Chapter 128: Lost
Day nine. Day ten.
Half a month had passed since they entered Ephemeral Mountain.
Qingying watched as everyone around them, initially filled with ambition and optimism, gradually became silent and lifeless.
Now, they were like puppets, waking up, eating, then flocking to the platform like a tide to listen to the Daoist’s lecture, before returning to their houses in unison.
From beginning to end, not a single word was spoken.
A heavy and oppressive silence hung over the mountain, making Qingying uncomfortable. It felt like everyone here was slowly losing their humanity.
The couple, Huang Manlou and Yu Manli, no longer shared their cooking secrets with newcomers.
Xu Xiu no longer confided her worries and anxieties.
Even Qingchen had grown tired of sharing his insights, now only offering a silent bow before returning to his house.
Ephemeral Mountain became increasingly quiet.
…As quiet as the path that had led them here.
Day eighteen. Day twenty.
Their daily routine had become a rigid and mechanical cycle of eating, sleeping, and listening to the lecture. No one interacted with each other anymore, as if every second was too precious to waste on anything else.
But still, no one had comprehended the Dao.
Qingying felt a weight on her chest, as if a mountain was pressing down on her. If it weren’t for Chen Yin, she wouldn’t have been able to endure this oppressive atmosphere.
“…This is so strange,” she frowned. “This place is like a prison.”
“Perhaps you’re right.”
Chen Yin looked at the cultivators and said casually, “For them, this is a prison.”
“As long as they can’t comprehend the Dao, they’ll never be free.”
Qingying’s eyes dimmed, and she remained silent.
The first month passed.
At the end of the lecture that day, someone finally stood up and asked the Daoist:
“What exactly… is the Dao?”
The Daoist simply smiled gently. “That is for you to discover.”
The cultivator’s face contorted in pain, then he sat back down silently.
Qingying heard the soft murmurs of the other cultivators around her:
“Yes, what is the Dao?”
“What is the Dao?”
“Does the Dao even exist?”
At first, it was just a few whispers.
But then, like the buzzing of cicadas, the murmurs grew louder and louder, filling the air.
She watched as the people around her, as if possessed, repeated those meaningless words over and over again.
Their eyes were dull and lifeless, devoid of any spark.
Qingying suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.
She instinctively took a step back, then felt a large, warm hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry.” This time, his voice wasn’t annoying.
“…You won’t become like them.”
Qingying looked up and saw Chen Yin gazing at the cultivators, his eyes distant and filled with an unknown emotion.
“They…” She wanted to speak, but she didn’t know what to say.
Chen Yin simply shook his head.
“They’re almost lost.”
As night fell, the mechanical crowd returned to their dwellings.
This time, Qingying noticed that Huang Manlou, one of the Daoist couple, didn’t enter his house. He stood at the doorway.
He took a deep breath and bowed slowly.
“Greetings, newcomer. This might be the last time I speak to you.”
“Although I suspect that by the time you see this, you’ll be like us.”
“But… I still want to ask.”
“What is the Dao?”
Qingying looked at his sad and empty eyes and bit her lip.
“This question has been plaguing us for a month.”
“Every second of every day, it haunts us.”
“We think about it while we eat, while we sleep, even while making love with our wives.”
“We haven’t made love in half a month.” He glanced back at his house, as if lost in thought.
Through the window, she could vaguely see his wife, Yu Manli, sitting on the bed, her face pale, her hair disheveled, her eyes dull and lifeless, as if she had been through a serious illness.
“Manli is already lost.”
“…I’m next.” Huang Manlou lowered his eyes sadly.
“Newcomer, I don’t know if you’ll be able to comprehend the Dao and escape this place.”
“If you do, please look after our child. Her name is Huang Qingqing.”
“Whether she’s alive or dead… it would bring us peace.”
With that, he bowed deeply and returned to his house.
Qingying stared at his door for a long time, lost in thought. Chen Yin’s voice came from behind her:
“Huang Qingqing, an elder of the Shanhe Sect’s Merit Hall four hundred years ago. Her cultivation reached the Supreme Clarity Realm. She passed away peacefully three hundred years ago.”
He walked to the door and bowed slightly. “Rest in peace, Fellow Daoist Huang.”
“You looked into it?” Qingying couldn’t help but ask.
Chen Yin’s eyes were calm. “It was their last request.”
“I don’t understand. He knew that continuing to seek the Dao might lead to his downfall, why didn’t he stop?”
“Because it was too late.”
Chen Yin turned to her. “Once you start studying the Dao Scripture, there’s no turning back.”
Either you comprehend the Dao, or you lose yourself.
“He had a good heart. He managed to maintain a sliver of his sanity until the very end.”
“But his wife is already lost.” He said softly. “There’s no point in him staying sane anymore.”
Qingying heard the deep sadness in Chen Yin’s voice.
She finally understood.
Last time, Chen Yin had also witnessed these people losing themselves one by one.
…And he had been powerless to stop it.
“Is it truly impossible to stop once you start studying the Dao Scripture?”
“Is there no way to save them?” Qingying asked, her voice filled with a desperate hope.
Chen Yin knew what she was thinking.
She was still hoping that her brother, Qingchen, had somehow escaped this fate, that he hadn’t become like the others.
But in the end, he could only say calmly:
“…I’m sorry.”
“I don’t know.”
“I’m not confident that I would have been able to stay sane if I had studied the Dao Scripture seriously from the beginning.”
“Besides, everything here has already happened.”
He murmured, as if talking to himself, “…I can’t save anyone.”
Qingying stared at him for a long time, then lowered her head.
“…I understand.”
“Thank you.”
Chen Yin shook his head. “You don’t have to thank me.”
“Even if you hadn’t asked, I would have brought you here.”
“It has nothing to do with you. I made a promise to your brother, just like I did to Fellow Daoist Huang.”
Qingying’s eyes flickered. “When did A’Chen… lose himself?”
“He was strong.”
Chen Yin looked into her eyes. “He was the last one.”
“Okay.”
“Then I’ll stay with A’Chen until the end.” Qingying nodded silently.
Leave a Reply