Old Man Yuan asked me what the origin should be like.
I had been thinking about that question too.
What should the origin be like? In other words, what should the world have looked like in the beginning?
Seeing that I remained silent for a long time, Old Man Yuan said, "The origin is chaos, where the clear and the turbid are mingled as one, before heaven and earth have separated."
I did not refute him. Chaos did seem to be as he described.
"Actually, both East and West share the same understanding of the origin. That is why we have the tale of Pangu splitting heaven and earth, while Western legends speak of the so-called God separating them. But at the end of the day, our understanding of the origin is the same, isn't it?"
I nodded. What I knew was indeed as he said.
"Only after that did the concept of the world arise. But clearly, that is not scientific. By later generations' understanding, there is one question we cannot avoid when discussing the origin of this world: the universe. The advancement of civilization has expanded our understanding. Our world only came into being after the universe appeared, but then how did the universe come into being?"
I could not help but stare blankly. What was this old man doing? Giving me a science lesson?
Yet with his prompting, I had no choice but to follow his train of thought. Yes, how had the universe come into being?
Everything had to have an origin. Nothing could simply appear out of thin air.
Yin Wuyu suddenly cut in, "Don't listen to him. He's misleading you."
"Little one, which part of what I said misled him? Tell me, how did I mislead him? This place was originally Yuan Valley. Whether