The No.1 Undercover in the Immortal World-Chapter 895 - 401 Article 3 The Direction of the Third Road
When Lin Yun lost his memories, he spent every day pondering how to regain them.
Yet now that they have been suddenly restored, so unexpectedly and without any preparation, Lin Yun has unavoidably encountered new troubles.
As clever as he was, he now had no idea how to break free from this seemingly inescapable situation; both paths seemed to lead to a dead end, leaving him truly at a loss.
At this moment, he finally understood why, despite his seemingly smooth sailing life, he always felt the world’s deep malice; since his transmigration, everything he did went well, and women liked him.
However, whenever he thought of his life being arranged by others, he would feel real unease and on guard, from deep within.
Looking back, his past self had already sensed something, but regrettably, all he saw back then was fog, and his power was too insignificant.
Even with a sense of crisis, he couldn’t change anything.
Nowadays, although his strength is immense, his concerns are just as great.
From the beginning to the end, he had no room for maneuver; everything had been clearly arranged for him.
"Sigh!"
Life is tough, Lin Yun sighed.
But he didn’t want Qing Nu and the others to see him like this, so he had to find a corner to sit down and look up to the sky.
In fact, Lin Yun was well aware that being negative was meaningless. He had to find a solution.
But he couldn’t help feeling disheartened because, according to some information from the future, he probably failed, even if he did something.
Moreover, Lin Yun didn’t even know which time loop this was for him.
He felt like it was the first time, but perhaps, he has been cycling through this same timeline over and over again.
If so, he would be deeply despondent because if this hypothesis were true, according to the theory of time loops, any change in history would fracture spacetime, therefore his past self could also have obtained Tai Bai’s sword and recovered his memories at this time.
Then, his next actions might be the same as before.
If that’s the case, time would naturally avoid being shattered.
But considering his personality, if this time loop was indeed not his first, then his previous selves in the loop would have thought the same way.
Therefore, any method he contrives now to change the future might just be in line with time’s progression.
Even if he tries to do the opposite, his past selves in the loop would have surely thought to do so as well.
This game, well, is a mind game against himself, with completely matching thoughts. There’s no point in trying to change anything.
Forget it, I’ll just lie down for a bit.
When the pressure is too great, one needs to lie down briefly, to clear the mind.
Of course, Lin Yun will not remain lying down forever. He is just relaxing a bit, watching the stars.
Suddenly, someone else lay down beside him.
Lin Yun turned his head, only to find that the person beside him was Zhen Li.
She is now known as Mother Earth•Li.
In the future, this annoying little sister will become a mistress, bear him a not-so-bright daughter, and together they will create a race.
If he wants to change the future, then he simply needs to keep his distance from Zhen Li and avoid creating the Demon Race with her. Then, the future would naturally alter. But even setting aside the potential collapse of spacetime, such a change would inevitably trigger a chain reaction.
For example, without the Demon Race, the Flower Fairy would not be born, the Four Great Holy Beasts would not perish at the hands of the Demon Emperor, White Tiger and Xuanwu wouldn’t fall, and as a consequence, Lin Yu and Snow Maiden wouldn’t exist, and the order of the world would be entirely different...
This outcome is something Lin Yun cannot accept.
"Brother Yun, you seem to be troubled. Is there a conflict with Sister Qing?"
Recently, Qing Nu has been busy setting Heavenly Dao rules and observing how the Mortal Realm operates, and Lin Yun has his own worries. Naturally, they haven’t been in contact as frequently as before.
After all, having been married for so many years, there is no need to stay glued to each other every day.
But in the eyes of her younger sisters, it clearly seemed that there was a slight issue between sister and brother-in-law.
Isn’t this the perfect opportunity?
All three younger sisters didn’t want to waste it, but Tai Bai was the first to chicken out, as the Sky-Piercing Constructing Wood was still figuring out a way to pierce through the thin membrane at the end of the world, which she was most curious about. She had invited Lin Yun before, but although he verbally agreed, he didn’t actually come to help her, leaving the Sky-Piercing Constructing Wood quite dissatisfied!
At this time, the only one who had the leisure and mood to tease Lin Yun was the third youngest.
"There are no conflicts."
Lin Yun felt that her words had an underlying tone.
Zhen Li’s past life was also quite timid, seeing Lin Yun seeming impatient, she was so frightened that she shrank into herself.
However, having encountered the rare opportunity to be alone, she didn’t want to miss out and still mustered the courage to ask, "Do you have any worries, why not talk to me about it? Maybe I can help you!"
Lin Yun didn’t expect her to be of any help, but in both his past and present life she was his woman, and he couldn’t be too cold towards her. His previous impatience was just due to him being downhearted and not wanting to talk. Now that Zhen Li pressed for an answer, he casually replied, "I have two paths in front of me; one is a dead end, and the other one too. Which should I take?"
Li was immediately puzzled.
She was the third eldest among the five innate gods, and besides Lin Yun and Qing Nu, she was the earliest born god.
She really couldn’t think of anything that could plunge Lin Yun into such a difficult situation. Could it be that he had angered Qing Nu?
Li thought of Qing Nu’s jealous expression, which was always particularly frightening.
Could it be that after their marriage, Qing Nu became even more intense, which is why Lin Yun was so fearful?
"Sister is really scary, not like me, I can only feel heartache for Brother Yun."
With some unfounded imagination, Li felt they couldn’t go on like this and had to find a way to help Lin Yun out of his misery.
For example, taking Lin Yun to a safer place.
"If both paths in front of you lead to death, then why not forge a third path?"
This was her wildly hinting that she could be Lin Yun’s third path.
"I understand the principle, but how do I forge a third path?"
Lin Yun had thought about it too, not walking either path of death, simply taking a third path, wouldn’t that be better?
But in theory, that’s the case, but in practice, how could he carve out a third path?
"I can help you come up with a solution."
Li revealed a sweet smile, and in this moment, Lin Yun suddenly understood why he had cheated in the past.
His sister’s smile was just too healing!
Looking at her smiling face, Lin Yun felt much of the gloominess in his heart dissipating.
Although the problem was still unresolved, it didn’t matter.
There was still plenty of time, and he could think of a solution slowly.
No matter what happens, he must not forget his original intention.
All he wanted to do was to protect the ones he wished to protect.
Although there were difficulties ahead, and he temporarily couldn’t find the third path, for the sake of his goal, he must find it.
"Thank you."
Lin Yun involuntarily caressed Li’s cheek, which was indeed very smooth and bouncy. This affectionate gesture made her blush and her heart flutter.
But she was also exhilarated; this was Li-tan’s first step toward success!
"By the way, were you just worried about Sister Qing’s matter?"
Li asked tentatively.
They hadn’t discussed it in enough detail earlier, and now she wanted a deeper understanding of what problem Lin Yun had encountered.
Lin Yun shook his head and said, "Not entirely."
It was inconvenient for him to directly mention that he had fallen into a time loop, and he didn’t want Zhen Li to misunderstand Qing Nu either, so he used Tai Bai’s sword to draw a circle on the ground, and then drew a straight line outside of the circle.
Thus, he could roughly represent his own situation in space-time.
He had severed connections with the future and was deeply trapped in a closed loop of space-time.
He wished to reach the other side of space-time but could not break this circle.
"I’m a point on this circle, how do I reach this line?" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
"Just like this?"
Zhen Li casually drew a line and connected the circle to the straight line.
"Wouldn’t it work if you just connect them here?"
Lin Yun: "..."
Such a straightforward and simple answer left Lin Yun speechless on the spot.
"We can’t connect here."
"What about here?"
Zhen Li randomly picked a point on the circle, made a detour, but still connected it to the line. Just as Lin Yun was about to mock Zhen Li for being asinine, a flash of inspiration struck his mind.
It seems...
Zhen Li was not foolish; her train of thought was simple, yet it pointed straight towards the essence of the problem.
Lin Yun’s goal was to link the loop of endless history to his own future, and no matter what, that meant establishing a connection to the future.
Either, he would just have to jump to a point.
And her finding another connection point elsewhere greatly inspired Lin Yun.
According to the rules of space-time transmitted by the Mysterious Ancient Sword to Lin Yun, he also understood a bit.
The reason history cannot be changed is not that it cannot be altered, but a minute change can cause massive space-time disturbances, leading to the destruction of space-time.
The root cause of it all is the connection between people and the world.
By this rule, if, during a certain period, a person has no contact with the world, then their state is like Schrödinger’s cat; as long as it is not observed, its state cannot be determined.
And Lin Yun knew there was such a time.
It was when the historical him feigned death, and afterward, there were no records about him for a long stretch of time.
Had he really died?
Regardless of whether he died or not, from that point to the moment he returned to Canglan Divine Country, it was the history he could change because in that time period, he completely severed his connection with the world.
"I just love your straightforwardness."
Lin Yun excitedly lifted Zhen Li into the air, spinning her around a few times.
In his subconscious, he didn’t feel anything amiss; after all, the present Zhen Li would one day bear his children, and the future Zhen Li would still be his woman.
What harm was there in a hug?
But for the present Zhen Li, all this was too exciting.
Previously, Qing Nu had kept a very close watch on Lin Yun, barely giving her a chance, and now there was even less possibility for opportunities.
And now, Qing Nu was deeply engrossed in pondering how to set the heavenly laws and how to become pregnant, while she and Lin Yun were here hugging and lifting each other up; the thrill of doing something behind her sister’s back was too stimulating!
However, to avoid being caught by Qing Nu, she felt the need for a secretive space.
Upon this thought, she thought of a method to create a world.
Using part of her own essence, she fashioned a small world, ensuring they would absolutely not be discovered!
Lin Yun had no idea she was thinking up such strange things. He decided to return the Mysterious Ancient Sword to Tai Bai. Then, to let nature take its course, he waited for history to develop along its predetermined trajectory.
History can be changed, as long as space-time fluctuations are eliminated.
And in this segment of history, the only one who died was Fourth Elder, Sky-Piercing Constructing Wood·Lin, and yes, his and Qing Nu’s child.
After some thought, Lin Yun realized Fourth Elder’s death was not unsolvable.
According to Tai Bai, it was then that the Sky-Piercing Constructing Wood ignited Lin Yun’s fire, completing the Wood engendering Fire, which enabled Lin Yun to beat Tai Bai.
The price was the sacrifice of the Sky-Piercing Constructing Wood itself.
There was room to maneuver here; at that time, the connection between Sky-Piercing Constructing Wood and the world was just Tai Bai. If Tai Bai was led to believe that she had already died, and then if she no longer appeared, it would be no different than if she had died.
Regardless of whether history unfolded that way, Lin Yun felt this approach should be viable. Just...
How to save the child of himself and Qing Nu?
Lin Yun knew little about this child who had long passed away, rendering him unable to come up with a solution in advance.
Now, he could only wait.
At worst, he would let time loop again to see if he could return to the past with his memories intact.
As time passed day by day, Lin Yun, who already had a plan, was like a salted fish, completely laid-back, doing whatever he should do every day, taking ’let nature take its course’ to the extreme.
The current history, he could not change yet.
For instance, he and Qing Nu still conceived a method to nurture life.
This method was obtained through communicating with the Heavenly Dao.
Their child was too powerful and needed to absorb a great amount of Spiritual Power. Moreover, the mother needed to continuously provide Spiritual Power to nourish the fetus.
During the nurturing period, the mother would fall into a deep sleep.
Qing Nu didn’t think twice; driven by her desire for the child, she decisively used the method. As their life forces condensed into one, Qing Nu fell into a deep sleep and began to nurture the child.
During this stage, Lin Yun certainly did not forget to take good care of Qing Nu.
But he also didn’t forget about history.
He was making a baby quietly with the third sibling to not alter history, not because he was enchanted by her beauty!
Just like that, another ten thousand years passed.
Qing Nu had yet to give birth, but Lin Yiyi was born first.
Zhen Li still didn’t understand why Yiyi should take the surname Lin. It was only then that Lin Yun told her that he had always been called Lin Yun.
Everything was developing smoothly and logically; Lin Yun was waiting for Qing Nu to wake up and come after him in fury, which should also be part of history.
However, before Qing Nu could wake up, he was first visited by the Fourth Elder.
Ever since she perceived the world’s arguments, over the years, she had been using her powerful body to try and penetrate that thin membrane.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t break through it.
She had previously sought Lin Yun’s help, but at that time, he had his own difficulties and didn’t immediately go to assist; afterwards, she didn’t seek him out again.
Until now.
She hurriedly found Lin Yun and immediately said, "Brother Yun, I can’t stand it anymore, come help me break through that layer of membrane!"
Lin Yun: "..."
Fourth Elder, we really need to be careful with our words...
