Chapter 176: Spouting Nonsense
For the next while, Rong Xie spent his time contemplating Elder Red’s question.
What exactly was it about the Ruthless Path that couldn’t be let go?
Rong Xie felt that the key to switching paths lay right there.
“So, what is it about the Ruthless Path that you can’t let go of?” Rong Xie muttered to himself while the two were participating in the bird-watching activity.
Shen Bingsi chuckled, patting Rong Xie’s back. “You haven’t even cultivated the Ruthless Path. Careful you don’t fall into a qi deviation just thinking about it.”
“I’m trying to help you think. Maybe once the problem is understood, it’ll be solved.” Rong Xie slapped Shen Bingsi’s hand away.
In the forest, birds of various colors chirped incessantly. Beneath every tree, small couples were gathered in groups of two or three. Although it was called bird-watching, few were actually looking at the birds; most were leaning against each other in sweet affection.
Rong Xie looked at the birds, then at the young couples. “Right, didn’t you used to particularly hate this? Seeing others acting affectionately made you feel uncomfortable all over, and you even thought they were mentally ill.”
“…” Shen Bingsi was silent for a moment. “True.”
“So what are your thoughts now?” Rong Xie swept his palm upward and outward in a half-arc, inviting Shen Bingsi to admire the “beautiful scenery” before them.
“…I still feel a bit uncomfortable,” Shen Bingsi said honestly. “But I can bear it now.”
“Bear what?”
“Bearing the urge not to scold them,” Shen Bingsi said.
Rong Xie laughed, then sighed. “That’s the heart of the problem. While acting all mushy in public is a bit annoying, it’s perfectly normal for couples to be together. Why do you want to scold them? You’re one of them now—aren’t you afraid your scolding will turn into a boomerang and hit you?”
“I don’t know why. I just feel that people who indulge in this are more or less flawed. Some don’t even understand the other person but think they’re perfect, treating them like treasure. But once they actually get to know them and find out they’re just ordinary, they start despising them. How good it was at the start is how bad it becomes later. When they’re being all lovey-dovey, they never imagine how ugly things will get when they fall out,” Shen Bingsi said.
Rong Xie hadn’t expected Shen Bingsi to speak such profound words, as if he had seen many couples break up and make up.
“What about us?”
“We are different, of course,” Shen Bingsi said without hesitation. “We already know each other very well. Being affectionate is a natural progression. Even if something changes in the future, it won’t affect our feelings.”
“What kind of ‘change’ in the future?” Rong Xie felt something was off.
“In the future…” Shen Bingsi realized his topic had drifted toward a rather dangerous cliff edge and immediately became alert. “I was just comparing us to other couples. I didn’t mean it for real; it’s just a metaphor—”
“Oh? Is that so? What kind of metaphor?” Rong Xie pressed.
Shen Bingsi felt sweat starting to bead on his forehead. “Like if some sudden event occurs and we have to dissolve our partner bond. At that time, we would still be friends; we wouldn’t become enemies or stop speaking to each other. We’re different from other couples.”
“What specific kind of ‘sudden event’?” Rong Xie stared intently at Shen Bingsi.
Shen Bingsi felt as if Rong Xie had sucked all the air out of his surroundings. He regretted voicing his grand theory on relationships and said sheepishly, “Like the things they sing about in teahouses—the family doesn’t allow it, the sect doesn’t agree, the righteous and the evil can’t coexist…”
“Hmph, what kind of ‘sudden event’ is that? I think you cultivating the Ruthless Path and not being able to mess up your Dao heart is the real sudden event, isn’t it?” Rong Xie crossed his arms.
“Am I not already being treated?” Shen Bingsi said helplessly.
“What treatment? Don’t call it treatment; this is returning to the righteous path! You need to abandon your old, erroneous thoughts. Two people admiring each other and choosing that one person out of millions to be their partner—how brave is that! They aren’t stupid at all; they’re just braver than us,” Rong Xie said.
“Really?” Shen Bingsi still wasn’t quite sure.
“Of course they are!” Rong Xie grabbed Shen Bingsi’s shoulder and pulled him to the side, giving him an “agitational” lecture. “Choosing a person as a Dao partner means choosing a way of life. From then on, how your days are spent isn’t entirely up to you. To give up your complete freedom like that requires immense courage, let alone doing it when you hardly know them!”
“Makes sense,” Shen Bingsi nodded. “That’s no different from a free man handing himself over to a jailer.”
Rong Xie stopped talking. “What do you mean by that?”
“In a situation where no one has been killed or set on fire…” Shen Bingsi realized the atmosphere was wrong again and paused. “I’m trying to understand your meaning.”
“You’re just being argumentative!” Rong Xie was fuming.
Rong Xie tried his best to educate Shen Bingsi, but Shen Bingsi always used strange ideas to distort his meaning. Feeling a wave of exhaustion, Rong Xie gave up.
“I know why you’re suffering from the backlash,” Rong Xie sighed. “The Ruthless Path is deeply rooted in your heart. It’s not something that can be changed just by saying so.”
Lately, Rong Xie’s attention had been focused on Shen Bingsi’s physical condition, and he had never deeply explored his psychological state.
Shen Bingsi had become gentler, no longer aggressive or prone to mocking young couples. Especially after arriving at the Acacia Sect, he was seriously participating in the disciples’ activities—to the point that Rong Xie thought his perspective was truly changing and his disdain for romance wasn’t as solid as before. Who knew that upon asking, he’d find out things were largely the same.
The only progress was likely that his ability to apply double standards had grown immensely. While despising other couples, he completely excluded Rong Xie and himself, believing they were a transcendent, irreproachable model couple that no boomerang could ever hit.
Rong Xie was quite speechless about it.
“Let’s stop watching the birds. Come, I’ll take you somewhere.” Rong Xie grabbed Shen Bingsi’s sleeve.
“Where?” Shen Bingsi followed, asking as they went.
“You’ll know when we get there,” Rong Xie said.
The two arrived at an open-air terrace. Beneath the terrace, many prayer mats were laid out, and disciples were already sitting there in groups of two or three.
“What is this? An open-air theater?” Shen Bingsi sized up the terrace. He had never liked watching plays, thinking the drawn-out singing and made-up stories were incredibly boring.
“No. This is a venue specifically for disciples. Every disciple can go up and vent their relationship troubles, and everyone acts as a judge,” Rong Xie said.
“I’m leaving then.” Shen Bingsi feared this kind of “emotional venting” program the most. His movement technique flickered like a ghost as he tried to bolt.
Rong Xie grabbed him. “You aren’t allowed to leave. Do you still want to return to the righteous path or not?”
Shen Bingsi looked troubled but reluctantly sat down. “I’m just afraid I’ll fall asleep and ruin everyone’s fun.”
“Hmph.” Rong Xie didn’t rise to his banter, patting his lower back. “Sit up straight and listen carefully.”
When the activity began, the disciples wore masks and took turns going on stage. The host sprinkled Acacia flower pollen over them, allowing them to use it to alter their voices. This way, no one knew who was behind the mask, and they could share their stories without worry.
At first, it was all trivial matters. Some venters even complained openly while secretly showing off how perfect their partners were—it was pure “humble-bragging” venting, which the disciples below listened to with great interest.
Shen Bingsi listened with little enthusiasm, looking even more disgusted by “other couples.” He only became excited during the judgment phase, because the Acacia disciples always advised breaking up rather than reconciling. Amidst a chorus of “kick him out” and “divorce, definitely divorce,” Shen Bingsi’s voice was filled with genuine emotion.
A tall disciple wearing a black robe and mask, whose gender was indistinguishable, walked onto the stage. They possessed high cultivation and immediately channeled the Acacia pollen, creating a faint red mist around them. Once they stood in the center of the terrace, the mist transformed into the eaves of a house. The sound of rain and the tinkling of chimes under the eaves drifted from the illusion.
The disciples immediately fell silent.
Shen Bingsi rested his chin on his hand with some regret. He had no interest in these illusory things; he hadn’t had enough of the “disciple judgment” phase where they scolded unfaithful men.
The black-robed disciple began telling their story. They could simulate both male and female voices, presenting the daily life of a couple with vivid effect. It was unknown which gender the black-robed disciple actually was.
The story was roughly about an ambitious female cultivator and a talented male cultivator. The woman came from an ordinary family where no one cultivated. She had been married off at a young age but didn’t want that life, so she ran away alone. After suffering much hardship, she finally joined the outer sect of a great sect as a general laborer. One day, she met the male cultivator from a prestigious background. Learning his status was extraordinary, she found a way to make him fall for her, using him to gain a chance to enter the inner sect.
The female cultivator passed the inner sect assessment with excellent results, and the male cultivator formally declared his feelings, wanting to become Dao partners with her. Just when the future seemed bright, news arrived from the man’s family: his mother, the head of their prestigious clan, had suddenly passed away. The man needed to return to take over the family business. He could no longer stay in the sect to cultivate and hoped the woman would return with him. But the woman hesitated.
She had finally made it into a great sect with a bright future, yet the man wanted her to go home with him and manage a massive family business. Her entire life would likely be consumed in the inner quarters of a manor. This wasn’t the future she wanted, but she couldn’t bear to refuse the man—especially seeing his deep grief over his mother’s death. She realized she had truly fallen for him.
The black-robed disciple stopped there. “If you were the female cultivator, what would you do?”
Their voice returned to that raspy, gender-neutral state, but the disciples below secretly thought of them as the female cultivator.
Some disciples advised the woman to kick the man to the curb and enjoy her own life; there were plenty of talented geniuses in a great sect, so why hang yourself from a tree with no future?
Others advised her to follow the man. No matter how small the clan, it was still a prestigious clan. As the mistress of the house, she’d have access to all sorts of immortal pills—why would she need to struggle with cultivation herself?
Shen Bingsi listened to this story exceptionally intently, muttering something under his breath as if he were dying to voice his opinion. Rong Xie leaned his ear closer, telling him to express it only to him and not to spout nonsense in public.
The black-robed disciple, however, spotted Shen Bingsi in the crowd. Raising a hand to point his way, they said, “That fellow disciple over there—could you offer some guidance?”
Under Rong Xie’s uneasy gaze, Shen Bingsi stood up quite generously and cupped his hands to the black-robed disciple. “Of course. This humble one believes that no matter what the woman chooses, she will regret it in the end.”
“Oh?” The black-robed disciple seemingly hadn’t expected Shen Bingsi to say that.
“Therefore, the most critical point at this juncture is: don’t have a child,” Shen Bingsi stated with absolute certainty.
The air fell silent for a moment before the disciples below suddenly burst into a roar of laughter.
Translator’s Note:
- “Appetite and lust are part of human nature”: A famous line from the Book of Rites (食色性也), often quoted to justify human desires.
- The “Venting” Session: This is essentially an ancient version of a “relationship advice” forum or a “AITA” thread. Shen Bingsi’s pragmatic (and somewhat cynical) advice is a huge hit with the “break-up-is-best” Acacia crowd.
- “Don’t have a child”: This is peak pragmatic Shen Bingsi. He sees children as a permanent tether that makes regret even more complicated.
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