Waste

Laziness is part of human nature.

One day, when Xu Shulou woke up to the sound of birdsong and the fragrance of flowers, these words suddenly popped up in his mind.

She opened the window and glanced at the sky, and found that it was almost noon. Living here, it was easy to lose the concept of time. There was nothing important to do anyway, so what did it matter if she got up early or late?

She fell back onto the bed with a clear conscience, and bounced herself up with another somersault. Who said there was nothing to do?

She got herself ready and prepared to go out and visit all the neighbors. That was her plan - to visit everyone and gather all the information she could about the passage.

Yesterday she visited a senior who was a flower grower that she liked. Perhaps the senior had been lonely for too long, so he talked to her for a long time about flower care knowledge. Because his thoughts were not clear, he often had to repeat a sentence several times. Xu Shulou was embarrassed to just leave, so she just spent the whole day there.

What about the day before yesterday? It was raining outside. It was not polite to visit others on a rainy day, so she stayed at home and watched the rain for a day.

As for the day before yesterday, Xi'e took her to a small banquet and told stories for a whole day. She had told her story in the cultivation world over and over again seven or eight times, but it seemed like other people couldn't hear enough. After all, in recent years, she was the only newcomer who ascended to the cultivation world, and the stories of others might have been told seventy or eighty times.

What about the day before that?

Xu Shulou felt somewhat alert. Even she herself inevitably began to ignore the passage of time. This place was really scary.

There is no earthly chronology here, no months, no dates, no festivals, and even spring, summer, autumn and winter can change at will. Xu Shulou can't even calculate exactly how long he has been here.

She took a brush and planned to make a stroke on the paper every day to remind herself that time was passing.

When she opened the door, Xi'e was waiting for her at the door, holding a small and exquisite basket. When she saw her, she smiled and said, "I have an appointment with some sisters to pick peaches in the peach forest. Can you come with us?"

Xu Shulou shook his head: "I'm going to visit some neighbors."

"Is that so?" Xi'e did not force it, "Then let's make an appointment another day!"

"Okay," Xu Shulou watched her back and suddenly asked, "Xi'e, how many years have you been here?"

Xi'e was stunned for a moment, then turned around and said, "It's been so long, I can't remember clearly, why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

"Nothing," Xu Shulou smiled, "I just think you are a little different from those people who speak a little slowly."

"Maybe it's because I'm always thinking about where to go for fun, unlike them who don't think about anything," Xi'e said with a sweet smile, "I won't talk to you anymore, I'm going to pick peaches!"

"good."

———

Perhaps it was God’s help to those who work hard, after several days of searching, Xu Shulou finally met a “fellow traveler”.

After she knocked on the door, the man only opened it a crack, with most of his body hidden in the shadows, looking at her warily.

After hearing Xu Shulou's purpose, the man suddenly became excited, raised his hand, grabbed Xu Shulou's collar, and pulled her into the door: "Follow me!"

Xu Shulou did not resist. He followed him, stumbling into the room, into a basement, and then into a large soundproof wooden box.

The two of them sat cross-legged facing each other. Xu Shulou's mouth twitched: "Senior, what do you mean?"

"Hush," the man gestured crazily, "I suspect someone is watching us."

"oh?"

"Do you feel that this fairyland is a little strange?"

Xu Shulou asked back: "What do you mean, senior?"

"I suspect there is a huge conspiracy."

Xu Shulou listened attentively.

“Maybe we’re not in the real fairyland at all,” the man gestured excitedly, “Maybe someone has kept us here on purpose!”

Xu Shulou shook his head: "The process of my ascension cannot be faked. The mysterious feeling of letting things take their own course is hard to describe in words. The spiritual energy here cannot be faked either. I tend to believe that this is the real fairyland."

It’s like the fairyland in the painting, which may look very similar elsewhere, but the rich spiritual energy cannot be imitated.

"Maybe someone deliberately sent spiritual energy here to fake it, just to deceive people like you!"

"That's not necessary," Xu Shulou analyzed. "If someone really has the ability to forge such a wonderland, he must also be able to kill us directly."

"Maybe they have other purposes?" The man seemed a little disappointed with her attitude. "Maybe they kept us captive on purpose for some horrible purpose. They might even be spying on us from the dark to observe our reactions, or they might have even planted spies among us!"

“I didn’t feel like I was being spied on.”

"Forget it. You all think I'm crazy anyway." The man leaned against the wall of the box dejectedly and pointed at his face. "But look at me. Do you think a real paradise would torture people like this?"

Looking at his haggard stubble, the huge dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn't slept for several months, and the red bloodshot in his eyes, Xu Shulou had no choice but to say, "I'm not saying there are no problems here at all."

The man excitedly grabbed her shoulders: "What's the problem!"

"Rather than calling it fake, I prefer this fairyland..." Xu Shulou slapped his hand away and carefully chose a word, "incomplete."

The man was slightly startled: "You mean..."

"It's like removing some necessary things, leaving only the part for people to enjoy," Xu Shulou tried to explain. "Of course, I have never been to a fairyland before. Maybe this place has always been like this, but we are just overthinking it."

"Necessary things, like what?"

"For example, responsibility, and motivation to move forward," Xu Shulou analyzed. "The cultivators who can ascend are carefully selected by the Heavenly Dao. They must pass the Heavenly Thunder Tribulation that tests their strength and the Heart Demon Tribulation that tests their state of mind before they can achieve the Dao and ascend. But after being selected, they don't have to do anything? Our talents and character are being wasted. Let me shamelessly say that this is a bit of a waste of Heaven's gifts."

"Yes," the man agreed, "Responsibility, motivation, talent, character... I had vaguely thought about this before, but I didn't express it as clearly as you did."

"Everyone has different temperaments and different pursuits," Xu Shulou continued. "Some people stop pursuing immortality and enjoy their current freedom, but there are also people who want to move forward. This fairyland directly blocks the latter's path, which doesn't seem very reasonable."

"That's right!" After the man calmed down, he finally stopped acting like a lunatic who was engaged in conspiracy theorizing. "What do you think?"

"I've been looking for news these days," Xu Shulou said, "and there's one thing that concerns me. Someone said that the passage to the mortal world was sealed a thousand years ago, so something must have happened a thousand years ago. Although most people don't know, immortals are immortal and can't leave this world, so the immortals from a thousand years ago must still be here. We can find them and ask them and we'll know."

"You think I haven't tried? I can't find anyone," the man said helplessly. "I tried to beat drums and gongs in the square to attract people, but few people were willing to pay attention to me. Many people built soundproofing covers on their houses and turned a deaf ear to what was happening outside."

Xu Shulou pondered: "I was wondering, if I lied to them that the fairyland was about to collapse and tricked them all out, would they join forces to beat me to death?"

"...It's very likely," the man nodded, "But you are not fools. How can you just believe that the fairyland is going to collapse?"

Xu Shulou raised three questions: "How many people feel like you that something is wrong here? How much strength do you have left? If you use all your strength, how many mountains in the fairyland can you destroy? If we want to do something, let's do something big."

"..." The man was silent for a moment, then asked in a weak voice, "My friend, may I ask what do you do in the lower world?"

Xu Shulou failed to understand the question correctly. He thought he was asking whether he had ever been an elder or a sect leader, so he shook his head and said, "I am just an ordinary cultivator."

“Everyone thinks I’m the crazy one,” the man muttered, “but I really am… ashamed of myself.”