Zhao Yanmo was washing dishes by the pool when he suddenly felt someone else beside him. He looked up and saw Long Yinshuangshuang.
Long Yinshuangshuang squatted down beside him, took a bowl out of the water, and started washing it as well.
There was silence for a moment, only the rippling water and the clinking of bowls and chopsticks.
Zhao Yanmo saw the slender, jade-like fingers bending with the water.
He snatched the bowl back from Long Yinshuangshuang's hands.
"You've been pampered since you were a child, how would you know how to do these things?"
Long Yinshuangshuang didn't deny it. She picked up a handkerchief, wiped her hands, and remained squatting motionless to the side.
"Is the pool water in your eyes the same as the pool water in mine?" she suddenly asked.
Zhao Yanmo was clearly taken aback. "What's the difference?"
She turned to look at him. "Are you all better now?"
Zhao Yanmo remained silent.
"……No."
"I just pretended everything was normal."
...
The world in Zhao Yanmo's eyes suddenly began to collapse one day, and then quickly reassembled.
From then on, everything began to change in his eyes.
Until he was nine years old, he was the only son in his family, living a life of luxury with many servants.
But one night, the smell of blood entered his nose and mouth. When he opened the door, he saw flames everywhere, and the shouts and running sounds of people clearly reached his ears.
He saw white and red intertwined, entangled, mixed, and twisted. Only white and red remained in the world, and gradually the red overwhelmed everything, enveloping him completely.
When he regained consciousness, everything in the world began to look different to him.
Even though they were two identical items, he could tell the difference in color. When he told others about this discovery, they thought he had gone mad.
Unable to confide in others, the suffering teenager gradually withdraws into himself.
Later, he became the adopted son of the Valley Master of Shennong Valley, and this ability was gradually discovered.
He could always clearly distinguish between poison and herb from two very similar plants.
With this ability, coupled with his exceptional memory, he became the most prized disciple of the Valley Master of Shennong Valley.
Until one day, the Valley Master asked him, "Heaven has given you such talent, why don't you make good use of it, instead of choosing a path that you are destined to fail on?"
The master of Shennong Valley wanted him to learn painting, but not to play the zither.
But he simply held his zither and continued to play those harsh, discordant sounds.
"Because playing the piano helps me calm down."
Those bright or deep, unusual colors caused him pain.
Those things always reminded him of how he acquired such "talent".
“I try to hide it and not touch anything related to it. I deceive myself in this way, thinking that I am the same as everyone else.”
Zhao Yanmo stacked the freshly washed bowls in a pile, held them in her arms, and walked towards the kitchen.
"Dragon's Roar Frost, I'm not better yet."
His voice was as ethereal as smoke.
When Li Mingke taught him to play the piano again, she found that he was always distracted.
“Apprentice?” She tapped the back of his hand.
"What's wrong?" he asked, snapping back to reality.
"What are you thinking about?"
She's already played it three times in a row, how come he still hasn't memorized it? This piece is clearly simpler.
"Oh, I'm sorry." He smiled apologetically.
"Forget it, let's rest today!"
Li Mingke placed the zither on an empty spot to the side, and then lay down.
Zhao Yanmo also lay down.
One of them listened to the wind in his ears, while the other watched the birds flying in the sky.
"Master, if one day you discover that the world isn't what you thought it was, and that you're living in a giant lie, what would you do?" he suddenly asked.
"Ah, that's a good question." Li Mingke gathered her long hair in front of her chest, and some strands fell on her face, tickling her.
"To be honest, I don't know either." Her voice was flat and even.
"Let me rephrase the question," he thought for a moment, then said, "Would you choose to remain in the lie, or tear through the facade and uncover the hidden truth?"
"What is a lie? What is the truth?" she countered. "What benefits me is what I truly need. If the truth causes me pain, then why should I know it?"
Zhao Yanmo's fingers, which were placed at her side, twitched, clenching into a fist and then relaxing.
"What if...both are in your best interest?"
“I need to think about it carefully.” Her chest rose and fell rhythmically. “If both choices are the same for me, then I need to consider the people around me and see which one is the best for them.”
"But if you choose to stay in this false fantasy, don't you feel regretful? You live your whole life in a daze." Zhao Yanmo's voice was somewhat muffled.
"How could that be?" Li Mingke crossed his hands and placed them behind his head.
"You said it yourself, we only live once. What is the ultimate goal of life? Isn't it peace and happiness? Some people pretend to be confused when they know the truth, and some people pretend to know the truth when they are confused. Many people create an illusion to escape reality and get themselves deeply trapped in it."
"Whether it's fake or real..."
"I choose the path of happiness."
Li Mingke's words were like a gentle rain falling on Zhao Yanmo's ears, spreading silently and gradually soothing his chaotic heart.
He took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.
"you're right."
"It seems that Shenjizi truly lives up to his name."
Li Mingke's profile.
“I used to doubt him, but I couldn’t resist my master’s persuasion, so I came here against my will.”
He asked her another question.
"Master...you just said that a person only lives once, but is a person really only alive once?"
This is also the question he most wants to know the answer to.
She thought Li Mingke would hesitate, but to her surprise, Li Mingke blurted out:
Of course!
She laughed: "How could Heaven be so merciful as to give you a second chance at life?"
"But... I mean, if... you know, cultivators have very long lifespans. If someone from your past life comes looking for you after you die, what would you do?"
"Well, that's a problem..." she smacked her lips.
"I don't care who they are. I've already been reincarnated, why are they still holding onto me?"
She started muttering, "There's no such thing as a free lunch. The person is dead, and you can still find them? When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out. I've never seen a lamp in a house come back to life. If this lamp is broken, just replace it with another one. Why cling to just one lamp? Are you going to let your whole life be trapped in darkness?"
She said with a hint of disdain, "Besides, they've already been reincarnated, they have new friends and family, new social circles. Who's so annoying as to keep trying to squeeze into their circle? Whether they welcome you or not is another matter."
"Once a snowflake melts, no matter how many heavy snowfalls occur in the future, there will never be another snowflake exactly like that one!"
Zhao Yanmo listened quietly.
Wow, it seems she really has a good understanding of things!
Was it instilled in her by her family?
still……
Is that what she herself thinks?
"My apprentice!" she suddenly sighed.
"You must be having something on your mind. Although you behaved very well, I could tell from your voice that you were looking worried."
She placed her hand on his shoulder and said, "What hurdle in life can't be overcome?"
"Master..." Has she already noticed?
What you perceive as a grand and magnificent event is, in the face of the long scale of life, merely a ripple.
"Kid, don't trap yourself!"
She patted his shoulder solemnly.
Suddenly, a layer of mist appeared before his eyes. The mountain-like, suffocatingly painful experience he had been carrying on his shoulders collapsed like a crumbling building. In that instant, time seemed to stand still, and everything around him became blurry and distant. He stood there, his body trembling slightly, his eyes revealing an indescribable sense of relief and exhaustion.
These experiences had once haunted him, each memory like a sharp sword piercing his heart. He endured them silently, burying the pain deep within, never letting anyone see his vulnerability. But now, all of that suddenly crumbled, surging forth like a flood. He felt an unprecedented sense of relief.
His thoughts drifted between memory and reality, those painful images flashing before his eyes. He saw his own tears and blood.
He had licked his wounds countless times in the dark, but now someone had torn everything apart and rebuilt him with flesh and blood.
“You’re right, Master…”
So please, for my sake, let me see more of the wonderful lives I have to live...
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