With six people traveling together, there was always one situation after another. Hou Niao and Xiang Anshi wisely kept to one side, listening to the women bicker without daring to interject lightly, afraid of drawing the flames onto themselves.
Even so, they could not escape the occasional bizarre question that left them unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Bai Qingchuqian and Chen Zhaodi were better in this regard: one was reserved, the other steady. It came down to their personalities.
The main culprits were Xiangfei Bamboo and Nie Yingnan. Xiangfei Bamboo always had countless questions about Daoist learning. In her view, a crude Sword Cultivator like Senior Brother Hou knew nothing of Daoist arts. As the saying went, a monk from afar knew how to chant the scriptures; one from an overseas immortal isle naturally knew even more, especially a Constellation True Disciple. At last, all the perplexities she had bottled up for decades had somewhere to pour out.
"Senior Brother Xiang, when it comes to changes in the Great Dao, why does Heaven always seem to go against our wishes? Why does this seem to permeate every stage of cultivation? Whenever I want to do something, I find obstacles everywhere, my intentions utterly at odds with my circumstances. Is everyone like this? Or have I chosen the wrong path?"
Xiang Anshi tried to explain profound matters in simple terms. "I believe everyone is like this, not just cultivators, but mortals too, because humans are never satisfied. They always want to pursue things that don't belong to them.
"When I was little, Younger Maternal Aunt always took me to bathe in the women's bathhouse on the island. I was very reluctant every time, so I asked the auntie at the door when I could stop coming.
"The auntie told me