Be a proper Taoist priest in The Condor Heroes

Seeing that Xiao Nianba's steps were becoming increasingly unsteady, and her cloth shoes, which were bleeding from her toes, were almost falling apart, Su Yan led her to a withered tree to rest.

The tree was bare, with only a few withered leaves swirling in the wind. Scattered beneath it were a few fragments of white bones, a common sight in this desolate mountain range.

Su Yan untied the bundle, took out half a multigrain cake, broke off most of it, and handed it to Xiao Nian'erba.

The little girl took the cake, but didn't eat it immediately. Instead, she ran her rough fingers along the patterns on the cake, her gaze fixed on the distant, rolling mountains, and softly asked...

"Yan-ge'er, do you think... a person's fate is predetermined at birth?"

Su Yan was drinking water from his water pouch when he heard this and paused.

He looked at the little boy's face, which was covered in soot and grime. His eyes no longer held the timidity of the past, but only a calmness that was beyond his years.

Why are you suddenly asking this?

My mother used to say...

Xiao Nianba's voice was very soft, like the wind blowing through withered grass.

"We are unfortunate people, born in this chaotic world, destined to go hungry and hide from war, that's our fate." She also said, "Live one day at a time, don't think about changing anything."

She paused, looking down at her bleeding toe.

"Later, my mother starved to death, and I thought I wouldn't live long either, until I met you. But along the way, I saw so many people. Some stole other people's food to survive, some would rather go hungry than harm others, and some... just disappeared without a trace."

Su Yan fell silent.

He came from another world where people believed that as long as they worked hard, they could live a happy life.

But in this chaotic world, hard work often cannot withstand a war or a meal of hunger.

Su Yan held Xiao Nianba's hand and walked forward, stepping on the withered bones of the desolate ridge. The stench of decay and the fishy smell of grass and trees in the wind were intertwined, like the suffering that could not be shaken off in this chaotic world.

He suddenly realized that fate was not a fair scale, but rather a skewed millstone. Some people were born in the clouds, with provisions, silk, and iron cavalry protection, and could live peacefully even in chaotic times; others were born in the mire, facing hunger and cold and weapons as soon as they were born, and had to fight with all their might just to survive.

The Diamond Sutra says, "All dharmas are equal, without high or low." But this equality in the human world has always existed only in scriptures. In reality, fate is divided into high and low from the moment of birth.

Equality? True equality means that each person only has one life.

The Buddhist concept of returning to one's true nature, one's original nature.

In this chaotic world, even the Buddha had to shed his gold carving and be made of bronze.

For people, filling their stomachs is more important than anything else. Is there any desire more pure and simple than this?

Wouldn't that mean all the refugees on the road are Buddhas and Bodhisattvas? And what about those officials, wealthy merchants, and gentry who sit comfortably on their seats? Isn't it ridiculous that some ordinary people who have fallen into the trap of power, money, and sensual pleasures are controlling these Buddhas and Bodhisattvas?

To cultivate Buddhism, one must live in a prosperous era like in a previous life, to understand one's true nature amidst the whirlpool of desires, and to find oneself amidst the temptations of the mortal world.

In this world, where there are "discriminating things," there will inevitably be "discriminating thoughts."

Rather than pursuing Western Paradise and creating a Buddhist kingdom, Su Yan felt it was better to follow the path of communism from his previous life and fundamentally sever the "separation" in the world.

In comparison, he prefers the saying from the Tao Te Ching: "He who conquers others is powerful; he who conquers himself is mighty."

In this chaotic world, "self-conquest" is not about defeating others, but about holding onto one's principles when there is widespread starvation, refusing to bow down when life is as worthless as grass, and still striving to find a way to survive for oneself and those around one under the heavy weight of fate.

Along the way, he saw not only despicable people and thieves, but also the goodness of humanity: a man who led an octogenarian to escape, an old woman who would rather starve to death than leave half a piece of bread for her child, and a boy who collected the bones along the way to bury them so they wouldn't be eaten by wild dogs.

It may seem foolish to some, but it is precisely this foolishness that preserves the last glimmer of humanity.

Thinking of these struggling figures, I suddenly understood something. Even if fate is predetermined, it cannot restrict people's choices. Perhaps this is the true meaning of "one should not go anywhere but give rise to the mind" in the Diamond Sutra.

All beings suffer; this is the underlying nature of fate.

But hardship is not a reason to accept one's fate. Like wild grass in a barren mountain, even if it is trampled by horses' hooves and pressed down by stones, it will still desperately try to take root in the soil and sprout after a rain.

Fate provides the starting point, but cannot control the ending; it determines hardship, but cannot lock away a steadfast heart.

Fate, it is said, is half cruel destiny and half perseverance. He took Xiao Nianba to Zhongnan Mountain, not because he believed fate would show mercy, but because he believed in his sword and his own choice.

Just as Zhuangzi said, "Knowing that there is nothing one can do about it, one should accept it as fate." This doesn't mean resigning oneself to fate, but rather recognizing the cruelty of fate and still choosing kindness and resilience. The fate of this chaotic world may be unfair, but the weight of one's heart is never determined by one's birth.

The brilliance of life has always been found in struggle and perseverance.

Su Yan understood all this, ruffled the little girl's withered hair, had a thousand words to say but didn't know where to begin, especially since the person she was talking to was a nine-year-old girl, and smiled smugly.

"All you need to know is that we're on this path because we haven't given up on our fate. If it were really as your mother said, then they wouldn't need to beg for a living everywhere."

He pointed to the skeletons not far from the roadside.

"After all, everyone has to die; it's just that everyone lives life differently."

On the afternoon of the seventh day after their departure, as the sun was setting, the two walked one after the other through the mountains and forests.

"Yan-ge'er, I...I'm thirsty."

Xiao Nianba's voice was barely audible, and his lips were so dry and cracked that they bled.

Su Yan handed the water pouch to Xiao Nian'erba.

"Let's drink."

There was only a tiny bit of water left in the water pouch. Little Nianba felt it as soon as he got his hands on it. He looked at Su Yan, wanting to say something, but Su Yan stopped him.

"Drink up, there might be a village up ahead."

Xiao Nian'erba's nose tingled, and her eyes reddened; it was unclear what she was thinking.

Although the road is indeed difficult to travel, it is rarely visited by people. While it requires dealing with some venomous snakes and wild beasts, it is not all bad. Occasionally, one can hunt some wild game to change things up.

But clean water was a problem. With only one mouthful left in their water bags, if they couldn't find a village to get clean water soon, they would be in serious trouble.

Xiao'erba's cloth shoes were already worn out, and her toes were oozing blood, but she just bit her lip, gripped Su Yan's clothes tightly, and followed silently. Occasionally she would stumble, but she would immediately regain her balance.

She knew she couldn't hold anyone back.

Perhaps things had turned around for the better, or perhaps the heavens had heard Xiao Nianba's wish. After two days without encountering a village, the two walked for less than half an hour and found a dilapidated village.

A cluster of low, mud-brick houses, most with half of their roofs collapsed, revealing charred rafters, revealed a dilapidated village.