Striving for Science C35 pt2

Shen Chang'an rushed to Dao Nian's house, it was already past one in the afternoon. He quickly finished his meal, helped Dao Nian pick up some fish and meat, wiped his mouth, and got up to go to the office.

As he reached the door, he remembered he had something to do that night, so he said to Dao Nian, "Dao Nian, I have something to do tonight, I won't be coming over."

Looking at the table full of fish and vegetables, Dao Nian put down his chopsticks and said expressionlessly, "Oh."

The hurried footsteps grew fainter and fainter. Dao Nian closed his eyes, swept his hand across the table, and the steaming food disappeared without a trace.

As soon as Shen Chang'an left, the house, which had been lively just moments ago, became quiet.

"Sir." Liu Mao whispered, "There's a huge typhoon forming in the East Sea, it will hit the coastal areas in two days, should we let it land?"

Dao Nian: "Winter is coming."

Liu Mao hesitated, his eyes filled with worry.

"It's not typhoon season in winter, no need to land." Dao Nian had just finished speaking when a loud rumble of thunder echoed across the sky, the sound so loud it seemed to explode above the house they were in.

Hu Ming, who was weeding in the garden, trembled with fear, his tail uncontrollably sticking out. Fei Ying, the parrot on the bird stand, was so scared that she hid her head under her wings, her claws gripping the bird stand as she trembled.

"Sir!" Liu Mao's voice trembled, "You've broken your vows."

"The Great Dao has long since perished. What can it do to me?" Dao Nian looked out the window, his eyes filled with mockery as he watched the dark clouds rolling in the sky, as if they were roaring. "I said no landing, then there will be no landing."

Lightning flashed in the dark clouds, and thunder roared down.

Dao Nian waved his hand, and a golden light shot out from his palm, blocking the descending thunder.

"The thunder is too loud." Dao Nian's gaze remained fixed. "It will perish sooner or later. What's the point of following these rules now?"

The dark clouds rolled in the sky for a moment, then slowly dissipated, and the sky returned to its clear state, as if the thunder and the celestial changes had never happened.

"Sir, why are you breaking the rules?" Liu Mao's teeth chattered in fear. "If you continue like this, you'll be like the Great Dao...

"Oh?" Dao Nian retorted, "The Great Dao itself couldn't hold on and perished. What good are these rules left behind?"

“But you shouldn’t be like this. Although you control the forty-nine laws of the world, there is still a lifeline that is not in your hands. I fear that this lifeline will become your nemesis, making you like the Great Dao…”

"I am an existence, not a life." Dao Nian lowered his eyelids, his expression impassive. "If I am to perish, then so be it."

"But... but..." Liu Mao didn't know how to advise an existence devoid of joy or sorrow. Looking at the empty dining table, he suddenly said, "But you accepted Mr. Shen's key. Even if you don't care about perishing, you should at least accompany him for a hundred years. What you're doing now, your servant is very worried about you."

A hundred years is fleeting, but the Heavenly Dao's disappearance only takes a moment.

"The Great Dao is fifty, Heaven's will is forty-nine, humans escape with one." Dao Nian softly recited this phrase. "Other races think I favor humans, but they don't know that it's the Great Dao that truly favors humans."

So before disappearing, it bestowed upon humans the vitality Dao that could restrain the Heavenly Dao. That's why, among all the races, only humans dare to say "human will conquer heaven."

In human movies and TV shows, yaos and gods, after achieving enlightenment, would appear before people in human form. However, humans don't know that yaos and gods existed before humans. It's just that the Great Dao allowed humans to have the same appearance as yaos and gods after they achieved enlightenment from birth. Such blatant favoritism, which other race could compare?

Since the Great Dao favored humanity so much, he might as well follow the Great Dao's will and prevent this natural disaster from harming humans. However, the subconscious rules left behind by the Great Dao seemed to want him to commit this evil act, to allow the typhoon to make landfall, and then let humans overcome this disaster with their own strength.

People often curse "the heavens are blind," "the wicked heavens," and "the injustice of the heavens." This time, he would follow their wishes and truly be unfair.

***

The typhoon, which was supposed to make landfall, suddenly hovered over the sea, much to the surprise of the water tribe's yao cultivators. The water tribe's leader even took the time to calculate the situation himself.

"Strange, according to the original trajectory, the typhoon should have made landfall on the coastal cities at midnight tonight, causing significant casualties. Why has it suddenly stopped moving?" The water tribe's great yao calculated several times, but the results remained the same. He hesitated for a long time in his cave before finally rising to seek an audience with the Lord.

However, after paying his respects to the Lord, he thought he must have misheard.

"What, this is your intention?" The water tribe's great yao was somewhat shocked. Had he miscalculated, or had the Heavenly Dao Lord suddenly gone mad?

Dao Nian played with a shimmering star, his expression impassive. "Hmm."

"But originally…"

Dao Nian looked at him without speaking.

The water tribe's great yao was startled, bowing deeply. "Thank you, my Lord, for informing me. I understand."

He exited the Lord's barrier, his mind a jumbled mess. Ever since the Heavenly Dao Lord became increasingly reluctant to meet with the elders of various races, he had felt a growing sense of unease.

With this unexpected turn of events, he felt no surprise at all. Instead, he felt a sense of helplessness, as if it had finally arrived.

***

"Have you guys seen Weibo? There's a satellite monitoring a huge air mass over the sea. This air mass could potentially form a Category 15 typhoon and make landfall on the coastal areas." Chen Panpan shared the news she found online with her colleagues. "The Meteorological Bureau says that if the typhoon successfully makes landfall, several coastal cities will be affected. They've already started evacuating nearby residents to typhoon shelters."

Hearing Chen Panpan's words, Shen Chang'an took out his phone and looked. The satellite photos showed a typhoon air mass that seemed to engulf half the earth, looking quite frightening.

"If it makes landfall, I don't know how much property and personal safety will be lost." Chen Panpan sighed. "I have a classmate who lives in the coastal area. I hope heaven blesses them and lets this typhoon dissipate at sea."

Shen Chang'an scrolled through the comments under the news, and many netizens were posting prayer icons. Countless people were praying to heaven for protection.

The locals, however, were quite calm. Some netizens even complained online about a certain brand of food being unpopular. All the other food in the supermarket was sold out, but this brand was still sitting there.

"This brand of food is actually really good," Shen Chang'an whispered. "Spicy and numbing, it's so satisfying to eat." He sighed and joined the netizens in praying for a safe passage through this.

"I hope the people there can safely weather this natural disaster."

***

When Shen Chang'an rushed to Uncle Zhang's house after work that afternoon, he saw the otaku ghost sitting on the floor, happily munching on a few sticks of incense.

"Boss, have you eaten?" The otaku ghost saw Shen Chang'an return and instinctively said, "Want to share some?"

Shen Chang'an: "..."

"No, thank you." He wouldn't be interested in that kind of food for the next few decades.

The otaku ghost, a homebody, finally realized he'd said something wrong. He gave Shen Chang'an a flattering smile. "I can cook. How about I make you something? I make all my own lunches."

Shen Chang'an looked at the three people sitting on the sofa, feeling disbelief. These three people even enslaved ghosts?

After a moment's thought, he sat down next to Zhang Gu and smiled at the otaku ghost, "Then I'll trouble you."

Uncle Zhang and Yan Yin turned their heads to look at him, both with a "you're learning" smile.

"Have you figured out what happened?" Shen Chang'an glanced at the empty table. He was used to Dao Nian's house always having food everywhere, so seeing an empty table felt strange.

"No." Uncle Zhang shook his head, "Even Yun Feng, the most powerful in our metaphysics circle, couldn't figure out the reason. From every perspective, this kid was destined for both wealth and good fortune."

"But he died suddenly." Shen Chang'an looked towards the kitchen. The otaku ghost poked his head out from the doorway, "Boss, can you handle spicy food?"

Although the otaku ghost's appearance was only average, his smile was rather endearing. Thinking about how such a simple young man had died for no apparent reason and was even denied reincarnation, Shen Chang'an couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy.

He smiled at the otaku ghost, "I can't handle too much spice, but I do crave it occasionally. Thanks for the trouble."

"Okay, I understand. I'll definitely make something you like." The otaku ghost smiled at him, then retracted his head. Soon, the sound of stir-frying came from the kitchen.

Shen Chang'an stroked his chin and asked Uncle Zhang and Master Yan Yin again, "Can't we try to summon the underworld soldiers?"

He couldn't bear to see such a well-behaved young man encounter such an unfair situation.

Uncle Zhang already felt embarrassed because he couldn't even handle a small ghost. Hearing Shen Chang'an's question, he threw caution to the wind and said, "If you think you can do it, go ahead."

Shen Chang'an was speechless at this retort: "Uncle, you're just teasing me. I haven't even learned any spells."

“How will you know if you don’t try? How can you succeed?” Uncle Zhang stood up, his voice booming. “You wait, I’ll prepare an altar for you.” To convince a young man with a strong sense of self, the only way was to let him experience failure himself, so he could truly understand what reality was.

"Hey..." Shen Chang'an stared at Uncle Zhang, who was actually going inside to prepare the altar, a little dumbfounded. Did people in the metaphysics world always go straight for the jugular?

Zhang Gu patted his shoulder sympathetically. "My master uncle always has this temper. He'll be back to normal after you fail to invite the god."

"What if it succeeds?" Shen Chang'an joked.

"Donor Shen, you are truly a young man with a vivid imagination." Yan Yin smiled gently. "This monk believes that someone like you is well-suited for practicing Buddhism. Are you really not considering it?"

Shen Chang'an: "..."

"No need, thank you."