Chapter 148: Chapter 128: The Usefulness of Uselessness

At nightfall, in the Yizhou Governor’s Mansion.

Under Qian Jin’s invitation, Du Chengfeng stayed at the Governor’s Mansion. This might have been to reassure him, or as Liu Bolun said, there might be other conspiracies and tricks by Qian Jin—but Du Chengfeng was completely unconcerned about those potential dangers. Or perhaps, this was exactly what he was waiting for.

As the saying goes, soldiers come to block, water comes to cover, without a bit of danger, what would he rely on to increase his strength?

Rely on daily training? That would be too slow.

"So, is this the reason you stayed?"

After hearing what Du Chengfeng said, Liu Bolun, who came intentionally, frowned.

"To hone yourself, to further improve your strength?"

"Otherwise, you wouldn’t really think I’m out of my mind, would you?"

Du Chengfeng couldn’t help but scratch his head.

But for this explanation, Liu Bolun was still somewhat worried. After all, during the time they had spent together, he already knew the other’s temperament—saying he had no big ambitions might be excessive, but Du Chengfeng indeed wasn’t the type to have any grand ambitions.

Perhaps this is also why, even though Du Chengfeng had effectively become a rebel, he still hadn’t truly raised the banner of revolt.

But the problem lies there.

If he’s not rebelling, then is there really a need to court trouble with the experts of great Chen?

"Since you say it’s about improving your strength... then let me tell you a story."

Liu Bolun thought for a moment, then decided to persuade him a bit more.

"A story about a big tree."

"Oh? How so?"

Du Chengfeng showed some interest.

And Liu Bolun continued.

He said that a long, long time ago, there stood a large tree by the roadside. One day, two travelers passed by this big tree. One traveler, seeing the tree, marveled at its dense foliage, while the other, upon hearing this, shook his head repeatedly.

"This tree certainly has lush foliage, but all the branches grow crooked, and the trunk is twisted. A tree like this, let alone being used as a beam for a house, can’t even be made into rafters, or split into boards—it’s utterly useless."

"You’re right, this tree is indeed useless."

Hearing his companion say this, the traveler who had just admired the tree first acknowledged the other’s statement, then told another story.

He said at the seashore of the East Sea, there were spirit turtles, unlike ordinary turtles. These spirit turtles not only grew quickly, but their shells had neat patterns, and compared to ordinary turtles, these spirit turtle shells were excellent materials for divination.

And then these spirit turtles were captured by people who would eat the turtle meat and use the shells for divination. The remaining spirit turtles were kept in captivity, perpetually facing death.

After continued exploitation, these spirit turtles ultimately went extinct.

"The spirit turtles made themselves useful and ended up dying the fastest, while the roadside tree made itself useless, causing it to flourish and live long enough to be seen by us."

This was the reasoning the traveler wanted to convey to his companion.

This was also what Liu Bolun wanted to express to Du Chengfeng.

"Pursuing the improvement of strength, finding ways to make oneself useful, very soon leads to downfall. You’ve already achieved the external release of Evil Qi and have such skills, so why continue the pursuit?"

"Hmm..."

Du Chengfeng’s gaze towards Liu Bolun changed.

No wonder, he had been thinking why Liu Bolun, despite his skills, indulged in wine and idleness—turns out Liu Bolun viewed life this way all along.

And indeed, one could find some reasoning in it.

At least for Liu Bolun, it made sense; after all, he lived adhering to this principle—even if this drunken man had skills, he’d still choose not to use them when possible.

But applying this to Du Chengfeng...

He had a different perspective on the matter.

"Let me tell a story too, also about a tree."

Du Chengfeng organized his thoughts and started speaking to Liu Bolun.

A long time ago, there was likewise a big roadside tree, but unlike the one in Liu Bolun’s story, this tree bore fruit—so, just like the spirit turtles in Liu’s story, this useful tree was eventually discovered by people.

People took the tree’s fruits, pruned its branches, hoping one day to cut down this tree to make beams for houses.

"And then?"

Liu Bolun listened, puzzled.

"Isn’t this the same as what I said?"

"Wait till I finish."

Raising his hand to signal Liu Bolun to be patient, Du Chengfeng continued.

Upon realizing that its misfortune was due to its fruit, the tree stopped bearing fruit, and like the tree in Liu’s story, it grew crooked and twisted, making it impossible to be cut down and used as beams.

But this was meaningless; people still pruned its branches for firewood, stripped its bark for paper. They called the tree useless, yet kept finding ways to make use of it.

"This..."

At this point, Liu Bolun was speechless.

And Du Chengfeng’s story continued.

To survive, the tree further changed—it grew gnarly and knotted, making axe-wielding people frown at the sight. It made its branches damp and watery, only suitable for the lowest-grade firewood. Its bark became ragged and unusable for paper.

Having done all this, surely it could survive now?

The tree felt it had finally done everything.

But this still meant nothing.

The tree, now utterly useless, was eventually seen as an eyesore, leading people to decide to uproot it entirely to pave a more solid road.

"Is this what you wanted to express?"

Liu Bolun was silent for a moment, sensing something from the story.

"Even so-called uselessness has its limits; when you become completely useless, that’s when death is near?"

Liu Bolun began scratching his head.

"Isn’t this a bit too pessimistic?"

"No, I haven’t finished."

Du Chengfeng continued.

"Seeing people with various tools approaching, the tree finally realized it needed to do something—so the tree uprooted itself, took steps, swung its branches, and killed all the people."

Pausing here, Du Chengfeng concluded.

"And so, it survived."

"..."

Liu Bolun was speechless for a long time.

What do you mean by uprooting itself? What kind of nonsense logic is that?

"If being utterly useless can temporarily help you survive, ultimately it’s not your usefulness that determines survival, but others’ thoughts, even their whims."

At this point, Du Chengfeng let out a sigh.

When he first arrived, he also wished to live uninvolved, as a peaceful person, unaccustomed to fighting and killing—yet even if he didn’t seek trouble, trouble always found him, forcing him to fight with all he had, frequently facing situations where retreat meant death.

"So, at least have the strength to uproot oneself."

Du Chengfeng picked up the massive halberd beside him.

"Even if you want to live peacefully, you must have the power to protect that way of life."

Saying this, Du Chengfeng extended his hand to Liu Bolun.

"So, teach me."

"I’ve long wanted to know what your Tai Xue teaches."