Chapter 1168: How Many I Am

There is an ethereal mountain in the ethereal space.

There is an ethereal temple on the ethereal mountain.

There is an old monk in the misty temple that Gu Qingfeng has never seen before.

The space in the Nirvana Bone Jade is still the same as before, ethereal and ethereal, as if it never existed, ethereal and as unreal as an illusory dream.

Every time he entered the Nirvana Bone Jade, Gu Qingfeng had a strange feeling, a feeling of déjà vu.

He may not have known why he felt this way before.

but now.

It can be more or less guessed that the Nirvana Bone Jade may also be related to the era of innocence.

Even the old monk whom I have never met may be a person from the Wudao era.

This place might even be a lost relic from the Wudao era.

maybe.

Gu Qingfeng was not sure either.

"Amitabha."

The old monk's voice sounded just as mysterious and weird as before. Each word sounded as if it had gone through countless years, making people's consciousness a little dazed, a little fuzzy, and a little sluggish.

"Sir Gu, we meet again."

"Yes, we meet again."

Gu Qingfeng smiled and said: "How are you doing recently? Are you still strong? Do you need to find a girl for you to accompany you to chant sutras and chant Buddhas?"

The old monk never paid attention to Gu Qingfeng's teasing, and this time was no exception.

"Old monk, how long have we known each other?"

"I live in seclusion here and have no concept of time."

"You don't know, but I have some impressions. It should be two or three hundred years ago, right? And I still clearly remember that I found the Nirvana Bone Jade in a Buddhist ruins. I never thought about it carefully before. Now that I think about it, what happened at the Buddhist ruins back then is still a bit evil. I don’t know why, but when I entered the Buddhist ruins, I felt like something was calling me to find the Nirvana Bone Jade.

It's like finding a relative, it feels very close. Do you think this is weird or not? "

"Ancient layman, the reason why you feel close to the Nirvana Bone Jade is not because it is calling you, nor is it calling you, but because you and the Nirvana Bone Jade belong to the same place."

"Belong to the same place?"

"The age of innocence."

When the old monk said the four words of the Wudao Era, Gu Qingfeng was quite surprised. The surprise was not because he knew that he and Jie Mie Bone Jade came from the same place, nor was it because they both came from the Wudao Era. To be honest, he and Jie Mie were from the same place. Although the old monk had never mentioned the connection between the bone-killing jade, Gu Qingfeng could more or less guess it. What really surprised him was that the old monk would take the initiative to say it.

"Hey, is the sun rising in the west today? Or is it that you, the old man, are finally willing to show mercy?"

"There are some things that even if I don't say them, the ancient lay people will gradually understand them."

"How do you say this?"

"If there is a cause, there must be an effect, and if there is an effect, there must be a cause. Everything in the world is within cause and effect."

"Causation, cause and effect, these two words seem to be able to explain everything."

"Everything in the world originates from cause and effect."

"If that's the case, then why didn't you say it before?"

"In the past, ancient lay people never searched for cause and effect."

"So, I'm now starting to search for cause and effect, and I seem to be getting deeper and deeper on this road. You know that there are some things that you can't hide, so why don't you just tell me directly?"

"The ancient layman who should know will definitely know."

"Can I understand this sentence to mean that if I don't know, I will definitely not know?"

In response, the old monk did not respond.

"Since you finally showed mercy today, may I ask you a few questions?"

"Please speak, ancient layman."

"Is this place considered a relic of the Wudao era?"

"Yes and no."

"How to say?"

"The Nirvana Bone Jade belongs to the Wudao Era, but its inner space is not a relic of the Wudao Era, but is derived from itself."

"Are you from the age of innocence?"

"Yes and no."

"So what?"

"I did belong to the era of innocence before, but now...I can't explain it clearly."

"Why can't you tell?"

The old monk still didn't respond to this question.

"Besides you, is there anyone like you here?"

"have."

"how many?"

"I don't know."

"Haha." Gu Qingfeng smiled and said, "No wonder I feel like someone is staring at me every time I come in. It seems that there are really other people in this place."

After a pause, he continued: "Since this place is not a relic of the Wudao Era, but is derived from the Nirvana Bone Jade, did you come in before the Wudao Era disappeared, or did you come in after the Wudao Era disappeared? of?"

"I don't know, I forgot..."

have no idea?

forgotten?

These words sounded very familiar, and Gu Qingfeng asked: "What's wrong, is it possible that you are also lost?"

"Everyone in the age of innocence is lost, and I am no exception."

"You don't look lost."

"It just seems that I have lost myself a long time ago. This is why I didn't dare to claim to be a person from the Wudao Era just now, because I don't know whether I am from the Wudao Era or not."

"Really……"

Gu Qingfeng pondered for a moment and remembered a sentence inexplicably.

Cultivation means cultivating the mind, and seeking truth means seeking me.

How many original selves, how many egos, and how many true selves.

I don't know who said this, or maybe I saw it in some classics. Thinking of this sentence, Gu Qingfeng couldn't help but doubt in his heart. Could it be that these people in the era of no way were lost because they were lost in seeking me?

"Old monk, you said, when I found the bone jade of extinction, was it a coincidence or fate and cause and effect?"

"Mr. Gu, do you still remember what I often said to you before? Don't regard cause and effect as coincidence. There has never been any coincidence in the affairs of heaven and earth. Everything is in cause and effect."

"But you also told me not to regard coincidence as cause and effect, and don't regard coincidence as fate. What is the explanation for this?"

"Whether it is coincidence or accident, it is inseparable from cause and effect after all."

"As you said, when I found the bone jade of extinction, it was neither it that chose me nor I that chose it, but it was fate and cause and effect?"

"Maybe."

"Then you live in seclusion in this Bone Jade of Silence, and I found the Bone Jade of Silence, what is the cause and effect between us?"

"I don't know."

"Really don't know?"

"Really don't know."

Gu Qingfeng was silent for a long time, and then smiled: "Old monk, old monk, you seem to be quite skeptical about the saying that everything in the world is in cause and effect, and you seem to be full of confusion and hesitation about cause and effect."

There was another silence, and after a long time, the old monk responded, but it was a sigh: "Mr. Gu, I am lost...really lost...not only lost in the search for my true self, but also lost in the search for cause and effect..."