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Chapter 99 Utterly Foolish, Truly Utterly Foolish

Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing settled down at the umbrella shop and successfully collected the first tear that represented "life".

Not long after, Miss Zhang fell ill from lovesickness. With the help of Bai Suzhen, she finally married Young Master Li, leaving behind a tear that represented her "illness".

When Bai Suzhen brought the teardrop back to the umbrella shop, Shen Yi was making tea in the backyard. He took a liking to it and borrowed it to study it. He found that the teardrop was not pure—at least not as pure as "life." It also contained other emotions, but without exception, they were all beautiful emotions.

The two demons only vaguely understood; as demons, they were ultimately too unfamiliar with both worldly affairs and emotions themselves.

"Since you understand all this so well, why are you content to remain only a human immortal?"

Unable to contain her curiosity, Xiaoqing asked.

"Of course, it's because I can't bear to part with my emotions and desires, and I can't bear to part with the beauty of the world."

Shen Yi frankly said, "To become an immortal, one must sever all emotional ties."

Unlike the gods in "Happy Seven Fairies", the Dragon King of Luoshui Town in this world shows that gods have their own responsibilities. You may be able to stop the rain for three years on a whim, just like the Dragon King, but you also have to bear the corresponding consequences - such as going to the Dragon-Slaying Platform.

"This doesn't seem like a big deal?"

Xiaoqing thought about it seriously, "We demons don't have feelings. If we did, wouldn't we become just like mortals?"

In the minds of the demon race in this world, they believe they have no emotions, not even the ability to shed tears. But in reality, they do have emotions; they are simply too naive to understand.

"I'm asking you, what were your initial motives for helping that Young Master Li and Miss Zhang?"

Shen Yi shook his head with a smile. The story of Young Master Li and Miss Zhang was the most typical example of a poor boy falling in love with a rich girl, but the poor boy was looked down upon by the rich man and rejected.

So, feeling that life was meaningless, Young Master Li planned to drown himself in the lake. He was just in time to be discovered by Xiaoqing. What happened next is not hard to guess—with the help of Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing, the wealthy man finally accepted Young Master Li, and the lovers were finally united.

From beginning to end, neither Xiaoqing nor Bai Suzhen ever thought that they were doing this for the sake of tears, and they didn't even know that it would cause them to shed tears.

"Of course, it's because that guy stayed up all night and went to the riverbank intending to jump into the lake. It annoyed me!"

The haughty Xiaoqing put on an indifferent look, but her tone revealed a strange sense of guilt.

"No, it's because you are kind-hearted."

Despite Xiaoqing's arrogant and sharp-tongued nature, she is genuinely kind. Shen Yi held up one finger. "Kindness is compassion. Does compassion count as affection?"

Xiaoqing was stunned. It seemed that this was indeed the case.

"Love is not just romantic love. You and Miss Bai have been inseparable for so many years, always caring for each other—what else could this be but love?"

"You mean...we've always had feelings for each other?"

Bai Suzhen seemed to be deep in thought, but then felt something was amiss. "Young Master Shen, since love is so beautiful, why would a deity sever the seven emotions and six desires?"

Shen Yi picked up his teacup and took a sip. He felt that it was a bit unreasonable for them to talk about the order of heaven and earth with their current level of understanding. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Because of fairness."

"fair?"

Bai Suzhen was puzzled.

"Think about it, what do those immortals, who hold high positions and bear responsibilities, fear most?"

Shen Yi put down his teacup. "It's out of personal motives!"

"For example, if Xiaoqing violated the heavenly laws and should have been executed, but you showed leniency online because she's your sister, protecting her from divine punishment, you were acting out of personal favoritism. But what about the people she caused to die? Who will settle the score with those wronged souls?"

"I would never hurt anyone!"

Xiaoqing complained, "Why are you using me as an example?"

Bai Suzhen remained silent. She knew her own family best; if Xiaoqing had truly made a mistake, she would at most punish her herself.

Can I really become a god?

"It's not that immortals can't have emotions, but that they can't let emotions influence their judgment. So the safest way is to sever them completely. It's not that emotions are bad, it's that emotions are too heavy—too heavy for even immortals to bear."

Shen Yi put down his teacup. The courtyard remained quiet for a long time, with only the rustling of the night wind through the willow branches.

"Then...then why not just become an immortal? Like you, you don't need to sever your emotions."

Xiaoqing looked at Bai Suzhen with a worried expression, but Bai Suzhen's expression remained complicated, and she did not speak.

Shen Yi smiled and said, "That's exactly what I was thinking."

Unless he one day possesses the power to break the rules, even if he knows that the so-called severance of affection is not thorough, he will not act rashly—that would be tantamount to making an enemy of the entire Heavenly Court.

"You're quite the strategist."

Xiaoqing was somewhat envious of Shen Yi's carefree attitude; he could become an immortal and live a carefree life. She wanted to be like that too.

"That's natural."

Shen Yi stretched and said, "Tomorrow I'll take you sightseeing so you can see for yourself what's so great about this world."

Xiaoqing's eyes lit up: "Really?"

"real."

Looking at Xiaoqing's excited expression, Bai Suzhen felt a pang of inexplicable bitterness welling up inside her. Xiaoqing, oblivious to everything else, grabbed her sleeve and asked, "Sister, are you going?"

"I... I think I'll pass. I want to think about it slowly."

Bai Suzhen forced a smile; the complete severing of ties had a tremendous impact on her.

The next morning, Shen Yi took Xiao Qing out and the two walked west along West Lake. It was the first time Xiao Qing had ever strolled around so leisurely. She would pick up a candied hawthorn and take a skewer of barbecue—of course, Shen Yi paid for everything.

"Shen Yi, look, that tree looks really strange!"

Unbeknownst to them, the two arrived at the foot of a mountain. Xiaoqing pointed to the mountainside and kept shouting. Shen Yi looked in the direction she pointed and sure enough, there was a temple with gray tiles and yellow walls. The plaque above the mountain gate had three big characters written on it: Jinshan Temple.

"That's called the Welcoming Pine, you're so ignorant."

Shen Yi raised an eyebrow. Fahai seems to be living here now, doesn't he?

"You're the one who's ignorant! Hey, there's a temple over there, shall we go take a look?"

Although Xiaoqing was indeed ignorant, she stubbornly refused to admit it, being the proud girl she always was.

Go in?

Fine, let's go see if Fahai has gone blind.

The two strolled along, stopping frequently to admire the scenery of Jinshan Temple. At that time, Jinshan Temple was not yet under the management of Fahai; the abbot was an old monk, and the temple's incense offerings were far less prosperous than they would be in the future.

Upon reaching the main hall, they saw an old monk with his back to them, slowly sweeping fallen leaves with a broom in his hand. The old monk was hunched over, his robes were faded and patched, his beard and hair were gray, and his figure was desolate.

"Fahai?"

Xiaoqing blurted out, "What happened to you?!"

If we were to name the person Xiaoqing hated the most, Fahai would undoubtedly be number one. It was this bald monk who stole her sister's chance to become an immortal.

The old monk paused, then slowly turned around. It was indeed Fahai, but his face looked at least forty years older, with sunken eyes, high cheekbones, and eyebrows as white as snow.

"evildoer!"

Fahai gripped the broom tightly, his voice hoarse like sandpaper scraping against stone, "You...you dare to come again!"

Xiaoqing stepped forward angrily: "Who are you calling a monster? You stole my sister's elixir, and you still have the nerve to talk about us!"

"That elixir...it's poison!"

Fahai's voice suddenly rose, and he coughed violently a few times before catching his breath. Angry blazed in his cloudy eyes, "That vixen Bai Suzhen used a poison pill to harm me! She didn't dare to face me head-on, so she resorted to such despicable means..."

Utterly foolish, truly utterly foolish.

Shen Yi couldn't help but shake his head.

In fact, this version of Fahai also had a kind heart. In order to save his disciple for ten days, he sold his cassock and golden alms bowl.

The Buddha then bestowed upon him a new golden alms bowl and 100,000 scrolls of scriptures, unsealed Leifeng Pagoda, and even stated that he received this generous gift only because Fahai was eager to save his disciple and had learned to let go of his obsession with subduing demons.

If it were a normal person who accidentally injured someone and lost their sight, but was then blessed for saving that person, they would more likely have a change of heart and start doing good deeds from then on.

But Fahai did the opposite. Despite the Buddha's blessing, he became even more convinced that his persistence was not wrong. He never let go and instead wanted to subdue demons and monsters even more.