CDJMM – Volume 3 – Chapter 4 Compassion of the Buddha (4)

There was a restaurant right across the street, and it also happened to be the fool’s personal “cafeteria,” since he often went to the back door to eat from the slop bucket.

Le Jing planned to eat at that restaurant.

Just as he was about to leave, Mei Yingliang suddenly said, “Senior, wait a moment.”

Le Jing: “?”

He opened his eyes, assumed a solemn expression, and formed a hand seal. “Let me calculate which foot I should step out with first.”

Le Jing: “…”

You’re definitely not blind.

“It’s the right foot!” Mei Yingliang let out a sigh of relief. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Senior. We can head out now.”

Le Jing gave him a wordless look, suddenly beginning to doubt his earlier judgment. Maybe this person wasn’t a cultivator at all… just a lunatic?

…

When Le Jing led Mei Yingliang toward the restaurant, they were immediately stopped by the waiter. The man waved them away in disgust. “Shoo, shoo, shoo! You think this is a place for the likes of you? Don’t scare off our customers—what bad luck!”

Mei Yingliang jumped in fright and instinctively checked his senior’s expression. Seeing it still calm, he sighed in relief. Good—Senior wasn’t angry.

Well, of course. An expert redescends into the mortal world to temper his heart; naturally he wouldn’t bother with an ignorant mortal.

So… time to gain favor!

Mei Yingliang puffed out his chest and scolded angrily, “What do you think you’re saying? What right do you have to chase people away? Is this how your establishment treats guests? Ever heard of ‘anyone who comes is a guest’? It’s not like we won’t pay!”

The waiter was dumbfounded. His gaze wandered hesitantly between the filthy little beggar and the immortal-like old Daoist. “You two… are together?”

Mei Yingliang raised his chin proudly. “Yeah. Got a problem with that?”

The waiter froze for a moment, then quickly recovered. His expression instantly shifted to a flattering smile. “N-no problem! Sorry, I didn’t recognize. Two esteemed guests, please come in~”

Mei Yingliang stepped aside and respectfully gestured to Le Jing. “Senior, please.”

Behind them, the waiter watched the odd pair with curiosity. Their interactions were truly strange. That old man was so advanced in age, yet in front of that little beggar he behaved like some obedient grandson—bowing so low his back looked like a cooked shrimp.

He muttered under his breath, “Two lunatics.”

…

Le Jing and Mei Yingliang followed the server to a private room on the second floor.

“Senior, what dishes would you like?”

Le Jing didn’t bother being polite. It wasn’t his money anyway, so he boldly told the server, “Bring out all your signature dishes.”

He was so hungry he could eat a whole cow!

“Right away, please wait a moment.” The server left with a wide grin.

The dishes were served quickly. Le Jing ignored all table manners, grabbing a large chicken leg the moment it arrived, tearing it off, stuffing it into his mouth, and devouring it in a few bites. Only then did he say, with feigned courtesy, “Sorry, I was too hungry and started first. You don’t mind, do you?”

Mei Yingliang had already been stunned speechless by his swift, fluid motions. He waved his hands repeatedly. “I don’t mind, not at all.”

To him, this senior’s descent into the mortal world was truly hard work. To blend in, he had to pretend to be a beggar and even eat regularly like a mortal. No wonder he was a bigshot—the hunger act was way too convincing.

“Why are you staring at me? Aren’t you eating?”

Mei Yingliang looked at the table of delicacies with hesitation and murmured, “I have been in seclusion and haven’t eaten food in years…”

Then maybe put down the chicken leg in your hand before saying that?

Le Jing watched as Mei Yingliang practically took half the chicken leg off in a single bite—looking even hungrier than he did. Then, suddenly, Mei Yingliang burst into tears.

“??? What’s wrong with you?”

“Meat…” Mei Yingliang sobbed, tears and snot everywhere. “I haven’t eaten meat in so many years. Ever since I started fasting, I’ve been living in the mountains drinking cold wind every day. Life is too hard, wuwuwu…”

“…Eat slowly. Don’t choke.”

“Senior, what’s the point of cultivating? You can’t even eat meat!”

“…Mm. Yes, that’s pretty useless.”

Bowl in hand, Mei Yingliang cursed, “Trash cultivation world, it’s doomed!”

Le Jing: …

Whatever makes you happy.

…

Since ancient times, Chinese people have always bonded over meals. While eating together, Le Jing subtly probed for information. By the time they were halfway through the meal, he had practically peeled all the layers off Mei Yingliang’s background.

It turned out that while looking for someone, Mei Yingliang hadn’t forgotten to set up a fortune-telling stall—this was thanks to a suggestion from his senior brother.

Mei Yingliang said, “Our branch enters the Dao through divination. Everything in the world can be calculated. To improve proficiency and accuracy, we have to practice divination regularly. My senior brother said that even if I descended to the mortal world, I couldn’t neglect my cultivation. So he gave me an idea—told me to set up a stall on the street to tell fortunes.”

Le Jing understood instantly. Wasn’t this basically doing math practice sets?

Mei Yingliang blinked his bright eyes and couldn’t help complaining, “Sigh, at first I had no customers at all. Later I realized the reason—I was too young! In our line of work, the older you look, the better. Mortals only want to get their fortunes read by white-bearded old men. And if that white-bearded old man is blind too? Then in their minds he’s a living immortal!”

Since it was only the two of them in the room, Mei Yingliang simply stopped pretending. He formed a hand seal, and with a flash, transformed from a white-haired elder into a young black-haired Daoist in the prime of life.

He stretched his limbs, joints cracking like firecrackers, and exhaled in relief. “Ughh, finally relaxed.”

Le Jing: … Fine. At least this proved he really was a cultivator and not just a lunatic.

Mei Yingliang smiled sheepishly. “I’m ashamed to say, my cultivation is shallow. I’ve only just built my foundation. As for divination, I’m not proficient—just a bit of shallow skill that makes me look ridiculous before you, senior.”

Of course, this shallow skill was nothing in the cultivation world, but it was enough to fool mortals.

Still, because his learning wasn’t deep and his cultivation was limited, he often made wrong predictions. Fortunately, their branch’s specialty wasn’t skill—but their glib tongues. They could always talk their way out of anything.

He muttered, unable to hold back, “No wonder the elders always say: ‘Calculating well is not as good as speaking well. Speaking well is not as good as lying well.’”

Hearing this, Le Jing’s expression became strange. So their whole sect was basically… professional fraudsters?

While the two ate and drank, Le Jing also learned a lot of cultivation-world gossip from Mei Yingliang. It truly broadened his horizons.

According to Mei Yingliang’s descriptions, cultivators were all extremely quirky—each one brimming with personality!

“Our sect’s Elder Mu is straightforward and genuine. He also likes pretending to be a beggar. I wonder if senior has met him?”

Le Jing: … What is wrong with cultivators?

But this at least explained why Mei addressed him as “senior.”

“I haven’t.”

Mei Yingliang looked regretful. “What a pity. I feel like you two would really get along. If you ever visit our Linqing Sect, senior, you can look for Elder Mu.”

Le Jing’s eyes flickered. “If I have the chance.”

When ordering, Le Jing thought he was hungry enough to eat an ox, so he ordered over a dozen dishes at once. But after just a few bites he was already full. Nearly all the remaining dishes were devoured by Mei Yingliang. At the rate he was eating, he looked like he was about to lick the plates clean.

Le Jing had no idea how his stomach could hold so much.

Could cultivation… enlarge the stomach?

Mei Yingliang didn’t dare make the senior wait too long. Reluctantly, he put down his chopsticks and bowl. His reason slowly returned, and he laughed awkwardly. “Actually, cultivation is really useful. Truly. Once we attain immortality, we’re free. We can do whatever we want.”

Le Jing had heard something similar many times before: “As long as you get into university, you’ll be free, and you can play however you like.”

He fell silent.

Based on how teachers and parents operated throughout history, he was skeptical of this so-called “freedom of immortality.”

Just like how, after entering university, freshmen would hear another saying: “Choose your major well, or every finals week will feel harder than the college entrance exam.”

But Mei Yingliang did say something that was true.

‘As long as one attains the Dao… one can do whatever one wants.’

Real freedom wasn’t recklessness—it was the right to choose one’s own life.

In Le Jing’s view, the ultimate purpose of cultivation was to break free from the shackles of heaven and earth and gain the highest degree of freedom. By then, there would be no place he couldn’t go.

Mei Yingliang knew that after his performance just now, his words lacked credibility.

He blamed it on his weak will—how easily a few pieces of meat corrupted his heart. His senior brothers were right: meat is the greatest devil!

If not for accompanying the senior, he would never have broken his dietary vows. Nope—definitely not!

Happily, he pushed the blame entirely onto the senior and recovered inner peace.

After exchanging a few more polite words, he awkwardly rubbed his nose and said, “Senior, um… about helping me find that person earlier…”

Le Jing smiled. “I do have a clue.”

Mei Yingliang was overjoyed. “What price must I pay?” He was prepared for a painful loss!

The boy put away his smile, his expression turning serious. “Answer one question first.”

Seeing this, Mei’s anxiety grew. He straightened up. “Please ask.”

“Answer honestly—what do you think of your Linqing Sect?”

Confused, Mei still answered truthfully, “It’s good. Our sect is the largest cultivation sect within ten miles. The Ascension Gate ceremony held once every ten years will be hosted by our sect this time.”

“Ascension Gate?”

“Yes. It’s only a few days away. I wonder how many outstanding disciples we’ll find among the mortals this year.”

Le Jing understood. This Ascension Gate seemed to be the method for cultivation sects to select disciples from the mortal realm.

“How can one enter the Ascension Gate?”

Mei blinked, then suddenly realized, “Senior wants to recruit disciples as well? Perfect timing. I’ll be returning in a few days—you can come with me.”

Le Jing knew he had misunderstood, but he didn’t correct him.

Just like he once told Li Shuran during the Republic era: “I have traveled through the long river of time, and all I seek are the two characters—freedom.”

“Freedom is transcendence, ease, wandering, solitude, standing alone on a tower watching the endless horizon, and also the unyielding spirit of ‘though I die nine times, I will not regret what I love.’”

What he sought in this life was simply freedom.

For freedom, he would also embark on the path of cultivation.

Now that the opportunity was right in front of him, he would seize it without hesitation. He would not miss it.