- It was darkness, or nothingness.

Zhang Liang sat quietly in it, not feeling the wind blowing, not hearing the water flowing, there was no sky above him, no land below, no light in front of him, no shadow behind him, nothing but nothingness called darkness.

There is no past, no present, and no future.

Zhang Liang woke up in the chaos, and the first thing he did was to check if the ancient book of words and spirits was still on his body. Fortunately, the heavy ancient book has always been in his hand.

Then he found the nothingness he was in, but he didn't panic at all, and his body and mind were abnormally calm. It seemed that he still felt a little familiar with this dark nothingness......

Suddenly, he opened the book, and he didn't know why he was opening it, because he couldn't see anything in the darkness. But he just subconsciously opened the ancient book of words and spirits, as if his actions at the moment were following his subconscious. But at the moment when the book was opened, he saw it, and there was no light, but he saw the page.

The strange thing is that on the page turned by the ancient book, there is not a word, there is just a picture, and Zhang Liang's slightly smiling face is clearly visible on the picture - yes, Zhang Liang clearly sees his face on the page opened by the ancient book - it is like looking at a mirror!

But Zhang Liang knew that it was by no means as simple as a mirror, and there was a shallow smile on the corner of his mouth on the page, but at the moment he was not smiling at all.

Zhang Liang was unprepared for the strangeness in front of him, but he still maintained a rational calmness, and at the same time, his fingers subconsciously touched the "face" on the page.

Suddenly, at the moment when Zhang Liang's finger touched the page, a strange feeling appeared-obviously there was nothingness outside his body, but he felt that the world was upside down, and he was clearly in the darkness, but he felt that the light washed everything.

Finally, when Zhang Liang finally opened his eyes again in this wonderful feeling-

In an elegant English chalet, a rotating music box flutters with classical music, adding a touch of tranquility to the warm afternoon sun. The clock ticks on the wall, the second hand keeps running, the cups under the counter are covered with the dust of the quiet years, and the freshly baked bread in the wooden basket is emitting an enticing burnt aroma.

Zhang Liang was silent, and the scene in front of him was completely beyond his cognition. But at this moment, his eyes were drawn to the man standing at the counter - yes, there was a man standing at the counter, a young man, dressed in a Munich suit, with messy silver hair, and a warm cup of coffee in his hand, standing quietly on the inside of the counter.

In the fragrance of coffee, the man slowly raised his head, revealing a face exactly the same as Zhang Liang - that's right, he looked exactly like Zhang Liang, like a mirror image, it was difficult to distinguish between you and me.

But when Zhang Liang saw the man's exact appearance and his own, he was not too shocked, on the contrary, his eyes were attracted by the strange and mellow brown liquid wafting in the man's hand.

"Would you like a drink? Mr. Zhang Liang. The man looked at Zhang Liang and said with a smile.

"What is this?" Zhang Liang asked with a calm expression but a little curiosity.

"Coffee."

"What is coffee?" Zhang Liang asked slightly puzzled.

"Does it matter?" This time, however, the man did not answer, instead saying, "You never asked what these things were. ”

The man's words were suspicious, but Zhang Liang did not immediately arouse suspicion, but just asked casually, "Why don't you ask?" ”

"Because these are foreign objects."

"Coffee, bread, wall clocks and music boxes, all these things are just foreign objects, they change in the flow of time. A pearl gem at one moment can turn into gravel and dust the next...... So it doesn't matter, it's the 'here' ......"

"'Here'? What is it? Zhang Liang's doubts did not diminish in the slightest......

The man looked into Zhang Liang's eyes squarely, and said word by word: "The other side of the soul, the end of consciousness." ”

"The Other Side of the Soul...... ...... end of consciousness," Zhang Liang said silently, and then asked, "Why did I come here?" ”

"Because you're ......confused," the man scooped out a spoonful of fragrant coffee with a silver spoon and tasted it in his mouth, and said lightly, "You come here when you're confused......

"Confused?" At this time, Zhang Liang thought of some of the previous points, and then asked, "Then have I been here before?" ”

"Well, of course, it's just that the scene is different every time I come, so I say these foreign objects don't matter......" The man picked up the cup again and took a sip of coffee.

“…… Such? Then why am I not at all impressed, and I don't remember being here at all? Zhang Liang stared at the man, his tone slightly cold.

The man swallowed the warm and mellow coffee, accompanied by a hint of bitterness, let out a sigh, then raised his eyes to look at Zhang Liang, and said, "Because you have no memory when you are here, you won't remember that you have been here when you leave...... By the way, by the way, you ask me this question every time you come here, and I have to answer the same question every time......"

Zhang Liang listened to the man's words, couldn't help but be silent for a moment, and then asked softly, "Then I...... How many times have you been here? ”

"......Not much," the man said to Zhang Liang with a light smile, "Counting this time, you have been here a total of 3,275 times...... Nothing more. ”

"Three thousand...... I've been here so many times? Zhang Liang finally couldn't hold it anymore and said in shock, "Do I have so much confusion? ”

Just when Zhang Liang finished asking this sentence, the atmosphere in the wooden house suddenly changed, the sunlight falling from the wooden window was gradually dimming, and the music of the music box was gradually declining, and then, the man looked at Zhang Liang with a solemn expression, and said in a deep voice: "No, it's not that you are confused a lot, but that your confusion has not been solved from beginning to end!" ”

Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and the huge waves came out of nowhere, slamming heavily on the wooden house, the wooden house collapsed instantly, and the turbulent sea current drowned out the music, the bells, the bread, and everything in the wooden house, leaving only the deep blue of the water.

Zhang Liang felt surrounded by heavy sea water, but he didn't suffocate, but just fell into a kind of silence, and he and the man both fell into such a silence, which seemed to be very suitable for the scene of the deep sea.

Gradually, Zhang Liang finally raised his gaze, looked at the man, and asked through the deep current, "What is the confusion?" What puzzle has I been unraveling? ”

"Why do you ask me?" The man stared into Zhang Liang's eyes, and that gaze seemed to chase the depth of Zhang Liang's eyes, "What is your own confusion?" Why don't you ask yourself and ask me? ”

"I ...... I don't know...... I can only feel it......" Zhang Liang lowered his gaze and said confusedly.

"What does it feel?" The man asked calmly.

"I ......" The words were chased to his mouth and suddenly stopped, Zhang Liang raised his head at this time, met the man's gaze, and unconsciously said in unison with the man.

“…… What do you live for? ”

Where the words fell, time stood still.

Zhang Liang's eyes suddenly shook, and the confinement of his thoughts seemed to be broken in an instant, and he remembered what the master who guided him in the dark night said-

"You're very confused, so you rely on your consciousness and ignore your five senses."

"You don't know where you're going."

"The way that is under your feet and the way of your heart...... Moreover, it also refers to the path of your life. ”

——The spring of the soul surged in Zhang Liang's consciousness, and then gathered into an endless whirlpool, swirling in Zhang Liang's entire thought.

"Mozi studied the technique of mechanism in order to protect the peace of the people; Han Xin charged into battle and did his best, for the sake of the country and love; Mulan turned her back from her hometown and set foot in a foreign country, which also has her own absolute purpose! The man's deep voice continued to echo at the bottom of the deep sea.

"The life of the fireflies is still a glimmer, the birds are all their lives, but they seek the clouds - and you, what is your life for?"

The man's words carried a greater pressure than this deep sea, forcing out the blind spots in the depths of Zhang Liang's thoughts one by one - that's right, this is Zhang Liang's confusion! This is indeed a confusion that he has never clearly realized, but has always been with him!

Zhang Liang was born with wisdom, at the age of three, he learned the way of demons at the age of five, read the ancient books of words and spirits at the age of seven, and at the age of nine, he comprehended the words and spirits of the world since the thousand-year-old ancient books, until he was nineteen years old, Zhang Liang's comprehension was completely liberated, he could know the language of all things in the world, and he could feel the emotions of all things in the world.

- However, he has studied the Demon Dao since he was a child, why did he learn the Demon Dao? He has translated and read ancient books since he was a child, and why did he translate and read ancient books of Yanling? He was shackled by his mind and couldn't awaken, so he left Fengqi Mountain, but what did he want to awaken for? Under the guidance of his teacher, he had to choose the summoning technique according to the positioning of the war, but why did he have to awaken the summoning technique? It is even said that no one can escape from war, even if fate decides...... But what exactly is he involved in this war?

In fact, all of this seems to be a matter of course, whether it is the Demon Dao or the ancient books, everything he has always done seems to be natural, but if you think about it carefully, all of this does have the same confusion, what is he doing it all for? Where exactly is his direction?

"All along, whether you are practicing the Demon Dao or translating ancient books, you are following your own feelings, and it seems that you are following your own heart, but in fact, you are so dependent on your feelings and subconscious, you don't know what you really want? No pursuit, no direction. The man's deep voice came again.

Yes, the man was right, for a long time, Zhang Liang had been following his subconscious, and he never knew what he wanted to do...... In other words, he has been exploring through this path of following the subconscious, hoping to find his true direction......

A little bit of starlight gradually lit up in Zhang Liang's eyes, on this road of following the subconscious, he had actually discovered something, he had what he wanted to do, and his throbbing heart had actually sprouted the direction of traction......

"Do you have something you want to do?" Through the deep blue water, the man let out a judgmental question......

"There is ......" Zhang Liang looked at the wisps of light in the dark blue water that fell from the end of the sky and passed through countless currents, in that faint light, Zhang Liang saw a touch of change in his long-term puzzled life.

In his long life, Zhang Liang has been following his subconscious and doing what he should do every period of time, but in fact, at the moment when Zhang Liang didn't realize it, all this has changed slightly.

When he was in the cave of Julu Canyon, Zhang Liang was obviously thinking about his summoning technique, but the appearance of that woman disrupted everything, and when she left, he actually put down his thinking and left.

He knew they were powerless against the Tyrant Dragon, but when she asked, he put down his mind and accompanied her in his adventures.

When he was in Merlin City, he obviously wanted to accompany Han Xin to the border city, but because he sensed her crisis, he separated from Han Xin and desperately searched for her whereabouts.

In the end, surrounded by countless soldiers and horses, he tried his best to rescue her, but even so, he could only accompany her to hide in the enemy's blockade.

However, he didn't regret it, he didn't feel a little annoyed, he was even a little happy to be able to hold her quietly like this - he knew that he was not following the subconscious, he really wanted to do it.

Mulan, he changed the long-standing predicament of Zhang Liang's life.

"I, I want to save Lan Lan......" Zhang Liang raised his eyes, looked into the man's eyes, and said slowly.

In an instant, countless rays of light fell into the deep sea, illuminating the bottom of the dark blue deep sea......

"Are you sure? Are you sure she's your direction? A subtle smile overflowed from the corner of the man's mouth, and he looked at Zhang Liang and said.

"Not sure......" Zhang Liang didn't hide it and said softly.

"But even so, are you willing to make a bet on the meaning of life for her?"

"Hmm." Zhang Liang nodded slightly, without hesitation.

The dark blue sea water became transparent and faint in the light of light, and the silence at the bottom of the deep sea was expelled by the light, and the entire dark blue deep sea disappeared like a phantom, and Zhang Liang and the man stood still in it, without a trace of alarm.

"Then go......" the man said.

Above them appeared a vast night dome, in which the stars shone brightly, and at their feet emerged a huge chessboard, black and white pieces scattered in pieces.

"Go ahead, this chess game is still waiting for you to solve......" The man looked at Zhang Liang and continued.

"Is this Qin Chu's chess game?" Zhang Liang looked at the huge chess game spread out under his feet, the chess momentum and chess paths were intertwined, and the open and dark chess were intricately gathered, and the size of this chess game was shocking.

"No, it's a chess game in the world." The man whispered.

An ethereal light slipped under Zhang Liang's eyes, and the shock of the weight of the times and the world turned into a deep solemnity in his heart, and he didn't say anything, just glanced at the man deeply, and then turned and walked away.

At the moment when Zhang Liang turned around, all the surrounding scenes instantly became ethereal, and the dark nothingness appeared in front of Zhang Liang again, and kept devouring the foreign objects around him, evolving into more nothingness.

Before stepping into the void again, Zhang Liang suddenly turned his head, looked at the man who had been looking at him from a distance, and asked softly, "There is something I really want to ask you......

The man nodded, motioning for him but said it was okay.

"Who are you?" When Zhang Liang asked this question, everything around him stopped, along with the nothingness that swallowed everything, and for a moment, everything was silent.

"Does it make sense? You can't remember, or even remember, my existence anyway......" the man laughed.

"But...... I still want to ......ask," Zhang Liang said softly, yes, even though he knew that he might have asked the man this question many times before......

"I am you." The man said calmly, as if answering the most ordinary question.

Zhang Liang didn't say anything more, didn't even have any more doubts, just silently turned around and walked towards the nothingness.

At the same time that Zhang Liang stepped across the boundary of nothingness, the dark nothingness instantly swallowed everything like a giant mouth of the void, and swallowed it up together with the man who stood there with a calm expression.

There is no past, no present, and no future. In the world of nothingness, there is only nothingness left after all.

Before being swallowed by nothingness, the man had been looking at Zhang Liang's departing back from afar, and he couldn't see any of his thoughts in his deep eyes......

"You've been here 3,275 times...... For the first time today, I asked, 'Who am I?' ......" the man whispered, smiling until the darkness of nothingness consumed him.