppressing a possibly bloodthirsty side. That bloodthirsty side will continue to grow over time, and if something happens to trigger it, it might cause that particular side to break away from the main body of consciousness. When that happens, it forms an independent body that ends up here in the Split Zone. These then become the soul splitters who live independently here.”

This meant that the soul splitters in the Split Zone evolved from living humans, and they exist because they have been separated to become independent entities.

Everyone looked rather pensive, and I knew Piercer was definitely speaking the truth judging from the mere looks of the few who were soul splitters themselves.

Piercer thought I didn’t fully comprehend this as she looked at that contemplative expression of mine. She continued with an example. “I’ll use a practical example to illustrate this. In Gaoqin Jiuye’s case, he is Gao Qi’s doppelganger. This is the term we use in the Split Zone to describe corresponding humans and soul splitters. This means that Gaoqin Jiuye is a part of Gao Qi. If Gao Qi was a kind person, then Gaoqin Jiuye would be the opposite of him; he’d be the evil side. This part of Gao Qi was triggered and it separated to become an independent entity, turning into Gaoqin Jiuye, who then continued living in the Split Zone.”

Gaoqin Jiuye was a part of Gao Qi’s humanity…? Which part is he then…?

It definitely wouldn’t be as simple as how Piercer described it, where one was good and one was evil. What was it then?

“Are humans only either good or evil?” I asked.

Piercer shook her head. “No, humanity is wide-ranging in this sense. If there’s a cowardly side of you, then there might also be an adventurous side that’s hidden. Instead of saying that these are opposites, we can understand it as some sort of goal of yours.

“When a cowardly person wants to become brave, there’ll be a part of them that yearns to have that adventurous side. When that yearning is strong enough, it will turn into a hidden personality. When that gets triggered, it will then end up as a separate entity in the Split Zone with independent thought and a consciousness equivalent to that of another human being.”

“Then does it mean that for him, and her too, and also the both of them, they all have a corresponding human being in the real world?” I asked while pointing at Ta Lai, Du Yue, Cang Ming and Si Luo.

Piercer nodded. “Yes, they’re all part of the humanity from someone living in the real world. But they’d lose all contact with that particular human being once they arrive in the Split Zone. This means that they wouldn’t be able to find their corresponding selves in the real world. Since soul splitters can separate from the original body and turn into an independent entity, they probably wouldn’t be too interested in looking for the original vessel either.”

“Then what’s with Gaoqin Jiuye?”

Piercer looked at me with sympathy. “This actually involves you. Usually, the soul splitters would lose all contact with the original vessel, and they wouldn’t dream of the vessel unless absolutely necessary. When soul splitters dream, they see everything that’s happening in the real world, and they are only able to dream of their original vessel.

“This means that Gaoqin Jiuye would only be able to dream of Gao Qi, and whatever he’s dreaming of and seeing is actually whatever that was happening in Gao Qi’s life. The Split Zone is originally a desolate place where nothing exists. The bodies of consciousness which ended up here did nothing but sit and stare into the emptiness.

“Soul splitters began to get tired of such a life, and they also realized that they were able to control and change the space within this world. They then created a world of their own here. Soul splitters with high MF would be able to create whatever they thought of. If they wanted a mobile phone, they could make one appear. These things were recreated from the times where they had dreams of their original vessels, and they simply replicated whatever the original vessels might have been using in those dreams.

“This is also why you would have realized that the Split Zone has everything from the material world, and it doesn’t matter which era it might have been from. However, it’s not exactly true that the Split Zone has everything either, since soul splitters are rarely able to dream of their original vessels.”

I was already rendered speechless at this point. Gaoqin Jiuye was an independent entity who got separated from Gao Qi, and he could see everything in Gao Qi’s life when he dreamt. If he saw a car, he could replicate it in the Split Zone as long as his MF allows it. Was this what Piercer was getting at?

“So, soul splitters capturing humans…” I mumbled, unable to finish my sentence. My suspicions scared even myself.

Piercer sighed as she confirmed my suspicions. “When a soul splitter captures a body of consciousness, this means they’ve simply seen it. Gaoqin Jiuye saw Gao Qi’s life through his dreams, and he saw you in it. Upon seeing you, he had thoughts of having you by his side. If these thoughts were strong enough, your consciousness would end up being pulled into this world if you happened to be in a vulnerable state at the time.

“The one who brought you here would then be your corresponding soul splitter. This particular occurrence is a rare one though. Most of the time, soul splitters capture heirs to obtain greater power through split symbol contracts. In the many years that soul splitters have existed in the Split Zone, they’ve found a way to gain more power, and that is through split symbols and splitting keys. So they’d usually capture people in vulnerable mental states to be their corresponding heirs and obtain greater power that way.”

Jiao S seemed to get a little agitated as she asked, “That’s no different from taking somebody’s life, isn’t it? Soul splitters sign a contract with the devil for power, and they’ve dragged an innocent person into the fray by doing that.”

Sorrow seemed to fill Piercer’s eyes. “The world would end if humans weren’t selfish. Soul splitters have originally been humans in the real world, and they have an incomplete humanity. They wouldn’t be thinking about what’s right and wrong. They’d simply care about satisfying their needs. Humans are just like this.

“But Ah Shen’s situation is unique. Gaoqin Jiuye didn’t have the intention to bring you over to this world even though he saw you in the dream. With his MF, he doesn’t even have to establish a split symbol contract. And if you end up leaving the Split Zone after this, his life could be endangered. It’s because he saw Gao Qi hurting you time and again that he decided to bring you over as a last resort.

“I choose to see this as a sort of destiny. Thought most soul splitters can dream of their original vessel, it’s rare that they’d be able to dream of someone who had a direct connection to them. To obtain the power from a split symbol, they’d usually choose a random person with a weak will and capture them as an heir when they’re vulnerable. It’s very rare to be able to dream like how it was in Gaoqin Jiuye’s case.”

So Gaoqin Jiuye dreamt of Gao Qi and saw me in Gao Qi’s life, and he then felt sorry for me when Gao Qi kept hurting me, and he ended up dragging me into this world when I stuck that knife into Gao Qi’s heart? And that process actually caused Du Yue to lose an arm?

If it was somebody else he saw in his dreams, it would simply be a damsel in distress that he would have ended up saving.

But he and Gao Qi had to be doppelgangers. Can I then assume that the one who fell in love with me was still Gao Qi?

Piercer spoke as if she read my mind. “Don’t think that it was Gao Qi who fell in love with you. Although Gaoqin Jiuye was a part of Gao Qi, he’s an independent entity after arriving in the Split Zone. Though he might not have a complete personality as an independent entity that had separated from his original human vessel, he doesn’t share Gao Qi’s thoughts nor Gao Qi’s life.”