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Chapter 1481: One Hundred and Thirty-One: "Why did Ikaros die?"

"Daedalus was a gifted craftsman. His son Icarus, also a gifted craftsman, used his gifted wisdom and skill to create wings made of feathers and wax."

"Before setting off, Daedalus warned Ikaros not to fly too high, otherwise the heat of the sun would melt the wax; nor too low, otherwise the sea water would soak the feathers. 】"

……

Su Liujin felt a long time ago that the world is a script.

Everyone follows the script and does the same thing day after day.

In the script, people are born, grow up, get married, have children, and grow old.
We laugh when we are happy, cry when we are sad, yell when we are angry, and blush when we are shy. Human beings are like a program. When the former is triggered, the latter will be fed back.

The timid become brave, the mean become great, the selfish become selfless, the proud become corrupt, the cunning become loyal, the rational become out of control… Occasionally, someone will break out of their rut and do something completely opposite. This is a rare highlight in the script, a wonderful scene to be boasted about.

People are full of ambition when they are young, and they always have all kinds of advantages favored by God during their childhood. However, children full of wonderful ideas will always gradually become stereotyped adults.

Su Liujin doesn't like this kind of script.

If he will become a stereotyped screenwriter when he grows up, then let him remain a child forever.

"Liu Jin, you are a genius, and geniuses are different."

Yes, I am different.

"Liu Jin, your mind is always full of wonderful ideas. You can always come up with the most ingenious twists and turns. It's incredible. It's as if you have an entire magnificent and romantic fairy tale world under your pen!"

Yes, I am a genius.

"Liu Jin, can you grow up quickly? I, I like you..."

No, geniuses cannot grow up.

If you grow up, you will have jealousy like running water and filth like mud. Isn't that the case with adults? Since entering society and becoming part of the script gear, their brains are no longer as flexible as when they were young.

So, I want to be a child forever. In this way, I am a genius.

……

"[Ikaros began to fly. He looked at everything in the sky excitedly. He seemed to have become a wingless bird. Even without natural wings, he flew into the sky...]"

……

The very beginning.

In Su Liujin’s vague memory, he was not a Turritopsis jellyfish at first, but an “observer” in the world.

He observes the world and cannot intervene in any worldly affairs. He has a deep-rooted responsibility in his heart - to destroy the world before it becomes rotten.

He didn't know where this responsibility came from, he only knew that this seemed to be the meaning of his birth.

But what is the standard of measurement?
Is it rotten if there is some petty theft? Is it rotten if there is constant war? Or, even worse, if everyone kills each other?
He didn't know under what circumstances he would destroy the world, so he just watched from the sidelines.

Images, sounds, movements... words, language, manners... literature, times, etiquette. Humans are used to using rules and regulations to regulate this originally barbaric and disorderly world, using behaviors that defy nature to prove their nobility as civilized creatures, using verbal battles and swordplay to highlight their differences from primitive creatures, and using the iteration of new things and the spiral of the times to highlight their own indispensability.

But in Su Liujin's eyes, humans are actually no different from a drop of rain or a wisp of wind on this land. At least, rain and morning breeze will not bring so much pollution that the world tree will wail all day long.

Su Liujin began to observe.

He lived in a thatched house and had no need for food or water.

……

"['Icarus! Icarus! Stop, you are flying too high! The sun hanging overhead will destroy you!' Daedalus shouted.]"

"[However, Ikaros was so absorbed in the joy of flying that he forgot that he was not a real bird. He was eager to learn how to fly and to be seen by everyone.]"

"[The heat of the sun melted the wax on his wings, and Ikaros fell from the sky into the Aegean Sea, where he died.]"

……

One year, a countryman passed by the thatched cottage and found Su Liujin who had not eaten or drunk anything.

He told the villagers about the matter, and more and more people knew that there was a young man who neither drank nor ate. They regarded Su Liujin as an angel and believed that he could do everything.

A mother with her seriously ill daughter knelt in front of his thatched house for a long time, begging for her to prolong her life; a couple who had been infertile for a long time offered fruits, hoping for a child; old people supporting each other bowed down tremblingly, asking for ten more years; a criminal who was about to be executed cried bitterly, just asking for another chance.

Su Liujin could only observe and didn't respond.

The fireworks of the human world are so vast, and the sounds of hell are so noisy. Everyone wears a mask that is half white and half black. Those who have achieved their wishes by chance send gifts and thank the "white-haired angel" for his grace. Those who have not achieved their wishes secretly curse Su Liujin for being ruthless, claiming that this person's existence will bring disaster.

River, river.

The river that flows through the world is so clearly displayed before his eyes through the Dharma images of all living beings.

He did nothing, but people spontaneously split into the White Church and the Black Church, which gave rise to leaders, elders, guardians, knights, angel attendants, and even angels' wives, concubines, and children. They gave themselves all kinds of titles, as if they could steal divine authority and make every sword they used to kill each other have the justice of a knight.

"Lord Brocade Angel, I am Mortian, the king of the Kingdom of Astor, and your descendant on earth. I promise to flatten the land of your opponents and win glory for you!" A young man wearing a crown swore.

"Angel, my name is Lin Qinghuan. I hope you can bless my newborn sister Qingyu and hope she will grow up healthy and safe..." a woman prayed.

"My name is Tolia, and I'm a loyal believer of the angels. Today, our territory is expanding and our soldiers are invincible, all thanks to the angels!" An old man knelt down.

Su Liujin watched calmly.

The war intensified, gradually involving several countries, and people attacked each other in the name of "Angels". In the end, the dispute led to a real disaster, and a nuclear explosion in a struggle for power destroyed everything.

After the explosion, everything was quiet.

"Shh."

Holding open a celadon umbrella with a white background, Su Liujin walked among the ruins covered with yellow sand. The flames left by the nuclear explosion were still boiling, but his ears finally became quiet.

Mothers, daughters, couples, the elderly, sinners, no matter what they are trying to do, they are all equal at this moment.

Under the ruins, a hand full of holes stretched out, followed by an intermittent voice: "Angel Jin...you...it turns out that you are not an angel, but a devil...you can't protect us at all..."

Su Liujin tilted her head, her cheeks still as pure as an angel's.

"I didn't do anything. You destroyed yourselves." His voice was calm.

The broken crown fell to the ground, and no one could hear the answer anymore.

Passing by the ruins, he saw a dying woman. Her name was Lin Qinghuan. She often gave him the freshest Isa flowers. Now she was covered in burns, and before she died, she held her baby sister in her arms to him.

"Please...Angel...save her..." Lin Qinghuan pleaded.

Su Liujin looked at the baby in the cradle for a long time, but did not abandon the baby. Instead, she walked a long way and entrusted the baby to a kind-hearted family without children.

The first sentence the baby could say was not "hungry" or "pee", but "Huan Jie'er" or "Liu Ge'er".

This was the first destruction Su Liujin witnessed.

……

What started to change was a voice Su Liujin heard.

The World Tree, which had always been without wisdom, actually began to utter clear words, as if it had its own thoughts.

"After observing for so long, what type of humans do you like?" said the World Tree.

Su Liujin was silent for a long time. He knew that the World Tree wanted him to talk about the qualities of humans, such as intelligence, bravery, high emotional intelligence, and good hands-on ability...

But he thought about it and said:
"…I like gentle humans."

A failing answer.

"After observing them for so long, do you think they should be destroyed?" asked the World Tree.

Su Liujin thought of Lin Qinghuan's last pleading look. She faced the angel directly, asking not to live, but to hold up her baby sister. He was silent for a moment, and finally said, "I still need to observe."

"In a play, the audience is the calmest, but they cannot enter the play. The actors in the play enter the play, and they can no longer remain calm." The World Tree said: "Do you want to be a spectator, or a actor in the play?"

Su Liujin did not answer.

One day, as he was walking, he stepped into a sacred mountain that was very popular with incense.

Under the mottled columns of the ancient temple, raindrops dripped down the gilded gargoyles to form a curtain. The faded red silk on the eaves was lifted by the wind, revealing half of the scorched lotus.

On the edge of the cliff, he saw a miserable old woman. It turned out that her child had been stolen by human traffickers five years ago.

"It's just a lost child, why should you give up your life?" Su Liujin didn't understand.

"Nannan, that's... that's my life!" the old man burst into tears.

"Are you going to die for the sake of others?" Su Liujin asked.

"I don't care, I don't care... If I can find my daughter back, I'd be willing to die!"

Su Liujin was puzzled.

This is one of the few places where humans break out of the script - they are so afraid of death that they would actually risk their lives for something. And this is not accidental, many people would do this.

Su Liujin asked the World Tree and quickly found the child and sent him back to the old man.

"Thank you, thank you! You are such a kind person, a living Bodhisattva! You are truly a great philanthropist sent by God to reincarnate for nine lifetimes!" The old man said a bunch of oriental words of thanks that Su Liujin could not understand.

But he understood the meaning of "great good man".

Good? Him?
"...But I am here to destroy you." Su Liujin thought silently as he looked at the old man's twisted face of joy.

He was in a state of confusion and took a walk at the foot of the mountain, where he met a young monk sweeping the floor.

The young monk said that this sacred mountain had existed before the ancestor’s ancestor’s ancestor…

Su Liujin stood at the foot of the sacred mountain, looking up at the towering peak. In the mist, there seemed to be a low chant of Buddhist scriptures. The little monk stood beside him, with his hands clasped together and his eyes as clear as a spring.

"Does this mountain really have such a long history?" Su Liujin asked softly. This was the first time he knew that there was such a belief in the world that did not belong to the twenty-seven gods.

The monk's wide sleeves brushed against the blue bricks, and he smiled and said, "Donor, a mountain is not famous because of its height, but because of the immortals living there. Although this mountain has gone through countless years, it still stands tall, just like the Dharma, which has never changed."

Su Liujin nodded thoughtfully, and the rustling sound of wind blowing through the sycamore leaves came to his ears.

"Donor, have you ever heard a sentence from the Diamond Sutra?"

Su Liujin shook his head.

The young monk put his palms together and chanted, "'All phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows, like dew and lightning. You should view them in this way.' Everything in the world is like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows, fleeting. People all want to transcend birth and death and escape from the sea of ​​suffering."

Su Liujin was shocked and asked in a low voice: "Then...how can we transcend life and death and escape from the sea of ​​suffering?"

The young monk smiled and said, "Donor, the Dharma is boundless, but the path to practice lies in the mind. If the mind is pure, then everything is pure; if the mind is attached, then everything becomes an obstacle. The Heart Sutra says: 'Seeing that the five aggregates are empty, one can overcome all suffering.' Only by seeing through the illusion of all things in the world can one be truly liberated."

Su Liujin looked up at the top of the mountain. The clouds gradually dissipated, revealing a clear blue sky.

The little monk smiled and said, "Donor, the Buddha's teachings are boundless. I am just a guide. The real practice still depends on you."

At this moment, Su Liujin seemed to see the World Tree standing between heaven and earth. He whispered to himself, "Perhaps, I don't want to be a spectator, nor do I want to be a person in the play."

There is a woman at the foot of the mountain crying, crying for her husband who died on the front line, crying for her children who suffered torture, crying for the rice on the plate that has not been eaten. If there really are white-haired angels in this world, will her crying change a little?

He stood quietly at the foot of the mountain, letting the spring breeze blow his clothes. He knew that he had found the answer.

In his eyes, human beings are nothing but a speck of dust and a wisp of wind. All things in the world should be as short-lived as morning dew, so what makes them long-lasting?

The past mind is unattainable, the present mind is unattainable, and the future mind is unattainable.

……

All sentient beings, infinite distinctions,

Thoughts are continuous, and the world is like a net.

……

Su Liujin gradually stepped into the world.

He has heard the bugles of soldiers on the front lines, tasted the green fried candies from the countryside, broken the long and thin icicles under the eaves, and ridden the rattling sounds of bicycles.

He once saved a girl from a tailor shop, her name was Qingyu. Her adoptive parents died in the war, so she was arranged to marry someone after death by her relatives. On the wedding night, Su Liujin passed by and saved her.

"You saved me, do you need money or a bride?" Qingyu was quite calm. After thanking him, he asked about the reward.

Su Liujin's mind paused for a moment.

Yes, was he asking for money, or something else? He clearly didn't ask for anything, so why did he save this stranger, why did he reach out his hand when he heard her cry?
Is it Lin Qinghuan's cry that is ringing? Is it the little monk's Buddhist words? Is it the old man on the cliff begging?

The wind is not moving, the flag is not moving, what is moving?

——When exactly did he come into the world?
"I don't ask for anything..." He said in silence after a while.

He sent the girl all the way to another town. When he was about to leave, the girl called him:

"Brother Liu."

"Thank you for taking care of me these days. You are beautiful and powerful, and most importantly, I am very happy to be with you. I... I will ask you again what I said at that time, are you in need of money, or are you a newlywed? You don't understand many things, you don't know how to eat when you are hungry, and you don't know how to put on more clothes when you are cold. I can sew clothes for you and teach you how to cook porridge..."

The girl held a red handkerchief in her hand and her face was slightly red.

This was the first time Su Liujin had encountered such an inquiry. In the past, the world regarded him as an angel, and there had never been such a request. Maybe the girl was just impulsive, but she was serious.

He was silent for a while, then said, "I don't need sewing clothes, nor do I need porridge."