Chapter 58: Sweeping a Room, Fresh and Unburdened

“Originally, there is not a single thing; where could dust alight?” Luo Gan still remembered this line of poetry in his mind. If there was nothing to begin with, then how did dust come to be?

The group scrambled to get their hands on the book, eager to borrow it. From that same picture book, each person saw something different. Xiao Zhi was more interested in the exquisite printing technique, his hands constantly rubbing the paper back and forth. Uncle De, on the other hand, was curious about what exactly the little figure depicted was pretending to ponder. For Er Hu, there was nothing worth looking at—he hurled a couple of curses, kicked the door hard a few more times, raising even more dust.

Yan Shan, standing aside, mulled over Luo Gan’s meaning, watching his president fall into deep thought, as if reaching up to catch a meteor from the heavens.

In truth, few understood that for Luo Gan, the process of solving riddles was never something he enjoyed. Accepting an ordinary, humdrum life simply meant he was too lazy to bother with tedious tasks. Compared to the hardship of striving, he found it easier to accept the pressure of life after indulging in laziness.

Dust and sorcerers—wasn’t it easier, as Uncle De said, to just turn back and not bother with all these rights and wrongs? To live the mundane, defeated life of Li Chuang in reality?

Once this kind of negative mood took hold, a lethargy swept over him, sapping all his energy. He tossed the book to the floor and collapsed onto the bed.

“President, the hopes of so many people in Anping County rest on us. Pull yourself together!” Yan Shan quickly noticed something was wrong with Luo Gan, offering encouragement at just the right moment, all the while watching for Luo Gan’s reaction. But Luo Gan looked utterly deflated, like a ball with all the air let out.

Luo Gan couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Dust or no dust—what did it matter? Sweeping it away was useless.

“A Luo! Snap out of it!” Er Hu, frustrated after failing to kick down the door, grabbed Luo Gan by the shoulders and shook him, but saw only a pair of lifeless eyes.

Luo Gan felt nothing but calm within. His face betrayed neither joy nor sorrow, but a certain melancholy lingered, making Uncle De shake his head.

“It’s over, he’s possessed! Shouting won’t help.”

Glancing quickly around the room, Xiao Zhi noticed in surprise that the dust was no longer swirling in the air; it had settled. Though not gone, it no longer flew about everywhere.

“Look! The dust isn’t flying anymore. What’s going on?”

Uncle De narrowed his eyes, clicking his tongue, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. “My talisman against evil must have started working.”

In his mind, Luo Gan thought back to how monks typically meditated, recalling the nameless temple where a monk, legs crossed, would ceaselessly sweep the fallen leaves in the courtyard.

Leaves fell, one after another, gradually piling up into a small mound, swept away day after day, only to fall again. Life emerged, perished, and began anew—a wondrous cycle.

If there were originally no fallen leaves, no dust, why sweep them away at all?

His heart grew as calm as a polished mirror, his ears ringing with clarity. The nearby voices faded into a distant hum, and instead, he could hear sounds from far away—a drop of water rippling across a lake, as if he were the only one present, perhaps not even he himself existed. Maybe the fallen leaves needed no sweeping, and the dust no care at all.

As long as the heart could see the light, preserve a patch of pure land within, then here was the pure land. To struggle desperately in the wrong direction was nothing but delusion.

Luo Gan sat in meditation, his right fingers tapping the web of his left hand like a wooden fish, eyes closed.

The others were baffled, wondering what sort of possession Luo Gan had encountered. Yan Shan quickly noticed that the dust on the floor was gradually vanishing, while the yellowed book in Xiao Zhi’s hands was shedding the marks of age.

Er Hu, dumbfounded, squatted and ran his hand across the floor. Not a trace of dust—it was spotless.

Luo Gan was at ease, taking a deep breath before opening his eyes.

“A Luo... what happened?”

“The dust in this room can’t be swept away—the more you sweep, the more there is. You just end up covered in it.”

“I still don’t get it. What’s going on? Don’t keep us guessing.”

Luo Gan spoke calmly, worried he’d lose his patience with their questions. But the dust could only be cleared by entering a tranquil, meditative state. A single fit of anger, and the dust would return, trapping them all here for good.

“With your thick skull, it’s not easy to explain. Just know that only a peaceful heart can solve the problem.”

The door opened again. The sorcerer now wore a modern athletic shirt under a flowing Taoist robe, giving him an ethereal air.

“Well, I didn’t expect this...” Sorcerer Yuan looked at Luo Gan in amazement—the room was free of dust.

Sorcerer Yuan announced, “The first trial is over. Let’s move on to the next.”

Luo Gan asked, “After the next trial, will we see anything?”

The question caught Sorcerer Yuan off guard. After a moment’s thought he replied, “So far, no one has made it all the way through.”

Uncle De, Er Hu, and the rest followed Luo Gan, all filing behind Sorcerer Yuan as they headed down the stairs.

Yan Shan was the first to sense something amiss, treading cautiously. Luo Gan, noticing this, also grew vigilant. When they reached the main door, everyone stopped.

“A Luo, what’s outside the house? Is it safe?”

“If we go out now, will we get caught?”

They whispered among themselves, their chattering grating on Luo Gan’s nerves. He decided to allay their doubts.

“Since the street is empty, let’s go out. The later it gets, the greater the risk. Better to summon our courage and break through now!”

Sorcerer Yuan had already stepped outside. Only after seeing him walk several paces, apparently unharmed, did Luo Gan and the others dare to follow him out the door.

None of them wanted to be trapped inside. As soon as Luo Gan took the first step, the rest surged forward, unwilling to be left behind, and left the house.

“A Luo, these trials are really confusing. Say, aren’t we missing someone?”

Er Hu was first to notice something was wrong—Peasant Jia was nowhere in sight. The others exchanged puzzled glances.

“Strange, we didn’t see him when we woke up.”

“But he definitely came with us, fell unconscious with us. How could he just...”

“Could it be...” Luo Gan considered for a moment. In this game world, truth and illusion were hopelessly tangled. It was nearly impossible to tell reality from falsehood at a glance. Thinking back, perhaps Peasant Jia had never truly been there—just a dreamlike figment?

It was frustrating, but for now, they had no choice but to follow the sorcerer and complete the task. Perhaps the puzzle of Peasant Jia’s disappearance would resolve itself in time.

Unbeknownst to them, Sorcerer Yuan led the group up a small hill. The path sloped gently, but was not too hard to traverse. The woods rustled all around.

“Forests always make me uneasy,” Er Hu muttered, a rare look of worry crossing his face.

Luo Gan understood the reason—Er Hu’s earlier encounter in the woods—but merely patted him on the shoulder in encouragement.

The path grew steeper, but the group followed Sorcerer Yuan, who strode ahead without looking back, as if he were a stranger. Yet the group was relaxed, keeping pace behind him.

Suddenly, Xiao Zhi stooped to pick up a few coins from the ground. Yan Shan also found some, and Uncle De bent down to scoop up a small nugget of gold.

Following the trail of coins, Luo Gan saw that they were actually falling from Sorcerer Yuan’s person! The coins kept dropping, clinking continually. What could this mean?