175 - Symposium on Planning an Exodus

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“So, what does come next?” Qin Yun asked.

The old man couldn't hide his surprise. He stared at Qin Yun, looking slightly bewildered, but his expression quickly faded back to neutral.

"I didn't think you'd be so receptive to other people's opinions. Last I checked, people like you usually march to the beat of their own drums. At least, that was how all the others were. No matter how I tried to warn them, they never believed me. Can you believe that?"

"Easily," Qin Yun replied, looking slightly exasperated. "Who'd believe someone that suspicious? You like to talk a lot, but really, you don't say much. There are so many inconsistencies here, making it hard to believe anything you say."

“Like what?”

"The books, for one. I understand you had to leave quickly, but that doesn't explain why you left so many books behind. If it was up to me, I would have taken them all. It's not like you don't have the means to take them with you."

“Oh, that’s simple. I just couldn’t. Did you forget I also left that here?”

The old man pointed toward the imprisoned black box. His meaning was clear. The man probably felt he couldn't take all those items without access to his storage, yet he forgot one simple fact.

"That's not the only storage method this world possesses. What about storage rings? Surely, they existed even back then. You could have easily taken everything and then some."

“True. That could have worked, but only cultivators can use them. You need great mastery over the Dao of Space to create them, then mastery over qi to access them. I possessed neither, and even if I did, she could revoke access to qi whenever she wanted. She is the administrator of this world, remember? I could have designed my own storage, but that would have taken resources away from my own research. It just wasn't worth it."

"Wait!" Qin Yun exclaimed, raising a palm to the old man, if only unconsciously. "Are you insinuating you weren't a cultivator? How's that possible? For one, it should have been easy to become one, even if you weren't born with a spiritual root. Also, if you weren't, then how are you still alive? It's been god knows how long since this place became abandoned. Did you find another way to become immortal?"

"Hardly," the man shrugged. "Besides, I'm not insinuating anything. Why would I want to become a cultivator in the first place? I had no intention of becoming anyone's slave. I thought that was clear when you discovered I had escaped from this world. Unless..."

The old smiled, and once again, this smile was much too creepy for Qin Yun’s taste. It’s not as if he felt afraid of the man, for he was merely a residual echo left behind by a man long gone. Even if he possessed malice toward him, Qin Yun knew there was little he could do at this point besides maybe misleading him with his words.

No, what honestly frustrated Qin Yun was how much amusement the man derived from their seemingly innocuous conversation, almost as if he was treated as a fool. He usually wouldn't care, but coming from this man, it couldn't help but rub him the wrong way.

“Wait,” the man added, looking rather smug. “Do you not know what spiritual roots truly are? Are you really one of us? Have you become so jaded that you never even bothered to investigate and just went along with it?”

"It's not like I had a choice. I was born with one," Qin Yun shrugged. "Besides, I did investigate, but even within the records of my clan, there wasn't much to be found. My ancestors did try to uncover the mysteries of cultivation, but the closer they approached the answer, the further it seemed to flee. My guess is that something was preventing the answer from being known, most likely the one above. It doesn't take a genius to know that if something is purposely hidden, it can't be anything good. I do have some ideas as to what it could be. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that you intend to shed some light on it."

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. She really doesn't like people snooping into her business. Oh well, you'll find out sooner or later, and when you do, I wonder if you'll regret taking this path. I just hope I'll be there to see what your choice is."

Qin Yun’s eyebrow rose slightly, feeling the old man’s words were needlessly cryptic but also over the top. More and more, Qin Yun felt that the man had gotten a kick out of this overblown performance. How bored could he be?

“Back to your question. The answer is much simpler than you might believe. I just didn’t have the means to take them all with me. It’s a shame, really. Years of research are contained within those tomes. I hope you’ll take good care of them.”

The old man's gaze grew gentle as he spoke of those books. For the first time, Qin Yun felt this expression was genuine and not just another performance meant to elicit something from him or guide him toward a preordained conclusion. He felt human, much more than he had felt before.

"Sure, why not?" Qin Yun replied. "They'll probably come in useful, but that begs another question: if I'm not the first to reach this place, how come the others haven't taken them along? That's what I would have done in their place. I would have ransacked this place until nothing remained. Why leave knowledge behind, especially if it could help them in their exodus?"

“Not all were scholars; even fewer were able to think rationally. Do you think it's normal to be concerned about knowledge when stuck past the edge of the world? All they had on their minds was quickly escaping from here and returning to the surface. Can you blame them?"

“Manipulating them must have been easy, wasn’t it? Show them just a glimpse of hope, a way out of this place, and you could have them eating out of the palm of your hand. I’m sure you must have enjoyed it.”

“How cynical. Do you think so little of me?” the old man shrugged, yet his expression did little to disprove Qin Yun’s words. “I never lied to any of them. The way out I gave them was real. They were simply found lacking. Maybe you’ll do better.”

"Oh, really? Why not enlighten me and let me decide for myself? Maybe then I'll think better of you, but let's be upfront: What's the catch?"

“There's no catch," the man sighed, yet it felt too theatrical for Qin Yun's taste. "What would I have to gain? What could you possibly offer me? You've seen this place. What do you think I lack? Besides, I'm just a copy, remember? The real me is already long gone for this realm. Even if you had something I wanted, there would be no way for me to give it to him. If anything, I've been forced to take this role, guiding those sent here out of this place. The real me did something to get on her nerves, and he thought doing so might quell her anger, though I doubt it. She's quite moody, and I don't blame her. Have you seen the state of this world?"

Qin Yun didn't really believe what the man said. Something in his tone made him seem quite untrustworthy, yet he barely made an effort to hide it. He should have known that Qin Yun would have been suspicious, but it was almost as if he didn't care.

"Alright, out with it. Let's see what this solution of yours is."

The man smiled, and it was one of the few times since he had met him that the man’s smile didn’t creep out Qin Yun. It felt much more genuine than all the other smiles he had demonstrated.

"It's simple, really. There are two ways out of this place: a short, dangerous one and a long, dangerous one. Which one to choose is up to you."

"Really, now, that doesn't seem like much of a choice. Why pick the long one when both are dangerous?"

“Well, the danger is relative. Both are dangerous because no matter which one you choose, your probability of survival is zero. No one ever made it out of either one, despite the longer one being objectively safer."

Qin Yun's eyes narrowed slightly, and he couldn't see any signs of deception from the man—at least, not more than usual. He pondered for a while longer, then finally sighed.

“Let’s hear it,” he said. “Start with the shorter one.”

“It’s simple. I assume you’ve seen the shape of this world. It’s depicted on the main door of this manor.”

“I saw. A massive lotus, right? We’re on one of the leaves making up the lotus platform.”

“Good. Ever thought of what lay beneath this leaf?”

“Huh?”

Qin Yun’s surprise came like a wrecking ball, so much so that he could barely stop the sound from escaping his mouth. His expression shifted slightly, only to swiftly return to normal, yet he couldn’t hide it from the old man.

The thought had never crossed Qin Yun's mind, and only now did he realize that it should have. He knew that the world possessed an edge long ago, and now that he had fallen from the Western Domain, he had realized the actual shape of the world. Still, this leaf was just like the petal he called his home. There should be an edge, just like before.

When he stared into the black abyss back then, Qin Yun had thought this was just an ocean of corruption, spilling onto the world like tides. Yet, now that he was deep below the world he knew, he realized that corruption was more like a cloud floating all around them. This cloud seemed to cling to physical matter, changing its essence and distorting it.

If this land is the world's lowest point but also possesses an edge, what could be beyond it?

Qin Yun’s expression shifted, becoming smitten with the unknown. There was glee in his eyes, almost like a child who had been told they were going to tour a candy factory with an all-you-can-eat policy. This change—unfortunately—didn’t go unnoticed.

“I must say, you are the first to make such an expression. Usually, people would show dread at such a thing.”

The man shook his head, yet his smile remained.

“So,” Qin Yun coughed twice, trying to hide his embarrassment. “How does that relate to the way to leave this place. I have to go up, not down.”

“But what if down is up, and up is down?”

“You’re not making any sense.”

“Does this world?”

“—Not really,” Qin Yun had to agree. There were much more peculiar things than space blending into each other, losing all traces of direction. “So, you mean—”

“Exactly!” the old man exclaimed with a smirk. “My theory is that if someone were to fall from the edge, they would suddenly find themselves teleported into the sky above a different leaf.”

“Theory?” Qin Yun frowned.

"You experienced it yourself, didn't you? Did you see land below you before you fell? You didn't, right? And yet, you still arrived here. What else could it be if not for some sort of space manipulation? Besides, even if this leaf was below where you fell, you'd accumulate so much velocity that no matter how I tried to break your fall, all that would remain of you would be just a splatter in the core of a large crater."

“You make a good point,” Qin Yun said as he pondered, yet this was not enough for him to gamble his life on. Besides, there was an important detail the old man had yet to address.

“How would you know which petal next you’d find yourself on?” Qin Yun asked.

"Who knows? I'd assume it's random, or she's dictating it. There's nothing you can do for the latter, but in the case of the former, you'd just have to repeat until you find the right one. Easy, right?"

“You’re insane,” Qin Yun rolled his eyes. “Did anyone ever choose that option?”

“Sadly, no. They were all too much of a coward.”

“Gee, I wonder why?”

Qin Yun couldn't imagine anyone in their right mind ever going for it.

“Let’s just shelve it for now. What’s my other option?” Qin Yun asked, not holding up much hope for it after hearing the first.

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