His warning echoed in my ears, grave and unyielding. But I simply shook my head and replied,
"Death is death. Who can escape it?
Eternal life as you say is impossible to achieve, right?
Then what's the point of pursuing something that can never be attained?"
My master, the one who had walked the path far longer than I could fathom, looked at me with eyes as deep as the void itself. He heard my question and responded, his voice calm yet laced with a quiet, ancient sorrow.
"Eternal life is not pursued for the sake of life.
It is pursued for the journey an eternal one.
A heart that truly seeks eternity does not care for death, life, or people.
A true Dao pursuer is detached,
Detached from the world, from life and death alike."
He stepped forward, the wind parting around him as if the world itself bowed to his presence. His voice grew firmer, filled with the weight of countless years and sacrifices.
"It is a heart forged upon the corpses of emotions and distractions,
A will that allows nothing to block the journey.
A gaze that never stops rebelling against the heavens,
Always striving to transcend.
Even if death stands before him, ready to devour him whole,
The eternal pursuer does not halt.
For him, every challenge, every failure, is merely another step on the endless road."
I listened in silence, my thoughts adrift in his words.
Then, quietly, I asked,
"But why choose such a destination at all?
Why not enter the cycle of reincarnation, live a hundred different lives,
And feel joy and sorrow, love and loss, all over again?"
His words stirred something within me, emotions I couldn't name. Yet, I still couldn't understand why someone would willingly walk a path so cold, so painful, for something they might never reach.
My master did not reply at first. Instead, he simply shook his head.
Then, with a snap of his fingers, the world trembled and before me appeared a mountain. A towering, desolate pile of bones.
I stared in stunned silence.
"What is this?" I whispered.
His voice rang out, heavy and solemn.
"These are the bones of your ancestors
Every generation born since the beginning of this universe.
Go on. Try and find your grandfather's bones."
I stood frozen. Staring at the endless white heap, a sense of disbelief washed over me.
"How can I ?" I murmured.
"This is an order," he said, his voice brooking no refusal.
Reluctantly, I stepped forward and reached into the pile, choosing a bone at random. I turned to him, unsure.
He glanced at it, then shook his head with a faint, mocking smile.
"That is not your grandfather's bone."
Before I could protest, he raised his hand again. Another snap and in his palm appeared a pair of bones, glowing faintly with some lingering trace of essence.
"These belonged to your grandfather.
Look closely.
The love he held, the hatred he carried, the status he earned all gone.
Decayed. Consumed by time."
His gaze bore into me, and then he spoke once more, his tone final.
"You have two paths before you.
One: Return. Live freely. Be remembered for a moment, then forgotten like all the rest.
Or two: Walk the path of an Eternal One."
Then, without waiting for my answer, he turned and walked away passing through me like wind through mist.
But this time , he did not order me to follow.
And for the first time , I felt loss.
I lowered my head, a quiet sigh escaping my lips. But in that still moment, I heard the voice of my heart.
I laughed.
Not out of joy, nor madness but with clarity. With resolve.
And without another word, I stepped forward,
And began to follow him.