Chapter 73: Change Destiny
“Hey! Ha! Hah!”
“Shaolin Eighteen Arhats Fist!”
“Eight-Part Vajra Fierce Dog Leg!”
After the old dog and I had beaten this ghost until he was black and blue, half of the anger in my heart dissipated.
“Damn it! You brat better stop showing off to me in the future! If you dare to show off in the living world again, I’ll break your legs next time!”
“Bang!”
After I warned him, the old dog landed another kick,
“What the hell! My big brother is asking you, did you hear that?”
“Woo, woo woo, I heard, I heard, Big Brother.”
To be honest, this ghost’s bones are quite hard. The two of us kicked and stomped for over twenty minutes, yet he still couldn’t figure out what mistake he had made.
But none of that matters. Anyway, I’ve vented my anger, and my heart feels much better.
“Retreat!”
After returning to the old dog’s house, Xue Pan hadn’t woken up yet.
The old dog and I sat by the window drinking tea,
“Hey, old ghost, damn it, this ghost’s bones are really tough! What the hell, look, my fingers are swollen.”
This remark startled me, reminding me of some interesting anecdotes from my school days, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Hahaha, then you need to practice more, damn it, I taught you the Eightfold Vajra Technique, not the Seven Injuries Fist, how could you still swell your hand?”
“Damn it, I don’t know either, hahaha, but beating ghosts is really interesting. If there’s something like this again next time, you’ll call me again, old ghost.”
“Calling you is a small matter, but why did you bring back that slut’s g-string? Don’t think I didn’t see it.”
When I asked him this, the old dog’s face instantly turned red,
“That, that thing, I wasn’t wiping blood off my mask, I was thinking about the mask, and then I picked it up.”
I…
That reason was too damn reasonable, damn it.
What his intentions were, any man would understand. It was nothing more than using it to grind an iron rod, and he even brought up the mask, damn it!
Seeing his embarrassed appearance, I stopped asking.
After all, men should leave some private space for each other; it can only be understood, not spoken.
After Xue Pan woke up, he seemed much more spirited. Fortunately, he didn’t continue to be decadent. I remember that every time I was hurt in love, it took me half a year or even years to recover. My bad habit of drinking when I was bored back then was formed then.
“Heh, Big Brother, Third Brother.”
“Awake?”
“Awake.”
“Good that you’re awake. Go wash your face, we’ll go out for breakfast soon.”
Although Xue Pan was more spirited, he still gave off an indescribable feeling. He wasn’t as carefree as before, nor as honest as before. He gave the impression of having suddenly grown up a lot.
That’s good too. After all, to surpass ordinary people, one must experience much pain and then break free from it to attain great enlightenment.
Being a man requires the courage to take things up and put them down. Otherwise, if you are heartbroken over one woman, and then heartbroken over another, you’ll just cause trouble your whole life, and where will you find the time to do anything important?
As the old saying goes, the gentle embrace is the tomb of heroes. Being too focused on romantic relationships will only affect a lecherous ghost’s drawing speed.
After breakfast, I asked Xue Pan about his plans.
“Panzi, what are your plans now? Continue collecting scrap, or become a lecherous ghost again?”
Xue Pan shook his head,
“Honestly, Big Brother, in my past life, I died on a woman’s belly because of my excessive lust. After death, I was still influenced by this bad habit and couldn’t find liberation. I finally met someone who made me repent, but… alas, I think I’ll continue collecting scrap for now to temper myself.”
“That’s fine. If you need anything, just come to Big Brother.”
“Okay.”
…
After Xue Pan left, the old dog thoughtfully asked me a question.
“Old ghost, what do you think is the meaning of life? Is it just money and women? Or what is the meaning of being alive?”
Hearing this, I thought for a moment and replied;
“When animals are alive, besides food, it’s mating. And in a sense, people pursuing money is similar to animals pursuing food; it’s just to obtain living conditions they consider good. As for women, besides continuing the family line, for humans, it has become a tool for venting desires. As for the meaning of life, it really depends on how individuals think about it.”
“What do you mean?”
“For example, some people’s meaning of life is just to live. Some people live to become who they want to be, while others live to help others. This is related to individual thoughts and will. Because meaning itself is something humans set for themselves; whatever you set it to be, that’s what it will mean.”
“I don’t quite understand what you’re saying. Can you put it more simply?”
“To put it simply, everyone’s meaning of life is different. Some people love painting and paint their whole lives, so their meaning of life is painting. Some people like pursuing money and women, so their meaning of life is pursuing money and women. It’s like bees liking to collect nectar and dung beetles liking to eat shit; it depends on their own habits.”
“Can this change?”
“Of course.”
“How?”
“Start with your thinking pattern, or the way your mind works.”
“How so?”
“If a bee grows up in an environment full of bees, its cognition is to collect nectar. If you tell it it can do other things, it won’t believe you.
But if a bee is raised by humans, it will lose the ability to collect nectar. If you tell it it should collect nectar, it won’t believe you either. Habits are formed by the individual’s environment and the cognition instilled into them.
It’s like a painter boasting to a farmer about how expensive a famous painting is, but to the farmer, it’s not as valuable as a bag of rice.
A musician introduces a beautiful piece of music to a painter, but to the painter, it’s not as important as his paintbrush.
Therefore, the meaning of life for most people is influenced by habits. But it’s not impossible to break free from them; it just requires breaking down your original self and then resetting it.”
The old dog listened to what I said, and seemed to understand a little, but also not, as if his whole brain couldn’t keep up.
I smiled helplessly. It’s not his fault. Perhaps ordinary people really wouldn’t understand, because this kind of logic surpasses the cognition of ordinary people.
Seeing the old dog’s somewhat dejected expression, I didn’t continue.
After waiting for a while,
He seemed to have understood a bit of the principle and asked again,
“Isn’t this similar to what the Daoist school says, that if the heart is not dead, the Dao will not be born?”
I nodded and continued;
“The principle is the same. The so-called ‘heart is not dead, Dao is not born’ means breaking down your previous self. Here, ‘breaking down yourself’ means breaking down your cognitive patterns, or your thinking patterns. It’s like killing off your previous self and reorganizing. Although there are no external changes, because your cognition has been altered, you are essentially a different person.
Changing destiny is essentially changing this. It’s also called defying heaven.”
