Love Bitstream: Chapter 16 - The Matchmaker of the New Era
Chapter 16: The Matchmaker of the New Era
Everyone stood rooted to the spot. At some point, two NPCs had appeared in the distance. One wore a monk's robe—a disciple cultivating at Mount Xumi. The other was a graceful young woman in a flowing gauze dress.
[System] Ming Kong: Yun'er, I will not let you down. I've hesitated for far too long and already wronged you. Today, I'll go speak to the inner sect elders and make things clear. I'll renounce the order and marry you.
[System] Yun'er: Brother Ming Kong... I-I'm still afraid... The elders of Mount Xumi won't make things difficult for you, will they?
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Holy crap! This was explosive!
A Buddhist disciple secretly dating!
[System] Ming Kong: On my first day at Mount Xumi, the elder read us the sect rules. The very first rule was that one's path should follow one's heart. Since my heart is no longer in cultivating immortality or seeking the Dao, there's no point in forcing myself to stay. I'd rather return to the secular world, become an ordinary man, and spend the rest of my life with you.
[System] Yun'er: Brother Ming Kong, go. I'll wait for you...
[Nearby] Blue Sky Beyond: Senior, you're absolutely wild.
Naturally, the NPC didn't react to Blue Sky Beyond's comment. After saying goodbye to Yun'er, Ming Kong followed the mountain path behind Mount Xumi toward the inner sect to report his intentions to the elders. The group chattered excitedly as they followed after him.
[Party] Blue Sky Beyond: Even Mount Xumi NPCs get to fall in love. My mentality is shattered. Why have I been single for ten thousand years?!
[Party] If A Dog Wants To Leave I Dont Stop It: Is romance more fun than gaming?
[Party] Explosive Red: Tell us your story.
[Party] If A Dog Wants To Leave I Dont Stop It: My username already tells the whole story.
Everyone carefully pondered the six words "If A Dog Wants To Leave I Dont Stop It." Suddenly, they understood. They truly understood. The pain pierced straight to their hearts, as if they had just finished reading a million-word melodramatic scumbag-ex romance novel.
[Party] Explosive Red: Stay as far away from romance in the real world as possible. But romance in the two-dimensional world? That's something you can still play around with.
[Party] Misty Autumn Rain: Agreed.
[Party] Thousand Feathers: What do you mean by romance in the two-dimensional world?
The moment Misty Autumn Rain typed "Agreed," even the air seemed to fall silent. Yet seeing that no one answered him, Thousand Feathers stubbornly kept asking.
[Party] Thousand Feathers: You mean online dating?
[Party] Thousand Feathers: What's the point of online dating? Games are more fun.
[Party] Misty Autumn Rain: Why not game and date online at the same time?
[Party] Thousand Feathers: There's no meaning in that.
[Party] Endless Time: Agreed.
Blue Sky Beyond stumbled and nearly walked into a tree. Endless Time urged him, "Walk faster. You're blocking the way."
Chi Zhen walked in the middle of the party, with Endless Time in front of him and Misty Autumn Rain behind him. He could feel an aura of death closing in around him...
Chi Zhen wasn't a particularly talkative person, but it was rare for him to be so completely at a loss for words during a stream. It felt like anything he said would be wrong, somehow off.
Should he explain the dungeon mechanics? Endless Time had already explained them clearly enough. Besides, no one in the stream seemed remotely interested in the dungeon strategy.
Silence. The stream was engulfed in silence, while the chat scrolled frantically.
Chi Zhen glanced at it a few times before looking away.
Forget it. Reading it was too distracting.
Chi Zhen had never run a dungeon that demanded such total concentration...
He didn't dare miss a single word from his teammates. He was afraid that if he missed even one sentence, he'd step into some hidden trap.
Ming Kong requested an audience with the Mount Xumi elder, explained his intentions, and asked permission to return to secular life. The same elder who had told him on his first day to "follow your heart in whether you stay or leave" now slowly began to persuade him otherwise.
[System] Elder of Mount Xumi: Ming Kong, all conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows; like dew and lightning.
[System] Ming Kong: Elder, I don't understand.
[System] Elder of Mount Xumi: You've copied that verse from the Diamond Sutra hundreds of times. How could you not understand it? Perhaps it is simply that you refuse to.
[System] Ming Kong: ...
[System] Elder of Mount Xumi: I have long known about you and Miss Yun'er. Do you know why I did not stop you sooner? All things arise from cause and effect. Since you met her, the cause had already been planted. If I did not allow you to walk this path to its end, you would never truly comprehend the Buddha's teachings, nor sever your worldly attachments.
[System] Ming Kong: Elder, this disciple is ashamed. A mortal heart has already arisen within me. I can no longer seek the Buddha or pursue the Dao. It seems I am fated to have no future on the path of cultivation.
[System] Elder of Mount Xumi: Ming Kong, do you regret it?
[System] Ming Kong: I do not.
[System] Elder of Mount Xumi: In that case, do you dare enter my mustard-seed world and undergo a trial? If you can pass it, I shall permit you to return to secular life.
[System] Ming Kong: This disciple will obey the elder's command.
After the conversation ended, Ming Kong truly entered the mustard-seed world to undergo the trial.
The group clicked their tongues in amazement.
If A Dog Wants To Leave I Dont Stop It: Ming Kong, you've really lost your mind. Such a great path to immortality right in front of you, yet you're choosing to walk into the prison of marriage instead. Amitabha.
"Have the game designers lost their minds?" Blue Sky Beyond complained. "Are we playing a game or watching a movie? Why is this storyline so long? We're still not done yet?"
Endless Time said, "I just searched the forums. It looks like we're the first team to trigger this storyline."
Even Drunken Breeze of Fleeting Life couldn't help turning on his mic. "That's insane!"
Chi Zhen silently stopped searching the forum for "Ming Kong," "Yun'er," and "Mount Xumi Elder," then closed the page.
[???]
[Did you and Endless Time roast a pair of lovebirds and split one bird each or something?]
[The chaos enjoyers are suddenly wondering if this is really just for laughs. Could this be the legendary thing called destiny...?]
[I'm more curious about how you're even supposed to unlock this storyline.]
Ming Kong spent three days training in the mustard-seed world and soon emerged after passing the trial. He bid farewell to the Mount Xumi Elder and descended the mountain, carrying a mixture of joy and regret as he went to find Yun'er.
But when he reached the foot of the mountain, he discovered that Yun'er's family had already moved away. Like a madman, he searched everywhere for her. Before long, he learned from others that three years had passed. The three days he had spent in the mustard-seed world had been three years in the outside world. Unable to wait any longer, Yun'er had already married someone else.
He found her and demanded to know why she hadn't waited for him. But Yun'er replied that she had waited. She had waited three years. A thousand days and nights. She was only a mortal. How many sets of three years could she possibly spend waiting?
He returned to Mount Xumi and confronted the elder.
The elder remained calm and composed, as though he had anticipated this question long ago.
[System] Mount Xumi Elder: You are a cultivation prodigy rarely seen in Mount Xumi even once in a hundred years. Your talent is extraordinary. In merely five years since entering the sect, your progress has been astonishing. You have already broken through the Qi Refinement stage and can now live for over a century. You are no longer a mortal. How could you still return to secular life? Had I told you directly, you would not have been able to sever your worldly attachments. You would have stubbornly insisted on your own way and ruined your path to greatness. This mustard-seed world was never a test for you. It was a test for mortals.
[System] Ming Kong: Not... for me?
[System] Mount Xumi Elder: Precisely. It was only three years—not ten years, not thirty years. Merely three short years, and a mortal could no longer wait. Ming Kong, do you see clearly now? All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows; like dew and lightning.
Blue Sky Beyond sighed. "That bald old monk is ruthless."
Explosive Red immediately cut to the heart of the matter. "He can dress it up however he likes, but isn't it just because he couldn't bear to lose a cultivation genius who only appears once every hundred years?"
Ming Kong knew the elder's reasoning made sense. Three short years, and she could no longer wait. Mortals and cultivators lived under entirely different circumstances. Mortals only lived for a few decades. A few decades later, the cultivator would once again be left alone. And for Buddhist cultivators, if they failed to sever worldly attachments, then after returning to secular life their Buddha-heart would be damaged. Even if they regretted it later, they would never advance again.
But—
Why had the elder deceived him? Why trick him into entering the mustard-seed world? Why not simply tell him the truth?
Was Mount Xumi's principle of "follow your heart in whether you stay or leave" merely empty words? And if so, was the "following one's heart" taught by Mount Xumi truly following one's heart at all?
Once Ming Kong's Buddha-heart wavered, there was no turning back. Eventually, he suffered qi deviation and became a Mad Monk.
[System] Mad Monk Ming Kong: Who dares enter my secret realm? Hahaha! You men and women—do you know that mortal love is the least capable of withstanding trials? Mortal love is but a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow!
As the line was spoken, the scenery shifted. The group found themselves once more in the ruined back mountain of Mount Xumi.
At this moment, they and Mad Monk Ming Kong stood inside a side hall on the back mountain. The hall within the secret realm was dilapidated beyond recognition. Stone pillars lay collapsed across the floor, and weeds grew everywhere.
Holding a staff in his hand, Mad Monk Ming Kong threw back his head and roared. Not a trace remained of the refined young monk he had once been.
Blue Sky Beyond sighed again. "Heartbreak really does drive people insane."
The moment the words left his mouth, he realized he'd said the wrong thing. Unfortunately, it was already too late.
[Party] Explosive Red: ...
[Party] If A Dog Wants To Leave I Dont Stop It: ...
Chi Zhen wondered if it was still possible to leave the party. Or at least close the stream. Clearly, it was already too late.
Because the Mad Monk had already launched his attack.
Vines appeared from nowhere and, in an instant, wrapped around Explosive Red, If A Dog Wants To Leave I Dont Stop It, Misty Autumn Rain, and The Light Boat Has Already Passed. The four of them were hoisted straight into the air!
[System] Mad Monk Ming Kong: Hahaha! These demon vines will drain every last drop of your flesh and blood! Let us see whether the people below will come to save you! The demon vines shift unpredictably and leave no trace! If they rescue the wrong companion, they too will be drained dry! Look! Look! Faced with such peril, how can mere cultivators withstand it? Your partners will abandon you! They will abandon you!
[???]
[This is so exciting!]
[Bro is randomly matchmaking people now? What are you, the Cupid of the New Era? The way you're forcing these pairings!]
[Why is there a streamer mixed in with the three girls?]
[Because his future partner is here.]
[Because his future partner is here +100]
Everyone stood rooted to the spot. At some point, two NPCs had appeared in the distance. One wore a monk's robe—a disciple cultivating at Mount Xumi. The other was a graceful young woman in a flowing gauze dress.
[System] Ming Kong: Yun'er, I will not let you down. I've hesitated for far too long and already wronged you. Today, I'll go speak to the inner sect elders and make things clear. I'll renounce the order and marry you.
[System] Yun'er: Brother Ming Kong... I-I'm still afraid... The elders of Mount Xumi won't make things difficult for you, will they?
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Holy crap! This was explosive!
A Buddhist disciple secretly dating!
[System] Ming Kong: On my first day at Mount Xumi, the elder read us the sect rules. The very first rule was that one's path should follow one's heart. Since my heart is no longer in cultivating immortality or seeking the Dao, there's no point in forcing myself to stay. I'd rather return to the secular world, become an ordinary man, and spend the rest of my life with you.
[System] Yun'er: Brother Ming Kong, go. I'll wait for you...
[Nearby] Blue Sky Beyond: Senior, you're absolutely wild.
Naturally, the NPC didn't react to Blue Sky Beyond's comment. After saying goodbye to Yun'er, Ming Kong followed the mountain path behind Mount Xumi toward the inner sect to report his intentions to the elders. The group chattered excitedly as they followed after him.
[Party] Blue Sky Beyond: Even Mount Xumi NPCs get to fall in love. My mentality is shattered. Why have I been single for ten thousand years?!
[Party] If A Dog Wants To Leave I Dont Stop It: Is romance more fun than gaming?
[Party] Explosive Red: Tell us your story.
[Party] If A Dog Wants To Leave I Dont Stop It: My username already tells the whole story.
Everyone carefully pondered the six words "If A Dog Wants To Leave I Dont Stop It." Suddenly, they understood. They truly understood. The pain pierced straight to their hearts, as if they had just finished reading a million-word melodramatic scumbag-ex romance novel.
[Party] Explosive Red: Stay as far away from romance in the real world as possible. But romance in the two-dimensional world? That's something you can still play around with.
[Party] Misty Autumn Rain: Agreed.
[Party] Thousand Feathers: What do you mean by romance in the two-dimensional world?
The moment Misty Autumn Rain typed "Agreed," even the air seemed to fall silent. Yet seeing that no one answered him, Thousand Feathers stubbornly kept asking.
[Party] Thousand Feathers: You mean online dating?
[Party] Thousand Feathers: What's the point of online dating? Games are more fun.
[Party] Misty Autumn Rain: Why not game and date online at the same time?
[Party] Thousand Feathers: There's no meaning in that.
[Party] Endless Time: Agreed.
Blue Sky Beyond stumbled and nearly walked into a tree. Endless Time urged him, "Walk faster. You're blocking the way."
Chi Zhen walked in the middle of the party, with Endless Time in front of him and Misty Autumn Rain behind him. He could feel an aura of death closing in around him...
Chi Zhen wasn't a particularly talkative person, but it was rare for him to be so completely at a loss for words during a stream. It felt like anything he said would be wrong, somehow off.
Should he explain the dungeon mechanics? Endless Time had already explained them clearly enough. Besides, no one in the stream seemed remotely interested in the dungeon strategy.
Silence. The stream was engulfed in silence, while the chat scrolled frantically.
Chi Zhen glanced at it a few times before looking away.
Forget it. Reading it was too distracting.
Chi Zhen had never run a dungeon that demanded such total concentration...
He didn't dare miss a single word from his teammates. He was afraid that if he missed even one sentence, he'd step into some hidden trap.
Ming Kong requested an audience with the Mount Xumi elder, explained his intentions, and asked permission to return to secular life. The same elder who had told him on his first day to "follow your heart in whether you stay or leave" now slowly began to persuade him otherwise.
[System] Elder of Mount Xumi: Ming Kong, all conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows; like dew and lightning.
[System] Ming Kong: Elder, I don't understand.
[System] Elder of Mount Xumi: You've copied that verse from the Diamond Sutra hundreds of times. How could you not understand it? Perhaps it is simply that you refuse to.
[System] Ming Kong: ...
[System] Elder of Mount Xumi: I have long known about you and Miss Yun'er. Do you know why I did not stop you sooner? All things arise from cause and effect. Since you met her, the cause had already been planted. If I did not allow you to walk this path to its end, you would never truly comprehend the Buddha's teachings, nor sever your worldly attachments.
[System] Ming Kong: Elder, this disciple is ashamed. A mortal heart has already arisen within me. I can no longer seek the Buddha or pursue the Dao. It seems I am fated to have no future on the path of cultivation.
[System] Elder of Mount Xumi: Ming Kong, do you regret it?
[System] Ming Kong: I do not.
[System] Elder of Mount Xumi: In that case, do you dare enter my mustard-seed world and undergo a trial? If you can pass it, I shall permit you to return to secular life.
[System] Ming Kong: This disciple will obey the elder's command.
After the conversation ended, Ming Kong truly entered the mustard-seed world to undergo the trial.
The group clicked their tongues in amazement.
If A Dog Wants To Leave I Dont Stop It: Ming Kong, you've really lost your mind. Such a great path to immortality right in front of you, yet you're choosing to walk into the prison of marriage instead. Amitabha.
"Have the game designers lost their minds?" Blue Sky Beyond complained. "Are we playing a game or watching a movie? Why is this storyline so long? We're still not done yet?"
Endless Time said, "I just searched the forums. It looks like we're the first team to trigger this storyline."
Even Drunken Breeze of Fleeting Life couldn't help turning on his mic. "That's insane!"
Chi Zhen silently stopped searching the forum for "Ming Kong," "Yun'er," and "Mount Xumi Elder," then closed the page.
[???]
[Did you and Endless Time roast a pair of lovebirds and split one bird each or something?]
[The chaos enjoyers are suddenly wondering if this is really just for laughs. Could this be the legendary thing called destiny...?]
[I'm more curious about how you're even supposed to unlock this storyline.]
Ming Kong spent three days training in the mustard-seed world and soon emerged after passing the trial. He bid farewell to the Mount Xumi Elder and descended the mountain, carrying a mixture of joy and regret as he went to find Yun'er.
But when he reached the foot of the mountain, he discovered that Yun'er's family had already moved away. Like a madman, he searched everywhere for her. Before long, he learned from others that three years had passed. The three days he had spent in the mustard-seed world had been three years in the outside world. Unable to wait any longer, Yun'er had already married someone else.
He found her and demanded to know why she hadn't waited for him. But Yun'er replied that she had waited. She had waited three years. A thousand days and nights. She was only a mortal. How many sets of three years could she possibly spend waiting?
He returned to Mount Xumi and confronted the elder.
The elder remained calm and composed, as though he had anticipated this question long ago.
[System] Mount Xumi Elder: You are a cultivation prodigy rarely seen in Mount Xumi even once in a hundred years. Your talent is extraordinary. In merely five years since entering the sect, your progress has been astonishing. You have already broken through the Qi Refinement stage and can now live for over a century. You are no longer a mortal. How could you still return to secular life? Had I told you directly, you would not have been able to sever your worldly attachments. You would have stubbornly insisted on your own way and ruined your path to greatness. This mustard-seed world was never a test for you. It was a test for mortals.
[System] Ming Kong: Not... for me?
[System] Mount Xumi Elder: Precisely. It was only three years—not ten years, not thirty years. Merely three short years, and a mortal could no longer wait. Ming Kong, do you see clearly now? All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows; like dew and lightning.
Blue Sky Beyond sighed. "That bald old monk is ruthless."
Explosive Red immediately cut to the heart of the matter. "He can dress it up however he likes, but isn't it just because he couldn't bear to lose a cultivation genius who only appears once every hundred years?"
Ming Kong knew the elder's reasoning made sense. Three short years, and she could no longer wait. Mortals and cultivators lived under entirely different circumstances. Mortals only lived for a few decades. A few decades later, the cultivator would once again be left alone. And for Buddhist cultivators, if they failed to sever worldly attachments, then after returning to secular life their Buddha-heart would be damaged. Even if they regretted it later, they would never advance again.
But—
Why had the elder deceived him? Why trick him into entering the mustard-seed world? Why not simply tell him the truth?
Was Mount Xumi's principle of "follow your heart in whether you stay or leave" merely empty words? And if so, was the "following one's heart" taught by Mount Xumi truly following one's heart at all?
Once Ming Kong's Buddha-heart wavered, there was no turning back. Eventually, he suffered qi deviation and became a Mad Monk.
[System] Mad Monk Ming Kong: Who dares enter my secret realm? Hahaha! You men and women—do you know that mortal love is the least capable of withstanding trials? Mortal love is but a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow!
As the line was spoken, the scenery shifted. The group found themselves once more in the ruined back mountain of Mount Xumi.
At this moment, they and Mad Monk Ming Kong stood inside a side hall on the back mountain. The hall within the secret realm was dilapidated beyond recognition. Stone pillars lay collapsed across the floor, and weeds grew everywhere.
Holding a staff in his hand, Mad Monk Ming Kong threw back his head and roared. Not a trace remained of the refined young monk he had once been.
Blue Sky Beyond sighed again. "Heartbreak really does drive people insane."
The moment the words left his mouth, he realized he'd said the wrong thing. Unfortunately, it was already too late.
[Party] Explosive Red: ...
[Party] If A Dog Wants To Leave I Dont Stop It: ...
Chi Zhen wondered if it was still possible to leave the party. Or at least close the stream. Clearly, it was already too late.
Because the Mad Monk had already launched his attack.
Vines appeared from nowhere and, in an instant, wrapped around Explosive Red, If A Dog Wants To Leave I Dont Stop It, Misty Autumn Rain, and The Light Boat Has Already Passed. The four of them were hoisted straight into the air!
[System] Mad Monk Ming Kong: Hahaha! These demon vines will drain every last drop of your flesh and blood! Let us see whether the people below will come to save you! The demon vines shift unpredictably and leave no trace! If they rescue the wrong companion, they too will be drained dry! Look! Look! Faced with such peril, how can mere cultivators withstand it? Your partners will abandon you! They will abandon you!
[???]
[This is so exciting!]
[Bro is randomly matchmaking people now? What are you, the Cupid of the New Era? The way you're forcing these pairings!]
[Why is there a streamer mixed in with the three girls?]
[Because his future partner is here.]
[Because his future partner is here +100]
----------
If you like my translation, please support me by buying me a coffee:
0 comments: