Chapter 3560: Everything Makes Sense Now

A moment later, Lin Wan'er saw a tall, slender middle-aged woman of striking beauty, her features carrying a heroic air, stride in.

Lin Wan'er knew everyone following her.

One was Tang Sihai, the Ye family's longtime head steward;

One was the false nun she had seen that day at Qingzhao Hermitage;

One was the renowned young Buddhist master Jingqing Fashi.

So who, then, was this beautiful woman?

Lin Wan'er felt the woman was somewhat familiar, yet at first glance she could not recall where she had seen her.

Living too long has many benefits, but also drawbacks; besides having more worries, having seen and heard of so many people in this life truly tests one's memory.

An ordinary person lives a few decades; even if very sociable, they truly know only a few thousand people, and those who fear socializing know even fewer.

Since her teens, Lin Wan'er has constantly changed locations and identities, meeting batch after batch of people, her timeline spanning over three hundred years, and the number of faces in her memory bank is countless.

As for An Chengxi, to her he was not someone she had truly encountered, merely having indirectly or passively seen some introductions of her, so for a time she could not place her.

When An Chengxi learned of Lin Wan'er, Ye Chen was still living at Jin Ling Fuli Academy; she had learned many secrets of the Poqing Hui from some dissidents within it, including that Lin Wan'er had long been listed by Wu Feiyan as the primary assassination target.

She had merely not known what Lin Wan'er looked like before; only when Lin Wan'er appeared beside Ye Chen did she take notice of this special girl.

But at first she dared not confirm it; only later, when Lin Wan'er accompanied Ye Chen to the Dashan, did she truly confirm that this little girl was the Lin Wan'er Wu Feiyan had sought for over three hundred years.

Although she had already seen Lin Wan'er's photos and video materials recently, this time, truly facing Lin Wan'er, An Chengxi inexplicably felt a powerful pressure and aura emanating from this woman who appeared as a young girl.

She knew she must not be misled by Lin Wan'er's appearance; a weak woman appearing as a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl, under Wu Feiyan's relentless pursuit, still able to survive unscathed in the unpredictable and perilous near-modern era for nearly four hundred years, was absolutely an extraordinary woman.

When An Chengxi came before Lin Wan'er, Lin Wan'er smiled at her; although she had questions in her heart, she did not speak first, but pointed to the opposite futon and made a gesture of invitation.

Facing the invitation, An Chengxi returned a smile, did not immediately sit down, but spoke very respectfully: "Lin senior, this is our first meeting; I, the junior, introduce myself—I am An Chengxi, mother of Ye Chen."

Upon hearing the three words "An Chengxi," Lin Wan'er's calm face rippled slightly.

She was indeed shocked in her heart, but not for long.

People, the longer they live, the more they see.

And the more they see, the fewer things can disturb their Dao heart.

For Lin Wan'er, let alone An Chengxi still being alive—even if two living dinosaurs burst forth tomorrow, she would not find it incomprehensible.

She thought, the most incomprehensible person in this world is herself.

Thus, she smiled faintly, nodded slightly, and said: "So it is Lady Ye; then all this makes sense—please, take a seat quickly."

An Chengxi nodded, sitting cross-legged before her with a respectful expression.

Two exceptionally intelligent women, facing each other for the first time, sat down together.

Lin Wan'er observed An Chengxi, and An Chengxi observed Lin Wan'er; their gazes across hundreds of years, their nearly identical fates, gave both a sense of mutual understanding.

Lin Wan'er broke the silence first, smiling at An Chengxi and saying: "This humble woman has long admired Lady Ye's great name; to meet today is truly a fortune of three lifetimes!"

An Chengxi spoke humbly yet respectfully: "Lin senior, you flatter me; in fact, I have long heard of you and always admired you, but since even Wu Feiyan cannot find you, I dare not hope to meet you one day."

Lin Wan'er laughed and said: "Even within the Poqing Hui, few know my identity and background; it seems Lady Ye has done well in infiltrating the Poqing Hui these years."

An Chengxi smiled faintly: "Actually, infiltration work is difficult; at the core, the three great elders and four great marquises are doubly bound by cultivation and antidote, so I cannot penetrate their level, nor have I dared to try, fearing one misstep could lose everything;"

"But these years I have found, among the Wu family, several righteous individuals willing to break free from Wu Feiyan's control, and they have helped somewhat."

Lin Wan'er raised her eyebrows in surprise, intrigued: "Lady Ye's courage is truly extraordinary! To choose to seek a breakthrough directly from the Wu family! This approach of forging a new path truly earns my admiration!"

An Chengxi said humbly: "Actually, I started from human nature, drawing from many years of history a principle: as individuals, people have pure good and pure evil; but as they form groups, and group numbers grow, it becomes hard to guarantee the group is purely good or purely evil."

"In other words, I believe that as long as a group's base is large enough, even the best group will have bad apples, and even the worst group will have righteous individuals."

"Like the fascist camp in WWII, filled with demons and countless killings, yet among them were those who turned from darkness to light;"

"During America's era of racial segregation, many whites discriminated against people of color, yet some whites became true friends with people of color."

"This proves that no matter how strong environmental influence and control, it cannot fully govern everyone's thoughts and worldview; probability theory says probability is the norm and background of this world, so I believe that under Wu Feiyan's protection, the Wu family has flourished for four hundred years, descendants so numerous they might resemble ancient enfeoffment, dividing into five military governorates; with such magnitude, even if most are Wu Feiyan's loyal hounds, there will certainly be a few dissatisfied with Wu Feiyan and the Wu family's actions, and finding these people means infiltrating the enemy's interior."

Lin Wan'er widened her eyes and exclaimed: "Lady Ye's thinking is indeed extraordinary—truly enlightening!"

An Chengxi said self-deprecatingly: "I have hidden for twenty years without anyone outside my subordinates noticing, but a few actions in front of you exposed my flaws; compared to your wisdom, I am merely clever in small ways."

Lin Wan'er shook her head, sighing with some regret: "My so-called wisdom has always been used for escape; Lady Ye, however, uses hers for counterattack—just this point alone makes her far superior to me."