The moment Ye Wudao stepped into Pavilion of Understanding, the door behind him disappeared.
It doesn't close, it disappears.
The entire door and the door frame turned into a blur of light and shadow, slowly dissipating.
He stood in a circular stone hall.
The stone palace is huge, and the dome is so high that the outline cannot be seen clearly. There are only countless fine golden runes flowing slowly on the dome, like a sea of stars.
The ground is a black and white checkerboard, each grid is several meters long and wide, and will make a dull sound when stepped on.
In the center of the stone hall, there is a transparent jade tablet.
There is a line of words engraved on the stele. "A sensible person does not know right or wrong, but knows Karma."
Ye Wudao frowned slightly after reading this line of text.
This sentence is different from the Beginner Pavilion. Beginner Pavilion asks about "heart", making people face their own wavering.
Pavilion of Understanding seems to be asking "Karma", which allows people to see the connection between things clearly.
While he was thinking about it, a translucent figure suddenly appeared next to the jade tablet.
The figure was wearing a gray robe, his face was blurred, and he was holding a scroll of bamboo slips in his hand, like a teacher in ancient times.
When he spoke, his voice was dry and slow, as if he hadn't spoken to anyone for a long time:
"Pavilion of Understanding, three questions."
"If you answer it right, you will pass; if you answer it wrong, you will die."
"First question--"
He unfolded the bamboo slips and read, "There is a lamp shining in the darkness. I ask, does the lamp illuminate the darkness, or does the darkness set off the lamp?"
Ye Wudao was stunned for a moment when he heard this question.
He didn't expect that Pavilion of Understanding was so simple and direct.
If you answer correctly, you will pass; if you answer incorrectly, you will die.
In other words, his previous belief that the Myriad Worlds Academy assessment level was not difficult was just an illusion.
The first level Beginner Pavilion may not be difficult, but the second level is the real life and death level.
He began to think of the answer to this question rapidly in his mind.
This question sounds very simple, even a bit like casual gossip.
But he soon realized that this was no ordinary question, it was a question of perspective.
Both answers are correct, but the thinking logic behind the two answers is completely different.
Choosing "Lamp illuminates the darkness" means that he believes that light is the subject and darkness is the passive object.
Choosing "dark foil light" means that he believes that darkness is the origin and light is only a relative existence.
He thought for a few moments and was about to speak, but suddenly stopped.
Because he noticed the checkerboard under his feet. The black and white grids had quietly moved during the few breaths he was thinking about it.
The boundaries between black and white grids are no longer clear, some grids have rotated their directions, and the colors of some grids are slowly changing.
This is not a static chess game, this is a living formation.
"You can only choose one." The teacher added in a calm tone.
Ye Wudao looked at the words on the jade tablet, "You don't know right or wrong, you know Karma".
He suddenly understood something.
The answer to this question is not between "light" and "dark" at all.
The real trap is that the teacher asks a "you can only choose one" question, but this question itself presupposes a wrong framework.
He forces you to choose one of two options, but in fact, these two options are "opposites" set by him.
If Ye Wudao chooses any one, it means that he agrees with this wrong framework.
He raised his head, looked at the blurry face of the teacher, thought for a long time, and then said, "I choose the third answer."
"Without lamps, there is no distinction between light and darkness; without darkness, lamps have no meaning of existence. They are Karma, and one is indispensable."
"You asked me to choose one of the two, but you are part of the problem. You deliberately limited the answer to two options, hoping that I would jump into the trap."
"The real answer is to step outside the options you give."
When he said these words, his heart stopped.
He didn't know if this was his answer.
Because his answer was not in the answer given to him by the teacher.
If it is a multiple-choice question, then he has already done it wrong.
As soon as he finished speaking, the moving squares on the chessboard suddenly stopped.
The teacher was silent for a moment, then looked down at the bamboo slips. The first line of words on the bamboo slips lit up with golden light. He said softly, "First question, pass."
Ye Wudao took a deep breath when he heard this.
Fortunately, he was admitted to college through his own efforts. Although he finally gave up his studies because he had no money, his IQ is not low.
Not only is his IQ not low, but among his peers, his IQ can be said to be very high.
When I was in the orphanage, I had to take care of the new younger siblings every day, so I didn't have much time to study.
Despite this, he was still at the top of his class, and his cultural scores were among the top three in the school.
The teacher didn't give Ye Wudao time to breathe. He directly unfolded the second paragraph of the bamboo slip and read:
"Second question, there is a bridge that can only bear the weight of one person."
"Two people walked to the center of the bridge at the same time, refusing to give way to each other, both wanting to cross first. There is an abyss under the bridge, and you stand on the shore with a knife in your hand."
"You can kill one person or not. How do you keep both of them alive?"
Ye Wudao After listening, he didn't answer immediately.
He looked down at the chessboard squares at his feet. He knew that the answers were hidden in these chessboard squares.
They started moving again, faster than before.
Those grids are like water surface stirred by an invisible hand, with black and white interlaced patterns constantly broken and reorganized.
He raised his head and looked at the teacher, his eyes as calm as water.
"This question is more poisonous than the last one."
"You presupposed "can only bear one person", and also presupposed "the two have reached the center of the bridge and refused to give in to each other", and then added "a knife in hand" as an additional condition. You are inducing me to choose "kill one" to solve the problem."
"But the real wisdom is not to choose who to kill, but to see that before you ask this question, you have blocked the "not to kill" option in advance."
"You asked me to choose between "killing" and "not killing", but "not killing" in your setting is itself a failure of "inaction"."
Ye Wudao paused and continued:
"I stand on the shore with a knife in my hand. The knife can kill people, and it can also force others to make choices."
"The bridge can only bear the weight of one person, so let one person cross first and the other person stay where he is."
"If the bridge can really only bear the weight of one person, then it is impossible for two people to walk to the center of the bridge at the same time - because halfway through, the bridge will have broken."
"The fact that they can walk to the center of the bridge shows that the actual load-bearing capacity of the bridge is at least greater than one person. So the premise you gave that "it can only bear one" is false in itself."
"The trap in the second question is that you are using a false premise to force me to make a choice. The real solution is to question the premise itself."
The moment his voice fell, the chessboard stopped again.
The second line of the bamboo slip in the teacher's hand lit up with golden light, and his voice had a faint hint of strangeness, like an accident, but also like relief. "Second question, pass."
"The third question..."
He closed the bamboo slips without thinking.
He raised his head and "looked" at Ye Wudao. Although there were no facial features on that face, Ye Wudao could feel that the eyes were looking at him.
"The chessboard you are standing on now is a trap."
"The way out of the formation is ten steps in front of you, but with every step you take, the grid under your feet will disappear. You only have nine steps to go, but the way out is ten steps away."
"How do you get to the jade monument?"
Ye Wudao looked down at the chessboard under his feet.
Those black and white grids are densely packed, and each piece is floating slightly.
He tried to estimate the distance from the jade monument to himself, and it was indeed about ten steps.
But the teacher said that every time you take a step, the grid under your feet will disappear.
There are only nine steps, but you have to go ten steps away.
"Is this a math problem?" Ye Wudao asked softly.
The teacher didn't answer.
Ye Wudao began to observe those grids, and at the same time his brain was running rapidly.
It is impossible to walk ten steps in nine steps.
However, it would be very simple if he were to get from here to the location of the jade monument.
He doesn't even need to take ten steps, one step is enough.
He looked at the teacher and said with a smile, "If this is a math problem, I really can't think of a way to solve it."
"But, if this is a practical question..."
"Then my answer is, you don't need ten steps, just one step is enough!"
After he finished speaking, he took a step forward and was already at the side of the jade monument.