Chapter 173 The Method of Imitation:
Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi were both invigorated and listened attentively to Elder Hong's words of wisdom.
"Have you ever heard this story?" Elder Hong began to tell it in detail.
Once upon a time, a woman was traveling by boat at night when she encountered river pirates. The pirates killed the passengers and set the boat on fire. Fortunately, the woman heard them and woke up her husband. Her husband then swam with her to safety, and they survived.
This incident left the woman with a deep trauma. From then on, when she rested at night, she would be terrified and suffocate whenever she heard the sound of the window opening or footsteps passing by in the corridor. She would frantically grab at her arms, just like a drowning person, which was very frightening.
To treat the woman's fright, her family invited an experienced old doctor. The doctor ordered his men to hold the woman in a chair and then strike a piece of wood in front of her. The woman was so frightened that she lost her mind and could not breathe properly.
The doctor asked, "What's there to be afraid of when I tap the wood?" The woman's breathing calmed down slightly. The doctor tapped the wood again, and the woman no longer reacted with the same severe fright as before. After a while, the doctor tried tapping the wood at different times and places, making sounds. The woman was initially frightened, but gradually got used to it.
Eventually, even if the woman heard noises from the windows or doors at night, she would not be frightened and would be completely cured.
After telling the story, Elder Hong pondered for a moment and said, "This is the method I want to teach you. To change your cultivation path, you must first believe that your path is the right path and that the ruthless path is an evil path that should be abandoned! Only when you accept the change of mindset from the bottom of your heart can you accept the new cultivation method."
"This...we still don't quite understand," Rong Xie pressed. "Is there a more specific way to do it?"
"To correct a wrong, one must go to extremes. From now on, you will stay and live in our Hehuan Sect. Observe how the disciples of the Hehuan Sect act and imitate them. Live like ordinary Daoist couples. After a period of time, your previous wrong ideas will naturally be reversed. At that time, you can change to cultivate other paths."
Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi exchanged a glance, both looking puzzled.
Is it... really that simple?
No, that's not right. It's not that simple. If they really got along like ordinary Daoist couples, Shen Bingsi would suffer a backlash due to her shattered Dao heart. She might not live more than a few days before her body exploded and she died. So what's the point of talking about switching to another Dao?
“Elder Hong, you may not be aware of Bing Si’s situation. He…” Rong Xie was slightly embarrassed, but thinking of treating Shen Bing Si, he still braced himself and said, “He used to use the Severing Thoughts Technique to cut off his thoughts. Even if we were intimate, he wouldn’t be moved and there would be no impact. But now, his Dao Heart is unstable, and the Severing Thoughts Technique is useless. In this situation, if he gets close to me, he will suffer a backlash. At best, he will vomit blood; at worst… the consequences will be unimaginable. Elder Hong, the method you mentioned is probably difficult to implement.”
He died from his body exploding before Shen Bingsi could change his mind, so how could he possibly cultivate his path?
"What, you don't believe me?" Elder Hong patted the railing. "Then please leave!"
"No, it's not that we don't believe it, it's just..."
Elder Hong's voice rose: "The disease has reached the critical stage, requiring strong medicine! Only by putting them in a life-or-death situation can they be saved! How can you be so rigid and inflexible at such a young age? You are receiving treatment on my territory, do you think I would just watch you die?"
Although Rong Xie was worried, he had no other choice. Hearing Elder Hong's guarantee, he gritted his teeth and said, "Alright... then we'll try your method."
Shen Bingsi was quite happy, though it was unclear what she was so happy about. She immediately grabbed Rong Xie's hand and coughed as expected, arriving one after another.
Elder Hong ordered Protector Seju to take Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi to the sect's courtyard and arranged for them to stay in a separate bamboo building.
This bamboo house also has a small two-story structure. The lower floor is an open reception room with bamboo curtains on all four sides that can be drawn down to block the view. Normally, the curtains are drawn open, leaving no privacy at all, and anyone coming from any direction can walk directly into the reception room.
The upper floor houses the bedrooms and a greenhouse—an open-air balcony filled with various flower plants, and the room itself is also filled with plants, giving one the illusion of sleeping in a wild forest.
Rong Xie was seeing such a "wild" living environment for the first time and found it very uncomfortable. He couldn't imagine how much dust would accumulate in the open space, and what would happen if it rained? He also wondered how many insects these plants would attract if placed in the house. Although he had protective spiritual energy that prevented the insects from touching him, the thought of those insects crawling around everywhere and accidentally coming into contact with him made Rong Xie feel uncomfortable all over.
Of course, compared to all that, the fact that there's only one bed in the room isn't a big deal.
"How is it? Are you satisfied with this little building?" After the two finished touring the building, they came to the garden, and Protector Seju asked.
Rong Xie expressed his gratitude to Protector Seju and then asked about his doubts. Protector Seju smiled and said, "The weather here is hot and humid, just like the seaside. It will be cooler to stay in the open bamboo house. The plants also have the effect of cooling down and preventing heatstroke. Moreover, the gardener added some plants to repel mosquitoes, so you don't have to worry about bugs in the room."
Upon hearing what the Dharma Protector said, Rong Xie breathed a sigh of relief: "No wonder it smells so good."
"Not only are there plants that repel mosquitoes, but also those with other effects... cough cough, if you need anything else, just tell me, or go to the Five-Colored Altar in front and find Ananda. She's around thirty years old and wears a seven-colored skirt. She's easy to find; she's in charge of arranging these."
"Thank you for the reminder, Dharma Protector." Rong Xie noted down the name Ananda.
Next, the Dharma Protector Seju briefly introduced the place where the followers gathered—the Five-Colored Altar. He said that they could see the place by walking through the bamboo forest next to it. The followers often gathered there to have fun, and they could join in.
Rong Xie asked hesitantly, "What kind of activity is it?"
“Singing, dancing, drinking, drinking nectar—they do whatever they please.” A hint of annoyance flashed in the eyes of Protector Seju. “Some people like it, some only like to do it with close friends, and some hate it.”
"Um……"
“However, if you want to imitate the actions of the followers, you should go and see for yourselves,” said Protector Seju.
After the Protector of Color Fear left, Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi were left alone.
"What exactly did Elder Hong mean?" Rong Xie pondered. "The story he told seemed to say that the shattering of your Dao Heart that once affected you actually doesn't affect you now. As long as you stop being afraid of it, you'll be fine?"
"..." Shen Bingsi swallowed the bloody taste in his throat. He and Rong Xie had just walked hand in hand for a while. Although his hand felt comfortable, the backlash made other parts of his body feel uncomfortable, especially his heart meridian, which felt like it was being cut by a knife. Shen Bingsi was afraid that he would die on the spot before he reached his destination, so he had no choice but to let go of Rong Xie's hand.
Upon arriving at the bamboo house and seeing the large bed, the backlash that had just subsided surged up again, indicating that things were clearly not as easy as Elder Hong had described.
“Maybe we’re moving too fast,” Shen Bingsi said in a hoarse voice, unwilling to give up. “Why don’t we try to proceed step by step?”
But if even holding hands is problematic, how can we proceed step by step?
“…Let’s go take a look at the Five-Colored Altar first,” Rong Xie said.
The Five-Colored Altar is actually a garden decorated with flowers of five colors. Orange, yellow, purple, and blue flowers are arranged in circles and laid out on the square. A huge, bright red mimosa flower stands in the center of the square, and believers dressed in light clothing play and frolic among the flowers.
Fortunately, it seemed they were just singing and dancing, playing games like bamboo pole jumping and acrobatics, and didn't do anything particularly outrageous.
Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi approached to watch them dance. The Hehuan Cult members were all young men with graceful figures, firm muscles, and agile hands and feet. Each of them was a skilled dancer. When they danced, they spun rapidly like tops and twisted freely like boneless plant vines. Rong Xie was overwhelmed by the sight.
After the dance, the worshippers, expressing their affection, prostrated themselves on the ground and kissed the dancer's toes, then kissed their way up from the toes... The scene gradually became ambiguous, but the dancer seemed uninterested in the suitors. She kicked one of them on the shoulder, sending them flying, and walked away with light steps.
A burst of laughter erupted around them as the congregation, expressing their goodwill, got up from the ground. Soon, a second dancer stepped into the crowd and began to dance. Each time she spun around with her strong, long legs, the congregation cheered, bringing the atmosphere to another climax.
Rong Xie pulled Shen Bingsi away from the dancers: "We can't imitate this kind of activity, let's find something we can imitate."
Shen Bingsi followed Rong Xie away, whispering in his ear, "That dancer just now seemed to be without pants."
"What?" Rong Xie suddenly looked back.
Shen Bingsi nudged Rong Xie with her shoulder to prevent him from looking back, pushing him along as she continued walking forward: "Actually, it's not that you can't imitate it. When we get back to the bamboo house, if you want to jump, I can... cough cough cough cough..."
Cheers erupted from the congregation behind him again. Rong Xie felt a surge of heat on his face. He patted Shen Bing Si's back to help him catch his breath, and asked in a low voice, "Stop dreaming. What kind of physical condition do you have that you're putting yourself through such a difficult task?"
"Cough cough cough... Didn't Elder Hong say that to correct a wrong, one must go to extremes? Maybe... cough cough cough... as I keep spitting out this blood... I'll recover completely..."
As Shen Bingsi spoke, she took out the handkerchief Rong Xie had prepared for her, covered her mouth, and coughed violently for a while.
Rong Xie didn't dare to say anything to provoke him anymore. He just kept pouring water spiritual energy into the large acupoint on his back and helped him walk to a place where there were fewer people.
Shen Bingsi's cough finally subsided. She put down her handkerchief and saw a bright red blood in the center, which had soaked through several layers of cloth.
Vomiting blood was not a good sign. Rong Xie's heart sank, as if a heavy block of ice had slid into his stomach. He took out a new handkerchief and replaced the one in Shen Bingsi's hand. He carefully wrapped the old handkerchief and put it in his brocade pouch. The next time he saw Elder Hong, he would ask him to take a good look at this imitation therapy and see if it was really going to work.
Just then, someone crept up to Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi.
Rong Xie raised his head warily, holding the white orchid in his hand. He looked closely and saw a middle-aged man wrapped in a fur robe, a common attire for itinerant merchants in the area. The man looked at Shen Bingsi with concern: "Young brother, how come you're so ill at such a young age? It's a pity you have such a beauty by your side, yet you can't enjoy it! Fortunately, you've met me, Pharmacist Rong! I've brought in a batch of new medicine from outside. I guarantee that after taking it, you'll be full of energy and vigor, and you'll no longer disappoint me!"
"..."
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The method of treating convulsions by tapping on wood is an ancient desensitization method found through online research.
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