97: Chapter 97 East China Sea Ruins
After dawn, the three of them continued on their journey.
Before half an hour had passed, Bai Ze suddenly stopped.
It looked toward the east, its ears perked up and its nostrils twitching slightly, as if sniffing for something.
Lu Mingyuan watched it.
"What is it?"
Bai Ze didn't answer immediately. It stared at the eastern sky for a long time before turning its head back.
"There is something over there."
Lu Mingyuan followed its gaze.
To the east was the boundless sea, the sunlight scattering across its surface in shimmering ripples. Nothing unusual could be seen.
"What kind of thing?"
Bai Ze thought for a moment.
"I don't know. It's very familiar, yet very strange. Like something I saw a long time ago, but I can't recall it no matter how I try."
It furrowed its brow.
"Strange. I never forget anything."
Lu Mingyuan was silent for a moment.
"Should we go take a look?"
Bai Ze hesitated.
"Yes. If I don't go, it will keep weighing on my mind."
It turned and began walking east.
Lu Mingyuan and Zhang Qingyuan followed.
After walking for half an hour, Bai Ze stopped again.
This time, it was no longer looking at the distant sea, but at a cluster of nearby reefs.
The reefs were massive, stretching from the shore into the sea for at least dozens of yards. They were covered in moss and seaweed, polished smooth and shiny by the crashing waves.
They looked no different from ordinary reefs.
But Bai Ze stared at them, its eyes filled with confusion.
"There... should be something here."
Lu Mingyuan walked to its side.
"What thing?"
Bai Ze shook its head.
"I don't know. But I know something is here."
It circled the reef, stopping occasionally to sniff or paw at the stones.
Lu Mingyuan stood there, watching it.
Zhang Qingyuan leaned in and whispered,
"Master, what is Senior Bai Ze looking for?"
Lu Mingyuan shook his head.
"I don't know either."
Bai Ze suddenly stopped.
It stood on a certain part of the reef and used its claws to clear away the seaweed, revealing the stone surface beneath.
On the stone surface, some faint engravings could be seen.
Those engravings had been eroded by the seawater for countless years and were so blurred they were almost invisible. But if one looked closely, some outlines could still be discerned—
They were characters.
Lu Mingyuan walked over and crouched down to examine them closely.
The characters were large, each about the size of a palm. But the strokes were incomplete, and only a few radicals could be recognized.
He looked for a long time, then shook his head.
"I can't recognize them."
Bai Ze also looked at the engravings.
"This is ancient script. Earlier than Oracle Bone Script."
It paused.
"The person who carved these characters lived at least ten thousand years ago."
Lu Mingyuan's heart jolted.
Ten thousand years?
He thought of someone.
Daoist Songyun.
But Daoist Songyun was a figure from nine thousand years ago, less than ten thousand.
Then who was it?
Bai Ze didn't explain. It reached out a claw and pressed it against the engravings.
As soon as its claw touched the stone surface, the engravings suddenly lit up.
It wasn't just glowing; it was brightening—as if something was surging up from deep within the stone, filling in the missing strokes bit by bit.
Lu Mingyuan watched as the strokes became complete and the radicals turned into full characters, a sense of indescribable awe rising in his heart.
This was a Formation.
A Formation that had been hidden for who knows how many years.
Bai Ze retracted its claw.
The characters were now fully lit, eight in total:
"None but those destined may enter this gate."
Lu Mingyuan stared at those eight characters.
"Where is the gate?"
Just as the words left his mouth, the reef beneath their feet began to vibrate.
The vibrations grew more intense.
In the center of the reef, a massive stone slowly split open to both sides, revealing a deep, dark entrance.
The entrance sloped downward into the invisible darkness. Lamps were placed every few steps along the walls; made of some unknown material, they flickered with an eerie blue light.
Bai Ze gazed into the opening.
"I remember now."
Lu Mingyuan looked at it.
"What?"
Bai Ze said softly,
"This is the ruins of Daoist Songyun."
Lu Mingyuan's heart jolted.
Daoist Songyun.
The Daoist Senior who had left behind a Jade Pendant and an unresolved question.
The name he had thought about and asked about for five years.
"How do you know?"
Bai Ze looked at the entrance.
"Nine thousand years ago, Songyun came to see me. He wanted me to look at something for him."
"What thing?"
Bai Ze shook its head.
"I didn't look. I was in seclusion then and couldn't be bothered with him. He stood there for three days and three nights, but I didn't open the door. Finally, he left a message and departed."
"What message?"
Bai Ze was silent for a while.
"He said—'Heart as the Mysterious Pivot, and the pivot is the center. But the center is the great foundation of the world. I have found the foundation, but I do not know what lies beyond it. If you know, please tell me.'"
Lu Mingyuan was stunned.
This sentence was exactly the same as the one carved on the songyun jade pendant.
"What lies beyond the Heart as the Mysterious Pivot?"
A nine-hundred-year-old unresolved question.
Daoist Songyun had asked for nine hundred years before finally coming to ask Bai Ze.
But Bai Ze had ignored him.
He stood for three days and nights, left a message, and walked away.
"What happened later?" Lu Mingyuan asked.
Bai Ze shook its head.
"I never saw him again after that. I heard he had fallen."
It looked at the entrance.
"I didn't expect his ruins to be here."
Lu Mingyuan stood there, gazing into the deep entrance, his mind flooded with a myriad of thoughts.
Daoist Songyun.
This name, he had thought about it for five years.
That Jade Pendant, he had carried it for five years.
That sentence, he had asked about it for five years.
Now, he stood at the entrance of his ruins.
Should he go in?
Bai Ze looked at him.
"Want to go in?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"I do."
Bai Ze nodded.
"Then let's go in. I'll accompany you."
It stepped toward the entrance.
Lu Mingyuan followed behind it.
Zhang Qingyuan, carrying the heart lamp, also followed.
The three—a man, a beast, and a Disciple—walked into the deep entrance.
The cave was very deep.
They walked down for a long time, the eerie blue light stretching into the unseen depths. The walls were smooth, as if polished by something, without a single crack.
Bai Ze looked around as it walked.
"This was carved out with Sword Qi."
Lu Mingyuan was startled.
"Sword Qi?"
Bai Ze nodded.
"Look at these marks—not from a chisel, nor a knife or axe, but a sword. Carved stroke by stroke with a sword. To shave it so flat and smooth would take decades of painstaking effort."
It paused.
"This Songyun had quite the sword technique."
Lu Mingyuan didn't speak.
He thought of the sword manuals in the Sword Pavilion of Mount Qingcheng, the words of the Pavilion Keeper, and the three characters on the songyun jade pendant—
"Songyunzi".
The man who had comprehended the sword on Mount Qingcheng nine thousand years ago.
The man who had left behind three thousand seven hundred volumes of sword manuals.
The man who had ultimately fallen in the East Sea.
He was here.
After walking for a long time, they finally reached the bottom.
At the bottom was a stone door.
Two characters were carved on the stone door—
"heart pivot".
Lu Mingyuan stood before those two characters, unmoving for a long time.
Bai Ze looked at him.
"Do you recognize them?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"I do."
He reached out and gently pressed against the door.
The door opened.
Behind the door was a massive stone chamber.
The chamber was circular, at least thirty yards in diameter. The ceiling was domed and covered in carvings of stellar patterns; the stars were made of some unknown material that sparkled in the darkness.
Surrounding the chamber was a ring of stone walls. They were covered in densely packed text and illustrations, stretching from the floor all the way to the ceiling.
In the very center of the chamber was a stone table.
Three items sat upon the stone table—
A bamboo scroll, a short sword, and a Jade Pendant.
Lu Mingyuan walked to the table and looked at the three items.
The bamboo scroll was very old, its color having turned black, yet the handwriting remained clear.
The short sword was barely a foot long, with two characters carved on its scabbard—"heart sword".
The Jade Pendant was identical to the one in his robe, only slightly darker in color.
He reached out to pick up the Jade Pendant.
Just as his fingers touched the Jade Pendant, a voice suddenly echoed through the stone chamber.
The voice was very old and weary, as if coming from a very, very distant place.
"You have come."
Lu Mingyuan's heart jolted.
He looked around, but the stone chamber was empty.
"I have waited for nine thousand years, and finally, someone has come."
The voice continued.
"One who can reach this place must be a person of destiny. Person of destiny, listen to a few words from me."
Lu Mingyuan stood there, motionless.
"I am Songyun. Nine thousand years ago, I attained nirvana here."
"In my life, I have walked many paths, seen many people, and comprehended many Daos. But in the end, I am left with only one question—"
"What lies beyond the Heart as the Mysterious Pivot?"
"I thought about this question for nine hundred years but couldn't find the answer. I asked many people, but no one could respond. Finally, I came here, waiting for someone to tell me the answer."
"But I have waited for nine thousand years, and no one has come."
The voice paused, tinged with a hint of bitterness.
"Perhaps there is no answer at all. Perhaps beyond the Heart as the Mysterious Pivot, there is nothing."
"But I am not resigned to that."
"Therefore, I have carved my life's learning and reflections upon these stone walls. If someone comes, take a look. Perhaps you can find something within."
"If you cannot find it—"
The voice was silent for a long time.
"If you cannot find it, then so be it."
"In any case, I have long been dead."
The voice vanished.
A deathly silence filled the stone chamber.
Lu Mingyuan stood there, looking at the stone table, the bamboo scroll, the short sword, and the Jade Pendant.
For a long, long time.
Then, he said softly,
"Senior, I have come."
Bai Ze walked to his side.
"He left these words nine thousand years ago."
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"I know."
Bai Ze looked at him.
"Have you found it?"
Lu Mingyuan shook his head.
"Not yet."
Bai Ze didn't speak.
Lu Mingyuan turned and walked toward the ring of stone walls.
The walls were covered in text and illustrations. He started from the left and read his way through.
The first section was Daoist Songyun's autobiography—
"My name is Songyun, born at the end of the Yin Shang Dynasty. My family was poor, and my parents died early, leaving me to wander the streets. When I was ten, I met an old Daoist who took me as a Disciple and brought me to Mount Qingcheng."
"The old Daoist's surname was Zhang, his name unknown. He taught me for only three years before he passed away. Before he died, he left me with one sentence—'The heart is the pivot, and the pivot is the center. Remember this sentence; you will need it later.'"
"I remembered it for a lifetime, used it for a lifetime, and still haven't exhausted it."
Lu Mingyuan continued reading.
The second section was about Songyun's experience learning the sword—
"The sword is an extension of the heart. If the heart is upright, the sword is upright; if the heart is wicked, the sword is wicked. It took me three hundred years to understand this truth."
"After understanding it, I spent another three hundred years to achieve it."
"After achieving it, I spent another three hundred years to forget it."
"Only after forgetting it did I truly Master it."
The third section, the fourth, the fifth...
None of the sections were long, but each one captivated Lu Mingyuan.
Within those words were Songyun's confusion, his Epiphany, his joy, and his pain.
It was the life of a man from nine thousand years ago.
After passing over a hundred sections, Lu Mingyuan suddenly stopped.
This section was very short, containing only one sentence—
"Today, I finally understand what Master's words meant. The heart is the pivot, and the pivot is the center. The center is the great foundation of the world. But what lies beyond the foundation?"
"I do not know."
"I do not know."
He wrote these four characters three times.
Each time with more force than the last, the final stroke even cutting through the bamboo scroll.
Lu Mingyuan looked at those four characters, an indescribable sense of desolation rising in his heart.
Nine thousand years ago, a man sat here, writing "I do not know" over and over again.
How many times did he write it?
No one knows.
Did he find it in the end?
No one knows that either.
Lu Mingyuan stood there, gazing at those characters for a long, long time.
Then, he continued walking forward.
Reaching the end of the stone wall, he saw a painting.
In the painting was a man standing atop a mountain peak, gazing up at the starry sky.
The man's back was to the viewer, his face hidden. But his silhouette carried an indescribable loneliness.
Beneath the painting was a line of text—
"For nine hundred years, I asked the heavens, but the heavens did not answer. I asked the earth, but the earth did not respond. I asked people, but people did not know. Finally, I asked myself—and even I remained silent."
"Perhaps the answer does not need to be given by others. Perhaps the answer requires one to walk the path themselves."
"When you reach the end, you will naturally know."
Lu Mingyuan stared at that line, a powerful tremor suddenly surging through his heart.
When you reach the end, you will naturally know.
He remembered Xuanweizi's words—"Cultivation is walking. If you walk the path beneath your feet well, you will naturally know how to proceed."
He remembered the Queen Mother of the West's words—"Keep walking, until the day it is mended."
He remembered his own words—"Keep walking; as you walk, you will eventually know."
It turned out that nine thousand years ago, Daoist Songyun had already spoken the same words.
It was just that he himself hadn't realized that this was the answer.
Lu Mingyuan stood there, gazing at the painting for a long, long time.
Then, he said softly,
"Senior, I understand now."
Bai Ze walked to his side.
"Understand what?"
Lu Mingyuan did not answer.
He turned, walked back to the stone table, picked up the bamboo scroll, and gently unfurled it.
The bamboo scroll was covered with densely written characters.
The first section was Daoist Songyun's essential principles of sword technique.
The second section was his insights on cultivation.
The third section was his explanation of the Heart as the Mysterious Pivot.
Lu Mingyuan read page by page until he reached the final one.
On the last page, there was only one sentence—
"If someone comes, please tell them: Heart as the Mysterious Pivot is not the end, but the starting point. The pivot does not move, but the gate must open. When the gate opens, there is a path. The path is beneath your feet, not upon the pivot."
"I have walked for nine thousand years, only to find that the pivot is still the same pivot, but I am no longer the same me."
"Beyond the Heart as the Mysterious Pivot—is walking."
Lu Mingyuan was stunned.
He stared at that line, reading it over and over again.
Beyond the Heart as the Mysterious Pivot is walking.
The question he had pondered for five years; the answer was here.
In the final sentence written by a man nine thousand years ago.
Bai Ze leaned in to take a look.
"Hmm, quite interesting."
It looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"Do you believe it?"
Lu Mingyuan thought for a long time.
Then, he nodded.
"I do."
Bai Ze smiled.
"That's good then."
Lu Mingyuan put away the bamboo scroll and picked up the short sword.
The sword was very light, as if weightless.
He drew the sword from its scabbard; the blade was snow-bright, with two characters carved upon it—"heart sword".
He returned the sword to its scabbard and placed it into his qiankun bag.
Then, he picked up the Jade Pendant.
Placing the two Jade Pendants together, they were identical.
After a moment's thought, he put away the old one and hung this new one at his waist.
Bai Ze watched his actions.
"Aren't you going to leave something behind?"
Lu Mingyuan shook his head.
"There's no need. He has already given it to me."
He turned and walked toward the door.
At the door, he stopped and looked back at the stone table, the ring of walls, and the painting.
"Senior, I am leaving."
He said.
"I have remembered your question, and I have remembered your answer. I will keep walking. Until the end."
He paused.
"When that day comes, I will return to tell you."
Having said that, he stepped out of the stone chamber.
Bai Ze followed behind him.
Zhang Qingyuan, carrying the heart lamp, also followed.
Behind them, the stone door slowly closed.
The two characters on the door—"heart pivot"—gradually faded into the darkness.
But Lu Mingyuan knew they would always be there.
Waiting for the next person of destiny.
Waiting for the next person to walk inside.
Waiting for the next person to ask the same question.