As he spoke, Draco picked up his pen again and drew a road on the paper, adding an eye symbol next to it.
Hermione examined the peculiar pattern closely. "Is this ancient writing? It looks like some kind of mystical symbol."
"Yes." Draco pointed to the pattern on the paper.
"A road and an eye. It means to follow the way—to follow the way of nature, to follow the way of heaven and earth."
"What is that?" Trillian, confused.
"It is to follow the way of heaven and earth."
"And what is that?" Trillian continued to ask.
Hermione also felt that this was a bit too far-fetched.
Draco didn't argue. "The way of heaven and earth is simply to do what needs to be done, and to do what needs to be done."
"Just as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west every day, rain falls as it wills, the wind blows as it wills, and water flows as it wills—these are all beyond human control. The same applies to people."
After some thought, Trillian asked, "When it comes to people, what is right and what is wrong?"
"That's for you to decide." Draco then gave a relatable example, "Like a married couple, if he cooks, do you have to wash the dishes? You say you work, fine, one person is responsible for external affairs and the other for internal affairs, it's something you can discuss."
"It's about demonstrating one's personal value."
"You can't be so absolute," Draco corrected her. "You can't say that a lazy person deserves to die."
Hermione picked up the conversation:
"Being lazy and gluttonous isn't a reason to die, but it's unacceptable."
"You're right, wife," Draco laughed. "Existence doesn't necessarily mean it's justified, but it always has its reason for existing."
"Did you arrange everything for him, big and small, so that he would be waited on hand and foot? Once he got into that habit, it's impossible to change it when he grows up."
"It's all because they're spoiled." This time, Trillian understood.
"No problem." Draco snapped his fingers. "Doing what you're supposed to do is probably what 'virtue' originally meant. Later, people gave 'virtue' new connotations..."
"That's the current word for virtue." Draco pointed to the simplified Chinese character for virtue that he had written before, "I'm for virtue, which is to stand from the perspective of heaven and earth, look down at people's behavior, and let people follow the path."
"When Confucius completed his studies, he reinterpreted virtue from the perspective of ordinary people's conduct and humanity, thus guiding people's words, actions, and thoughts toward the standards of the Way of Heavenly Dao."
Draco pointed to the shape of the letter and explained, "Look, the left side has the 'person' radical, representing a person's behavior; the right side has an eye on top and a heart on the bottom, representing inner thoughts."
"High moral character means acting uprightly, sitting straight, having upright eyes, and having an upright heart. In fact, the best way to accumulate virtue is probably to not harm others. If the heart is crooked, the thoughts will be crooked; if the thoughts are crooked, the actions will be crooked; if both actions and heart are crooked, it will eventually show on the face, that is, a crooked appearance. You could say that the eyes are crooked, and even the bridge of the nose will be crooked."
Upon hearing this, Trillian thought of a very common concept, "So, when we do good deeds, are we accumulating merit?"
"Yes," Draco affirmed.
"But as I said before, one should not do good deeds with the intention of accumulating merit. The initial thought should not be driven by any ulterior motive."
"But it's hard to control things once something gets involved. It's actually the easiest thing to control if you don't harm others, but many people can't do that. They know things are wrong, but they still do them for their own benefit."
After listening, a sharp and practical question arose in Trillian's mind, "If someone harms me first, and I retaliate by killing them, would that be considered committing a sin?"
Draco shook his head and said, "This has created a causal entanglement; it can't be simply considered a one-sided sin on your part."
Selene wasn't fixated on the right or wrong of revenge; instead, she questioned the very concept of accumulating good deeds, asking, "We've said we should accumulate good deeds, but what's the point? They can't bring gold or silver, nor can they guarantee smooth sailing."
"This time it's not about being competitive, it's about being righteous," Draco said. "When your spirit is upright, you become upright, and you're more likely to encounter good people."
"Similarly, if you are a good person, you won't encounter bad people; even if you do, they will become good in your presence because your righteousness suppresses their evil."
Selene wasn't convinced; instead, she posed a real-world paradox. "Then why can bad people succeed?"
"Bad people are still people, and they also have the right to succeed." Draco didn't find this to be an unacceptable contradiction.
"People can choose the right path or the wrong path."
"Because if everyone walks the righteous path, then the righteous path will become overcrowded, which is something Heaven does not want to see,"
The world cannot be all the same.
"When too many people choose the right path, the chances of success through it decrease, so people are forced to resort to unethical means to seek opportunities."
Success achieved through righteous means is called "obtaining through following the right path," while success achieved through unorthodox means is called "obtaining through rebellion." But in the end, one must adhere to the right path to maintain success.
"Is it about returning to the right path?" Trillian pressed.
Trillian listened attentively, grasping the key phrase and asking, "Shunshou... does that mean that in the end, we still have to return to the right path?"
"Yes." Draco nodded.
"But the difference is... the price of taking the right path is lower; at least your heart is at peace, your face is serene, and negative emotions can't affect you. It's much easier to maintain that path."
"The price to pay for reversing it is very high,"
"The karmic entanglements you have with others, the negative effects they create on your inner self, and the changes in your appearance—will you become sharp-tongued, incredibly ugly, or full of hostility? If so, people will unconsciously distance themselves from you."
A virtuous person will always actively distance themselves from petty people.
"If you feel like you're a petty person, then you should be wary—others who approach you might have ulterior motives."
Trillian smiled.
"Who would consider themselves a villain?"
"Maybe," Draco shrugged.
Selene continued, "So, in this world, are there more and more people walking the righteous path, or more and more people walking the crooked path?"
"There's no definitive conclusion." Draco shook his head.
"The world follows the principle of yin and yang, the principle of balance. When the number of people on the righteous path reaches its peak, then the number of people on the wicked path increases, just as treacherous officials emerge in prosperous times. Similarly, when the number of people on the wicked path increases, people on the righteous path will gradually rise again, just as loyal ministers emerge in chaotic times."
Trillian asked, puzzled, "Then why do we often feel that there are more and more people taking the wrong path?"
"Because of the development of communication studies," Draco pointed out.
Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast.