Song Ciwan stood outside the Huang Family's courtyard gate, feeling for the first time with such clarity the power a butterfly's wings could unleash when they fluttered.
This was not a tangible, visible power in the conventional sense, but something formless, closer to the principle of causality. It was omnipresent yet ever-changing, unfathomable and awe-inspiring.
The farce at the Huang Family's home was still unfolding. Men from the gambling den had come and viciously snatched away the "gold coin." Aunt Ge, who had just been revived by a doctor, fainted from anger again upon hearing the gold was gone.
Before fainting, she had even spat up a mouthful of blood. The doctor said that after this ordeal, Aunt Ge's Lifespan would likely be shortened.
Some neighbors sighed that Aunt Ge was pitiful, while others shook their heads and said she got what she deserved. If she hadn't always doted on her younger son, spoiling Huang Erlang to the point of lawlessness, how could she have ended up like this? It was just a shame about that gold...
But someone else said, "Hah, don't even mention the gold. If Ge Xiaohong hadn't taken out the gold, would the men from the gambling den even have shown up today? If the gold hadn't been lost, Huang Gui wouldn't have been angered into having a stroke. With her husband around, they could have managed, but now he's paralyzed. How are they going to live from now on!"
"You can't blame the gold for that. Even if Ge Xiaohong hadn't produced the gold, Huang Erlang still owed money. Wouldn't the gambling den have come calling anyway?"
"But maybe without the shock of the gold, Huang Gui wouldn't have had a stroke from anger?"
This... this... who could say for sure?
What no one knew was that the piece of gold everyone was so focused on was actually a fake!
Every effect has its cause. After witnessing everything, Song Ciwan's heart felt heavy.
It wasn't that she pitied the Huang Family, not at all, but she felt no pleasure from her successful revenge either.
More than anything, Song Ciwan was filled with deep introspection.
The power of causality was terrifying. A hand outside the chessboard needed only to make a gentle nudge, and the world of mortals could be turned upside down.
No wonder the first principle for Cultivators of old was to distance themselves from worldly affairs!
Abandoning worldly matters, the body does not toil; embracing inaction, the heart finds peace.
This didn't mean one could do nothing after Cultivating Immortality. Rather, the fear was that once a Cultivator mastered power, they would forget their original purpose, forget their true self!
Unbridled power is not power at all, but a Demon!
'So, what is my original purpose?'
Song Ciwan stood outside the crowd, examining herself. The True Qi from the Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting, with its inherent coolness, circulated slowly and continuously through her body, gradually restoring peace to her heart.
In the crowd, Aunt Jin Hua, who was holding a winnowing basket while watching the spectacle, suddenly slapped her thigh and cried out anxiously, "Oh no! I left water boiling in the pot at home for steaming buns! Crap, my pot! It hasn't burned through, has it?"
In her panic, she couldn't be bothered with the spectacle anymore. She quickly pushed her way out of the crowd and ran for home.
She didn't see Song Ciwan standing outside the crowd. Song Ciwan silently followed her. She waited until she saw Aunt Jin Hua rush into her home and shout joyfully from the kitchen, "Oh, that scared me to death! The water hasn't boiled dry after all. Thank goodness!"
While Aunt Jin Hua was in the kitchen adding more water and steaming the buns, Song Ciwan gently knocked on her courtyard gate.
"Who is it!" Aunt Jin Hua called out, wiping her hands as she walked out. When she saw it was Song Ciwan, her face immediately broke into a smile. "Lady Yue! You've come at the perfect time. Auntie is steaming buns. Come, come, come inside and sit for a while. When the buns are ready, take a few home for dinner!"
Song Ciwan didn't enter, only saying from the gate, "Auntie, I'm still in mourning, so I shouldn't enter your home. It's the end of the month, and I've come to repay the money."
At the three words "repay the money," Aunt Jin Hua's smile froze for a moment. But she quickly grabbed Song Ciwan's arm and said, "What repayment? You stubborn child. I told you, if you have money, save it. Use it to take care of yourself. And hurry up and get out of that place..."
Seeing that Song Ciwan was about to say more, she quickly put on a stern face. "Don't mention it, I mean it! If you bring it up again, Auntie will get angry!"
She was genuinely unwilling to let Song Ciwan repay her. At that same moment, Song Ciwan received an emotional feedback from her, and the Heaven and Earth Scale appeared:
[Human desires. Love, worry, and fear. One jin and two taels. Exchangeable.]
What is "love"? What is "worry"? What is "fear"?
In that moment, Song Ciwan felt the complexity of human nature. Looking at the smiling, caring face of Aunt Jin Hua before her, she couldn't help but sigh softly in her heart.
In the end, she didn't stubbornly insist on repaying the money. Instead, she brought up the others. "Auntie, you and I are close, so I can wait to repay you. But what about the other families? I've saved some money; shouldn't I at least pay them back?"
Aunt Jin Hua said, "Repay what? Who doesn't know you're in a tough spot? If any of those scoundrels dare to pressure you, I'll go have a word with them with a club in my hand! Good child, listen to Auntie, you really can't go to that Washing Room anymore. Quit, and Auntie will find you another job..."
But this was advice she couldn't take. Song Ciwan let it go in one ear and out the other. As soon as Aunt Jin Hua finished speaking, she quickly said her goodbyes.
Aunt Jin Hua wanted her to wait a bit longer for the buns to be ready, but Song Ciwan refused. She said, "If Auntie insists that I take the buns before I leave, then I'll just wait here for Uncle Yu to come back and give the money directly to him!"
Aunt Jin Hua said, "Your Uncle Yu wouldn't take your money either..."
Before she could finish, Song Ciwan was already waving goodbye and running off.
Song Ciwan ran all the way home without stopping. When she pushed open the door, she was greeted by the loud HONK HONK of the Big White Goose.
A pair of large white wings flapped, creating a gust of wind as a plump body charged at her. "Oof!" Song Ciwan caught it. The Big White Goose then nuzzled its head into her embrace, tickling her until she couldn't help but laugh. "Big White, Big White, don't do that, it's ticklish! Hahaha..."
After a good laugh, Song Ciwan felt herself relax a little.
The sky was growing dark, but the setting sun still cast a golden glow, painting the clouds and reflecting upon the bustling Mortal World below.
Song Ciwan held the Big White Goose and looked up at the colorful clouds.
She said softly, "Big White, sometimes I feel a little lost, too. But I think I'm starting to understand now."
"I'm not cultivating to become an enemy to the world; I only seek to be free and unfettered in the mortal realm. I'll repay grievances with grievances, and vengeance with vengeance. If kindness and hatred become hard to distinguish, well, I'll just have to see then."
The Big White Goose honked, its head tilted toward the sky, singing with its neck arched.
Song Ciwan went back to her room to tidy up. Nothing more needs to be said about that.
She sold another eight taels and nine qian of Malice, gaining ninety years of Lifespan.
There were no Strengthening Pills today because fewer Demon Beasts had been cleaned. Apparently, some of the Pork Demons raised on the Demon Refining Platform had suddenly fallen ill, so the slaughter had been suspended for the day.
After putting out the lamp, Song Ciwan sold the ball of the seven emotions and six desires she had obtained from Aunt Jin Hua, receiving: [One year and two months of Cultivation.]
Huh. Song Ciwan was starting to understand.
If the emotional value came from the same person, the first exchange usually yielded a Minor Magic, while a second exchange could be traded for Cultivation!
Song Ciwan sat cross-legged in meditation. Though only a quarter of an hour passed in the real world, for her, it was as if she had been Cultivating non-stop for one year and two months.
When her Cultivation was complete, although she hadn't broken through to a new Great Realm, her Power had deepened by another level.
The night was deep, and her Power had grown. It was time to do certain things again.