"What is it that gets further away the more you seek it, and closer the more you abandon it?"
This question sounds rather mysterious, but there's no standard answer no matter how I think about it...
Shen Yunhao pondered for a moment, then secretly said to Ning Yuyao beside him, "Could it be... a daydream?"
"..."
That makes a lot of sense. If you don't think about it, it will automatically appear in your mind, but if you actually try to find it... you'll find nothing at all.
The old man did not react to Shen Yunhao's answer, but simply looked indifferently in the direction of the valley entrance, as if he was also searching for the answer to this question.
At this moment, Ning Yuyao's cold eyes flickered slightly. After a moment of contemplation, she parted her cherry lips and spoke in a clear, spring-like voice: "But... is it the Heavenly Dao?"
She explained, “The Great Dao is formless, supreme and far-reaching. The more a cultivator tries to follow the trajectory of the Heavenly Dao, the more likely they are to lose their way and stray further from the Dao. Only when one follows nature and has a clear and tranquil mind will the Heavenly Dao quietly draw near.”
Upon hearing this, a faint trace of disappointment flashed across the old man's cloudy eyes, which then turned into a long sigh: "Vague and ethereal, an irrelevant answer. In this world, who dares to claim to have seen the Dao of Heaven?"
Ning Yuyao lowered her eyes, lost in thought.
Upon seeing this, Shen Yunhao frowned, his mind racing.
The more you seek, the further away it gets? The more you abandon, the closer it gets?
He tried to break the problem down more directly: "What is it that the more you try to grasp it and get it, the further away it gets from you? And the more you ignore it or even try to get rid of it, the more it will follow you closely and you won't be able to shake it off?"
It has a tangible form and is a real thing within everyone's cognitive scope.
It sounds like a paradox.
He muttered to himself as he looked down at his feet. The sunlight in the valley was just right, casting dappled shadows on the ground through the sparse branches and leaves.
"Light...can we catch it? Wait! Light?!"
A flash of inspiration struck my mind like lightning!
"I know! I know the answer!"
After he finished speaking, the valley fell silent.
The old man and Ning Yuyao looked at each other at the same time, and neither of them looked down on Shen Yunhao because of the joke earlier...
Shen Yunhao took a deep breath, "The answer... is the shadow!"
"shadow?"
"When you walk against the light to chase the shadow, it only gets pulled further away! But if you face the light and try to get away, it will stick firmly to your feet, like a shadow following you! Isn't that exactly what they mean by the more you seek, the further away it gets, and the more you abandon it, the closer it gets?"
A gentle breeze rustled through the medicinal herb field.
The gaunt old man's hunched body suddenly stiffened!
He slowly, extremely slowly, turned around, his cloudy eyes fixed on Shen Yunhao.
A joy that had been sealed away for hundreds of years slowly emerged in those eyes...
"A shadow? A shadow! So that's it! So that's it! All these years, I never imagined it! The answer is such a simple thing!"
The old man suddenly burst into laughter, a kind of liberated madness that echoed through the valley.
"Good! Good lad!"
The old man's gaze towards Shen Yunhao finally carried a hint of warmth, sweeping away the previous indifference and aloofness.
With a wave of his withered hand, a spiritual herb resembling a lingzhi mushroom, radiating a warm, jade-like luster and constantly exhaling a misty purple aura, sprouted from the center of the herb field and flew steadily into his hand.
"This is the 'Divine-Nourishing Mushroom,' born at the confluence of earth's veins, taking a thousand years to form by gathering the essence of heaven and earth! I keep my word, so you can have this!"
After saying that, he generously tossed the Ganoderma lucidum in his hand to Shen Yunhao.
"ah?"
Shen Yunhao was stunned for a moment... To be honest, he himself didn't know if the answer was correct; it was just a trial.
Judging from this, did he hit the correct answer right away?
The Ganoderma lucidum felt warm and smooth to the touch, and its powerful medicinal properties penetrated his skin and meridians, invigorating his spirit.
He quickly bowed and thanked them, saying, "Thank you so much for your generous gift, senior!"
The old man waved his hand, took a deep breath, and looked up at the sky above the valley, which was distorted by the barrier.
"Master...this disciple understands!"
The next moment, the old man's withered figure suddenly rose from the ground, transforming into a gray streak of light that shot straight into the sky and exploded towards the invisible cage!
"Boom!"
However, the next moment, a muffled explosion occurred at the edge of the barrier!
It was as if he had crashed into an indestructible wall of copper and iron; the old man's body was bounced back even faster!
He staggered to the ground, taking several steps back before barely managing to stand. The excitement on his face vanished instantly, turning deathly pale, his eyes filled with incomprehensible shock and... a deeper despair.
"How could this be? Why is it still not working?!"
The old man growled in a dejected voice, "The answer was definitely right! Why can't we break this barrier?! Why!"
This scene startled Shen Yunhao, who then realized that the old man was also trapped in the valley!
Based on what he said before, the one who trapped him... was actually his master?
If... this old man is really from the same generation as Shangguan Jingming, then who... must his master be?
Is there any hope for me and Ning Yuyao to leave?
Seeing the old man's distraught state, as if he had aged a hundred years in an instant, Shen Yunhao's heart stirred, and he quickly stepped forward and said, "Senior... is this answer wrong?"
However, the old man seemed to have gone mad, completely ignoring Shen Yunhao, and just kept shouting to himself, "Seven hundred years! Master...you have imprisoned me for seven hundred years, when will your disciple be able to leave the valley and avenge you! Master!"
"Heavenly Dao, cause and effect, time, all things... even love and hatred, I have tried them all! Today I have finally seen the light, the answer is 'shadow'! But why can't I get out? This shadow... how can it help me take revenge? Master... your disciple doesn't understand, truly doesn't understand!"
His words were filled with incomprehension and resentment, which moved the other two people somewhat...
"It seems... even someone at your level, senior, will encounter unsolvable problems and be filled with unwavering convictions..."
Ning Yuyao lowered her head and sighed, "What is the point of this so-called cultivation in the end!"
As Shen Yunhao listened, he suddenly paused in surprise.
"Yao... Yao'er, what did you just say?"
"Hmm?" Ning Yuyao looked at him. "Why did you ask about cultivation?"
"The previous sentence?"
Even those with extraordinary abilities will encounter unsolvable problems and have obsessive desires...
"Obsession...obsession..."
At this moment, Shen Yunhao suddenly recalled the half of the couplet above the stone gate outside.
Yesterday cannot be retained... to retain it would mean nothingness?
Shadow... to defeat the enemy?
Wrong, everything is wrong! The master set up this scheme, leaving behind a seemingly simple riddle that has troubled his disciples for hundreds of years. His intention was probably far more than just obtaining a literal answer!
Thinking of this, Shen Yunhao suddenly realized...
"Um... I think I... know the answer this senior needs!"
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