### **Chapter 967 — The Thought That Should Not Return**
Within the cave—
Nothing changed.
Xiao Ruo remained.
Yang Lin remained.
Stillness remained.
Yet—
A thought surfaced.
Not from the present.
Not from the Upper Inner Realm.
But from far away—
From a place long left behind.
Earth.
Huaxia.
A gym.
And a name—
Sanuji Ling.
---
### **Chapter 968 — The Question That Persisted**
It appeared again.
Clear.
Undistorted.
Unavoidable.
"…was she actually single?"
The same question.
Unanswered.
Unnecessary.
Yet it remained.
Not because it mattered—
But because it had never been resolved.
And for Yang Lin—
An unresolved thought—
Was something rare.
---
### **Chapter 969 — The Irritation Without Cause**
"…annoying."
The word formed silently.
Not directed at her.
Not directed at anyone.
But at himself.
Because he had never asked.
Never confirmed.
Never stayed.
A conclusion formed—
Without truth.
And he had accepted it—
Without question.
---
### **Chapter 970 — The Memory of Emotion**
Back then—
It had been unfamiliar.
That quiet pull.
That subtle attention.
That unformed attachment.
It was not cultivation.
Not clarity.
Not stillness.
It was something—
Messy.
Undefined.
Human.
And he had left it behind—
Without understanding it.
---
### **Chapter 971 — The Recognition That Remains**
Now—
Even here—
Beyond realms.
Beyond existence.
That memory—
Remained unchanged.
Because it was never processed.
Never completed.
It simply—
Stopped.
At the moment he left.
---
### **Chapter 972 — The Silent Admission**
"…I did like her."
The thought arose.
Not hidden.
Not denied.
Not exaggerated.
Just—
Acknowledged.
Because truth—
Did not require suppression.
Even for someone like Yang Lin—
There had been a moment.
And that moment—
Was real.
---
### **Chapter 973 — The Unresolved End**
"But I left."
The next thought followed.
Simple.
Final.
No justification.
No reasoning.
Because none was needed.
He had seen.
He had assumed.
And he had walked away.
That was all.
---
### **Chapter 974 — The Unnecessary Regret**
There was no regret.
Not fully.
Because regret required attachment.
Required desire for change.
And Yang Lin—
Did not seek to change anything.
Yet—
A faint recognition remained.
That something—
Had been incomplete.
---
### **Chapter 975 — The Love That Did Not Disappear**
Even now—
The feeling was not gone.
Not strong.
Not active.
But present.
Unchanged.
Because it had never been resolved.
And unresolved things—
Do not fade.
They remain—
Exactly as they were.
---
### **Chapter 976 — The Return to Stillness**
The thought passed.
Not suppressed.
Not continued.
Simply—
No longer forming.
Yang Lin remained seated.
Unmoving.
Unchanged.
Because even that—
Did not alter what he was.
---
### **Chapter 977 — The Forest That Continues**
Outside the cave—
The Western Meridian forest remained.
Wind moved.
Leaves shifted.
Light passed through branches.
Xiao Ruo stood quietly.
Unaware of the thoughts that had arisen—
And dissolved.
Nothing in the world reflected it.
Nothing responded.
Because it had never left him.
And within that—
Everything continued.
Exactly as before.
Unchanged.
Unmoved.
Unfinished—
Yet complete.