Chapter 13 Looking at Life

The entire caravan came to a halt because of Miss Zhou Si's sudden appearance.

Miao Shan Xiangu's heart leaped. She hurriedly rummaged through her bundle for her horsetail whisk, finally finding it after a while, and looked warily out the window.

Miss Zhou Si, in her astonishment, saw the curtain of the carriage slowly lift. Hu Ma revealed half of his face, staring at her intently, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I was going to ask you..."

Miss Zhou Si panicked, but seeing Hu Ma's calmness, she didn't know what to say.

Her face flushed slightly, and she waved her hand, saying, "I must have been mistaken. What... what do you want to eat for lunch?"

"Anything is fine!"

Hu Ma replied indifferently and lowered the curtain.

Miss Zhou Si, filled with bewilderment, returned to her carriage, but Miao Shan Xiangu, who had been chatting so happily just moments before, was also staring wide-eyed. After a short while, she silently emerged from that carriage and returned to her own.

"A quick reaction indeed..."

Hu Ma sighed softly. He had already seen what he needed to see on the bridge.

He had seen it by borrowing the power of his Shousui (Year Keeper) skills; after all, he had a strong foundation in Shousui.

He had originally thought that going onto the bridge was an extremely complex matter, but now it seemed that once things fell into place, the most complex matter could become the simplest. He had only taken one look, but it was enough...

He couldn't even describe how he felt at that moment.

What he saw in that one glance was more than he had felt from so many years of cultivation.

"This..."

He carefully recalled the scene he had witnessed and felt a stirring in his heart: "Is this... fate?"

Indeed, he needed to see it for himself.

No matter how much Lao Suanpan (Old Abacus) said, or how much he heard from others, the concept of fate remained vague and uncertain.

Until this one glance!

In that instant, Hu Ma felt as if he had suddenly fallen backward. The posture was strikingly similar to that of Cui Magu, the Fulinger (Spirit Bearer) Da Zhuodao (Chief Executioner) who had tried to kill him when he first arrived at Laoyin Mountain.

But this fall was not into the outside world; it was out of this world. For a moment, he seemed to have detached from reality and ascended to a place higher than the human realm, looking down at his earthly self.

He could feel his body and soul. He glimpsed the intricate and complex changes of this world and even faintly touched upon them, watching his earthly self imprisoned in a solid realm, following its original trajectory.

It was like a person on the shore, leaning over to watch the fish.

For that one moment, he seemed to have gone to another level to look down upon his earthly self.

"You..."

Just as he was pondering, Lao Suanpan's terrified voice suddenly sounded outside the carriage window: "You couldn't have already seen it, have you?"

Hu Ma slowly nodded and said, "I have!"

"Ah, this..."

Lao Suanpan was so shocked that he almost fell off his donkey: "Does anyone really have a foundation that thick?"

"Going onto the bridge means detaching from this world?"

Hu Ma did not explain. Even the Fulinger Da Zhuodao had fallen by his hand. He simply said, "When a Shousui cultivates, there is introspection, where one can see their own cultivation and techniques. And this art of going onto the bridge is the opposite of introspection, it's extraspection?"

"Standing on another level, looking at one's earthly self..."

"I..."

Lao Suanpan had never imagined that he would ever need to discuss going onto the bridge with someone.

His voice trembled as he struggled to find the words: "The other things, the other things I don't know, but I have heard people say that going onto the bridge is transcendence."

"Being farther away from the human realm allows one to see their earthly self more clearly, just like a chess piece leaving the board allows one to see the overall situation, or a ghost or god leaving the physical body allows one to glimpse karma..."

"A person's abilities originally reached their peak after pushing open the three gates of the manor, but because they can take this one step, they can see more clearly. With heightened vision, they gain many abilities they didn't have before."

"The farther away, the clearer the vision. One can even glimpse the workings of heaven and earth, causing wind and rain with a single thought. If others try to harm you with spells, you can see them before the spells even get close."

"However, this distance also has its limitations."

"The farther one walks on the bridge, the less vulnerable one becomes to the laws of the human realm. But the farther one gets from the human realm, the harder it becomes to return, and the harder it becomes to move forward..."

"..."

Having no relevant experience, he could only tell Hu Ma what he had heard from others, but he stopped mid-sentence.

He tentatively asked, "Then just now, did you see your fate clearly?"

Hu Ma took a deep breath and said, "Fate is the space that this vast and mysterious world gives you."

"How many steps you can take in this world, how much wealth you can earn, when you are born, when you die, your lifespan, your blessings, your destiny, how much weight you carry, all are predetermined..."

Lao Suanpan's expression grew even more horrified, and he whispered, "Human fate is like a shadow. I have heard that said before..."

"The heavens and earth are mysterious, everything is predetermined. Humans calculate the heavens, and the heavens calculate humans."

But at this moment, Hu Ma did not answer him. He was lost in the terror brought by that single glance.

At the same time, he understood what the people from the Dao Zai Men (Bandit Disaster Sect) had told him before.

When a person retreats one step back onto the bridge, they can look at their earthly self. It's like the blazing sun shining on "oneself," and the shadow cast is one's trajectory, one's fate in this world. That's why there's the saying "human fate is like a shadow."

But why...

...did he see three shadows in that one glance?

One real and two illusory, like maggots on a bone, intertwined and entangled.

It was as if... they were stitched together!

An intangible panic crowded his heart, almost overflowing.

Lao Suanpan, outside the carriage window, thought that Hu Ma would no longer ask him anything and was about to slip away when he suddenly heard Hu Ma's hoarse voice from inside the carriage asking, "You said, killing oneself to seize fate from heaven and earth, what exactly is that method?"

Lao Suanpan's heart trembled. He became worried and instinctively didn't want to tell Hu Ma.

But in the end, he lacked the courage. He slowly explained, "Life and death are predetermined. People are born according to fate and should die according to fate. Back in Guazhou, that old master Yan used pills to extend his life, all to seize fate from heaven and earth."

"But he ultimately sought external things and fell to the lower ranks. In the eyes of outsiders, he was a joke. What if he hadn't taken the pills, but relied on his own abilities to break through this realm?"

"..."

Hu Ma couldn't help but be stunned and said, "But he lived for nearly a hundred years and was already at the point of death."

"You and I are the same."

Lao Suanpan said in a low voice, "People have a natural lifespan, and they have accidental deaths. Originally, dying of old age was the proper end, but today, the heavens and earth have changed. Accidental deaths are also counted, attracting the attention of the unseen and calculating your fate."

"So, if you can first enter the Zhongyin (Intermediate Shade) to attract the calculations of the unseen and then forcibly return to the yang world, seizing fate for yourself, compared to the art of going onto the bridge, one is about evasion, the other is about changing, but the goal is the same: to take one more step."

"However... this method is difficult. You can't fake it. You have to face a real killing intent to deceive the heavens and earth."

"..."

"Enter the Zhongyin, change the unseen..."

Hu Ma listened to his explanation, and the more he heard, the more familiar it sounded. He suddenly realized, "The method you're talking about, how is it so similar to the Meng family's method?"

Lao Suanpan saw that he had recognized it and nodded with a bitter smile, saying in a low voice, "There are many different methods of cultivation in the world. But if you were to talk about which one is the most reliable, it would be the Meng family."

"The Meng family's methods are unorthodox, but they have to rely on the most evil and filthy ancestor to carry them on their backs, which makes them extremely demanding of their own cultivation. With other methods, Fulinger is the easiest, but with this method of cultivation, there can be no mistakes."

"The Da Luo Fa Jiao's (Great Luo Dharma Sect) method of walking the Yang Pass is borrowed from various sects, and the most borrowed from is precisely the Meng family's method!"

"..."

"..."

Hu Ma did not interrupt; he listened patiently. His heart was surging like a stormy sea.

In addition to the shock in his heart, he immediately stopped the conversation, not mentioning that he not only understood the Meng family's methods but had even obtained the key to them.

He carefully compared what Lao Suanpan had said about the Zhongyin fate-seizing method, carefully comparing the differences, and his heart gradually began to pound.

He was naturally wary of the Da Luo Dharma Sect's methods, but now, listening to it, he couldn't find any flaws.

Caught in this dilemma, he pondered carefully inside the carriage. The others continued to drive forward, and before they knew it, the sun was setting in the west. In front of them, they heard the sound of gongs and drums filling the air.

A scout came to report that the surrounding area was under attack by soldiers, and many villages had been abandoned. Only one village ahead was still inhabited, and they were celebrating a wedding with much fanfare. All passing guests were welcome to join the feast.

Miao Shan Xiangu, having been in the carriage all day, was tired and wanted to stop to rest. At this moment, Xiao Douguan (Little Bean Official) poked his head out and said, "Aunt, in this time of war and chaos, who would be putting on such a grand feast?"

"And I see dark winds rolling and blood Qi soaring ahead. It may be that demons are causing trouble!"

"..."

Miao Shan Xiangu said, "Then what do you suggest? The Hierarch is tired after traveling all day."

Xiao Douguan pondered for a moment and then said, "There's only one road, and they're blocking it. We're escorting a spirit, so we can't retreat, or the deceased will easily harm the residence. Let's go straight ahead!"

"They're playing music and drums, and we'll play music and drums too. We'll raise our white banners. When they see that we're holding a funeral, they might let us pass!"

"..."

Miao Shan Xiangu agreed and gave the order. The servants were already prepared, so they each took out white linen cloths from their pockets and wrapped them around their heads. Some took out suonas, drums, and gongs, and began to play.

Just as the sunset glow faded behind the mountains, a dazzling red light appeared in front, while here, there was a scene of pale white and music. Both sides played music, one celebrating, the other mourning, gradually approaching each other.