Chapter 20: The World

"In my imagination, there exists a world."

At this moment, Li Fengyin, having reclaimed his pendant, sat on a mahogany stool in the center of the third floor of the Yunyan Pavilion, discussing certain matters with Shen Liangxin, Su Yuxian, and Pang Wei.

The four of them sat around a table. Pang Wei, a lover of gossip, had fetched four cups of pine needle tea, creating an air of leisurely ease.

"When the world was formed, there must have been a force that determined everything that was to come."

"And the initial question was: should everything be fixed, or should everything be free?"

Upon hearing Li Fengyin’s words, Shen Liangxin fell into deep thought. According to her calculations, everything thus far appeared to be fixed—a terrifying conclusion.

"Surely it must be that everything is free!"

Pang Wei blurted this out without a second thought, while Shen Liangxin remained silent.

Li Fengyin looked at the contemplative Shen Liangxin and the quietly expectant Su Yuxian, then spoke softly: "And yet, our world is truly fixed—at least, up until now."

"That can't be possible, right?!"

Pang Wei was quite astonished. "Why is that?!"

He held Li Fengyin’s words in high regard, so his first reaction was not to refute, but to seek an answer.

"If everything follows a pattern," Li Fengyin replied, "then everything is fixed!"

"!"

With a jolt, Pang Wei felt as if he had undergone a brainstorm; he was gripped by a sense of dread. "If everything is fixed, then what is the purpose of living? Are we merely acting out a pre-arranged script?"

"Everything has a pattern, therefore everything is fixed..." Su Yuxian murmured, seemingly lost in thought as well.

"If there were no patterns... wouldn't that just be chaos?"

Finally, Su Yuxian arrived at this answer, to which Li Fengyin nodded: "There is some truth to that, though things without patterns should also exist."

"Does that mean the answer is that everything isn't fixed?" Pang Wei interjected. However, Shen Liangxin provided the response: "Perhaps there are crossroads to choose from at times, but as of now, it is truly fixed, just as Li Fengyin said at the start."

"Some unseen force has determined the trajectory of everything!"

***

Pang Wei, not one for deep thinking, fell back into contemplation.

"What is the purpose of it being fixed? Perhaps that is the answer we need to know most right now!"

Li Fengyin said, "And that force which fixes everything must eventually vanish."

"Actually, there is another answer," Shen Liangxin said softly. "If everything is fixed, are we still free?"

This time, no one answered abruptly; they all fell into reflection. Li Fengyin immediately followed up with the conclusion: "Since everything is fixed, we are free to do as we please. Since it is fixed anyway, if it is completely fixed, it actually yields a result akin to freedom."

"But what if someone has obtained the script?" Su Yuxian pointed out the flaw in the logic.

"Indeed, there are those who might obtain scripts," Shen Liangxin said quietly. "But sometimes, it is nearly impossible to defy the plot development of the script."

Li Fengyin looked at Shen Liangxin, who sat beside him, and formed a hypothesis: perhaps Shen Liangxin possessed some [scripts]. After all, according to quantum computer calculations, it is possible to extrapolate some of the future!

Thinking of this, he too felt a sense of dread. Could it be that his meeting with Shen Liangxin was also part of some [script]?

"What is that force that determines everything?" At this moment, Su Yuxian once again hit upon the crux of the matter.

"Endless reincarnation!" Li Fengyin gave his answer. "As long as one thinks about everything, as long as one continues to think, one will eventually arrive at the concept of endless reincarnation. That is the answer I have arrived at."

"What are the specific details?" Su Yuxian spotted the key point, but Shen Liangxin took the opportunity to change the subject: "Yuxian, where do you think we are right now?"

"On Earth."

Su Yuxian answered simply, but then she realized: perhaps Shen Liangxin was not asking for their physical location, but their position within the endless reincarnation!

Just as she was about to ponder this, someone had already provided an answer.

"Earth is actually Hell."

***

Li Fengyin followed up on Shen Liangxin's question: "The law of the jungle prevails. To live is to consume other lives; to change is to damage; to exist is to expend; to gain is to plunder. This is not fair!"

"Even though being born is a stroke of luck and success against odds of one in countless billions, while alive, one must face a world just as cruel. But fortunately, it is both cruel and beautiful; we can still see some good."

The latter part was Shen Liangxin’s reply.

"Then, what was the world like at the beginning? What was there? What did it determine?" Su Yuxian threw out another question, while Pang Wei sat in quiet reflection nearby.

"Actually, in the beginning, everything faced three questions. I call them the Three Questions of the World," Shen Liangxin said gently. "Perhaps it is time to tell others."

[The first question: Should the good and the bad be separated, or placed together?]

[The second question: Should there be patterns, or no patterns?]

[The third question: Should we experience everything and start over, or stop at the end?]

When Shen Liangxin posed these three questions, the other three fell silent. Yet, when the world began, these three questions truly must have been decided.

But once everything had begun, it could no longer be stopped!

Li Fengyin suddenly recalled something: "Legends like Pangu creating the world, or God creating the world, often say that the beginning was the most beautiful, the most indescribable, the best place. Then why did it fall into decay?"

"Ahem," Shen Liangxin replied softly. "Apologies, you have gone off-topic. That belongs to the content of the second volume."

Li Fengyin silently touched the pendant at his neck and nodded: "Understood."

Pang Wei and Su Yuxian beside them automatically skipped over Shen Liangxin’s words. The group fell into silence, as if what had been said was too profound and needed to be recorded and pondered carefully.

Yunyan Pavilion is located within the Cangjie Garden. Cangjie, the ancestor of writing, is associated with all the pictographic characters of China, and Shangbei City is precisely his hometown.

Time passed. "The sun was about to set, and red clouds filled the sky." Li Fengyin silently added these two sentences to his mental draft of the book. Afterward, along with Pang Wei, he took Su Yuxian and Shen Liangxin—who had almost never ventured beyond the campus of Huaqing University—to a Southern-style fish restaurant. They served fish caught from the Dan River, which was exceptionally delicious.

The Red Bull Fish Restaurant was a bustling place that left people reluctant to leave. Not only could one dine in a private boat-shaped room, but one could also enjoy the beautiful scenery outside. One could say that the four of them had arrived at the perfect time!