When it landed next to the jade monument, Ye Wudao's heart began to beat wildly.
He was betting that the answer to this level would also jump out of the question itself.
Taking ten steps in nine steps is impossible mathematically.
However, he is a monk, and his steps can go a long way.
The next second, the teacher's figure began to become transparent.
His voice sounded for the last time. It was no longer a dry teaching tone, but had a real warmth. "If you ask three questions clearly, you will pass all three questions."
"You saw through the framework of the problem, questioned the premise, and found a way to survive in the gaps in the rules."
"You deserve the name of understanding."
"Next level, enlightenment."
The figure of the teacher completely disappeared.
On the wall of the stone palace, a golden mark slowly lit up, echoing the three golden star marks on the wall of the Beginner Pavilion.
Ye Wudao Standing behind the jade monument, he took a deep breath and realized that his back was already slightly wet.
Pavilion of Understanding's death threats are not the flash of swords and swords on the surface, but the "trap" hidden behind the problem.
If you give the wrong answer, you will die on the spot.
Especially the last question, this is not a logical thinking question, but a practical question.
Anyone who comes to this third question, as long as he takes a step on the chessboard, the outcome will be death.
Because no one can walk ten steps in nine steps.
However, if you break away from the problem itself and directly use the monk's advantages, you can reach the jade monument in one step.
The teacher's question only asked him how to get to the jade stele, but he did not say that he must use nine steps to get to the jade stele.
At this level, if you fall into the misunderstandings of the previous two questions, you will most likely die.
The first two questions are simple questions and answers.
Therefore, when challengers come to the third question, they will habitually think that the third question is still a question and answer question.
As long as you answer or try to take the first step, the outcome is death.
Ye Wudao put away his thoughts and walked towards the door that had just appeared on the other side of the stone hall. The stone steps outside the door extended upwards, leading to the third attic halfway up the mountain.
In the third attic, there is a wooden sign with eight vigorous and simple words engraved on it:
"Don't set up words, just point to your heart."
He took a deep breath and stepped onto the stone steps.
On the attic plaque is the plaque "Pavilion of Realization".
The moment Ye Wudao stepped into Pavilion of Realization, the stone chamber was empty.
He stood in the center of the stone room and looked around.
The walls were rough stone, without any decoration, no lights, no doors, nothing he could see.
He even swept it around with Divine Sense. It was empty, not even a speck of dust.
Then, a line of words suddenly appeared in the void in front of him. "Look."
There is only one word.
Ye Wudao stared at that word for a few breaths, and the line of words slowly faded away, replaced by a picture floating in the air.
That is a city.
People are coming and going in the city, the streets are lined with stalls, and the sounds of hawking, bargaining, and children playing come and go.
He did not stand at the city gate, but was suspended in mid-air, like an invisible passerby, overlooking the entire city.
The picture lasted for about ten seconds and then disappeared.
Immediately afterwards, the second picture emerged.
This time it's a mountain.
There is a dilapidated temple on the mountainside. In the courtyard of the temple stands an old monk, holding a broom and slowly sweeping the fallen leaves on the ground.
The autumn wind blew by, and a leaf fell on the old monk's shoulder. He did not brush it away, but continued to sweep the fallen leaves in front of him.
In the same ten seconds or so, the screen disappeared.
The third picture is a river.
The river was turbid and fast, and there was a wooden board floating on the river. A child was lying on the board, holding on to the edge of the board with both hands.
There were many people standing on both sides of the river bank, some were shouting, and some were throwing ropes into the river, but the river was too fast and the ropes were always missing.
The fourth picture is a study room.
A middle-aged scholar sat in front of the window, with a blank roll of rice paper spread out in front of him. He held a pen in his hand, and the pen tip was suspended above the paper, but it never fell.
His brows were furrowed, and outside the window was snow flying all over the sky.
The fifth picture is a dark void.
There was nothing but endless, somewhat panic-inducing darkness.
Five pictures flashed in sequence, each for about ten breaths, and then disappeared.
Ye Wudao stood there, his brows gradually furrowed.
He did not rush to a conclusion, but first replayed these five scenes in his mind one by one.
The power of Divine Sense recorded all the details, not even the inconspicuous objects in the corners were missed.
He knew clearly what words were written on the city's plaque, how many cracks there were on the bamboo handle of the old monk's broom, what color the children's clothes were, and what material the paperweight on the scholar's desk was made of.
But there doesn't seem to be any obvious connection between these details.
City, mountain, river, study, void.
Five unrelated scenes, like fragments pieced together at random, without any logic.
"What is this level?"
Ye Wudao stood in the empty stone room and waited for a while, but no sound responded to him.
Pavilion of Realization does not give clear questions like the first two levels. There is no teacher, no chessboard, and nothing for him to "answer".
There are only those five images.
He read the five pictures from beginning to end again.
The fireworks in the city are lively and chaotic.
The temple on the mountain is silent and desolate.
The child on the river is desperate and struggling.
Snowy night in the study, lonely and hesitant.
The final void is empty and nothingness.
Each of these five paintings has a "person" in it.
The common people in the city, the old monk sweeping the floor, the child lying on the wooden board, the middle-aged scholar who never stops writing, and the man facing the void.
Although there was no one in the fifth painting, Ye Wudao vaguely felt that there was a person "hidden" in that painting, but he couldn't see it.
"These five paintings are saying something in common..."
Ye Wudao whispered, pacing in the stone room.
The city is lively, the mountains are quiet, the river is fast, the study is solid, and the void is empty.
These contrasts are too strong, as if they were deliberately put together for him to compare.
But comparing to what?
He replayed the five scenes in his mind repeatedly, and he could even recall a notice posted on a certain wall in the city, which contained a wanted order from a certain government office.
Most of the leaves on the tree in the temple have fallen off, with only a few leaves still on the branches.
There was sand embedded between the child's fingernails, and there was a streak of water from the river where he had choked on the corner of his mouth.
There are a few ink stains on the rice paper on the scholar's desk, as if he had dipped in ink before but never finished writing.
Occasionally, a very faint ripple flashed through the void, as if the water surface had been lightly touched by something.
All the details are real, but their connections remain shrouded in mystery.
Ye Wudao suddenly stopped.
He realized something, he had been looking at these five paintings.
So he subconsciously wanted to find a Karma chain from these pictures.
What happened to the people in the city, what did the old monk know, what was the relationship between the children on the river and the scholar, and what secrets were hidden in the void.
He tried to piece together a story line to connect the five paintings into a coherent event.
But he couldn't spell it out.
Because these five pictures have no connection or logic.
Ye Wudao Close your eyes and stop analyzing those details, and stop thinking about whether there is a Karma chain between them.
He just stood quietly, letting his heart be like a mirror, honestly reflecting the five pictures.
What is hidden in the bustle of the city?
What is the old monk on the mountain sweeping?
What is the child on the river holding on to?
What is hanging on the scholar's pen?
Who is hiding in the void?
He allowed these questions to slowly settle in his consciousness, without looking for answers, just letting them settle naturally.
I don't know how long it took, but an idea emerged from the bottom of the sediment.
Those five scenes, if you don't use Karma to connect, but use "repetition of a certain state" to connect...
"Lively" and "lonely".
The old monk was sweeping the fallen leaves, but he could never finish sweeping them.
The child holds on to the board, but the river cannot stop.
The scholar's pen hangs, but the words do not appear on their own.
There is a person hiding in the void, but that person never appears.
"The fallen leaves that will never be swept away, the river that will never stop, the pen that will never fall, the people who will never show up..."
Ye Wudao opened his eyes suddenly.
"They're all in the same state... stuck."
The people in the city look lively, but in fact everyone is doing the same thing, saying the same words, and walking the same road. The liveliness is a cyclical liveliness that never changes.
What the old monk was sweeping was not the fallen leaves, but the very act of sweeping. He kept sweeping because the leaves kept falling, day after day, year after year.
The child is grabbing the board, and the "grabbing" movement is fixed. He keeps grabbing, and the river keeps flowing. He can neither get to the shore, nor will he drown immediately, he is just hanging there.
The scholar's pen hung on the paper, and the drop of ink never fell.
In the darkness of the void, that person never came out.
These five pictures all talk about the same thing, a stuck state, a repeated state.