Lu Ying, who has become perpetually silent, and Lin Wanxiao, who cries all day long, not to mention the seemingly indifferent Taichua Goddess Yin Weiyin, all are deeply worried. Chen Yi’s sudden serious injury truly tugs at the heartstrings of the people around him, all of this seen by the now ghost Donggong Ruoshu.

There is always something unspeakably amusing about the happenings around Chen Yi.

Donggong Ruoshu is not the type to find joy in suffering, nor does she try to seek entertainment in boring situations. To her, one is one, and two is two. What’s interesting is truly interesting. Chen Yi is never seen as rigid or pretentious. Occasionally, he can be serious, making him an interesting person, and those around him also become interesting as a result.

To say nothing of others, but just herself, wasn’t it because she met Chen Yi that she became a ghost?

How does that literary phrase go... Just like the North Star, sitting in its place while all stars align with it.

So when Chen Yi was seriously injured, everyone was worried to death. Miss Donggong, on the other hand, was not worried at all; instead, she was delighted upon hearing of his injury.

The Holy Emperor once said she had the heart of a child.

In those days, the Holy Emperor taught her many principles, among them were lengthy discourses, most of which she can no longer remember clearly, nor do they need to be remembered, but inexplicably, she remembers a particular turning phrase very clearly...

"The ancient kings often justified themselves by Heaven’s mandate, believing that the paths they walked were inevitably correct, that their deeds were in accordance with Heaven’s will, and should not be questioned at the moment. The paths undiscovered should not be delved into, only to be denied, and everything is the inevitable inevitable, the ultimate ultimate. It’s not that they were necessarily greater than others, it’s just that the past cannot be pursued. When I stand there, I find the world small, apart from the road at my feet, there is no other to tread, yet even the road at my feet is merely a return to death."

"Suddenly, a wild bird flew into the room and said to me, ’Leave this place!’ So I soared up to the sky, learning from the birds, leaving my original world. From above, I truly understood what the world is. People often say, ’Good birds choose their trees to perch on,’ but Yang Zhu wept at the crossroad because there are too many good trees in the world, yet few noble birds. Confucius dreamt of the rites of Yin Shang before he died and exclaimed when he realized he was a descendant of Yin, what does his revival of Zhou rites have to do with his ancestors? Why did he cry? Originally, King Wu conquered Shang, seizing the mandate of Heaven, a feud of ten generations that could still be revenged. This violates the filial piety he preached! Countless scholars are entangled with this, calling it a ’dream sacrifice.’ Yet I find that the world is so vast, even a Yin person can revive Zhou rites!"

"Wise people always want to differentiate who is higher or lower, considering the common people low and the noble high, but what difference is there between high and low? It’s merely sharing the same world. People die for wealth, birds perish for food, yet without people wealth is dirt, and without birds food rots, this is the vastness of nature. If a person cannot fully grasp the vastness of nature, how can they distinguish between high and low?"

"Adapt to the surroundings, find peace wherever you are, there is no place in the world you cannot go. I saw an old man on the roadside riding a cow backward, he debated with me, yet neither could convince the other, so we turned swords into plowshares. I blinked again to find that he, too, was a child, who, despite his young age, with a pedantic air lectured me: ’We must each walk our own path from now on!’"

"People in the east say: good is rewarded with good, evil with evil, while those in the west say: disaster leans on fortune, fortune rests within disaster. So who is right? The wind sometimes blows east, sometimes west, but finds nowhere to rest because people say too many platitudes and understand too few truths."

"Thus, one incorporates oneself into the doctrine, becoming part of it. Those who attain the doctrine abandon wisdom and discard their form, transcending all things, yet returning to within all things. One day they emerge from all things, speak many truths, and people respect their virtue, honoring them as sages. As he arose from all things, how can he be revered as a sage just for articulating truths? Once truths are spoken, they become common sayings, and people often find delight in sayings attached to emotion and interest, yet cannot glean the truths from within, which is why it is said, ’As long as the sage does not die, the great thief will not cease.’

"Li Si often said scholars misled the nation, but in the whole world, everyone is a scholar, where is the unblemished land that hasn’t misled the nation? Han Feizi constantly proclaimed that Shun usurped Yao’s position, yet why did Shun end up dying in some distant wilderness? We doubt too much, believe too little, so people stop believing in the old stories. At this time, overstepping emerges, officials use the ceremonies of princes, princes use the ceremonies of emperors, sages speak of the collapse of rites and music because people have become unwise, unable to see the harm. But as I see it, it’s because people are too wise yet not wise enough, neither small enough as dust nor sufficient to map the stars. Yet those truly wise can be as small as mustard seeds and yet measure the heavens and earth. The Taoist Scripture says great wisdom seems foolish, that is this principle!

Therefore, I have no doctrine to speak of, for I am still within the doctrine." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Much of what I say is nonsense, today you hear it, tomorrow you’ll forget it, just like you may not remember what you ate on the same day last year."

"I remember," Donggong Ruoshu suddenly said, "I had stir-fried beef with two bowls of rice, and braised pork, but it was too sweet for my liking, so I ate two more green vegetables to cut the grease, but it upset my stomach terribly, and I was still suffering after waking."