Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Past Life Is Gone

The term "three lifetimes" generally refers to the past life, the present life, and the next life. According to Buddhist teachings, the deeds of the past life bear fruit in the present, and the deeds of the present bear fruit in the next. If you wish to know the cause in a past life, look at what you endure in this life; if you wish to know the effect in the next life, look at what you do in this life.

As for the Six Paths, they are as follows: the Heavenly Path, the Asura Path, the Human Path, the Animal Path, the Hungry Ghost Path, and finally, the Hell Path. The first three are called the Three Good Paths; they are so named because the deeds performed in them are relatively virtuous. The latter three are called the Three Evil Paths, as the deeds therein are heavier and more grievous. All beings who are mired in the cycle of segmented birth and death reincarnate only within these Six Paths.

Reincarnation means that beings pass through life and death repeatedly; after death, the soul is reborn as another person or animal, continuously revolving like a wheel, endlessly cycling. This cycle never goes beyond the Six Paths.

The cause and effect through three lifetimes, the endless cycle of the Six Paths!

"Three lifetimes and three worlds?" After Li Sanjian finished explaining the concept of three lifetimes, Wang Wen asked, "But... I only know my present life. What was my past life? I don't remember anything at all."

Li Sanjian nodded and smiled gently. "Because, before your reincarnation, you drank the Soup of Oblivion, erasing all your memories. Only then did you cross the Bridge of Forgetfulness to be reborn."

"Oh..." Wang Wen wanted to ask what the Soup of Oblivion was, but did not wish to interrupt Li Sanjian, eager to listen further.

"There was someone in this world, however, who by some twist of fate did not drink the Soup of Oblivion. Thus, he remembers everything from his past life with perfect clarity," Li Sanjian said.

"Ah? Who is he?" Wang Wen, eyes wide with astonishment, looked at Li Sanjian and asked.

Li Sanjian shook his head without answering, and continued, "That person’s family in his past life was very poor. His parents were ordinary folk, and he himself was born into a modest household, studying at the academy. His parents poured all their energy and resources into supporting his education. The family was impoverished, and at that time, his father fell gravely ill. To pay for his father’s treatment, they borrowed heavily. When he left the academy, the family was already deeply in debt."

At this point, Li Sanjian’s voice grew choked. "That child, in order to change his family’s fate and let his long-suffering mother enjoy a better life, took on new debts to start a business. But these new debts were owed to the Lord of the Underworld—if he failed to repay, it meant certain death, a road of no return. If his enterprise failed, there was only doom ahead."

"Third Brother... Third Brother," Wang Wen asked anxiously, "What happened then? Did he... did he succeed?"

Li Sanjian shook his head and smiled bitterly. "How could success come so easily in this world? In the end, he failed, owing countless debts he could never repay. Creditors came to his door daily; his mother wept constantly, yet steeled herself to pay off her son’s enormous obligations with her meager earnings, but it was like pouring a cup of water onto a blazing cart, utterly useless. At this time, even his beloved fiancée left him."

"Woo... woo... he’s so pitiful, and so is his mother..." Wang Wen asked sorrowfully, "What became of him?"

Li Sanjian smiled sadly. "In the end, the blows were too much for him. He could not bear such a tragic life and... departed this world. As he left, his greatest regret was for his mother. He could not imagine how she would cope after he was gone."

Li Sanjian gripped a handful of sand tightly, letting the fine grains slip through his fingers, flowing into the tide and returning to the vast sea.

"Third Brother..." Wang Wen leaned gently against Li Sanjian, the two of them gazing at the moonlight in silence for a long time.

"Wen’er, tomorrow I must leave. You... you must take good care of yourself," Li Sanjian finally spoke after a while.

Li Sanjian could delay no longer; tomorrow he must set out for Guizhou to join Lady Fu and the others, to go to the capital for the imperial examination.

This was the battle that would determine Li Sanjian’s fate and that of his whole family. He had to give it his all, and what troubled him most was that there would be barely any time on the road to review his studies, leaving his heart uncertain and confused.

"Third Brother, I won’t let you go. If you leave, who will tell me stories?" Wang Wen sobbed.

"Heh, silly girl." Li Sanjian smiled. "Don’t you still have your father and mother? They can tell you stories."

"Them?" Wang Wen pouted. "They hardly ever tell me stories, and the ones they do tell aren’t interesting at all. The stories you tell are best; you even made me cry..."

Li Sanjian laughed. "Alright, Wen’er, I promise you—when we meet again, I’ll keep telling you stories until you’re satisfied."

"Really? You won’t trick me?" Wang Wen asked.

"Really. I would never deceive you," Li Sanjian replied.

In truth, Li Sanjian was evading the question. Whether he would return to Qiong Platform after his journey to the capital was uncertain, and whether the two would meet again was also unknown.

...

"Grandfather, esteemed uncles, Lord Wang, I bid you farewell here. Please return," Li Sanjian said, bowing to Fu Gui, Fu Ding, Fu Lin, Wang Ruikun, and the others.

That day, as Li Sanjian left Danzhou, Fu Gui, Wang Ruikun, and the others all came to see him off, escorting him to the ferry. Fu Gui had wished, as before, for Fu Lin to accompany Li Sanjian to Guizhou, but Li Sanjian refused. In a few days, he would turn sixteen, and it wasn’t as if he had never traveled alone before.

A poor scholar rarely attracted the attention of robbers, unless one encountered someone like Wang Ruikun who abducted brides...

"Sanjian, you will cross mountains and rivers. Take good care of your mother and yourself," Fu Gui urged with concern.

"Grandfather, rest assured. I know what to do," Li Sanjian replied with a smile.

Having disappointed his mother in his past life, Li Sanjian was determined, above all else in this life, to let her enjoy happiness.

"Sanjian," Wang Ruikun also advised, "take this travel money with you. It will save you from hardship on the road."

As the chief of a Li settlement, Wang Ruikun had some means, and he gave Li Sanjian a fair sum, but Li Sanjian refused.

"Lord Wang," Li Sanjian thanked him, "I appreciate your generosity, but my mother’s wishes must not be disobeyed. I dare not accept; I ask for your understanding."

Wang Ruikun shook his head, wanting to say something, but stopped, as if words lingered on his tongue.

"Lord Wang, please rest assured. I will not go back on my word," Li Sanjian thought, amused—Wang Ruikun was clearly worried that Li Sanjian might not keep his promise, or perhaps worried his daughter would never be married off...

Wang Ruikun, hearing this, finally relaxed, stroking his thick black beard and smiling at Li Sanjian. "You are indeed a man of your word. I did not misjudge you."

Li Sanjian rolled his eyes at this; barely past thirty, yet he called himself 'old man' with every other sentence? And Lady Fu knew nothing of this, yet he addressed Li Sanjian as 'Sanjian' like a senior...

Wang Wen, who came to see him off, hid behind Wang Ruikun, peeking at Li Sanjian with her small face.

Li Sanjian then bowed to the group, glanced in the direction of Su Shi’s residence, shook his head in sorrow, and turned to leave.

"Wait, Sanjian, slow down, wait for me!" At that moment, Su Shi’s servant Gao Er, carrying a bundle and holding a whistle stick, came running up, breathless.

"Gao Er, what are you doing?" Li Sanjian asked in surprise.

"I’m accompanying you to the capital," Gao Er gasped.

"You? Why?" Li Sanjian asked again.

"You don’t know, do you?" Gao Er replied. "I’m a native of the capital, Kaifeng. I know the city like the back of my hand. Just follow me, and you’ll never lose your way."

"But... Master Su...?" Gao Er was Su Shi’s servant and couldn’t leave without his master’s permission. Why was he now suddenly accompanying Li Sanjian to the capital?

Li Sanjian was deeply puzzled.

He could no longer call himself a disciple of Su Shi, which saddened him greatly.

Gao Er glanced at those around them and said to Li Sanjian, "Let’s talk about this once we’re on the boat."

Li Sanjian nodded, said farewell to the others, and boarded the ferry with Gao Er.

...

"Gao Er, can you tell me now?" Once aboard, Li Sanjian, seeing no one nearby, asked.

"What do you want to know?" Gao Er smiled.

Li Sanjian was momentarily tongue-tied—he wanted to ask why Su Shi had expelled him from his discipleship, and what Su Shi truly thought, but he was embarrassed to say it outright.

Gao Er saw Li Sanjian’s hesitation and sighed. "Sanjian, you mustn’t blame the master. He has nothing but good intentions for you."

Good intentions? Li Sanjian’s heart soared at these words, thinking Su Shi must have had some deep motive, but he could not fathom it, no matter how he pondered.

He bowed and said, "I am slow-witted. Please enlighten me, brother."

Gao Er shook his head. "I don’t know the master’s mind either. But he is not a man without feeling or loyalty. Do you know who sent me to accompany you to Kaifeng? And do you know where I’ll go once I arrive?"

"Was it Master Su? And where will you go?" Li Sanjian asked.

Gao Er nodded. "Yes, the master sent me to Kaifeng and gave me a letter, telling me to seek out the Junior Commander Wang when I arrive."

Going to Junior Commander Wang was certainly better than enduring hardship in Lingnan with Su Shi—it promised a future. If Su Shi could consider the welfare of a humble servant, could he be a man devoid of feeling or loyalty?

Who was this Junior Commander Wang? Li Sanjian wondered to himself.