Chapter 52 - Sinking and Floating
Edited by Ea
Why do you cultivate immortality?
Where will this road to heaven lead?
Ascension is what immortals seek; immortality is the desire of everyone in the world.
It is also the wish of the world to be immortal.
If immortals enter the mortal world, all the riches, honor, glory, and splendor will be at their fingertips.
Lin Shu was thinking.
He didn’t know what the immortal world was like, and ascending wasn’t necessarily a good thing. After obtaining immortality, it was nothing more than a repetition of life day after day. Moreover, for him, this thing called “living” really wasn’t interesting.
When one enters the mortal world, they have to face all kinds of people. Just thinking about it, he really can’t do it.
Regarding this world, he really had nothing to ask for. He chose to cultivate immortality only because he had to.
In the original world, he had been memorizing the meditation techniques and reading about the sword ever since his memory first appeared, so cultivating immortality was natural. Furthermore, with his bad character, if he was not an immortal, he would have been trampled and submerged by the vast sea of people, and then he would have fled to some dark corner to curl up and die in depression.
When he came here, he knew nothing. He couldn’t live in the mortal world, so he could only go to the Academy. However, in these turbulent times, he couldn’t protect himself if he had no cultivation base, so he chose to continue to cultivate immortality.
Actually, it didn’t really matter to him if he just found a place to die, but since living wasn’t painful, he didn’t really want to die.
The road at his feet seemed to be endless. One step, and another step, he became very dazed.
The purpose of this Heavenly Stairway was to let the disciples comprehend the heart of Dao, strengthen their will, and be more courageous and diligent on the road of cultivating immortality in the future. This made Lin Shu very desperate. He had a foreboding that he would be trapped.
He felt that he didn’t really have a purpose for cultivating immortality.
Since he wasn’t cultivating for anything, he had no heart of Dao to speak of, so he couldn’t leave. If Big Miss is here, she must be dissatisfied: “You disappointment me.”
But her cousin turned out to be thousands of times better. After walking with Lin Shu for so long, he only said warmly, “Are you tired? Take a break.”
Even if Mr. Meng was here, he wouldn’t have a better temper.
Anyone who still has a conscience will feel ashamed of his unworthiness and failure to live up to expectations. People could tell at a glance that the cousin was very excellent. Naturally, he wasn’t a disappointment like Lin Shu. Lin Shu felt that Ling Xiao was just waiting for him to walk out. Once he went out, Ling Xiao only needed to gather his energy to prove his heart of Dao to the Heavenly Stairway. After that, they could naturally come out immediately.
Then, the cousin instantly saw through his distracted state.
Lin Xiao asked: “What are you thinking about?”
Lin Shu lowered his eyes: “I have no Dao.”
Ling Xiao: “All living beings in the world have Dao, and you naturally have it as well.”
Lin Shu said: “After all, I don’t show very much initiative.”
Ling Xiao laughed.
A slightly lower sound of Qi reached his ear, which was similar to the feeling of electric shock.
After laughing, Ling Xiao said, “You might as well admit your mistake to the Dao of Heaven. Maybe it’ll see how cute you are and let you out.”
Lin Shu: “.....”
Although this cousin was good-natured, why was he also a mischievous soul, teasing others with a straight face?
He continued forward, abandoning himself to despair.
Ling Xiao asked: “Dao is one’s original intention. What do you want to do when you leave the Academy in the future?”
Find a peaceful place, eat quietly, and wait for death?
——It seems good, but he didn’t know if it was feasible.
But naturally he couldn’t say that, he just asked carefully: “How about you?”
“If it’s a peaceful and prosperous age, I want to wander the world with my Dao companion, or live in seclusion the mountains and forests, idly watching the clouds and wild cranes,” Ling Xiao said lightly, “However, we are born in troubled times, and both the state and royal family share an enemy, so I’ve no freedom to act as I want...”
Having said that, he paused, then smiled freely: “But I just want to have a clear conscience.”
Although this smile was out of helplessness, it didn’t have a relaxed and unrestrained meaning. The so-called youthful spirit was probably like this.
Lin Shu felt quite envious.
What about me? Do I have something I want to do, too?
He thought about it, his mind gradually drifting away. Suddenly, he caught a little spark of “What he wanted to do”, thinking of a scene many years ago.
Perhaps it was during his junior high school. In short, he was at an age where he wasn’t very ignorant.
That evening after school, he was walking halfway home, then remembered that he had left his exercise book in the classroom and went back to get it. There were no people along the way, although he met a few sparsely. He didn’t meet his classmates. They were all strangers to him. He just treated them as if he didn’t see them.
He walked up the stairs to the fifth floor and out of the stairwell, but suddenly he was stunned.
The long corridor, which used to be full of people, was empty, and the afterglow of the evening light shone on the railings and wall tiles. It was bright and dazzling.
It’s very quiet all around, and he seemed to be the only person in the entire world, with the huge sunset and the high sky.
This scene may not be special, but at that moment, it really shook his heart and made him excited. He felt that he even saw the end of the world at that moment.
No other humans; nobody he knew. In the instant when he didn’t have even the slightest connection to this world, he thought it was very beautiful.
Later, he liked to watch the sun rise or set in a deserted place. The stars brightened and dimmed again, and then he gradually forgot that he was still in the world.
If the cultivation of immortality had to have a purpose, then he wanted to act like that for a long time. He wanted to escape from the dust of the mortal world and live outside those constraints.
After his trance, he gradually understood.
He stopped walking.
Ling Xiao looked at him.
People lived between Heaven and Earth, which was just like being inside a river.
Someone who cultivated immortality was like going against the current, breaking away from the life of mortals.
But he did not show initiative or push forward; he just wanted to drift with the current down, sometimes sinking and sometimes floating.
After all, you couldn’t expect a salted fish to enact the play of “A carp fighting against heaven and jumping over the dragon’s gate”.
He turned around and walked down.
With this single step, the scenery next to him suddenly changed, as if three thousand worlds were swaying.
He looked back and saw Ling Xiao’s slightly surprised expression.
The cousin is probably thinking: There’s actually such a salted fish in this world; it should be killed.
________
TL’s Mini Theatre:
Ea: The theatre is under construction while waiting for Zaki who got stuck playing Jumping Jack on the Heavenly Stairway. *crossing fingers that she will fall down*
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