Reading poems from Teyvat

Chapter 23: When Did Morality Die (Part 2)

But until they finished dinner, Gan Yu still hadn't figured out Shen Zhigui's intention. After that, she had to go to Yuehai Pavilion to work overtime, so she could only look at the boy worriedly before leaving. When saying goodbye, she couldn't help but say:

"I still remember you told me that you didn't like the endless cycle in a society ruled by humans, so you wanted the Emperor or me to be the supervisor. At that time, you still cared about the fate of mankind, right? But now you said there were no chains, and felt that you had crossed the boundaries of humanity, and even no longer considered yourself a human. At that time, you even told me, a hybrid of human and Qilin, what I should do if I wanted to find a sense of belonging in Liyue Harbor. But now you have thrown away the chains of being a human, and chose to ignore the morals, norms, and customs that have always existed and built by other humans. You are not going to convince others first, but just go on your own. In this situation, how can you find your place?"

"But I am not actually indifferent to the fate of mankind now," Shen Zhigui just looked straight at the glass-like eyes of the half-immortal girl who was looking at him with concern, and said seriously, "Besides, at that time, I told you that you had to be honest about your situation, so people who should agree with you will agree with you sooner or later. So am I not doing the same thing now? Am I not being honest now?

"Or, will you agree with me?"

Shen Zhigui extended his hand to her.

Ganyu was silent for a moment, then turned to look at Shen He. In the end, she still did not extend her hand, but just whispered: "The person you should ask this question to is Miss Keqing."

Then she turned and walked towards Yuehaiting.

Although she was always very sharp-eyed and sharp-eared, she could still hear the boy mumbling to himself from behind her at this moment:

"What happened after you asked her?"

Yeah, what happened after asking her?

Ganyu couldn't help but repeat the question in her mind.

But there is still no answer.

……

After paying the bill, since Shen He and Shen Zhigui both lived in Keqing's house, the two of them walked back together.

Although from Shen Zhigui's perspective, it actually feels a bit weird no matter how you look at it. Even though Keqing also said that Shen He is her friend, so Shen He can stay in her house during the activities in Liyue Harbor, but Shen He doesn't look like he is familiar with anyone no matter how you look at it, let alone the word "friend".

Of course, sometimes Keqing would ask Shen He to escort her on business trips or something.

On the contrary, Shen Zhigui had never been ordered around during the time he lived in her house.

Although it is also possible that Shen Zhigui is just a traveler from a foreign land, while Shen He is a native disciple of the immortal.

At this time, the lights were just coming on. Liyue Harbor was said to be one of the most prosperous ports in the entire Teyvat continent. It was no wonder that it was bustling and bustling. However, Shen He was a quiet person, and Shen Zhigui was casual and relaxed, so they naturally let Shen He walk to the dimly lit area and just followed her quietly. However, when they turned a street and saw the brilliant lights like the stars below, Shen He suddenly spoke and said:

"What exactly did you and Ganyu mean by that?"

"mean?"

"It was never meant to be a chain."

"I thought you understood it a long time ago."

Shen Zhigui didn't expect Shen He to ask such a question.

"Why... do you say that?"

Because hasn't her previous style always been to do her own thing and not care at all about what others think?

Of course, she has what is called a "pure heart".

This is completely different from Shen Zhigui's mentality of "being in a cage for a long time and finally returning to nature".

Although Shen Zhigui couldn't say which of these two mentalities was higher or lower.

“I still don’t quite understand.”

Shen He obviously hadn't thought about such a profound question.

Shen Zhigui didn't want to torture her, so he said briefly: "Normal humans are social animals. Because they are born, grow old, get sick and die, and they don't know what kind of situation they will encounter in the future. Or because they have seen too many miserable situations of others, out of empathy for creatures similar to themselves, human society has derived various orders of interaction, such as laws, etiquette, and morality. Of course, these are not the same in every era. As a normal human being, if you want to live normally in society and be treated normally by others, you must abide by these conventional orders. So most of the time, under the constraints of these 'chains', they have to wear a mask to face others."

Shen He stopped and thought about it carefully, then said, "So you won't wear that mask anymore?"

Shen Zhigui thought about it and shook his head:

“It probably hasn’t reached that level.”

"why?"

“For example, with my current martial arts skills, I can actually withstand the cold and heat. Even if I go naked to the snowy mountains and get buried for seven or eight days, I won’t be in any trouble. But I still have to wear some clothes,” he just said. “Of course, if one day I really don’t care at all, or live in a world without people, maybe I will do that.”

"So, the premise is that there are people you care about."

"That's it."

Shen Zhigui nodded.

Then Shen He stood there and suddenly murmured:

"May you see my perfect appearance

"May the one you love be my true self

"I hope you can pretend not to see that I am wavering between the two"

Shen Zhigui didn't expect that she could still remember the poem.

Although this poem is indeed quite appropriate for the situation.

He and Shen He stopped there, looking at the brilliant lights below. After a long silence, the tall woman beside him suddenly turned around and asked, "So, Junior Brother Shen, what do you think of me? Am I good enough to make me one of the people you care about?"

Shen Zhigui was about to speak, but suddenly realized how humble the question was, and how arrogant his previous statement was. Or was it a mistake to bring this woman down the mountain and wantonly change her life? He was obviously going to take the same path she had been taking before, but now she had deviated from her original life because of his appearance, and even asked him such a question.

Chapter 24: When Did Morality Die (Part 2)

Shen Zhigui finally thought of the famous Taoist story that had been used to compare Shen He a long time ago:

"The emperor of the South Sea is Shu, the emperor of the North Sea is Hu, and the emperor of the Central Sea is Hun Dun. Shu and Hu met each other in the land of Hun Dun, and Hun Dun treated them very well. Shu and Hu planned to repay Hun Dun's kindness, saying: 'Everyone has seven orifices for seeing, hearing, eating and breathing, but this person has none. Let's try to drill them.' They drilled one orifice a day, and after seven days, Hun Dun died."

Shuhu went against Hun Dun's nature and wanted to open his seven orifices so that he could see what they could see, hear what they could hear, and even taste the food and smell the fragrance of the breath. In Shuhu's view, these sight, hearing, breathing and eating were the enjoyments that only humans could have, but Hun Dun died after his seven orifices were opened.

There are many messy interpretations of this story. Even Shen Zhigui's previous bizarre theory that people spend their lives constantly killing their past selves can barely stand up. But now, when it comes to Shen He, there is a more realistic problem:

How does she view the current situation?

I guess you're not very happy, right?

Although when he was in Mondstadt, he wanted her to develop her own emotions and inclinations so that she could decide her own path, rather than suppressing her emotions and practicing in the mountains all the time, but after she had emotions, she would not necessarily become happy.

After all, isn’t that the old saying true?

"Eight out of ten things in life are not what you want."

Not to mention that he is still like this even though he is deeply involved with her.

Thinking of this, Shen Zhigui couldn't help but laugh at himself. Finally, he looked at Shen He and said seriously: "If you want to ask me if you are 'one' of the people I care about, then my answer is yes, but..."

When Shen Zhigui wanted to say something to ask Shen He to care about more people instead of just him and Master Liuyunjiefeng, Shen He looked at the boy seriously:

"This is enough."

Shen Zhigui shook his head:

“I don’t think it’s enough.”

Otherwise, she would just become someone who would do anything to please him or for him.

Although this consequence was entirely his own fault.

After all, there is a saying that goes "If you start this way, you must end this way." If he accepts this twisted relationship at this time, maybe one day Shen He will finally not be able to stand him and finally decide to angrily pick up the spear to hit his heart. He may not be able to dodge it at that time. After all, Shen He is not a young lady on the level of Keqing in a sense. Although the two of them have not yet fought each other officially with all their strength, no matter how you look at it, Shen He is not a person who can be taken lightly.

"Come to think of it, why haven't I ever fought with her to try to take advantage of her?"

Although he has no interest in the course "Shining on My Heart Full of Ice and Snow" that he got from her at the beginning.

From this perspective, Shen Zhigui felt that he didn't seem to be compatible with these ice-related characters or martial arts.

"If Junior Brother Shen feels that my staying by your side will be a hindrance, I will return to the True Lord's cave to continue my cultivation."

Shen He lowered his head slightly and said lightly.

Shen Zhigui was really helpless with her attitude. After thinking for a while, he said, "But when Master Liuyunjiefeng asked you to come down the mountain, his expectation for you was not to have you stay by my side forever, right?"

Although he actually didn't quite understand Master Liuyunjiefeng's intention.

The crane said that he wanted to help Shen He adapt to life down the mountain, but after all, could Shen He's personality really fit in with the society down the mountain? If he didn't meet the right person, he might just keep knocking other people's heads to the ground, thus escalating the situation.

Although according to her personality, it was probably others who were looking for trouble first, and she was just doing things according to her own habits of dealing with people in the mountains.

"True Lord..."

Shen He thought of the crane that had been teaching her since she had a clear self-awareness, and suddenly she became a little confused:

What on earth was Zhenjun thinking?

Why did she want to let herself go down the mountain?

But she was not someone who could guess other people's thoughts, so she quickly turned to look at the young man and asked, "Then why do you think the True Lord asked me to go down the mountain with you?"

"Contribute to Liyue society?"

Shen Zhigui said.

Although no matter how you look at it, this answer is outrageous.

But maybe Master Liuyunjiefeng really thinks so.

Even if the crane herself went down the mountain, without Grandma Ping's company, with her violent temper she would probably become the source of disaster that endangers the social stability of Liyue.

From this perspective, her contribution to Liyue society is probably the cultivation of Ganyu, a half-human, half-immortal hybrid unicorn.

But it is probably just adoption, not teaching.

In fact, Shen Zhigui also found it hard to imagine that Ganyu was the way she had been teaching him for so long.

"Liyue society..."

Shen He fell silent immediately. She recalled what she had seen and heard since she came down the mountain, but she still hadn't built up a corresponding complete understanding. Even though she had been following the boy's advice to expand her interpersonal relationships, she had never been able to find her fulcrum in human society, let alone a foothold. Even her intention of going with the boy to clean up the remains of the demons and the disasters they caused was not to gain people's gratitude, but because Shen Zhigui wanted to do so and Zhenjun was willing to let her do so. So from beginning to end, it would be better to say that she was just adapting to getting along with Shen Zhigui, and then found that she suddenly didn't want to leave him.

And given this young man’s personality, he probably won’t stay in Liyue for long, right?

And what would Zhenjun think if I were to stay by his side?

Is she willing to stand by her decision?

And by staying with this person, can I find the so-called true happiness?

Shen He looked at the boy's face, which seemed a little blurry in the night, with some confusion.

"Since you're not sure, why not ask?"

Shen Zhigui said.

Although what he said in a sense means that after Shen He and Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhenjun make a decision, they will be responsible for her future life.

So at this time he couldn't help but think of something, so he added, "Oh, right, I suddenly remembered that there is a family of exorcists in Liyue Harbor. One of them has a young man who has recently become famous. It is said that he has a pure yang body. It seems that he has some blood relationship with you. If you don't mind, you might as well go and look for him."

Although Shen Zhigui thought this relationship was actually quite unnecessary.

Because since her biological father did that to her, is the blood relationship really that important?

Chapter 25: A Cup of Wine in the Spring Breeze (Part 1)

That day, when Xingqiu went to Wanmin Hall for dinner as usual with a book in his hand, he saw a young couple talking to Xiangling, who was supposed to be cooking in the kitchen.

Xingqiu didn’t really care:

Although the appearance of the man and woman looked extraordinary, and it was somewhat strange for them to stand together, because if you said they looked like a couple, the boy seemed a little too young; but if you said they were a pair of siblings, the boy was obviously in the dominant position, and the tall and cold woman had no objection to this.

They don't really look like they are related.

But Xingqiu was originally the second son of Feiyun Chamber of Commerce. Although he was just a nerd with a bit of chivalry in his heart, and the books he had under his bed were just martial arts novels and not the kind of blushing pornographic books that normal adolescent boys should have, he had seen all kinds of games in big families, so at this moment he just stared at the novel in his hand, sitting at an empty table, waiting for the waiter to come and take the order.

But at this moment, the two words "Chongyun" came into his ears.

He turned around and saw that the young man was actually asking about his good friend Chongyun.

Although Xiangling has been helping Chongyun make popsicles to calm the restlessness of his pure yang body, Chongyun himself has the Eye of God and can control the ice element, so he can naturally carry a lot with him. Therefore, if the alchemist goes to a distant place to exorcise evil spirits, it is common for him to not appear for ten days or half a month. Therefore, although Xiangling is Chongyun's friend, she obviously doesn't know much about his whereabouts, so she just said sorry to the young man.

Xiangling was obviously familiar with the boy. It would be better to say that there were almost no people in Liyue Harbor who really disliked this little cook. She was always able to get along with everyone. Even Ningguang, who she had always been clearly wary of, was secretly watching over Wanmin Hall. So when she heard the boy looking for the alchemist, she casually asked:

"What are you looking for Chongyun for?"

The young man looked at the woman standing near him, and then seemed to notice that Xingqiu, who was not far away, was also paying attention to his response. Her eyes were focused on Xingqiu for a moment, so Xingqiu immediately picked up the novel in his hand again and flipped through it anxiously, but he heard the young man's clear voice: "Shen He may have some blood relationship with his family."

Xiangling thought for a moment and said, "His parents and elders should also be at home..."

The boy turned to look at the woman named Shen He, but the woman shook her head slightly, so the boy stopped asking.