Under One Person: I Have a Billion Taoist Gods Within Me

Chapter 60 Feng Baobao, hurry up and give your dad a shovel!

Wugensheng spoke these words as if they were perfectly natural, without a trace of arrogance or unease.

It's like stating the simplest fact.

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan's smile deepened even further.

"So, did you find out anything from your questions?"

Wugensheng scratched his head and continued, "I got some answers, but not much more."

"For example, the questions I asked you earlier, you gave me the answers, but those answers led to new questions."

"For example, you said that thing is called one's true nature," and I wondered, where does one's true nature come from? Where does it go? Will it change? How can one see it clearly?"

"You also said, Daozi, that one's true nature will not change, but one's understanding of it will."

"Then I wondered, what is the relationship between 'knowledge' and 'true self'?"

"You also said that knowing is not the same as understanding, and understanding is not the same as living."

"Then I wondered, what exactly is the difference between 'knowing,' 'understanding,' and 'having lived'?"

Wugensheng rattled off a long string of words in one breath, and then stared longingly at Liyuan.

Looking at him like this, Li Yuan couldn't help but let the smile in his eyes show.

That smile was so faint, yet it seemed to melt away the morning mist.

"Each of these questions could be written into a book."

Wugensheng scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly, "I...I was just thinking about it randomly."

Li Yuan withdrew his gaze and continued forward.

After walking for a while, he suddenly spoke up: "You just asked if there are people who are born to ask why."

"have."

Wugensheng's eyes lit up: "Really?"

Li Yuan nodded slightly: "These kinds of people are called seekers of the Way."

Wugensheng pondered the word: "Seeker of the Way..."

He suddenly asked, "Then, Daozi, are you also a seeker of the Dao?"

Li Yuan continued walking, saying calmly, "What I seek is slightly different from what you seek."

Wugensheng scratched his head, instinctively asking, "How is it different?"

Li Yuan did not directly answer Wu Gengsheng's question, but instead asked in return, "What are you asking for?"

Wugensheng thought for a moment, then said earnestly, "What I seek is understanding."

The answer to "Understanding who I am, understanding the things of this world, understanding the why everything is."

"What is it that you are asking for, Daozi?"

Li Yuan did not say it directly, but said meaningfully, "What I seek, you will know in the future."

Hearing this, Wugensheng was very curious, but wisely refrained from pressing the matter. Instead, he asked, "Then, Daozi, how far do you think I can go on this path?"

Li Yuan looked at him, his gaze gentle: "How far do you want to go?"

Wugensheng thought for a moment, then said earnestly, "I want to walk until... until the day when all the 'whys' have an answer."

Li Yuan smiled slightly: "That will be a very long journey."

Wugensheng grinned: "I'm not afraid of distance, I'm afraid of having no road to travel."

Looking at him like this, Li Yuan's eyes flashed with approval.

He didn't say anything more, and just kept walking.

Wugensheng quickly followed.

As the morning light grew brighter, voices began to echo across the fields.

In the distance, a village came into view, with wisps of smoke rising from chimneys and the sounds of chickens and dogs filling the air.

Looking at the village, Wugensheng suddenly asked, "Daozi, do you think the people in those villages have ever thought about 'why'?"

Li Yuan said calmly, "Perhaps I've thought about it, perhaps I haven't."

Wugensheng scratched his head: "Then what are they living for?"

Li Yuan paused slightly and looked towards the village.

There, early-rising farmers carried hoes to the fields, women carried wooden basins to the river to wash clothes, and children chased and played at the village entrance.

A peaceful and ordinary scene.

"Their lives are their very existence."

Wugensheng pondered these words.

"To be alive is to be alive..."

He suddenly understood.

I understand what this Daozi meant by "lived".

It's not about knowing, it's not about understanding.

Instead, it's about truly living each and every day.

Waking up to the rising sun and falling asleep to the setting sun.

Farming, washing clothes, taking care of children.

Laughter, tears, anger, joy.

These most ordinary things are the answer in themselves.

Wugensheng suddenly laughed.

That smile contained relief, enlightenment, and a hint of inexplicable complexity.

"Daozi, what you taught me today is more than what I learned in the past few years of traveling all over the country."

Li Yuan shook his head slightly: "This humble Taoist priest didn't teach you anything."

"You already know this, you just need someone to tell you that what you understand is correct."

Wugensheng scratched his head and chuckled awkwardly, "Daozi's words... make me feel embarrassed."

As they spoke, the two had already reached the entrance of the village.

The village was small, with about twenty or thirty households, earthen walls and thatched roofs, with wisps of smoke rising from their chimneys.

At the entrance of the village stood an old locust tree, its branches and leaves lush and verdant. Several elderly people were sitting and chatting under its shade when they saw two figures, one Taoist and one commoner, approaching. They all stopped talking and turned their gazes toward them.

Wugensheng felt a little awkward under the gaze. He looked down at his mud-covered body and messy hair, and awkwardly tugged at the corner of his clothes.

Li Yuan seemed oblivious, his steps still unhurried, and he even nodded slightly in greeting as he passed by the elderly.

The elderly people were taken aback for a moment, then returned the greeting with simple smiles on their faces.

After passing the village entrance, a dirt road runs through the village, with low courtyard walls and wooden gates on both sides.

A little boy with a topknot was playing by the roadside when he saw Li Yuan and his eyes widened in surprise.

He dropped the mud he was holding, ran over, looked up at me with his little face, and asked in a childish voice, "Are you a fairy?"

Li Yuan paused slightly, looking down at the little child who was barely waist-high.

Those clear eyes were full of childlike curiosity, without fear or hesitation, only the purest questions.

Wugensheng watched from the side and couldn't help but laugh.

A faint smile appeared on Li Yuan's lips as he shook his head slightly: "No."

The little boy tilted his head, seemingly incredulous: "But you're dressed all in white, walk so lightly, and are even more beautiful than the people in paintings. What else could you be but a fairy?"

Wugensheng burst out laughing.

Li Yuan's smile deepened slightly, but he didn't know how to answer this childish question.

At this moment, a woman rushed out from the neighboring courtyard, picked up the little boy, and bowed repeatedly to Li Yuan with a face full of apology: "Master, please forgive me! The child is ignorant and has offended you!"

Li Yuan shook his head slightly: "It's alright."

The woman, holding her child, apologized repeatedly before hurriedly retreating back into the courtyard.

Seeing this, Wugensheng scratched his head and laughed, "Daozi, with your attire and demeanor, you'll be mistaken for a deity wherever you go."

Li Yuan didn't reply, but continued walking.

Wugensheng quickly followed, and after a few steps, suddenly asked, "Daozi, do you think what that child said was wrong?"

Li Yuan continued walking, saying calmly, "What?"

Wugensheng said, "He said you are a deity."

"But you are not a god, you are a human."

"But when you were standing there just now, and that child asked you if you were a deity, I looked at you and also felt..."

You seem to be no different from a deity.

Li Yuan glanced at him sideways.

Wu Gengsheng quickly waved his hand: "I'm not flattering you! I'm just telling the truth!"

"The way you walk, the way you talk, and the way you look at people are all different from ours."

"But you also say you are a human being."

"Then... what exactly is the difference between humans and immortals?"

Li Yuan remained silent for a moment.

Then he spoke up: "What do you think?"

Wugensheng thought for a moment and said seriously, "I think immortals don't ask themselves who they are or where they should go."

"Because they know."

"But people will ask."

"Because people don't know."

"so..."

He looked at Li Yuan, his eyes gleaming: "Daozi, would you ask yourself these questions?"

Li Yuan did not answer.

He just kept walking.

Wugensheng didn't ask any further questions, but simply stayed quietly by his side.

After walking for a while, Li Yuan suddenly spoke up: "You asked a very good question just now."

The difference between humans and immortals lies not in whether they know or not.

"But it lies in one—"

He paused, his gaze fixed ahead: "Man is on the road, the immortals are at the finish line."

Wugensheng pondered these words.

People are on the road, and immortals are at the destination.

He suddenly asked, "So, Daozi, are you on the road, or at the destination?"

Li Yuan paused slightly in his steps.

He glanced at Wugensheng, and a glint of light, barely perceptible to others, appeared in his gentle eyes.

"This humble Taoist priest..."

"We're on our way now."

Upon hearing this, Wugensheng was stunned.

Are they on their way too?

This legendary, born-knowledgeable Taoist prodigy, praised by the Celestial Master as "the future leader of Taoism," also says he is "on the road."

He suddenly felt a little dazed.

Those rumors, those incredible legends, seemed to have taken on a different weight in his heart at this moment.

It's not fake.

But none of those are the end.

It's just scenery along the way.

Wugensheng himself was walking side by side with this person on the road.

He suddenly realized that this road seemed longer and more worthwhile than he had imagined.

At the end of the village road lies a wide-open field.

On the edge of the field, an old farmer was bending over and hoeing weeds. Hearing footsteps, he straightened up, fanned himself with his straw hat, and looked at the two people.

His gaze lingered on Li Yuan for a moment, a strange look flashing across his face, before he grinned, revealing a few gap teeth: "Where did you come from, Daoist Master?"

Li Yuan nodded slightly: "They came from the east."

The old farmer nodded, then looked at Wugensheng: "Young man, is this your apprentice?"

Wugensheng quickly waved his hands: "No, no! I just... I just followed the Taoist priest for a while."

The old farmer laughed heartily: "Following the Taoist priest is a blessing!"

"This old man has lived for over sixty years, and this is the first time I've ever seen someone like the Taoist priest."

"He's clearly no ordinary person!"

Wugensheng scratched his head and chuckled, but in his heart he thought: You're quite accurate.

Li Yuan didn't say much, just nodded slightly and continued on his way.

Beyond the fields, there is a small stream.

The stream was crystal clear and flowed gently. There was a simple wooden bridge over the stream, made of several logs laid side by side, which creaked when you walked on it.

Wugensheng walked to the middle of the bridge, then suddenly stopped and looked down at the stream.

His reflection was in the water—a disheveled figure, covered in mud, his hair a mess like a bird's nest.

He couldn't help but laugh.

Li Yuan stopped beside him and followed his gaze, also seeing the reflection.

"What are you laughing at?"

Wugensheng scratched his head and said, "I'm laughing at myself."

"Just now at the city gate, I was thinking that this time when I go to Tanzhou, I must get to know that legendary Daoist Master."

"But when Daozi was right in front of me, I didn't even recognize him."

"I recognized him, and he fell flat on his face again."

"Looking back now, the questions I asked after catching up with them were incredibly stupid."

"But you didn't find any fault with me, and you answered me seriously."

"I'm afraid I've never met such a good person in my entire life."

As he spoke, he raised his head and looked at Li Yuan.

Those eyes, now devoid of the curiosity and inquiry of before, held only one thing—

Pure gratitude.

Li Yuan looked at him, his gaze gentle.

"You just said that you've never met such a good person in your life."

"

That's because you've only just begun.

"In the future, you will meet more people and experience more things."

"Some people are better than me."

"Some things will be more unforgettable than today."

"The questions you just asked weren't stupid."

"The stupid ones are those who never ask questions."

Wugensheng was stunned.

He looked at Li Yuan, and the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Then, he grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth: "Daozi, you have a really nice voice."

Li Yuan smiled slightly, but did not reply. He simply continued walking forward.

Wugensheng quickly followed.

After crossing the wooden bridge, there is a wider official road.

Two rows of poplars lined both sides of the official road, their branches rustling in the morning breeze.

Wugensheng, who was following beside Li Yuan, suddenly spoke up: "Daozi, what kind of person do you think I will become in the future?"

Li Yuan continued walking, and said calmly, "What kind of person do you want to become?"

Wugensheng thought for a moment and said seriously, "I want to become...someone who can help others."

"Just like how you helped me today."

"It's not some great skill, it's just... being able to lend a hand when others need it."

"In this way, my life will not have been in vain."

Li Yuan glanced at him sideways.

In those gentle eyes, there was now a glimmer of light that was hard for others to detect.

Rootless...

He meditated in his heart.

Do you know how many people you will help in the future, and how much...

He didn't think any further, but simply nodded slightly: "Then let's go in this direction."

"Go as far as you can."

Wugensheng nodded vigorously: "Yes!"

The morning light grew brighter, and the sun had fully risen.

On the official road, two figures walked side by side, one in front of the other.

Wugensheng walked for a while, and then he started talking non-stop.

"Daozi, I was just thinking that if I hadn't met you, I would probably have already ridden that mad horse to Tanzhou City by now."

"And then what? You go to the Lu family looking disheveled and humiliated. Will they even let you in? You probably won't even be able to touch the gate."

"But now, I'm following you, not knowing where we're going, but I feel at ease."

"You mean, is this what that old man meant by fate?"

Li Yuan continued walking, saying calmly, "Do you think it's fate?"

Wugensheng thought for a moment and shook his head: "I don't think so."

"If it's fate, then I don't need to do anything, I can just wait."

"But I've been traveling all over the country these past few years, relying on my own two legs."

"I was the one who chased after you when I met you."

"So this isn't fate, this is..."

"I chose it myself."

Li Yuan glanced at him sideways, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes.

"If you can understand this, you're already on the right path."

Wugensheng scratched his head and chuckled, "But I still don't understand, why you of all people?"

"There are so many extraordinary people in this world, why did I have to meet you?"

Li Yuan did not answer.

He just kept walking.

Wugensheng didn't press for details, and continued speaking to himself: "But I think it's not important who you meet, what's important is what you do after you meet them."

"Like today, if I had gotten up after that fall, dusted myself off, and walked away, I'd probably still be standing here at the city gate in a daze right now."

But I caught up.

"So, the fact that I'm able to follow you this far is something I earned myself."

He spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and there was not a trace of smugness in his eyes, only pure honesty.

Upon hearing these words, Li Yuan paused slightly before continuing forward.

After walking for a while, Wugensheng suddenly asked again, "Daozi, tell me, if a person chooses the right path, how far can they go?"

Li Yuan said calmly, "That depends on him."

Wugensheng scratched his head: "What do you think?"

Li Yuan said, "Let's see how much he can let go of."

Wugensheng was taken aback: "Put it down?"

Li Yuan nodded slightly: "The further one goes in life, the more burdens one carries."

"Fame and fortune, grudges and favors, obsessions and attachments—these are all burdens."

"The more you carry, the slower you walk."

"Only by letting go can you go far."

Wugensheng seemed to be deep in thought.

He looked down at his tattered clothes and suddenly laughed: "I don't have anything to put right now."

"No fame, no fortune, no gratitude, no grudges, not even a single person to care about."

"So, you're saying I can go very far?"

Li Yuan looked at him, his gaze gentle: "Just because you don't have it now doesn't mean you won't have it in the future."

"When it's meant to come, it will come."

"The key is whether you'll be willing to let go at that time."

Wugensheng nodded earnestly: "I've got it."

The two continued on their way.

Ahead, the official road rounded a bend, and the view suddenly opened up.

It was a range of mountains, layer upon layer, hidden in the light morning mist.

At the foot of the mountain, a river meanders through, its waters shimmering in the sunlight.

Wugensheng stopped and looked at the scenery, unable to help but exclaim, "It's so beautiful!"

Li Yuan also stopped.

He gazed at the mountains and the river, his eyes calm as still water.

Wugensheng suddenly asked again, "Daozi, you've seen many scenes like this, haven't you?"

Li Yuan shook his head slightly: "Not many."

"I have lived in the Daluo Palace for eighteen years, and all I have seen is a mountain and a cloud."

"Only after descending the mountain can one truly see this world."

Wugensheng was taken aback: "Then... Daozi, how are you feeling right now?"

Li Yuan remained silent for a moment.

Then he spoke, his voice still gentle and calm, yet seemingly carrying a complexity he himself was unaware of: "Very large."

"Very wide."

"Also very one—"

He paused. "Heavy."

Wugensheng chewed on this word.

weight.

He suddenly understood.

I understand why this Taoist priest came down the mountain.

I understand why this Taoist priest, who could have remained aloof, chose to enter this mortal world.

Wugensheng took a deep breath and suddenly bowed deeply to the mountains and the river.

Li Yuan glanced at him sideways.

Wugensheng straightened up and grinned, "I'm thanking them."

Li Yuan asked, "What are you thanking me for?"

Wugensheng scratched his head and said, "Thank them for letting me see such a beautiful view."

"Thank you for them... for making you, Michiko, willing to talk to me so much."

Li Yuan looked at him, a faint smile flashing in his eyes.

He didn't speak.

He simply turned around and continued walking forward.

Wugensheng quickly followed.

After walking for a while, he suddenly asked again, "Daozi, how long do you think I can follow you?"

Li Yuan asked calmly, "How long do you intend to stay?"

Wugensheng thought for a moment, then said earnestly, "I want to walk... walk until you no longer need me to follow you."

"Or until I have no choice but to stop."

"Any one is fine."

Li Yuan paused slightly and glanced at Wu Gensheng.

"You're quite optimistic."

Wugensheng scratched his head and laughed, "It's not that I'm easygoing, it's that I know forcing things is useless."

"Like today, if I were to shamelessly beg you to take me as your apprentice, you definitely wouldn't agree."

"But I just followed you, and you didn't chase me away."

That's enough.

Li Yuan looked at him, the light in his eyes growing ever deeper.

He didn't speak.

Just keep moving forward.

But Wugensheng noticed that the figure in the moon-white Taoist robe seemed to be walking a little slower than before.

Slow enough that he could easily keep up.

Wugensheng grinned but said nothing.

I just quietly followed by your side.

The morning light grew brighter, and the fog completely dissipated.

In the distance, the rolling mountains were getting closer and closer.

The winding river shimmered with golden light in the sunlight.

On the official road, two figures walked side by side, one in front of the other.

Dressed in moon white, she was calm and composed.

Dressed in coarse cloth and looking disheveled, he walked with extraordinary determination.

I don't know how long I walked.

Wugensheng suddenly spoke again: "Daozi."

Li Yuan glanced at him sideways.

There was something new in Wugensheng's bright eyes that he had never seen before.

That wasn't curiosity, gratitude, or worship.

That's a kind of—

It was as if the peace only came after finally finding something.

"thank you."

He only said those three words.

They didn't say anything else.

But the light in those eyes said it all.

Li Yuan looked at him and nodded slightly.

He didn't say anything.

Just keep moving forward.

The road ahead is still long.

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