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Have you ever taken a whiff of the stench emitted by boiling shadows?

Have you ever smelled the odor of something that has no scent at all?

Have you ever caught a whiff within a space filled with toxic gas, where the foul odor stings the nose and could paralyze the brain, a smell potent enough to snatch away a person’s life in an instant, surrounded by that dreadful atmosphere?

Some odors can only be sensed as a void.

In a space filled with smells, the absence of scent is, in fact, the odor of shadows.

As I sniff that scent, the shaman, clad in human skin, stirs a cauldron.

With empty hands, it’s as if the lone stick hidden in the darkness has merged with the air, swirling the cauldron in a grip of nothingness. As if by doing so, the shadow within the cauldron could bubble up more easily.

“The essence of abundance, paradoxically, dulls human perception… Excessive information restricts choices instead; it is only amidst scarcity that one truly realizes something… Only by gazing into the abyss does one understand there is light, and through emptiness, one finally recognizes the value of what one possesses…”

Is the smile that draws a line around the shaman’s mouth his own intention, or is it simply the human skin he wears that moves of its own accord?

What difference is there between the shaman smiling and the human skin grinning independently? Is there truly any difference at all?

If the judgments about someone are made by others, then whether the agency behind the smile on his face is the shaman himself or the contorted skin, does it make a meaningful distinction?

If a difference exists, what creates that difference, and if none exists, does the agent of the smile carry any real value? If so, then what creates and maintains that value?

If something can only carry meaning through others, then does it genuinely hold any meaning?

Can it truly be called true?

“The nature of change. Change within essence. Essence of change. Change of essence…”

Can one find essence in what changes?

Can one guarantee that essence does not change?

Can an unchanging essence exist in this world?

If so, what is it?

If not, and if one wishes to seek essence without having discovered the unchanging, can the changing essence even be called ‘essence’?

To continuously change is akin to losing one’s original form someday.

Like the ship of Theseus, as it undergoes endless transformation, eventually becoming completely different from its original, similar yet fundamentally different—can one truly name it by the essence?

If one can name it, what if one cannot?

What, then, is essence?

“Changing, touching essence, bound by essence, fettered by essence. Yet, amidst that change, eventually like a phantom…”

That’s what shadows are.

Tethered to something, mimicking the original and revealing its form.

However, that original is changing too—

Ah.

How sad, how sad.

Aspiring to be the original, striving to imitate the original.

Yet that original is not an immutable truth.

Even if it is a shadow reflecting an unchanging truth, how distant could it be from the original? How futile could a shadow that follows something in flux be? Such futility seems like a mirage, meaningless, like dreams that dissipate and lose their significance.

Thus, like a dream…

Like a dream, it bears no meaning…

“Ah. Ahh… It’s void, and hollow. Yet even that which is subordinate has meaning, it holds value…”

But is it truly meaningless?

Does the changing essence not exist?

Change is adapting to the surrounding environment.

It equates to surrendering oneself to the flow of the era.

So, by that logic, the unchanging truth should transcend time and space to exist unchangingly.

Does such a thing truly exist?

Could it perhaps be something akin to a shadow?

At a glance, it may be interpreted in various ways, yet in reality, it could be a form ensnared by the original, twisting its appearance through light, tantalizing the eyes of humans, only to ultimately reveal itself as nothingness.

So if the unchanging is an illusion, where is the root of that illusion?

Is that root truly unchanging?

No one can observe it; only speculate about it.

If each person conjures up and desires different representations of the ‘unchanging truth’ then what difference lies between it and a shadow?

Based on angles, the form of light, spaces, and time—how different would the observed shadows be?

Thus, the shaman…

The shaman studying shadows deeply explored the nature of change and essence.

Captivated by the likeness to the shadow’s illusion, delighting in its ever-shifting forms, he sought for what remains unchanged within it. Yet through that, he also came to realize that perhaps that which changes is indeed the essence, and simultaneously, that realization too could mean nothing.

Such is change.

Such is illusion.

Something can both have and lack meaning.

A cycle of being empty and then filled erases the very essence of that meaning…

Thus he bears no reservations in his actions.

If the meaning of change lies there, then there exists no meaning at all.

So, if the illusion and the original were to swap, what difference would it make?

If the shadow were to change with my body, yet was indistinguishable from the original in the eyes of others, then what difference would it truly make?

If a difference does exist, where does it come from?

If no difference exists, then where lies the essence?

If even that essence changes…

Thus, if that change is both meaningful and meaningless…

Where then lies the difference between illusion and truth?

***

In the People’s Republic of China, countless crises have existed.

Just like their pride as a great nation, everything in China is vast, and so too are the crises.

There have been times when tremendous famines arrived, and countless people perished from hunger, with many others dragged away to suffer under the guise of ideological scrutiny. Sometimes, without a care, people were taken for practicing their faith, disappearing completely, while impudent individuals dissatisfied with the Communist Party resorted to terror or attempted assassination.

Heartless companies have released pollutants, tainting regions, damaging ecosystems, and the pursuit of rare earth elements has resulted in soil contamination. At times, “some secret experiment” has caused a locality to become radiated, rendering it uninhabitable.

But I can assert that the present crisis may be counted among the most significant, even against the backdrop of numerous colossal crises.

“With all these CCTV cameras! With satellites even in play! Why haven’t they captured the polluter?!”

While the media in China proudly proclaimed that “the terrorist has been safely apprehended,” extolling the virtues of public security, the reality stands in stark contrast.

They couldn’t even find a trace of the immense terror that polluted the water sources of five cities.

Indeed.

Not even a trace!

To be dragged around by a single terrorist in Chinese history—what a truly disgraceful affair.

And it’s even different now than in the past, where simply killing people and fleeing to other provinces was a mere slap on the wrist.

CCTV is densely installed across China, and satellites are present.

This isn’t just a matter of installation; they even gathered China’s geniuses to develop a program to use them perfectly!

They’ve implemented facial recognition software, computerized all information about individuals for Party control, and have advanced science to ensure complete control over every person on this vast continent.

Given that situation, why?

Why!

Why can’t they catch a mere terrorist?!

“They can supervise all the people, yet they can’t catch just one terrorist?!”

They didn’t only rely on CCTV and satellites for capture.

They gathered countless individuals to thoroughly monitor the city where the polluter appeared and its surrounding areas. Therefore, if not even capturing the polluter directly, at the very least, they should have detected some trace!

If they aren’t truly incompetent, they should have found at least a trace of evidence!

“Is it possible for the people to rest easy?! Knowing that the person responsible for polluting the water source is roaming about, can you really sleep peacefully?!”

But does shouting and pressing really create something out of nothing?

Sometimes, they might create a scapegoat like, “I’m a rabbit. My parents were rabbits too,” after catching a bear, but in a clear-cut case like this, it’s no magic trick!

“The people? They’re just trying to look good for the Party officials.”

“If they can’t resolve this, they all know their careers will be at stake…”

Thus, the folks lower down started to wear thin.

The upper echelons press on, the polluter is silent, and down below, there are even suspicions that “he must have just committed terror and fled abroad.”

In such a climate, to feel no fatigue would truly be strange.

And amidst that situation…

Strange occurrences began to unfold.

 

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