"Ren is will; Hatsu is action."
"People use 'will,' use 'thought,' to command 'action.' They conquer with aura, repelling enemies without even moving."
"For one who practices Ren, their 'will' must first be sufficiently firm. If their mind is not strong enough, they can easily become stubborn and unable to correct flawed thinking in time, leading to deviation and, in severe cases, death."
"Therefore, when practicing Ren, one must not stop at the superficial manifestation of Nen. More importantly, one must 'question the heart.'"
"Ask yourself what you truly want, in which direction you want to walk in the future. Thoroughly determine your path forward, and then it will not be too late to speak of practicing Ren."
Late at night, the moonlight washed over the father and son, draping them in a silver gauze...
Kikyo carefully got out of bed, holding her waist, and peeked out from the edge of the door. The two figures, one large and one small, stood with their hands behind their backs at the window, gazing into the distance, admiring the night view of Kukuroo Mountain. It presented an image of strange harmony.
'Is it my imagination?' The electronic eyes on the woman's face flickered. Roy stood next to Silva, listening quietly. A phrase faintly emerged in his mind: 'Skill can approach the Dao, Art can connect with the divine!'
When "skill" reaches its peak, it will ultimately converge towards the "Dao."
"Father's meaning is that the essence of Ren is not on the material level, controlling the opening and closing of the body's aura nodes, but rather... arming the mind with thought, interpreting responsibility with action. Driving the will as a blade, to inflict spiritual impact or destruction upon the enemy."
Silva was slightly taken aback. He turned his head to look at Roy. The young man, frowning in deep thought, seemed to be faintly glowing... It was unclear whether it was because the door was pushed open and light shone on him through the crack, or if the moonlight was simply too bright, setting off his exceptional presence.
In any case, the phrase "arming the mind with thought, interpreting responsibility with action" sounded unexpectedly fresh.
The man's gaze was profound. "Your grandfather said you always have some fantastic ideas. It seems now that wasn't an empty statement."
"Kikyo, bring me the notebooks from my drawer."
"Creeak." The door was pushed open a little further. The woman came over, holding two notebooks...
Silva said, "These are some experiences regarding the training of the Four Major Principles that I compiled in my early years. You keep one, and give one to Illumi..."
Roy accepted them with both hands, flipped through them—they were handwritten—and bowed in a salute. "Thank you, Father. I will not make you wait too long."
"Hehehe... I hope not!"
A gust of wind blew, whipping Silva's silver hair into a wild dance like a lion's mane...
The young man straightened up, nodded to Kikyo, and turned to leave, following the path he had come. He left the couple with a back that was not tall but no longer so thin...
"He's grown up..."
"Yes," 'he's grown up.' "Be careful not to let the child get cold." Silva watched Roy leave, taking one last deep look, before helping Kikyo back into the room.
The bedroom door closed.
But it could not sever the connection of blood...
Walking once again through the long corridors of the old castle, filled with the aura of time, Roy's thoughts were clear and his mood was light, a stark contrast to the heavy depression of an hour ago.
"You seem to be in a very good mood... Did you go see Kastro again?"
The "lethal dose" of neurotoxin was a bit potent. Even with the timely antidote, the residual poison in his system took Illumi a full day to recover.
Thus, on the way to his own bedroom, the young man encountered his older brother.
It was just as well. It saved Roy the trouble of looking for him, though he wouldn't have gone in the first place and would have simply instructed Gotoh to pass on their father's notebook.
"Yours." He tossed the notebook over.
Illumi caught it, opened it in his palm to have a look, and then...
Sticking his neck out, he stared at Roy. "Have you had a change of heart?"
'Why would he share this experience with me for free?'
"It's from Father," Roy said calmly, not even deigning to glance at him as he turned to leave.
Illumi stood holding the notebook, staring blankly at his departing back, his heart wrapped in a thick layer of disappointment.
'And I thought it was a gift from you...'
The young man stood frozen on the spot like a stone statue, facing the direction Roy had left, gazing for a long time. Finally, he turned, his back to Roy, and returned desolately to his bedroom.
At that moment, the moon was high in the sky. Looking down from above... the Zoldyck brothers, one on the left and one on the right, were like two straight, thin lines, never to converge—
"Dong." The grandfather clock in the corner struck ten at night.
His mind filled with thoughts on Ren after his farewell with Silva, Roy returned to his bedroom. He looked up and saw... that Gotoh, uncharacteristically, had not prepared dinner for him. Instead, he was waiting at the door, holding two white gloves. Roy stopped.
"Young master, the old master has given his orders. When it's time to learn, you learn; when it's time to eat, you eat. A promise made to someone else must be kept," Gotoh said, imitating Maha's voice. "My stomach is hungry, I want to eat now!"
Roy: "..."
For a moment, he didn't know whether to say his imitation was brilliant or just a poor copy. He put away the notebook from Silva, placing it with the ones from Biscuit and his great-grandfather, closed the drawer, and headed for the kitchen.
"Let's go. We can't let the old master go hungry."
"Yes."
The young butler followed Roy. In a short while, they arrived at the kitchen. He peeked inside...
Maha was sprawled out on a chair, one foot propped on the seat, lazily munching on a cucumber.
Seeing Roy, he grunted, "No need to make the Smashed Cucumber Salad. Just stew a chicken."
One probably wouldn't be enough. Enhancers were all gluttons, each one able to eat more than the last. So... Roy, with foresight, had already asked the kitchen staff to prepare six.
He set up a large wok and used the fierce fire of the earthen stove to stir-fry... The stove was built by the chefs from brick and stone, specifically for cooking large meals to supply the butlers. Now that Roy needed to use it, it had naturally been cleared beforehand.
Next, Roy wielded the spatula, Gotoh added firewood, and Maha sat lazily, waiting for the meal, occasionally glancing over and tapping his fingers on the armrest, enjoying himself.—
Soon, after stir-frying, adding water, and covering the lid... the chicken was stewing. Roy finally had a moment of leisure. He took this opportunity to voice his confusions about Ren to Maha, one by one.
The old man, with one eye half-open, gave him a sidelong glance and teased, "One father isn't enough for you? You have to shear this old man's wool too? Kid, you're too greedy!"
"This isn't shearing; it's asking for guidance," Roy said seriously. "You were the one who told me that the child who cries gets the milk."
Hey... the boomerang he had just thrown had flown right back. Maha looked at the young man, and the young man looked back at him with a grin.
They stared at each other for a moment, and finally... with a sigh of "Forget it."
The old man sighed in exasperation. ""Questioning the heart" is not about teaching you some 'fake, grand, and empty' damn principles."
"Even 'thought' must be grounded in reality to become a weapon."
Roy listened quietly.
"What is 'reality'? It is tangible and intangible 'experience,' 'knowledge,' and the most unforgettable 'reference point' lurking deep within your heart and memories."
Maha tapped his fingers on the armrest, looking like an old sage. "Humans cannot imagine something beyond their own cognition out of thin air. A sword, an event, a setback, a gain, a visualization—all can become objects of 'reference.'"
"After that, you 'draw from,' 'imitate,' and finally 'create,' turning it into something that suits you best..."
"So anchoring the most profound 'reference point' in one's heart becomes the key to 'questioning the heart'?" Roy frowned in deep thought.
Maha didn't answer, taking a bite of his cucumber. "The pot's boiling."
The young man was jolted back to his senses. He turned off the fire, served the food, and ate with his great-grandfather, occasionally glancing at him, wanting to ask more, but unfortunately...
The old man only had eyes for the chicken, not for him. He ate with wild abandon, threw down his chopsticks, and vanished in a flash...
"So fast. Every time I see Old Master Maha eat, I suspect my own eyes are playing tricks on me..."
'You can't even see the movement of his chopsticks...'
Gotoh cleared the chaotic table. The old man had devoured nearly five of the six chickens, with the last one going into Roy's stomach.
The young man took out a napkin and slowly wiped his mouth. He followed him out of the kitchen and came to a stop in the garden.
He looked up at the sky...
It was almost twelve o'clock, the moon as bright as a platter...
He reached out a hand, catching a strand of moonlight, and stared at it in a daze. Gotoh stood behind him, keeping him silent company.
The young butler suddenly heard him ask, "What would you say is eternal?"
Gotoh was stunned for a moment. Seeing him looking at the sky, he ventured a guess, "The stars?"
The young man scoffed, "How can the light of a firefly dare to compete with the bright moon?"
"Then it must be the moon," Gotoh said with conviction. "It rises in the east and sets in the west. No matter how the world changes, the moon will rise every day as usual."
'Is that so?'
Roy released the strand of moonlight, letting it drift and merge back into the moonlit night. He turned to look at Gotoh, and in the depths of his pupils, "poof~" two divine flames ignited, growing brighter and brighter. "It's the sun, you idiot."
"In heaven and on earth, I alone am the honored one. Where the light reaches, my sight reaches!"
The young man spoke in a deep voice, patted his shoulder, and walked towards his own bedroom with his hands behind his back.
Gotoh watched him leave, his figure shrinking into the distance until it disappeared... The conversation between him and Old Master Maha echoed in his mind. He stood rooted to the spot, unable to come back to his senses for a long time...
Until the next day, when Roy saw him again, the young butler had two dark circles under his eyes, clearly not having slept well.
"According to the master's instructions, the young master may have a two-day holiday to 'question the heart,'" Gotoh relayed Silva's exact words.
"There's no need." Roy took a bite of a beef burger. "Training will continue as usual. As for 'questioning the heart'..."
The young man lowered his voice and chuckled. "Go tell him I've already found my direction."
Gotoh remembered the young man's shining eyes from the night before and carefully asked for instructions, "If the master asks..."
"Just say... the sun."
"Yes."
Gotoh gave Roy a deep look, served him his breakfast, and left with the serving cart...
Just as he was about to leave, a soft call stopped him. The butler looked back. The young man looked at him seriously and said, "You need to work harder, Gotoh."
"Pick up Ren again and practice it. I don't want to have to search for you in the dust in the future..."
'The encounter with Hisoka... the poker... in the woods... was not so pleasant...'
"Don't worry, young master." Gotoh adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and blinked. "The sun also needs the stars to guard it..."
"I will let the young master see my growth."
"You..." Roy shook his head and laughed. He pulled open the drawer, took out Silva's notebook, and spread it on the desk. "I can't give you the original. You can copy it here. You can leave when you're done."
"That's the master's..."
"What master? He gave it to me, so it's mine!"
T/n:
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