Human nature
Having made up their minds, the two went out after their meal and wandered around the streets of the capital.
After the enlightenment she received from the supervisor yesterday, Xu Yi saw the scenery of the capital city differently today. She no longer focused solely on people's superficial arguments, harmony, and affection... but rather on their inner motivations and desires...
Only then did I realize... that the world is a completely different place...
A mirror image? A scene? They seem no different?
Xu Yi saw a man and a woman connected by a red thread. One was drinking tea in a teahouse, and the other was looking at silk flowers by the roadside at the other end of the road... Although they were a street apart, the red thread connecting them was clearly visible...
Xu Yi wanted to know how they met, so she stared at the two of them intently...
Wu Zi followed Xu Yi's gaze to the woman in the distance and asked, "What's wrong?"
Xu Yi made a shushing gesture, then pointed to the man drinking tea next to her, leaned closer to Wu Zi and whispered, "Those two... have red threads on them..."
It turned out to be something he couldn't see. Wu Zi lowered his head in frustration... After a moment, he composed himself and looked at Xu Yi again: "So?"
"I want to see how the red thread connecting them brought them together..."
"Okay, I'll go with you."
Although I can't see Xu Yi, I don't mind using my ordinary eyes to help you imagine the scenery you can see...
Xu Yi stared intently at the woman in the distance, watching her struggle to find the silk flower she liked. Meanwhile, the man quietly sipped his tea, the two seemingly unconnected... After a long while, the woman finally chose her silk flower. Satisfied, she walked along, admiring it, completely unaware that a galloping horse was rushing towards her at breakneck speed, appearing before her in an instant...
The man drinking tea heard the sound of galloping horses and turned around to see the woman already in front of them. He leaped out of the teahouse and pulled the woman aside just as the horse was about to hit her... Before the shock had even subsided, the rider on the other side also reined in his horse...
The man on horseback gave a polite smile, dismounted, and walked to the woman's side to apologize, saying, "I'm so sorry, I was in such a hurry that I almost bumped into you, young lady." He then turned to the man who had saved her and said, "Thank you very much, brave man..."
When the man in the teahouse jumped out and pulled the woman away, Xu Yi clearly saw the red thread connecting the two of them flash for a moment. But the instant the man on horseback apologized, the red thread between the woman and the man in the teahouse miraculously broke, and instead, it unilaterally connected the woman to the man on horseback...
Xu Yi was shocked and grabbed Wu Zi, asking, "Wu Zi, did you see that? What's with that red thread?"
“I…” Wu Zi paused for a moment: “I can’t see the red line.”
"Huh? You haven't opened your eyes? Then let me tell you..." After saying that, Xu Yi told Wu Zi about the entanglement between the two men and the woman in that short time. Wu Zi looked at Xu Yi's face carefully, and the tenderness in his heart melted...
Until Xu Yi asked Wu Zi, "Is this fate?"
Wu Zicai came to his senses: "Yes, there are countless destinies in this world. Different paths will naturally lead to different endings. This is what the ancients meant by 'Heaven evolves into forty-nine, and man escapes to one.'"
Xu Yi looked at the red thread beside the man in the tea stall, which looked as if it had been severed by a knife, and paused for a moment: "This red thread, it was cut so cleanly!"
"A person's thoughts arise and fall in countless ways, each different..."
"So it turns out that people's fates aren't something that can be directly seen, but rather deduced from the results of people's different thoughts..." Xu Yi looked at Wu Zi and smiled: "This fate is truly magical..."
“Yes!” Wu Zi repeated, “It really is amazing.”
Xu Yi smiled brightly at Wu Zi: "Thank you, Wu Zi, thank you for being willing to accompany me and teach me along the way, allowing me to experience the myriad differences in the world... I believe that no matter whether we are together in the future or not, whether we can meet again... this rare experience and journey will accompany me for all eternity... after all, it is already engraved in my past, and will overlap and build up into my future self. You are already a part of my future self... naturally, I can't lose you..."
Xu Yi looked up at the azure sky: "Just like Bai Er, Bai Da, Jian Zheng, Yi Qing, and Jiu Yin, their deeds will form the basis of who I will become... These parts will gradually accumulate as I grow older, eventually making me a better version of myself. Perhaps this is the meaning of life's journey... These past experiences have firmly formed the rest of me, how could I lose them? What is there to regret? I understand, Wu Zi... Thank you..."
Xu Yi turned her gaze back to Wu Zi's face: "Thank you for your companionship... and thank you for leaving... I will always be myself... just as Wu Zi will always be Wu Zi..."
Wu Zi understood some of what Xu Yi said, but more than that, he didn't understand... This made him clearly realize the gap between himself and Xu Yi, and he felt a little disappointed, but more than that, he was gratified by Xu Yi's growth. He nodded and said, "Thank you, Xu Yi. Just as you said, you will be with me for the rest of my life..."
"So... parting isn't the hardest part, is it? We've already given each other so much..."
“Yes,” Wu Zi reached out and affectionately stroked the back of Xu Yi’s neck, “We have already given each other so much…”
After this reflection, Xu Yi felt more open-minded and was no longer troubled by Wu Zi's impending departure. In an instant, she seemed to understand the meaning of this encounter and this parting. And after the enlightenment she received from the supervisor last night, she now tends to project her thoughts, feelings, and experiences onto all living beings, which undoubtedly makes her cultivation twice as effective and her progress remarkable...
After the incident with the man at the tea stall and the woman with the silk flowers, Xu Yi stopped paying attention to the red threads that connected people and focused solely on shopping, eating, and drinking with Wu Zi... They followed the crowds, going wherever the excitement was, enjoying themselves while observing the people and things around them, which was indeed quite pleasant...
At that moment, Xu Yi was enjoying a bowl of sweet soup made by a street vendor when she suddenly caught a glimpse of Xiang Qi out of the corner of her eye.
Xu Yi put down the sweet soup in her hand, took two steps forward, and just as she reached the corner, she saw Xiang Qi walking step by step toward the dock with a man at the other end of the road. Xiang Qi held a round fan in his hand, holding it to his cheek, and occasionally turned his head to look at the man beside him, his eyes full of smiles...
"You've found a new client so quickly?" Xu Yi felt a little unhappy, so she stared at the two people at the end of the road. A small boat was already moored at the dock, with some gauze curtains hanging on it, making it look very luxurious.
The man boarded the boat first, then turned around and extended his hand to Xiang Qi.
Xiang Qi smiled shyly at the man, holding up a round fan, then reached out and covered it with her hand, using her other hand to lift her skirt and board the boat...
Xu Yi noticed a broken red line under Xiang Qi's feet. However, unlike the neat cut of the man in the teahouse, the red line under Xiang Qi's feet looked like it had been forcibly torn off, with an uneven and rough cut.
Xu Yi found it strange and asked Wu Zi, "Wu Zi, why is the red line under their feet not as neat and even as the previous couple's, but rather very rough, as if it was torn?"
"Huh?" Wu Zi couldn't see the red line to begin with, let alone understand what these differences meant, so he shook his head: "I don't know either, and I've never been exposed to this kind of knowledge. Why don't we go back and ask the supervisor?"
“Okay,” Xu Yi nodded, “Let’s go back and ask the Director.” After saying that, they stopped shopping and went straight back to the Imperial Observatory with Wu Zi.
Xu Yi went to find the Director of the Imperial Observatory with Wu Zi as soon as he entered. The two stood in front of the Director's room for a long time before the young servant boy attending the Director let them in.
Xu Yi went straight to the point: "Supervisor, I saw the red line today."
"Oh?" The supervisor stroked his beard and looked at Xu Yi with a loving expression: "That's good, little Xu Yi, you've made progress again."
“I saw two different red threads. One was broken in my own eyes, with a clean cut; the other was dragging under my feet, with a rough break, as if it had been forcibly torn off. Why are the red threads so different, Supervisor?”
"This..." The supervisor was silent for a moment before telling Xu Yi, "The cut is very smooth, which means it was caused by the different paths people chose under normal circumstances; as for why the cross-section is uneven..."
Xu Yi understood immediately; she stood up abruptly: "Was it abnormal human interference?"
The supervisor nodded: "Usually, people's fate is predetermined, but people's own thoughts are variable, so there will be breaks, which is not a problem in itself. But if someone uses other forces to forcibly break the fate predetermined by heaven, then the uneven break you mentioned will occur."
"Using other forces?" Xu Yi murmured, "I didn't expect that Xiang Qi would resort to the power of entanglement in order to sever ties with Bai Da..."
"No, no..." The supervisor shook his head: "The human power of others alone is not enough. After all, it is a predestined fate. The person himself must do something that can sever the bond in order to break the red thread."
"How can a mortal sever ties? She can't even see the red thread of fate!"
"If a mortal who has not cultivated himself cannot see the red thread of fate for marriage, then he can only resort to extreme measures."
Xu Yi looked at the supervisor and pressed, "What extreme method?"
The supervisor looked up at Xu Yi and calmly uttered two words: "Slaughter."
"Killing?" Xu Yi was shocked: "Killed your lover?"
The supervisor nodded calmly, as if his heart had never wavered.
"What?" Xu Yi immediately thought of Xiang Qi's indifferent behavior all along, but then she remembered Bai Er saying that she liked her brother, so she shook her head: "Impossible... How could that be? Bai Da loved her so purely and deeply... Even if she didn't like Bai Da later, she wouldn't have killed him, would she?"
“Besides…besides, Xiangqi is just a mortal, how could she kill Bai Da?” Xu Yi looked at Wu Zi with disbelief, wanting to get confirmation from Wu Zi…
But Wu Zi calmly stated a fact: "Bai Da's protective scale is in Xiang Qi's hands."
"So, she knows Bai Da's weakness?"
Could it really be Xiang Qi? Once this speculation surfaced, it was like boiling water—unstoppable…
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