Man from the Past
“Sh-Shifu?!” Mu Yu jumped to his feet as he blurted.
Upon standing on his feet, the seat opposite Mu Yu was empty. To verify if his brain was playing tricks on him, he sat down and stood up again. Gui Ximing cast his narrowed eyes over to see Mu Yu staring at the empty stool and spacing out. Mu Yu, therefore, pretended to bend over to wipe his stool and sit back down.
Mu Yu saw his shifu adorning a white robe in his younger days when seated! He couldn’t see Gui Ximing when seated; it was as if sitting down placed him in another world from the one he shared with Gui Ximing.
“Sh-Shifu, what are you doing here?”
“Shifu? Are you my disciple in the future?”
“Future? Shifu, are you just a fragmented consciousness left behind?” asked Mu Yu, feeling his nose and eyes sting.
Smiling cordially, Feng Haochen replied, “I live in the past and sometimes visit this place to check on World Manifestation Cycle Seal. I can sense my way of the sword on you and Shadow Splitter Sword. You also have my mischievous Sword Spirit; however, I see that your formation skills are different to mine. Did I not teach you formations?”
Mu Yu took Xiaoshuai out, but sleeping Xiaoshuai just rolled over and scratched his belly.
“Haha.” Feng Haochen caressed Xiaoshuai, querying, “Why is he so tired? Was he messing around again?”
Feng Haochen injected white energy into Xiaoshuai, waking the latter up. Xiaoshuai yawned. “Who are you?”
Feng Haochen nodded. “Sword Spirit must’ve been reborn since he can’t remember me. Something in the future beyond my control must’ve occurred.”
“Shifu, my name is Mu Yu. In your future, you did not let us learn formations. I am sorry for still learning it behind your back…”
“Hahaha, you don’t need to apologise to me. Every man has his own way of thinking. As long as you aren’t going against your conscience, your decision is correct. Did I teach you that in the future?”
Mu Yu bobbed his head. “Shifu, a lot has happened. I do not know how to explain it all, and you are now…” Mu Yu couldn’t find it in him to continue.
“I thought I’d never take in disciples. Disciples are but people I pass by in life. Not to be hubristic, but all of my disciples are impressive enough to change the world. I, however, cannot thoughtlessly interfere with the world. Furthermore, I don’t like seeing my prized disciples wither and die,” expressed Feng Haochen, giving Mu Yu a friendly wink. “In my opinion, the world of cultivation should be colourful instead of copies of me. If I involve myself, everyone will only learn my swordplay and formations, resulting in other styles getting lost in the course of history. It eludes me as to why I changed my thinking in the future.”
Ironically, Feng Haochen’s reluctance to involve himself led to the problems he had to step in to stop.
“I do not know why you took me under your wing, either. If you want to know, I can share all of my experiences with you.”
“That won’t be necessary. Why do I need to know about the future when I live in the past? I am merely curious.”
Xiaoshuai let Feng Haochen run a finger along his head, wagging his tail. Lying on his belly, Xiaoshuai questioned, “Why do I feel I’ve seen you somewhere?”
“It’s normal for you to have forgotten everything since you’ve been resurrected,” Feng Haochen responded with a smile.
Xiaoshuai started feeling sleepy again.
“Shifu, can World Manifestation Cycle really be used to return to the past?”
Feng Haochen turned his attention back to Mu Yu. “You came here to return to the past in order to learn of hidden truths. I’ll tell you now that travelling to the past is a complex topic, and you may not find out what it is that you want to know.”
“I do not understand.”
“If one travels to the past, they can change the past, but they also cannot change it. Even the most minor things you don’t realise yourself doing in the past can impact the rest of the timeline in different ways.”
“Reverend Xuan Jizi told me it is not possible to change the past, or contradictions will arise. Why do you say the past can be changed, yet it also cannot be?”
“Nature has its own unchangeable set of rules. Think of it this way: you can potentially participate in the past, speak to people or even kill them. Any minute action can alter the past to unpredictable degrees. Hence, it’s possible to change the past. Once you return to the future, though, the modifications you made will be undone, resulting in history staying on the course it has already taken. Thus, you cannot change the past.
“Let’s suppose you create a new path in the past through interference and continue down it. Once you are brought back to the future, which was the original path that led to your existence and status quo now, that new path you created will also vanish, understand?”
“What do you mean when you say, ‘You may not find out what it is that you want to know’?”
“I can answer that,” Xiaoshuai chimed in. “Here’s an example: we throw a rock onto the path in the past, causing an old granny to fall and extort a pregnant woman. Since the woman can’t pay, she hangs herself, so her child is never born. If you return to the past to see how her child looks, you won’t see the child because she never gave birth to the child. Accordingly, you have buried a truth, correct?”
Feng Haochen smiled.
By the same logic, if he somehow unintentionally prevented the theft of Walk-in Heart Genesis, the thief would change their plan and not steal it. Consequently, it would be impossible to find out who stole it.
“As such, abstain from killing, stopping anyone or telling anyone about the future to minimise the risk of not finding the answer to your queries,” Feng Haochen summed up.
Mu Yu nodded. “Wait. Shifu, I thought you would stop me from going back in time.”
“You are my disciple in the future, so I won’t stop you from doing what you want because I trust you have asked yourself if it is the right decision,” Feng Haochen consoled in a friendly manner.
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