Chapter 846 - Are You Enlightened?
Outside the jungle, there was a public road within the green mountains. There was a team of carriages galloping along the road. These carriages were made of exquisite material and gave off a fragrance. They gave off the feeling of wealth.
The sounds of hooves and wheels echoed, but the carriage in front suddenly stopped and a seven or eight-year-old girl jumped down.
This girl was wearing silk clothes and her face was pink, as if she was made of jade. She felt something in her bosom as she got off the carriage with some difficulty. She took a few quick steps into the grass on the side.
She squatted down and placed the thing in her arms onto the ground. It was a small beast with a bandage on its leg.
“Little Black, go back…” The girl’s eyes revealed innocence and reluctance as she touched the small beast’s head. The small beast looked up. It was as if he had intelligence and looked meaningfully at the girl.
At this moment, the curtain of the carriage behind the girl was opened, exposing a man and woman. They were both middle-aged and they looked at the girl with loving gazes.
The gentle breeze blew by, causing the curtain to flutter. The eyes of the two people in the carriage were filled with confusion. They weren’t the only ones; all the surrounding mortals became like this.
Even the girl was also filled with confusion. Only the small beast suddenly began to make hostile noises with its mouth and exposing its teeth. It seemed to have forgotten about its injuries and jumped behind the girl’s back. It looked up at the sky and let out a long roar.
There was fear in its eyes, but there was also a force in its eyes that made it not back down. At this moment, it didn’t even notice that a trace of blood had come out of its bandaged leg.
“The heavens’ dao is endless, the path of dao is boundless. The kind act of today will create karmic cause… In the future, the cycle will be completed and karmic effect will form…” An ancient voice echoed across the world with a hint of enlightenment.
The small beast’s body trembled, but it still let out a roar. Its eyes were filled with intelligence as it looked up at the sky. It could feel that there was an aura that could suffocate it, but it wasn’t willing to retreat!
A sigh slowly came and gradually disappeared. The small beast was filled with confusion as it hadn’t fully awakened its intelligence and couldn’t understand what the sigh meant. However, the moment it heard the sigh, its vision blurred and it seemed to see something.
An old woman in her twilight years was lying in a very luxurious room. Even though her face covered in wrinkles, they couldn’t cover her kind appearance. Although she was dying, her eyes were not cloudy. She revealed a smile as she closed her eyes. Suddenly, a large and ferocious beast came from the sky. After the beast landed, it looked at the old woman and spat out a cloud of white gas. The white gas surrounded the old woman and then it left.
“Little Black…” The old woman opened her eyes.
The illusion disappeared and the little beast’s eyes became even more confused. The breeze blew by and swept everything away. Everyone from the carriages became sober and had no idea anything had happened. Even the little girl was unaware, She smiled and turned back to the little beast. “Little Black… go home.”
In a village in the mortal world, a middle-aged woman was pointing at a broken bowl and loudly reprimanding a child. The child looked extremely wronged as he stood there crying, but he didn’t dare to say a word.
Beside them was a middle-aged man. He was squatting on the ground holding a pip. After taking a few drags, he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he only sighed.
At this moment, the gentle breeze came by. The cursing stopped and the woman’s eyes were filled with confusion. Not only her, but even the man smoking the pipe stopped.
Only the child seemed not to notice and whispered while crying, “Mother, there was already a crack on the bowl…”
“Dao is like this bowl, not perfect and filled with cracks. It can be broken at any time…” An ancient sigh slowly came from the world and then left like a gentle breeze.
The confusion disappeared from the woman’s eyes and she continued to reprimand the child due to the heartache of the bowl breaking without being aware of what had happened. The middle-aged man picked up the pipe that fell on the ground and took a big drag.
Only the child’s eyes widened as he looked into the distant sky. He seemed to see an uncle stepping into the sky. The child disregarded his mother’s scolding and rubbed his eyes, but after that, he saw nothing.
Within the mountain there was a middle-aged man wearing a blue robe running through the mountain in panic. His eyes were filled with fear, as if he had encountered something terrifying.
Behind him was a woman in black, chasing him with a sneer and hatred in her eyes. Every time she got close, she would raise her sword and mercilessly stab him, leaving him bleeding. She let out a sad laughter.
“You damn officer, you caused the death of my family, but you fell into my hands today. If I don’t kill you, then it will be offense to the heavens for giving me this chance!”
A gentle breeze came, and the man filled with panic and fear was suddenly filled with confusion. Even the black-robed woman was filled with confusion. She raised the sword in her hand, but it didn’t fall.
“Another karmic cause and karmic effect…” An ancient voice echoed with a sigh that slowly drifted away.
When the gentle breeze was gone, the woman regained her senses. Her sword cut off the middle-aged man’s head. She was filled with tears as he kneeled down weeping. “Father, mother, your child has gotten you revenge!”
Rain was falling down on a mortal city. There were flower umbrellas everywhere as pedestrians hurried through the streets. Their steps set off ripples in the water on the ground.
One after another… It was as if every ripple was karma that came non-stop and became part of dao.
There was a gust of wind that could shatter the ripples. However, this was only temporary as the ripples quickly returned. It was as if the ripples would never end.
In the distance, a group of people in white were playing funeral music and were slowly moving forward. There was a coffin among them, and they were carrying it slowly toward the city gate.
Bursts of crying echoed. Whenever surrounding pedestrians encountered them, they would avoid the group.
As the group progressed, pieces of yellow paper were scattered. They represented the relatives of the deceased and would open the path to the underworld, giving the deceased a peaceful send-off.
Among the cries, some were real and some were fake, some filled sadness and others filled with excitement...
A gentle breeze blew by and brought an ancient sigh that surrounded the area.
“Death is the end of karma… All karma is destroyed at death…” an illusory voice echoed as if questioning itself.
The emotions inside the cries were silent. After answering his own question, this ancient voice gradually left.
In an imperial palace, an army of soldiers stood at attention. A middle-aged man wearing a yellow robe was standing in front. He was staring ahead and his body gave off a powerful sense of sadness.
One person walked out from the army beneath him. This man was in full armor and looked very powerful. If one took a closer look, he looked similar to the yellow-robed man.
“Father, you are already old, please don’t be reluctant to part!”
The sadness in the middle-aged man’s eyes became even stronger. A silent breeze blew through the imperial palace, causing all the soldiers to be filled with confusion.
“What kind of karma is this…” A light voice came with the wind and left the imperial palace. It diffused across the world, feeling the changes in life.
Wang Lin travelled along, constantly trying to confirm his dao. Sometimes he was confused, sometimes he had doubt, and sometimes he was puzzled. The heavens’ dao had no end, so trying to grasp it was very difficult.
As he went along with the wind, Wang Lin seemed to experience a dream. In this dream, he seemed to have become planet Qing Ling. He could see, hear, and feel the actions of every living thing in the planet.
He saw the birth of a baby, the death of an old man, the affection of parents, the gaze of a lover, partings, reunions, good deeds, and endless evil...
“In the end… What is dao…” Wang Lin was confused. After seeing all this, he still found no answer. As he continued to chase and search for his confirmation, he became even more… confused.
The spiritual energy on planet Qing Ling became more dense, but it contained a trace of confusion. Anyone who cultivated it would immediately become immersed in a mysterious realm and seemed to fuse with planet Qing Ling. At this moment, their minds were being controlled involuntarily to pursue a result.
Wang Lin’s pursuit continued and time slowly passed. To him, it seemed to have no end as he diffused across planet Qing Ling.
During sunset in a private school in a village, after most children had left. Only a young boy was left sweeping at the school. A gentle breeze blew by and startled the boy. His eyes shined brightly as he put down the broom and walked toward the teacher’s house.
“Teacher, Student has a question!”
The door was pushed open. A wise-looking mortal old man walked out and gently replied, “What question?”
The boy looked at the old man and calmly asked, “Teacher, do you know what dao is?”
“Dao?” The old man looked at the boy and waved his sleeves “This old man teaches humanity, there is no dao!”
The boy silently pondered and left. As the breeze drifted away, the boy’s body trembled and he regained control. He was confused about what he just did.
In a small town, a respected and admired old man named Xie lit an oil lamp late at night. He then picked up a scroll and was about to read it.
A gentle breeze came into the room, causing the oil lamp to flicker, and the old man raised his head.
An ancient voice appeared in the room.
“You are the wiseman in this town. Do you know what dao is?”
The old man’s face immediately became pale and the scroll in his hand fell. His eyes were filled with terror as he trembled and said, “You… Are you a human or a ghost!”
The ancient echoed once more, “What is dao?”
The old man took a deep breath as he forced himself to calm down and his voice trembled. “This old man doesn’t understand what dao is…”
The voice disappeared into the distance with a sigh. The room returned to normal, but the old man was no longer in the mood to read.
In a country’s capital inside a school, there were countless students holding books and reading about humanities. In front was an old man in a white robe with his right hand stroking his beard and a smile on his face.
Just at this moment, the gentle breeze blew by. One of the students immediately put down the book in his hand, stood up, and calmly said, “Teacher, do you know what dao is?”
The moment the boy’s voice was heard, the surroundings became quiet. The old man’s expression was not pleasant and he said, “The heavens is dao!”
The boy shook his head. After he sat down, his body trembled and he returned to normal. No one noticed that the breeze had left the school.
The breeze scattered across planet Qing Ling. Almost every scholar on the planet was asked this question through various means.
In the end they all had different answers, but no one could give a clear answer.
Confused, Wang Lin was immersed inside his dream and continued to seek without end. It was as if he could go on seeking the true meaning of dao forever.
On this day, the old man named Xie that was questioned by Wang Lin was circling inside his house and wasn’t able to calm down. It was as if the ancient voice would echo inside his mind whenever he calmed down.
He let out a heavy sigh before picking up his umbrella and walking out on this rainy day. As he wandered through the town, his eyes were filled with confusion.
“What is dao… I thought that I was filled with knowledge and that I had seen through the world. However, I was stumped by what that strange ghost asked me… What is dao…”
While confused, the old man subconsciously came to the northern part of the city. There was an old man sitting on the side of the river. The old man was wearing a raincoat as he threw the net into the river to catch fish.
The old man named Xie looked at all this without any focus in his eyes and muttered to himself, “What is dao…”
At this moment, the old man wearing the raincoat let out a shout of joy as he pulled in the fish net, which was filled with a large amount of fish. The fish constantly struggled and opened their mouths to try to swallow some river water. Their eyes seem to be filled with despair as their bodies fiercely struggled in the net!
This scene that struck the old man named Xie like lightning. His whole body trembled as he stared at the fish in the net and the old man reeling in the net.
“This… Could this be dao? I’m the fish, the net is the dao, and the river is the heavens. The old man with the net is creator that controls fate!” As the old man named Xie’s mind trembled, a violent wind filled the world.
This violent wind contained the power of the heavens and earth. The old man with the net was frightened. He loosened the net and sat on the ground, filled with terror. Even the old man named Xie took a few steps back and forced himself to calm down.
The wind condensed to form a person, Wang Lin!
He lowered his head to look at the fish that returned to the river with enlightenment in his eyes. He raised his hand filled with spiritual energy and it entered the body of the old man named Xie.
“You gifted me enlightenment, so I’ll gift you an opportunity…”