Chapter 1671

Fang Yuan snaps his fingers again and the street moves on: the merman couple walks forward, the spittle lands on the customer, and the dog passes through the legs. Xia Lin guesses that it is a rank five time path killer move. The human Gu Master she bumped into falls over and causes a small chaos, then politely apologizes and stands up puzzled. She feels a prankster’s joy until Fang Yuan grabs her hand and drags her to the lion dance team. ^{ch. 1671}

The team, delighted to have every character at last, dances more joyfully while Fang Yuan plays the filial fisherman. Xia Lin begins stiffly, since she has never performed before a large crowd, until he secretly uses wisdom path methods and the dance postures surface in her mind with extreme clarity. The two sing and dance along with the crowd, and the more she dances, the more confident she feels. Her mistakes meet only kind laughter. She laughs brightly, filled with an unprecedented happiness that she fears is not real. ^{ch. 1671}

Fang Yuan suddenly pulls her out of the dance and into another dim alley. He walks ahead without a word, and her happiness fades as the street grows softer, while worries and depression return. At the exit he stops, asks whether she has thought it through, and points at her mask, asking if she will cross the street in it or show her face. He asks whether she fears that facing life with her own face will cost her the earlier happiness. She takes the mask off and thanks him. He says her situation is largely because of him, though she insists she owes him everything for the gather oil Gu. ^{ch. 1671}

He points out that she was jeered before and cheered a moment ago while being the same person all along. The crowd, he adds, only voices an attitude and cares nothing for the truth, so the two matter nothing to them and their attitude should matter nothing to the two. When she thanks him, he asks what is truly important in life. He answers that it is oneself and one’s truest feelings, and tells her to listen to her heart about what she wants to do and become. He tells her to follow that answer, whether it is to travel, to treat others well or to practice flying, and whether it is to stay in the alley or to walk into the street. Mistreating herself often for their attitude, he warns, leads to regret and a life behind a mask. Xia Lin’s mind clears as if she has received enlightenment, and all her worries and distress are swept away entirely. ^{ch. 1671}