OBS Chapter 2 Singing and Asking the Way
Chapter 2 Singing and Asking the Way
The surrounding light and shadows changed rapidly, with mist and clouds floating on the peaks, the sun and moon shining, a thousand ancient pines supporting the blue sky, and ten thousand green bamboos locking in the misty greenery.
Despite the drastic change in environment, Lu Ming was not afraid; on the contrary, he was unusually excited.
"Where is this? Is this Daoqi?" Lu Ming muttered to himself.
A lazy voice suddenly came from below: "What are you doing here?"
Lu Ming looked down and saw a wine pot turn over in the soil and begin to speak human language. Lu Ming was first startled, then overjoyed. Since it was a spiritual object, it must have a connection to the immortals.
"I want to go to the Taoist temple to cultivate through the Dao Qi."
"The Dao Awakens? Cultivation? Hahaha, no, no. I only have a pot of old wine. Do you want some or not?" the wine pot said.
"What use do I have for this wine?" Lu Ming asked.
The wine jug laughed loudly, and spontaneously composed a wild song:
"What's the use of seeking the Way? The Way is right under your feet. What's the use of riding the wind? The heart is at the ends of the earth. What's the use of longing? It's like looking at flowers through the fog. What's the use of meditation? It's like wasting your youth."
The song grew louder and faster, and suddenly the wine jug was flicked, transforming into a giant bird that flapped its wings loudly: "What's the use of cultivation? It doesn't reveal the true self. What's the use of immortality? It doesn't reveal true freedom. I was born in the wild, not yearning for the path of immortality. I perish in the dust, but my joy remains unchanged."
Heaven and earth resonated in response, and grass, trees, rocks, birds, and beasts all danced in unison. "Where do we come from? Where do we go? Why not meet me and share a smile?"
"Worn-out straw sandals, vast sky and boundless clouds, a smile makes all worldly affairs seem insignificant. Riding the wind, never to return, free and unrestrained between heaven and earth! — Hey! Hey! Hey! Unfettered!"
"Even the King of Heaven can't interfere!" Lu Ming exclaimed excitedly, gesturing wildly and shouting.
"Boy, what did you understand that makes you so happy?" The giant bird swayed and transformed into a gigantic maw in the sky, its voice shaking all directions.
"I didn't understand anything, but I felt happy and wanted to sing out loud."
"Hahaha!" The giant mouth transformed again, becoming an old Taoist priest in white robes, with white hair and a youthful face, his eyes shining with divine light. "Thousands have sought me, but countless others have been frightened away by the strange sights and scared away by the illusions. However, there are not many who can laugh with me."
Lu Ming was overjoyed and immediately bowed deeply, saying, "Immortal above, please accept my bow. I humbly request permission to impart your teachings!"
"Your name is Lu Ming?" The old Taoist priest nodded. "What kind of Tao do you want to learn?"
"I only seek the Dao, but I... do not yet know what the Dao is."
"There are countless paths to enlightenment. Alchemy, qi refinement, physical strengthening, divination, talismans and incantations—which one would you like to learn?"
Lu Ming simply shook his head.
"You don't want to learn anything, so what do you want to learn?" the old Taoist priest feigned annoyance.
Lu Ming looked up, his gaze clear and intense: "What I want to learn is not those Daos mentioned above. I wonder if an immortal can teach me?"
"Hmph! Is there anything in the world that I cannot teach? Tell me!"
Lu Ming gazed at the sky, speaking each word with soaring ambition: "I want the sky to clear a path for me when I ascend, and the sea to part for me when I descend. The universe is vast, there is nowhere I cannot go. Nothing can bind me, no one can stop me, and there is nothing I cannot accomplish..."
"Shut up!" The old Taoist's expression changed. "Leave at once! I cannot teach this art, nor dare I!"
He turned and walked away. Lu Ming hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed the hem of his clothes.
The old Taoist priest's figure flickered, transforming into a ruler that struck Lu Ming's hand before flying into the deep mountains.
Lu Ming chased after it relentlessly, only to see the ruler fly into a high-walled Taoist temple, where the gate slammed shut.
He stood at the door, with only one thought in his mind: I will not leave until the immortal comes out.
Lu Ming remained kneeling there for a long time.
Cranes bring in the night sky, and fireflies rise into the heavens, transforming into a myriad of stars.
One day, two days, three days. A leaf fell on his head, but he didn't move. A small insect crawled across the back of his hand, but he didn't shake it.
"Since I am seeking the Way, I cannot stop at the gate."
A soft sigh suddenly came from behind: "The door? If your heart is not there, even if you are standing in front of the door, you can't knock on it no matter how far you travel."
Lu Ming turned around and saw a figure in green robes slowly walking down from the clouds. The figure was graceful and the steps were light, as if it were in harmony with heaven and earth.
"How could I hear you even when you weren't close?"
"Where the intention is, the sound will follow." The young man in blue smiled slightly.
Lu Ming suddenly realized: "But... telepathy?"
A look of surprise flashed in the young man's eyes: "Don't tell me you understand. Did someone teach you?"
"No one taught me. I once spoke to the old apricot tree late at night, and it said it heard me with its heart."
"Do trees have hearts?"
"I don't know. But there are birds that live in trees, and they make their bodies their homes and their spirits their hearts."
The young man in blue burst into laughter: "Wonderful! Wonderful!"
"Are you also an immortal? I beg for guidance from an immortal." Lu Ming asked respectfully.
The young man in green smiled slightly and waved his hand lightly. In an instant, spiritual energy gathered in the sky and transformed into four powerful characters: "Wind Rises on Green Grass".
The brushstrokes are sharp as a sword, carrying a sharp edge, yet also like the wind brushing against duckweed, lively and natural, restrained within their unrestrained nature.
Lu Ming looked up and gazed at the four words, his mind instantly drawn to them.
He seemed to see a sudden gust of wind, the duckweed swaying, yet its roots remained unmoved and its spirit undiminished. He also seemed to see a sharp sword born in the wind, cleaving through the mist and pointing straight to his true self.
Unconsciously, he became so engrossed in it that he forgot about time and his surroundings, and even his kneeling posture remained unchanged, only his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
A faint aura quietly emerged from his body, lingering around his fingertips; though immature, it carried a sharp edge.
"What is this?" Lu Ming's heart stirred slightly, as if he had realized something but couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Upon seeing this, the young man in blue laughed loudly, "Truly remarkable! To comprehend a trace of my sword intent before even entering the path of cultivation, truly remarkable!"
Lu Ming came to his senses and bowed again: "Thank you for your guidance, Immortal. May I ask your name?"
"Qingping," the young man in blue said with a smile, "why are you kneeling here instead of pushing open the door and coming in?"
"I want to seek the Dao with sincerity and be enlightened by it. The village chief said that if the heart is not sincere, the Dao will not appear; if the will is not firm, the opportunity will not come," Lu Ming replied.
The young man in blue lightly twirled his fingers and chanted a Taoist verse:
"The Tao is the mind, and the mind is the Tao; the mind is as vast as the Great Void. If one understands non-action and returns to nature, one can then prove the true essence of the Mysterious Gate."
A speck of dust can contain the vastness of the universe; a single mind can encompass the breadth of heaven and earth. A thousand transformations never stray from the fundamental principle; the cycle of eternity is but a fleeting moment. This is the true Dao of Limitlessness.
Before he finished speaking, a light rain began to fall, gathering into a silver river with his gesture, swirling into a pillar in his palm. In an instant, the rain stopped, and flowers bloomed all over the earth, while stars shimmered and flowed.
"I want to learn this!" Lu Ming blurted out.
Qingping laughed and said, "The person inside is even more capable than me. Why don't you ask him for help?"
"I angered him. He even hit me before he came in," Lu Ming said.
"Hahaha. You don't seek the Dao yourself, yet you expect the Dao to come to you?" Qingping asked.
Lu Ming's mind suddenly went blank, and the village chief's words, "You are going to seek the Way, not to have the Way come to you," resurfaced in his mind.
"Thank you for your guidance, Immortal!" Lu Ming bowed again, then got up and pushed open the door to enter.
After Lu Ming pushed open the door and went inside, he saw that the inside was completely white and empty, without even a speck of dust.
He ran and shouted, but only heard his own echo.
"There is no dust or color here; even if you run your legs off, you won't find a single thing."
"Is it an immortal? Where is the immortal?" Lu Ming asked.
"Nowhere, yet everywhere." This voice carried a wondrous Daoist rhythm, its origin unknown.
Upon hearing this reply, Lu Ming felt a moment of disorientation, as if the words sounded familiar, yet he couldn't quite place them.
Lu Ming fell into deep thought, as if he had lost something important, a feeling of loss similar to that after waking from a dream.
"Where do you come from? And why were you born?... You said you wanted to..." the strange voice continued to ask.
This question struck Lu Ming's soul like a thunderclap. The shattered immortal realm in his dream, the fallen figure, the boundless void... countless fragments surged wildly, piercing his soul.
"I don't know! I don't know!" Lu Ming suddenly screamed, clutching his head, his consciousness plunging into the abyss. From within that abyss, however, a loud shout rang out, not belonging to this moment, but belonging to himself:
"I will make sure there is nothing in heaven and earth that I cannot defeat!"
The old Taoist priest appeared at the door, both surprised and delighted: "You...you're awake?"
But Lu Ming continued to struggle in agony, as if that furious shout was just a remnant of a past life.
The old Taoist sighed softly, "The time is not yet ripe." He flicked his finger, and a beam of clear light entered Lu Ming's body.
Lu Ming's excruciating pain vanished instantly, and his memory froze at the moment he pushed the door open and entered.
Lu Ming got up in a daze, but quickly regained his composure.
The old Taoist priest immediately regained his serious expression: "How did you get in?"
"I pushed the door open and came in myself."
The old Taoist priest was slightly surprised: "Did someone teach you to do it this way?"
"Of course, someone enlightened me." A loud laugh came from behind Lu Ming: "Xuanji, after hundreds of years, you still like to pretend to be profound."
The young man in blue walked in slowly. Xuanji was startled: "Qingping?"
The newcomer was none other than the Sword Immortal Qingping.
"You actually came here."
"If I hadn't come, wouldn't I have just watched you scare away a promising talent?" Qingping laughed. "You clearly want to teach him, so why are you afraid to accept him?"
Xuanji smiled bitterly: "Both you and I can see his past and future path clearly. It is too dangerous, involving the rise and fall of eras. I cannot bear this karma."
"Do you think you can predict the future?" Qingping shook her head. "Life is like a game of chess; things change as soon as a move is made. There's never anything certain."
Xuanji sighed helplessly, "You're always so blunt."
"I've been living in seclusion in the mountains for too long, and it's rare to meet someone so interesting. Can't I say a few more words?" Qingping replied.
"Immortal, please accept me as your disciple!" Although Lu Ming did not understand what they were saying, he bowed down as soon as he saw the immortal reappear.
Xuanji said, "I cannot bear the title of 'master.' I can pass on my Taoist teachings to you, but you must not call me 'master,' lest you be heartbroken in the future."
Qingping laughed and said, "Clearly you're afraid of causing trouble, yet you put it so elegantly."
Xuanji glared at him and said no more.
Lu Ming looked at the two of them, feeling utterly bewildered.
Qingping's expression turned serious: "I should go down the mountain. The Great Evolution has stirred up an overwhelming karmic force; I need to see it for myself and find out what's going on."
"You're still so stubborn," Xuanji sighed. "The sect leader's plans are far-reaching; we only need to follow them."
"If you don't ask clearly, your heart will not be at peace."
Xuanji said in a low voice, "If you insist on questioning, it may lead to great disaster. The sect leader is never wrong."
Qingping laughed loudly, her spirits soaring: "Seeking the Dao, seeking the Dao! If not revealed, what Dao are you seeking?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Sword Immortal Qingping turned and left. The wind rose and the clouds surged, and heaven and earth followed suit, yet not a single grain of dust could touch his clothes.
As Lu Ming gazed at that figure, his heart stirred: "If one day I could be as carefree as him, my life would not have been in vain."
Xuanji gazed into the distance and sighed softly, "You and he were originally kindred spirits. It's just that the time wasn't right yet; you will meet again someday."
He turned to look at Lu Ming, his gaze complex, as if traversing countless ages, and sighed softly, "Since we cannot change the past, let's strive to change the future."