Chapter 29: The World Will Give You Its Answer

"Good grief! Didn't you just come back a couple of days ago, kid? Why are you running back here again today!"

In the small courtyard nestled in the mountains, Ling Chenzi had barely opened the door when he caught sight of the young girl in plain robes, standing upright by his rocking chair with her hands behind her back and a sword at her side. The relaxed smile that had been gracing his face vanished in an instant, and he felt a throbbing headache begin to pulse at his temples.

"Is it that you didn't find what you were looking for in the library last time, or did you lose another fight to that malevolent spirit? Who runs up the mountain every other day like this?" Ling Chenzi muttered, his old face sagging as he surreptitiously observed the subtle nuances of Su Changling's expression.

He noticed that when he mentioned the "library," a flicker of subtle resentment flashed through the depths of her eyes, and when he mentioned "losing a fight," she grew visibly uncomfortable. A third theory immediately took root in his mind.

"Wait, wait a second," Ling Chenzi frowned, suspicious. "Do you already know what that thing is?"

"...Ahem." Su Changling coughed feignedly, her gaze drifting off involuntarily. "I suppose so."

"Either you do, or you don't. None of this 'suppose so' business," Ling Chenzi said, his eyes filled with disdain. "If you know what it is, why are you back here? Go and subdue it already!"

"It's not that I don't want to, I just can't yet!" Su Changling replied, her expression blank but her tone righteous. "Besides, Master, you knew that the malevolent spirit was one of the six souls I lost. Why did you have me look through the mountain's annual records?"

—Judging by what that soul had said, she had indeed been a person of the mountain a hundred years ago, but not necessarily a disciple of Buyun Ruins. Moreover, since she wasn't dead now, she wouldn't be on that list of disciples who had perished young...

Now that she thought about it, she didn't even know what she had been looking for when she flipped through those records.

"What do you mean you can't... and as for having you check the records," Ling Chenzi was completely bewildered by his little disciple's question. "That’s obviously because what you were looking for was in there."

"...Wait a moment. Which part of the records did you have me look through last time?"

"The list of disciples throughout the history of Buyun Ruins," Su Changling said calmly. "What else would it be?"

"Who told you to look through that wretched thing?" Hearing this, Ling Chenzi was utterly devastated, hopping on the spot in frustration. "I wanted you to look at the Founding Chronicles and the Centennial Record of Major Events!"

"Oh." Su Changling remained unmoved. "You didn't specify, and I didn't know."

Watching her, Ling Chenzi grew even angrier.

"Rebellious disciple, you... forget it." Ling Chenzi feigned a look of profound heartbreak, let out a chaotic howl, and then, under Su Changling's steady gaze, silently shut his mouth.

"Tell me straight, Changling. What trouble have you run into this time?"

"...It’s not so much trouble as it is a sense of confusion." Su Changling lowered her eyes, carefully weighing her words before concisely explaining to Ling Chenzi the "past life" she had experienced in the illusion the night before, finally presenting her dilemma.

"And so... when she asked me, 'Is this human world still worth saving?', I truly hesitated."

"I could not answer her." A flash of uncontrollable pain crossed Su Changling’s face. "I always feel that if I were to answer her—no matter what the answer was—it would be a form of 'betrayal'."

—To answer "Yes," would be to betray the vengeance of her past self, who had been strangled to death by her mother-in-law, to betray the misery of Cheng Yingrou, who had starved to death, and to betray all those in this world who suffered needlessly simply because of their status or position.

—To answer "No," would be to betray everything she had learned since embarking on her path of cultivation... it would be a betrayal of her own convictions.

"So, Master, tell me: is this human world truly worth saving?" Su Changling raised her eyes, lost and struggling. If she couldn't resolve this question, she feared her very heart of the Dao would begin to go astray.

Ling Chenzi’s expression softened. He reached out and patted the girl’s head comfortingly. "Changling, you couldn't answer her 'Yes' without a second thought."

"But you didn't say 'No' without hesitation either, did you?"

"True, because you have taught me since I was young to help the needy and save the distressed, to benefit all living beings." Su Changling's voice grew soft. "And I always felt that the world wasn't quite that far gone..."

"Then you should... go find the answer in the human world yourself, Changling." Ling Chenzi’s eyes crinkled into a smile. "The weather is fine today. When you head down the mountain, take the opportunity to wander around."

"Don't use your sword. Slow down and walk on your own two feet for a change."

"Look at the grass and trees on the mountain, look at the travelers on the road... once you reach the bottom, you can stroll through the small towns along the way."

"Huizhou Prefecture is a good place," Ling Chenzi said with great sincerity. "Your question—the human world will provide you with the most fitting answer."

"Go, Changling."

"The human world... will provide the answer?" Su Changling murmured in a daze. By the time she regained her senses, she was already standing on the stone path leading down the mountain.

At this hour, there was no sea of clouds in the mountains, but where the forests were lush, one could occasionally see wisps of mist like flowing smoke.

The Hundred-Step Cloud Ladder on Mount Tianzhu was incredibly steep, yet the tourists climbing it showed no signs of annoyance—she didn't know when they had started their ascent, but judging by their appearance, it might have been around dawn.

Some of the more timid ones clearly had lingering fear in their eyes, yet their feet continued to move upward with unwavering resolve.

She saw their legs, which had already gone soft and were trembling, regain their firmness the moment they stepped onto the next stone slab. She had never seen such a novel sight, so she, too, stepped onto the towering stone staircase that seemed to lead straight into the clouds.

The autumn mountain breeze hissed, making a strange sound as it struck the rock walls.

Su Changling, accustomed to riding her flying sword, was naturally not afraid of heights like ordinary people. But as she climbed the stone steps—known to many as the "Heavenly Ladder"—which she had previously only ever looked down upon from her blade, and as she reached out to touch the precipitous cliffs that towered high above her—

She suddenly realized just how insignificant she was.

Compared to this entire mountain, she was so small as to be entirely negligible.

This feeling was completely different from when she stood on her sword and looked down from above.

Back then, she only knew that the Huangshan Mountains covered a vast area, but they didn't seem as massive or as treacherous as the poets and scholars had written in their verses.

But now...

She felt that everyone was merely a grain of millet in the vast, swirling dust of the world.

Just like the grit she felt on her hand.

Without these grains, the mountain cliffs would not change in the slightest.

Yet, the mountain was precisely composed of countless grains of sand and stone.

...As was the human world.

It seemed they should not, because of the suffering of some, deny the entire world of men.

A faint, new perception stirred in Su Changling's clouded mind. Just as she wanted to calm herself and carefully savor what that feeling was, someone gently tapped her on the arm.

"Miss, um... would you like some water?"