Chapter 21: Chapter 21: I Too Have Wandered Aimlessly in This World

Chen Xu didn’t pay attention to Cui Yunqi behind him.

He had exhausted his mind to solve the topological problem of the Yin Yang Double Jade and was overjoyed. According to the Moonlight Elf’s words, he took a step forward on the mirror-like water surface.

With this step, the scene before his eyes suddenly changed dramatically.

He saw the endless Moon Lake beneath his feet suddenly gather into a furious wave, surging skywards.

What?

Chen Xu was caught off guard, and his footing wavered. Instinctively he wanted to dodge, but where could he hide?

When the waves rose, they were everywhere, above and below, throughout the heavens and the earth.

Chen Xu felt like he had turned into a small boat in the waves, or like a mayfly lost between heaven and earth.

He couldn’t move, and vaguely heard a crisp voice jumping and laughing like jade beads rolling down: “Don’t worry, I’ll take you on the moonboat to meet the gentleman.”

Chen Xu swayed, realizing he seemed to be truly sitting on a moonboat.

In the world, the turbulent waves hung upside down, surging upwards like a waterfall flowing backward.

The moonboat followed the waterfall to the peak. Before he could clearly see the view from the peak, the waterfall rising in reverse suddenly crashed down, turning into a sky full of golden rays.

It was as if the waterfall had fallen into moonlight, the moonlight melted into golden raindrops, and the raindrops flowed into grains of time.

Rustle, the sound of rain was vast and overwhelming.

The next moment, the moonboat plummeted along with the sky-full of golden rays.

Finally, Chen Xu saw a mountain, and a person.

That person raised a glass of crystal and filled it with the golden rays transformed from the moonlight.

An ancient shock, never like this moment.

Chen Xu didn’t know when he landed on the mountain, the moonboat had disappeared, and the Moonlight Elf was gone too.

Only he, leaning on his cane, stood opposite the person with the glass of moon, his heart pounding like a drum, and his ears buzzing. For a while, he completely lost control of his words.

The person opposite had white hair falling down, a gaunt face, a wide Daoist robe draping over his body, empty and swaying with the wind.

He was so thin, thin to the point of being like a skeleton.

Yet his presence was calm and deep, like a vast jade lake.

Boundless, near and yet seemingly far away in the sky.

“Did my little Yue Nu’Er scare you, young friend?”

He spoke with a smile, mismatched with his gaunt appearance, his voice was clear and gentle, like a serene pool of water under the moonlight, unknowingly stabilizing one’s emotions.

Chen Xu quickly cupped his hands in respect: “Junior Jichuan Chen Xu greets the gentleman. I wasn’t really scared, just had my eyes opened.”

Opposite, that Famous Scholar laughed heartily, flicking his sleeve.

Immediately, a stone table appeared before him, two stone stools, a pot of tea, and two teacups.

“It is fate to meet, young friend please sit with me and drink this cup.” He poured the tea himself, seemingly flowing from a cold jade pot, yet it was warm, with curling steam, harmonizing with the mountain scenery.

He then picked up the teacup and said: “My surname is Zhou, may I ask, young friend, what kind of insight have you gained this time?”

Chen Xu felt flattered, hurriedly raised the teacup to his front, first returned a salute.

Then sat down and said: “Replying to the gentleman, today I’ve seen the Star Array of the predecessor and got to know the wonders of the world. I just felt that the previous me, perhaps like a frog in a well, or blinded by a single leaf.”

He sighed softly: “Though I’ve gained insight, I am even more confused. What exactly is this world? Previously, I saw mountains as mountains, water as water. Although inevitably ignorant, I saw everything clearly and distinctly.

But now, I see mountains not as mountains, water not as water. I seemingly don’t recognize this world anymore.”

He was full of confusion, but Mr. Zhou suddenly praised him: “What a line: seeing mountains as mountains, water as water; even better is the line, seeing mountains not as mountains, water not as water!”

After speaking, he slightly closed his eyes, savoring these two sentences for a moment.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, and in his previously seemingly gaunt and muddy eyes, there was suddenly divine light sparkling in an instant.

Although this divine light quickly subsided, Chen Xu still felt at that moment, as if what he faced was not a pair of eyes, but an immense blazing sun!

Chen Xu only felt his eyes sting, about to close them, but then heard a voice beside him: “Quick, drink the tea.”

Tea!

Chen Xu picked up the tea cup in his hand, and a line of entries appeared before his eyes: [Moonlight Flowing Spirit Immortal Tea, Upper Grade, drinking it can enhance spiritual wisdom, moisturize the body, and improve qualification to a certain extent.]

He quickly drank it in one gulp, the tea entering his stomach and instantly he felt a clear energy disperse from his Dantian, directly into his limbs and bones.

The marvelous feeling made his whole person feel light as if the mundane had been washed away in an instant, the whole person transcended with a wonderful sensation.

As for the sting in his eyes, it had long since dissipated.

Chen Xu was still trying to savor it, but the floating feeling of transcendence only lasted for a moment and quickly vanished.

He didn’t have time to regret it, then heard Mr. Zhou across the way say: “Young friend, after you see mountains not as mountains, and water not as water, there should be another sentence, right?”

Chen Xu was just about to reply, Mr. Zhou said again: “Let me guess, is it seeing mountains as mountains again, water as water again, is that so?”

Chen Xu spoke with amazement this time: “Replying to the gentleman, that’s exactly it.”

Mr. Zhou asked: “Did you think of this sentence yourself?”

Naturally not, this sentence Chen Xu had heard in his previous life.

It was a famous saying by the late Qing scholar Wang Guowei.

He said: “It was told by a deceased elder to me.”

Mr. Zhou couldn’t help but sigh: “There truly are wise folks among the people.”

He could tell from Chen Xu’s attire that he came from a humble background, yet among Chen Xu’s elders, there were those who could say such penetrating words, it was truly remarkable.

Mr. Zhou said: “Young Chen, your words have greatly helped me, I must repay you.”

Before Chen Xu could refuse, he waved his hand, directly saying: “I too have been wandering in the world, and now thinking about it, it’s just seeing mountains not as mountains, and water not as water, this realm only. I have yet to penetrate the final barrier.

You asked me what the world is like, I can only tell you, this world is far more exciting than you can ever imagine.

In the past, when the Grand Ancestor founded the kingdom, during the celestial sacrifice, a jade ruler of five zhang descended from the sky, predicting that the Great Li Kingdom’s destiny lasts five hundred years.

Now five hundred years have passed four hundred and eighty-nine years, and in recent years, those mountain spirits and specters, the evildoers and outrageous beings in the mortal world, occasionally stir up some commotion.

The commotion grows bigger, not knowing when it might suddenly get out of hand.

Beyond the Li Kingdom, there are the mysterious four seas, the five Hu Tian Lang, the Red Water Country far beyond the Tianshan. But all this still isn’t the whole world.”

Chen Xu had studied in the county school, only heard his teachers talk about the grievances between the Li Kingdom and the five Hu tribes, but knew nothing else.

But those things were not his concern, all he cared about was one question: “May I ask the gentleman, since there are monsters and demons in the world, is there such a thing as cultivating to become an immortal? Is there a path to longevity?”

Mr. Zhou was taken aback, didn’t directly answer Chen Xu’s question, but instead laughed: “Young man, aspiring for immortals and focusing on longevity is not uncommon. However, whether there is longevity, I don’t know, but there is one thing I must tell you.”

“Please instruct me, sir.”

“You have a fresh evil aura lingering on you that has not yet dissipated.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep