By the Hengshui River, the sky was clear and the sun was bright. The Fox Demon stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking refined and polite.
For so reason, the sight struck the mbers of the Escort Team as exceptionally splendid and almost dreamlike.
But when the Fox Demon spoke, no one dared to answer.
No matter how cultured and courteous he appeared, he was, after all, a Demon!
A creature that could speak human words was no ordinary Demon. Could one simply answer such a Demon’s question?
On the Escort Team’s side, the crowd remained silent for a long ti. Even the usually reckless and naive Young Master Zhang stayed perfectly quiet among the others.
The atmosphere began to grow strange.
Within the Escort Team, the first to make a sound were not the people, but the horses pulling the carts.
An animal’s instincts are sotis sharper than a human’s. It was impossible to tell which horse was the first to snort uneasily. Soon after, others began to shake their heads and kick out, while one suddenly reared, screaming: NEIGHHH—
Amidst the chorus of neighs, one of the Porters driving a cart suddenly lost control of his horse and, sohow, fell from the carriage shaft!
He let out a cry of pain.
On the main road ahead, the Fox Demon, who had been waiting with patient silence, slowly spoke. "You there, driver. Why are you alard? Why do you suffer pain? Why do you cry out?"
The Porter who had fallen to the ground, having been singled out, found that although his heart wanted to stay silent, the words ca out of his mouth against his will. "I... I’m scared of you, and the horse threw off. Of course I’m alard."
"When I’m alard, I lose control of myself and fall. I’m flesh and blood, not unfeeling. It’s only natural to feel pain when I hit the ground, and to cry out when I’m in pain."
After this torrent of words, the Fox Demon, his back still to the crowd, nodded. "You speak with great reason. To have fears, to be afraid—this is human nature. To be of flesh and blood, to cry out when hurt—this is a natural reaction, also human nature."
"However, alarm, pain, and outcry are not unique to Humans. Look—the horse beside you, the insect beneath you... are they not the sa?"
’The insect beneath ?’
Confused by the Demon’s baffling words, the Porter on the ground instinctively shifted his weight and looked down.
He saw a small grasshopper with a half-severed leg, lying right where he had landed!
Obviously, he was the one who had crushed it.
The injured grasshopper, which had been on the verge of death, was suddenly given a new lease on life when the Porter moved.
It imdiately struggled to beat its wings, letting out a BUZZ, and flew away from right in front of the Porter’s face!
"Ah!" The Porter couldn’t help but let out another cry of alarm.
An inexplicable panic rose in his heart, and he pushed himself up, scrambling away from the spot.
He had fallen not far from Song Ciwan, and he scrambled right over to the carriage where she sat.
He bumped into the carriage shaft and was caught by Lan Qiuyan.
Lan Qiuyan couldn’t help but ask, "Senior Brother Feng, are you alright?"
The Porter, Senior Brother Feng, stamred, "I... I..." His tongue felt tied, and he was too panicked to form a coherent reply.
Ahead, the Fox Demon sighed softly. "You see? A Human panics and cries out. A small insect panics and cries out. What difference is there between a Human, an insect, a walking beast, a flying bird, or any creature of fur and horn?"
"Why, of all the myriad things born into this world, must Humans be considered the lords of creation?"
"Why is it that birds and beasts, born in the mountains and wilds and raised in nature, receive no favor from nature? When a Mortal Beast seeks to awaken its intelligence, not even one in tens of thousands may succeed."
"And yet Humans... they are born with intelligence!"
"The Human Race, born with intelligence, learns to speak and walk in childhood. They awaken their minds, understand reason, know to wear clothes to cover their sha, and build houses to ward off the cold. They can start a Fire to cook their food and make all of creation their nu!"
When he spoke the final words, "to make all of creation their nu!", the Fox Demon’s calm, refined tone finally rose with a hint of passion.
His emotions seed to roil. The grass and stones on either side of the road began to tremble, and the west Wind intensified.
"In a single Human lifeti, how many insects and living creatures are crushed under a careless foot? When a Human eats plants, birds, and beasts, it is called the natural way of the world, the Dao of life."
"But why, when a Demon eats human flesh, is it an offense against the celestial order, a heretical and evil path?"
"Why? Why?"
His voice rose to a fever pitch. The question "Why?" hung in the air over the small patch of earth occupied by the Escort Team, whipping up a furious Wind that blinded and disoriented them.
At the rear of the Escort Team, soone couldn’t help but cry out in panic again.
A clamor of chaos erupted from the crowd.
The Fox Demon did not turn his head. He only said, "Porter, since you broke an insect’s leg, you will trade your arm for it."
Before he had even finished his sentence, the right arm of Senior Brother Feng, who was being supported by Lan Qiuyan, vanished.
In its place was an enlarged, glistening green insect leg.
Lan Qiuyan shrieked, "Ah!" The Fox Demon said, "That woman, you scream so loudly. Is it out of pity for him?"
Lan Qiuyan opened her mouth, about to answer just as Senior Brother Feng had, when from the side, Song Ciwan reached out and gently tapped her on the shoulder.
The light tap was surprisingly potent.
Sohow, the tap squelched the overwhelming urge she felt to reply.
Leaning a hand on Lan Qiuyan’s shoulder for support, Song Ciwan stepped down from the carriage.
She stood before the vehicle, the Dharma Transmission Skill unfolding invisibly around her.
"Fellow Daoist," Song Ciwan said. "You ask why, among all of creation, Humans are considered the lords. Then you should also know that compassion, too, is human nature. I ask you: do plants and insects, birds and beasts, possess compassion?"
The question gave the Fox Demon pause.
The Fox Demon hesitated, then said, "A lamb kneels to suckle, a crow returns the favor of its feeding. How can you say that birds and beasts lack a compassionate heart?"
Song Ciwan said, "If common birds and beasts understand compassion, then surely a Fellow Daoist such as yourself possesses it in even greater asure. You have cultivated a human form from a fox’s body, you speak our tongue, and you seek the Dao and the truth. That being the case, do you understand the imnse harm you have inflicted by turning that man’s arm into an insect’s leg? Do you comprehend the consequences?"
The Fox Demon said, "It is rely his just deserts. Whatever the consequences, are they not what he ought to bear?"
Song Ciwan sighed. "Fellow Daoist, let ask, why do sheep, rabbits, and cows eat grass? Let ask, do tigers, leopards, and other predators not hunt? And let ask you, Fellow Daoist... do you abstain from at?"
After her string of questions, she added one more: "Fellow Daoist, don’t you like chicken?"
No fox can resist a chicken. The Fox Demon was once again at a loss for words.
He found he had no rebuttal to Song Ciwan’s argunt.
Song Ciwan continued, "Sunlight and rain nourish the plants. Sheep and rabbits eat the plants. Tigers and leopards eat the sheep. All things decay and beco the soil of spring. When the spring Wind blows next year, the plants grow vibrantly once more. This is the cycle of the Celestial Dao. What do you think, Fellow Daoist?"
The Fox Demon gasped, "Ah... So that’s how it is."
Song Ciwan said, "Humans, too, are but one link in the chain of all living things. For a Human to eat plants, birds, and beasts is therefore also part of the Dao of life. And the insect on the ground is born into this sa Dao. Would you not agree, Fellow Daoist?"
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