Chapter 3848: Obsession

Lu Yin could easily sway the opinions of everyone on the Sixth Night Pillar, allowing the Fifth Night Pillar to join the expedition. This would eliminate the Tianyuan’s potential crisis once and for all. Alternatively, he could control Liu Li alone, using her as a scapegoat who would bear the Sixth Night Pillar’s hatred and forcefully allow the Fifth Night Pillar to participate.

So long as Lu Yin was able to manipulate people’s hearts, there were countless ways for him to handle the situation.

However, he did nothing. He simply sat beside the flat region where the Sixth Night Pillar had been severed and watched as the cultivators came and left. All of them were hesitating over whether or not they should join the Nine Odysseys.

With just a single thought from Lu Yin, everyone would join.

He was not concerned over whether people joined the Nine Odysseys. What was tempting was the power to change a person’s mind with but a thought.

Multiple times, he considered trying it, yet he ultimately did nothing.

Everyone made their own choices throughout life. Each person was the master of their own existence. No one had the right to interfere in such things. Taking away someone else’s life was one thing, but taking away their ability to think for themselves was something else entirely.

Doing so would cross a line of morality.

It was one thing to act against one’s enemies, but Lu Yin was looking at regular cultivators. What reason was there to interfere with their lives? They had done nothing wrong. They were individuals with dignity, fears, and families of their own.

Before he knew it, two months had passed. Lu Yin was still staring out at the level region, listening as cultivators debated on whether or not they would join the Nine Odysseys.

Liu Li had tried to approach Lu Yin on several occasions, but she had never been able to get close to him.

He had put away his communication device, which made it so that not even Lu Siyu could contact him.

One day, Lu Yin stood up and vanished, leaving the Sixth Night Pillar.

Liu Li had just arrived to request a meeting with Lu Yin, so when she saw the empty landscape, she could not help but wonder. Had he simply left?

She felt uneasy. Is he angry?

...

A bamboo raft floated down a river, carrying a man who wore sunglasses and sipped a drink. His strange clothes drew many stares, though no one approached him. They spoke in hushed tones behind his back, though they all spoke of the same thing: the man had to be a fraud.

Lu Yin had traveled to the mortal city that was the closest to the Sixth Night Pillar. He was wearing the same outfit as before, simply drifting wherever the current took him and allowing fate to determine his path. Those fated would ask him to read their fortune from a word they wrote. As for those without any fate, he would simply smile at them and move on.

He did not take out his communication device or contact Lu Siyu. He did not even care if she was trying to call him.

At this moment, all that Lu Yin sought was peace of mind.

The water flowed ceaselessly. After several days, the river carried Lu Yin out of the city and towards the next.

Not a single person in the first city had asked him to read their fortune. The city was frequented by cultivators, which had resulted in many of the inhabitants understanding the truth of reality and that omnipotence only existed in fantasy. They would rather live their lives in peace.

Lu Yin was in no hurry. He took out a blank sheet of paper and wrote a single character: Obsession (执).

Everyone wanted to let go of their obsessions, while Lu Yin wanted to pick them up.

Without an obsession, how would he ever be able to overcome Dukkha? Without overcoming Dukkha, how could one ever reach the Immortal realm?

Suddenly, he found that he was starting to understand the expression that he had heard: Perceive with clarity that the five aggregates are all empty and thereby transcend every form of suffering.

It was three entire months before someone finally wrote a word for Lu Yin: Money (钱).

The word appeared again in front of him. Mortal desires were simple: have enough money to live well. It was not greed, but rather the opposite.

Another half a year flew by, and more and more people visited Lu Yin to have their fortunes read. He changed many people's outlooks, though not with the power of Word Manifestation. Instead, it was by offering a deeper understanding of the cosmos. More and more, he felt that his existence was not merely about his own life, but rather about seeing the world, experiencing it, and understanding it on behalf of others.

Perhaps that was the meaning of life.

“I’d like a word reading.” A middle-aged man slowly walked along the bank of the river, matching the speed of the current. He did not even look at Lu Yin, and he looked like he was speaking to the air.

Lu Yin looked at the man. There was a bleak expression on his face, and his facial hair had grown wild and unkempt. His eyes were clouded, and his clothes were filthy. Everything about the man looked dark and tortured, as though he was being consumed by darkness.

The man was a cultivator, the equivalent of an Envoy. In the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, such strength was unremarkable, though in the Tianyuan Megaverse, he would be considered an impressive expert.

Of course, in a mortal city, he was regarded as a lofty and important individual.

No one knew why the man had ended up in such a state.

“You may. Go ahead and write,” Lu Yin said.

The man wrote a character in the air, freezing the air itself to form the Departure (离) character.

“Departure?” Lu Yin raised an eyebrow. This was the first time anyone had asked him to read that particular character. He had expected the man to write Emotion (情), as, by all appearances, the man was being tortured by matters of the heart.

The man still did not look at Lu Yin. He slowly walked along, matching the river’s current. As he moved along, anytime people saw the man, they quickly moved aside, as if they were avoiding a venomous snake.

Lu Yin listened to everything that was said. As the man passed by, the whispering increased.

“It’s been nine years, hasn’t it? And yet he’s still here. Are cultivators always so sentimental?”

“But Kui Niang won’t leave with him. Why can’t he see that?”

“If a powerful cultivator liked me, I’d happily go with him.”

“You could go, you're not married. Kui Niang can’t. Sigh...”

A spiral of karma shot from Lu Yin’s fingertip and pierced the man. Lu Yin studied the images that were exposed. So that’s the situation.

The man’s name was Yuan Huo, and he was from a distant place. He had once set out on a journey, with the goal of joining the Sixth Night Pillar. However, he had been ambushed by enemies and, after being gravely injured, had fallen into this city. He had then been rescued by a woman named Kui Niang. As they spent time together, feelings had slowly blossomed between them.

However, Kui Niang was a married woman. While her husband had passed away years before and she was theoretically free to remarry, her city had a strict law that forbade remarriage. The city had been established by a single clan, and their descendants made up the majority of the population. While the place was referred to as a city, it was actually more of a sprawling mortal family.

The city’s law was quite simple: once married, a woman was forever wed. Many widows lived solitary lives, occasionally with only a single child by their side.

When Kui Niang had developed feelings for an outsider and wanted to leave, the citizens had objected. They were not able to stop Yuan Huo, but Kui Niang herself did not want to leave. While her surname was not that of the city’s clan, she had been born and raised in the city. It was her home and filled with familiar faces and all the people that she cared about. If not for Yuan Huo, she would have continued living a rather good life.

Yuan Huo had tried to forcibly take her away, exposing his power to intimidate the entire city. No one had dared to speak a word against him, but the cold, contemptuous eyes that looked at him made it impossible for Kui Niang to leave. She could not bear such looks. Seeing them made her feel as though she had betrayed everyone she knew.

Power was able to grant life or take it away, but it could not change a human heart.

Ultimately, Yuan Huo had failed to take Kui Niang away. She still lived in the city, just the same as ever. Since she had refused to leave, the townspeople had not made life difficult for her. They could see her love for their city. Also, with Yuan Huo nearby, no one dared to offend the woman.

Yuan Huo also refused to leave. He remained in the city, quietly accompanying Kui Niang from a distance. In that manner, nine years had passed.

The man did not know what to do. He could not abandon his feelings for Kui Niang, but he also could not force her to leave with him. Kui Niang was just a mortal, and over the course of nine years, time had worn on her, greatly changing her appearance. She became increasingly unwilling to see Yuan Huo and had taken to shutting herself inside. Yuan Huo did not want her to suffer, and yet he was also unable to force himself to leave. That was the reason why he had written the character “离” (Departure) for Lu Yin to read.

Lu Yin had observed many love stories, including some that were far more complicated than Yuan Huo’s. Yuan Huo was waiting for Kui Niang to gain some courage.

Kui Niang also wanted to leave with Yuan Huo, but she could not abandon her home city, the people there, or the laws that had shackled her for so long.

Lu Yin had witnessed countless aspects of mortal life, and he knew that different cultures followed different rules. It was not possible to say if such customs were right or wrong, merely that they were different ways of thinking.

Lu Yin lounged on his bamboo raft, his sunglasses giving the sky a darker shade. Nearby, Yuan Huo walked down the river, accompanying the raft. He did not believe in fortune-telling. How could any cultivator believe in such things? All he wanted was to talk to someone, and because Lu Yin was also a cultivator, Yuan Huo hoped for someone to help him find a way out of his current predicament, or even offer a reason to leave. That was all that he was looking for.

“Is Kui Niang willing to leave with you?” Lu Yin asked.

Yuan Huo was not surprised that Lu Yin had already seen through everything. It was clear that he was a far more powerful cultivator than Yuan Huo. “Yes, she is.”

“Then have her leave with you.”

Yuan Huo instantly stopped walking and turned away. This man was unable to give him even a reason. If things were truly so simple and Kui Niang would just leave with him, then why had he lingered for nine years?

“She will choose to leave with you,” Lu Yin’s voice echoed in Yuan Huo’s ears.

The man pretended not to hear.

However, when he saw Kui Niang step out of her home, she ran towards him and told him that she was ready to leave with him.

Yuan Huo was stunned. The people of the city were equally shocked, and their expression grew conflicted. They were not sure what they should do.

Nine years had passed. For nine years, they had trapped Kui Niang. Now that she was willing to leave, what were they supposed to do?

They could not stop her. Would they use the same judgmental stares that they had nine years before?

Kui Niang did not even look at the people staring at her. She simply embraced Yuan Huo and affectionately said, “Let’s go!”

Yuan Huo turned towards the river, and Lu Yin smiled at the man.

It was him. He must have been the one to change Kui Niang’s mind. But how did he do it? While there were ways for cultivators to control others, would someone really go so far?

“Senior, what do you want?” Yuan Huo was already starting to regret his actions. What was this man’s goal? He was controlling Kui Niang.

Lu Yin replied, “You want to take her away, and she’s willing to go with you, so go. What more is there to ask?”

Yuan Huo grew confused. “Senior, what do you want in exchange? Please be straightforward.”

“I want nothing. Just take her and leave,” Lu Yin replied.

Yuan Huo’s eyes flickered. He looked at Kui Niang, who was still embracing him. With clenched teeth, the man flew into the distance.

Everyone in the city fell silent. The couple really had left.

On the bamboo raft, Lu Yin retracted his consciousness.

The very next moment, Kui Niang regretted her decision. “Brother Yuan, let me go back.”

Yuan Huo was completely bewildered. “Kui Niang, you said you wanted to come with me.”

“I know... I did. But... I still can’t let go.”

“Why not? It’s been nine years! I’ve waited nine years for you!”

“You shouldn’t have waited! Please, let me go back. I’m begging you, Brother Yuan.”

When Kui Niang returned to the city, she rushed straight back to her home and then locked herself inside.

The people of the city had no idea what had just happened.

Yuan Huo rushed back to question Lu Yin, who returned with his own question, “Why do you have to take her away? Is this city a prison?”

Yuan Huo trembled, and he stared at Lu Yin in a daze.

Lu Yin locked eyes with the man. “You want to take her away only to fulfill your own obsession. You think that taking her with you will give her closure and give your love closure, but have you ever considered her feelings? She doesn’t want to leave, and the city hasn’t tried to drive you away, so why do you have to go?

“This place is her home. Do you hate staying here so much? The fact that you have already stayed here for nine years proves that nothing else is drawing you away. Since that’s the case, why leave at all?”

Yuan Huo stood, stunned as he stared at the flowing river with eyes that did not see it.

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