133: Chapter 133 The Teachings of Humanity
"The Dao is simply walking."
These words fell into Zixiao Palace like a stone falling into a deep pool.
Ripples spread out, circle after circle.
Xuandu looked at Lu Mingyuan, his gaze now containing something more.
"Walking?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"Yes. Walking."
He looked at Xuandu, and then at the people below the stage.
"I walked from Zhongnan Mountain to Longhu Mountain, from Longhu Mountain to Wudang Mountain, from Wudang Mountain to Shaolin, from Shaolin to Yuelu, from Yuelu to Mount Hua, from Mount Hua to Mount Buzhou, and from Mount Buzhou to The Rift."
He paused.
"One step is one step. Two steps are two steps. When I couldn't walk anymore, I rested. Once rested, I walked again."
Xuandu asked:
"Then what about the places you reached?"
Lu Mingyuan said:
"The places reached are the Dao."
Xuandu raised an eyebrow.
"The places reached? Hasn't the Dao always been there?"
Lu Mingyuan shook his head.
"The Dao has always been there. But if you don't reach it, that Dao isn't yours."
He looked at Xuandu.
"Just like Zhongnan Mountain. Zhongnan Mountain has always been there. But if I don't reach it, to me, Zhongnan Mountain is just a name, a legend, a place others told me about."
He took a step forward.
"Once I reached it, Zhongnan Mountain became mine. I have stepped on its stones, drunk its spring water, and heard its wind. I know when its dawn comes, when it gets dark, when it snows, and when the flowers bloom."
He looked at Xuandu.
"The Dao is the same. If you don't reach it, the Dao belongs to others. Once you reach it, the Dao is yours."
Xuandu was silent for a moment.
Then, he asked:
"Then what about Wuwei?"
Lu Mingyuan was stunned for a moment.
"Wuwei?"
Xuandu nodded.
"Renjiao speaks of Wuwei. Doing nothing, yet nothing is left undone. Is that walking of yours 'doing' or 'not doing'?"
This question was very deep.
Lu Mingyuan thought for a while.
"It is both."
Xuandu raised an eyebrow.
"Both?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"Walking is 'doing'. Because you are walking, you are moving, you are acting."
He paused.
"But walking is also Wuwei. Because you are just walking, without thinking too much, without calculation, without force. You are simply following the path, following your feet, following your heart."
He looked at Xuandu.
"Just like when I was at Zhongnan Mountain, Master Xuanweizi taught me how to walk. He said, when walking, don't think about where you're going, just walk. Walk this step well, and the next step will naturally be known."
Xuandu asked:
"If one doesn't think, how does one know where to walk?"
Lu Mingyuan said:
"There's no need to think. The feet know."
He pointed at his own feet.
"These feet have walked tens of thousands of miles. They know when to be fast, when to be slow, when to stop, and when to go around."
He looked at Xuandu.
"Wuwei is not about not doing. It is about not doing with the brain, but with the heart. It is not about not thinking, but about not needing to think. It is letting the Dao lead you, not you trying to lead the Dao."
Xuandu looked at him for a very long time.
Then, he asked:
"Do you know the Dao of Renjiao?"
Lu Mingyuan said:
"I know a bit. Doing nothing, yet nothing is left undone."
Xuandu nodded.
"Yes. Doing nothing, yet nothing is left undone. But do you know why it is Doing nothing, yet nothing is left undone?"
Lu Mingyuan shook his head.
Xuandu said:
"Because the Dao walks on its own."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"You just said the feet know where to go. But why do the feet know? Because the feet are accustomed to walking. Once accustomed, it becomes natural. Once natural, there is no need to think."
He paused.
"The Dao is the same. The Dao walks on its own. If you follow it, it walks well. If you go against it, it gets stuck. If you insist it follow your will, it falls into chaos."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"Therefore, Wuwei is not about not doing things. It is about not doing things with your petty cleverness, but letting the great wisdom of the Dao act."
As Lu Mingyuan listened, something stirred in his heart.
He remembered those days by the edge of The Rift.
Back then, he hadn't thought much.
He just stood there.
He just killed.
He just guarded.
Yet those days of standing, killing, and guarding were precisely what allowed him to survive.
Those who thought too much and calculated too much were the ones who died.
He looked at Xuandu.
"Senior, I understand."
Xuandu asked:
"What do you understand?"
Lu Mingyuan said:
"I understand what Wuwei is."
He took a step forward.
"Wuwei is not about not doing. It is about not using 'me' to do it. It is letting the Dao do it, letting the heart do it, letting nature do it."
He looked at Xuandu.
"Just like when I stood by the edge of The Rift. I didn't think too much. I just stood there and let the demon soldiers come. When they came, I killed them. After killing them, I continued to stand. When tired of standing, I rested. Once rested, I stood again."
He paused.
"I didn't think 'I want to win', 'I want to live', or 'I want this or that'. I just stood. By standing and standing, I won. By standing and standing, I lived."
He looked at Xuandu.
"This is Wuwei. It's not about not wanting to win, but not needing to think about winning. It's not about not wanting to live, but not needing to think about living. It is letting the act of standing itself lead you to victory, lead you to life."
Xuandu looked at him, a light appearing in his eyes.
"Then what about you now?"
Lu Mingyuan was stunned for a moment.
"Now?"
Xuandu nodded.
"Now, you are in Zixiao Palace. You are debating the Dao. You are answering the questions of people like us. You are thinking about how to speak, how to answer, and how to be convincing. Is this 'doing' or 'not doing'?"
Lu Mingyuan fell silent.
This question struck at the very root.
He thought for a while.
"I don't know."
Xuandu asked:
"You don't know?"
Lu Mingyuan said:
"Yes. I don't know."
He looked at Xuandu.
"When I was answering Senior Guangchengzi, I was thinking. When answering Senior Duobao, I was thinking. When answering Senior Jieyin, I was also thinking."
He paused.
"But while thinking, I suddenly stopped thinking. When I wasn't thinking, I actually answered better. When I was thinking, I answered poorly."
Xuandu smiled.
The smile was very faint.
Faint like water.
But within that faintness, there was something.
There was that 'you finally understand' kind of thing.
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"Do you know why?"
Lu Mingyuan thought for a moment.
"Because the Dao is not thought out. It is walked out."
Xuandu nodded.
"Yes. The Dao is not thought out. It is walked out. Standing on this stage, you are walking. Answering questions, you are walking. Even thinking, you are walking. But when you think, the path is walked slowly. When you don't think, the path is walked quickly."
He paused.
"Wuwei is letting the path walk itself. Letting the heart lead the path, not letting the brain lead the path."
Lu Mingyuan stood there, listening to these words.
He suddenly thought of Xuanweizi.
He remembered the words Xuanweizi had said back at Zhongnan Mountain.
"Cultivation is walking. Walk the path beneath your feet well, and you will naturally know how to walk thereafter."
Back then, he didn't understand.
Now he understood.
Walking is Wuwei.
Not thinking is Wuwei.
Letting your feet lead you, letting your heart lead you, letting the Dao lead you—that is Wuwei.
He looked at Xuandu.
"Senior, thank you."
Xuandu asked:
"Thank me for what?"
Lu Mingyuan said:
"Thank you for making me realize that I have been practicing Wuwei all along."
Xuandu smiled.
That smile was just like his Master, Laozi's.
Gentle like spring sunshine.
"Little friend, you have understood the Dao of Renjiao."
He turned and walked toward his seat.
After a few steps, he suddenly stopped.
He didn't look back.
"But understanding and practicing are two different things. Once understood, it must be practiced. Only when practiced is it truly understood."
He continued walking forward.
"The road you must walk is still very long."
He walked back to his position and sat down.
When he sat, the light on his body did not change.
It was still that ordinary light.
But within that ordinariness, there was something.
There was that quality of 'The Great Dao is simple'.
There was that quality of 'Returning to one's true self'.
Zixiao Palace was dead silent.
Then, someone let out a long breath.
It was that Loose Cultivator in the tattered Daoist robe.
He looked at Lu Mingyuan, his gaze containing something.
It was the look a Loose Cultivator gives a fellow traveler.
Yuanshi Tianzun's voice rang out.
"The fourth round is concluded."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
In his gaze, there was something.
Something complex, increasingly complex, and inexplicable.
"The fifth round, the Loose Immortals' inquiry."
He looked below the stage.
"Zhenyuanzi, you come."
Zhenyuanzi?
The Ancestor of Earth Immortals, the Master of Wuzhuang Temple, the man who was the Peer of Heaven and Earth.
The one who became sworn brothers with Sun Wukong, and whose Ginseng Fruit Tree was toppled by Sun Wukong.
A middle-aged man in a green Daoist robe stood up.
His appearance was very ordinary.
But the moment he stood up, everyone felt as if he had been standing for a long time.
Standing for as long as hundreds of millions of years.
He walked to the edge of the stage and looked at Lu Mingyuan upon it.
His gaze was very gentle.
Gentle like an old friend.
"Little friend, this poor Daoist has a question."
Lu Mingyuan cupped his hands.
"Please speak."
Zhenyuanzi asked:
"You just said that walking is the Dao. Then this poor Daoist wishes to ask—after walking? After reaching the end?"
He paused.
"After reaching transcendence? Do you still walk?"
In Zixiao Palace, everyone looked at Lu Mingyuan.
Waiting for his answer.
Waiting to see how this young man would handle this question from the Earth Immortal.
Lu Mingyuan stood there, watched by those gazes.
He did not panic.
He simply thought for a moment.
Then, he spoke.
"Senior Zhenyuanzi, I will answer you."
He took a step forward.
"After reaching the end, it is still walking."