Putting aside other things, just finding the way up the mountain was enough to shock Hu Bugui. He had seen the extraordinaryness of Xia Xiao and Shu Shuang. As followers of the Pope of the Zou Shou Church, their talents were higher than everyone else, but this speed was still too fast, so fast that he couldn't believe it. And Shu Shuang's situation was so special that it was one in a million. At least in the hundred years he had been in the academy, no one had ever been like this.

Xia Xiao and Shu Shuang had an unbearable urgency in their eyes, wanting to know the reason for the power outage. But Hu Bugui was going to settle Ah Zhu first, and Shu Shuang's matter could not be explained for a while.

"After you finish writing this, take a rest. If I come back late, use the breathing method I taught you to sense the fluctuations of vital energy."

Ah Zhu nodded, indicating that she understood. But what did Xia Xiao and Shu Shuang do again? She just heard the general idea. Does the way up the mountain refer to the way to the top of the mountain? Ah Zhu was a little curious. She had been to the surrounding forests, but there was no road! She planned to go and see again, maybe she could find her own way.

Thinking of this, Ah Zhu suppressed his excitement and finished writing the last line. Then he hurriedly put away his pen and inkstone, put on his shoes, and ran towards the forest.

The rain was getting lighter, so Ah Zhu ran very fast in the drizzle without an umbrella. But it was still slower than her speed running to the cafeteria.

Practicing is good, but eating is better. People take food as their first priority, and Ah Zhu takes food as his heaven and earth. She never understood why some practitioners fasted without eating. Anyway, she would not get tired of the taste of fried duck leg rice, and wontons were also delicious.

The rain splashed everywhere, and the forest in Ah Zhu's eyes was getting closer. She pushed aside the bushes and looked behind. She couldn't see her own road for a long time. The edge of the meadow was muddy, and there was a place full of footprints. For some reason, Ah Zhu thought of Xia Xiao and Shu Shuang.

Ah Zhu pushed aside the bushes behind the footprints, and the wet branches made her feel like she was cutting grass for pigs in a mountain village. Because they were waiting to be eaten, she had to go early in the morning. At that time, it was all dew, soaking the trouser legs and cuffs. Not only was it a little cold, but it also stuck to the skin, which was a bit uncomfortable, but she had gotten used to it.

As the raindrops slid down her palms, Ah Zhu was pleasantly surprised, because the road behind the bushes suddenly appeared before her eyes. Ah Zhu followed the footprints to the side of the road and raised her feet to touch it. The reality made her face full of small water droplets quite excited. She thought to herself that she had found her own way without even sensing the fluctuations of her vitality. What a little genius!

Ah Zhu had no desire to step on it. He just ran back to tell his master, this is a big deal! He was afraid that if his master heard it, he would not be angry because he did not practice breathing.

There was a stove on the wooden couch, boiling water and baking some glutinous rice cakes, which gradually gave off a rice aroma. Hu Bugui, who was standing beside him, was quite relaxed and not anxious at all, which made Xia Xiao raise his eyebrows. Shu Shuang pulled his sleeve, signaling him not to be anxious, and to be polite in front of his seniors and not to rush. But how could Xia Xiao not be anxious? He asked:

"Senior, has there ever been a precedent for this kind of thing?"

Shu Shuang was secretly delighted, but she also prayed secretly, hoping that the answer given by the senior would be satisfactory.

"No."

These two words made Xia Xiao and Shu Shuang feel disappointed, but looking at Hu Bugui, he didn't seem to be particularly serious, as if he was facing just an ordinary matter.

"Don't worry, this doesn't mean anything. The road from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside represents talent, and the road from the mountainside to the top of the mountain is destiny. Destiny can be high or deep, long or short, but it has nothing to do with fate. Your paths are together, which means your destiny is similar, but your path is cut off, which means your destiny has ended or changed, but it doesn't mean that your fate is different from Xia Xiao's."

Hu Bugui said it easily, but Xia Xiao still had doubts.

"Senior, since there is no precedent, how did you come to this conclusion?"

Such questioning was somewhat offensive, so Xia Xiao explained it.

"Please don't be offended, Senior. I just want to feel at ease."

Hu Bugui was a man of high moral character and respect, and would not get angry over such a small matter, but when he talked about his basis for doing so, it became a very long story.

"My eldest senior sister came to the academy earlier than me and climbed the mountain for a hundred years, but she still couldn't make it. She borrowed peach blossom wine to enter the Dao, and has been addicted to wine ever since. Like the other seniors, she has been seeking breakthroughs in different ways. Ever since she left the foothills, her small abnormality has become bigger and bigger, and eventually it has become a big abnormality, a personal symbol that she can't shake off or get rid of."

"This indulgence, this drunkenness, the peach blossoms bloomed a hundred times. Over the past hundred years, the eldest sister has walked up the mountain road countless times, but she has failed every time. She has long walked out of the pine forest, out of the alpine meadow, through the alpine desert, and even stepped onto the alpine glacier belt, but she has never been able to get up. With the eldest sister's strength, let alone the glaciers, even the most mysterious and vast ice fields in the north can't do anything to her, but she has retreated to the starting point again and again, and was hit again and again. Until some time ago, the eldest sister tasted your peach blossom pastry, broke through the question, reached the top of the mountain, and became the first person among the thirteen to climb the mountain. Later, she shared her experience with me and said that this road is actually nothing!"

Hu Bugui looked to one side. His road was over there. That road was different from Shu Shuang's. Like others, it always extended upwards, but there was no road after passing the high mountains and cold deserts. The profound truth in this road has attracted countless people to explore, but few people can really figure it out.

Xia Xiao and Shu Shuang looked at each other, confused. Then he looked at Mother Star Dragon, who also didn't understand. Why is this road called "nothing"? Then what is the meaning of its existence? And if it is nothing, why should it be used as a standard? As everyone knows, those who cannot find it will lose their teaching qualifications and their proof of permanent residence in the academy.

Seeing their expressions, Hu Bugui was not surprised. He had the same reaction when he first heard the senior sister's words, but now he has realized it.

"Big Sister climbed to the top of the mountain not by that road, nor by flying directly up, but here."

Pointing to his head, Hu Bugui continued:

“She reached the top of the mountain through her thoughts, and the original intention of this road was not for us to walk, but for us to feel.”

At this point, Hu Bugui stopped talking. Xingyi is something that cannot be fully explained. Even if you explain it, you still cannot comprehend it. And even if you comprehend it, you may not succeed. Just like him, he understands the principles, but he just can't make it.

"In short, remember, that road is nothing. If you want to go up the mountain, don't be obsessed with it, and don't even ask about it. Just rely on your heart, keep improving your strength, climb your own mountain, and reach your own goals. Don't take that road too seriously, never!"

Xia Xiao's eyebrows were raised again. He thought he was quite smart, but he was confused by what he heard. It was like trying to draw water with a bamboo basket. It only wet the basket, but nothing was left. The only consolation was that nothing was wrong, but the senior's profound answer seemed like a lie.

"Don't be so sad, come and have some glutinous rice cake."

Hu Bugui had been flipping it before, and it was now cooked, golden and slightly burnt, with the aroma of rice and the sweetness of sugar wafting in the air. Xia Xiao and Shu Shuang took the hot glutinous rice cake and hesitated for a long time before taking a bite.

The four of them ate glutinous rice cakes and drank a cup of tea together. Then, Hu Bugui raised his hand and signaled them to go back to their own business.

Xia Xiao and Shu Shuang bowed behind the mother star dragon, walked away a few steps and looked back. Senior Hu Bugui was sitting there, continuing to bake glutinous rice cakes, without getting anxious or blushing for his previous nonsense. But the previous stove did not warm Shu Shuang's hand, Xia Xiao held it, like a silent comfort.

"Since the seniors have said so, don't worry."

In the eyes of the mother star dragon, the thirteen people closest to the top of the mountain are the pillars of the academy. As one of them, Hu Bugui is not the strongest, but he is not the weakest either. His words carry a lot of weight!

Shu Shuang nodded slightly, and put the matter aside as usual. She had already put aside enough things, and she didn't know if there would be any problems if she continued like this. But many things were unknown to others, so where could she find the answers? She could only put it aside for the time being.

Ah Zhu called out "Master" happily and ran to Hu Bugui.

"I've said it many times, no matter what happens, don't panic."

Ah Zhu understood this principle, but now she sat opposite her master, supporting her body with both hands, raising her white chin, smiling like a flower. She was always like a candle, able to illuminate a place. Under her smile, the whole rainy day lost its original gloom and became bright. These few meters of sunshine were warmer than a stove.

"Master, I found the way."

Hu Bugui was preparing to pour tea to warm Ah Zhu up. He knew that Ah Zhu would not stay in school and had already run away, but he didn't know where he ran to. When he heard Ah Zhu's words, Hu Bugui's first reaction was not the way up the mountain, but other alleys. Ever since Ah Zhu knew that there was a canteen on the mountainside, she had been looking for it every day. He gave her fifteen minutes to rest, and she could run for fourteen minutes. She found it in two days, which was quite fast!

"How about the canteen on the mountainside?"

"ah?"

Ah Zhu was stunned for a moment, not understanding why his master asked this question. Because of his strength, Hu Bugui could see through many people's minds, but Ah Zhu was a special existence, and no one could see through her thoughts.

"Does your route go anywhere other than to the cafeteria?"

"Master~"

Ah Zhu said coquettishly, "This kind of thing, you see through it but don't say it out loud!"

"I'm talking about the way to the top of the mountain."

Hu Bugui became serious now, and his hand was a little slow in pouring tea.

"Where?"

Hu Bugui's old face was ruddy than before, not because of the newly poured black tea, nor because of the glutinous rice cake he had eaten before, but because Ah Zhu's story was too bizarre. It was too strange that there was a road leading to the top of the mountain without even sensing the fluctuation of the vitality. He could figure out Shu Shuang's story for the time being, but the road was cut off halfway, which might mean that another road would be born. But Ah Zhu was... a little too anxious, wasn't he?

"Behind the big pine tree just east of town."

The pine forest on the mountainside is continuous, and the eight big pine trees are the most eye-catching. The town is named after them and also uses them to identify its location. And the road behind the big pine trees to the east is not the road that Xia Xiao and Shu Shuang took? Could it be that the roads of the three of them overlapped? This...Hu Bugui couldn't figure it out!

Everyone is different and everyone walks a different path, but if three of us are on the same path, where will it lead us?

"Master, Master?"

Azhu waved in front of Hu Bugui, and the latter came to his senses.

"Don't worry, it won't be too late to move up once you start practicing."

After pouring tea for Ah Zhu, Hu Bugui turned over the glutinous rice cake. He had accidentally burnt the glutinous rice cake just now, so it might not be as fragrant as before. Even so, Ah Zhu ate it with gusto, as if she was tasting delicacies from the mountains and the sea, not just a small glutinous rice cake. She ate everything like this!

"Master, this is so sweet."

"Be careful with the heat."

Ah Zhu had no idea about the way up the mountain, and now he had forgotten everything.