On the way back to the inn, Gao Ran wanted to open his mouth several times to comfort Zuo Yi, wanting him not to worry that Ji Muqing might be unfavorable to him. - She believes that Ji Muqing will not be stupid enough to be in such a sensitive period, just because he can't touch her, he will vent his personal anger on Zuo Yi, whose value is particularly prominent and important at this time.

But every time the words came to her mouth, she couldn't open her mouth. It's just that Ji Muqing didn't know whether it was intentional or unintentional at that moment just now, she and Zuo Yi both saw it at the same time, and they both saw it for the first time, and they knew Ji Muqing for the first time, but I was afraid that Zuo Yi still knew more than Gao Ran. Therefore, those words that lingered in her heart but never said to comfort Zuo Yi, even Gao Ran herself felt very unconfident and convincing, so how could she comfort him?

But he didn't think about it, when he came to the door of the inn, before he was about to walk out of the shadow of the fork in the road and walk towards the street illuminated by the bright lights hanging around the inn, Zuo Yi took the lead in speaking and comforted Gao Ran: "Don't worry, the Seventh Prince will not be unfavorable to me - at least, not now." Until he sits on the throne, I will be the one he needs most. Whether he wants it or not, he can't do without my support. Therefore, he did not dare to touch me for the time being. ”

Gao Ran was stunned at first, but then finally put his mind at ease. But he didn't confess vaguely:

"Since you've said so, then I can only believe what you say. - After all, you know Ji Muqing better than me.

"To be honest, I haven't known him for long, nowhere near as well as you. So I'm really not sure he's equally clear about the stakes that you and I know so well, especially since he's been ...... to me just now. No, it's supposed to be so dangerous to us...... I'm really not sure, does he really understand?

"However, since you are so sure, then I naturally have to believe you. You can rest assured, as long as this heart is resolved, then when the time is ripe, I will definitely fulfill the promise I made to you. ——Just because Ji Muqing and I are now in a relationship with the same fate. If he dares to let me break my trust in you, then I will destroy him! I will let him know that a man who neither seeks death nor desires much to live, is truly terrible!"

But Zuo Yi just smiled indifferently, "I have never doubted your sincerity." I know that you chose me in the first place, in addition to seeing my value, you also have an extra appreciation for me. Although I was initially skeptical of your appreciation, I now believe that your appreciation for me is genuine: you don't look like they just want to take advantage of me, you do treat me as a human being. No, to be precise, in your eyes, the Seventh Prince and I don't even have a distinction between dignity and inferiority, and in your eyes, we are the same......"

Faced with Zuo Yi's sudden revelation of true feelings, Gao Ran was a little at a loss. She was stunned for a long time before she finally came back to her senses. Then I finally realized what Zuo Yi had just said - mainly to understand the extraordinary meaning behind what he said.

Gao Ran finally understood that the things she had always taken for granted were so unprecedented in Zuo Yi's eyes, that even if her heart was as clear as his, she still didn't really believe that her things were taken for granted until now, instead of deliberately exalting him just to entrap him.

Thinking of these, Gao Ran naturally couldn't miss this rare opportunity to communicate with him frankly - especially this opportunity that he opened first, she deliberately stopped, and put on a posture that she was willing to give up until she finished her heartfelt words, forcing Zuo Yi to also have to delay leaving, and after listening to what she was going to say, she turned around and left.

So, at the junction of light and dark, at the corner of the fork in the street where he was only one step away from entering the brightly lit street, Gao Ran took a few steps towards the corner of the wall, leading Zuo Yi to follow her to a corner that was enough to hide people's eyes and ears and not easy to notice. Gao Ran finally relieved herself to reveal her true thoughts to Zuo Yi:

"Uncle Zuo, if you have anything you can't figure out in the future, you should tell me directly. I must know everything about you. Like this time, if you hadn't said it, I would have no way of knowing that you would have been haunted and suspicious for so long about such a trivial matter!

"However, since you care so much about this, then I will take this opportunity to make it clear to you. But I have a word first, and no matter how strange what I say after that may seem unbelievable to you, don't make too much of a fuss, and don't spread what I'm saying to you today. I don't want to be seen as crazy......

"Uncle Zuo, I think if I want to make this clear to you, I'm afraid I have to start with the origin of the almost indistinguishable attitude I have towards you and Ji Muqing......

"Actually, there has always been a deep-seated idea in my mindset that we are all equal to everything else in the world. Like them, we only exist in our own way, and we are essentially the same as them, and our final destination will be to return to that original source—to be with heaven and earth, to be in harmony with heaven and earth, and to die with it......

But this process from death to death, from birth to death, is a little complicated and a little long: so complicated that you and I may feel it, but we can't describe it in detail, and so long that even if you and I are all gone, even the farthest people in the future we can think of, finally die, we can't see the moment when the real thing finally dies......

"But even then, we will eventually return to one place, to be together, to perish together......

"So, in my opinion, the so-called 'living' is only one of many ways of being in this overall evolution that is so short that it is not even a moment.

"And for people, even when you are 'alive', this 'living' way of being is the most important thing for you. But if you can let go of this obsession and jump out to see farther and more openly, then you may also be vaguely aware that our 'living' is only a momentary mode of existence for this, which we are in at the moment, but at the same time it also includes all other things in heaven and earth, and our 'living' is only one of those many ways of being.

"Also, as long as you don't think that you are the only one who is alive, you are a 'man,' or, as long as you don't think, as long as you are no longer a 'man,' you don't exist. Then, as a part of the whole, as a part of the whole, as a part of the whole that has changed for a while and then changed another mode of being, and continues to exist, and is still an unchanging part of the whole, then you will naturally always exist and will continue to exist until you die out with the whole.

"And that's how I understand my existence, my life, and my way of being at this time, as a 'living' person.

"And when I look at you, the 'people' like me, why do I think that we are very different, why are we different from each other, why are we different from all other things?

"Is it really that different?—— I don't think so.

"At least in my opinion, we are human beings and everything else is just a 'way of living'. There is no real distinction between superior and inferior, only whether or not it can adapt to changes in the environment and continue to exist in its current form.

"After thinking about this, let's go back to the specific you and me...... Uncle Zuo, you and me, as well as Ji Muqing, are really not much different. We all have our own strengths and weaknesses, as well as our own traits that cannot be completely replaced. Otherwise, there would have been no you, me, and him from the beginning.

"Believe me, there is no such thing as the exact same thing in this world. The emergence and existence of any form of existence leads to the demise of another thing with which it can only be one and the same. Because this world will not allow two absolutely identical things to exist at the same time.

"But even though we exist because we all have something that no one else can completely replace, we are not very different in essence. It's weird...... But it's real.

"Just imagine, we are all human beings, and we all exist as 'people'. And if we look at it from the perspective of the whole of the 'human' mode of existence, then the similarities between you and me should be far greater than our differences, otherwise this whole will not last for a long time, but will be differentiated into other different ways of being. - It's like, you and I should be like the difference between a bird and a pond fish, not just a difference between a 'human' and a 'human'.

"Moreover, if you look at it from the perspective of the 'heaven and earth' that evolved all things in this world, you and me, as well as Ji Muqing, although we have our own slight differences, in essence, we are all 'people', and we are not much different in essence, not only that, but we are not much different from other things in this world. - We, like them, are only a part of the 'heaven and earth', not the whole, and can never be that all.

"But even so, for such a different situation and inequality between you and me, this is not a natural rule set by God for us, but a kind of mutual assistance that we can gradually and spontaneously form within the scope of our overall strength in each of our moments in order to continue to exist and adapt to changes in the environment.

And the so-called hierarchy is just a derivative product that will be constantly fine-tuned and changed with the change of mutual aid methods. But once there is a fundamental change in the form of mutual aid like this, or the basis for its existence is gone, then the so-called 'hierarchy' will also change accordingly.

After all, everything in this world still has to follow a seemingly eternal law in this world: if the cost is much higher than the acquisition, then anything, even an intangible product like 'rank', will eventually be eliminated. -- It is not a question of who is superior or inferior, but whether it can adapt and whether it is suitable or not...... In the end, what can help the 'whole' survive, is the most fundamental purpose......

"And you and I have unfortunately not been able to wait for that day, and we have no choice to be born in this period, so that from the moment we were born, we have been demarcated by this worldly conception that is 'suitable' in the eyes of the present overall situation. - But this doesn't mean that you are inherently inferior to me or Ji Muqing. Far from it!

"It seems to me that if I should look down on you as a matter of course, and not even as a 'person' like me, just because the world thinks that I am of a higher class than you, it would be my own arrogance and ignorance!

"Uncle Zuo, in my opinion, we just didn't have the right time. And your misfortune can't be blamed entirely on this world, and naturally you can't blame your background, but this is the reality now: although it is unfair, it can't be said that it is really whose fault? Everything needs a process......

But that doesn't stop me from knowing clearly: in my heart, you and I are the same. So, there's no reason for me to look down on you—unless you're looking down on yourself first.

"And in fact, not only do I not look down on you, but I can't help but think a little more highly of you because of the abilities you have shown from the beginning that I admire. You definitely deserve more respect from me. - Although I say this, I am indeed very self-conscious, even a little arrogant, but it is my true heart. Uncle Zuo, I respect you and admire you from the bottom of my heart. ”

After listening to Gao Ran's frank words, Zuo Yi involuntarily reached out and put his hand on Gao Ran's shoulder for the first time, as if something was choked in his throat and he couldn't say it for a long time, but the two looked at each other like this and were silent for a long time, Gao Ran finally waited for Zuo Yi's response: "It's enough to have your heart." ”

After speaking, Zuo Yi didn't say anything more, and quickly turned around and left first. But Gao Ran clearly felt the weight of the hand he had just put on her shoulder, it was very heavy, it seemed to carry a lot of his emotions and a thousand unspoken words, and when he withdrew his hand, it made her feel that he seemed to have put down something on one side, but at the same time, he was carrying something again......

Gao Ran has never seen such a left-handed righteousness. But it made her feel that the distance between them had never been so close.