Chapter 287

Overhead, thick clouds drifted by, gradually obscuring the sun and casting shadows. First, the Kṣitigarbha Hall darkened, followed by Li Zhuiyuan and Zhao Yi, who were standing at the entrance, as they were enveloped by the shadows. The wind also howled at this moment, bringing not the precious coolness exclusive to summer, but a chilling gloom. This is how Fengdu's scenic area is; even on a bright, sunny day, it can send shivers down a visitor's spine.

Li Zhuiyuan: "I always thought we were self-aware enough, but it turns out we're far from it."

In the past, Li Zhuiyuan consciously defined himself as a blade and acknowledged the necessity and inevitability of being that blade when he was relatively weak. The problem was, being a blade was fine, but the young man truly hadn't expected that the hands gripping the hilt wouldn't be just one or two... there were even more. Everyone seemed to find him useful and wanted to borrow him, without bothering to queue or follow a first-come, first-served rule. The "blade" was utterly confused, unsure of who was actually wielding him.

Zhao Yi walked over to the young man and comforted him, "Try to be more open-minded. When you're not strong enough, you'll always have to face beings stronger than yourself."

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. "What I'm thinking about is whether this realization comes too late."

Zhao Yi: "I don't think so. After all, although we've arrived in Fengdu territory, we haven't entered the true Fengdu yet."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Then there's still time to adjust."

Zhao Yi: "No, what I mean is, no matter who initiated this wave, we're not yet the ones with the right to sit at the main table. Besides, now that we've come all this way, why not just go with the flow?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "If we hadn't realized this and were still kept in the dark, then yes, we should definitely do that."

Zhao Yi: "Ignorance is bliss, brother."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Let's go back to the car. Do me a favor, I need to re-evaluate this entire wave from the beginning."

Zhao Yi paused, then asked, "I'm not objecting, I'm just curious, what's the point of doing this?"

"Are you suggesting that, as blades, we actually don't have control over ourselves?"

"At least for now, no."

"Having self-awareness is precisely one of the values of a blade like us."

Li Zhuiyuan didn't go into the Kṣitigarbha Hall to look around; instead, he simply returned the way he came. Zhao Yi remained rooted to the spot.

When the young man got back into the car, Zhao Yi also opened the door and jumped in. Before he had even settled, he couldn't help but ask, "Li, what exactly is your true purpose for embarking on this journey?"

"Before a task is even done, overthinking things is not only meaningless but also a lazy form of evasion."

"Are you avoiding my question because the answer is too difficult for even you to admit? Or is it that you embarked on this journey simply because you find it interesting and fun?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Lend me your mind for a moment."

The young man closed his eyes, and a scene emerged in his mind: all of them, sitting in their own small pickup and Chen Lin's car, about to leave Nantong territory. The next moment, the scene rewound, and everyone's actions played in reverse, all the way back to...

"Little Yuan Hou, your phone is ringing!"

Aunt Zhang's high-pitched voice ushered in the beginning of this 'wave'. In the scene, Li Zhuiyuan picked up the phone and conversed with Xue Liangliang.

"Xiao Yuan, there's a problem with a project somewhere. If you're free, we hope you can take a look..."

"Brother Liangliang, where is this project?"

"Fengdu."

Inside the truck in reality. Zhao Yi lit a cigarette and took several deep drags. He snuffed out the cigarette with his left hand, gripping it tightly, while the 'life-and-death gate' on his chest rotated rapidly. He then placed his right hand on the young man's head and closed his eyes.

With Zhao Yi's participation, Li Zhuiyuan unceremoniously divided the recollection of memory scenes into several parts. There were scenes from when they were in Nantong, when they faced the Four Marshals and Eight Generals upon leaving Nantong, the 'Three Incense Sticks' incident, meeting Elder Zhai, the Ghost Monk, and the malevolent entity in the service area restroom. Additionally, the young man separately recalled the memory of his intangible gaze intersecting with Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva at the very end of the True Monarch Temple beneath the sea.

In the driver's seat, Zhao Yi's mouth was open, making strange noises in his throat, and his closed eyelids trembled continuously. If it were merely memory recall, the consumption would be extremely low, easily achievable by both him and the young man. The problem was that this time, the young man had included memory scene deduction. Moreover, Zhao Yi discovered that Li was primarily using his (Zhao Yi's) mind this time, saving his own for later use.

After a long while, the deduction was complete. Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes. Zhao Yi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and remarked, "Li, you really put other people's brains to work, huh?"

"It was hard work."

"I'd say, it wasn't even this taxing when you were deducing spells, was it?"

"Mm."

"Did you gain anything?"

"Yes."

"Tell me."

"Telling you means assigning tasks."

"Go ahead and assign them. I'm just a bare-bones commander now, so how could I compete with you for the captain's position?"

"Didn't you disagree?"

"That was for discussion beforehand. When it comes to actually doing things, there's no need to think about anything else. You should know why I resisted earlier."

"You're very fortunate that if this wave was propelled by the Bodhisattva rather than the Great Emperor, then with the Great Emperor's defeat, the 'curse' he placed upon you and your entire clan could be lifted."

"To be precise, if we were pushed into this to go against the Great Emperor... and the outcome, win or lose, was tied to my entire clan, then I would feel more at ease. But I've noticed, Li, your stance isn't with the Bodhisattva."

"I reject immortality because none of the 'immortals' I've seen have met a good end. I prefer to judge based on results."

"Then the Bodhisattva and the Great Emperor