Chapter 692: Chapter 684
“Are you ready to face life’s challenges? You will meet many people, and you may make enemies. Perhaps you will fall in love with someone, but in the end, it might be unfulfilled. Even so, you still want to go out?”
An Xin looked at An Zizai and asked, her tone melancholy.
An Zizai was overjoyed upon hearing this because his master finally relented.
“Gain or lose, it is my fate. I just want to see, not necessarily to gain anything.” An Zizai looked up at his master and answered seriously.
Watching his expression, An Xin sighed, took out her Dao Treasure, the Six Paths Mirror, and handed it to An Zizai, saying, “This is my magical treasure. I’ll lend it to you. Go visit Chen Chuan. Show him this mirror, and he will see you. Tell him I would like you to follow him to cultivate swordsmanship.”
As An Zizai took the Six Paths Mirror and was about to say something, An Xin handed him a Jade Pendant, saying it could guide his direction.
“Go now, or I’ll change my mind.” An Xin said with an indifferent expression.
Gu An glanced back at An Zizai and laughed, “Look at you making your master so angry, such impiety!”
Because of what he said earlier, An Zizai initially felt grateful, but now that sense of gratitude vanished.
“Master, I will come back!”
An Zizai quickly knelt, kowtowed to An Xin, then stood up, glared at Gu An, and turned to leave.
An Xin watched as An Zizai disappeared into the horizon and then bowed towards Gu An, silently departing.
Gu An didn’t console An Xin; instead, he had a mischievous feeling as if watching a play.
“People always long for freedom. The harder the challenges, the stronger the desire for freedom.”
Gu An said leisurely. He had taken on many disciples and knew this very well.
However, everything must be experienced. An Xin wanting to take a disciple has to face the disciple’s mindset. After all, a disciple is human, with thoughts of their own.
At this moment, the fishing rod quivered, and finally, a fish took the bait.
Gu An immediately gripped the fishing rod with both hands, starting a battle of wits with the fish in the lake.
Water splashed, scattering onto the leaves, with sunshine illuminating the droplets, making them appear as if they held tiny worlds within.
An Zizai’s departure once again left the Daoist Field of the Beginningless quiet, with other disciples also starting to retreat into seclusion for cultivation.
For Gu An, the liveliness or quietness of the dojo wasn’t the most important aspect; time seemed to speed up with each passing moment.
Eight hundred years later.
Gu An returned to this spot to fish, holding a book in his other hand while waiting for a fish to take the bait.
The sunlight was bright, making the lake’s surface glisten, and a gentle breeze blew through, ruffling his hair.
A figure emerged from the woods behind him—a man in a warrior’s cloth robe, with disheveled hair, a weathered face, and stubble around his mouth. His eyes carried a look of sorrow.
It was An Zizai.
Compared to eight hundred years ago, he was a different person, devoid of his previous spirit, and his demeanor appeared desolate.
An Zizai looked at Gu An’s back, somewhat dazed, with a slight change in his eyes.
He suddenly recalled the scene from years ago when he left, with the Ancestor also fishing here, turning his back to him, the silhouette unchanged, giving him a sense of traversing time and space.
“Disciple greets the Ancestor!”
An Zizai approached Gu An from behind, bowing respectfully, his voice filled with melancholy.
“It’s good to be back.”
Gu An replied without turning his head to look at An Zizai.
He already knew what An Zizai had gone through over these years. Eight hundred years seemed like a day to him, but for many, it was a long, lengthy passage of time.
During these eight hundred years, An Zizai experienced many things, witnessing the tragic deaths of brothers, those he loved, unable to protect those who trusted him. Too many blows had crushed his former vivacity.
If not for An Xin’s Six Paths Mirror protecting him, he wouldn’t know how many times he would have died.
An Zizai raised his eyes to look at Gu An, taking a deep breath, asking, “Ancestor, is there truly justice and fairness in this world? Why do some commit atrocities but still enjoy people’s adoration, and even when their sect knows of their crimes, they cover for them?”
He was referring to a Great Cultivator of Daoist Zang Zizai Immortal from one of the Hundred Sects—the Beidou Sect.
The disciple of that Great Cultivator worked for him, capturing mortals among the people, and even some cultivators fell victim, committing all sorts of atrocities. An Zizai and his friends, upon witnessing injustice, offended the Great Cultivator’s disciple, triggering a series of grudges.
An Zizai was hunted for over a hundred years and once lay in hiding for a hundred years before finally killing that disciple, only to uncover the truth. Helpless before Daoist Zang Zizai Immortal’s suppression, he could only watch his beloved ones dying.
Even the Beidou Sect continued to hunt him, and if not for his timely escape to Chen Chuan’s Sword Sect, he would have already been killed.
The Sword Sect was nowhere near as powerful as the Beidou Sect, yet the legend of the Beginningless still lingered in the world, giving the Beidou Sect pause.
“The Path of Cultivating Immortality does not lie in the short term. What you see is just a fragment of the vast mortal world. In years to come, what puzzles you will surely have answers. Those evils and seemingly invincible will also be obliterated, while right and wrong will be judged by future generations.”
Gu An responded absent-mindedly. For disciples venturing out, he only ensured their survival but would not aid in revenge, so he wouldn’t interfere with An Zizai’s vendettas. If he desired revenge, he must cultivate diligently and rely on himself.
An Zizai’s gaze became complex, as he continued questioning, “Ancestor, you must have lived for a long time. In your view, does justice prevail in this world, or is it a matter of survival of the fittest?”
“Looking back, no matter who laughs last, when facing history, they all must raise the banner of justice. This indicates that at least in this world, justice is what all beings desire, and it cannot be shaken.”
This was Gu An’s most patient response to An Zizai, without any mockery or ridicule, answering each of his questions seriously.
After hearing, An Zizai fell into silence.
A thought also flashed through his mind.
And that was to kneel and ask the Ancestor to avenge him. If the Beidou Sect could stand up for their disciple, perhaps the Ancestor would as well.
But the thought came quickly and disappeared just as fast.
After all, despite Beidou Sect’s injustice, it was he who actively intervened.
Moreover, back then, neither the Ancestor nor the Master wanted him to go out, but he insisted on venturing out for training. Sometimes, he wondered if those people might have escaped a disaster if he hadn’t gone out?
The more An Zizai thought about it, the more uncomfortable he became, even nearly unable to breathe.
“I can go into the reincarnation and retrieve all the people you care about, bringing them back to life. But you have to consider one point: in their next life, they might fare better, or after being resurrected, they might endure more suffering. You cannot predict any circumstance.”
Gu An’s voice floated over, making An Zizai’s face change dramatically, his eyes revealing an expression of disbelief.
Into reincarnation?
Resurrection?
An Zizai knew the Ancestor was powerful, but he never grasped just how powerful. Yet hearing the Ancestor’s words today, he was shocked, as if the entire world before him instantly brightened.