We chatted for almost all of the night asking about various things, Liang Yu even asked about my deceased wife and children.
Though she didn't seem to be too pleased about how I treated my sons.
"You think I was too harsh on them?" I asked.
"No, in fact, if I were you I would have probably killed them, you're too nice for your own good. It'll get you in trouble Shen Bao," she said.
"I don't really think its easy to do what you're saying, one's own children are not something that you can easily kill, you would probably know more once you have your own children," I said.
"I would probably remain with the same opinion if that happens to me, I would not forgive anyone who would harm my own kin, however, if my own kin wishes or attempts to kill me, then I'll kill them with my own hands, after all I still have the tool to make more," she said.
Though a rather grim opinion, in her own head it made sense. A pragmatic person. For a cultivator who can live thousands if not more worth of years, a single child isn't much, if they're a good kid then they nurture them, if they're a bad kid they ignore them, and if they're scumbags like mine they just off them.
The more a cultivator spends living the less he cares about mortal matters such as children. In a world where everyone is chasing the peak of cultivation, having children that could threaten your own pursuit is nothing but roadblocks, and cultivators love breaking through them.
"Don't think of me as a cruel person, but it is the Dao of heavens, and they crossed it first, filial piety is sacred, and if a child dares harm the one who brought him to this world, then he is despised by heavens till the end of time." Liang Yu said as she drank from her cup.
"Dao… what is Dao?" I asked
Liang Yu silently placed back the cup in her hand and looked at me in the eyes and said, "Are you asking this seriously?"
"Of course, why would I joke about it," I said.
"Well…" she said as her eyes trailed through the room.
"Dao, or the Path, is nothing tangible, but it is everything that must be obtained. It is knowledge, it is faith, it is belief, it is the idea of progress. Dao is the act of searching for Dao itself. Dao isn't something definitive, Dao can be everything one wishes for, and can also be nothing… Dao is you, Dao is me, Dao is everyone, and at the same time Dao is no one…"
"You lost me at path…" I said.
Liang Yu looked frustrated as she said, "Well, those are the words of my master, I thought I might play a prank on you and see how you'll react, to be honest I have not a damn clue what Dao is, and when I asked my master about it those were the words that he left with me. Though I call bullshit," she said.
'Oh, she's cursing, I guess we're bonding very well.'
"I also find it strange, a brother of mine had mentioned that Dao is seeking the truth of the world. Though I find the world having plenty of secrets, what is the truth we're trying to seek in our venture of understanding Dao?" I asked.
"I suppose the source of Immortality?" she said.
"It would be a far too meager and lowly objective if the end goal of all those who cultivate was to become immortal. Immortality isn't something that is enjoyable," I said.
"You speak as if you lived for eons," she said.
"One doesn't need to live forever to understand how lonely it could be, think about it. If you were to become immortal, your friends, family, lovers, sons and daughters, you'll see them all, slowly grow and age, then die, while you are forever stuck in time never to progress forward. The meaning of friendship will be vain, for having a friend will be pointless, that friend will live his whole life with you, but you'll outlived them, and then once again be lonely, then you'll find new acquaintances, new friends and the same will happen again. You will be living in a different spectrum of time where for you time never goes by, and hundreds and even thousands of years will be comparable to a fleeting moment. In your endless lifespan. Immortality is far crueler than the most gruesome of tortures, because it never ends. Not to mention, if you are immortal, you may witness the dawn of the universe, its end and then you'll be left all alone, in a world of darkness where there is no living soul but you…can you handle that?"
Liang Yu couldn't answer and remained silent.
"Immortality is overrated, death is a mercy that too many people fear. There cannot be life without Death, and that is one of the world's truths. Though I'm sure that this isn't something that cultivators seek, the truth they're seeking is different, and perhaps, it is a truth only to them," I said.
Suddenly someone spoke
"That's debatable."
"BLOODY FUCKING HELL!" I jumped from my spot.
I looked around and didn't seem to find anyone around.
"What's wrong?" asked Liang Yu.
"You didn't hear that?" I asked her.
She looked around then looked at me, "I'm sure we're along, but did you hear something?"
"Yes, someone is spying on us," I said.
"I'm not spying, don't bad mouth me like that you damn brat," I heard, this time loud and clear and right next to me.
It took all I had no to jump from my place and even more not to punch whoever just caused my heart to drop from fright.
Turning, it was an old man in blue robes.
"Ah…shit, Master Rain," I said.
"Don't couple my name with shit, you damn imbecile," he said.
"Oh, sorry about that," I said.
"You're talking about Dao as if you know about it, and you're talking about truth as if you had seen it, with the way you speak even your seniors could be swayed to the words you uttered, but there are many things you don't understand. I'll tell you what, tomorrow I'll be holding a Dao sermon, be there," Master Rain said.
That was an order, not a request…
"Also, you don't have much time left, and you seem to be enjoying yourself here… you," spoke Master Rain to the girl, "Don't let him put his hands on you, you'll die, this man is pure poison," Master Rain said smirking.
Way to cockblock someone, fucking geezer.
"I know that, and that's not really your business, Blue Hood," she said.
Master Rain raised a frown, "Ah, you're Old Gin's grad daughter…no wonder you're so confident. Also don't call me that, you haven't earned the right to call me by that title, kid, you got any progress done on that work or are you too busy flaunting your meager Dao knowledge to sound smart and get laid…"
I didn't answer him because he managed to somehow interrupt himself while speaking, "Though I doubt you'll have any progress done, it takes the greatest inscribers many years to decipher a single letter. It would be a miracle if you managed to understand one," Master Rain said.
"Funny thing to say…" I said.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"I actually have only three letters left to decipher, I already managed to fully decipher the rest of the parchment," I said.
…
"Are you speaking the truth?" he asked, "But maybe you've made a mistake, it's not easy to decipher those letters, maybe you took what you understood to heart without verifying and thought it was true, I would still want to see it anyway," he said. "I might gleam something from your mistakes and…"
I didn't want him to keep yapping so I showed him the results of my work.
Master Ran had a grouchy look on his face, like a teacher about to grade the worst student in class and already knows that the mere fact of looking at that paper will be a waste of time.
Master Rain's nonchalant look at the paper I handed to him soon began to change. Then soon his high risen brows began to knit together, and the more he read the closer his brows got to each other and the more he closed up on the paper.
"What in god's name is this?" Master Rain spoke.
"What are these symbols?" he said as he pointed at the numerical values I had written.
"Oh… yeah, those… those are numbers, that's math," I said.
"The why don't you use normal numbers?" he said.
"For me those are normal, anyway that's irrelevant, I'm sure you'll understand what they mean if you keep reading…" I said.
Soon and surprisingly very fast… master rain began saying, "Oh, so this symbol is One, and this is two… this is three… interesting, this is an interesting way of using numbers. Anyway, this still doesn't make sense, why did you give these letters these numerical values?" he asked.
"That's something I came up with, it's basically to give every one of the Imperial Symbols a value so that when I cross examine them I know which symbol did which reaction based on the result of the numbers in question. So for example if this symbol numbered as 2 made a reaction with this symbol numbered as 8. I could then write down 16, then try all other combinations with the end result of 16 and see if they actually have the same result. For example, I tried to cause a reaction with the symbol numbered four, against itself, and the end result was the same reaction as the first operation. This helped me understand that these Imperial Letters are actually not your regular inscriptions but are more like a mathematical equation. I was very confused at first since I ended up with a lot of different results but after re-numbering many of the symbols, I managed to find the appropriate Number-to-symbol and ended up with this result… however I'm still stuck on these last three…" I spoke.
"Wait so you're telling me… that after all that time I- I mean, the inscribers spent looking at this and trying to figure it out… this was nothing but a numerical Inscription?"
"Basically, yes… but those three symbols are a pain," I said as I pointed at the three symbols, I didn't seem to find the appropriate number for.
"They seem to be the reason why the parchment isn't working, perhaps a typo? Or maybe they represent something other than numbers, perhaps there is even another slew of Imperial Symbols that haven't been discovered and this is part of them, I can't solve this since I don't have the original alphabet," I said.
"Interesting, very interesting… right, I suppose you live to see another day, anyway, come tomorrow, you'll know when and where, and bring her with you. I'll have to see this with my attendant for now… interesting," Master Rain kept muttering interesting as he was looking at the paper, I handed him and began walking in circles inside the room.
It was a bit awkward because he seems to have forgotten himself in the house of a man and a woman who were having some time off…
God damn geezer can you leave?!