“Cast aside the ‘lingering thoughts’ in my heart?”

Baiyang frowned slightly after hearing this, as if he couldn’t understand the meaning of these words.

“Yes, child,” Auntie Tong nodded. “As long as you can cast aside the lingering thoughts in your heart, you will certainly receive the Mother Goddess’s favor.”

Baiyang’s gaze became even more complicated, as if there were many things he couldn’t understand. It wasn’t just him—even I was bewildered after hearing what Auntie Tong said.

After a long while, Baiyang finally spoke:

“Most people would say ‘cast aside distracting thoughts.’ Why do you say ‘cast aside lingering thoughts’?”

“Child, ‘distracting thoughts’ are ‘lingering thoughts,'” Auntie Tong patiently explained.

“Since ‘distracting thoughts’ are ‘lingering thoughts,’ why would you avoid a commonly used expression and choose such a rare one instead?”

“Child… once you’ve been exposed to many religions, you’ll discover that the term ‘distracting thoughts’ isn’t accurate. The meaning it tries to express isn’t as thorough as ‘lingering thoughts.'”

“Then in your view, what do ‘distracting thoughts’ refer to? And what do ‘lingering thoughts’ refer to?” Baiyang asked again.

Jiang Ruoxue and I gradually found ourselves unable to interject. The conversation between Baiyang and Auntie Tong was heading in a strange direction.

No… this didn’t seem like a conversation at all.

Rather, it was like some kind of “philosophical debate.”

“Child, you have a strong thirst for knowledge. This is a very precious quality,” Auntie Tong said kindly to Baiyang. “From a literal perspective, ‘distracting thoughts’ refers to ‘impure thoughts’ or ‘bad thoughts.’ But lingering thoughts don’t express this meaning. They refer to ‘other thoughts’ or ‘excessive thoughts.'”

“I don’t understand,” Baiyang said. “If, as you say, ‘casting aside lingering thoughts’ means ‘removing all thoughts from the heart,’ how could a person possibly succeed?”

“What about people who want to make money?” Baiyang asked. “Is the ultimate goal of everyone who wants to make money also to be without desires or demands?”

“Making money is to purchase needed things. When one has earned enough money and purchased enough things, one will also be without desires or demands,” Auntie Tong answered.

“What about people who seek pleasure?” Baiyang asked again.

“People who seek pleasure do so to enjoy more happiness. When they’ve obtained all the happiness in the world, they will no longer want to seek pleasure, and then they’ll also enter a state of being without desires or demands.”

“What about people who want to stay alive?”

“It’s all the same, child,” Auntie Tong smiled. “If one is truly ‘without desires or demands,’ being alive or dead is just a state. People who cast aside distracting thoughts won’t feel fear of death, much less feel the loss of leaving the world.”

“Absurd,” Baiyang said. “If a person’s heart abandons all thoughts, there’s no difference from a corpse. They want nothing and want to do nothing—how can they still be called a person?”

“Child…” At this moment, Auntie Tong’s eyes took on a trace of compassion. “The reason you think this way… is precisely because you have no way to give up all the ‘lingering thoughts’ in your heart. You’ve also never experienced a state of being ‘without desires or demands,’ so naturally you won’t understand.”

“I indeed can’t understand,” Baiyang said. “If everyone in this place were like you describe, without any desires, in my view they haven’t transcended—they’ve resigned themselves to fate. The existence of the ‘Land of the End’ itself is built upon mistakes and lies. The more the other side oppresses us, the more we must resist.”

“So… this is the reason you can’t let go of the ‘lingering thoughts’ in your heart?” Auntie Tong asked again.

“Yes,” Baiyang nodded. “I’ve already cast aside all ‘distracting thoughts.’ Only the ‘lingering thoughts’ I cannot abandon—I need to keep one most pure thought to drive me forward.”

“Ah…” Auntie Tong smiled and shook her head, that expression actually looking as if she were watching a child who didn’t understand.

“If you’re here to help me, I’ll find a way to repay you at some point in the future,” Baiyang said. “If you’re here out of some purpose to persuade me to give up, I suggest you leave now.”

“Everyone in this world has their own choices. How could I persuade you to give up?” Auntie Tong smiled and shook her head. “I’m just worried that the ‘lingering thoughts’ in your heart will eventually transform into ‘obsession,’ causing you to go completely mad in this hell-like place. Even so, you still won’t give up?”

“That’s right,” Baiyang nodded. “Either go mad or be destroyed—I’m afraid I only have these two paths.”

Auntie Tong shook her head and once again reached out to place her hand on Baiyang’s chest, then said, “Child, if you can’t make your lingering thoughts ‘disappear,’ then find a way to make them ‘stable.'”

“Stable…?”

“A stable and powerful lingering thought is also enough to carry you to the very end,” Auntie Tong said. “The Mother Goddess will protect you.”

“So what exactly is this ‘Mother Goddess’?” Baiyang asked again. “Is she some kind of deity you worship?”

“Some kind of…?” Auntie Tong smiled kindly, then said, “Child, the ‘Mother Goddess’ is everything. She is the beginning of everything and the destined future. She exists in this land and also in the outside world.”

“Sounds omnipotent. So where is she now?” Baiyang said. “I’m being so disrespectful toward her—will she come out to punish me?”

“How could that be?” Auntie Tong said. “We are all children of the ‘Mother Goddess.’ Even if she’s truly dissatisfied with what you said, she couldn’t possibly really be angry with you. She loves you. I can clearly feel the Mother Goddess’s loving kindness.”

Baiyang seemed somewhat interested in what Auntie Tong was saying, but he quickly noticed the two necklaces hanging around Auntie Tong’s neck, and his gaze became stern once more.

“Does your ‘Mother Goddess’ know you’ve betrayed her?” Baiyang asked again.

“Betrayed…?” Auntie Tong was amused by Baiyang’s words, then stroked the Buddhist prayer beads and cross around her neck. “You mean these two necklaces? How could this count as betrayal?”

“A loyal minister doesn’t serve two masters,” Baiyang said. “If you want to spread the word of your ‘Mother Goddess’ here, you shouldn’t worship other religions.”

“But we are all children of the ‘Mother Goddess,'” Auntie Tong said again. “I said the ‘Mother Goddess’ is everything in the world. She permits these religions to exist, which proves she permits me to worship these religions. Only by worshiping all the powerful religions in this world can I vaguely sense the Mother Goddess’s will… Child… I’m not betraying her—I’m trying every possible way to get close to her.”

“Fine,” Baiyang nodded helplessly. “Your logic is self-consistent. I have nothing to say. But if your ‘Mother Goddess’ can’t help me, to me she’s no different from a corpse on the street.”