Grasping the Evil-Chapter 971: The Demon Sits Beneath the Pine, Becoming a Youth
Mu Weiliang’s Buddha Talisman is quite peculiar.
In the eyes of Wu Laoba and Monk Songguo, the talisman is just an ordinary pine tree, and they can’t see the little girl beneath it. Among everyone present, only Ning Fan can see that little girl!
"Can you see Siyue?" Mu Weiliang’s expression was initially very stern, but upon noticing Ning Fan’s intense gaze at the talisman, his eyes showed a hint of surprise.
"Siyue? Do you mean the little girl inside the talisman?" Ning Fan nodded.
"Yes, Siyue is her childhood name. I watched her grow up. Back then, I planted a pine tree body double on a cultivation star outside the galaxies of Mu Island, hoping to comprehend the Wooden Control Position through it... I clearly planted the body double in the deep mountains, yet this little girl sensed my presence among thousands of pine trees at a glance..."
Mu Weiliang seemed to have opened a floodgate of memories, and with a nudge from his divine skills, scenes from those years unfolded like images in Ning Fan’s mind.
The first scene was Mu Song the Daoist passing on his teachings to Mu Weiliang.
Initially, Mu Weiliang wasn’t called Mu Weiliang but Mu Yi, the tree spirit with the highest cultivation among the Seven Pines.
The sequence of Seven Pines was ranked by cultivation, and Mu Weiliang was once highly regarded by Mu Song the Daoist because of his supreme cultivation.
On that day, Mu Song the Daoist ended his hundred-thousand-year seclusion and emerged.
The first thing he did was erect the second and third steles on Mu Island—the Avoiding World and Sealing World Two Steles were originally erected simultaneously.
The second thing he did was find Mu Weiliang and share the insights from his extended seclusion with him.
"Since I closed my eyes and broke through to Second-Grade Quasi-Saint, a total of twelve million years have passed, and the little Senluo fellow has been in the Heavenly Prison for eleven million years. That little ghost once said that if I can complete three steles and perfectly integrate my life’s path, my cultivation could advance further. Now, I’ve finally erected the second and third steles, yet the Third Order Quasi-Saint is still far out of reach. Ha, apparently, three steles weren’t enough. As for the fourth stele, I don’t know how to proceed..."
"Senior Brother (Mu Weiliang was still Mu Yi at that time), during this seclusion, I reached a whole new realm. With my eyes closed, I finally saw the real Dreamland Realm as if my eyes were open. In fact, twelve million years ago, I could barely glimpse the world’s reality, but only now have I truly achieved that... The real Dreamland Realm is even more desolate and lonely than I imagined... According to Buddhism, all appearances in this world are illusionary—now, I slightly comprehend the true meaning..."
"The method of Control Position is rare and hard to come by. Most people only know that to become a Control Position Immortal Emperor, they must rely on the Palm Position Dao Fruit’s power... Therefore, there are many elders who want to cultivate the Palm Position Dao Fruit, yet few know the correct path to becoming a Control Position Great Emperor, which is to open their eyes and create their own Palatial Void in the real world."
"However, wanting to open your eyes to see the true world is easier said than done. Across the Four Heavens and including the ten great secret clans, there are no more than twenty people who can do this... In the Eastern Celestial Lands, aside from the secret clans, in nearly a billion years, only three Control Position Immortal Emperors exist other than myself. One is Lightning Emperor Tai Su, who has been dead for years, so I won’t mention him. The remaining two are the Slaughter Hall’s Slaughter Emperor of this era and Hou Tu Elder of the Houtu Sect... But as far as I know, these two didn’t use the eye-opening method to achieve Control Position... Their path relied on the Palm Position Dao Fruit’s power, which falls short of the ideal..."
"The eye-opening method is an absolute secret of this world. My Cang Song disciple, although gifted, has gradually made a name in the Eastern Heavens as the Green Emperor. Unfortunately... he also doesn’t have the talent to open his eyes and is unaware of this matter... Xiang Mingzi once had the potential to open his eyes, but sacrificed his sight for the little Senluo ghost and ultimately didn’t reach the wondrous realm of eye-opening... His Senluo disciple, whose talent even exceeds Xiang Old Head, once opened his eyes in my Golden Sky Black Earth Painting! This disciple’s talent is the greatest I’ve seen in my life. Yet, he lost the opportunity to become an emperor due to a woman, forever becoming an Immortal King. He remains imprisoned in the Divine Void Pavilion’s Heavenly Prison. Hence, it’s improbable for him to achieve Control Position Immortal Emperor..."
"My next words might sound harsh, but I mean no harm. I hope Senior Brother can be accommodating. With Senior Brother’s talent, it’s likely you cannot open your eyes. To achieve Control Position, you may need to find another path. In this seclusion, I comprehended the second method of Control Position from the real world... Would you be willing to learn it?"
"The normal path to Control Position requires extremely high comprehension; opening one’s eyes is too difficult. The Palm Position Dao Fruit is a less optimal method... What I have comprehended this time, like the eye-opening method, is much simpler. I’ve named it the Heartless Method. The Great Way is Heartless; this heartlessness is not being emotionless, but rather seeing through all obsessions and gradually breaking free. Senior Brother might experience the mundane world firsthand. If you can completely comprehend the profound meaning of heartlessness, making your heart die, given your unique Grass and Wood Body, you might have some insights..."
...
Ning Fan’s gaze slightly focused as he witnessed the scene of Mu Song the Daoist passing on teachings to Mu Weiliang!
To become a true Control Position Immortal Emperor is incredibly difficult! By relying on the profoundness of the Chaos Ring Decision Twenty-Seven Yin and Yang, he found an alternative path and can use Palm Position Power, but hasn’t cultivated the Palatial Void and can’t be considered a true Control Position.
For the first time in this scene, Ning Fan heard the correct method of becoming a Control Position Immortal Emperor—not by consuming the Palm Position Dao Fruit, but by... opening one’s eyes!
What does it mean?
Opening one’s eyes... what does that refer to?
The real world after opening one’s eyes... what does that indicate?
At this moment, Ning Fan only felt like he was having an epiphany, as if this simple scene contained unimaginable Great Ways, yet he couldn’t comprehend it...
Without time for more reflection, the second scene appeared again in Ning Fan’s mind.
The location was a deep mountain forest filled with countless old pine trees. The pine tree body double that Mu Weiliang planted was merely one among them.
His intent was to quietly plant the body double here and observe all mundane life on this cultivation star, thus comprehending the heartlessness that Mu Song spoke of...
He initially thought he’d have a long period of solitary life in the mountain, but unexpectedly, a tiny little girl easily stepped into his life, disrupting his journey of enlightenment...
It was the second day Mu Weiliang came to this cultivation star, when adults and their children from a nearby mountain village entered the deep woods to hunt.
How profound is Mu Weiliang’s cultivation? His pine tree body double, even a True Immortal might not see through this illusion.
The mundane hunters passed by him, naturally seeing nothing special about the tree, but a little girl with braided hair in a red jacket noticed something extraordinary about Mu Weiliang.
"Grandpa, grandpa, look, look, this pine tree is peeking at me. Is it a monster? How can it see me? It doesn’t have eyes." The seven-year-old Little Siyue curiously asked.
Since her birth, she could see things invisible to others, and villagers said this little girl was strange, thus rarely anyone wanted to get close to her...
"Hush! My dear ancestor, these words must never be spoken again. If they offend some immortal elder, be careful of your little life!"
The elderly hunter called grandpa turned pale upon hearing Little Siyue’s nonsense again, hastily bowing to Mu Weiliang’s pine trunk and constantly muttering, "God Buddha bless" and "don’t mind," as he pulled Little Siyue away in a hurry...
The others also quickly bowed to the pine tree before fleeing as if they’d seen a ghost, with expressions of fear, not daring to hunt near Mu Weiliang anymore...
It seemed everyone believed Little Siyue’s words and regarded Mu Weiliang as a dryad, avoiding him...
This left Mu Weiliang feeling speechless; his intention was to meditate quietly in the mountain forest without interacting with anyone, but on the second day of arriving on this cultivation star, he was discovered by a group of mortals...
Was his method of concealing his aura too clumsy?
Or... were the braided little girl’s eyes too sharp...
"This mere mortal girl can see what even True Immortals cannot..." Mu Weiliang was deeply moved.
What made him even more helpless was on the third day, that braided little girl came to the deep mountain alone and stood before him.
This seven-year-old mortal doll, isn’t she afraid of being eaten by the tigers and wolves in the mountains? Her courage is too great!
Oh, so that’s it... This little girl has a cultivation artifact hanging around her neck, it can drive away tigers and wolves... No wonder she dares to enter the mountain alone...
The artifact is not of high quality, it seems to be something made by some Vein Opening first or second level junior...
"Tree uncle, are you looking at my amulet? Do you want my amulet? Do you think it is pretty? Do you want it? But I can’t give it to you. Grandpa said when I was young, I could see ghosts, and he spent two whole taels of silver to beg the Daoist grandpa from Mount Mao for this amulet, I can’t give it to you..."
Mu Weiliang frowned slightly but did not answer. This little girl seems very chatty...
"My name is Siyue, what’s your name, tree uncle? Are you silent because you can’t speak, or because you don’t have a name? I know, you’re a dryad, you must be able to speak, are you not answering because you don’t have a name? Do you want me to help you choose a name, grandpa praised me for being the best at naming, grandma raised seven pigs, I named each one, do you want to hear..."
Mu Weiliang twitched his mouth but still didn’t answer. This little girl is indeed very chatty.
"Tree uncle, maybe you don’t like talking, so just listen, I’ll tell you. Let’s first talk about Second Brother Lin’s big yellow dog next door..."
With the topic of the big yellow dog, the little girl talked for a quarter of an hour.
"...let’s then talk about the village head’s big white goose..."
Another quarter of an hour...
"...Yesterday morning I ate half a cake, and at noon I ate half a bun..." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎
Yet another quarter of an hour...
"...The day before yesterday...
"...The day before the day before yesterday...
"...I...
Mu Weiliang, after all, is a powerful old monster. Despite being annoyed by the little girl’s chatter, he listened from start to finish without interrupting.
In the end, the little girl left very disappointed; she really wanted to talk with Tree Uncle. The villagers all feared her, saying she was uncanny, and no one was willing to talk to her much, even grandpa and grandma often avoided her, never letting her sit at the table for meals...
Could it be that even the dryad uncle is afraid of her? Otherwise, why wouldn’t he respond...
"Grass and wood are heartless... the realm Brother Mu Song mentioned, could it be like this..."
After the little girl left, Mu Weiliang started to ponder. His disdain for paying attention to a mortal doll, is this also a form of heartlessness...
Because he is a lofty Immortal, he views the humble mortals as insects.
How bored must a person be to converse with ants, to care for their life and death?
Of course, he wouldn’t respond to Little Siyue, just as he wouldn’t talk to ants. Is this the true meaning of the Great Way is Heartless...
On the fourth day, Little Siyue ran to Mu Weiliang again, chattering away.
The fifth day, the sixth day, the seventh day...
One month, two months, three months...
Except during rainy and snowy weather, Little Siyue almost came to the mountain every day to chat with Mu Weiliang.
Though Mu Weiliang never spoke to Little Siyue, she was still happy.
At least someone was willing to listen to her talk, which was quite rare, wasn’t it...
With the passing seasons, listening to the little girl’s chatter gradually became a daily habit for Mu Weiliang.
Whenever the little girl was bullied in the village, she would always cry in front of him, never shedding tears in front of outsiders.
Occasionally, when a villager talked to her or paid her some attention, she would be happy for an entire day and would share her joy with Mu Weiliang...
Day by day, the little girl grew up, blossoming gracefully, she became sensible, no longer talking about spirits in front of outsiders. As a result, the villagers looked at her more normally, among her peers, there were also quite a few young lads, who admired her beauty.
She was no longer lonely, nor was she talkative, she finally matured, yet she still occasionally went to the mountains to chat with her tree uncle.
Mu Weiliang still wouldn’t respond to her, even if the little ant grows up, it’s still an ant, how could anyone be bored enough to chat with ants?
The little girl didn’t mind Mu Weiliang’s indifference, she started carefully building a fence around Mu Weiliang, saying it was to prevent any beasts from running under the tree for defecation...
What a joke! With Mu Weiliang’s cultivation, if he didn’t want to, which unperceptive beast would dare to defecate under his tree!
On days with little rain, she would laboriously fetch mountain spring water to water Tree Uncle...
Mu Weiliang was helpless, he was an Immortal Tree, having long foregone nourishment, he wouldn’t die without water... Well, it was after all the little girl’s filial piety, he wouldn’t blame her...
The little girl was indulgent, every time a young lad gifted her some snacks, she’d bring them to the mountain, giving half to Tree Uncle, only eating half herself.
Mu Weiliang never ate those mortal snacks in front of the little girl, yet after she left, he would sigh and store them away...
Later, the little girl even built a wooden house deep in the mountains, saying she wanted to live next to Mu Weiliang’s tree, to spend a lifetime together.
She even said if Mu Song didn’t mind, marrying Mu Song would be okay too. She wanted to be a tree, she disliked wearing a mask to live in the village, preferring to be her true self in front of Mu Song.
"Tree Uncle, if I marry you, would you take me! Why are you still not speaking, are you despising me, annoying, I’m not talking to you anymore!"
Little Siyue didn’t know, upon hearing this, Mu Song’s heart, cultivated in Buddhism for years, rippled for a moment.
Originally, I wanted to cultivate the Heartless Method, but unexpectedly, this little girl entered my life.
From some unknown point in time, Mu Weiliang’s gaze upon this little girl was no longer as if observing an ant...
It was not a matter of romantic feelings but was also impossible to ignore...
During this period, Daoist Wood Pine visited once, shook his head repeatedly at the sight.
"Among the Seven Pines, your aptitude is the best, and since you were born of grass and wood, I thought you could easily grasp the true intent of the Great Way is Heartless, but unexpectedly, you lost your mindset because of an ordinary child... All beings are illusions, you still don’t understand... Well, my Taoist power has been increasing day by day. If I pay some price, I can show you the real world. The world you will see, others cannot!"
Daoist Wood Pine raised a hand to point out a purple gleam and sent it into Mu Weiliang’s body. Instantly, the scenery before Mu Weiliang’s eyes transformed...
...
Ning Fan did not know what kind of world Mu Weiliang saw from Daoist Wood Pine.
Since then, Mu Weiliang regained his former cold hardness, seeing that little girl as if she were air.
Little Siyue, perceptive as she was, immediately noticed Mu Weiliang’s change.
Previously, although Mu Weiliang also ignored her, he wouldn’t disregard her. His gaze would always quietly linger on her, she could feel it.
But now, the way Mu Weiliang looked at her was as cold and hard as looking at grass and stone, leaving her stunned and flustered.
"Tree Uncle, why don’t you pay attention to me anymore? Why don’t you look at me? Did I do something wrong?"
"... Tree Uncle, can I help you catch bugs today..."
The little girl was anxious, she said so much, yet Mu Weiliang did not glance at her directly!
That gaze was not ignoring, but rather... not caring!
"... Tree Uncle, I argued with grandpa. He said I’ve grown up and wants to force me to marry, but I refuse... I want to stay in the mountain for a while, would you accompany me..."
Still, it was cold as air, ignoring her.
Since she was seven until now at seventeen, for ten years, his gaze was never brief, today, it moved away from her...
"Tree Uncle..."
"Tree Uncle..."
"Tree Uncle..."
That night, Little Siyue stayed in the mountain cabin as rain poured heavily.
Previously, when she quarreled with her grandpa, she would also run to stay in that cabin. The mountain nights were cold, but she never needed thick clothes or blankets because Mu Weiliang would silently dispel the chill, she knew...
But tonight, she was really cold because Mu Weiliang had changed. He would no longer listen to her heart nor dispel the chill of the mountain night...
Clearly having done nothing wrong, why... would Tree Uncle not pay attention to her...
The next day, she had a high fever, her whole body felt weak, yet she stubbornly remained under the tree, chattering nonstop.
She knew Mu Weiliang didn’t listen, but she stubbornly wanted to speak, to make him listen!
Mu Weiliang frowned. As an Immortal Cultivator, he certainly knew how fragile mortal bodies were. In the little girl’s condition, without timely treatment, it was very dangerous.
"Go back!" Mu Weiliang almost had the impulse to speak to the little girl for the first time, but ultimately he did not open his mouth.
He remembered the world Daoist Wood Pine showed him, in that real world, Little Siyue did not exist...
She never existed; it was false. He must sever all mortal foolish thoughts to comprehend the Heartless Great Way and attain the Control Position power...
Finally, regardless of how the little girl spoke, Mu Weiliang did not spare her another glance.
On the third day, the little girl stubbornly refused to leave but no longer spoke, merely sitting silently under the tree, touching the pine tree in a daze.
On the fourth day, she fainted, unable to hold on anymore, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes...
In the end, Tree Uncle didn’t pay attention to her either.
Tree Uncle didn’t want her anymore...
Mu Weiliang knew, if he left the little girl to lie there until she died from illness, he could truly become a heartless person, comprehending the Heartless Great Way and significantly improve his understanding.
However, it was a painful choice, requiring a girl’s life in exchange for an opportunity for comprehension...
Such instances were too common in the cultivation world, many old monsters deliberately nurtured a Cauldron Furnace, lavishing deep affection upon them, and after countless years together, slaughtered them to grasp the true meaning of heartlessness...
Would he follow Daoist Wood Pine’s method, gaining Control Position power, or... save her...
...
The scene ended here without providing a result.
However, it did not hinder Ning Fan from speculating.
With the current Mu Weiliang possessing the Control Position power in the Buddha Talisman, does it indicate that at that time, Mu Weiliang chose not to save the little girl, thereby gaining the chance to achieve Control Position...
Ning Fan furrowed his brow. He had no relation to Little Siyue and didn’t care about her life or death, but Mu Si’s actions made it hard for him to agree.
If this was the Way of Heartlessness in Grass and Wood that Mu Si spoke of, he would rather not comprehend it!
Without further plans to ponder on the Fourth Pine, Ning Fan actually turned around and left directly.
"Is it because you disapprove of my Buddha Talisman comprehension, young friend?"
"The Dao has no distinction of high or low, there is no disapproval, just disagreement," Ning Fan paused and replied indifferently.
"Is it disagreement... Even if you disagree, you are powerless to change it, this is the reality of the world. Have you seen the world in its true form? Do you know... that kind of loneliness...
It is a world that only those of the Control Position can see. What I see from my junior brother is only a part of it.
My junior brother said that when he opened his eyes to see a complete world, it was desolate, and that little girl who talks under my tree daily is just an illusion...
My junior brother said that being obsessed with those illusions that have never existed is wrong... That being moved by illusions is a grave mistake...
My junior brother said she never existed in this world; what exists is just a phantom in my heart. Cutting off the obsession gives hope to see the world as he does...
Following my junior brother’s method, I gradually ignored her life or death...
I regarded everything as an illusion, and thus touched the power of Control Position...
However, do you know that kind of heartache!
One day, she nearly died in front of my eyes. If I ignored her life or death, I could have completely gained the Control Position power per my junior brother’s method...
In the end, I couldn’t harden my heart to see her die. Instead, I used my Divine Skills to send her home safely and protect her from dying...
Her illness eventually got better... She never knew I saved her and never returned to the deep mountains to say a word to me... Later, I watched her return to the mortal world, watched her marry and have children, watched her live in peace and joy. I turned my earlier heart’s movement into a shadow, preserved forever in the Buddha Talisman... This shadow is an obstacle in my cultivation, unable to sever it, creating a bottleneck in my cultivation that I cannot advance.
I used to be the first among the Seven Pines in cultivation, but now I’ve fallen to fourth and might decline to fifth, sixth, seventh in the future...
If I cut off this shadow, I could achieve the Dao, but I am unwilling...
If I embrace this shadow, I will no longer suffer like this, but I dare not...
My cultivation is of Buddhism. If I embrace obsession, all previous cultivation would turn into void in the tribulation of Karmic Fire... Buddha cannot have attachment. You are not an ancient Buddha. You are very fortunate...
Even if you retain obsessions, you won’t face the tribulation of Karmic Fire... You can act recklessly, but I cannot...
If I lose all cultivation, then I am no longer me, just an old pine tree without spirit awareness...
What I fear is not the pain of losing cultivation, but losing my spirit awareness, becoming truly heartless like grass and wood and forgetting that little girl...
I don’t wish to forget everything in the Karmic Fire tribulation!
After millions of years, that little girl will have long returned to dust, and the dead won’t have emotions anymore, right...
But I am different. In my heart, there will always be a shadow that cannot be cut, embraced, ignored, or forgotten...
A Buddha Talisman filled with such ambivalence, you naturally disregard it, and there’s no need to comprehend it...
You are an Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor. I am an ancient Buddha. You are not me and ultimately cannot understand my feelings. But I cannot allow you to belittle my Buddha Talisman, simply because this talisman contains her shadow..."
After Mu Si finished speaking, as if he had poured out the bitterness of millions of years, he felt significantly relieved.
It turns out he has unwittingly been influenced by her, turning into such a chatterbox...
Back then, she talked so much, maybe it was also because she was filled with unspeakable discomfort with nowhere to vent...
Ning Fan turned around, silent, and re-examined the girl within Mu Si’s Buddha Talisman.
He had misunderstood a bit. Mu Si perhaps did something wrong, but the emotions embedded in the Buddha Talisman were not false.
Mu Si was wrong about one thing. Not understanding his actions was unrelated to whether Ning Fan was an Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor!
"If I were you, I would choose to save people as you did, but I wouldn’t feel as lost as you do. I cannot empathize with your feelings, and it has nothing to do with whether I am an Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor, but because our paths differ!"
"If I were you, if I were you..."
At this moment, Ning Fan inexplicably recalled his decision back then not to slash away the affection and sentiment.
He didn’t want to slash away the affection and didn’t want to forget the paper crane, even for the purpose of Core Formation, it wasn’t possible!
It was not because he was an Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor that he dared to act recklessly, but because he didn’t want to forget, that he stepped into the path of a true devil cultivator!
With his right index finger, he began drawing stroke by stroke, creating his own Symbol of Devil Raising right in front of Mu Si.
Stroke by stroke, the Symbol of Devil Raising contained thoughts that changed!
Originally, the image of the Moluo Giant stood side by side with the old pine tree, but this time, Ning Fan drew the Moluo Giant beneath the tree.
This scene looked as if a demonically spirited youth was pondering under the tree.
"No, no... If this youth were me, then this tree should not be a pine..."
Ning Fan’s eyes were momentarily confused.
Memories of hundreds of years surged at this moment, seemingly wanting to be drawn into the depiction by Ning Fan... (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)
