Techniques and Dao

Chapter 9 White Jade Bridge
Holding a performance ticket in hand while waiting for a girl is something that most boys have experienced in the last hundred years.

But not every "he" can have a happy ending, or rather, most of them won't. Some even end before they even begin.

This is what makes the boys uneasy. And for this reason, most of the protagonists are filled with anxiety and live in constant fear.

Failure isn't scary, and saving face isn't the only issue. It's the uncertainty of possibly failing and possibly succeeding by chance, coupled with the thousands of possibilities you imagine in your mind, that can really drive a person crazy. Fortunately, many boys in the world have overcome it, and those who can't often manage to get through it by crawling and stumbling along.

Hua Sheng felt the two tickets in his hands getting hotter and hotter, as if he were holding two red-hot irons, making him uneasy. After finishing his morning practice, he wandered around the Academy of Arts and Sciences for more than an hour, hoping to run into Wei Yu by chance in the garden corridor, by the stream, or on Xuanwu Mountain, but he did not get his wish until his legs went numb.

He could have asked Taishang Xiaojun, for example, if Weiyu was in a certain class, or what spells she might be studying, to increase the chances of a chance encounter. But unfortunately, many young people are more inclined to walk until their legs break than to ask even one more question.

Isn't it precisely the charm of youth that they are so naive and foolish?

After wandering around Xiyuan without success, Hua Sheng decided to try his luck at Xuanwu Divine Mountain. Apart from having tea with Taishang Xiaojun at Buxian Pavilion shortly after they met, he had never climbed Xuanwu Divine Mountain before.

Xuanwu Mountain stands six thousand feet tall. Hua Sheng slipped the ticket into the inside pocket of her sleeve and walked along, looking around. Every now and then, she would encounter many disciples cultivating immortal arts on the mountain. Unlike the Buxian Pavilion halfway up the mountain last time, the summit of Xuanwu Mountain was shrouded in celestial mist, and cranes would occasionally fly by, making for a breathtakingly beautiful scene.

Lingyan Pagoda sits atop the mountain, a massive stone tower standing 384 feet tall. From a distance, its exterior appears reddish-brown, divided into sixteen levels. In front of the pagoda lies a lake, its emerald-green waters as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the sunlight in a kaleidoscope of colors. A white stone bridge spans the lake, constructed of white agate and jade. The bridge is carved with mythical creatures and rare animals, and the lake water beneath appears and disappears through the translucent jade. Various strange fish swim in the crystal-clear water, their colors slowly shifting, sometimes pure and transparent, sometimes like mottled watercolors.

As Hua Sheng ascends the jade bridge steps, she sees a naturally formed gap beside the lake, through which the water cascades down the cliff, forming a silver waterfall. The rising mist creates several rainbows, and occasionally, cranes seem to dance and soar within them—a truly wondrous sight. The lake's undulating sounds blend with the cranes' cries, creating a melodious and vibrant harmony.

Just as his thoughts were drifting away into the distant sky, he caught a slender figure in the out of the corner of his eye, dressed in the uniform of the Xiyuan Daoist Academy.

The figure stood on the lake's surface. Hua Sheng's breathing suddenly stopped.

It was a silver-haired girl standing barefoot on the lake. As the water rippled, the girl's eyes were closed, and her body rose and fell gently with the waves.

Who else could it be but the elegant Wei Yu?
There was no noise from the surrounding mountaintops; only the chirping of insects filled the air.

Flowers bloom on the white jade bridge; my heart pounded wildly, and I dared not disturb her.

At this moment, the girl named Weiyu transformed the lake surface into a stage, dancing lightly on the water like a dragonfly skimming its surface. The clear lake water was touched by the girl's toes, forming beautiful ripples.

Wei Yu stretched out her limbs and gently stroked the water's surface with her right hand. The splashing water condensed in the air into a translucent bamboo scroll. She danced with the scroll in mid-air, softly reciting:
Who says Xuanwu is recklessly self-absorbed, unaware that the Azure Moon pities humanity?

"When will this drunken dream end? Why can't even a tiny fraction of my life be considered immortality?"

Hua Sheng listened, completely bewildered, pondering the meaning of the words. What was this "drunken dream"? What was this "meticulous detail"?
"A millimeter" is just a number. Numbers are merely expressions of units. How can expressions become immortal?

He didn't understand the meaning of the poem, but he was deeply attracted by the artistic conception of the present moment, which was full of anticipation.

After reciting a poem, Wei Yu placed the transparent bamboo scroll to her chest, leaped from the lake, and slowly landed on the opposite side of the white jade bridge. As she landed, the water droplets on her feet transformed into a pair of embroidered shoes.

Wei Yu, holding the bamboo scroll in her hand, walked slowly from the opposite side of the white jade bridge, reading as she went. Her head was bowed, a gentle breeze causing a few strands of her dark hair to flutter, her silver-gray hair swaying in the breeze. Her fair, rosy face seemed fragile, and the loose-fitting Taoist robes of the academy clung to her slightly slender frame, making it hard to imagine that she was the silver light that pierced the sky.

Hua Sheng's heart skipped a beat, and he felt unsure what to do with his hands. His mind raced, searching for a more natural way to greet someone.

What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?

Just moments ago, he was marveling at the vastness of Tianchi Lake, but suddenly it seemed as small as the palm of his hand. Before Hua Sheng could figure out how to greet him, Wei Yu, with her head down, had already come up to him.

Oh no! I'm going to miss it!
As his emotions surged, beads of sweat instantly covered Hua Sheng's forehead, with one even landing on his eyebrow for a fleeting moment. Hua Sheng remembered reading a book that mentioned people's palms sweating when they are emotionally stressed, a condition known as psychogenic sweating. This could even lead to profuse sweating. However, the sweating of animals' feet and palms during tension is considered an instinctive adaptation to nature, used in primitive times to prevent slipping while hunting.

Humans are also a type of animal.

But now Hua Sheng felt an opportunity was about to slip through his sweaty hands.

Oh no, she's going to walk past!
Before long, Wei Yu was already very close to Hua Sheng, and the girl was still flipping through the bamboo slips.

Passing each other by is but a fleeting moment. It's said to take only 0.013 seconds. But those 0.013 seconds can change your future—perhaps years, perhaps decades.

That's life. As long as you work hard enough, luck won't be far away. But when luck finds you, if you lack even a little courage, all your efforts may be in vain. Luck is always just a catalyst; if you lose the will to act, then you're simply letting a gift slip by.

What God does not take, is to be blamed.

Wei Yu didn't see Hua Sheng standing in the middle of the bridge, and walked straight past without even looking up.

"Wait, wait!" Hua Sheng called out as he turned back to Wei Yu's retreating figure.

Wei Yu slowed her pace and stopped. Turning around, she saw Hua Sheng and asked in surprise, "Huh? It's you? What are you doing here?"

"The rules and regulations of Xi'an University say that you shouldn't look at your phone while walking... oh, no!" Hua Sheng stammered, "It means you shouldn't read books. Of course, you can't look at your phone either. It's not safe."

Wei Yu put away the letter: "Are you from the Xi Academy's Disciplinary Committee?"

"No, I just..."

Wei Yu smiled faintly and said, "You're called Hua Sheng, right?"

"You remember my name?" Hua Sheng felt a surge of joy.

“Of course I know him.” Wei Yu fiddled with the bamboo slips in her hand. “Who in Xi Academy doesn’t know the famous person who burned down Sixian Pavilion?”

"I'm so sorry," Hua Sheng said, scratching the back of his head. "It must have cost a lot of money to repair."

"Master Yu Ran told me that Hua Sheng might have to take on a lot of cleaning work at the academy to earn money for the repairs." Wei Yu sighed softly.

"Huh?? It's true?" Hua Sheng was taken aback.

"It's fake!" Wei Yu covered her mouth with a book and laughed. "How could Xi Yuan be like that? Si Xian Ge is very fast at repairing. Several immortal masters spend some time every day repairing it, and it will be usable again in no time. It's good that no one was injured."

"Oh, that's alright." Hua Sheng wiped his sweat. Actually, Wei Yu's easy greeting to him was far beyond his expectations. He thought that it was probably Wei Yu's kind and gentle nature that enabled her to obtain the position of deputy registrar in the disciple committee of the Magic Academy.

"What are you doing on the mountaintop?" Wei Yu asked.

"Nothing, just taking a walk. By the way, the dance you did earlier was really beautiful."

Wei Yu's eyebrows twitched: "You were here just now?"

"right……"

"Sorry for making you laugh."

"No, no, that was really great! What was that dance you were performing?"

"Is it like ballet?"

"Huh? Ballet?" Hua Sheng was taken aback. A girl in a Taoist uniform actually used that word. She should be a modern girl in a ballet tutu, no matter what. But then she thought the time period didn't seem to matter. After all, although Shengpingning presented itself as an ancient capital, it was undeniably modern.

"Do you think that wearing the clothes of this Taoist Academy means you can't dance ballet? Or that you can only dance ancient dances like the Feather Dance or the Feather Dance?"

"I just think this combination is a bit strange. My impression of ballet is Swan Lake."

Wei Yu laughed: "It's not classical ballet. It just has some ballet movements."

What kind of dance is that?

“Azure Moon Simple Dance”.

Hua Sheng nodded, but still didn't understand. It sounded like some kind of dance that incorporated books and bamboo slips.

Wei Yu seemed to sense that Hua Sheng only had a vague understanding of this, so she didn't explain further. She simply rolled up the scroll in her hand.

Even a three-second silence between two people can be quite awkward. Hanamori finally broke the silence: "Thank you so much for the first time we met. Without you..."

"First time meeting? You mean that day?" Wei Yu frowned, looking somewhat puzzled.

"That was the day I burned down Sixian Pavilion."

"Oh! You mean that? It's alright, I just happened to be passing by and was taken aback. There are many experts in the Academy of Arts and Sciences, even if Wei Yu isn't here, there will always be disciples who will lend a hand. Don't worry about it, don't take it to heart."

Hua Sheng pointed to her hand: "You're amazing."

Wei Yu was somewhat amused: "If you want to praise a girl, saying she's amazing might not be the best way."

The flowers were in full bloom, leaving me speechless.

"You pointed at my hand, and I thought you were going to compliment it on how beautiful it is."

"Your hands are indeed very beautiful." Hua Sheng blushed.

Wei Yu covered her mouth and laughed: "Looks like you're really not good at chatting. By the way, how's your recovery going?"

"He's alright," Hua Sheng replied. "It's just that we don't know why the Samadhi True Fire appeared."

"Samadhi True Fire, is it?" Wei Yu repeated, bowing her head.

Is there a problem?

"No, it's nothing." Wei Yu smiled. "If you can't remember, just let it go."

“Yes. I almost lost my life before I came to St. Pingning. But what happened is very blurry to me. I only remember a few fragments; my memory isn’t very good.”

Wei Yu seemed thoughtful: "Don't you think that being able to forget some things while alive is actually a kind of luck?" "What you're saying does seem to make some sense."

“There are many things in the world you don’t know, but you can still live happily.” Wei Yu revealed a philosopher’s expression. “Not everyone has the opportunity to forget the past.”

"Ah."

"That's it. By the way, if you're free..."

“Ah! Right! Um…” Hanamori interrupted her, he had almost forgotten about the performance, “Are you free the night after tomorrow? The band that won has a performance.”

"The band won?"

"Yes, it's the Winning Band."

"Le Ying, right?"

“Yes, yes! Le Ying. That’s right!” Hua Sheng organized his thoughts. “Are you free? I’d like to invite you to go see it together.”

"You listen to Le Ying's songs too?" Wei Yu's question caught Hua Sheng off guard.

This is a very simple and straightforward question. Hua Sheng knew absolutely nothing about Le Ying. The reason he bought Le Ying's concert tickets was because he thought that most girls would like to see a popular band perform.

He had never heard of any of the songs that Le Ying had sung.

This is really awkward. What if Wei Yu doesn't like Le Ying at all? Hua Sheng secretly blamed himself for not thinking things through.

“What they sing is real music,” Wei Yu said.

These words were like a lifeline for Hua Sheng, a glimmer of hope for him as he sank into the abyss. Whether intentional or unintentional, Wei Yu's offer of a way out prevented Hua Sheng from falling further.

Wei Yu: "Many people say that music is dead now. Many musicians who truly love music and are talented can barely support themselves. This is because listeners would rather listen to free music than pay for good music."

“So it’s pretty much the same everywhere,” Hua Sheng said.

“Talented musicians are often ridiculed, ostracized, and looked down upon by those who make a lot of money by sensationalism. As a result, many of them also give up their ideals and choose to cater to the audience, writing songs with no substance and bizarre lyrics. After that, the audience’s aesthetic sense is further lowered to the point that they can no longer distinguish between good and bad, and only care about what songs are popular or not.”

“Most great artists were ostracized and lived in poverty in their own time,” Hua Sheng said. “I guess it’s because people are inherently reluctant to grow. Staying where they are makes them feel safer, so people are more willing to accept things within their comprehension.”

“So making music, especially making good music, is mostly very painful,” Wei Yu said. “The band Le Ying has always stuck to their own style and written music with their own unique characteristics. Even when they had no audience, they never gave up supporting each other while working and performing for free. In the end, they made it to their time, and people in the future will remember them.”

“You know them very well,” Hua Sheng said.

Wei Yu smiled and said, "Isn't that true of everything? When you firmly believe that what you're doing is what you love, even if you face obstacles and no one understands, it's still worth doing. Because you come into this world alone, and you leave alone. If you don't even believe in yourself, who else can you believe in?"

"Be a person with goals, and then keep believing in yourself." Hua Sheng nodded.

He flipped up his sleeve and realized he'd flipped the wrong sleeve. He looked for another one, and after a long search, he finally found two crumpled concert tickets.

“This ticket isn’t cheap.” Wei Yu was slightly surprised. “If you leave it like this, it’s easy to lose it.”

"Yes. I'm not very good at keeping things safe. So, why don't you keep it with me?"

"Okay! Ask me for it after you find someone to go with you!"

"No, that's not what I meant."

"I thought you were a bit silly just now, but you're actually quite clever!" Wei Yu smiled. "Are you trying to force Wei Yu to go to the show with you?"

"No no……"

Wei Yu lowered her head and thought for a moment: "But I might have something to do that day."

"Huh??" Hua Sheng felt as if she had fallen into an abyss again. "You don't have time to go?"

Wei Yu pondered for a moment and said, "I do have something to take care of, so I might be away for half an hour and a little late to the venue. But I should be able to go afterward."

Hua Sheng breathed a long sigh of relief. Thankfully, the gods intervened, and the effort was not in vain.

“I haven’t been to a lantern festival in a long time,” Wei Yu said.

"Lantern Festival?"

“In Saint-Pinning, the concert and the lantern festival are held together,” Wei Yu said with a smile, tilting her head.

Hua Sheng scratched his head.

The sun shone brightly on the bridge, and a spring breeze blew. Willow branches swayed back and forth by the lake, and even the tips of his hair, still damp from the rain, were lifted by the gentle breeze. Hua Sheng felt an unprecedented sense of beauty. He told himself that many things are like this; with just a little courage, there's a chance to change.

The more you look forward to the future, the more you will love life itself.

On the white jade bridge in the afternoon, only Hua Sheng and Wei Yu remained. The calm, mirror-like lake reflected the figures of the two young people, and time seemed to slow down. At this moment, Hua Sheng had no mind to care about anything else; for him, every minute and second was frozen in this picturesque afternoon.

The future is a time that has not yet arrived. And the day after tomorrow is the day after tomorrow.

If you are really looking forward to something in the future, even the day after tomorrow will feel as long as the year after next.

After finishing his cultivation on the second day, Hua Sheng washed his courtyard clothes. He stood in the courtyard facing a flower bud and began chanting an incantation. Following his finger movements, the flower bud's petals began to rotate and then gradually unfold.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun passed by from behind, holding a book, and casually said, "What are you daydreaming about?"

"Ah! No!" Hua Sheng shouted, and the flower bud withered and fell off instantly.

"May the Heavenly Venerable grant you boundless blessings! What a terrible sin! What did these flowers ever do to offend you?" Tai Shang Xiao Jun stepped forward, holding the withered flower in his hand. The fallen petals miraculously danced up and grew back to their original place, restoring themselves to beautiful and lovely flowers in his palm. "You've become a flower fanatic for no reason; you've probably made an appointment with a girl."

Hua Sheng was speechless for a moment, then asked, "Supreme Lord, I want to ask you, can the immortals, humans, and spirits of Sheng Pingning be together?"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun was taken aback: "Huh? Which fairy lady have you taken a fancy to?"

"Shh!" Hua Sheng put her index finger to her lips and shouted angrily, "I was just asking!"

"It's not like you're just asking casually. Your face clearly says: I'm an underground agent of emotions!" Tai Shang Xiao Jun pointed at Hua Sheng's forehead.

Hua Sheng hurriedly ran to the mirror, but of course there were no words on his forehead. Turning around, he saw Tai Shang Xiao Jun sitting cross-legged, floating in the air, his right fist supporting his chin, and said to him, "Just as I expected! Even a blind man could see through you like this."

"Don't go around telling anyone."

"I understand the I Ching and the Eight Trigrams, but I don't gossip about such things. Aha!" Tai Shang Xiao Jun stretched and yawned, then floated back to his room. His voice came from inside: "This is modern society now. The immortals, humans, and spirits are not forbidden from interacting. But as I mentioned last time, the lifespans of the three races are different, so you should be careful to avoid causing trouble for yourself."

Hua Sheng casually asked, "Supreme Lord, are you dating anyone?"

"Huh? That's strange. I'm single by my own merit, so why would I need a girlfriend?"

"..."

Hua Sheng walked silently back to his room. He thought about how Wei Yu was a member of the Spirit Clan, and wondered how old she was. However, according to what the Supreme Lord Xiao Jun had said, the three clans in the Academy were of similar age, but the two of them would have vastly different lifespans. Hua Sheng's mind was in turmoil.

The next day came in a blink of an eye.

Hua Sheng and Wei Yu agreed to meet at the central entrance of the Pear Garden. He inquired about the location. It was about a 20-minute walk from the east gate of the Shudao Academy.

This was the first time he had stepped out of the Magic Academy in over half a year. Perhaps the academy was too large, and living within it felt like living in a small world. But once he left the academy, he suddenly realized that Saint Pingning was far more than just this small world.

On the main street, you can see residents of different ages coming and going, as well as extravagantly decorated, classically styled super-large inns, pharmacies, restaurants, and all kinds of building complexes.

Inside the shops along the street, shop assistants dressed in various work clothes were busy packing up customers' purchases and politely escorting them to the door, inviting them to come back again. Before leaving, customers would also bow with their hands clasped in greeting, creating a peaceful and bustling atmosphere of everyday life.

The vehicles hovering above the ground moved smoothly through the streets. Some passengers looked up out the window, some chatted and laughed, and some seemed to be reading, heads bowed and silent.

The pedestrian street was lined with cool, clean bluestone slabs. Walking on the slabs, a refreshing coolness emanated from beneath Hua Sheng's cloth shoes, making the midsummer heat feel pleasant and invigorating. As Hua Sheng walked, she wondered if the world would have looked like this if the First Industrial Revolution had occurred during the Tang, Song, Yuan, or Ming dynasties.

Before we knew it, the sun had set, and the azure sky had turned purple. A shop assistant came out and pointed to the lanterns hanging by the door; those lanterns gradually lit up. Then, rows of red lanterns floated in from nowhere, neatly arranged on both sides of the street, lighting up one by one from afar. In an instant, the entire street was brightly lit.

It turns out the streetlights only come on at night. They don't take up any space during the day. Hua Sheng marveled at this.

Before long, we reached the embankment. The scenery before us opened up dramatically. The wide lake surface was covered with lotus leaves, and the blooming lotus flowers not only displayed seven colors but also emitted a dark and mysterious halo, adorning the lake like a starry night sky. Closer to the embankment, colorful lanterns depicting various mythological and historical stories were erected in the lake, including tales of Pangu creating the world, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meeting on the Magpie Bridge, and Zhuge Liang borrowing the east wind.

The area in front of the riverbank was noticeably more lively, with thousands of red and yellow lanterns illuminating the sky. A bustling night market came into view.

At the entrance of the market is a gate with the words "Liyuan Music Center" inscribed in regular script. This is the entrance to the Liyuan Music Center. The wide entrance corridor is a lantern festival. In addition to the colorful lanterns suspended in the air, there are various vendors on both sides selling all kinds of interesting handicrafts, snacks and tea.

Hua Sheng looked around anxiously, but after about two incense sticks' worth of time, Wei Yu still hadn't appeared. Anxiety, like a caterpillar, slowly crawled into his hopeful heart.

He then remembered that he had only arranged a time and place with Wei Yu last time, and had even forgotten to exchange contact information. He wondered if he had waited at the wrong place.

At that very moment, Hua Sheng saw a graceful young woman dressed in a sheer gauze dress, slowly descending from the sky on a soft, cotton-like cloud about half a zhang wide. After her sleeves, which had been swaying in the wind, settled down, she lowered her head and gently brushed her sleeves across her legs, as if brushing away the clouds beneath her feet. After the auspicious cloud dispersed, the young woman raised her head. It was indeed her, Wei Yu.

With her already exquisite features and delicate figure clad in a sheer veil, Wei Yu immediately attracted all eyes. As she slowly walked towards him, Hua Sheng's cheeks flushed red to the roots of her ears.

I couldn't resist writing a little too much today, so I hope you'll be patient and read it all! Please vote for me! I'll keep working hard!
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(End of this chapter)