The three left the village and continued toward Chang'an. Along the way, Xuanzang kept talking, and Uchiha Shin occasionally chimed in.
But Li Erlang remained silent the whole time, seeming to be lost in thought.
That evening, they rested beside a river. They caught several fish from the water and prepared to roast them.
"Brother Li, have a nice, fragrant big fish." Xuanzang handed the first roasted fish to Li Erlang.
"Brother Li, why do you look so unhappy? Is something troubling you?" Xuanzang asked curiously.
Li Erlang said, "Brother Xuanzang, you are a monk. Are you going to kill living things and eat meat too?"
"This is the rule of all things in the world. If we truly refused to kill any living thing, then we should not even eat plants. Vegetables have life too. The earth beneath your feet has life too. The bed you sleep on has life too. Even the air you breathe has life...
"So, everything in this world has life. If you truly do not wish to kill living things, then you should simply stop living and kill yourself. Otherwise, wouldn't living mean harming countless living beings?" Xuanzang said with a smile.
Li Erlang laughed after hearing Xuanzang's words. "Master Xuanzang, your way of thinking is quite different from that of most monks."
"That is because they are too rigid and too bound by old conventions. They believe that living beings are only those breathing animals, yet they do not know that plants have life as well. Everything in the world has its own sound. That is precisely why we have these vibrant and colorful Three Realms.
"If you refuse to kill living things, then do not eat, do not breathe, do not step on anything, and do not live in these Three Realms.