Chapter 864: Scholarly

Fortunately, Bai Yang's game field was not far from the place where I was born; it took about forty minutes to walk there.

Every day, I went to meet Bai Yang. At the beginning, my emotions were incredibly complicated, and I didn't even know how to regard him.

Was he a partner? A teammate? A teacher?

He was like some kind of special presence—I could learn a lot from him, but he was definitely not my friend.

After thinking it over, I realized I was more like his "subordinate."

I was someone who followed orders, reporting to my superior every day.

I had wondered whether it was possible to become "friends" with Bai Yang.

The changes in him were truly significant. Since I had seen him many times in the Mian Shi Fang Jian, I could clearly sense this transformation now.

He had become cold, obsessive, and somewhat ruthless.

Unfortunately, no one agreed with my perspective. I hadn't seen Zhang Qiang, Mian Yang, or Sha Pi Gou again; it was as if they had vanished from the world.

Every time I arrived at his game field, Bai Yang was always lost in a daze.

Whenever he looked up at me, it seemed to take him a few seconds to figure out who I was.

"Yang Ge... are you really okay?" I called out. "You look so different from five years ago..."

"Let's make a pact of three rules," Bai Yang said coldly. "From now on, you're forbidden from mentioning anything that happened five years ago to anyone, including me. You only need to remember that I am becoming part of the Sheng Xiao starting now."

"What...?" I didn't quite understand. "Can you tell me the reason...?"

"No," Bai Yang replied. "I don't think I need to explain everything I do to you."

I stood in front of Bai Yang, at a loss for words.

I missed Jiang Ruo Xue.

If she were here, she might have quickly become familiar with Bai Yang.

My personality had become a bit more outgoing than five years ago, but I still didn't know how to handle someone like him.

He spoke even less than I did, and his words often carried random aggression.

But I knew I couldn't just let things slide. I had needs from Bai Yang; I required his help to become stronger, and maybe sometimes I needed to learn from Jiang Ruo Xue.

"What are you thinking about?" I walked over and sat next to Bai Yang, asking.

"What...?" Bai Yang seemed caught off guard by my initiative, his eyes flickering with surprise.

"I see you zoning out all day... What exactly is going on in your mind?"

After hearing that, Bai Yang slowly lowered his head, his expression almost like a bitter smile.

"Yeah... what am I thinking about?" Bai Yang asked me in return.

"I don't know," I shook my head. "Are you willing to share what you're pondering?"

"Yan Zhi Chun... you say that for everyone wandering here, what motivates them to escape?"

"Motivation?" I thought for a moment, finding the question intriguing. "I'm not entirely sure how to phrase it, but we're all brought here from the real world. Escaping from a place like hell... does it really need a clear motivation? No one would willingly stay here, right?"

"I think that's too absolute," Bai Yang sighed. "There must be people who don't want to leave... but those who don't matter. I just want to know... if someone has to leave, what motivation would keep them going no matter what?"

After pondering for a bit, I said, "It's about 'seeking advantage and avoiding harm.' As in the text Zou Ji Da Jiang Jun Liang Shang, it says that seeking advantage and avoiding harm, fearing death and cherishing life, are universal. Everyone wants to escape danger; no specific motivation is needed."

"That makes sense..." Bai Yang nodded, but then shook his head. "But seeking advantage and avoiding harm is just the initial motivation... What if they spend a long time here and realize they can't escape? What then?"

I started to grasp what Bai Yang was really asking—he wasn't talking about ordinary people, but about the strong ones.

"Yang Ge, for everyone, as long as they collect three thousand six hundred Dao, they can escape," I said. "Because they don't know the 'truth,' even if they collect them all, their memories get wiped, and they start over. The rulers here keep giving them the same motivation, trapping both the people and this place."

Bai Yang nodded after hearing that. "I almost forgot you're a smart person. Talking with you is always rewarding."

"Is that a compliment?"

"Yes," Bai Yang confirmed. "Yan Zhi Chun, let's explore another hypothetical. Suppose someone retains their memories for a long time, knows everything about this place, and still can't escape—would they still follow the instinct of 'seeking advantage and avoiding harm'?"

"Probably not," I replied. "What makes people strong is first their ability to 'seek advantage and avoiding harm,' and second, their strong 'adaptability.' If it's impossible to escape, they'd find a way to settle down here, just like how people live in the world's coldest and hottest places."

"So they need a 'motivation,'" Bai Yang said. "What kind of 'motivation' could resist all external pressures and make them focus solely on escaping?"

"Even knowing they can't escape from here... they still want to leave?"

"Exactly..." Bai Yang said.

"But you're much smarter than I am," I said, looking at him puzzled. "You should be able to come up with better ideas, right?"

"It's precisely because I can't think of any that I need to discuss with someone whose life path is different from mine," Bai Yang explained. "Sometimes solutions come not just from intelligence, but from experience."

I nodded after hearing that, but I truly didn't have any good ideas.

The reason I've kept moving forward here is just to "become stronger," so for me, whether I can escape isn't the top priority.

Even if I do escape, I have to ensure that my time in the Zhong Yan Zhi Di wasn't wasted; every day, I need to be stronger than the day before.

So for me... a "must-escape motivation" feels a bit abstract. Maybe I need some time to think about the answer.

"I might need to think about it... or perhaps tell you the answer later."

"Good. What you just said about Zou Ji Da Jiang Jun Liang Shang reminded me of something else," Bai Yang told me. "Yan Zhi Chun, I remember you're quite knowledgeable."

"I wouldn't say I'm knowledgeable," I shook my head. "My natural intelligence isn't strong, so I have to rely on acquired knowledge to barely keep up with some of these monsters' ways of thinking."

"Interesting," Bai Yang said. "From now on, bring me a book every day."

"A book?"

"Yes, I know there's a bookstore nearby, right on your way to see me. It should still have some undamaged books. Just grab one for me each day."

"But why not take a few at once?" I asked. "Wouldn't that be more convenient?"

"I need to account for each one properly and finish a book every day," Bai Yang replied. "If I have two books at the same time, I'd subconsciously think 'I have two days,' which would lead to laziness."