No abstraction, no cultivation

Chapter 36 Life and Death

A party eventually comes to an end.

The journey of life eventually has an end.

Bailisong will eventually die.

He toasted the jars one by one with all the guests, including Xu Shun and Zi Su, and the four disciples who carried the coffin all the way.

"Inexplicably", the four people finished their wine with tears in their eyes.

"Why are you crying? I am leaving today. I will have no more worries or sorrows. What is there to cry about?" Bailisong said drunkenly.

"No wonder you... practice so slowly!" Bailisong patted their shoulders.

Finally, Bailisong came to Lan Daoren.

Taoist Lan clapped his hands and smiled, saying: "I was not happy to be born, and I will not refuse to die; I left without any restraint, and came back freely again."

"Brother Dao, your state of mind is no different from that of an immortal!"

Bai Lisong winked and said, "What's the use of state of mind? If I don't have any cultivation, how can the world know that I am an immortal?"

"Everyone!" Bailisong came under a pine tree and said shakily:
"I am very happy about today's Yan Kaiyan. People should live happily like this! Go and cultivate immortality, if cultivation can't make me happy?"

"What's the point of this immortal cultivation?"

"I am very happy to meet you fellow Taoists! Very happy!"

“Life is not lived in vain!”

After saying that, he sat down under the pine tree with a plop, his head leaning against the tree, and he was no longer able to breathe.

he died.

This time it's real death.

He died after all.

In the last moments of his life, he drank with his friends. He died peacefully, even with a smile on his face.

"Master!" Xibian Mo and his three fellow apprentices knelt in front of Bailisong, tears streaming from their eyes.

It’s hard not to have feelings for a master like this.

This time, Bailisong did not move. He touched his head and told them, "Master is not dead! Why are you crying?"

"Nephew, don't be sad. Today is your master's banquet. Why do you have to act like a little girl?" Taoist Lan came to their side and helped them up.

"As monks, we should laugh at life and death!"

"I am in charge today and the banquet will continue! Let all Taoists send off Taoist Baili with laughter!" Taoist Lan said, holding the jar of wine.

"Whoever doesn't drink is the son of the old man Baili!"

"Whoever doesn't drink is the grandson of the old man Baili!"

"Hey, if I don't drink, wouldn't that mean I'm still a lifetime older?"

"Isn't that still my son?"

"Hey! You're asking for a fight!"

A group of drunken monks continued to drink and have fun, making ridiculous jokes and surrounding the pine tree that was leaning against the pine tree.

Bailisong seemed drunk.

Unconsciously, they, led by Lan Dao Ren, began to sing in a ghostly and howling manner.

Xu Shun suppressed his screams and discerned the words they were singing.

“A bosom friend is always a friend indeed. On the path of self-cultivation, fellow Taoists share joy.”

"Love has always been sad about separation. Baili's death is so funny."

"The living are just passers-by, the dead are returning. The world is just a temporary inn, and we all grieve for the eternal dust."

"What's the point of dying? It's like holding your body up to the same mountain."

Xu Shun can understand some songs, but not others.

But Xu Shun still heard the reluctance and sadness in it.

Non-vegetation, ruthless Practice makes perfect.

Even if one has seen through life and death, one will not be happy to be born, and will not refuse to die.

The departure of a friend can also make people feel sad, but the only one who is sad is oneself.

The friend has completed his life journey, and I have lost an interesting friend.

There is a lack of color in my life.

In the remaining journey of life, I feel even more lonely.

The sun rose three times, and Yan Kaiyan ended with the singing of Master Lan.

It was the first time that Xu Shun knew that Lan Daoren loved singing so much and his singing was so bad.

No wonder he knew so much about the sect senior Huang Ju.

After Yan Kaiyan ended, everyone else slowly left, leaving only Lan Dao Ren and the other three still on Songxi Mountain.

Taoist Lan was lying under a pine tree in front of the cave entrance, with his upper body naked, feeling the mountain breeze, watching the changing weather conditions at Songxi Mountain, and asking Xu Shun and Zi Su.

"Disciples, what did you gain from this Yan Kaiyan?"

Xu Shun was the third senior brother, so Xu Shun thought for a moment and said, "Some people are dead, but they are still alive. Some people are alive, but they are already dead."

"Speak human language!" said Lan Dao Ren unhappily.

Who did your disciple learn these bad habits from? It makes people guess what he says.

"Master Baili lived according to his own ideas and died according to his own ideas. He died calmly, which is much better than those who lingered on."

"Some people would rather live shamelessly and ugly. Such people are dead while they are still alive. But Master Baili is dead, but he lives on in our hearts." Xu Shun expressed his feelings.

His words were rather confusing, but Lan Daoren understood them and said, "Well, it's OK. He has his own opinions, but they are a bit confusing."

Zi Su knew that Xu Shun had finished answering, and continued: "Senior Baili looks upon life and death with a smile, he is truly a role model for our generation, I admire him!"

He was infected by Bailisong's heroism and has now become a die-hard fan of Bailisong.

He felt that when he had achieved success in his cultivation, he wanted to become a monk like Bailisong.

"Disciple, that is Brother Baili Dao's path, not your path. You just need to be yourself." Taoist Lan said to Zi Su earnestly.

Spiritual practice is not just about following other people’s paths.

Cultivation is one's own practice, and one must have one's own path.

"Yourself?" Zi Su was stunned.

After he became Lan Daoren's disciple, he just went with the flow, always caring about others and putting himself at the mercy of others.

"Yes, myself!" Lan Daoren said, "Why do I always have to understand other people's thoughts?"

“Can’t you make others understand your thoughts?”

So domineering and unreasonable!
This is the Taoist monk!
Xu Shun's body trembled when he heard this!
After asking these questions, Lan Dao Ren brought them to Bailisong.

The four "inexplicable" people followed Bailisong's last wishes and kept Bailisong under the pine tree, leaving him in a state of drunkenness and death.

When a cultivator with a primordial spirit dies, his body will naturally not decay.

So when Xu Shun followed Lan Dao Ren here, he always felt that Bailisong seemed to be asleep.

I was so afraid that Bailisong would suddenly jump up one day and say, "Surprisingly, I am not dead! I fooled you again!"

"Your expressions of disbelief are so funny!"

But Xu Shun knew that he was having an illusion.

Today, he and Zi Su are going to leave Songxi Mountain with Lan Dao Ren.

The fact that Taoist Lan has been lingering in Songxi Mountain these days shows that Songxi Mountain has a close relationship with him.

Now, the signal he sent was clear enough.

It's time for him to go.

He wanted to take Xu Shun and Zi Su back to the mountains to deal with a bunch of things in the mountains.

"Hey~ You are still the quiet one!" He looked at Bailisong under the pine tree, laughed at himself, and then said:

"Everyone says that gods are great, but who knows that gods also have troubles!"

"Disciples, let's go home!"

(End of this chapter)