The fisherman took off his bamboo hat and revealed himself to be a man about 30 years old. He wasn't burly and was actually a bit weak, but his expression was free and easy. He didn't look like a fisherman, but more like a scholar.
He raised the fish in his hand and looked at it. The sunlight shined on the fish's belly, creating bursts of white light. At a glance, it looked extraordinary.
The man smiled faintly and put the fish into the jar of water. Then he carried the jar and walked away.
When Wang Lin saw this, the answer to his speculation filled his mind, causing him to enter a trance. He silently followed the man, and after about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a very simple house appeared in the bamboo forest by the river.
The house was surrounded by a yard made of bamboo and wood. There were some poultry in the yard that were fighting for food around a woman with a big belly.
The woman was wearing plain clothes, but it couldn't hide her beautiful face. At this moment, she held a dustpan in her hand, and with a smile, she scattered the food inside the dustpan.
Sometimes, when she was tired, she would hold the dustpan in one hand and rest the other on her waist. Her forehead was covered in sweat as she raised her head and looked outside as if she was waiting for her man to return.
It was afternoon, so the sun wasn't dazzling. Soon, footsteps appeared in the bamboo forest, and the smile on the woman's face became even wider.
"Su Er, I caught a fish for you."
The footsteps stopped outside the door and the bamboo door was pushed open. The man walked in with a smile while holding the jar.
"I just suddenly wanted to eat fish. I'll endure it for a bit, and it will pass. You …" The woman's eyes were gentle.
The man laughed and went forward to support his wife as they walked into the room.
A moment later, smoke rose high into the air. From a distance, the smoke was like a painting, and it gave off a sense of rural beauty.
Wang Lin's figure floated in the bamboo forest as he silently watched all of this. He vaguely understood that this was probably the third soul's most recent reincarnation.
Three days later, in the middle of the night, the sky changed color, the wind and clouds rolled, thunder rumbled, and bean-sized raindrops fell, hitting the bamboo, hitting the houses, making pitter-patter sounds.
Heaven and earth seemed to be connected by this curtain of rain. As lightning flashed across the sky, everything in the bamboo forest below was illuminated in an instant.
The woman with a big belly was lying on the bed and letting out painful cries. Her hands were tightly gripping the quilt, and there was a midwife beside her.
Outside the room, the man had a calm expression as he looked at the moonlit rain. However, his tightly clenched fists revealed the anxiety in his heart.
Time slowly passed, and the woman's voice became weaker and weaker. When the man heard it, his heart ached, but his expression didn't change at all. However, his eyes shone brightly as he looked up at the heavy rain in the dark sky.
"I, Xie Dongming, have studied since I was a child. I understand Dao and all things. When I was an official, I blessed the people. After I was removed from office, I never made enemies with anyone. I have lived for only three Shi San years, and I have never done anything that would go against my conscience!
"Heavens, now that my child is about to be born, why are you making things difficult for my wife?!"
The man's right hand struck the bamboo wall beside him. Blood flowed down his finger and dripped onto the ground. It turned into wisps of blood that were washed away by the rain.
Just as the blood melted into the water, Thunder rumbled in the sky. As the thunder rumbled, the cry of a baby came from the room. The man's body trembled, and his calm expression was immediately replaced by excitement. When he turned around, the door to the room was opened. The midwife was drenched in sweat, but she had a kind smile on her face as she walked out with a baby in her arms.
"Congratulations, Young Master Xie. Both mother and child are safe!"
The man excitedly walked up and looked at the child before immediately entering the room. Compared to the child, he was more concerned about his wife. On the bed in the room, the woman's face was pale. She looked weak, but there was a smile on her face as she looked at her husband.
"It's a boy," the woman said softly.
"Su Er, rest more. I've already thought of a name. If it's a boy, he'll be called Xie Qing!
I hope that when he grows up, he'll be like a green bamboo. He'll be extraordinary and have the grace of a great scholar! "The man laughed loudly.
As he laughed, the baby in the midwife's arms stopped crying. Instead, he opened his eyes, and a strange light shone in them.
The warmth in the room and the Thunder and storm outside the room mixed with the man's laughter entered Wang Lin, who was floating outside the room. Wang Lin's body suddenly trembled, and it was as if all the Thunder in the world had been absorbed into his mind. His body trembled and he retreated a few steps. He stared at the fire in the room with disbelief in his eyes!
Although he already had a vague guess in his heart, now that his guess was confirmed, the shock he received was like a storm.
At that moment, Wang Lin could no longer hear the Thunder or the laughter in the room. His vision was a blur, and there was only one voice echoing in his ears.
"Xie Qing … Xie Qing … Xie Qing!!!"
"The third soul is Xie Qing!!!"
Wang Lin opened his mouth to say something, but he found that he didn't know what to say. His mind was a mess, and a huge wave was raging in his heart.
Before he started searching for the third soul, he had tried to guess its identity. He had thought that it could be a mortal, a cultivator, or even a wild beast or plant. However, he had never imagined that the third soul would be Xie Qing!!
It was actually his disciple!!
Wang Lin's face was pale, and he kept retreating. He was the first person to know the identity of the third soul, but this knowledge made him face a difficult choice.
To kill or not to kill!!
The world rumbled, and the Thunder became even more intense. The lightning flashed, and the rain seemed to go crazy. There was also a strong wind that swept up the water droplets, making it look like the Milky Way was dancing.
Wang Lin could never forget that it was on planet Qing Ling that he was lost in his search for the Dao, and he had asked the great Confucian scholars what the Dao was!
He had asked everyone he could, and in the end, he had asked Xie Qing. It was this person who had helped him gain enlightenment and make a breakthrough.
He also could not forget that he had sat cross-legged on the mountain on planet Qing Ling. Although Xie Qing was old, he had climbed up the mountain with his mortal body and knelt down in front of him, wholeheartedly seeking the Dao!
"In my life, I have always thought that I understand the relationship between the heavens and the earth. I have understood everything academically, and I have taken it upon myself to teach the people of the world. Now that I have reached the age where I know my destiny, I suddenly had an epiphany. It turns out that I am a fish in the water …"
These were the first words Xie Qing had said when he climbed the mountain to seek the Dao. At that time, when Wang Lin had heard these words, he had only understood the first few sentences, but he hadn't pondered the last sentence in detail.
At that time, he didn't have any thoughts of pondering the last sentence. Even if he had pondered it, in the end, he wouldn't have gotten any answers, and he would have returned to normal.
But now, as he chased after the third soul's reincarnation cycle after cycle, especially in the river on planet Qing Ling, he saw the third soul reincarnate as a fish hundreds of times, and when he learned that the third soul was Xie Qing, Wang Lin's mind rumbled as he recalled these words. How could he not understand them!?
"So it turns out I'm just a fish in the water …" Wang Lin suddenly raised his head and looked at the house filled with warm lights. He had a bitter expression as Xie Qing's words appeared in his mind. He understood.
Why did he meet Su Dao in the dream dao? Why did Su Dao guide him to become a great scholar in the country of Zhao and even Suzaku? All of this was karma. When Wang Lin thought he had completed his karma, he found that karma was there. You could see it, but you couldn't touch it!
"Back then, I inadvertently enlightened Xie Qing and accepted him as my disciple. He was the third soul of the Seven-Colored Celestial Sovereign, and because of this, karma was formed between us!
This is the cause!
"It is also because of this that Su Dao appeared in my dream dao … In reality, he is my disciple, and in the dream dao, I am his disciple. This karma cycle is a reincarnation cycle!
"I should have understood this a long time ago …" Wang Lin staggered back a step. When his step landed, the world rumbled and the sky was torn apart. The earth trembled as if there was an earth dragon moving. The ground and the bamboo forest all shattered. The rain evaporated and the Thunder disappeared. The only thing left in the world was the house that gave off a warm and happy light.
Wang Lin took a second step back. The moment his foot landed, the house before him began to distort. Countless shadows appeared, making it impossible to tell if it was the house moving or the body moving. Then it became blurry until it completely disappeared and was devoured by the void.
Wang Lin's figure also became blurry. When it became clear, he appeared in Shimizu's first illusion.
Shimizu opened his eyes. He looked at Wang Lin and let out a sigh.
The bitterness on his face was still there. Wang Lin muttered something that only he could hear and took a third step back. When his third step landed, the illusion of the past Shimizu's palace, the world dyed red by blood, suddenly collapsed.
This collapse shattered the palace, the earth, and the sky. Even the brown blood on the ground turned into dust that formed a giant vortex. This vortex rotated faster and faster until it turned into a giant ghostly face. The ghostly face let out a silent roar and charged toward Wang Lin and Shimizu.
In an instant, the two of them were swallowed up and disappeared into nothingness. Everything was destroyed within the passage of time. The illusion collapsed!
Cave world.
Celestial Realm.
At the top of the mountain, Wang Lin and Shimizu opened their eyes at the same time. Everything just now was like a dream, so real that it was impossible to tell if it was real or not.
Wang Lin's face was pale as he looked up at the sky. There was a struggle in his eyes.
"The third soul is him …"
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