Shao was sitting by himself in the pavilion, crying. Elder Xiao saw this, and walked over to him.

“Junior Shao… What troubles you so?”

“Wh- Why did the Dao have to take fatty? He was such a g- good friend and he d- didn’t deserve to die so young… It should have been me…”

“Junior Shao…”

Xiao sat beside him and put his hand on Shao’s shoulders before continuing.

“You see… Sometimes the Dao works in mysterious ways… we can’t understand it. Sometimes it hurts us so much, and we cry and cry and cry and curse the Dao... But you see junior, The Dao is bountiful, it is sovereign, and it is without beginning or end. Life is but a fleeting gift, yes, but it is the truest gift from which all others flow.”

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“Sniff Then… Why Sniff does the Dao give us anything to start with? Why doesn't it just not make us in the first place?”

“If there were no life, there would indeed be no suffering... but there would also be no joy. Indeed, the Dao gives and it takes away... but life, love, joy, and health are all beautiful because they end. What could we do besides suffer if we lived forever? Who would bother to truly live if life itself were such an abundant commodity!? We live to the fullest because we only have one chance to do so! Junior Shao, Fatty’s death may be a lesson for you to grasp hold of your life! We cannot say whether we will die tomorrow or the next day, but we can say that we are living now! When you live, do it with every ounce of your being! … For the time may come when you no longer have the chance to do so… Junior Shao.”

“T- Thank you Elder Xiao!”