229 Thus We Shall Perceive Them Part Two

Thousands of years ago, there was no such thing as the seventeen monoliths ofthe front mausoleum. When they suddenly appeared, naturally there would be somesort of meaning behind it. What Chen Changsheng sought to do was to find thismeaning. Of course he had already realized that this meaning most likely had todo with the missing Heavenly Tome Monolith. It had long since disappeared andhe was incapable of finding it. Yet he knew that his process of deciphering themonoliths was not satisfactory. If he did not even attempt to find that missingportion, then the hole in his heart would never be filled. This was a situationthat was unbearable to him.   Reflecting Monolith, Cloud Piercing Monolith, Bent Osmanthus Monolith, RiverGuiding Monolith, Fowl Language Monolith, East Pavilion Monolith… the seventeenmonoliths of the front mausoleum simultaneously appeared before his eyes. In the center of his field of vision was the Reflecting Monolith, while theother sixteen monoliths orbited it as he attempted to piece them all together.It was just that those monolith inscriptions were too abstruse and complex.Those lines were too inexplicable and incomprehensible. Between lines, therewas not a single natural connection, and between marks there was no interveningmark to be found. No matter how he combined, he could find no signs that thesemonolith inscriptions were originally one. He even had a feeling that even if that broken monolith had been restored andhe had been able to read its inscription, he still would not be able to put themonolith inscriptions together. For several hundreds of years, no one had been able to realize the profoundmysteries of the seventeen monoliths of the front mausoleum, or perhaps it hadalready shown that all his efforts were futile. He serenely sat outside themonolith hut. At some point, his eyes closed. The seventeen Heavenly TomeMonoliths swiftly moved through his sea of consciousness, combining in allsorts of ways. They did not pause, causing his spiritual sense to be consumedfaster and faster, and his face became paler and paler. Outside the Mausoleum of Books, the world was similarly quiet. Of the lightsof the innumerable houses of the capital, more than half had been extinguished.Only the mansions of the aristocracy, as well as the two important places ofthe Imperial Palace and Li Palace, were still brightly lit. Chen Changsheng’sdetermination to comprehend the monoliths of the front mausoleum again causedmany people to be extremely shocked. It prompted ridicule, and it also madesome people unable to sleep. Time slowly but steadily passed. The vast sky of brilliant stars graduallygrew dimmer. Once the darkness had passed, the light of dawn once again rose,brightening the earth. Unconsciously, Chen Changsheng had spent the entirenight sitting in front of the monolith hut. There were many people within andoutside the mausoleum that had also stayed there for the entire night waitingfor him. With the slight warmth of the morning light, the monolith viewers began toarrive from the mountain path one by one. When they saw Chen Changsheng sittinginside, eyes closed, and not saying a word, each of their expressions weredifferent. Perhaps it was admiration, perhaps it was ridicule, and some evenhad a sense of absolution that was hard to describe. Last night’s circumstanceswere special, so Nian Guang was able to turn away all monolith viewers, butthat could not be kept up forever, and thus the area around the forestgradually began to liven up. Some people shook their heads at Chen Changsheng before proceeding to theirown monoliths. Some people decided to purposely stay around the monolith hutjust to see what Chen Changsheng would be able to comprehend. They took joy inhis suffering as they thought back to how yesterday, Chen Changsheng had seenthe entire front mausoleum and could clearly have departed with confidence.However, he had chosen to stay which was as if he had taken a rock and brokenhis own legs with it. The people living in the grass hut also came over. Tang Thirty-Six carried apot of porridge. It was clear this scion of Wenshui Tangs, born with a goldenspoon in his mouth, had never done a day of housework in his life. He drippedporridge the entire way, even dropping quite a bit of it on to his shoes. Heseemed somewhat battered and exhausted. Zhexiu brought along some side dishesand steamed buns, while Qi Jian carried bowls and chopsticks. Chen Changsheng opened his eyes, took the bowl of porridge, and with a word ofthanks to Qi Jian, he began to eat. He ate two bowls of porridge, then ate a steamed bun accompanied with somepickled tofu. At this point, he felt full enough, so he put his chopsticks down. Tang Thirty-Six saw his clearly pale face and worriedly asked, “Won’t you eatsome more, or how else will you keep pushing forward?” Chen Changsheng replied, “Eating too much makes it easier to get sleepy.” Tang Thirty-Six frowned. “Although I’m not clear just what the hell you’retrying to comprehend, since you insist on it, I know there’s no way to persuadeyou otherwise, but don’t tell me you really plan on doing this with no sleep?” Off to the side, Gou Hanshi said nothing. He knew that the reason why ChenChangsheng was in a rush was because the day which the Garden of Zhou openedgrew closer and closer. Zhexiu offered a wet towel to Chen Changsheng. The towel had been soaked in a creek, so it was very cold. Chen Changshengforcefully rubbed it on his face and felt his energy restored somewhat. He toldthe group, “You guys don’t have to worry about me.” Saying these words, he once again closed his eyes. Although he had closed his eyes, Gou Hanshi and the others knew that he wasstill viewing the monoliths. Perhaps this method did not hurt the eyes, butrather injured the spirit. The morning birds flew out to welcome the rising sun, shaking the dew fromtheir wings and feathers. Around the monolith hut, silence was restored. Itseemed that all the people had already left. Eyes closed and legs crossed, Chen Changsheng sat before the monolith hut andcontinued to attempt to comprehend the monoliths. Time flowed by. Noiselessly, noon arrived, and then dusk, the twilight dense. Today, the capital was as peaceful as the Mausoleum of Books. Within the LiPalace, the archbishops were in no mood to pay attention to the reports fromtheir subordinates. In the Imperial Court, the chancellors had no mind to useon government affairs. The speed at which Mo Yu read through memorials hadcritically decreased. The Divine Empress brought the black goat on a slowstroll through the Palace of Great Brilliance, thinking about something oranother. In one day, the Pope watered that Green Leaf seven times. Those who did not know, who did not understand, viewed Chen Changsheng’sactions as entertainment, or the topic of idle chatter. Those who knew of how Zhou Dufu had comprehended the monoliths, who understoodthe inside story of the Mausoleum of Books, were anxiously waiting forsomething to happen, or not happen. Up until this point, that something had not occurred yet. Within Chen Changsheng’s field of vision, or perhaps his sea of consciousness,the seventeen Heavenly Tome Monoliths formed countless combinations andpermutations. Although he had not exhausted all the possibilities, he hadalready exhausted an enormous amount of effort and consumed an innumerableamount of spirit. Regretfully, he had still not found what he was looking for.To him, the world was still missing something. Suddenly, he had a flash of insight. He no longer attempted to assemble theseventeen monoliths together. To be precise, he no longer attempted to put themonoliths on the same plane together . Instead, he organized the seventeenmonoliths into a straight line. In front of him was the Reflecting Monolith, behind that was Cloud PiercingMonolith, and behind that was the Bent Osmanthus Monolith. In succession, hearranged them into a straight line. Then he thought to himself, only the monolith inscriptions were needed. Hence, the bodies of the seventeen monoliths disappeared, only leaving thoseinexplicably complex lines. The seventeen layers of monolith inscriptions, from near to far, hoveredbefore his eyes. His vision could see through the monolith inscriptions of the ReflectingMonolith and see the inscriptions of the other sixteen monoliths behind it. When these inscriptions were superimposed one in front of the other, theyformed a brand new, never seen before, impossible to imagine design. He looked at this design, and was astonished. In the seventeen monoliths of the front mausoleum, the farther back they were,the simpler and more orderly they seemed. The lines when superimposed seemed tobecome more orderly the farther back they were. Perhaps the thing that hewanted to find was concealed within? However, the lines on the Reflecting Monolith were already exceedinglycomplicated. Although the lines on the monolith behind it were relativelysimpler, they were still complex and incomprehensible, but if they weresuperimposed into a single design, their complexity was multiplied by severaltimes. Relying on a human’s mental strength alone, one would never be able todecipher it. Even if they only tried, they would still encounter problems. Chen Changsheng only glanced at it, his spiritual sense barely stimulated, andhe found it absolutely unbearable. His sea of consciousness shook in unrest anda sharp pain came from his stomach. He spit out blood, wetting his shirt. From the ever peaceful, seemingly deserted, surroundings of the monolith camea cry of alarm. So as not to affect Chen Changsheng, those people had forced the volume oftheir cries down. Chen Changsheng’s eyes were still closed, so he was unable to take in thesituation. In addition, his mind was fixed completely on that unfathomablycomplex design, so he did not notice their cries. He only needed a glance to understand that the design could not becomprehended through human powers. He inwardly said to himself: A little simpler. These three words were not meant for that design, but for himself. In the sea of consciousness of a cultivator, if one saw the world a certainway, the world would change to match what one imagined. He forcefully curbed his spirit. Relying only on his mindset, which was calmbeyond his years, as well as his spiritual sense whose suppleness even movedthe Divine Empress, he once again looked upon the design. He no longer attempted to arrange and calculate those lines, and just simplylooked at it. In response, that design also became somewhat simpler. Within that design, he saw countless scribblings of children, saw countlesscharacters, saw countless songs and poems, saw countless ink paintings, saw thebeautifully arranged and built buildings of the Li Palace, saw the OrthodoxAcademy’s great banyan tree, saw the high mountains wreathed in clouds, and sawthe three thousand classics of the Daoist Canon. Everything that existed in this world also existed in that design. However, it was still not enough. It was still too much, still too complex. Chen Changsheng silently said to himself: Even simpler then. He forgot the three thousand classics of the Daoist Canon, which he hadstudied since he was young, forgot the songs and poems that he had previouslyseen, forgot that he had once been to the Li Palace, forgot that he had onceclimbed that great banyan tree, and with Luo Luo by his side watched the sunset over the capital with satisfaction, forget all the characters that he hadlearned. He forgot everything about everything. This sort of forgetfulness was obviously not true forgetfulness; it was only aself-imposed isolation of the mind. Only in this way would he be able to ask himself a single question. If he was an illiterate child who saw the lines of this design, what would hethink? These were traces. These were traces of flowing water. These were the traces of clouds. These were the traces left behind by a flock of geese as they flew through theblue sky. Whatever walks must leave behind traces…no, that is something invented inessays and consolation when feeling sore. When snow geese fly through the sky, not leaving behind a single trace. Thelines of snow were really only an image to the eye. Just what were these lines pointing at and indicating? What the lines of snow were pointing at and indicating were the snow geese atthe very front of the line. What these lines pointed at and indicated was the end of the line. If there is no end, then the line must have intersected somewhere. Even simpler. Chen Changsheng stared at the incomparably complex design, and repeated thesewords to himself. Seventeen monoliths superimposed themselves before his eyes. The bodies of the monoliths were the first to disappear. Then the lines disappeared. More and more lines continued to disappear before his eyes, slowly,ceaselessly disappearing. More and more empty space, before his eyes, slowly, ceaselessly appeared. The seventeen monoliths had completely disappeared. The lines on the monolithhad also disappeared. A new design had been born. It was a countless number of isolated points. Chen Changsheng was sure that he had never seen this design before. Yet for some reason, he felt that the design was very familiar.