I originally sought to keep my heart steady, but my heart could not find peace until my heart knew it. The heart governs virtues, willpower, body, heaven, and spirit. When can I finally prove my true self?

※※※

We set up our tents on a spot about ten yards higher than the bottom of the canyon because we feared that it might suddenly rain in the evening. When we arrived, everyone had checked the weather forecast, but it seemed like not many people believed the prediction of no rain for the next few days, especially since the weather in the forested, mountainous canyon area could be unpredictable, particularly at the end of summer.

Across from our camp, on the other side of the canyon, there was a mountain cave. Such caves could be found all around the foothills or the bottom of the mountains. No one really paid much attention to it.

I had just become the subject of everyone's teasing due to a little mishap, and I didn’t mind it much since I had thick skin. Surprisingly, our beautiful and graceful English teacher, Lü Yanling, wasn’t even the slightest bit embarrassed. I was really impressed by her!

Everyone was intrigued by the little bird in my hand, especially the girls in our class.

Strangely enough, the little bird behaved very calmly in my hand, but once anyone else held it, it would flutter and struggle uncontrollably. Who would’ve thought that I had such a strange connection with this little bird?

Since there were many of us, we formed several circles with snacks and fruits in the middle. I casually inserted myself into one, and next to me was a very quiet boy from the class. Honestly, I couldn’t even remember his name. I felt a little embarrassed about that.

The cheerful sounds of young boys and girls, the chatter, and the munching noises filled the quiet canyon with a unique charm. I started eating my fruit, while the little bird kept chirping beside me. I threw the leftover fruit pit to it, and to my surprise, the bird actually ate the fruit. What the heck! I had caught, beaten, and cooked many birds in my life, but I had never seen or heard of one eating fruit like this.

“Everyone, I hope you’re having fun on this trip! Let’s all raise a glass together!”

I was playing with the little bird when suddenly I heard my cousin Zhang Fuhong’s enthusiastic speech. Only then did I realize that there was a glass of beer in front of me. Nice! I liked beer. I didn’t quite understand what my cousin was saying, but I raised my glass and drank it all in one go. Out of curiosity, I tipped the glass and let a few drops fall into my palm, which I then fed to the bird.

“Cheers! We are all classmates because of fate. In the future, let’s all work hard for our goals after entering university. Now, why don’t we all share our dreams? How about it?”

My cousin was still blabbering on, and I continued feeding the bird beer.

“I’ll go first. My dream is to become a teacher,” my cousin said.

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When I heard him say this, I looked up and noticed that he was gazing at the homeroom teacher and the English teacher with sincere eyes. What?! When did my cousin become such a flatterer?

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! There were many applause.

Wu Xiaoman, the second person, said, “My dream is to become a broadcaster or a TV host.”

Hmm, she has personality! Clap! Clap! Clap! Applause.

Zhang Yu then said, “My dream is to become a doctor.”

It seemed like she had been ill before, always taking medicine, maybe that’s why she liked hospitals and the smell of drugs. My mind wandered off.

Clap! Clap! Applause.

“……”

One by one, my classmates shared their dreams. Everyone, except for my cousin, had a look of longing in their eyes. I couldn’t help but ask myself: Before my grandfather passed away, my dream had been to become a renowned Taoist Cultivator. But after my grandfather’s death, and after I started practicing cultivation, has my dream shifted to becoming an immortal? I thought about it and realized that wasn’t the case at all. In the beginning, I had started cultivating just for fun. So what was my real dream? I suddenly felt that the classmates sitting around me seemed so distant, so far away. Sighing, I laid down on the ground and stared at the sky… I really need to think of a dream.

“Zhang SanTong!!! Zhang—San—Tong.”

It seemed like someone was calling me. I sat up and saw that everyone was looking at me.

“You, why are you so down? We’re asking you—what’s your dream?” my cousin asked me bluntly. Young people nowadays, where did they get all this energy? Just because I didn’t give him my seat on the way here, he had to be so rude.

I had no interest, so I lazily responded, “I… don’t have a dream.” After I finished, I even tried to clap, but when I raised my hand, I noticed everyone was looking at me with disdain.

No applause! Forget it, I wondered if no dream meant no applause.

When I said that I didn’t have a dream, I saw a variety of different gazes.

My cousin’s eyes showed a bit of a bitter smile. Maybe as family, he felt helpless.

Wu Xiaoman’s eyes were cold, with a trace of regret.

Zhang Yu’s gaze I couldn’t quite understand, but it felt strange.

……

In any case, I was mocked by my classmates again. Since I started practicing cultivation, why did I feel more and more distant from them? I was always helpless about it. I wanted to change, but I just didn’t feel interested.

Afterward, I simply lay down on the ground. The rest of the class began to play games, and no one invited me to join. I enjoyed the peace and quiet. Occasionally, when everyone clinked glasses to drink, Cao Kui and Cheng Fan would come over and share a drink with me. That’s what brothers do!

The little bird was still beside me, falling and getting up, then standing again, only to fall down again. It seemed like it was drunk.

I gazed at the sky, and suddenly, a dark cloud appeared from who knows where. It looked like a person with messy hair, the features unclear. In an instant, it became violent and spread out in all directions, with a ferocious, ever-changing form, pressing down from the sky.

I shouted, “It’s going to rain, let’s pack up!”

At that moment, everyone noticed that the sky had darkened, and they hurriedly began packing their things. They started building a dirt wall around the tents to prevent water from getting in.

Within a short time, the sky turned into a chaotic, oppressive mass of clouds, and the wind began to pick up, growing stronger.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Deafening thunder echoed repeatedly from the sky, reverberating throughout the canyon.

What troubled me was that the Xuanhuang Flag in my mind was trembling, as if it were excited. Damn it, why would this happen? There are so many classmates around. If I release the Xuanhuang Flag, wouldn’t I scare them all to death?

I used my spiritual sense to calm the Xuanhuang Flag and grabbed the little bird. Feeling helpless, I told everyone that I was not feeling well and went into the assigned tent.

As the thunder grew louder, it became harder to suppress the Xuanhuang Flag. Through the curtain of the tent, I saw that the sky outside had turned pitch black, a storm was approaching.

Damn it—stupid weather forecast…