98: Chapter 98 The Mind is the Pivot
Exiting the stone chamber, Lu Mingyuan did not leave immediately.
He stood at the cave entrance, looking back at the stone door that had already closed, gazing at the two words inscribed upon it—'heart pivot'.
Bai Ze walked to his side.
'What are you thinking?'
Lu Mingyuan was silent for a moment.
'I'm thinking about his final words.'
'After the heart becomes the mysterious pivot, it is walking?'
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
Bai Ze looked at him.
'Do you believe it?'
Lu Mingyuan thought for a long while again.
'I believe it, but not completely.'
Bai Ze did not press further.
He simply stood there quietly, waiting for him to continue.
Lu Mingyuan gazed at the two words and said softly:
'He is right. Walking is important. But before walking, one must first know where to go. Knowing where to go, one must also know why one is walking. Knowing why one is walking, one must also know—'
He paused.
'One must also know who is the one walking.'
A glimmer of light flashed in Bai Ze's eyes.
'You mean—the heart?'
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
'Yes. The heart.'
He looked at Bai Ze.
'I understand what he meant by 'the Heart as the Mysterious Pivot'. The pivot is the center, and the center is the great foundation of the world. But what is the foundation of?'
Bai Ze did not answer.
Lu Mingyuan continued on his own.
'It is the foundation of the heart. When the heart is still, all phenomena return to their source. When the heart moves, all phenomena arise. The pivot does not move, yet the door must open. Only when the door opens is there a path.'
He said softly:
'But where is the door? Where is the path? Who opens the door? Who walks the path?'
Bai Ze was silent for a long time.
Then, he said one thing.
'Have you asked the songyun jade pendant these questions?'
Lu Mingyuan was taken aback.
The songyun jade pendant?
He reached into his robe and took out that old Jade Pendant.
The Jade Pendant was as warm and smooth as ever, glowing faintly in the sunlight.
Looking at the pendant, he suddenly remembered something.
Chapter 40, Farewell to Mount Qingcheng. When the songyun jade pendant came into his hands, the Pavilion Keeper had said something—
'This Jade Pendant followed Daoist Songyun for nine hundred years. You carry it; perhaps one day it will tell you something.'
Had it told him anything?
He thought for a long time.
For these five years, he had carried it with him constantly. He carried it while in seclusion, while walking, even while sleeping. It had never spoken, never given any hint.
Yet it had always been there.
Always present.
He suddenly remembered what Bai Ze had said—'That book has been with me for tens of thousands of years; you and it have been bound together for five years. I know everything between you.'
He looked down at the Jade Pendant in his hand.
Five years.
He and this Jade Pendant had also been bound together for five years.
Could it also be watching him?
Could it also be waiting for something?
Bai Ze suddenly spoke.
'Look at that door again.'
Lu Mingyuan looked up.
That stone door was still the same stone door. The two words upon it—'heart pivot'—were still those two words.
But this time, looking at them, he suddenly felt something was different.
He stared at the two words for a long time.
Then, he discovered it.
Those two words were not carved.
They were written.
Written with a sword.
Every stroke was condensed from Sword Qi. That Sword Qi had remained on the stone door for nine thousand years, still as sharp as ever, still exuding its keen edge.
Yet beneath that edge, something was moving.
He took a few steps closer, looking carefully.
Between the strokes of those two words, something faintly flowed. Not light, not Qi, but—
It was intent.
A wisp of intent left behind by Daoist Songyun.
Lu Mingyuan stood there, staring at the two words, staring at that flowing intent, and suddenly understood something.
He reached out and gently pressed his hand against the door.
Not against the door, but against those two words.
The moment his finger touched the first character—'Heart'—a warm sensation instantly flooded his heart.
Immediately after, he 'saw' an image—
A person, standing on a mountain peak, swinging a sword towards the sky.
A flash of sword light, and the sky split open, revealing a crack. Within the crack was an endless starry expanse.
That person sheathed the sword, gazed at the crack, and said softly:
'The heart is the sword, the sword is the heart. When heart and sword unite, one can sever the stars.'
The image vanished.
Lu Mingyuan stood there, stunned.
The heart is the sword.
He remembered what the Pavilion Keeper had said while learning the sword on Mount Qingcheng—'The sword is an extension of the heart.'
He remembered the Guardian Sword Realm he had comprehended while meditating on the sword at Zhenwu Temple.
He remembered the sword path being the heart path he had realized during the Mount Hua sword debate.
The heart is the sword.
So, Daoist Songyun had already said it long ago.
He took a deep breath, reached out again, and pressed his finger against the second character—'Pivot'.
The moment his finger touched the character, another wave of warmth flooded his heart.
This time, the image he saw was different.
It was still that person, still standing on the mountain peak. But this time, he did not swing his sword; he simply stood quietly.
Moonlight spilled over him, casting a long shadow.
Gazing into the distance, he said softly:
'The heart is the pivot, the pivot is the center. The center is the great foundation of the world. But the foundation is not a thing, not a principle, not a method, not the Dao—'
He paused.
'The foundation is the heart. The heart is the pivot. The pivot is the heart. Heart and pivot are not two.'
The image vanished.
Lu Mingyuan stood there, motionless.
The heart is the pivot.
The pivot is the heart.
Heart and pivot are not two.
He remembered the 'Heart as the Mysterious Pivot' he had realized, remembered Xuanweizi's 'When the heart is still, all phenomena return to their source', remembered the 'Nothing exists outside the mind' realized at the Three Academies of Confucianism, remembered the 'Emptiness and Existence are Not Two' realized at the Three Temples of Buddhism.
The heart is the pivot.
The pivot is the heart.
Heart and pivot are not two.
So, these words had always been there.
Right there with the owner of this Jade Pendant.
Right there on this door.
Right there nine thousand years ago.
He withdrew his hand, took a few steps back, and looked at the two words.
This time, looking at them, every stroke of the two characters seemed to come alive. That flowing intent, that lingering Sword Qi, that nine-thousand-year wait—all trembled faintly in the sunlight.
What were they waiting for?
Waiting for someone to come.
Waiting for someone who could understand them to come.
Waiting for someone who could ask the same question to come.
Lu Mingyuan stood there for a very, very long time.
Then, he said softly:
'Senior, I understand.'
Bai Ze looked at him.
'Understand what?'
Lu Mingyuan turned and looked at him.
'I understand what he wanted to ask.'
Bai Ze said nothing.
Lu Mingyuan said softly:
'He asked 'after the heart becomes the mysterious pivot', not truly asking what comes after. He was asking—if the heart is the pivot, and the pivot is the heart, then what is the heart itself?'
'What is the heart itself?'
Bai Ze repeated.
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
'Yes. The heart is the pivot, but the pivot is the door hinge. The hinge connects to the door, the door connects to heaven and earth. But what is the hinge itself?'
He looked at Bai Ze.
'He pondered this question for nine hundred years and could not find the answer. He thought the answer lay in 'what comes after', but the answer actually lies in 'itself'.'
Bai Ze was silent for a long time.
Then, he said:
'So, do you know the answer now?'
Lu Mingyuan shook his head.
'I do not know. But I know how to look for it.'
He looked at the door.
'Not by looking forward, but by looking back. Not by looking outward, but by looking inward. Not by looking for 'what comes after', but by looking for 'itself'.'
A glimmer of light flashed in Bai Ze's eyes.
'What is the heart itself?'
Lu Mingyuan thought for a long time.
Then, he said one thing.
'The heart itself is the one asking the question.'
Bai Ze was stunned.
He looked at Lu Mingyuan for a very, very long time.
Then, he smiled.
'Interesting.'
He said.
'Interesting.'
Lu Mingyuan looked at him.
'You think so too?'
Bai Ze nodded.
'I have lived this long and seen countless people ask questions. Questions to heaven, to earth, to people, to ghosts. But never has anyone asked—who is the one asking the question?'
He paused.
'You are the first.'
Lu Mingyuan fell silent.
He remembered his journey thus far—from Mortal to Earth Immortal, from Heyin to the Kunlun Ruins, from the Three Mountains of Daoism to the Abyss of the East Sea.
Every Epiphany, every Breakthrough, every time he felt he could not go on, he would ask himself: Who am I? Where am I going? Why am I walking?
But he had never asked—who is the one asking these questions?
Who is that 'I'?
Who is that 'I' who has always been here, always watching, always walking, always asking?
He did not know.
But he knew one thing—
That 'I' has always been there.
Since that night five years ago when the mountain flood was about to come, it has always been there.
Since even earlier, it has always been there.
Since birth, it has always been there.
Since—
He suddenly remembered what Xuanweizi had said.
'Cultivation is walking. Walk the path beneath your feet well, and you will naturally know how to proceed afterwards.'
Perhaps, the one walking is the answer.
That 'I' who has always been walking is the heart itself.
The heart is the pivot.
The pivot is the heart.
Heart and pivot are not two.
Not two, because they were originally one.
Bai Ze looked at him.
'Figured it out?'
Lu Mingyuan nodded, then shook his head.
'Figured out a little bit.'
Bai Ze smiled.
'A little bit is enough. The rest, walk slowly, think slowly.'
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
He turned around and took one last look at the door, at the two words.
'Senior, I am leaving.'
He said.
'I have not yet found the complete answer to your question. But I know how to look for it.'
He paused.
'When I find it, I will come back and tell you.'
Having said that, he stepped towards the cave exit.
Bai Ze followed behind him.
Zhang Qingyuan, holding the heart lamp, also followed.
Exiting the cave, the sunlight was blinding.
Lu Mingyuan squinted, looking at the distant sea, at the sky even farther away.
Bai Ze walked to his side.
'Where to next?'
Lu Mingyuan thought for a moment.
'Northwest. To The Rift.'
Bai Ze nodded.
'Good.'
Lu Mingyuan stepped forward.
After a few steps, he suddenly stopped.
He reached into his robe and took out that old Jade Pendant.
The Jade Pendant glowed with a warm light in the sun.
Looking at the pendant, he said softly:
'Thank you.'
The Jade Pendant did not respond.
But he knew it had heard.
Nine thousand years.
It had waited for nine thousand years.
Waited for someone to come.
Waited for someone to understand those two words.
Waited for someone to ask that question.
Now, that person had come.
Now, that person was leaving.
But he knew that Jade Pendant would always follow him.
Always watching.
Always waiting.
Waiting for the day he found the answer.
He put away the pendant and continued walking forward.
Bai Ze walked by his side.
One man, one beast, one disciple, walked along the coastline towards the Northwest.
Behind them, the stone door remained tightly shut.
The two words upon it—'heart pivot'—glowed faintly in the sunlight.
They would continue to glow for a long time.
Waiting for the next predestined person.
Waiting for the next person to ask the same question.
Waiting for the next person to walk through.