Yelong, who saw this, was about to say something.
Just then, Jiming chimed in and said "Senior Ruan, I wanted to ask you about a small matter. Do you perhaps have time right now?"
Yelong looked at Jiming, and with a thankful expression, he nodded and followed behind her.
The other three all seemed to suddenly be busy – Puyan went to talk with the planters, Miaoyu with the alchemists and Longbao… he walked to the fighters with a face that said "I'm here to make money".
Fu Xian saw all this and was grateful. He told the dazed Helong to follow him as he walked out of the main hall. There were gardens all around, and he simply stood in front of a small pool, looking at it with a smile.
Helong followed behind and also stood in front of the pool, looking unfocused.
"Do you know the movement of water?" Fu Xian asked, his voice calm, "Or perhaps the movement of wind?"
Looking up, Helong observed the still pool and shook his head "I know of no movement."
Fu Xian nodded "That's good, because there is no movement."
Helong was confused "There is no movement? But, rivers flow and winds blow, so there should be movement…"
"That's right, there is movement."
This confused Helong even further. He though about it and didn't understand, so he bowed and asked "Could senior please explain to me?"
Fu Xian nodded "The wind and water are still, how could they move? If you put either in a bottle, they will just be still, for all eternity.
When the sun heats the earth, the wind is affected. Warm wind rises and cold wind falls. The sun doesn't hit the earth equally – the sun in the central line, where it rises and falls, is especially warm. The poles, north and south, far away from the movement of the sun, are cold.
What about water?
The movement of water varies and can be influenced through many things: the sun, the earth, the wind, but the most basic movement is that of the moon. Wherever the moon moves, the water moves.
So the study of Fengshui isn't the study of the literal meaning "Wind" and "Water", it's the study of the Sun and Moon, the study of the stars and the earth.
Is Fengshui important when drawing talismans?"
Helong listened attentively, his dazed eyes gaining clarity. He thought about the question and answered honestly "It… it could influence talismans, but it shouldn't be important…"
"Fengshui is important to talisman drawing." Fu Xian said.
"Senior, may I know how and why?" Helong instantly asked, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.
Fu Xian shook his head "Fengshui is not important when drawing talismans."
Helong was perplexed again. He felt like it was just as before. He waited for an answer but didn't hear any, so he recalled the situation before.
'Before… before I asked whether the knowledge I knew was right… so should I guess? No, I should still give a proper answer. But, is Fengshui really important? Or is it not important?' he thought, contemplating several times.
Finally, he didn't know and asked "Senior, I don't know, could you please tell me?"
Fu Xian smiled "It's good if you know, it's bad if you don't know, it's very bad if you don't know and don't ask and it's okay if you don't know but ask. If you don't know anything, and can't find an answer on your own, don't hesitate to ask. Not asking is a very bad habit and will only cause you trouble.
Do you know what's very good? If you can find the answer after being taught but not told.
So let me teach you and maybe you understand.
There were two villages close to each other. One was at the end of a small river and the other was at the start of the small river.
The village at the start of the river could use the river water as they wished. It would constantly move downwards, whether it was winter or summer, it would be fine.
The village on the end of the river had to be careful. When the river was blocked, they had to unblock it. During winter, the river at the bottom was frozen, and they couldn't use it anymore. There were many more problems and basically every month, they had to solve an issue.
After many years, the villagers at the bottom have built various wells and were fine even if the river couldn't be used for a month, while the villagers at the top didn't have any issues and never found ways to save the river water.
One year, the summer was extremely hot. So hot that all the river water evaporated, becoming cloud sand leaving the area of the village.
The villages at the bottom of the village struggled for a bit, but using their saved water and other methods, they were able to survive for a month until the hottest month was gone, after which there was heavy rain.
On the other hand, the villagers at the top never had any issues and didn't have solutions.
After just a week, they had lost over half their water, so they had to save it extremely well. Young and old were in dispute, and people suffered. They had no more water in the third week, and by the fourth, the oldest and youngest had dehydrated, only those in the middle survived barely.
Tell me, is the river important?"
"Yes… the river is important. Mortals and even lower-stage cultivators need water to survive."
Fu Xian nodded, not commenting.
Seemingly understanding his intention, Helong contemplated deeply.
He thought of various ways, of the previous conversation and his question.
In the end, he answered "It is very important, but also not important. To the village at the end, the river was generally important, but because they had experienced issues, they found ways to circumvent it, so the river wasn't as important anymore.
But the villages at the top didn't have any issues for a long time, so they never expected something to happen. In the end, to them, the river water which had been abundant for a long time was the most important…
Senior, does this mean that water is more important to some and less to others? Does this mean that one should prepare for the worst matter?
No, as cultivators, as long as we advance, we won't require most things except for spiritual power, but we can't possibly save spiritual power…
It should be… right, I said so, some things are more important to others while less important to some.
Fengshui isn't important to most cultivators, but because I specialise in wind and water talisman, fengshui is important to me!"