Evil Emperor Zun

Chapter 2003 Give me a reason

"You will never listen to me, so why bother asking me?"

What Cain "knew" was the "certainty" of the predetermined future. But Baili Ji was determined to go against the truth he represented: "Don't be so unconfident about your own suggestions. If they make sense, maybe I will take them into consideration."

Cain glanced at him calmly and said:
"You and she are not the same kind of people, and you will never truly understand each other. Forcing yourself to be together will only bring misfortune to each other. If you really care about her, you should let her go back to where she should be as soon as possible, so that she can spend the only free days of her life in peace."

"When her life in Tiantan comes to an end, she will return to the past and you will continue to the future. You cannot change history, but you can realize her ideals on her behalf - if you wish."

A clear shadow appeared in Baili Ji's eyes. He had put aside his pride and asked Cain for advice on how to save Ye Yunyan. To be fair, he also agreed that if she could choose freely, she would definitely want to never see him again. However, even though he had given up revenge, he still selfishly wanted to keep her under his nose.

"How about my plan?" He tried his best to act relaxed. "I will take her away from Tiantan. As long as she can live with her current identity and never return to the past, the trajectory of her fate will naturally change -"

Cain quickly continued, "If she didn't go back to the past, it means that all the interactions between you and her never happened, and you should no longer have any memories of her. However, the fact is that she did cast an indelible curse on you in the past, which is precisely why you want to keep her."

"Her future is connected to your past. It's a complete chain. If you want to change her original destiny, it means erasing the bond between you and her. But in this way, the basis for you to save her will no longer exist."

"You should be aware that your attempt will disrupt the chain of cause and effect, causing a time-space paradox, and even lead to the collapse of the entire cosmic sea. The upper plane cannot sit idly by."

Baili Ji smiled nonchalantly, leaned his elbows on the wall behind him, and looked up at the sky: "Come on, then. I want to compete with them."

Cain sighed quietly, without any surprise on his face: "Look, I told you a long time ago that you would never listen to me."

"Anyway, think it over carefully." Before Baili Ji could refute, Cain had already ended the topic, "If you care about her, you will naturally consider her situation. But if you just treat her as a new toy, and you are unwilling to let her go, and once again deprive her of her life, letting her have an even more tragic ending than her previous life, just to fulfill your whim... your choice will make you see your true intentions."

"I won't interfere with you, as long as you are prepared to bear the consequences of your decision."

After he said this, Baili Ji was speechless.

Although he was still dissatisfied, he wanted to say that Ye Yunyan was his enemy, and he was willing to save her life, which was worthy of her. Why should he put her feelings first? But Cain had already said that no one asked him to choose the noble path. Just admit what you think in your heart. It is said that it is easy to deceive others, but it is the most difficult to be honest with yourself. So, is his starting point really so narrow?

After this conversation, Baili Ji knew that he had actually agreed with Cain, but because of his face, he could not compromise immediately. Moreover, he was looking forward to an excuse, an excuse that would allow him to stick to his plan with a clear conscience.

He began to frequently take Ye Yunyan to various gatherings, answering all her questions, trying to prove that she could live well with him, and that keeping her was not a one-sided enslavement of her. During this time, Qin Jia and Shuang Feng both played a lot of "assisting roles", but the more they did so, the more he saw the happiness they brought her, and the bright smile she never showed in front of him, he had to admit that she really preferred to play with them, who were also human companions.

Is it a blessing to deprive a fish of her entire ocean and then give her a glass tank of water?
He had also asked her tentatively: "What if I let you go back?" He hoped that she would take the initiative to express her willingness to stay. However, Ye Yunyan just smiled and replied: "Would you be so kind?"

The contempt in her words annoyed him. For a moment, he thought, since you don't appreciate it, why should I consider you? However, when the interaction between the two of them improved a little, he would soften his heart. His determination was constantly wavering in the changes in their relationship.

Cain had seen his recent behavior and knew his thoughts clearly. He kept his promise and did not interfere at all. Baili Ji understood that he had neither hope nor disappointment in himself. He just calmly "knew" how everything would happen. All his hesitations and struggles, and his changing thoughts were nothing new to him. It was really annoying to face such a guy...

There was an unexpected episode. Xuan Su was a little unhappy when he saw that Mo Feng was often dragged away by Baili Ji recently to act as a peacemaker between him and Ye Yunyan, but did not come to get close to him. So when Mo Feng strolled past him again, Xuan Su frowned and picked him up.

Mo Feng: "What are you crazy about?"

Xuan Su cleared his throat and explained seriously: "As the saying goes, 'If you keep company with Baili Ji, you will learn bad things."

Mo Feng was too lazy to pay attention to their messy noise, and said casually: "Oh, then I will play with Cain."

Xuan Su's face twitched violently, and his expression could be vividly replaced by a sentence: "Then you might as well find Baili Ji!"

After a while, he managed to utter, "He doesn't like to play around with others."

Mo Feng shook his hands and said, "It's really boring. What other demon can play chess with me?"

Xuan Su was silent for a while, and finally uttered a word.

"I."

Mo Feng: "??? Are you kidding me?"

Xuan Su smiled and asked, "What kind of chess do you like to play?"

Mo Feng said without hesitation: "Flying chess."

Although he was surprised that Mo Feng would like such a "childish" game, Xuan Su still patiently ordered his subordinates to bring the chess pieces. While waiting, Mo Feng also brought Feng Boliang, who in turn brought Ye Yunyan and Baili Ji.

Soon, Xuan Su witnessed Mo Feng's childishness again.

As a teammate, he almost always causes trouble for himself.

Mo Feng: "Eat!"

Xuan Su: "...You are eating my plane."

Mo Feng: "Oh...eat more!"

Xuan Su: "...It's still mine!!"

The opponent Feng Boliang: "Yeah? I won without any effort!"

Mo Feng and Xuan Su would stop and argue almost every few steps. Feng Boliang's eyes followed Mo Feng all the time. Even if their arguments were boring, she listened with great interest. Ye Yunyan, who was in the same team with her, felt that it was a waste of time and quietly read the book that Cain had lent her. Baili Ji, who was acting as the referee, wanted to attract Ye Yunyan's attention and discussed the contents of the book with her.

"Come to think of it, why doesn't Cain ever play with everyone else?" After a few games of chess, while the atmosphere was good, Feng Boliang asked a question that made her curious.

Thanks to Mo Feng these days, she has become acquainted with many powerful people, but Cain has never attended any gatherings and is obviously out of tune with others. Even Xiao Qinjia can't win him over. What secrets are hidden behind all this?
When she mentioned Cain, Ye Yunyan temporarily raised her eyes from the book.

If it weren't for Mo Feng also crossing his legs waiting to hear the story, Xuan Su really didn't want to pick up the topic. Despite this, his brows were still clouded with gloom: "He is not on the same side as us. He also promised that his purpose of coming to Tiantan has nothing to do with us, and the two sides can just keep to themselves."

"...I don't have any grudges against him, I just don't want to deal with him." Xuan Su added after a long pause, as if to cover up something. Mo Feng snorted, "It's useless to talk so much, I think it's just because he is stronger than all of you."

Xuan Su shook his head seriously: "It's not a question of who is stronger or weaker, but..." He tried to explain in a way that is easy for humans to accept, "There is a puddle in front of you. Do you choose to go around it or step into it?"

Mo Feng never stops talking until he is shocked: "A few powerful people, there is a puddle in front of them, but they can't even use their energy to isolate the water. They are really useless."

There was a moment of silence in the air. Baili Ji was the first to laugh without giving any face. Ye Yunyan was also amused by Mo Feng. When she covered her mouth and turned her head away to laugh, she accidentally met Baili Ji's eyes. She was stunned at first, then quickly looked away.

Perhaps it was the influence of the atmosphere, but at that moment she actually felt that he looked quite good when he smiled...but she would never admit it.

In addition, the Black Dragon's "stepping on a puddle" metaphor may not be appropriate, but Ye Yunyan also thought of it, Cain once compared himself to a natural disaster in front of her, combined with what Baili Ji said about "bad luck", although each has its own weirdness, but they have some commonalities.

There was also a conversation between the two that contained a lot of information.

That was when she went to borrow a book from Cain. Cain told her that the flow of time in this space was static relative to the outside world. If she wanted, she could pick a few books and stay here to read. Seeing him turn around and leave after he finished speaking, Ye Yunyan asked casually, "Aren't you staying?" This was his consciousness space. If he left early, how would she get out?

And Cain's response was: "Don't worry, there are no hamsters here."

Ye Yunyan hadn't had time to be surprised that Cain actually had such a bad taste. Her first reaction was that only Baili Ji knew about the fear of hamsters. Could it be that he told Cain about her as a joke? But then she thought again that these powerful people had the ability to read other people's lives through the power of laws. In short, no matter which possibility it was, it disgusted her. She quickly sank her face and coldly replied: "Is your strength only useful in this kind of place?"

Cain turned his head and looked at her, but his eyes did not focus on her: "You misunderstood, I did not pry into your privacy."

"From you to all things in the world, past and future, wherever day and night can reach, all the actions and thoughts of sentient beings are constantly synchronized with my consciousness. The ugly ones are exposed, and only one in ten of the kind ones survive. But I can't shut off my perception. I can only accept and feel it, no matter how tired I am. I can't get rid of it. Later, I found a way to record all this huge amount of information as an outlet to kill time."

These words described herself as omniscient and omnipotent, but Ye Yunyan believed it. Tian Tan's experience made her realize that people's suspicion of the unknown is often due to their own ignorance. Because you have not experienced it, you deny it without thinking. In the end, the high-ranking person you question may not suffer any loss, but you cover your eyes and cut off your own way forward.

Therefore, since she had recognized Cain's credibility, no matter how incredible the things he said were, she would try to accept them.

But apart from that, although Ye Yunyan could understand his pessimism caused by digesting too much dark side alone, she would not abandon her true feelings to cater to him.

"Everyone sees a different world. Although you may see more than us, it does not mean that your judgment is necessarily correct. No..." She corrected herself again, "Or should I say that right or wrong is just a subjective cognition. Even if it is the god who created this world, his evaluation of the world cannot naturally cover everyone."

"Everyone who lives here seriously, even if the feedback they receive varies greatly, is allowed to freely retain the right to believe what they want to believe, which is also a kind of respect."

In fact, she didn't need to speak, he should be able to sense her thoughts in real time. But perhaps out of habit, Ye Yunyan still preferred to express herself in her own language.

And Cain was willing to cooperate with her. Judging from the fact that his peers all avoided him, he must have cherished someone with whom he could communicate his inner thoughts.

"I agree with you. Right or wrong is a subjective product. It can also be said that it is a fantasy when people overestimate their dignity and value and mistakenly think that they can stand on equal footing with the world."

"In fact, the vast majority of people are not qualified to practice their own sense of right and wrong. From the moment they gained wisdom and explored the outside world, they were simply driven to act by a higher will. As I said, from the moment they were born, they were trapped in a carriage rushing towards a cliff. That is the cage imposed by the 'rules'."

“Individuals are in a group and are forced to regard the group leader’s right as right and wrong as wrong. Before they have the ability to break the rules, thinking too much can only bring pain.”

His words always revealed a kind of sad taste of "leaving everything to fate". Ye Yunyan retorted without hesitation: "But if everyone doesn't think about it and doesn't even realize the existence of mistakes, how can they correct it?"

"...I will read the book you recommended carefully, and we can discuss it later." After thinking for a while, Ye Yunyan brought the topic back to the starting point. Even if she could never reach his level, she wanted to get closer to him.

Only equality can bring true respect. If he treated himself as a summer insect that could not talk about ice, and only chatted with her for a few more words because he was in a good mood, but was always laughing at her shallowness in his heart, this was not what she wanted. So before she witnessed the "four seasons" with her own eyes, she didn't plan to talk to him anymore.

Cain knew her thoughts very well, and he just nodded to her to show his respect. However, before he completely disappeared from the space, he added quietly:
"If possible, please help me find the answer to a question. This question is very important to me."

"Is this terrible world really necessary to continue to exist?"

"At least give me a reason."

This question is actually meaningless to ordinary people. No matter how good the world is, you can't be king; no matter how bad the world is, you can't destroy it. Instead of thinking about these irrelevant questions, you might as well worry more about your monthly salary and mortgage.

But, just like she had inexplicably chosen to believe him just now, Ye Yunyan now felt that he was indeed seriously troubled by this matter. In addition, what he had said several times was not so much a "discussion" with herself who was still at the starting line, but rather a hint to herself.

Although he didn't want to tell me the secret he was hiding, he also hoped that I could understand it. This contradictory behavior was like... asking for help.

It's like a person who has a suicidal thought in mind. He won't reveal his intentions, but he subconsciously hopes that someone can notice his abnormality in time to stop him from going to a dead end. It may sound strange, but this is Ye Yunyan's most sincere impression of Cain after his contact with him during this period of time.

As for why he chose to ask for help from himself, the only explanation Ye Yunyan could think of was that, apart from Xiao Qinjia, he and he were the only ones with pure souls, and they were among the few of their kind.

When it comes to the question of how to leave this space, he didn't answer, but it can be regarded as an answer - his thinking will be synchronized with everyone else's thinking at any time. So his own thoughts are equal to his thoughts. Whenever he wants to leave, it is just a matter of thought.

When Ye Yunyan regained her thoughts, the flying chess game had ended without her knowing. Feng Boliang was feeding Mo Feng grapes.

It turned out that Mo Feng won a game of chess and subconsciously turned to his sister for a reward. The joyful expression was still on his face, but when he thought of the fact that his sister was no longer there, he suddenly became depressed. Feng Boliang was the first to notice his change. In order to coax him, she peeled a grape and claimed to be his sister to feed him.

Comment: "I just felt bad for the little phoenix, and the next moment I felt bad for myself as a single dog."

Mo Feng didn't act weird this time. She ate the grapes obediently. Then, just like she always did when she acted like a spoiled child in front of her sister, her voice and expression were soft: "Sister, I want more."

Xuan Su's heart skipped a beat. Mo Feng's rare fragility due to missing his family reminded him of his guilt towards his son. If that child who had not grown up with him was still alive, would he also show such a sad expression because he missed his father whom he had never met? Or would he think that he was abandoned by his parents and be full of resentment and incomprehension towards his family?

This scene also touched Ye Yunyan. No matter how strong a person looks, he will need a pillar...Does Cain also want me to support him?
Regardless of whether she could help him or not, the most urgent task now was to solve the puzzle he left behind. She had a hunch that this puzzle was not only related to him, but also to the huge curtain covering the speeding carriage called "the world". When she uncovered a corner of the chaotic truth, she would know where the people in the carriage were being taken.

The truth is often not pleasant...but she is mentally prepared.

Baili Ji looked at Mo Feng quietly for a while, then moved his gaze to Ye Yunyan.

During this time, he had been trying to find a reason, either a reason to keep her or a reason to let her go. As long as he could convince himself thoroughly, he could do it with peace of mind.

Now, he seems to have found it.