Chapter 191: Passing with the River of Time
Many things seemed expected, yet also somehow unexpected.
Chen Changsheng felt momentarily dazed, unable to tell truth from falsehood. He couldn’t truly understand her feelings, but he knew very well what six hundred years truly meant.
In this world, feelings are rarely just right or wrong. Those people and things would, after all, fade as time passed.
For a fleeting moment, Chen Changsheng felt Hu Yu might be right. If one had truly died in that big snowy night, perhaps it would just be a small regret. It would be so much better than waiting bitterly for centuries.
Hu Yu and Zhu Qi shared similar fates, yet their feelings toward Sir were vastly different.
She had truly been consumed by desire.
But now, bringing it up again only drew a soft sigh.
Hu Yu was completely calm now. She seemed somewhat at peace, but in reality, she was just locking away her inner weakness once more.
She asked, “Is there anything else you want to ask?”
Chen Changsheng looked at her and said, “Things don’t quite add up.” “Hmm?” Hu Yu gazed at him.
Chen Changsheng said, “There are gaps in your story, Miss.”
Hu Yu watched him quietly. “If I told everything at once, it might take several hours, several days even.”
“Is that so?” Chen Changsheng met her eyes.
His instincts told him something was still hidden within those memories. Hu Yu hadn’t spoken it, or perhaps, didn’t wish to bring it up.
Hu Yu’s expression was steady. “What do you think is missing?”
Chen Changsheng said, “Even if I asked, I doubt you would tell me.”
Hu Yu nodded. “I knew I couldn’t hide it from you. In the past, you could always see through my lies. It’s still the same now.”
“Is it something you don’t want to talk about?” Chen Changsheng asked.
She shook her head. “I was just helping her. The gap between her and me is huge. I couldn’t catch up to her, much less to you.”
“Miss, your words are confusing, but you never explain why,” Chen Changsheng looked at her. “Maybe I should ask differently. How much do you know about the Sutra of Rebirth?”
At this, Hu Yu visibly trembled, but quickly regained her composure.
She asked, “Have you been to the Thirty-Three Heavens?”
Chen Changsheng paused. “Thirty-Three Heavens?”
Hu Yu said, “Another Southern Garden. She left the Sutra of Rebirth there for you. Seems you found it.”
Chen Changsheng frowned. “Why did Yu Xuan leave it for me?”
“She had no other choice,” Hu Yu said. “Because only after you’ve seen it could she have a chance to complete the missing page.”
“After I’ve seen it?” Chen Changsheng pondered, feeling this wasn’t simple.
Hu Yu said, “Perhaps she felt you could complete it.”
Chen Changsheng thought deeply. He had once tried to fill in the gaps of the Sutra of Rebirth, but found no clue. And his first attempt had gone wrong, nearly making him forget everything.
“This isn’t something done overnight,” Hu Yu stated. “Yu Xuan went through eight cycles of Reincarnation and never found what was missing. That missing thing isn’t something you can just realize.”
“Eight worlds…” Chen Changsheng was stunned. “But the notes in the book…”
“I’ve seen them,” Hu Yu confirmed. “She explained it to me back then. The Sutra of Rebirth was almost perfect by her fourth life. From then on, she never changed it again. That’s why only the fourth life is mentioned at the end.”
Chen Changsheng remarked, “You seem to know Yu Xuan well.”
Hu Yu shook her head. “She told me all this herself. Back then, she placed the Sutra of Rebirth before me, but I didn’t choose it.”
“Truthfully, I lack her courage to leap into the next life down the River of Time. I fear forgetting everything. Once you touch that Sutra, the ‘me’ in the next life might no longer be me.”
Chen Changsheng’s heart skipped. “Like me?”
Hu Yu nodded. “You could say that.”
Chen Changsheng nodded faintly, mostly understanding now.
The Sutra of Rebirth was flawed. Even if you might remember bits in your next life, it wasn’t guaranteed. That made sense.
A question came to Chen Changsheng. “What about Yu Xuan? How did she remember her past lives?”
“About that,” Hu Yu replied, “she never told me either.”
Chen Changsheng was deep in thought when he suddenly paused, recalling what he had seen in the Fate Stone on Tianji Mountain.
He focused and asked, “Is there a Divine Ability… that can separate one’s life memories?”
Hu Yu questioned him, “You mean storing this life’s memories somewhere, then retrieving them in the next life?”
Chen Changsheng nodded. “Exactly.”
Hu Yu shook her head. “But what if you forget in the next life?”
“I know Yu Xuan. She wouldn’t do such a thing unless she was absolutely sure.”
“What if…” Chen Changsheng hesitated, “…she had a way to make herself remember?”
Hu Yu still shook her head. She didn’t believe it possible.
“Alright then…” Seeing this, Chen Changsheng didn’t ask further. Perhaps he could find clues elsewhere.
He looked up again. “There’s one more thing bothering me about the number ‘thirty-three’. Miss, you mentioned the Thirty-Three Heavens. And there’s also ‘reaching thirty-three’. Does this number hold special meaning for me?”
“The ‘Thirty-Three Heavens’ was a name you gave,” Hu Yu said. “And ‘reaching thirty-three’… perhaps you left that for yourself too?”
Chen Changsheng said, “The word ‘year’ coming first must mean something distinct.”
Mayfly seeking Longevity, born at dawn, dead by dusk, reaching thirty-three marks the end.
Washed clean of past dust, Reincarnation unceasing, eternal vision amid the lasting life.
The phrase he saw in the Fate Stone directly referred to the Mayfly Curse.
Its meaning pointed to ‘death’ at ‘thirty-three years’, but the nature of that ‘death’ seemed different.
The key was that word ‘year’…
Hu Yu said, “People say one sui is one year, one xun is ten years, one cycle is twelve years…”
Chen Changsheng looked up. “Are there other meanings?”
Hu Yu closed her eyes and shook her head. “I rarely paid attention to the world outside. All these years, I’ve remained here. My knowledge is limited. Maybe ask Junhan. He knows more.”
Chen Changsheng nodded. “Alright.”
He took a long breath, then looked at Hu Yu again.
“I have no more questions, Miss. Is there something you wish to ask? Though I may not be him, perhaps he and I share some similarities on certain matters.”
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P.S. Hu Yu is only a secondary character, friends, no need to overthink it.