Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way

man meat.”

The young man was completely flummoxed.
He stared at Chamu in confusion.
“What in the…what? Isn’t meat from humans the same as human meat?”

“No, it’s not.” Chamu seemed a little angry now and raised a hand to stop the young man from going on.
He declared very earnestly, “There is a distinction between the two.
Meat from ordinary humans is considered human meat.
I’m cooking the meat of cultivators.
This soup contains meat with qi.
It contains extra nutrition.”

Gu Suihan chuckled as he continued eating his share slowly.
He said quietly, “It’s just like how humans distinguish between different animal meat.
Pork isn’t the same as dog meat.
So, the concept of humans is also different from the human race.
Get it now? The former refers to ordinary humans who don’t cultivate, while the latter refers to cultivate and does not include the pathetic type who don’t cultivate.”

“But why…”

The young man wanted to ask more, but the barbarian interrupted him, “Do you think the pathetic sort of humans he mentions are able to defend themselves if another race attacks them? They’d have to rely on cultivators to protect them, wouldn’t they? To put it simply, humans are just animals bred by you cultivators.
They give you vow power, good fortune, and other benefits, plus the things they want out of life don’t really clash with what you cultivators want.
It’s just like how humans rear animals.
They could sell them for money, but they could eat the animals too.”

The young man stared at Gu Suihan in disbelief.
Chamu was just a barbarian, after all.
He wanted Gu Suihan to explain this.
He wanted Gu Suihan to overturn this insane argument against their own race.

But when he saw that Gu Suihan had no intention of disagreeing with Chamu and continued to put piece after piece of meat into his mouth, he realized that Gu Suihan agreed with Chamu.

“The truth is often cruel, don’t you think?” Gu Suihan swallowed his last mouthful of soup, then took out more bottles of wine for everyone.
He looked at the young man’s horrified expression and chuckled.
“It’s just like how some ordinary folk prays for the protection of some god or Buddha.
Actually, they’re no different from how the animals they keep at home try to gain their owner’s favor.
It’s just that the humans don’t make it look so obvious.”

“The universe has no mercy.
It sees everyone as dogs,” muttered the young man, as though he was reconsidering what this phrase really meant.

“The universe doesn’t have emotions.
It views all creatures as equal and does not have any bias because all creatures are mere ants to it.
Some are strong ants, and some are weak and tiny ants, but they’re all still ants.
That’s why it wouldn’t give either side any preference.” Gu Suihan slowly explained this phrase that had been twisted by mankind as he saw the confusion in the young man’s eyes.

It was too bad that ordinary people were often dumb and foolish.
They thought that the phrase meant that the universe had no mercy and treated everything in the world as its toys.
That interpretation was garbage, but a large majority of people believed this was its true meaning.

That majority included the thousands of novels from Earth.
Did they really understand what this phrase meant? Nah, they were just repeating what they heard from elsewhere.

The young man took a deep breath after understanding what Gu Suihan just said.
He got up and bowed solemnly.
“Hearing your explanation is like having a tub of ice-cold water poured on my head.
I, Tang Xiaoyun, have learned much!”

“Hoho, it’s nothing, really.” Gu Suihan chuckled, then turned around as he sensed something.
He looked out of the entrance and called out, “It’s a bit cold out there, my fellow cultivator.
Why don’t you come in and chat with us?”

“Huh?” Chamu and Tang Xiaoyun were alarmed and readied themselves for a fight.

They hadn’t noticed that someone else had come so close to them at all.
Who in the world was outside?

“Hoho, you’re very sharp.
I was still listening intently to your explanation earlier.” A laughter like the tinkling of bells was heard as a young woman with pretty eyes, pink cheeks, petal-like lips, and a mesmerizing figure appeared in the doorway.
She had no shoes, but she wore a red dress that made her look like a beautiful rose in bloom and her hair in two buns.

The breeze wasn’t strong, but it seemed especially chilly in this place, covered in rubble and filled with dead bodies.
The young woman slowly made her way in, accompanied by the melodious sound of a bell.
Her gaze was mysterious and exuded an aura that could make everyone fall head over heels in love with her.
Her charm and gorgeousness were extremely attractive, yet it also seemed to keep others at a distance.

“Every rose has thorns,” remarked Gu Suihan with a chuckle before looking away and pouring himself another cup of wine.
He swirled it in his hand as he glanced thoughtfully at the staircase landing of the second story.

Author’s note: Tang Xiaoyun, the character requested by the other reader, has made an appearance! This time, I’ll try to let the girl survive more chapters than the last few…otherwise, I’d have to think of yet another name, which is suchhhhh a headache