Chapter 381 - 365: A Human Must Learn to Mature; It Doesn’t Mean They Dislike Innocence

On Aunt Wen’s boat, Song Ciwan witnessed yet another wonderfully vibrant facet of the world.

If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, based on her prior experience, Song Ciwan truly couldn’t have imagined that such a person existed in the world.

This woman lived in the most barren countryside, with no one to lift her up, no one to teach her. She was likely even surrounded by all sorts of invisible yet ever-present shackles.

Song Ciwan asked Aunt Wen, "Aunt Wen, you draw so beautifully. Has no one ever praised you before?"

Aunt Wen laughed as she rowed the boat. "Praise for what? It’s not like you can eat or wear it. Drawing wastes time, charcoal, and cloth. Hah, my family... I’m lucky they don’t chew me out when they see me drawing. Who would ever praise me? That’s impossible."

Although a hint of a sigh tinged her tone as she spoke of never being praised, Aunt Wen’s expression was one of clear, accustomed acceptance.

Perhaps because no one had ever praised her art with such sincere enthusiasm, Aunt Wen felt the urge to open up.

Once she started talking, Song Ciwan didn’t even need to ask. Aunt Wen continued on her own, "When I was a little girl, my grandma would tell me to go light the fire in the kitchen. I’d be squatting by the stove, and I’d see the charred firewood and just couldn’t help myself. I’d grab a stick and start drawing little figures on the stovetop.

Back then, the prettiest girl in our village was Sun Tongsheng’s youngest daughter. I loved to draw her in secret.

At first, my drawings weren’t very good. My grandma would yell at me for ’drawing chicken scratch’ and for not tending the fire properly. She’d chase me from one end of the village to the other with a broom. The other villagers would make fun of me, saying I looked like a stick figure and loved to draw stick figures. ’Ugly, but with beautiful dreams!’ they’d say.

Young lady, I won’t lie to you..."

At this, a shy look appeared on Aunt Wen’s face. "I have a sense of shame, you know. After that, no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t bring myself to draw in front of people anymore. At most, I’d secretly hide away and draw in the sand, in the mud... anywhere I could be alone.

Even if someone happened to catch me drawing, I’d deny it. When my grandma hit me, I’d run and hide. When my mom scolded me... well, it went in one ear and out the other. Now, I’m a mother and a grandmother myself. My eldest son is twenty, and my little grandson is already two!

When I was younger, my love for drawing would make me fall behind on my chores, and my husband would get so mad he’d try to hit me. But I wasn’t scared of him; I’d fight right back. We fought every single day. Eventually, he realized he couldn’t control me, so he just started sighing all the time.

Who can stand being around someone sighing all day? So, I... I just went back to hiding my drawing! Nowadays, my daughter-in-law has given me a grandson. She’s busy, and life is hard for her, too. She does more than her share of work both inside and outside the home. And wouldn’t you know it, she can’t stand my drawing either.

I thought about it long and hard and finally came up with a way to make a living. I got a boat, brought my little Xiaoni with me, and now I can hide out here and draw. I can draw, I can fish, and sometimes I even ferry passengers. I earn a little bit of money here and there, and with some income to bring home, I can finally face my family!"

She spoke on and on, and seeing how attentively Song Ciwan was listening, she became even more animated.

What kind of listener, one might ask, is best at getting people to open their hearts?

’Upon reflection, it’s not necessarily someone who responds to every single sentence.’

’Sometimes, it’s someone like me right now—listening intently to every word, with warmth in their gaze and kindness in their eyes. That can touch a person’s soul more directly.’

As she listened, Song Ciwan received two more masses of energy from Aunt Wen: [Human desires. A mortal’s loves, frustrations, and attachments. Four jin and one tael. Can be sold.]

[Human desires. A mortal’s frustrations, confusion, and attachments. Three jin and two taels. Can be sold.]

...

’So, deep down, Aunt Wen isn’t as carefree as she appears.’

’Her heart is filled with frustration and confusion!’

’She just buries all of life’s bitterness deep within her heart. This natural ability to find her own release could be said to surpass that of most Cultivators in the world.’

’The path of Cultivation, whether through martial arts, Cultivating Immortality, or the studies of a Buddhist Practitioner, inevitably requires one to temper their state of mind.’

’Of course, different paths have different requirements for one’s mental state, and their focuses vary, but there’s no need to elaborate on that here.’

’What struck Song Ciwan was that there were so many Cultivators in the world who could never achieve a harmonious state of mind. As a result, their Cultivation would stagnate forever, or they would wither away and die young—’

’—and those were the better outcomes. The most terrifying fate was to fall from the righteous path into heresy, to have Fallen into the Demon Realm!’

’Unable to escape the greed, anger, delusion, and hatred in their hearts, unable to break free from the obsessions entangling their consciousness, they ultimately walk all sorts of terrifying paths.’

’Song Ciwan had seen far too many people like that, from the high and mighty like the Second Young Master to those in the countryside, like that Skeleton Cultivator from Gu Family Village.’

’Or, from a more distant memory, the souls in Illusory Nether City who were ensnared by all manner of demonic thoughts and obsessions...’

’Finding release requires great perseverance and great wisdom. The human mind can have a thousand different thoughts in a single instant, to say nothing of how a person’s thoughts might change under the endless entanglements of life.’

’To maintain a pure, original passion, to not bow to worldly pressures or be tainted by Malice, to survive through resistance while still being a part of life—how incredibly precious and rare that is!’

’No wonder the ancient sages said that traveling ten thousand miles is better than reading ten thousand books. Song Ciwan felt that what she was seeing and experiencing on her journey truly surpassed hearing countless stories or reading a thousand scriptures.’