Ye Wudao was stunned.
What is the fire thinking?
Fire is a dead thing and has no consciousness. How does he know what the fire is thinking?
He frowned, realizing that this level was not easy.
He opened his mouth and closed it again.
"Fire has no consciousness", "Fire is a ruthless thing", "Fire is just a natural phenomenon", he wanted to give this answer to the old man, but he felt that this was definitely not the correct answer.
This was already the fifth level, and he wasn't sure if he would have a chance to answer again after he answered wrongly.
He had an intuition that if he really said that, he would fall into the old man's trap.
Dao Inquiry Pavilion, it is definitely not such a simple level.
He was stuck, sitting there, looking at the quietly burning flame, thinking desperately about what "what is the fire thinking" meant, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt that the question itself was not valid.
The old man looked at him holding back, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, appearing to be an imperceptible smile.
He pressed the flame back onto the wick, and the flame fell back to its original position and continued to burn quietly.
"You were so embarrassed that your face turned red."
"You think this question is tricky?"
The old man asked softly, with a hint of casualness in his tone.
Ye Wudao nodded and admitted. "A bit. Fire has no consciousness, no thoughts, it doesn't think about anything. So I don't know how to answer."
The old man smiled slightly and said, "Then why did you take so long to say it?"
Ye Wudao frowned slightly and replied, "Because I don't think you can ask a question that can be answered with a standard answer."
The old man nodded slightly and said nothing. He did not judge what was right or wrong, but stretched out his other hand and drew a circle on the table.
A drop of water slowly condensed in the circle. The drop of water floated quietly on the table without rolling, like a solidified dewdrop.
The old man pointed to the suspended drop of water and said, "Okay, you have already dealt with the fire problem, so let me change the question. You have understood Way of Water, then let me ask you, where does this drop of water want to flow?"
Ye Wudao didn't get stuck again this time.
With the test of the question just now, he had already vaguely figured out the old man's path.
He looked at the drop of water, thought about it seriously, and replied, "Water has no thoughts, it doesn't know what "thinking" is. But water has nature. It goes down, gets into the gaps, and flows downward. This is the characteristic of water, not the thought of water."
The old man smiled and continued to ask, "Then if I put it in a bowl and its downward movement is blocked, will it feel uncomfortable?"
Ye Wudao was silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head. "It's not uncomfortable, it has no perception, it has characteristics, but no pain or joy. If the bowl stops it, it will stop in the bowl, and it will not feel aggrieved or feel that it has lost anything."
The old man raised his eyebrows and said with interest, "Then if I knock over the bowl and splash it on the ground, and it flows all over the ground and seeps into the soil, will it be happy?"
Ye Wudao frowned. He always felt that the old man's problem was not simple, but he still followed his previous strength and replied, "It's not happy either. It doesn't feel happy. It just seeps in, that's all."
The old man waved his hand gently, letting the water droplets fall to the ground, melt into the texture of the bluestone and disappear.
He raised his eyes and finally looked directly at Ye Wudao for the first time. Those cloudy eyes, illuminated by the light, made Ye Wudao feel a little bit of pressure inexplicably.
The old man smiled and said, "Your answer is very good. I can see that you do understand Tao."
He paused, stretched out his third finger, and said, "Third question. Have you understood Edge of Metal. Among all things in the world, what is the golden thing afraid of the most?"
Ye Wudao thought for a while and replied, "Gold is afraid of rust. No matter how sharp the sword is, if it is left in moisture for a long time, the edge will become dull. No matter how hard the iron is, if it is repeatedly soaked by water vapor, rust spots will appear on the surface. Edge of Metal comes from its purity, and rust breaks this purity."
The old man nodded slightly. "You are right that gold is afraid of rust. Then let me ask you, do gold objects know that they are afraid of rust?"
Ye Wudao was stunned again.
This old man obviously doesn't play his cards according to common sense.
This is a tricky question to ask. Gold's fear of rust is an objective attribute, not because Gold itself realizes something and then feels scared.
However, the old man's question seemed to be guiding him intentionally or unintentionally, making him feel that metal also had its own consciousness.
He shook his head and replied, "I don't know. Gold has no consciousness. For it, rust is just a change, not a fear."
The old man narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke a little faster than before, "Then you have understood so many great ways, just like you possess all kinds of sharp weapons, each one is sharp and can cut people and break obstacles. What about yourself? You have so many knives in your hand, what are you afraid of?"
Ye Wudao heard this, and his heart trembled. The transformation of this problem was a bit too fast.
The old man changed the topic from fire, water, and metal, and settled on him.
The previous questions seemed to be asking about the nature of the Great Dao, such as what fire wants, whether water is uncomfortable, and whether gold is afraid. The answers to each question were very clear, and he even felt that he had answered it pretty well.
But the old man made a final twist and pointed the knife edge of those answers directly at himself. He was unable to react for a while.
He sat at the low table, thought seriously for a while, and said, "I'm afraid... I'm afraid that I will be overwhelmed by these words."
The old man nodded slightly, indicating for him to continue.
Ye Wudao sorted out his thoughts and continued, "There are so many Great Dao Powers in me, and each one is a road and a direction."
"But there are too many roads, and sometimes I can't tell which one I am walking on and which one is the road pulling me along. I'm afraid that I will become a warehouse full of weapons but without an owner. There are more and more things, but the person standing at the door of the warehouse is getting blurry."
After hearing this, the old man did not respond immediately.
He moved his gaze away from Ye Wudao's face and returned it to the oil lamp, as if he was thinking about something.
In the quiet gap, Ye Wudao could clearly hear his own breathing, and occasionally there was one or two very subtle "crackling" sounds coming from the depths of the lamp wick.
After a few seconds, the old man whispered four words: "Third question, pass."
Ye Wudao took a deep breath when he heard this.
The answer just now was something he came up with in a very short period of time. It can be said to be the deepest thought in his heart.
Sitting with the old man, he was under great pressure.
Under this extreme pressure, the old man kept guiding him to answer as quickly as possible.
He was very afraid that if he was not careful, his answer to the question would dissatisfy the old man.
The old man sat up a little straighter and put his hands on the table.
"For the first three questions, I asked about fire, water, and metal. Some people say that they represent the three forms of Tao, rising, flowing, and condensing. Others say that I am examining the nature of Tao. What do you think about this question?"
Ye Wudao frowned slightly. This question seemed to be an extension of the old man's answers after gathering the answers from previous gamers.
He thought for a while and said, "I think the first three questions are not asking about the nature of fire, water, and metal at all. You are using one thing to cover another."
The old man raised his brows with a smile on his lips. He neither admitted nor denied, but just asked, "Then what do you think I am using them for?"
Ye Wudao was silent for a moment and said in a deep voice, "You are trying to trick me."