Chapter 77: Reflection In The Water
“What will the bird see flying over the water? Yeluo.”
In Scholar Heide’s study room, the warm fireplace burned as he inquired of the student copying books on one side.
“It will see the fish and water plants in the water, is that right, teacher?” Yeluo looked up and inquired.
“Not just that, it will also see its own shadow.” Scholar Heide coughed lightly, covering his mouth with a towel.
“Teacher.” Yeluo put down his pen, walked over, and patted Scholar Heide’s back in his place.
“Hoo… I’m fine, let’s continue the earlier topic.” Scholar Heide raised his hand.
“Just as the bird flying over the water will see its own shadow, when the seven continents float on the Twilight Sea, do you think there will be shadows?”
“This, there should be shadows.” Yeluo nodded.
“Then what form do you think these shadows will take?” Scholar Heide looked up at his last formal student.
“Since they are shadows, their outline and shape should be similar to the continents, right.” Yeluo pondered.
“Yes, and not just ordinarily similar, but like a complete photocopy of another continent.” Scholar Heide answered with a cough.
“Do you know why I never say I recommend you go to the Secluded Forest?”
“Because my talent is not enough.” Yeluo answered calmly, as he had long recognized this.
“If it were merely a matter of talent not being enough, it wouldn’t change the benefits of that choice. Those nobles would surely send all their children to the Secluded Forest to learn powerful secret arts.” Scholar Heide shook his head.
“But you also know, most nobles don’t do that; they even refuse to let their children enter the Secluded Forest.”
“Why… is that?” Yeluo became serious.
“Because the Secluded Forest is not in any place on the continent, but in the shadows beneath our continent.” Scholar Heide exerted all his strength to say this.
“That place is a space drowned by the Twilight Sea, a filthy sea where countless monsters are born, a desperate situation where twisted nature constantly erodes and spreads.”
“If that’s the case, then why arrange it in that place?” Yeluo felt there was some reason behind it.
“Yes, that’s right. That place is filthy, but in some sense, it is also a place with many precious resources.” Scholar Heide sighed.
“In the Seventh Epoch, an alien star descended, piercing the earth. Many paradises sank into the depths of the Twilight Sea. The seven continents we live on now are just a small part of the world back then.”
“Those worlds that sank into the depths of the Twilight Sea became breeding grounds for monsters and gave birth to many things we do not understand. Some of those things have been analyzed by certain schools and can be utilized.”
“To facilitate research and to draw those resources, they established outposts in the Shadow World in the depths of the Twilight Sea, with many personnel stationed there permanently.”
“If the Twilight Sea is an unknown sandy area where no one knows what lies buried beneath, then the shadows of the seven continents drifting across the sky are like nets filtering the sand. Certain things will be drawn in when the shadows cover the area; that is the origin of the monsters in the Shadow World.”
“Why the first trial to go to the Secluded Forest is always to find something: that is to select students with search abilities.”
“Why the second trial to go to the Secluded Forest is always to defeat enemies of the same tier: that is because one will always encounter various monsters in the Shadow World.”
“Why the third trial to go to the Secluded Forest is to obtain something amid myriad difficulties: that is because those rare resources are always so hard to obtain.”
“If your strength is not enough, going there is just sending yourself to death. Now you understand my difficulties, right? Cough cough.” Scholar Heide coughed again.
“I understand. I’m sorry, teacher.” Yeluo stroked Scholar Heide’s back again.
“Why tell me suddenly today.” In fact, he had never thought of going to the Secluded Forest.
“Why…” Scholar Heide looked at the falling snow outside the window, his gaze deeply lost in memories.
“Probably because I don’t want there to be some kind of regret and misunderstanding anymore.”
“I rarely tell you about my youth, but now I can say it.”
“Once, I was very much like you, both the type of student who yearned especially for the ‘Secret Word’ path—or rather, pursued knowledge very much—but our talents were both quite average.”
“That’s right, my talent wasn’t good either. Back then, I could only envy watching the smart students in my class easily learn one piece of knowledge and secret art after another.”
“But everyone says you were a genius in your youth, achieving success very early.” Yeluo shook his head.
“That’s the later impression, silly child.” Heide shook his head.
“At eighteen or nineteen, I was unknown and utterly ignored.”
“I had only one friend, named Jerry. We two always encouraged each other, communicated about our studies, even lived together long-term, sharing a house.”
“Unable to enter the Secluded Forest and unable to gain the favor of those major organizations, we two could only find some fringe methods—or rather, very foolish methods.”
“The Candle Fort School has several channels for recruiting formal members; from the Secluded Forest is just one of them.”
“If I assisted ‘Candle Keep’ in collecting and compiling certain materials, I could become their peripheral member, then step by step accumulate various contributions until, at some point, they recognized and accepted me.”
“Jerry and my plan was to take this path. Doesn’t it sound a lot like your current idea?” A nostalgic smile appeared at the corner of Scholar Heide’s mouth.
“Back then, I ate just a little bread each day, drank well water, ran around everywhere, investigated local conditions, read inquired with locals about past events, then recorded and organized them one by one.”
“Such work was especially tedious and dull. Famous scholars were too lazy to waste precious energy on it; only we low-tier peripheral members did it.”
“Jerry and I ran to many places: into the mountains, by rivers, even into the underground sewers in the city, seeking certain recorded things.”
“Those days were very busy but also exceptionally fulfilling, especially watching contribution points slowly accumulate, just like seeing our bright future.”
“It took about seven years, but we saved up enough contribution points, then found that scholar from Candle Keep and inquired if he could formally accept us.”
“He didn’t answer directly at the time, just sneered, took out a book, and handed it to us.”
‘I know you two harbor great hopes, but please consider the organization’s face. This is a precious book explaining how to advance. When you become ‘Third Order Secret Word’ someday, come talk to me then.’
“Our hopes were dashed. That book was good, but not suitable for people like us with insufficient talent.”
“Jerry and I wandered the streets in despair, then went to the bar and drank a lot.”
“By then we were nearing thirty, but still stuck at ‘First Order’, having wasted a lot of energy running around everywhere and not saved resources to cultivate advancement.”
“We were nothing, we mocked ourselves, then the two of us wandered the streets, sleeping in alleys.”
“After that, we no longer passionately traveled and investigated, but focused on raising our own nature tiers.”
“Perhaps years of travel and visits gave me especially deep understanding of the ‘Secret Word’ nature. When I truly focused on it, I achieved effects previously unimaginable.”
“Soon, I advanced to ‘Second Order Secret Word’; I had just turned thirty then.”
“This achievement wasn’t genius-level, but it counted as a minor talent in the area, so I gained a bit of modest fame and secured a job under the previous Viscount Xue Feng.”
Perhaps achieving progress gave me considerable confidence and hope. I began to have thoughts about the once-fanciful ‘Third Order Secret Word’. I decided to continue imitating my past experiences, traveling to investigate ideas, and set about writing my travelogue.
“At this time, Jerry found me. He was astonished by my advancement and asked me for the method. I generously told him everything and wished him to advance as early as I had.”
“After receiving my full instruction, Jerry was very grateful. He also decided to continue traveling like me.”
“Thus, we occasionally exchanged letters and sometimes met up in some place.”
“After a few years, Jerry finally stepped into ‘Second Order Secret Word’. We were especially happy and celebrated specially.”
“Originally, I thought our friendship would deepen because of this, as we were again at the same stage.” Scholar Heide sighed with emotion.
“I began writing a new book, and he was also interested, often coming over to look at my progress, wanting to learn from it.”
“Of course, he was my best friend; what reason did I have to refuse him?”
“So I generously told him my sources of inspiration, the entire framework and ideas of the book, and the origins of all the materials.”
“But later, what happened later, you should have some inkling.”
“I did not advance to ‘Third Order Secret Word’; something unexpected must have happened in between. As I said before, I trusted him too much, and in the end it led to tragedy.”
“He took my work and published it first, soon gaining Candle Keep’s recognition.”
“At that time, his advancement was imminent, and Candle Keep saw him as a prospective member, treating him with special enthusiasm and care.”
“I was filled with resentment but helpless; after all, I had no way to prove it was something I created first.”
“The whole process was known only to us two, and I had already told him everything about the book’s origins.”
“I was heartbroken for a long time and prepared to leave this land, but unexpectedly, the first thing he did after advancing was to have me arrested, falsely accusing me of plagiarizing his work.”
“Such a charge was enough to keep me in prison for decades. I couldn’t understand why he did that.”
“Because he had already taken everything of mine, and I had no ability to take it back.”
“Much later, he told me the reason: because I was his only stain, the person who knew his past experiences. If he wanted to live a stable and peaceful life, I could not live.”
“It was all too late. In prison, I was tortured to near death by the people he arranged, never to see the sun again.”
“Originally, I had given up and planned to commit suicide in despair when the previous Viscount Xue Feng had someone bail me out of the big prison, finally giving me a chance to vent my grievances.”
“He knew the entire creation process of the book, had the inspirations and materials memorized fluently, but those places were ones I had run to after all. Local testimonies and my records in bars and inns ultimately cleared my name.”
“I was exonerated; he lost everything, not even as good as an ordinary person.”
“That day, as he was exiled away, I sat with him again in the same horse carriage and inquired about his experiences and state of mind over the years.”
“He told me that actually, at first he didn’t want to do this, because I had helped him a lot.”
“But he envied my imminent achievements too much, longed too much to gain the same success, and I trusted him too completely, letting that ambition and desire grow unchecked.”
‘I originally thought that learning your method would achieve the same results as you, so I went ahead full of hope.’
‘In fact, it was a joke of fate; I could never be like you.’
‘Others’ success can never be replicated. I merely labored to approach, only to be cast aside again. I shouldn’t have held such hopes and ideas; that early hope ultimately became the most bitter and painful thing, keeping one awake all night.’
‘Heide, you misunderstood me. You thought our talents were really the same? No, you were far more sincere and steadfast, and I also misunderstood myself, because I actually believed that by learning the method, I could replicate someone else’s achievements.’
‘People are different and possess no reference value whatsoever.’
“After Jerry was exiled, he died in the Hot Rain Marsh the next year. It’s said the mosquitoes there are especially ferocious.” Scholar Heide slowly set down his cup.
“Now, you know my past. Do you still plan to imitate me and travel to various places for investigation?”
“I will go, teacher.” Yeluo’s voice remained unchanged, even more determined.
“Why, you child.” Scholar Heide’s gaze became kindly.
“It’s not imitating teacher’s past method; it’s that I have understood my own determination.”
“I don’t know how you achieved success back then, but I saw another kind of calm hope in you.”
“That is to firmly pursue what one loves, watching it accumulate bit by bit, which is enough to soothe the unease and regrets in one’s heart.”
“Results without the process are ultimately fleeting. You’ve taught me similar truths, haven’t you.”
“I don’t want to wait until your age, sitting in a room recalling things I didn’t pursue wholeheartedly in my youth.”
“If I am destined not to succeed, then let me give it my all. Only then can I abandon it with peace of mind.”
“Give it my all…” Scholar Heide shook his head slightly.
At the end of giving one’s all, where is it? All the way to the end of life…
But at this moment, he wouldn’t say more, just as if the current him went back to the past to advise his twenty-something self, he couldn’t change the state of mind and ideas back then.
People ultimately live better with a little less regret.
