Striving for Science C110 pt1

"The problem is solved, why do you need to ask?" Dao Nian shoved a cup of hawthorn tea into Shen Chang'an's hand, "Judge Wei didn't notice anything unusual about your Dharma Seal?"

Judge Wei was focused on how to persuade the Heavenly Dao Lord, and he was also afraid that his own ghostly aura would affect Shen Chang'an, so he was very restrained. Now, hearing Dao Nian say this, he quickly took out his Dharma Seal and looked at it, excitedly standing up: "It really changed?"

Seeing Judge Wei so happy, Shen Chang'an put down the hawthorn tea he was holding and sincerely smiled: "Congratulations, Judge Wei, you got your wish."

"Thank you, Mr. Shen, thank you, Heavenly Dao Lord." Judge Wei suppressed his excitement, straightened his clothes, and bowed to the two of them: "This official, on behalf of the pitiful women in the Underworld, thanks you both."

"You're too polite." Shen Chang'an had always held Judge Wei in high regard, so he was unwilling to accept his bow, quickly reaching out to help him up: "This rule should have been changed a long time ago, maybe today was just the right time."

Judge Wei knew in his heart that there were no such coincidences in the world, so he insisted on completing the bow: "The Underworld has a new rule, this official dares not stay long, I'll take my leave."

"Take care." Shen Chang'an saw Judge Wei off to the door, and after he disappeared in a blink of an eye, he returned to the living room and sat next to Dao Nian: "If I told my friends that I had dinner with a historical figure, would they think I'm crazy?"

Dao Nian raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"You knew what Judge Wei wanted to do all along, but you didn't say anything. I never thought you would deliberately tease people." Shen Chang'an held Dao Nian's face: "Changing the Underworld's rules doesn't affect you, does it?"

After staring at Shen Chang'an for a long time, Dao Nian finally said: "It wasn't me."

"If it wasn't you, then who was it?" Shen Chang'an frowned in confusion: "Could it really be a coincidence?"

Dao Nian lowered his eyes and vaguely hummed in agreement.

"So we got a favor from the Underworld for free?" Shen Chang'an rubbed his hands and said with a smile: "That's so embarrassing."

"It's not exactly free." Dao Nian's gaze drifted to the side, avoiding Shen Chang'an's eyes: "Although I didn't do it myself, it's related to me."

"Oh." Shen Chang'an seemed to understand, but people like Dao Nian, who spoke in a way that was hard to understand, were a symbol of their status, so he didn't dwell on this small issue, yawned, and leaned against Dao Nian's shoulder to take a nap.

Watching Shen Chang'an go from leaning against his shoulder to sprawling into his arms, Dao Nian conjured a blanket and covered him.

Liu Mao tiptoed over and whispered: "Chang'an doesn't know how powerful he is yet."

Dao Nian glanced at him, silently shook his head, and adjusted the blanket for Shen Chang'an.

Seeing this, Liu Mao shook his head helplessly, turned and left the living room, also telling the others not to come in, allowing the two to stay on the sofa and cuddle quietly.

Shen Tu, guarding the door, saw Liu Mao come out and smiled: "Didn't you talk too much this time?"

"I'm not a cannon fodder villain who breaks up couples." Liu Mao laughed and scolded, walking to Shen Tu's side and whispering: "Besides, I think maybe our previous guesses were wrong."

"What do you mean?" Shen Tu divided the melon seeds in his hand with Liu Mao.

"Is there gossip?" Wu Qu saw the two of them munching on melon seeds, looking like they were about to gossip, and quickly joined them, grabbing a handful of melon seeds from Shen Tu's hand: "Let me listen too."

Shen Tu: "..."

Even though he's a star god in the heavens, if he wants to listen to gossip, can't he be a little more reserved?

"Old Niu, hurry up and tell us." Wu Qu casually conjured a table and three stools, pulling everyone to sit down together.

Liu Mao felt a little stifled. He had come to discuss serious matters, but Wu Qu's actions made him feel like he was gossiping behind someone's back.

He took a deep breath. "In the past, we always thought that the Life Dao existed to counter Heavenly Dao. But we seem to have forgotten that Heavenly Dao and the Life Dao were born after the Great Dao perished. They seem to be opposed to each other, but together they form a whole. Moreover..."

Liu Mao whispered, "The night after Lord and Chang'an were together, how much commotion there was, and the boundless life force and spiritual energy, you all saw it too."

"So, I have a new theory. The idea that Heavenly Dao and the Life Dao are mutually antagonistic is a trap left behind by the Great Dao's remnant consciousness. Perhaps the way to maintain the stability of this world is to merge Heavenly Dao and the Life Dao into one."

"Clack, clack, clack."

"Crack, crack, crack…"

After sharing his theory, Liu Mao noticed that his two listeners didn't show any signs of enlightenment. Instead, they were happily munching on melon seeds. His expression fell. "Don't you have any thoughts?"

"No." Wu Qu said bluntly, "For me, whether Heavenly Dao and the Life Dao are separate or united, whether they are enemies or friends doesn't matter. What matters is that Lord and Chang'an are smitten with each other. No matter how much you speculate, you can't change their stance."

"Yes." Shen Tu nodded. "If the Life Dao and Heavenly Dao are truly destined to be enemies, how could the two of them possibly fall for each other? You haven't noticed that Chang'an deliberately showed off his affection in front of the Underworld Judge today?"

"Deliberately?"

"You, a bull yao who doesn't interact much with humans, wouldn't understand. Human hearts can be very broad, sometimes, and sometimes smaller than a pinhole." Shen Tu sighed. "Human possessiveness can be scarier than yao sometimes."

"But Chang'an isn't truly human…"

"But in his mind, he is human." Shen Tu interrupted Liu Mao. "As long as he doesn't change his own perception, then he is human, not the Life Dao."

Liu Mao frowned.

"You just lack life experience." Shen Tu munched on melon seeds, shaking his head and nodding. "Unlike me, I've seen all the love and hate, life and death in the human world."

"Yeah, if people nowadays didn't dislike sticking door gods on their doors, you could see even more." Liu Mao said. "Don't you feel regretful now?"

"Don't even mention it." Shen Tu quickly shook his head. "It's good like this now, peaceful."

If he wasn't born a door god, he would never have become one. Who would want to see all those messy, chaotic things? Especially those families who aren't harmonious and argue all the time, he wouldn't even want to spare a sliver of his divine consciousness for them.

"Crack, crack."

Shen Tu and Liu Mao both turned to look at Wu Qu, who was happily munching on melon seeds.

"What are you looking at me for?" Wu Qu shook his head. "I don't have any gossip here. Wen Qu has more. Even in this day and age, Wen Qu's position in the hearts of humans remains unshakable. Especially in June every year, his incense is so abundant that it almost explodes his immortal abode."

June is the time for the middle school and college entrance exams. If kneeling before Wen Qu can help their children get a few extra points, these parents might be willing to kneel for three days and three nights.

In the past, how many people were educated? How many people are educated now? So even in this age of promoting science, the number of people who worship Wen Qu will only increase, not decrease.

In their pursuit of knowledge, humans have never stopped. This spirit is unmatched by any other race.

"Who asked you for gossip?" Liu Mao said. "You're not planning to stay here, are you?"

"Isn't this pretty good?" Wu Qu said, "Living here, I don't have to receive prayers from mortals. I just need to watch them work hard and give them a word of encouragement.

Liu Mao was a little dazed. Many years ago, Wen Qu star and Wu Qu star held similar positions in the mortal realm. Now, Wu Qu star seemed to have adopted a retirement mentality.

That's right. Humans don't need to pray to gods every time they have a problem. Humans have become more independent, and the lives of gods have become easier. It's pretty good.

***

It was almost two o'clock when Shen Tu saw Shen Chang'an come out of the front door. He got up and said, "Chang'an, you just woke up. Let me drive you there."

"Thanks." Shen Chang'an ruffled his hair, which had been sticking up from sleep, and thanked Shen Tu.

"Hey!"

"You flatterer!"

Wu Qu and Liu Mao watched Shen Tu and Shen Chang'an leave, exchanging a knowing glance.

Liu Mao: "When he comes back, let's isolate him."

Wu Qu: "That might not work."

"Why?"

"Because there are two door gods, we don't play with him, there's also Yu Lei."

As the car drove out of the residential area, Shen Tu said, "Chang'an, you seem to be in a good mood?"

"Yeah." Shen Chang'an touched his face. "Is it that obvious?"

"Just a little bit." Shen Tu chuckled. "If you're interested in the affairs of the Underworld, you can ask Mr. Dao Nian to take you to see it."

"No need." Shen Chang'an shook his head. "Everyone has their own expertise. I'm a living person, I don't understand anything about the Underworld, why would I go and meddle in those matters?"

Glancing at Shen Chang'an's expression in the rearview mirror, Shen Tu said, "You were so close to Mr. Dao Nian in front of Judge Wei today, aren't you afraid that he'll spread rumors when he goes back?"

"Judge Wei is a man of integrity, even if he mentions Dao Nian and me when he goes back, he won't exaggerate. What do I have to be afraid of?" Shen Chang'an smiled. "Besides, I actually want all the gods and yaos to know how close Dao Nian and I are."

"Why?" Shen Tu felt that this was beyond mere possessiveness.

"Life is short, I don't know what will become of me after I die. But as long as Dao Nian and I are close enough, the legends about our love will last for a long time." 

Shen Chang'an remembered what Bedside Granny had said, this was his last reincarnation as a human, he didn't know what awaited him in the end, whether it was soul scattering or something else. "In the future... no matter where I am, when people mention Dao Nian, they will remember that there was once a lover named Shen Chang'an by his side."

Shen Tu was moved.

"And by the way, let those gods and yaos who are eyeing my Dao Nian know to behave themselves, don't try to steal my man, in Dao Nian's heart, there's only me."

Shen Tu: "..."

I never knew Chang'an was so scheming.

"Chang'an, have you ever considered accompanying the Master through the long years, until the end of time?" Shen Tu felt he shouldn't interfere with the Master's personal life, but thinking about the Master's long and lonely life, only to have Shen Chang'an appear, he couldn't help but meddle once again.

"I... really hope so." Shen Chang'an turned his head to look at the scenery outside the window, a hint of a smile in his eyes. "I want to stay by his side."

The car fell silent. Shen Tu drove Shen Chang'an to the gate of the Civil Service Department building and said to him, "If Mr. Dao Nian knew what you were thinking, he would be very happy."

"To accompany your loved one until the end of time, isn't that what every dedicated and responsible lover should think?" Shen Chang'an closed the car door, waved to Shen Tu with a smile, "See you tonight."

Shen Tu waved at him, watching Shen Chang'an stride into the office courtyard gate. Shen Tu chuckled softly, perhaps Liu Mao was right, the Life Dao and the Heavenly Dao were meant to be together.