"Perhaps when I return to Ancient Zang one day and see Master under the city gate, he will tell me the answer," Su Ming mumbled softly. He remembered his promise with Tian Xie Zi.
"When we meet again under the city gate, I will answer your final question." Su Ming closed his eyes, and Tian Xie Zi's words echoed in his ears. They accompanied him as he continued walking.
One hundred years passed, then two hundred years. When they walked through the ninth continent, Su Ming saw the desert that was originally an ocean.
The desert was vast, and there was no end to it. It was just like the path under his feet. As long as he walked on it, he would stubbornly walk until the end. Even if he did not know where the end was, even if he did not know the direction of his future, even if his heart was filled with anxiety and fear … since he had chosen this path, he would not turn back.
As Su Ming stared at the boundless desert, the boy beside him tugged at the corner of his robe and spoke softly.
"We're almost there. It's at the center of the ocean. That's my home …" Hao Hao's voice was still young. After nine hundred years of companionship, Su Ming and Hao Hao walked through the once glorious world. They saw shattered mountains, dried up rivers, corpses, and wreckage. At that moment, Su Ming saw a desert, but perhaps in Hao Hao's eyes, he saw an ocean.
Su Ming lowered his head and cast a glance at Hao Hao. In silence, he did not speak. Instead, he brought Hao Hao into the desert and walked further into the distance.
There was wind in the desert. It moaned and echoed in the air, as if it was sighing desolately. It drifted in the area and swept up sand to cover the entire area. It also hid away the former vastness of the place. However, the sandstorm that filled the sky seemed to be very similar to an ocean … If time insisted on it, then the sandstorm would turn into an ocean. That would be the only choice.
Su Ming held Hao Hao's hand in the sandstorm. He walked forward until an ancient ship appeared in the sandstorm that resembled an ocean in front of him. It sailed through the sandstorm, and the figure meditating on the ship became blurry when Su Ming looked at it.
"I should be able to see him here," Su Ming said softly as he watched the ship leave into the distance in the sandstorm.
"Who is it?" Hao Hao lifted his head and looked at Su Ming.
"An old friend." Su Ming smiled faintly. He patted Hao Hao's head and continued leading him deeper into the sandstorm.
"What happened to him?" Haohao asked again.
"He's lost." Su Ming shook his head. His gaze landed on the indistinct figure of the ship leaving into the distance. When he averted his gaze, he continued walking with Hao Hao.
Time passed by. Once every few months, Su Ming would see the ancient ship wandering about in the sea of wind and sand, as if it had lost its way and was continuously searching for the way it had lost.
It was the feeling of trying to continue walking on the road, but … he couldn't find it.
"He's very pitiful," Hao Hao said softly.
"Why?"
"That's because he didn't want to get lost. If he did, he would still be able to have his own happiness. However, his heart is unwilling. It's just that he got lost on this road and can't return." Hao Hao thought for a moment and said.
"However, he's so stupid. He actually got lost." Hao Hao laughed. His laughter was extremely clear and melodious, like a drop of water knocking on a limestone floor.
Su Ming smiled as well. He stared at the ship swimming past in the distance again, and there was a sentimental and soft sigh in his smile.
Old Man Extermination had lost his way. He had been walking on his path his entire life, and with his dreams, he walked forward step by step. There was no right or wrong in the entanglement between him and Su Ming. There was only one thing … 'I can walk on this path, but you … cannot walk in front of me!'
This was Su Ming's sentimental thought, and he sighed softly because he did not know whether he would become like Old Man Extermination one day and lose his way while persevering.
After all, once he lost his way, he would be lost for his entire life.
Perhaps there was another choice …
In silence, Su Ming crouched down and looked at Hao Hao.
"There should be another choice … Hao Hao, wait for me here," Su Ming said softly. Hao Hao stared at him and nodded.
"What other choice? Are you going to show him the way? "
"Others can't show others the way they walk." Su Ming shook his head. When he turned around, he walked towards the spot where the ship had disappeared. His figure gradually disappeared into the wind and sand until he could no longer be seen.
The ship moved forward in the sea of sand against the wind and sand. Old Man Extermination was dressed in the long robe from Su Ming's memories. He sat quietly on the ship, as if he had never changed. It did not matter whether it was Harmonious Morus Alba's expanse world or this place.
When Su Ming appeared on the lone ship, Old Man Extermination's eyes flew open, and determination appeared in them. When he looked at Su Ming, there was not a hint of surprise on his face. It was as if he had known a long time ago that there would come a day when he would see Su Ming in this place.
"My path is wrong," Su Ming said calmly.
Old Man Extermination was silent for a moment before he asked faintly, "What is wrong?"
Su Ming smiled and did not continue speaking.
"To me, my path is not wrong. The one who is wrong is the person, and my mistake is that I lost to you in Harmonious Morus Alba's Expanse Cosmos …" Old Man Extermination's voice was calm. When he spoke languidly, it stirred up ripples in his memories.
"That was my first mistake. My second … was my second loss in Ancient Zang's Expanse Cosmos." Old Man Extermination's expression remained the same, but a hint of regret appeared in his eyes.
"I didn't win."
"Then why did you say that my path is wrong?" A brilliant light shone in Old Man Extermination's eyes.
"Is your path definitely the right one? You see that my path is wrong, how can I not see that your path has already taken the wrong path? Who is right and who is wrong, whether it is you or me, neither of us has the right to say.
"Let's see the results. We chose the same path on this path. You want to resurrect all the familiar faces and do whatever it takes, but I want to reach Boundless Dao Realm and make time flow backwards. I want to return to the past before Xuan Zang came.
"At that time, I will kill Xuan Zang and do whatever it takes, even if I have to lose everything!" Killing intent filled Old Man Extermination's eyes as he stared at Su Ming coldly.
Su Ming was silent for a long time. After a long while, he said slowly, "If you continue down your path, in the end, you will be the only one in the universe."
Old Man Extermination was silent for an even longer time. A complicated look gradually appeared on his face, and when he looked at Su Ming, it became even stronger.
"Then what about your path? If you continue down it, in the end, you will be the only one who will disappear from the universe!"
Su Ming was silent, and Old Man Extermination also chose to be silent. One of them stood, and the other meditated. The ship did not stop moving forward. It did not matter whether the path ahead of it was wrong or right. It was still moving, and it would never stop.
"Then, this will be the third battle between us!" After a long while, a smile appeared on Su Ming's face, and he looked at Old Man Extermination.
"This should be what you wanted to say when you chose to come to me, right?" Old Man Extermination's eyes shone brilliantly when he spoke slowly.
"You've been waiting for me here for a long time. Didn't you also wait for me to say these words?" Su Ming smiled faintly.
"That's right!" The brilliant light in Old Man Extermination's eyes turned into fighting spirit. That fighting spirit did not come from attacking with a divine ability or using an Art to kill Su Ming. Instead, it was a final battle between two people who did not agree with each other's Daos.
"If you lose, you can bury my Dao in your world, because the universe where I am can no longer see your existence," Old Man Extermination enunciated each word clearly, and his voice was firm.
"If I win, you will owe me a promise." When Su Ming spoke calmly, he did not have the raging fighting spirit that Old Man Extermination had. There was not a hint of anger in his voice, and he did not look at Old Man Extermination either. Instead, he turned around and walked towards the vast universe beyond the ship. Gradually, his figure disappeared into the sandstorm.
Old Man Extermination stared at Su Ming leaving into the distance. His eyes sparkled, and he mumbled under his breath.
"There is no right or wrong in this, but you insist on doing this … The third battle, huh? I can't accept losing twice. This … is even better!" After a long while, Old Man Extermination gradually closed his eyes and immersed himself in meditation once more. He sat on his lone ship and left into the distance.
Su Ming walked forward quietly in the sandstorm. He did not turn his head back. Only a strange and enchanting look shone in his eyes, but it only lasted for a moment before disappearing.
In the ocean of sandstorm, Su Ming arrived beside Hao Hao, who was waiting for him. When Hao Hao saw Su Ming, a youthful smile appeared on his face.
"Hao Hao remembered that what you said previously was wrong. He didn't get lost."
"Why?"
"Because there is no path to begin with. The path is under your feet, and the place you walk to is the path. It doesn't matter whether it's the end or the middle of the path. If you are obsessed with whether the path is right or wrong, then you will be walking down the wrong path.
Am I right? " Hao Hao tugged at the corner of Su Ming's robe and said with a smile. There was a slightly smug look on his face, as if he was very happy that he had understood the logic that even Su Ming did not.
Su Ming smiled and patted Hao Hao's head again. There was a gentle look on his face when he nodded.
"You're right. There is no path in the world for everyone, and there is naturally no right or wrong path. We shouldn't care about these things, or else there will truly be a right or wrong path," Su Ming said with a smile and walked into the distance with Hao Hao.
They gradually left into the distance in the sandstorm. Their voices were rather indistinct, but they could still be heard faintly.
"Then why did you say that he walked down the wrong path?"
"Because I wanted him to walk down the wrong path."
"Oh … you left just now to tell him that he walked down the wrong path?"
"There is no right or wrong path, but since I said it, there will be a right or wrong path. This is the other choice. He will continue walking down the wrong path until he owes me a promise."
Their figures gradually disappeared in the sandstorm. Even their voices could not be heard clearly, and they were slowly drowned out by the wind.
Some people leave behind recommendation votes every single day.
Some people occasionally think of others on the path and leave behind recommendation votes.
Some people never give recommendation votes … My fellow Daoists, leave behind your recommendation votes.
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