"Is there no exception?" Ning Zheng suddenly asked.

Li Youzhu looked on as if watching a play:

"Trouble occurs in Pingchang City, and what does it have to do with us ordinary folks? We just hide in our village and watch this red sun phenomenon that occurs once every one hundred and fifty years, see the embers connecting to the earth veins get completely absorbed."

Ning Zheng: "..."

Though these uncaring words were spoken with joy.

But you yourself have long since died and will also be absorbed.

All the people in Spirit Manor will perish.

"There is not entirely no way."

Li Youzhu finally revealed the solution:

"Unless it's official organizations, Red House, Coinage Factory, military camp, local government... these areas suppressed by Qi Fortune."

"After all, it would be a royal pardon; how would they affect their own forces?"

Ning Zheng: !!!

He seems to have figured something out.

That group of demon men has a coin minting license.

No wonder his Qi Fortune never changed; it was indeed nothing to do with him.

He suddenly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart; the Spirit Manor down the hill, the three ancestors, even Ning Jiaojiao, wouldn't be affected.

Yet thinking this way, it seems the coin minting license is even harder to obtain than imagined.

Where exactly did these demon men get the official accreditation?

They came mysteriously, arriving suddenly a hundred years ago, and rooted themselves here like a dragon crossing the river.

Generally, people with a magic copper mine would sell the magic copper coarse embryo.

They directly took official certification, carried an official coinage magical artifact, mined, and secretly forged magic coins.

It always feels like this matter is significant.

Being pulled into an unknown whirlpool.

But no matter what disaster may come in the future, for now, we've made it through; the [Red Sun] doesn't concern the manor, the unresponsive Qi Fortune Value is proof.

Ning Zheng felt emotional; this sudden shift between joy and sorrow was quite frightening.

"Old gentleman, your knowledge should be profound, right?"

Su Yuniang smiled, speaking softly: "Talking about the cleaning of embers, can I ask you some things?"

"Just pay me." Li Youzhu was very straightforward.

He wouldn't be easily swayed by a young girl's cunning act.

Su Yuniang said: "You are well-read; can I ask, in your understanding, what are embers?"

Ning Zheng perked up his ears at this; he rather wanted to know too.

"Embers, huh."

Li Youzhu put down his book, "They simply don't recognize they've already died, unable to form an understanding of 'death'."

Su Yuniang obviously didn't agree with such a common answer.

Tucking away the heartache, she pulled out her little stash, ten magic coins.

She mentally recited:

All for concealing the plot, all for extracting intel!

Uncle Youzhu accepted the coins, feeling them carefully, confirming they were real and bore no signs of use, "When do you think a person is truly dead?"

Such a philosophical topic.

Su Yuniang was stunned for a moment, then intrigued: "Some say a person dies three times in their life."

"The first time is when they stop breathing; physically, they've died."

"The second time is when they are buried; socially, they've died."

"The third time is when everyone forgets them; then they die from cognition."

"Death isn't the final destination in life; forgetting is."

Uncle Youzhu was dumbfounded by her words, taking quite a while to come to his senses:

"You girl have a valid point; forgetting is death..."

He chuckled, "Your talents are incredible; among them lies some profound truths about embers, perhaps you could go for imperial examinations, excel in the Three Elements, be personally tested by the Saint, no one else would fit as the court champion, and be awarded the Celestial Spirit Root, serving the Nine-State realm."

"Just ordinary really." For the first time acting the literary copycat, Su Yuniang was quite shy: "All my friends know I'm cold in character, kind and introverted, not someone who craves fame, so please don't mention the imperial exams unless the court seeks me out repeatedly and employs me in a sincere, respectful manner."

Li Youzhu laughed, finding her shamelessness endearing: "Do you think embers are dead?"

"Isn't that so?" Su Yuniang retorted with a question.

Li Youzhu pointed outside toward the bustling night market, "If I say those outside are all embers, none are living people, would you believe it?"

"I don't believe." Su Yuniang shook her head.

Clearly, the villagers were living, lively, with colorful lanterns, so why curse them dead without reason?

Immoral!

Too immoral.

Li Youzhu nodded, agreeing deeply: "Indeed, they are, of course, living people like me."

"Mm hmm." Su Yuniang nodded like a pecking chick.

Li Youzhu continued analyzing: "Then what do we use to distinguish between life and death? Embers work, rise early, sleep early, engage in production, and maintain their pre-death logical cycle, what differentiates them from living people?"

Su Yuniang frowned, "It seems there's no difference. They still work for the boss, and are they even more useful?"

Li Youzhu continued, "If I say you are the Embers, would you believe it?"

"I don't believe it."

Su Yuniang felt that this joke had gone too far.

Saying the villagers are Embers is one thing, but claiming she herself is Embers, isn't that treating her like a fool!

Not far away.

Ning Zheng leaned against the doorway of the bookstore, watching the bustling comings and goings of villagers outside, listening to the two of them chatting in the store.

For some reason, there was a sense of melancholy.

Ultimately, the observer sees more clearly.

"You claim you aren't Embers, how do you prove you're not Embers?" Li Youzhu smiled.

Su Yuniang frowned deeply, "I cannot prove it either. Embers have no awareness of death."

It's like the famous thought experiment "Brain in a Vat," you cannot prove your own existence.

You choose to jump off a cliff and confirm, turning into a pulp before standing up again, you'd still instinctively ignore awareness, self-rationalize and fill in memories, forcibly continuing to believe you're alive.

This is fundamentally unsolvable.

Take "Dizzy," for example, he always felt alive on the mountain, the blacksmiths tried all sorts of crazy operations—to prove he was dead.

Even various philosophers and psychologists brainstormed, yet couldn't crack the enigma!

But no matter the proofs, he wouldn't listen, ridiculously stubborn.

Li Youzhu laughed, "Sometimes when I'm idle, I wonder, is there a possibility that I might have already died? Like half an hour ago, I died from a fall when I left, or was robbed and killed by a Demon Cultivator on the mountain path."

"Can I prove I'm still alive? No, I can't prove it! People say flowers bloom when they see me, but at this moment, I don't know who I am..."

Li Youzhu said, "Up to this point, do you agree with this reasoning?"

"I agree." Su Yuniang nodded.

But immersing in it now, it's terrifying.

The dialectical question: How do you prove that you aren't Embers at this moment?

Li Youzhu chuckled:

"I read in a book the words of the current Saint. When does a person truly die? It's not when their body dies, nor when their empty Embers are left representing death. It's when Embers realize they are dead, that you are truly dead."

Su Yuniang seemed to understand: Embers realizing they are dead means this person is truly dead?

Li Youzhu said, "Let's articulate this in a higher manner."

"You might continuously repeat all everyday life, dead, in a trance, as a virtual empty soul, hollow and soulless."

"But when you ultimately pause one morning, letting out a long sigh: All thoughts are not, only then do you recognize I am not 'me'."

"You truly recognize who you are, I am not Him, then you are truly dead."

Su Yuniang suddenly was dumbfounded.

This game... has a flair, indeed.

The completed cognition defect of Embers at this moment, breaking out of repetitive logic daily, obtaining a complete self, what state is that?

Embers knowing self-death...

Suddenly it felt inexplicably terrifying!

The enlightened living recognizes all scripts are not, only then do I know who I am, entering the Immortal Sect, seeing the grand world.

Embers enlightened, all thoughts are not, only when I know I am not 'me', entering..., seeing....?

Both break free from shackles, breaking containment.

Perhaps only when a person recognizes their death can they seize the chance to truly live again.

—My life, rebirth after death.

Is this the legendary "living a second life"?

"When Embers truly come back to life, what's its name..." Su Yuniang became excited.

"Money." Li Youzhu extended his hand.

"The dead become Embers, Embers die become money? How could it be called money? That's too vulgar." Su Yuniang was taken aback.

"I'm speaking of payment. That's a different question." Li Youzhu looked at her, ignoring her evasions.

"Why are you so intent on money, scholars can't be like this." Su Yuniang furiously exclaimed, "I have not a single coin in my pocket!"

"Crafty little girl, out! Get out! If you don't buy books, I'm closing the shop, come back tomorrow."

Li Youzhu listened to the chatter, picked up a broom intending to shooh, annoyed at the interruption.

Pushing the mischievous Su Yuniang outside, he put down the broom, closed the door.

"Little brat, mischievous."

He chuckled and muttered, gently tidied the bookshelves as if tending to his children, smoothing out paper wrinkles, cleansing, slowly extinguishing the light.

"Youth is wonderful." A sigh, the bookstore embraced darkness.

Moonlight couldn't cast a hint of glow, creeping up the stairs, slowly onto the second-floor loft, covering with blankets, lying down, feeling the unrest without knowing why.

"People say flowers bloom when they see me, how to know if this moment is the true self."

After a while, he suddenly opened the back window of the bookstore.

Gazing at the moonlit sky, like a thin veil shrouding Star Sea, a distant sigh echoed in the darkness.

"Perhaps I already died when I saw that Dragon as a child."

"Is it that since childhood, I've been my own relic in this world?"

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