The Ring: Sell Dung Beetles in Junction

Chapter 494: The World of Baizhi

"Such a big grudge?" Wuming was curious, "Why?"

"You are not in the guidance." Baizhi said, "It is the variable at the junction."

"Just because of this?" Wuming said.

Baizhi nodded: "Because of this, the mission of the two fingers is to guide this world. But you..."

Baizhi glanced at Wuming:
"You're not from this world, right?"

"My hometown is definitely not at the border." Wuming said.

"Not only that, outside the border, there are reed fields and wild lands." Baizhi said, "But these places are still affected by the radiation from the border."

"You are different." Baizhi looked at Wuming, "You come from a completely different world. I have read a lot of books and visited many mountains, but I have not found any magic like yours. The patterns of the magic array, the patterns of the weapons and armor, are completely different from those of this world."

Baizhi held the scepter tightly: "You are covered in human skin, but you are not from the borderland. In nature, you are more like a child of the stars."

"Oh..." Wuming thought, "So?"

"That's why you're hated by Two Fingers," Bai Zhi said, "You've derailed the Junction from its original destiny."

Wuming understood and said helplessly:

"It seems that the Two Fingers really can't let go of their mission."

Wuming looked at Baizhi: "What about you? You have been very nervous since the beginning, ready to enter a fighting state at any time. Why are you hostile to me?"

"I don't approve of the two fingers, but I know how dangerous you are." Bai Zhi said, "I approve of your will, but Queen Marika's will is for us to continue to struggle."

"This is incomprehensible." Wuming was puzzled. "Speak human language. Who would understand what you are saying?"

Bai Zhi said: "Of course you don't understand. You don't understand the Golden Rule at all. The principle of regression has bound everything. The only way left for us is to keep struggling. If you are willing to listen to me, give up all your plans. As long as you retreat behind the scenes and stop interfering, the Borderland and the Two Fingers will naturally no longer reject you."

"I think you should take off all your clothes and put on a big hat now." Wuming said, "Do all of you who study magic go crazy so easily?"

Baizhi's scepter is pointed at Wuming:
"If you don't listen to my advice, I will have no choice but to kill you here."

Wuming was happy: "Okay."

Half a minute later, the staff in Baizhi's hand was broken, and he fell to the ground with a purple halo around his body.

"You should still remember how badly you lost when we first met, right?" Wuming said, "Why bother?"

Baizhi stood up with the scepter, stopped using spells, swung the scepter, shouted, and actually wanted to fight Wuming with his thin wizard body.

Wuming caught the scepter, grabbed Baizhi's neck and lifted him up.

Baizhi's eyes were bloodshot as he looked at the ball on the scepter that was taken away by Wuming, and his vision gradually blurred.

He stretched out his trembling hand towards the ball, but ultimately failed to touch it and passed out.

When Baizhiyouyou woke up, he found himself lying on a bed.

Nepheli was holding his hand beside the bed, and next to him stood Michaela and Wuming, a warrior wearing gold and silver armor, and a nearly naked golden mask.

Wuming sees Baizhi wake up:

"Are you awake?"

Wuming introduced the people beside the bed to Baizhi:
"You said I don't understand the Golden Rule. I found a few people who study the Golden Rule."

Wuming pointed at D, the Golden Mask, and Michaela in turn: "Scholars, masters, gods, all levels. You can't convince me, but you can convince them, right?"

Wuming smiled proudly: "What do you mean by connections?"

He left the room and said to Michaela:

"This old man doesn't speak human language. You guys talk to him and translate for me when you're done. We can discuss anything else."

Wuming left the room and sat outside waiting leisurely. After a while, Nefeli also came out.

"Are you not going to accompany the old man anymore?" Wuming asked.

"Foster father is fine now." Nepheli said, "Besides, I don't understand a word they say. It makes me feel dizzy."

"You are willing to recognize him as your godfather." Wuming said.

"He adopted me after all," Nepheli said. "He gave me guidance when I lost it."

"What did Baizhi see that made him become like this?" Wuming was curious.

"I don't understand either." Nepheli shook her head. "I only know that my adoptive father is always eager to learn and thirsts for all knowledge. But the deeper he learns, the more I can't understand him."

Wuming nodded, not quite understanding:

"By the way, how is the disaster situation in Nimgfu?"

"The damage was not small. Not only the bridge, but also a lot of farmland was damaged, and many civilians were killed and injured."

Wuming probably realized how serious the disaster was, and his factory in Nimgfu also stopped operating.

Everything happened too suddenly, and Wuming never recovered.

Also because he saw that Baizhi seemed to understand something, he immediately called Michaela and others, ready to quickly pry open Baizhi's mouth and interpret the nonsensical words Baizhi said.

Wuming was waiting expectantly for Michaela to come out and tell him how to break the impasse.

After waiting for a long time, Michaela came out, looked at Wuming with a complicated expression, and said:
"How about reconciling with Two Fingers?"

"Ah?" Wuming didn't react.

Michaela sighed:
"We can't convince Baizhi. Baizhi's understanding of the Golden Rule is indeed profound."

"More powerful than you?" Wuming didn't believe it.

“We’re going in different directions,” Michaela said, “and I’ve abandoned the Golden Rule.”

"With a deep understanding of the Golden Rule, how did you come to the conclusion that reconciliation is needed?"

Michaela hesitated for a moment:
"It's a bit mysterious. Baizhi is awake now. Let him explain it to you."

"I came to you guys because I couldn't explain it to him clearly..." Wuming muttered.

"I can understand it, but it's harder to explain. After all, I'm a god. D can't understand it, but the Master of the Golden Mask can understand it, but he can't speak." Michaela said, "Baizhi is still more suitable."

Wuming returned to the room and saw Baizhi lying on the bed. His expression had indeed softened a little, or to be more precise, he looked much more depressed and didn't seem as excited anymore.

"Explain it to me," Wuming said, "What do you mean Queen Marica makes me keep struggling, so why do you have to oppose me?"

"Return and cause and effect, this is the core of the Golden Rule, it reveals everything in this world." Baizhi said, "The so-called return means that everything converges towards the unchanging."

"I don't understand, speak human language." Wuming said, "If you continue like this, I will doubt your ability. It's not that you understand it yourself, but you can make others understand it, then you really understand it."

Bai Zhi was silent for a moment: "This world does not have you. Letting the Faded One become the king was the curse of Queen Marika before."

"Why is it a curse? If the Faded One becomes king, won't the world be peaceful?" Wuming was curious.

"The world will reincarnate and reset." Baizhi said, "Everyone is trapped here, it's just a cycle over and over again."

He looked at his wrinkled hands: "The accumulated knowledge and the end point of constant climbing will all disappear and return to the starting point."

"Will it be like this?" Wuming was stunned.

"It will be like this. Queen Marika wants us to keep struggling. Even if the Faded One becomes king, the struggle will continue." Baizhi trembled.

"The world has stagnated. This is not just the situation after the Shattering War, but it has stagnated from the root. This world will no longer develop and has no future. Everyone, including Two Fingers, can only struggle in this cycle."

Wuming still didn't understand:

"You said that I didn't exist in this world originally, so now that I'm here, will I still be reincarnated?"

Baizhi looked at Wuming and showed a strange and terrifying smile:

"As long as you are here, there will be no reincarnation. The future will only be darkness and extinction."

"Is it that exaggerated?" Wuming said, "I don't think I've caused much harm - the two-finger incident a few days ago doesn't count."

"Regression and causality are the attraction of meaning," Baizhi said. "They are abstract."

Baizhi said: "It's like, you are the protagonist of a story, and you are in a story. But the story will end one day, and after it ends, the story will die. The people in the story will no longer change - not changing is the same as death."

Baizhi excitedly grabbed Wuming's armor:
"I don't want to die. I can't end it yet. In this world, I still have... I still have a lot of knowledge to learn and many mysteries to solve. Do you understand my feelings? That bead is the world, the universe, and the eyes. The perfect spherical shape is the realm that everyone is pursuing..."

“But after perfection, won’t there be no more changes?” Wuming asked.

Baizhi paused, feeling a little depressed.

He drew back and lowered his head:

"You don't understand. Perfection is impossible. That's why I keep pursuing knowledge. Do you understand? The satisfaction and fulfillment of gaining new knowledge?"

"Like being full?" Wuming guessed.

"Food will satisfy you, but knowledge will never satisfy you." Baizhi said, "Pursuing knowledge is like guiding blessings, isn't it? It is because of the infinite knowledge that I can always be Sir Baizhi - always knowing what I want to do, with a clear path ahead and no confusion, just like being guided by blessings."

"I've never seen guidance, so I don't know what blessed guidance looks like." Wuming said.

"Your deepest obsession and mission are the guidance of that blessing." Baizhi said, "Only with those can you feel alive."

Baizhi looked at his old hands:

"But I can't live anymore. You released the Rune of Death. People will grow old, get sick and die, and will no longer be able to pursue infinite wisdom."

"Ah, I understand. You are afraid of death, right?" Wuming suddenly realized.

Bai Zhi was speechless: "I said so much, you just think I'm afraid of death?"

"The fear of returning to nothingness, the fear of doing useless work, isn't that the fear of death?" Wuming said, "whether it is oneself or the world."

"Aren't you afraid that the world will return to nothingness?" Baizhi said, "Are you not afraid that everything will be in vain and there will be no future?"

"I don't understand what story or reincarnation you're talking about." Wuming said, "But if it's really a story, even if the story ends, the world of the people in the story won't end. We're obviously characters in the play, so why do we have to worry about watching the play?"

Wuming remembered something and hugged his chest:
"Patch is indeed a spectator. Don't learn from that old guy."

Wuming looked at Baizhi:

"Besides, you are so smart, you should understand this truth. After all, you are afraid of death, right?"

Baizhi also stared at Wuming for a while and smiled helplessly.

"Maybe, maybe it can be attributed to fear of death." Bai Zhi said, "Under the golden tree, no one is not afraid of death."

"Those who are immortal are not afraid." Wuming carried it.

"They have lost their guidance." Baizhi said, "Those who have guidance are unwilling to end their mission."

Bai Zhi sighed and said, "Perhaps you are right. I really want to live another 500 years. There are still too many unknowns in this world. For example, how did you get here?"

"Five hundred years may not be enough. Patch can't figure out how I got here. I suspect that guy has lived for tens of thousands of years." Wuming said, "That old guy has no interest in living. He only has some humanity because he fell in love with Tanis."

Baizhi lowered his eyes:

"Perhaps if Dolores were still alive, I wouldn't have become like this."

He raised his eyes and said to Wuming:

"Your companion didn't attract Two Fingers. You interfere too much, and Two Fingers won't tolerate you."

Baizhi said: "I advise you to give up changing the border. Two fingers can call the stars. If they tear each other apart and use all means, the border will usher in a catastrophe."

"Is this your opinion?" Wuming asked.

"This is how the Eternal City was destroyed. Even a powerful dragon like the Ancient Dragon was powerless in the face of the stars." Bai Zhi said, "You want the borderland to live and work in peace, right? That's the only way. The stars are in the night sky, and humans have no chance of winning."

"Can't you negotiate with Two Fingers?"

"The two fingers have no humanity. The purpose of their birth and existence is to guide others. That can be said to be their nature. If you deviate from the guidance, they will automatically correct themselves. We can use hatred to understand their actions, but in fact, they do not understand what hatred is. All they have is to stick to the established guidance."

Wuming nodded, thought for a moment, and said:
"By the way, do you want to become an immortal?"

"Immortal?"

=======
Nepheli was a little bored sitting outside.

"Why is Wuming still not well?" Nefeli said, "Hasn't he finished talking to his foster father yet?"

"Perhaps those concepts are difficult to understand." Michaela said, "The Golden Rule has been developed by my father and mother for thousands of years, and it is already too profound. Baizhi is also quite amazing, and he can actually learn it to that depth."

"Is it that profound? I'll go and listen too." Nefeli pushed the door open and went in.

When I walked in, I saw Wuming putting on his helmet, and the buttons on his armor were a little loose.

Bai Zhi on the bed had become thinner than before, almost like a dried corpse. The bed sheet covered his body, and he died peacefully.

"What did you do to your adoptive father?" Nepheli's eyes widened.

"Don't mind me, I only know how to transfer the curse." Wuming said.

"Curse?" Nepheli was confused.

"He should wake up soon." Wuming walked out of the room, "I'm going to take care of my business."

Michaela saw Wuming coming out:
"Did he make himself clear?"

"I don't quite understand, but I think I understand what he means." Wuming said, "For the sake of peace in the border area, I have to stop what I'm doing."

Michaela nodded. "It's a pity, but there is a solution. We can compromise for now and negotiate with Two Fingers to remove the seal. You can step back and I will ascend to godhood. Then we can pursue your path."

Wuming shook his head:
"No, I've already made up my mind."

"What? You're not really going to follow Two Fingers' plan completely, die yourself, and let Two Fingers unlock the seal, are you?" Michaela was surprised.

"I can't die at all, how can I die? These two fingers are also giving me such a difficult problem." Wuming hugged his chest, "Do you know how to solve the dilemma?"

Wuming's eyes widened with anger: "The one who solved the problem! Come on, follow me to kill all the two fingers."

(End of this chapter)