Stepping into Ordinary Abyss

Ren Zu walks the road of life through darkness over dirty mud. He asks self Gu where he is. Self Gu answers that this is the ordinary marsh at the bottom of ordinary abyss, reached by an entirely new path of Ren Zu’s own making, and that a road exists for anyone willing to walk one. Ren Zu has in a way left the Door of Life and Death without passing Luo Po Valley or charging the reverse flow river, since those lie on the road fate Gu walked. ^{ch. 733}

Looking closely, Ren Zu sees the marsh covered in tracks left by countless other creatures. Almost all who enter stay trapped there for life. He does not want to stay, and says he wants to leave. Self Gu answers that whether he calls the ordinary an abyss or a heaven, only his own legs can walk him out and make him extraordinary. ^{ch. 733}

Ren Zu’s first step sinks deep into the uneven marsh. After a few steps, he learns a trick: stepping only where old claw marks firmed the ground lets him move almost as smoothly as running. He concludes that in the ordinary marsh, walking in the footsteps of those before him is faster than finding his own way. ^{ch. 733}