I put down the bucket, threw the dung ladle aside, raised my hands and said in surrender: "Okay, okay, my truest thoughts. My grandma is sick, and I want to extend her life."
"Whether it's elixirs, spells, or talismans, as long as they can be used in this area, I want to learn them."
"For my family, but also for myself."
The old man responded softly, took a pen to write down, and concentrated on it.
Then, he asked: "What is the most painful thing in your life."
I was sitting on the roadside, wanting to make some nonsense.
But thinking about the heavy snowfall last year, my depressed mood suddenly turned sad and I said, "My grandpa is gone."
The old man raised his head and glanced at me, and said in a soft voice: "No mortal can escape birth, old age, illness and death. This is the law of reincarnation."
"For example, the headmaster of the Taoist sect, Tai Xuzi, the great elders, and the inner disciples."
"Their ending will be the same as your grandfather's."
I pretended not to know: "How could it be the same? The Master is already a semi-immortal being who can Shi Yun Bu Yu. It will only be a matter of time before he becomes an immortal."
The old man said arrogantly: "You know a hammer, you are half immortal and half immortal, but you are not a real immortal after all."
"Becoming an immortal is not that easy. There is something missing in this world..."
"Forget it, forget it, you don't understand even if I tell you."
He changed the topic and continued to ask: "The third question, do you think you are living a happy life?"
I pretended to lower my head and think, but in reality I was shocked.
This one-eyed old man looks harmless to humans and animals, but he actually knows the secrets of China.
The helpers in the handyman's courtyard are not even considered outer disciples.
Where did he find out?
"Hey, let's talk." the old man urged.
I swallowed my saliva and pretended to be calm: "I'm not happy right now."
The old man threw away his cigarette butt, squatted directly in front of me and said: "Happiness is happiness, and unhappiness is unhappiness. Where does the idea of current unhappiness come from."
I helplessly spread my hands and said, "As a handyman disciple, if you don't eat well or sleep well every day, and you get whipped at every turn, is this considered happiness?"
"In the future, if I can be promoted to an outer disciple and be exposed to the techniques I want to learn, maybe I will feel happy."
"But that is for the future. Who can tell in the future?"
The old man bit his ballpoint pen, scratched his head and said: "So happiness will change."
"Different times, places, certain people you meet, and certain things you experience will subtly change the definition of happiness."
"Only the moment when your wish is fulfilled and you are satisfied is happiness."
I smiled and said, "That's right."
The old man pondered for a long time and retorted repeatedly: "No, no, people's hearts are not as strong as snakes swallowing elephants."
"Look, when you become an outer sect disciple and come into contact with entry-level magic, you will also have inner sect disciples, direct disciples, elders, and masters above you."
"Are you really contented? Do you think you were the happiest at that time?"
I was speechless and was really stopped by the old man's question.
The latter took a pen and drew a circle in the blank space and put a question mark.
I looked at it interestingly, grabbed the notebook and flipped through it: "Diary? What's the use of it?"
The old man ignored me, took out a cigarette from his pocket with a smile, lit it and said, "It's amazing that you can understand."
I found the page he had just recorded, and it read: "New disciple Yigou, twenty-eight years old, the second day after entering the Servant's Court."
"Ask why you came to Daomen. Answer..."
"Second question, the most painful thing in life. Answer..."
"Three questions, are you happy? Answer..."
For the first two questions, he wrote down my answers very clearly.
Only the third question is left blank with a question mark.
At the end, there is his "dragon flying and phoenix dancing" summary remarks: There are eight sufferings in life: the suffering of birth, the suffering of old age, the suffering of illness, the suffering of death, the suffering of love and separation, the suffering of resentment and hatred, the suffering of not getting what you want, and the suffering of the five yins.
In this world of life, you are entangled in the reincarnation and suffer all kinds of sufferings one after another.
All living beings suffer, what are the causes of the eight sufferings?
