Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lei Jing took over the knife, and she felt a stronger vitality than the two wooden knives before. She finally asked, “Sir, I have a question.”
Shen Lian kept the small knife in his robe. He removed his clogs and dipped his feet in the clear stream. The flowing water rinsed his feet, like once upon a time what Buddha did to his feet in the water of the Ganges river. This peaceful demeanor, if caught by any Qi cultivators who were experts in cultivation of spirit, was to be considered a fortune as one could improve in his spirit by visualizing Shen Lian’s current demeanor.
He indicated Lei Jing to sit next to him. The teacher-student pair washed their feet in this secluded area. Lei Jing was a little shy in the beginning, but she sat down with grace.
The rocks were chilly but clean. The wood dust produced when Shen Lian was carving the wooden knife had already been carried away by the water.
Shen Lian turned his head to his student, “You can ask the question.”
Lei Jing felt the chilly water which was tinkling the senses of her feet. Her pores were filled with the spiritual opportunity of the water, which were more powerful within the opening and closing. The great circulation made her feel good.
She spoke slowly, “Sir, why were you carving wooden knives? Was it just fun? I am curious as to why a dead object like the wooden knife can carry such spirituality if the carving was done by you. I thought i could feel that the two wooden knives I picked up previously were breathing over my sleep. It was indistinct, but I could tell they were indeed taking in the spiritual opportunity.”
Shen Lian smiled, “Jing Er, you’ve improved a lot as you can now detect the breathing of the wooden knives. Indeed, every spiritual being in heaven and earth breathes, but it is not restricted to just between the mouth and the nose. Your feeling was right – the wooden knives have gained spirituality or demonic characteristics. The only thing is that they are incredibly weak at the moment. There is no difference between spirituality and demonic characteristics.”
Lei Jing thought for a while, and she subsequently said, “Sir, so spiritual and demonic characteristics are supposedly a state of mind, or a spirit by itself, but why is there a difference between them?”
Shen Lian clapped, “You can infer three things from one case. Jing Er, I believe you will become a Daoist in the future. About the difference between spirituality and demonic characteristics, actually, it is hard to distinguish them. I too cannot make a judgment easily, but I can tell you a story. Once upon a time, there were two lambs, and in their surroundings, they had a grassland each, and the both of them loved eating grass. However, one of them always wanted to eat until it was satisfied, and when it ate, it did not even leave the roots alone. Soon, there was no longer grass in its surrounding, and because of the situation, it had to leave early to find the next grassland. The other lamb, however, knew how to eat in moderation, and it would not destroy the roots of the grass. It divided the grassland into many regions, and after it consumed about half of every region, it would switch to another. With that, the grassland had helped it live for a long time.”
Lei Jing seemed to have a revelation, “So what sir was saying is that spirituality means one knows how to act in moderation, and that demonic characteristics mean to be unrestricted.”
Shen Lian’s gaze was focused on the opposite side. A piece of leaf fell from the branch into the water, and within moments, it lost its direction. The reason why it fell was that a bug ate its base.
He replied slowly, “You’re right, but not entirely right. It is natural for lambs to love grass. In the beginning, it just wanted to eat grass, and it kept wanting to do so, but it did not control its desire and it went on a binge. That was why the grassland was wasted. The other lamb could control its appetite, and it even divided the grassland into different regions. It told itself about how at one time it could only eat the grass in a region.”
Lei Jing seemed to understand, “I understand, your intention is to tell me the difference between doing whatever you want and doing whatever you don’t want to. It also means for us to be disciplined, and not just go on without it, like this stream. Even though it can flow anywhere, as it is restricted by the channel, it will not overflow and hence can be an existence that lasts.”
“I have another question.” Lei Jing asked.
“I know what you want to ask. Do you want to say that if the lamb left and found a richer grassland, or that it snatched the grassland which the other lamb was grazing on, it could still consume in an unrestricted manner? In other worlds, if one has the supreme power, there is no need to worry too much. One can do whatever one desires, like your uncle, Emperor Xia. As long as he wants to do it, there is no restriction that says he can’t.” Shen Lian replied slowly, and the answer was exactly what Lei Jing was thinking about.
The worldview she had constructed for the past ten years would not change just because of what Shen Lian said.
Furthermore, the reason why Xia Kingdom could be the unrestricted lamb was that they were more powerful than others. If anything was lacking, they could just snatch it from someone else.
The fittest survived, it was the law of nature.
Lei Jing nodded, and she paid close attention to Shen Lian’s reaction.
Shen Lian’s expression was like normal. It did not seem like he had any dissatisfactions with her. Perhaps he was not happy, but as he did not show it, she would not change her mind now.
She spoke softly, “So sir, you think that the Xia clan has demonic characteristics?”
Shen Lian smiled, “I did not say that. You should take care of the three wooden knives, and next, I will teach you another skill.” It was difficult to change someone’s opinion. Even though Shen Lian could make use of Daoist techniques to force someone to change his or her worldview since young, but what was that different from Yanxu? If he always just wanted others to be just like him, the world would be a tremendously boring place.
Lei Jing was curious, “Sir, are you going to teach me supernatural techniques? I have no mana yet.”
Shen Lian looked at her slightly curled and long eyelashes. Her eyes were more active than the flow of water. He thought to himself that this lady was blessed by the creator. He said, “Even though you’re a woman, in your body flows the noble blood of the Xia clan, and hence you have power. I will teach you how to carve next.”
Lei Jing thought carving was more interesting than breathing. She said, “Sure, what will you teach me to carve?”
Shen Lian said, “There are twenty days to a full moon, and it is the Moon Sacrificial Ritual of Xia Kingdom. Emperor Xia will have a palace’s feast that day. Try using the three wooden knives to make a stone sculpture that looks like your uncle, but don’t carve the eyes. I will be guiding you until I am satisfied with the stone sculpture.”
Lei Jing became more interested as she listened to what Shen Lian said, if uncle saw that she carved him into a stone sculpture, he would surely be surprised during the palace’s feast.
She had some hesitations about carving a stone, but if sir wanted her to do it, even if he did some tricks, it would be hard to deceive her. If that was the case, she would let Guan Longzi have a look first.
Although this person always acted like a sage, but Lei Jing knew clearly that he would not betray her uncle.
