The Librarian and the Fox Princess: a Donghua Dijun and Bai Fengjiu story, V.I

Chapter 100 - A Path, Beloved.

Dong Hua hadn't been though these areas for some time and he certainly couldn't remember the last time he tracked someone using the old-fashioned way without magic. He had insisted anyone under him during the Great Wars learn as many skills without magic as possible as cultivation needed to be conserved during periods of injury or retreat on the battlefield.

He knew that she was most likely traveling in her fox form for efficiency. He scanned the ground for her paw tracks.

He thought about the line in her letter where she wrote, I have to figure something out for us.

What exactly was she trying to figure out for them and why did she have to leave him to do that? It could be anything. Her fox uncle was right, he had given her so much to worry about. When they were in the Fang Xu Realm and she was about to take him to the Mortal Realm to go to the restaurant, he had shamelessly used the excuse of an investigation into nefarious demon activity to keep her by his side. He had asked her to be his bodyguard who was tasked to keep him safe and to escort him back to the Nine Heavens.

Just be with me Xiao Bai, that's all I need from you.

While she had fulfilled all of her promises, It turned out to be much more complicated than that. She was young. She should be enjoying a carefree life far from sorrow, sickness and death. But being with him exposed her to exactly those very things.

Yet, she knew that suffering was an innate part of existence. and it arose not out of thin air, but out of causes and conditions. This is where the teaching of Karma comes in and facilitates the understanding of interdependence. Nothing arises in isolation. There is mutual dependence of the past and the future, of past deeds, current situations, and future outcomes. His actions affected her, and her actions affected him. Having her in his life made him look at personal responsibility in a way that he had become lax with in his semi-retirement. He had saved the realms and then became passively negligent. Having a little fox in his life brought his attention back to being in the world. His existence was no longer a casual matter, it became purposeful because she had made it meaningful.

She had reminded him of the Four Noble Truths, a foundation of the Buddha's teachings. It was like a doctor diagnosing and treating an illness. The First Truth was the diagnosis of the ailment, the Second Truth was knowing the root cause of the illness, and the Third was the truth that there was a cure, a remedy, or the alleviation of suffering. The Fourth was the prescription or treatment. It was referred to as the Noble Eightfold Path: Wise View, Wise Intention, Wise Speech, Wise Action, Wise Effort, Wise Mindfulness, and Wise Concentration. Being a librarian he had access to all of the texts. He had read it a million times over in countless books and scrolls but her presence in his life reminded him that knowledge meant little without purposeful application. This path, that was meant to alleviate suffering for self and others, was to be practiced though meditation, introspection, and concerted effort in daily life.

She had asked him to cultivate on that path with her. While he would undoubtedly be stumbling on this path, after all, wisdom is power but power is not wisdom. He was a good example of this, he thought. However unsteady his steps might be, he would at least be on this path with her. And no matter how he wanted to shield and protect her from the hardest and most painful parts of a long life, he could not. But she had already shown him the way. She had already offered him her best. It was her loving presence and companionship until the end of his days. He would do his best to offer her the same.

A rustling within the grass brought his attention back to the present moment as he spied a flash of red.