Chapter 33

How vast is the world?

Luping had once been curious about this question. In that airtight, cramped stone room, he had seen the world through the palm-sized air vent above his head.

In the early morning, light would shine through the vent, and the dust particles in those beams of light would float and spin tirelessly for a whole day. Luping had tried to catch them, but failed. However, the feeling of the light beams on his hands was very comfortable and warm.

At night, sometimes a star could be seen through the vent. On lucky nights, there might be two, and once, Luping even saw three stars huddled together, winking at him, which made him excited for several days.

When it rained, raindrops would fall in; when it snowed, snowflakes would drift in.

Once, a small bird even landed on the vent, peering in and chirping a few times before flying away.

The world is so interesting, Luping thought. I wonder how big it is. It must be much larger than this stone room. Perhaps a hundred times, a thousand times larger.

Later, he finally escaped and saw the world outside the vent. The vast sky, the expansive land—things that ordinary people had long grown tired of and no longer felt the need to express their feelings about—left Luping so amazed that he could hardly open his eyes.

How big is this?

He thought, it must be more than a hundred times, a thousand times larger!

He resolved to live on, with Sutang, in this world. He was no longer curious about how vast the world was; just being a part of it made him feel very content.

Puru puru puru...

Another pot of mountain spring water was boiling, small bubbles rising from the bottom of the pot to the surface, bursting. Guo Youdao reached out, lifted the pot, and poured again. This time, he poured three bowls, one for Luping.

"Help yourself," Guo Youdao said, carefully lifting his own bowl.

"I may not be able to help you much with your cultivation," Weng Cheng said to Luping.

"Perhaps it's because you came too late," Guo Youdao said, blowing on the floating tea leaves in his bowl without looking up.

Luping noticed a letter lying on the tea table, dry and crumpled, with a brief and messy content, inviting Weng Cheng. The date at the bottom read: January 22, 1847.

Luping remembered that day.

On that day, he and Sutang escaped from the organization and walked for a long time in the snowfield. He had no idea where to go, but he kept walking. Later, they met Guo Youdao, who took them along. It was at least a week before they returned to Zhaifeng Academy, but according to the date on the letter, Guo Youdao had written it the day they met.

But Weng Cheng took more than three years to show up, which made Luping respect him even more.

"Seeing this letter is a miracle in itself. Otherwise, do you think I would have come to this remote mountain just because of your messy handwriting?" Weng Cheng said. His movements were unpredictable, and receiving letters was something that made no sense to him. The fact that the letter had not been lost for over three years and eventually reached him was what truly amazed him. It was this amazement that made him keep this appointment, three years late.

"Was it worth it?" Guo Youdao asked.

Weng Cheng nodded and then said to Luping, "Even though you don't care, I am very curious about your origins."

"I will find out," Weng Cheng said, reaching through the window to pat Luping's shoulder.

"Uh-huh," Luping's reaction was unsurprisingly indifferent, but this seemed to do nothing to dampen Weng Cheng's enthusiasm. After making this decision, he seemed full of energy.

"Then, I'll be going."

The farewell was so sudden that Luping had thought Weng Cheng would ask him many more questions if he was interested.

"By the way," Weng Cheng, who had already jumped down from the ladder, suddenly remembered something.

"I'm not sure what you're doing now, but I have a suggestion," Weng Cheng said. "Try to distinguish the soul forces, and steal them one by one. It might be easier."

"Uh-huh," Luping responded, but his face did not show the enlightenment or contemplation that Weng Cheng had hoped for.

"Are you already doing that?" Weng Cheng said, somewhat disappointed.

"Yes," Luping said.

"Goodbye!" Weng Cheng walked away without looking back.

"Hehe," Guo Youdao laughed again, drank a full bowl of tea, and then looked at Luping. "If you had met him three years ago, you would have saved a lot of time, wouldn't you?"

"Yes," Luping nodded. Escaping from the organization was due to a moment of negligence during an experiment. But each experiment's removal of the soul lock was limited in both degree and duration. At that time, the soul force he temporarily possessed was quickly suppressed by the soul lock.

It was during these three years at Zhaifeng Academy, through countless attempts and failures, that Luping finally found the method he currently used. Weng Cheng, on the other hand, had been able to deduce so many methods just from their first meeting, which was indeed extraordinary. If he had met Weng Cheng three years ago, it would have saved him a lot of time.

"Microscopic insight, unparalleled observational skills. Only someone with an incredibly strong curiosity could develop such abilities," Guo Youdao said.

"Curiosity?"

"Yes. Didn't you see how much more concerned he is about your affairs than you are? You are too intriguing for him," Guo Youdao said.

"Should I help him then?" Luping scratched his head. Although he didn't care much, it seemed a bit too much to let someone else do all the work for his sake.

"Don't worry! When he needs your help to satisfy his curiosity, you won't be able to escape," Guo Youdao said.

"Then I should stay away from him!" Luping was a bit afraid.

"Try it," Guo Youdao said.

"Why do I suddenly feel uneasy... I feel he might be more troublesome than the organization," Luping said.

"Of course, you should be grateful that the organization hasn't disturbed you. But his curiosity is endless. Now he's curious about your origins, but soon, his curiosity will shift to the mysterious organization. Their members, their operations, their goals—these are things he will definitely want to know," Guo Youdao said.

"Why did you bring him here?" Luping asked.

"Uh..." Guo Youdao thought for a moment, "To identify your lineage and help you solve the soul lock problem."

"What about now?" Luping asked.

"Now... it's just a pity he was late..."

"I feel a bit sorry for him!" Luping said.

"No, he's enjoying it!" Guo Youdao said. "As for you, I didn't expect you to have reached this level. It's time for you to repay me for saving your life."

"Go on."

"I've already said it, the future of Zhaifeng Academy depends on you and other outstanding students!" Guo Youdao said.

"That's cheating!" Luping said.

"To cheat, I relaxed the academy rules and waited for you for three years," Guo Youdao said.

"If you had told me earlier, I could have passed the first-year soul tower test in my first year. Why rush like this now?" Luping said.

"Rushing is good. Just passing, that's not enough," Guo Youdao laughed.

(A little late!!)

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