134: Chapter 134 The Words of a Wandering Immortal
"After you reach the end, you still have to walk."
These words fell within Zixiao Palace like a gust of wind blowing through a bamboo forest.
Rustling and echoing.
Zhenyuanzi looked at Lu Mingyuan, a light appearing in his gaze.
"Still walking?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"Yes. Still walking."
He looked at Zhenyuanzi, then at the people below the stage.
"I just said that the Dao is walking. The place you reach is the Dao. But the place you reach is not the end. It is a new beginning."
He paused.
"Just like walking from Zhongnan Mountain to Longhu Mountain. Once you reach Longhu Mountain, the Dao is at Longhu Mountain. But you cannot stop at Longhu Mountain. You must keep walking, to Wudang Mountain, to Shaolin, to Yuelu, to Mount Hua, to The Rift, to Zixiao Palace."
He looked at Zhenyuanzi.
"Once you reach Zixiao Palace, the Dao is at Zixiao Palace. But Zixiao Palace is also not the end. You must keep walking. Where to? I don't know. But I know you must keep walking."
Zhenyuanzi smiled.
That smile was very faint.
Faint as a cloud.
But within that faintness, there was something.
The kind of thing only someone who has lived for hundreds of millions of years, seeing through everything, would possess.
"Young friend, do you know why this old Daoist is called Zhenyuanzi?"
Lu Mingyuan shook his head.
Zhenyuanzi said:
"'Zhen' means to guard. 'Yuan' is Origin Qi. 'Zi' is a lad. Zhenyuanzi means the lad who guards the Origin Qi."
He paused.
"What does this old Daoist guard? It is the earth veins. The Foundation of this mortal world. The Origin Qi of this Great Desolation."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"This old Daoist has lived for hundreds of millions of years. I have seen the creation of heaven, seen Vicious Beasts, seen Dragons and Phoenixes, seen the Liches, seen the Investiture of the Gods, and seen the Journey to the West. I have seen countless people come, countless go, countless die, and countless live."
He took a step forward.
"But this old Daoist has always been here. In Wuzhuang Temple. Under the Ginseng Fruit Tree. In the places where the Origin Qi flows."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"You just said one must keep walking. This old Daoist wants to ask—is it okay not to walk?"
Lu Mingyuan was silent for a while.
Then, he asked:
"Senior, have you ever walked?"
Zhenyuanzi was stunned for a moment.
"What?"
Lu Mingyuan said:
"Have you walked? Left Wuzhuang Temple, left the Ginseng Fruit Tree, left those places where Origin Qi flows, to walk elsewhere?"
Zhenyuanzi fell silent.
Lu Mingyuan said:
"You have guarded for hundreds of millions of years. But is guarding not also a form of walking?"
He looked at Zhenyuanzi.
"You do not leave Wuzhuang Temple. But every day, every moment, every breath within Wuzhuang Temple is changing. The Origin Qi flows, the Ginseng Fruits grow, the heavens change, the earth changes, and people change."
He took a step forward.
"You are there, watching these changes. Watching them come, watching them go, watching them live, watching them die. You have watched for a hundred million years; you have walked for a hundred million years."
He looked at Zhenyuanzi.
"Not walking is also a form of walking. Not moving is also a form of movement. Guarding is also a form of walking."
Zhenyuanzi looked at him for a long, long time.
Then, he asked:
"Then what about being carefree?"
Lu Mingyuan asked:
"What do you mean by carefree?"
Zhenyuanzi said:
"Loose Immortals speak of being carefree. To be free and easy, not bound by external things. But you just said one must keep walking. If one walks, can one still be carefree?"
This question was very profound.
Lu Mingyuan thought about it.
"Yes."
Zhenyuanzi raised an eyebrow.
"Yes?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"Walking is being carefree."
He looked at Zhenyuanzi.
"When I was at Zhongnan Mountain, I walked every day. I walked in the morning, at noon, and at night. I walked mountain paths, water paths, and paths that no one else walked."
He paused.
"When I walked, I thought of nothing. I just walked. When I was tired, I rested. When I was rested, I walked again. At that time, I was very carefree."
He looked at Zhenyuanzi.
"Later, I went down the mountain. I went to Longhu Mountain, to Wudang Mountain, to Shaolin, to Yuelu, to Mount Hua, and to The Rift. I walked further paths, met more people, and did more things."
He paused.
"When I walked, I still thought of nothing. I just walked. When I was tired, I rested. When I was rested, I walked again. At that time, I was also very carefree."
He looked at Zhenyuanzi.
"Being carefree is not about doing nothing. It is about doing it without being attached. It is about walking without lingering. It is about arriving without staying."
Zhenyuanzi was silent.
For a long, long time.
Then, he suddenly smiled.
That smile was even fainter than before.
But within that faintness, there was something.
There was the relief of finally having understood.
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"Young friend, do you know why this old Daoist came to Zixiao Palace?"
Lu Mingyuan shook his head.
Zhenyuanzi said:
"Because this old Daoist had a question that I thought about for tens of thousands of years without understanding."
Lu Mingyuan asked:
"What question?"
Zhenyuanzi said:
"What is being carefree? Is it not moving, or moving? Is it not doing, or doing? Is it leaving, or staying?"
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"You just said that being carefree is doing without being attached, walking without lingering, and arriving without staying. These words, this old Daoist has taken to heart."
He paused.
"This old Daoist has guarded for hundreds of millions of years. But guarding is not attachment. Watching people come and go is not lingering. Being in Wuzhuang Temple is not staying. This old Daoist has always been carefree. I just didn't know it myself."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan, giving him a deep look.
"Young friend, thank you."
Lu Mingyuan was stunned for a moment.
"Thank me?"
Zhenyuanzi nodded.
"Thank you for letting this old Daoist know that I have always been carefree."
He turned and walked toward his seat.
After a few steps, he suddenly stopped.
He did not look back.
"Young friend, you understand the Dao of the Loose Immortals."
He continued walking forward.
"But understanding is one thing, and walking is another. You must continue to walk. Walk until the day when even being carefree is no longer an attachment."
He walked back to his seat and sat down.
As he sat, the light on his body changed.
It was no longer that faint, ethereal light.
It was a solid, heavy light, like the earth itself.
But within that solidity, there was lightness.
Within that weight, there was freedom.
Zixiao Palace was silent.
Then, someone stood up.
It was the old general wearing white armor.
He looked at Lu Mingyuan, something in his gaze.
The way a man of the battlefield looks at a hero.
"I am convinced."
He said.
He said only that one sentence.
Then he sat down.
Another person stood up.
It was the young monk beside the old monk in the golden kasaya.
He looked at Lu Mingyuan and pressed his palms together.
"Amitabha Buddha. Benefactor possesses great wisdom."
He sat down.
Another person stood up.
It was the Loose Cultivators in tattered Daoist robes.
One after another, they stood up.
No one spoke.
They simply stood up, looked at Lu Mingyuan, and then sat down.
Lu Mingyuan stood there, looking at those people.
Those who stood up.
Those who looked at him.
Those who—began to acknowledge him.
Something stirred in his heart.
It wasn't pride.
It wasn't smugness.
It was a strange, warm, swelling feeling.
Just like at the edge of The Rift, watching those living people stand up one by one and walk to his side.
Yuanshi Tianzun's voice rang out.
"The fifth round is concluded."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
There was something in his gaze.
Something complex, increasingly complex, and indefinable.
"Five rounds have passed. One round remains."
He paused.
"For the final round, you shall question yourself."
Lu Mingyuan was taken aback.
"I question myself?"
Yuanshi Tianzun nodded.
"Yes. You question yourself. Stand on the stage, ask yourself a question, and then answer it yourself."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"In this round, no one will help you, and no one will make it difficult for you. There is only you."
In Zixiao Palace, everyone looked at Lu Mingyuan.
Waiting for him.
Waiting for him to ask himself.
Waiting for him to answer himself.
Lu Mingyuan stood there, under the weight of those gazes.
He closed his eyes.
He took a deep breath.
Then, he opened his eyes.
He looked at the people below the stage, at those lights, and at everything in Zixiao Palace.
Then, he spoke.
"I ask myself—what comes after Heart as the Mysterious Pivot?"
This question came from his mouth and fell into Zixiao Palace.
Like the tolling of a bell.
Lingering for a long time.