Chapter 314
Chapter 314
Seventh Master and the others feared I was walking down a path of no return.
Ghosts had once been human, but those whose wronged souls remained in the world all carried resentment. Their minds were unstable, and they could lose control at any moment.
I was holding what amounted to two bombs that could explode at any time.
Even so, I had never felt as serene as I did now.
The words I spoke to Xiuzhu and the resentful spirit had moved them, but they had also allowed me to release many things.
If reaching the end of life merely returned us to the state before birth, and from that state we would be born again, then every day we lived was a step toward death. After death, we returned once more to the state before birth.
It was a cycle, a smaller cycle within the greater one.
Life and death held little meaning at this moment. Since neither mattered greatly, why cling to the fact that I might die now?
Across the endless years of the greater cycle, I would experience death countless times.
With serenity already in my heart, why fear death’s arrival?
Only now did I understand the true nature of the Ancestral Master’s test.
The test was not about solving a problem, eliminating the ghost that created it, or dealing with the person responsible.
The Ancestral Master wanted me to understand the Dao, which path I should follow, and which path deserved my unwavering commitment.
What exactly was the Dao?
Was the Dao Wuji? Was it Taiji? Or was returning to Wuji itself the Dao?
Was the boundless universe the Dao?
“Seventh Master, what do you think the Dao is?”
“The Dao has no precise definition.”
Seventh Master answered without hesitation. “The Dao in the Dao De Jing is the Great Dao. One yin and one yang are the Dao. Endless recurrence is the Dao. Following nature is the Dao. Even heretical and evil paths are Dao. All three thousand Great Daos are Dao.”
I said, “I don’t cling to life or death. I follow the endlessly recurring cycle of reincarnation. Therefore, I too am Dao, and what I do now is also Dao. Since it is Dao, it has neither right nor wrong. And if it has neither, why stop me?”
I brought Xiuzhu and the resentful spirit to the hotel’s rooftop.
“Night and day alternate. No one knows how many times they have replaced each other. This is endless recurrence, the perpetual cycle.”
“Nature follows it, and so do we. Why must you hide only in the night?”
I looked at Xiuzhu and the resentful spirit, backed toward the edge of the rooftop, and smiled. “If people understand how to pick something up, why can’t they put it down? As long as you’re willing to let go, you can possess something new.”
“I’ll use my own life to prove that life and death can be released. If those can be released, then love, hatred, attachments, and grudges can be too.”
“After I die, my reincarnation is Dao. If you heed my words, release your obsessions, and enter the cycle, that is also Dao. If you refuse, Seventh Master will use the Black Talisman to kill you and prevent you from harming more people. That too is Dao.”
“None of us is right or wrong.”
Seventh Master and the others watched me with tense expressions.
What I was doing amounted to embracing death.
One more step backward would kill me.
“Chen Mo, don’t… don’t do anything reckless!”
“If you die, you’ll really be dead!”
“We’re human and follow the human path! Deciding to die on the spot is too fucking reckless!”
Song Xiaotian and Meng Yifan were the ones trying to persuade me.
Seventh Master wanted to speak too, but after opening his mouth, he did not know what to say.
He had cultivated the Dao all his life and understood more deeply than I did. He knew I was right. Since I was right, how could he persuade me to stop?
I knew even more clearly that I was right, but I also knew that dying like this would be irresponsible toward my brothers and everyone who cared about me.
Yet I had no choice.
Many factors compelled me to do this. I had to do it.
I looked at Xiuzhu and the resentful spirit. “Although there is no right or wrong, and whatever happens next is Dao, I still hope you’ll listen and enter reincarnation.”
“We come into this world not only to endure hardship, but also to see how beautiful it can be.”
“I’ll wait for you in the next cycle.”
When I finished, I stepped backward without hesitation, ready to die.
Perhaps death would be a kind of release from this life.
But after my foot found empty air, I did not fall.
Xiuzhu and the resentful spirit instantly disappeared. It felt as though two hands supported me from behind, forcefully pushing me back toward the edge of the rooftop.
I lost my balance and jumped down from the ledge onto the roof.
Song Xiaotian, Meng Yifan, and Anning charged forward without hesitation. One grabbed my legs, another my waist, terrified that because my first attempt to jump had failed, I would try again.
I stared blankly at Xiuzhu and the resentful spirit after they reappeared.
To my amazement, halos of light now surrounded them. The two ill-fated girls resembled projected images, gradually growing dimmer.
They looked at me, waved, and smiled.
I knew they were leaving.
They had listened and released the obsessions in their hearts.
The hatred they refused to relinquish had actually imprisoned them. But I could not force victims to abandon their hatred. I could only move them through this method.
Fortunately, I succeeded.
“May your journey be peaceful!”
“This world won’t disappoint you again!”
They left.
The instant they vanished, the temperature across the entire construction site rose noticeably.
The place had returned to normal. Without the powerful ghost controlling the wronged spirits entrenched here, they would soon depart for wherever they belonged.
“It actually… ended like that…”
Seventh Master stood there and sighed.
He turned to me with approval. “You should have passed your Ancestral Master’s test.”
Yes, I had passed. I should have been happy.
But I suddenly began trembling, overcome by belated fear.
What… what the hell had I just done?
“Why are you shaking? Weren’t you enlightened just now? You saw through life and death. No one could stop you from jumping,” Song Xiaotian said irritably.
I swallowed and muttered, “I… I may have attained enlightenment, but not completely. My legs are weak. Could someone help me stand?”
At that moment, Seventh Master suddenly asked, “Where is Lin Jinhua? Did any of you see him?”
We looked around, but he was nowhere in sight.
He should have emerged with us when we left the Ghost Wall. Where had he gone?
Meng Yifan said, “He was still on the second floor just now. Could he have run out by himself?”
Seventh Master thought briefly, then hurriedly led us downstairs to search.
We found Lin Jinhua before long.
But what we found was his corpse…