Chapter 120 If you're not afraid of what I ask for, what am I afraid of?
The last rays of the setting sun splashed across the ground, landing on the scattered dust and debris, which then clung to the wooden chair and the wood-chopping knife, creeping up the man's clothes. He slowly sharpened the bamboo strip in his hand, occasionally bending it to gauge its desired toughness by feel. He was so focused on what he was doing that he didn't notice the dust and debris had already covered his clothes.
"Senior Brother Chu?"
Chu Xun looked up at the person standing at the door, slightly stunned, as if he was in a daze for a moment before recognizing who it was.
"Why did Senior Brother Chu suddenly come to the workshop?" Mingzhao knew that Chu Xun had a habit of carving small trinkets on a regular basis, but this was the first time she had seen Chu Xun in person at the workshop.
The workshop was built by the disciples of Wenxin Diaolong, but other disciples were not restricted from entering on ordinary days. Mingzhao knew that Chu Xun's courtyard in Wanqi Guixin was very small and could not hold many tools. He could carve some small things in his own courtyard, but if he wanted to make some large machines, he could only come to the workshop. But Mingzhao had never heard of which workshop Chu Xun stayed in.
Judging from his position and skillful movements, Mingzhao realized that the mysterious person who appeared and disappeared in this workshop was actually Chu Xun.
The workshop in the bamboo forest was secluded, small, and sparsely equipped, rarely visited. Mingzhao chose to stay there precisely because it was quiet. Besides her, there was another mysterious fellow disciple who frequented the workshop. This disciple always appeared at night and disappeared during the day, specifically choosing times when Mingzhao wasn't there. If she hadn't noticed that the scattered tools always returned to their boxes and the trash on the floor always vanished, she wouldn't have realized that there was a second person in the workshop besides herself.
That person, like her, probably didn't like being around other people, so they deliberately chose to stay in places with few people. Thus, they tacitly avoided disturbing each other.
Only today did Mingzhao realize that the mysterious fellow disciple was not a student of Wenxin Diaolong, but Chu Xun.
Chu Xun simply smiled, put down what he was holding, and brushed away the crumbs stuck to his clothes: "There are some things I haven't finished yet, so I thought I'd take care of them. What about you? You haven't been to the workshop in a long time, why did you suddenly decide to come today?"
The cultivation of disciples in the Wenxin Diaolong (文心雕龙) school is divided into two parts: Wenxin (文心) as the soul and Diaolong (雕龙) as the form. Mingzhao had indeed not practiced her carving skills for a long time. She felt that her understanding of the world was still insufficient, so she spent a long time observing the heavens and earth and cultivating her Wenxin. Unexpectedly, Chu Xun noticed this, even though he was clearly just a disciple of the Wanqi Guixin (万器归心) school.
Mingzhao sighed. She thought, "What a pity. It's a pity he's a disciple of 'The Return of the Myriad Artifacts' and not 'The Art of Carving Dragons.' It seems that no matter how superb his skills are, once he takes the wrong path, he's destined for a bad outcome. If he had been a disciple of 'The Art of Carving Dragons' from the beginning, perhaps with his carving skills and techniques, he could have gained Elder Fang's approval much earlier."
"If you don't know where to go, just come here for a stroll." Mingzhao sat down not far from Chu Xun.
Seeing her worried expression, Chu Xun couldn't help but shake his head with a smile: "What are you worried about?"
"I worry about my future." Mingzhao thought that once she made progress in Taoist practices and gained many insights into her spirituality, she would no longer have worries. In the past, whenever she didn't know what to do, she would study, read countless books, and strive for enlightenment, trying to find liberation in enlightenment. But now she realized that many problems would persist as long as she didn't solve them, and she couldn't escape them.
"I want to know what the purpose of cultivating immortality is. Do all the cultivators in Kunlun cultivate to become immortals? Everyone spends so much energy and money, is it just to become an immortal? What is the difference between gods and humans? Is immortality the only goal?"
In Mingzhao's view, some cultivators cultivate to gain more magical power and perform feats like summoning wind and rain. When the Kunlun disciples go out to train, they most often use magic to relieve the suffering of the people. It is because of this that they gain the respect and love of mortals. But if cultivating immortality is only for magical power, then being a cultivator is enough; there is no need to become an immortal.
Was it for power, status, and fame? But even though Tianxiang Niangniang didn't truly become an immortal, she could still achieve that level. And doesn't Tianxiang Niangniang's demise prove that power, status, and fame are all illusory things?
Some people cultivate immortality to gain eternal life. A mortal's life is too short; one lifetime isn't enough, and they want to live for hundreds more years. But Mingzhao doesn't understand: if they spend a hundred years cultivating, and if they were given another three hundred years, they would still spend it on cultivation. What difference would a hundred years make between that and three hundred?
Some people cultivate immortality because they feel their own power is too weak. They want to help more people and spread their abilities further. If that's the goal, Mingzhao, as a disciple of Wenxin Diaolong, can also achieve it. She can write books, record her observations of all things, and pass them on to more mortals. She can also write more primers, allowing more people to gain power from words.
If there are no things in this world that can only be done after becoming an immortal, then why would she want to become an immortal?
"It is precisely because people cannot become immortals, and do not know what the world is like after becoming immortals, that they think about becoming immortals. What they cannot obtain will become an obsession." Chu Xun picked up his knife and cut a thin strip of bamboo from the bamboo.
The "thump-thump" sound echoed in the workshop.
"And what about Senior Brother Chu? Is your cultivation of immortality also driven by an obsession?"
"I guess so."
Mingzhao was somewhat surprised. In her memory, Chu Xun had always been a kind-hearted person with no ambitions: "You actually have an obsession?"
"There are so many things I can't have," Chu Xun said casually.
Mingzhao recalled that Chu Xun was an unknown figure in Wanqi Guixin. If she hadn't been acquainted with Shen Cangyu in the past, she wouldn't have even known that Wanqi Guixin had such a person.
The disciples of the Myriad Weapons Return to the Heart are always sharp and ruthless, just like the weapons in their hands. Chu Xun always lives in their shadow, holding a carving knife. Some disciples of the Myriad Weapons Return to the Heart often try to persuade him, saying that a carving knife cannot be a weapon and urging him to turn back from the wrong path. But Chu Xun always smiles and says, "I dare not aspire to immortality. I cannot wield a knife, nor can I kill anyone. This carving knife suits me better. And the book doesn't say that someone who wields a carving knife cannot become an immortal."
Chu Xun's words, spoken through Qiu Sheng, reached Liang Duoshi's ears, and then Ming Zhao's ears.
At that time, Liang Duo laughed and said, "Who said he doesn't resemble one of you disciples of Wanqi Guixin? Just look at his unrepentant temper; he's just like one of you Wanqi Guixin disciples."
They burst into laughter, and Mingzhao laughed along with them, pondering repeatedly the sentence, "The book doesn't say that people who wield carving knives can't become immortals."
Mingzhao thought, how wonderful it would be if one day she could be so firmly certain of her own path, regardless of what anyone said about it being wrong. She actually knew what she wanted.
She longed to write more books for the world to read, to bring blessings to humanity, and to let her words endure through the ages. But this era was wrong; Kunlun was too chaotic, and people had no heart for cultivation, spending their days in worry. Now, Lu Yuan was also in danger, but she couldn't protect him. All she had was the ability to write. How could she save Lu Yuan, save the people of Wencang? How could she quell this chaos, how could she get those bloodthirsty people to lay down their swords?
The world is unfair, and she can't just do writing books.
"Now that Kunlun is in such a mess, how can we restore it to its original state?" Mingzhao posed this problem that she couldn't solve. She knew that she was actually putting Chu Xun in a difficult position, since he cared even less about the chaos in Kunlun than she did. In terms of temperament, he was even very similar to the Xiaoyao You group, who would disappear at the first sign of turmoil.
"The chaos is only temporary, just like boiling water. The firewood will eventually burn out, and the boiling water will eventually return to calm. Just wait a while, and it will return to normal," Chu Xun said, adding, "Instead of staying in the boiling water, why not take this time to go outside the mountains and escape this chaos? You might even gain some new insights."
Chu Xun's optimistic outlook put Ming Zhao's mind at ease. She thought, "Sure enough, Shen Cangyu always said that Senior Brother Dog is no ordinary person. It seems that he really is."
"Thank you so much, Senior Brother Dog." Mingzhao stood up and bowed to him.
Chu Xun paused in his splitting of bamboo strips and couldn't help but say, "I haven't heard this title in a long time. I never thought I'd have the chance to hear it again in this lifetime."
"Does Senior Brother Chu like this nickname or not?" Mingzhao understood the meaning of the words. She knew that this nickname carried a teasing connotation, so she asked the question that had been bothering her for a long time.
"At first, when I heard them say that, to be honest, I was a little angry," Chu Xun lowered his head, but the corners of his mouth still unconsciously curled up. "But later, I realized that their intentions weren't bad. This nickname is complicated for me, but it's not all bad. After all, there may be hundreds or thousands of Senior Brother Chus in Kunlun, but there's only one Dog Senior Brother, isn't there?"
Hearing his words, Mingzhao finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Then I'm relieved. Thank you so much for your guidance today, Senior Brother Gou. I've benefited a lot. I have other things to do, so I won't bother you any longer. We'll meet again someday!" With that, she ran out, her steps light and graceful.
Chu Xun watched her figure gradually recede into the distance, finally disappearing at the end of the bamboo forest.
He picked up the split bamboo strips, bent them into circles, and felt their resilience.
"You persuaded people to leave because your conscience wouldn't allow it, and you were thinking of killing as few people as possible, right?"
A voice came from the roof beam.
The bamboo strip snapped open, grazing Chu Xun's fingers, the rough edges piercing his fingertips. He looked up and saw a figure sitting on the roof beam, legs bent. He didn't know when she had arrived or how long she had been listening. He hadn't even noticed her presence the entire time.
"Shen Cangyu, how dare you, one of the Five Evils, appear in Kunlun? Aren't you afraid of being captured and having your bones and core extracted?" Chu Xun's voice deepened as he stared at her.
"Chu Xun, if you're not afraid, why should I be?"
Shen Cangyu looked down at him with lowered eyes: "How does it feel to have everyone completely fooled, Hundred-Eye Mirror?"
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