Dawn…. Meng Hao opened his eyes, then immediately closed them again.
“What a good friend! In the past several lives, I’ve only had myself to talk to. I never realized how boring it is to talk to myself… And I could never figure out why everyone hates me so much. They even call me Ultimate Vexation….”
“Yeah! I haven’t had a discussion like this the entire time I’ve been in the Solitary Sword Sect.”
“Come come, now that we’ve finished talking about the noon sunshine, let’s talk a bit about the afternoon….”
Late morning…. Sunlight filtered into the house. Meng Hao opened his eyes and stared blankly at Chen Fan and the meat jelly. He sighed and continued to meditate.
“Let me tell you, I’m sick of afternoons. I remember the afternoon of one year when I….”
“You’re right! I’m the same way. But the only thing I can do during that time is to grind my teeth….”
More hours passed, and soon it was afternoon. Meng Hao opened his eyes a few times, but all he could do was laugh bitterly and close them again.
Chen Fan and the meat jelly had talked through the entire night, all the way through the morning. One man, one bird, seemingly inexhaustible and, in fact, in high spirits.
Meng Hao couldn’t help but admire Elder Brother Chen. It seemed he really was a perfect match for the meat jelly.
Meng Hao sat quietly. He wanted to stand up, but was worried that Chen Fan and the meat jelly would drag him into their conversation. He took a breath and then closed his eyes, pretending that he couldn’t hear anything that they were saying.
Eventually, the sun began to set….
“I like sunset the best. Every time I gaze at the setting sun, I think of that time one year when I was just a tiny meat jelly, I….”
“Sunset is immeasurably wonderful. You know, you really don’t know how difficult it is to practice Cultivation. Oh, that reminds me, throughout the years, I’ve actually collected a thousand different stories about the sunset. I really want to tell you all of them. Come come. I’ll start with the first one….”
The sun had set, and evening passed. Soon it was night again. One man, one bird, chattering away endlessly for a day and a night. They talked on, seemingly not the least bit tired. When midnight came, it finally seemed that Chen Fan wasn’t able to keep going.
“Umm, why don’t we rest a bit?”
“No way! I don’t get many chances to have such a lovely discussion. We still haven’t talked about the meaning of life yet. Ah, the meaning of life. What a beautiful whatchamacallit flower 1. Oh, right. I forgot. Before we talk about the meaning of life, we need to talk about moonlight….”
“Uh… Alright. Actually, I have over three thousand stories about the moonlight….”
“Eee? I have some stories too! Actually, I have ten thousand. You go first, and then me.”
Meng Hao was almost on the verge of collapse. His eyes were bloodshot, and he panted as he forced himself to calm down and return to meditation.
The night passed slowly. Outside, everything was quiet. But within the room, one man and one bird had reached the pinnacle of their conversation. Early morning light once again made its way into the house. Chen Fan’s face was a bit wan, and his eyes were bloodshot.
“Let’s rest a bit… I… I have some plans today….”