Preparations

Gu Guangzhi was engrossed in his work. It was well known around the Higher Academy of Refinement that Gu Guangzhi's experiments often failed and produced dangerous side effects. It was an interesting affair to look into why his methods produced such violent reactions but few people took interest in it. After all, in a competitive environment such as the Academy of Higher Refinement, deviation from one's path meant falling behind. Not everyone had a rich grandfather to indulge them.

"Yes! Finally! The process of recreating the steps to refine a Rank 1 Hellrise bamboo bird Gu in a conventional way is a tedious affair but I finally managed to figure it out. Once this last step is done, I will have finished the task I assigned for myself."

Suddenly the unfinished Hellrise bamboo bird Gu started bleeding fire as it was hurt. The half finished gu insect looked like it was about to die and produce a massive explosion in its wake.

"Shit. I spoke too soon."

This wasn't new for Gu Guangzhi. Just as he was about to take measures to protect himself from the blast, a white light enveloped the half finished gu insect and suppressed the explosion. Gu Guangzhi took this chance to perform a few more additional steps to salvage his refinement. After a bit of struggle, a new Rank 1 Hellrise bamboo bird was now in his hands.

"Thanks for helping out Grandpa but my goal is to do this myself. I do not consider this a success.", said Gu Guangzhi wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"You're too hard on yourself. I'm sure you can do it without any help the next time. I came here because I wanted to talk to you about your upcoming expedition to Gu Yue village.", said Gu Yue Chao.

"Grandpa! This is the perfect opportunity for me. I don't want you to stop me from going. I will get justice for Wang Mei.", said Gu Guangzhi resolutely.

Gu Yue Chao sighed and said, "Revenge is not Justice. Anyway, I'm not here to argue with you. I just wanted to guide you towards the right path. Come with me." Saying so, Gu Yue Chao led Gu Guangzhi to secluded area away from anyone that might be prying. Once they reached their destination, Gu Yue Chao spoke again.

"What is Justice?"

"Grandpa, why are we having this philosophical…", Gu Guangzhi wanted to reject talking about this topic but he soon sensed that his Grandfather's tone was different. Understanding the seriousness of the question, Gu Guangzhi gathered his thoughts and answered, "Justice is the ideal way of making things right. It is the ideal that we should all strive for."

"Oh. Why should we strive for Justice? Can't we just make things go our way with our might? Weakness is not a virtue. Why should a weak mortal be an equal to a gu master such as myself?"

Gu Guangzhi knew that his grandfather wasn't trying to hurt him by speaking like this. He knew his grandfather was alluding to something much bigger. So he put his personal grievances aside and asked back, "If being a gu master makes us right, then what does being a gu immortal mean? Does that mean it automatically put us in the wrong, should we ever go against them? No. Justice has to be impartial. Regardless of our ability to enforce it, it must be universal!"

Gu Yue Chao had a slight smile on his face. "Hmm. That sounds alright. Earlier you said that Justice is the ideal way to make things right! Does that mean, any other way that's less than ideal, is injustice?"

"That's not what I said! You're twisting my words and pulling me into a false dichotomy.", argued Gu Guangzhi.

"Oh? Then, is justice malleable to one's needs and desires? How much can a person insert his own self interests into the justice he strives for?", questioned Gu Yue Chao.

"No. That… sounds wrong. Opening justice to our self interests will lead to corruption."

"Aren't you contradicting yourself here? Are justice and injustice dichotomous or is there a gray area between the two? Is justice open to interpretation or is it rigid and universal? Think Guangzhi! Think!"

Gu Guangzhi fell into a deep silence. He was once bullied and beaten up in the modern world. His family tried to get him justice from the courts but his bullies were wealthy and could afford the best lawyers. They got away with negligible punishments. If it was up to him, he would have paraded them naked on the school grounds for what they did to him. It may not be justice in public opinion but it was justice to him. It was mob justice! Was there truly a wiggle room for interpreting justice? Was he being delusional in thinking that he can be impartial? And what about cases where he does not have the capability to interpret justice? Is there justice in punishing a starving child who steals a loaf of bread? Is there justice in killing one person to save a hundred? Is there justice in cutting down a tree to build a house? As he began contemplating the issue he realized something.

"I was wrong. Justice is not an ideal. Neither is it universal. It is just a means. Equality is an ideal. Fairness is an ideal. But justice isn't. Justice is a means to achieve that ideal."

"Justice is a means to an ideal? Then what is your ideal?", asked Gu Yue Chao. To be honest, he wasn't pleased with this definition. He was afraid that he turned his grandson into a narcissist.

"Freedom…", Gu Guangzhi took a pause and spoke as if he took every little thing in the world into consideration, "from suffering."