On the mountaintop, inside the Daoist temple, the firewood gradually burned out.
Unnoticed, the sky outside had also darkened. Fine rain still veiled the air, and heavy clouds obscured the starlight, making the dilapidated ancient temple seem all the more desolate and still.
After Yao Lingxian finished his account, the three stood facing one another in silence, and a long hush settled over the entire room.
Only after a long while did Li Ling sigh softly. "So this is what you have endured over these twenty years. I knew nothing of it. You truly have suffered."
Even if he had been in Li Ying's place, he might not have done any better.
People invariably took themselves as the center of things. What they saw, heard, felt, and knew shaped their understanding.
As the saying went, viewed from the front, it was a ridge; viewed from the side, a peak. Even the same thing could give rise to different perceptions.
Li Ling understood this. Thus, even though he could not fully understand Li Ying's thoughts, he fully acknowledged that his disciple had plans of his own.
"But have you ever considered where acting on your own like this leaves your master? Where it leaves the sect?
"Have you forgotten everything I taught you?"
Li Ling looked at Li Ying with a measure of disappointment. Having difficulties was no excuse for wrongdoing, nor did it actually solve anything.
Li Ying said, "I have never dared forget."
He spoke quietly. "In our early years, Master taught us that in this life, conscience should be our foundation. As the saying goes, the Great Dao holds to the center and does not stray to either side. This innate conscience is the source of our Dao hearts.
"All cultivators, whether they rise from the wilderness or