Chapter 108: Summary and Synthesis

The moonlight streaming in from the windowsill illuminated Shangguan Chuci’s delicate face, which bore a faint seriousness born of deep contemplation, making it glow like polished jade.

After a moment of silence, she gently closed the white jade folding fan in her hand, turned to Lu Chenyuan, and spoke with measured grace:

“Brother Lu, why don’t I take the lead in organizing all these perplexing questions here first, and then we can discuss them more clearly? What do you think?”

No sooner had she spoken than, without waiting for Lu Chenyuan’s reply, she proceeded with clear and orderly reasoning:

“First, is your karma from a past life truly tied to that ‘Sinful Immortal’ who severed the boundary between the mortal and the divine? This matter is critical, as it lies at the root of all these mysteries and must be prioritized.”

“Second, if that is true, then why did you commit such a world-shaking act three thousand years ago? Does the current chaos—the rampant corruption and the murky flood—have any intricate connection to the sword you wielded back then?”

She raised a slender jade finger as she continued:

“Third, cultivation—is it merely an illusion? Is this a baseless speculation of ours, or is it a truth long buried for three millennia beneath the vast heavens?”

“Fourth, what is the link between the indescribable demon within you and the turbid flood? And what might the bizarre birdcage scene that Lin Sishi and I just experienced signify? Do the countless doors along the corridor truly correspond to imprisoned flames of the heart?”

“That’s roughly it,” Shangguan Chuci paused slightly, smiling as she asked, “Brother Lu, is there anything you’d like to add?”

As soon as she finished, she noticed that the young man before her did not immediately respond. Instead, his gaze remained fixed on her, eyes flickering with a strange, indescribable emotion.

This sudden intensity caused an inexplicable flutter in the princess’s heart, a faint blush rising to her cheeks. She asked softly, “Brother Lu, why are you looking at me like that?”

Snapped out of his reverie, Lu Chenyuan’s face broke into a straightforward smile. He praised sincerely, “I had only thought Miss Chu was clever and resourceful, but I didn’t expect you to dissect such a complex matter with such clear and orderly logic. Thanks to your summary, my own thoughts have become much clearer. I truly admire you.”

Shangguan Chuci felt a little uneasy under his compliment.

Instinctively, she raised her fan to her lips to hide the slight upward curve of her mouth, her eyes darting away as she mumbled, “Ahem… this is just a bit of professional habit.”

In her previous life, her father had planned to pass down the business empire he built to her, so after she graduated from university, he arranged for her to manage certain company projects. Yet he forgot that the summarizing and organizing methods she took for granted were somewhat ahead of their time in this world.

Now, having habitually made that summary and even unconsciously used the tone of a presentation, she felt oddly unsure when Lu Chenyuan pointed it out.

“Does he think I’m holding a meeting for him? Might he see me as a boring workaholic?”

“Uh, maybe I’m overthinking it. He’s not a working man from another world, so he wouldn’t know what a meeting is…”

“But… he seems to like it? His eyes are sparkling. That’s kind of adorable… No, what am I thinking!”

Strangely, in her previous life, when colleagues praised her PPTs as more professional and rigorous than their master’s theses, she felt nothing. Yet now, with this casual remark, she found herself slightly delighted.

Lost in her wandering thoughts, she was startled when Lu Chenyuan spoke again:

“In my opinion, there are still two points worth adding.”

Shangguan Chuci quickly composed herself and asked, “Oh? What might those be?”

Lu Chenyuan’s expression turned serious as he said, “First, the term ‘Taiyi.’ The demon Taoist Li Zhenren once said, ‘The bustling world’s pagoda will eventually collapse; when Taiyi awakens, all laws become void.’ This sounds like nonsense, but I can’t shake the feeling that behind ‘Taiyi’ lies the key to unraveling many of our current mysteries.”

“Second, the ‘Primordial Embryo of Dao.’ Not only Li Zhenren but also the late Qian Dahai noticed something unusual about me. Li Zhenren even said, ‘When It awakens within you.’ The pronoun ‘It’ seems to correspond quite well with the ferocious creature inside me…”

“Qian Dahai knew too?” Shangguan Chuci was startled.

“Exactly. I forgot to explain this to you earlier,” Lu Chenyuan said, then recounted in detail how the Zhang merchant was coerced, how he communicated covertly with Qian Dahai in the inn using secret code, and ultimately how Lu Chenyuan apprehended him—all to help Shangguan Chuci understand.

To aid her comprehension, he took the strange black egg from his bosom and placed it on the couch.

After hearing this, Shangguan Chuci sighed softly, “I didn’t expect that Qian Dahai had his eyes on you from the very beginning. That would mean Li Zhenren must have known about your existence a long time ago.”

Lu Chenyuan sighed, “This has truly shown me the treacherous nature of the martial world’s human hearts. But it is precisely because of this that I cherish the rare connection I share with Miss Chu all the more.”

His words came sincerely from the heart. Hearing them and seeing the earnest, burning gaze directed at her, Shangguan Chuci’s heart fluttered wildly. She quickly averted her eyes and murmured, “We were talking about Qian Dahai, why does this lead back to me…”

Lu Chenyuan found her reaction amusing and laughed, “Contrast creates distinction.”

At his remark, her cheeks flushed even deeper, as if the carefully programmed emotional control system she’d devised was now wildly malfunctioning.

That uncontrollable curve of her lips was like a persistent process that couldn’t be terminated, far more troublesome than a long string of incomprehensible error codes during a computer’s blue screen.

“All right, let’s get back to the matter at hand…”

She hastily changed the subject, her gaze falling upon the black egg Lu Chenyuan had produced. She pondered aloud:

“In my view, both Li Zhenren and Qian Dahai can see your extraordinariness because both are lantern bearers—that is, they are insiders of the Dao and thus likely possess heightened perception compared to ordinary cultivators.”

“As for this black egg,” she furrowed her delicate brows, “even when I try to stir the logical fire within, I can make no sense of it.”

“The precious lamp of Envoy Lin might reveal some clues, but since it is a sacrificial relic within the demon tribe’s secret realm, it’s better not to probe it lightly, lest we inadvertently entangle ourselves in serious karmic consequences.”

Lu Chenyuan nodded, “Then I’ll keep it for now. If there’s a chance later, we’ll investigate further.”

“As for the Primordial Embryo…” Shangguan Chuci’s mind involuntarily recalled Situ’s disdainful expression when the term was mentioned. She said, “I feel this may just be a misunderstanding by those two. While your condition might share some resemblance to what they call the ‘Primordial Embryo,’ it is ultimately not the same.”

Lu Chenyuan was curious, “How do you conclude that, Miss Chu?”

“Hmm…” She lightly cleared her throat and gently fanned herself with the folding fan. “It’s just a feeling, really, no solid evidence.”

Fearing that further questioning might lead to the matter involving Situ, she quickly shifted gears and made a final summary:

“So, that means we now have three additional mysteries.”

“First, what exactly does ‘Taiyi’ refer to? Second, what is the nature of the ‘Primordial Embryo’? Third, the origin of this black egg.”

She paused, then continued:

“Of course, these are all distant concerns. The more pressing matter now is to understand what has happened in the Eastern Sea—what the changes in the merfolk and the appearance of the demon fish signify, respectively…”