Really, do you know yourself
Before Qu Zhengfeng asked this question, Jianchou thought she knew him: she was in the Xihai Zen Sect, and because her past self turned into a demon, she got the opportunity and realized the way of "I". She thought that everything from yesterday became her present self, and the me at this moment was her true self; but after Qu Zhengfeng asked this question, she opened her mouth to answer, but suddenly became speechless.
This question seems simple, but when it comes to answering it, I feel like I don't know where to start.
Qu Zhengfeng didn't urge her, he just looked up at her, with an undisguised scrutiny in his eyes.
Seeing that he was worried, his brows gradually furrowed.
After a while, she was sure: "I may not know myself, but I know myself. I know what kind of personality I have, what ambitions I have, what I want to do, and what choices I will make in different situations. If the world's people understand themselves to 60%, I should understand 80%."
This is not arrogance, but self-confidence.
When she said to the sky, "My Tao is myself," she had already surpassed countless conservative monks in this world and reached a level that ordinary people could hardly reach.
But even so, he didn't dare to say everything.
So Qu Zhengfeng burst out laughing: "You are really brave, you dare to say such a bold statement as eight points!"
"Maybe not eight points, but seven points, six points, or even five points and four points, but it's still two points more than most people in the world." Jianchou didn't mind how Qu Zhengfeng evaluated him, so he was naturally not angry. "But since His Majesty the Sword Emperor asked me this question, I guess you think you know yourself?"
"On the contrary, I know nothing about myself."
In front of him were jade plates of delicacies and cups of fine wine. Qu Zhengfeng's wide sleeves hung down a little from the table, swaying gently in the wind, which also attracted him to look at the gloomy sky outside the building in the night.
"But I know this world!"
The world is time;
World means space.
This world is this universe!
These words originally sounded light and casual from Qu Zhengfeng's mouth, just like the most common sigh uttered by countless sages since ancient times when they looked up at the stars, but they gave people a thrilling feeling!
Who dares to say—
Do you understand this world?!
Jianchou was sitting upright opposite the long desk. When he heard his question clearly, his pupils suddenly constricted and he looked at him with almost disbelief.
Qu Zhengfeng laughed out loud.
He seemed to know the waves this sentence had stirred up in Jianchou's heart. When he turned around and saw her reaction, he was also extremely calm.
"The universe is vast, and you are a human being, but you are just one of millions of people; in the world, humans are just one of millions of existences. When a person is born, he is naked and afraid of death. He seeks food when hungry and water when thirsty. If he is not given food, he cries. If he is not allowed, he makes a noise. If he is given water, he eats it without any scruples. His nature is no different from all other unintelligent creatures in the world. As he grows older, he knows that there are rules in the world, cause and effect, right and wrong. Hunger and thirst are sought from the outside, and desires arise from the heart, but he dares not violate the rules of the world. After a long time, he has the idea of good and evil, the distinction between right and wrong, and the distinction between integrity and shame. The so-called 'gentleman and saint nature' in the world overrides the desires of nature. Even if he is hungry, he will not steal food from his neighbors, and even if he dies, he will not violate the way of ethics."
When he said this, there was a hint of sarcasm in his tone.
"When people are born into this world, survival is their instinct, and stealing is not a sin. Later, they will find that stealing will come at a price, so they will use methods that conform to the rules of this world to satisfy their desires. However, there is also morality recognized by people between heaven and earth. Over time, morality will always exist in your heart, which can force you to suppress your desires, even at the cost of your life..."
One is nature, one is compromise, and one is transcendence.
"You said you know yourself 80 percent, but do you know what your nature is, what your desires are, and what constraints you are under?"
Qu Zhengfeng had been drinking for most of the night and was actually a little tipsy, but on the eve of a storm, the amount of wine was just right.
Then, he asked her meaningfully.
"Also, do you agree with the so-called righteousness and goodness, justice and morality in this world? Do you think that if one day, survival and morality conflict, you will choose to sacrifice your life and would rather die than fulfill the so-called 'morality'?"
"… "
Jianchou remained silent for a long time.
Above the tall buildings, there is not a single starlight in the high sea of tomorrow’s stars, but in this huge basin, there are still many lights on, which look sparkling and brilliant from afar.
People may be simple, but human nature is complex.
Although Qu Zhengfeng only said these words, she actually thought of a lot. In this short yet long moment, endless thoughts surged and gathered.
She immediately knew what Qu Zhengfeng really wanted to say.
He wanted to tell her that there was no justice or morality in the world. It was just because there were too many people in the world, and survival and love were the most primitive nature of all people. The needs of nature conflicted with each other, so the so-called "rules" in the world were born. In order to maintain the survival and love of most people effectively and orderly, the rules would further evolve under the impetus of people, and eventually become the so-called "justice" and "morality".
Jianchou had already vaguely felt that some things in his heart began to shake and peel off, and then something new was slowly injected into it, gradually filling the shaking and peeling gaps.
The wine cup was left on the table for a while, but she didn't move it.
But in this silent moment, she looked at it for a long time, and finally reached out her hand, picked it up, and slowly drank it.
A full-bodied wine, a little too strong.
I don't know what kind of elixir and fairy valley it was brewed from, but besides being sweet, it also has a slight bitter taste.
Wherever the wine enters the throat, it burns the area.
She didn't say until she put down the wine cup. "You want to tell me that we humans are no different from all things in the world. We are willing to live and fear death. It is only because people restrain each other that there is the so-called distinction between right and wrong, good and evil. And the right and wrong, good and evil of human beings are not the good and evil of other things in the world. The standard of human beings is not the standard for measuring all things. It is just because human beings have spirituality that they come up with countless rules in this world to restrain themselves. But the rest of the world does not have this. All they have is the nature and animality of human beings' survival and desire at the beginning of the world. In other words, you want me to put aside justice and morality and inquire about the nature and animality that have been hidden in my heart."
"As expected of someone who can successfully examine his conscience with a Tianxu body, you can understand everything at once." Qu Zhengfeng began to find it interesting because he noticed Jianchou's resistance. "But you don't seem to be willing to face your own nature, or you don't want to face your own nature in front of me?"
"Even if I have a beastly nature, it is also the time of ignorance in the past. I know I have it, but there is no need to look back. I am who I am, and all of this is my original self, my compromised self, and my extraordinary self. All the causes of the past have become me today. It's not that I don't want to face my nature, or even my beastly nature, and I won't return to the state between nature and beastly nature. The rules of the world may be a bondage, but they have penetrated my heart and engraved into my bones, and it is difficult to change them."
Jianchou stopped and thought about it, and suddenly he understood something.
“A frog in a well only knows the world at the bottom of the well. A person in this world can only know this world even if he has the ability to see through the heavens and the earth. He cannot transcend the world. It is the same for people in the human world.”
"Then don't you know it very well?" Qu Zhengfeng raised his eyebrows and looked at her with a clear and insightful look. He was very amused at this moment, "You clearly know that you have your own position. Unless you start over, you are the you of the world at this moment. You can't force it. But why do you insist on asking about right and wrong, good and evil, and truth that are different from the world?"
He picked up the wine jug, hooked it on his fingertips, and tapped it gently. After a while, Qu Zhengfeng said, "Unless you care about more than just the so-called truth in this world..."
Jianchou suddenly fell silent. After a long time, he suddenly smiled and looked back at him with a calm look in his eyes: "You asked the right question. I was indeed forcing it. I wanted to know the truth of this world, but the reason was not because of the truth itself, but because I encountered a problem and had no way to solve it. I didn't know where to go and what to do. On the one hand, I was in a situation and couldn't escape from the morals and justice of the world. On the other hand, I was trapped by human emotions and had doubts about certain truths and couldn't make a decision. In the final analysis, it was because I cared. I remember decades ago, when I was still in Yashan, I received a thunder letter by the Guihe Well. His Majesty the Sword Emperor was also there. I asked if I was afraid that the letter was from a demon? But you asked me in return, what do I think a demon is..."
"… "
At this moment, Qu Zhengfeng was the one who fell silent. His deep and cold eyes carried the majesty accumulated from dominating the starry sea over the years. He just looked at Jianchou, and after a very long time, he laughed out loud.
"So it was him..."