Chapter 55: Dreaming of a Butterfly

After thinking it over and failing to come up with anything, Zhou Yi decided to let come what may; however, he was in no rush for now. Every time he touched the Sun God Statue, an inexplicable palpitation would arise in his heart, as if he felt that something unpredictable would happen if he touched it. This was also the reason he had not dared to go near the statue for the past two months and more.

At this moment, Yingxue also returned, and she sighed softly.

"Sigh... many more people have died. It is a pity that my abilities are limited, and I cannot help more of the common folk."

As it turned out, the current Sun-Moon Continent was in the midst of war, and it was a war between multiple nations. As a Soul Beast, Yingxue had no standing to interfere in human regimes, but the common folk living their lives should not have to suffer such tribulations, so she would transform into a human each time to protect ordinary mortals.

In fact, what she did not know was that many of the mortals she had saved had begun to worship her as a deity.

"Thank you for your hard work..."

Although Yingxue had said that Zhou Yi possessed a kind and righteous heart, he actually understood himself that he had never been a truly good person. His so-called good deeds were only because he could not stand the sight of something and happened to have the ability to resolve it; he was merely an ordinary person, an ordinary person without any grand beliefs or grand enlightenment.

But Yingxue was different; she was a Lucky Beast in the true sense, and Zhou Yi respected her from the bottom of his heart.

However, as a human, he also could not bear to see the common folk suffer. Moreover, Zhu Zhuqing had five years for her fourth trial, while he had no time limit. Since that was the case, he might as well take this opportunity to help Yingxue assist the war-torn mortals.

He decided to stay for another month. One must know that while he was only wasting a month, for the saved common folk, that was the hope of living, the possibility of a family continuing; human life should not just be a number.

"Zhuqing, I have decided to stay for another month to help Yingxue..."

"I will help you." Before Zhou Yi could finish speaking, Zhu Zhuqing answered in advance.

Having spent so long together, the two had long since understood each other's temperaments. Looking at each other's firm gazes, they both understood the other's determination.

Yingxue was also very happy that someone would help her, and she told them about the war situation on the Sun-Moon Continent.

Thus, the two's journey of tempering their hearts on the battlefield began.

Half a year later...

The blood-red sunset was gradually fading. Both sides were locked in a deadly standoff; neither side retreated, nor did either side charge. Neither side vied for the numerous corpses and abandoned chariots and supplies on the main battlefield. It was like the gaze of two fierce tigers; neither could be the first to withdraw from the battlefield.

Suddenly, war drums beat and horns sounded.

The two armies charged, smoke and dust rose everywhere, and the soldiers rushed forward regardless of their own safety. Instantly, blood splattered everywhere like goose feathers.

A long time later......

Several vultures circled above a few corpses that had not yet been completely buried by sand and stone. Several arrowheads were still in the corpses, and the broken long spears were still held in the hands of the corpses. In the distance, the victorious army marched toward the city guarded by the defeated side; presumably, it would not be long before that city became a living hell just like this place.

And in this desolate graveyard of war, a figure walked past. He was dressed in white, his expression neither sad nor happy, and a golden eagle stood on his shoulder.

That spotless white appeared so jarring and so out of place in this hell of flesh and blood. It looked extremely eerie.

Zhou Yi strolled slowly through the ruins, a three-meter-tall Bi'an Dharma Image resembling a white tiger with black markings appearing behind him, and he sighed softly.

"Half a year, it is finally coming to an end..."

——

Actually,

At the very beginning, he only wanted to stay for a month, but watching the wailing of children after the war, the numbness and pleading of women and children, the desperate resistance of fathers, and the helpless sobbing of the elderly, Zhou Yi was ultimately hesitant.

During that time, in his heart, seizing time to improve his own strength and saving the lives of others were as if placed on the two ends of a scale.

Sometimes he also thought that, anyway, this was another country's business, and he had no obligation to save others. He was just an ordinary person; he could provide appropriate aid to others, but he had no obligation or responsibility to save the world. Conversely, if he did not seize the time to return to the Douluo Continent, then the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well might very well slip through his fingers, affecting all his subsequent plans.

Asking himself, why must he do these things? Even without him, once the war ended and the Sun-Moon Continent was unified, wouldn't the common folk live well anyway? Then what was the meaning of what he was doing?

He really wanted to find someone to talk to, but who could he find? Find Yingxue? As a Soul Beast, Yingxue's stance was inherently different from his, and her thoughts and values were highly mature; talking to her would only make him more conflicted. Find Zhu Zhuqing? She was only a child of thirteen or fourteen, especially when she first saw the battlefield that was like a meat grinder; she was deathly pale and could not help but vomit. Afterward, she did not recover for a whole month, and at night she had to hold onto Zhou Yi, otherwise, she could not sleep at all.

Late at night...

Zhou Yi tossed and turned, truly conflicted. He felt both hypocritical and cold-blooded, wavering between staying and leaving.

In a trance, he entered a dream,

But what he did not know was that in the outside world, the black and white Bi'an was quietly watching him.

In the dream, he seemed to have transformed into a butterfly, flying freely and unrestrainedly.

Unknowingly, the butterfly arrived above a celestial mountain. Here, Cloud Mist swirled, immortal energy was ethereal, and it was peaceful and serene. Yet, on the mountaintop, it seemed someone lived, an old man.

Sparse trees, a small pond, a wooden house, a small peach blossom forest, and a plot of farmland for producing food—this was all the old man had.

Although his hair was silver, his face was ruddy and his eyes were bright; at a glance, he was clearly a master who had attained the Dao.

This old man did not care when he saw the butterfly flying over and continued doing his own things. The butterfly, however, was very curious, so it often stayed in the peach blossom forest around the wooden house where the old man lived to observe him.

The old man's life was very regular. After getting up in the morning and washing, he would brew a pot of clear tea, then while sipping the tea, he would hold a book to comprehend the principles within. After reading, the morning time was used for farming. After farming, it was noon; his lunch was also very simple, coarse flour cakes with bitter tea. Although simple, he ate with contentment. In the afternoon, the old man would become leisurely, either walking in the forest, observing the pond, overlooking from the mountaintop, playing chess against himself on a stone, or doing nothing at all, simply watching the clouds roll and unroll until night fell, then washing and sleeping, and then it was the next day.

By the way, besides these things, one of the things the old man liked most was drinking alcohol, and because he was always drinking, he was somewhat unkempt, his clothes often disheveled. The nearby peach blossom forest was the material for his brewing. Sometimes he would drink for half a day, and when he woke up, it would be dark, but he did not care; instead, he found joy in it.

Sometimes the butterfly was also strange: doing these repetitive things every day, would he not feel bored or lonely? But he ultimately did not know what the old man was thinking, which also caused his curiosity to grow heavier day by day.

Finally,

This day, taking advantage of the old man playing chess and observing the pond by the pond, the butterfly came to the old man's side and asked.

'Do you not feel it is uninteresting to observe the pond every day?'

The old man said with a chuckle.

"You just look at the scene in the pond and you will know if it is interesting."

Only then did the butterfly look at the pond.

It saw that in the pond, there was a group of fish fighting for food. However, one of the fish discovered another place with food that the other fish had not found, so it hurriedly swam over. But halfway there, it suddenly discovered that its children were also swimming toward the school of fish. Its children were very small; if they swam toward the school of fish at this time, they would definitely be eaten by the other fish.

Fortunately, at this time, the food for the school of fish had already been snatched up, and they were instead swimming toward the direction of this fish, that is, the other food.

In this situation, if it moved forward, it would get a large amount of food first. Its children might be accidentally swallowed by the school of fish, but most would still survive, and it would ingest a large amount of food energy itself, and the remaining children could also live well under its protection.

If it returned, perhaps all the children would be saved, but it would also lose this excellent opportunity to obtain a large amount of food.

In that instant, the fish seemed to be caught in a dilemma.

At this time, the old man spoke.

"What choice do you think it will make?"

The butterfly said without hesitation.

'Of course, food is the priority. Even if all the children are saved this time, there will be various difficulties and coincidences in the future that will lead to a decrease in the number of children. And if it obtains the food, at least for a long time to come, it will have enough strength to protect the remaining children. Besides, the survival rate of fish after spawning is extremely low; wanting to save all the children is inherently an arrogant and greedy thought.'

"I do not think so."

The butterfly felt unconvinced by his words, and the old man did not argue; both intended to see how the facts would turn out.

Looking at the pond again, the fish ultimately made its choice; it struggled to swim back, churning up a large amount of spray, and amidst this spray, the school of fish scattered to clear a path, and its children were thus saved.

Seeing this, the butterfly was greatly shocked and asked in doubt.

"How could you possibly know what this fish was thinking?"

The old man smiled mysteriously.

"Why would you think I don't know what this fish is thinking?"

The butterfly seemed to be stunned, but its perspective was changing; it looked into the old man's eyes, and in those eyes was reflected a butterfly.

Gradually, only the butterfly in the old man's eyes remained in its vision, and outside of those eyes, the old man's face seemed to be slowly fading.

Finally, he was no longer looking at the butterfly through the old man's eyes; in his perspective, the old man was gone, leaving only a butterfly, and the butterfly also slowly vanished before him.

At the same time, the old man's face became clearer and clearer, and clearer still, until it completely transformed into a handsome youth.

"So, I had already made my decision in my heart long ago..."

Looking at the surroundings again, where were there any butterflies? From beginning to end, there was only the youth alone.