Chapter 20: An Idealist Scholar
Bai Wuchen and the rest of them felt as if they had discovered a big secret. There was a loud buzz in their ears and they felt an unusual excitement they had never felt before.
‘This must be the story of an Immortal. Who knows, perhaps there might even be the secret of longevity in the story!’
They listened attentively, not daring to even make a sound.
Li Nianfan continued telling the story. Soon after, he reached the part where the stone monkey went to the Bodhi Cave.
Anyone who passed by stopped what they were doing instantly and joined the growing crowd of listeners surrounding Li Nianfan. This Immortal Realm was a realm where Immortals and ordinaries co-existed. It was not a surprise that the ordinary people enjoyed listening to stories of the Immortals, especially when Li Nianfan’s story was nothing close to ordinary. Even ordinary folk could tell that the realm Li Nianfan was talking about was way more advanced than the realm they were in.
Meanwhile, a scholar dressed in shabby blue clothes walked through the entrance of the Fallen Immortal Town. His eyes were dull, as if he had lost his purpose in life or he was thinking of some problem. He was muttering to himself. The massive crowd by the entrance did not attract his attention, as well. It seemed as though he was lost in his own world, detached from the outside world.
Suddenly, a voice penetrated his ears.
“Teacher Zhu said… There are three hundred and sixty branches in Taoism and each branch would lead to success. Which branch would you like to learn?
“Wukong then said… I’ll learn whatever teacher recommends to me.
“Teacher Zhu then suggested… I’ll teach you the Shu branch. What do you think?
“Wukong asked curiously… What will I learn from this?
“To which, Teacher Zhu replied… His teaching includes stories of people seeking advice from the Immortals, and teaches one how to obtain good luck and great fortune.
“Wukong then asked… Will I be able to pursue longevity through this branch?
“Teacher Zhu then huffed… No way! No way!
“Wukong then said… No way? No way I’m learning this, then…”
The absent-minded scholar had a little sparkle in his eyes upon hearing Li Nianfan’s story-telling. He froze in his steps and joined the listening crowd.
Following that, Teacher Bodhi Zhu suggested a few more branches to Wukong, but when he learned that they could not help in his pursuit of longevity, he refused them all.
Li Nianfan could sense his audience breathing rapidly. Some people even had red eyes by then, especially Bai Wuchen and the other three!
They were crying out in their minds, ‘The monkey was offered to learn the Supreme Avenue! Yet, this stupid monkey rejected them all! Stupid monkey, foolish monkey! Learning simply one of them would make him as good as an Immortal. No, to be exact, he’d be more powerful than the Immortals!’
Meanwhile, they were overwhelmed with curiosity. Who was this Teacher Zhu? How was he able to teach so many branches of Tao? This was terrifying!
What was more terrifying was that Li Nianfan was able to recite the entire thing out loud. How powerful was he?
Bai Wuchen dared not to think further, he was afraid that his fragile mind could not take it anymore.
When Teacher Bodhi Zhu left the monkey, the audience inhaled sharply, almost as if they had just lost the opportunity to learn the Supreme Avenue. However, as the story went on and Wukong went to meet the teacher at midnight, everyone started breathing again.
Li Nianfan fully captivated the attention and appetites of his audience. He smiled. “Alright, that’s it for today. We will continue the story another day.”
“Please, don’t! Mr. Li, please, tell us more!”
“Argh! It’s been an hour! My wife’s going to yell at me!”
“Mr. Li, will you be here again tomorrow? I’ll come!”
Everyone looked at him with anticipation, even Nanan appeared interested.
Li Nianfan ruffled her hair and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll be here tomorrow at the same time.”
“Mr. Li, thank you! Thank you!” Auntie Zhang saw the change in Nanan’s eyes and she was very grateful. She kept bowing to Li Nianfan.
“Auntie Zhang, don’t be. Thank me when Nanan’s fully recovered,” Li Nianfan said.
Bai Wuchen and the other three walked toward Li Nianfan. They appeared like four nervous students looking at their teacher. Their hearts were filled with questions and wonder. Did Wukong manage to pursue longevity? What was longevity like?
As cultivators, immortality was their ultimate goal. However, they did not dare to hurry Li Nianfan. Being able to listen to him teach was already the greatest blessing any of them could ever get. Who would have thought that Li Nianfan would say all these just to save an ordinary little girl? He was indeed a bigshot!
Bai Wuchen looked at Li Nianfan with anticipation. Cautiously, he asked, “Mr. Li, can we come here tomorrow to hear the rest of the story?” He was afraid to ask because it was likely that Li Nianfan was telling the story of a certain bigshot or Immortal from another realm! This story was probably beyond the scope for a small cultivator like himself to listen to.
“It’s just a story, why not?” Li Nianfan smiled as he thought to himself, ‘There are so many rules in this Immortal Realm. They even needed to ask for permission to listen to a story? They’re so friendly, though. So friendly!”
The four of them were overwhelmed with joy. They were grateful that they had Li Nianfan’s approval!
Bai Wuchen bowed at Li Nianfan and said, “Mr. Li, sorry for bothering you today. Goodbye for now.”
Lin Qingyun also said in a low voice, “Mr. Li, goodbye for now. I’ll come to listen to your teaching tomorrow.”
“Goodbye.” Li Nianfan waved at them casually. He looked at the time and marched toward the entrance.
However, he was stopped by a scholar. This scholar seemed to be a bookworm. The term ‘weak scholar’ seemed like a term tailor-made just for him. He introduced himself politely, “Greetings to you, sir. My name is Meng Junliang.”
“Greetings to you, Mr. Meng. My name’s Li Nianfan.” Li Nianfan looked at him dubiously. “May I help you?”
Meng Junliang looked at Li Nianfan with a sparkle in his eyes. “I’d like to ask, sir, if longevity actually exists?”
Li Nianfan looked at the scholar in front of him and his eyebrow twitched slightly. He never would have expected this scholar to ask him that. This scholar seemed like a bookworm, and he appeared to be different from all the other cultivators Li Nianfan had encountered. He guessed that this scholar was an ordinary man.
‘Of course, it makes sense for ordinary men to want to pursue longevity, but this isn’t reliable. Hah! To be honest, I’d love to pursue it myself if I could,’ Li Nianfan thought to himself as he tried to get rid of this scholar’s obsession with longevity.
“There are reincarnations, which makes longevity impossible,” Li Nianfan said.
“But I’ve read in books that Immortals can pursue longevity.” He continued obsessively, “Why can the Immortals pursue it, but not ordinary men? I’ve read through all the books, looking for the secret to longevity. I had no luck finding it until I heard your story. You must know the way. Please, teach it to me!”
This scholar was likely to have gone insane from reading, living in his own idealistic world.
Li Nianfan shook his head and said, “Immortals can maintain their bodies through cultivation, something ordinary men are not able to do. Do you understand ordinary beings?”
The scholar was shocked. He was an ordinary man himself, but he knew nothing about being ordinary. He had always been caught up in the world of books, living in his world of written words and knowledge which was all based on theory and mostly imagination.
He knew a lot of things, but at the same time, he knew nothing!
In the words of Li Nianfan’s past realm, this scholar was an idealist. ‘As long as he did not want to die, he would not die’.