Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 1855 – Questions and Answers

Having heard what she said, he felt that the layer of fog that enveloped his heart and caused him to see the world with blurry lenses was finally going to be dispelled. Despite this, Qin Yu was not very happy. On the contrary, he was slightly shocked and confused.

But after thinking about it carefully, it made sense. He cultivated endlessly to improve himself and went through two deathmatches to become a new Blazing Sun Owner. Of course he was qualified enough to know the answers to the questions that he had in his heart. However, Qin Yu was not in a rush to find out. He drank wine quietly and Rourou did not pry either. The treehouse was silent.

The confusion in his eyes gradually disappeared and he put down the wine fruit on the table made from tree branches, which made a soft ‘thud’. He asked, “Who am I?”

His tone was calm and his expression remained unchanged. On the other hand, upon hearing this question, Rourou’s eyes narrowed a little bit and a surprised expression flashed past her eyes. There also seemed to be some admiration in her eyes before it disappeared.

“Since you’ve asked this question, it means that you did not allow your ego to be inflated even after becoming a Blazing Sun Owner and didn’t forget about being cautious. This is good,” Rourou smiled as she said this and looked at Qin Yu. She felt proud that the person she personally chose was outstanding, but then again, of course he had to be, if not it would mean that she was bad at reading people.

“However, you should not be asking me this question. You should be asking yourself.” She pointed at Qin Yu’s chest and continued, “Touch your heart and ask yourself who you want to be and who you trust.”

Qin Yu frowned, “Do you mean that the choice is mine?”

“Of course,” Rourou said. “There are many things in this world that are beyond our control. Whether it is you, every other living being in this world, or even me, things won’t go the way we want all the time. But at the very least, no one can stop you from being the kind of person you want to become.”

Qin Yu fell silent.

After killing Heavenly Center and merging two Blazing Sun Fragments into one, the Blazing Sun was now complete and Qin Yu became a new Blazing Sun Owner. This helped him to gain many, many memories. Those images in his head that felt foreign to him also felt somewhat familiar, as if he had been through these experiences before. But at the same time, he knew very well that he was not the one who had personally gone through those experiences.

Therefore, it was inevitable that he felt puzzled. Even though he was an extremely calm person, there was an unspeakable fear that hid in the depths of his heart, because Qin Yu was not sure if he would eventually be swallowed by those memories in his mind and become another person. There were too many memories left by the other person, and these memories were not in line with his at all.

It was only after getting the answers from Rourou that the fear in his heart started to gradually vanish, so that he could calmly face these memories in his mind. Of course, the other reason that helped Qin Yu to make this judgment was that the memories were very stable and there was nothing strange about them.

After being silent for a while, Qin Yu exhaled slowly. He raised his head and smiled, “I want to be Qin Yu, because I am me, and not anyone else.” This was his choice, and right when Qin Yu made this decision, those memories in his mind became slightly more distant from him despite still being there. It was like an invisible barrier had been erected over those memories.

Rourou nodded, “That is your choice.” She raised the wine fruit and said, “Here, let’s make a toast to your new life.”

That night, Qin Yu drank to his heart’s content.

Just now, it seemed to be a simple conversation that happened between them, and it also seemed as if Qin Yu fell into a simple silence before making his decision…it all looked simple, but in fact, a lot of time had passed. This was truly Qin Yu’s new life, because if he made another choice, he would become another person. Even if he still held the same memories, the imprint of his aura would be different.

This difference may seem quite insignificant, but it was not. For example, Rourou and the Ruler’s attitude would change because of this. They helped Qin Yu, but at the same time, this person was not really Qin Yu…more accurately, they were just helping a person who merely held Qin Yu’s memories.

Rourou laughed, “Did you not think that I would let you make the choice?”

Qin Yu nodded, “I was slightly surprised.”

Rourou said, “Actually, you are you. No matter what changes, to us, you are still the same.” She laughed, noticing the fleeting look of awkwardness on Qin Yu’s face, before asking, “Do you only have this one question for me?”

Qin Yu said, “Of course not. Even though I’ve already recovered memories from that year, I still have many questions that I don’t have the answers to yet. For example, the relationship between you and Final. Even though I already know that the shattering of the Blazing Sun back then was secretly plotted by Final, with his status, it seems like there was no need for him to do such a thing.”

Rourou leaned back and the branches instantly weaved together to create the most comfortable angle that supported her body. “Actually, no matter how complicated my relationship with Final is, you can get a rough idea of it from our names.”

She drummed her fingers lightly on the table. After a few moments of silence, she said, “For example, his name signifies the final state of all things – to return to silence and nothingness. He is the incarnation of the destruction and end of all things. My other name is Origin, which you can better understand as the origin of all things.”

She flipped her hand, pointed at herself, and blinked a few times. “Can you tell? I’m the origin of all things.”

Even before Qin Yu asked any questions, he had guessed that Final and Origin were both above the nine Blazing Suns, but after getting the answers from Rourou, he still felt shaken in his heart.

One of them was the origin of all things.

One of them was the end of all things.

Qin Yu nodded his head slowly, motioning for Rourou to continue.

Rourou laughed, “Actually, there is nothing much to say. The rough explanation would be that everything in this world has its beginning and end. Like the relationship between life and death, they both co-exist together and nothing can change that.

“Therefore, as long as I exist, Final will exist too. Under normal circumstances, we can coexist peacefully, because there is an endless stream of time between the life and death of all living things. However, there will come a day when the existence of all things will end. When that happens, the world needs to go through destruction before it can be reborn, like a reincarnation cycle.”

Qin Yu frowned, feeling like there was a much bigger meaning behind her words. For a moment, he was in a daze, but he was not a shallow person. Very quickly, he found out what the most critical part of her words was.

He raised his head to look at Rourou and said, “Are you trying to say that Final plotted the whole shattering of the Blazing Suns because he was not willing to accept it? That also means…”

Rourou laughed, “That’s right, you are the key to opening a new era for this world. This can also answer your previous question as to why you are the same to us no matter what, because what I need is that special quality that you have. As for what decision you are going to make in the end, that is your choice and I am not going to interfere.”

“Why?” Qin Yu frowned, looking confused.

There were nine Blazing Suns in this world, suspended side by side in the sea of stars in the skies above. They shone on the entire world, bringing their light to every living being.

Why did it have to be him?

Rourou shook her head, “I don’t have an answer to that question. Perhaps that’s the wonder of the Creator. In short, it is you. This has been confirmed many times by Final and I. Otherwise, Final would not have tried so hard to destroy a Blazing Sun or made that bet with me that he already lost.”

Qin Yu took a long exhale and said, “Since you don’t know the answer, then it seems like there really isn’t an answer for now as to why it has to be me. However, I am still extremely curious about this. Hopefully, when the time comes, everything will be revealed.” He looked at Rourou and continued, “I can now roughly guess what the bet was about. If that’s the case, Final had no reason to let me go.”

Rourou snapped her fingers. Perhaps because she had drunk too much wine and restrained her cultivation on purpose to lower her alcohol tolerance, there was already a dazed look in her eyes and she appeared slightly drunk. With reddened eyes, a smile appeared on her face. “You’re clever. Of course Final would not let you go. Even if you have become a Blazing Sun Owner and have now reached the peak of cultivation…there is still a huge hidden danger. We don’t know when Final is going to explode and blow you into pieces.” She shook her head, looked at Qin Yu, and exclaimed, “Hoho, poor thing, poor thing!”

Qin Yu frowned, “Since it took quite a big amount of effort for you to win that bet, and both of us worked so hard for it, I guess you will not just sit by and do nothing while Final kills me.”

“That’s right, you are so smart!” Rourou snapped her fingers again. She tilted her head back and gulped down some wine. “However, the problem is that I am Rourou now and not Origin. I have no chance of winning against Final. That also means that I will have trouble protecting myself, so even if I wanted to protect you, I am unable to.”

After going in circles, they still returned to the same topic that both of them did not want to face but had to.

Rourou and the Ruler both came from Origin and they were both a part of Origin, yet both of them were incomplete; just like how the little blue lamp was once a Blazing Sun Fragment that belonged to Heavenly Center. If she wanted to ensure that Qin Yu could not be harmed by Final, she had to be complete. Being complete, however, meant that one of them had to disappear forever.

Qin Yu fell silent.

Rourou scoffed, “Running away won’t solve anything; we have to face the problem eventually. Do I still have to remind you of this simple logic?”

Qin Yu laughed bitterly, “I know, I understand, but I still don’t know what position I should take to interfere in this matter.”

The corners of Rourou’s lips curled up and she looked at Qin Yu with a mocking expression. He took a deep breath and said, “Rourou, our relationship is undeniably strong and I am absolutely sure that you are my most trustworthy partner, but the Ruler…she has helped me countless times.”

“Ha! Men!” Rourou pouted with disdain on her face. “Rest assured, you don’t have to care about this matter; we will solve it ourselves. But I just want to ask you, if you had to choose one of us, who would you choose?”

This was a choice.

It was a light question and Qin Yu only had to say a word. He did not have to do anything else and there was no real consequence that he had to bear from choosing, but he hesitated for a long time and laughed bitterly as he looked at Rourou. In the end, he was still unable to say it.

Opposite him, Rourou frowned even more and her mocking smile became even wider. However, when she looked at the sincere hopelessness on Qin Yu’s face, her lips twitched a bit before she lowered her head to drink a sip of wine.

“I won’t tease you anymore.” Her voice softened and a calm expression returned to her face, “No matter what you feel about this matter, it won’t affect how things end up.”

After a slight pause, she continued, “Actually, if you had decided to respond and picked either one of us, I would have been deeply disappointed. Because that would mean that you’re not the Qin Yu I knew.”

Even though Rourou looked extremely calm and relaxed when she said this, there was a hint of guilt that formed in his eyes uncontrollably. However, this guilt did not last for very long because Rourou, who seemed to have drunk too much wine, suddenly stood up and fell forward.

Qin Yu intuitively reached his arm out to grab her, and in an instant, his chest was filled with warmth and fragrance. The skin contact between them made his body freeze up and his eyes to widen, causing much of his drunkenness to fade away.

Rourou hugged onto him and whispered into his ear, “You should already know that both her and I make up Origin. In your life thus far, all of those women who were important to you were actually a part of us at some point. What I’m trying to say is that you can think of them as me, and in actual fact, I am all of them to begin with.”

It was a sentence that sounded like a mouthful. It was difficult to use simple logic to decipher what Rourou just said, but Qin Yu was clear that what Rourou said was right. Therefore, his body tensed up even more. However, his widened eyes started to return to normal and after he suppressed the anxiety in his heart, there was now only calm in his eyes.

“Rourou, what are you trying to tell me?”

Rourou raised her head and her eyes were filled with a light resentment, “Can’t you try to understand a pretty lady who has been lonely for many years?”

Qin Yu shook his head, “I can’t.” He held onto Rourou’s shoulders and pushed her away from his chest. As the warmth left his chest, he could not help but feel a little disappointed, but he suppressed this feeling immediately.

“I don’t know what tricks you’re pulling on me, but you should know that I am not someone who acts on impulse. On the contrary, I actually had another question earlier that I did not get to ask – will they be able to come back?”

This was actually the question that Qin Yu cared about the most in his heart. They were Origin…this was something that took him a long time to accept and acknowledge. Yet, though he had accepted this already, it did not mean that he was willing to forget them.

Rourou rolled her eyes at Qin Yu, “Boring. Qin Yu, you little brat, can’t you just play along with me?”

A calm voice suddenly rang out, “If he was willing to play along with you, he would have hugged you and fell to the ground together with you earlier. But if that had happened, he wouldn’t be Qin Yu anymore.”

The Ruler had appeared at the edge of the treehouse at some point. She looked far into the distance, as if she did not notice the intimate moment between Qin Yu and Rourou. However, undoubtedly, she had witnessed everything.