```
"I can't achieve the detached and solitary transcendence of my master, nor can I, like my father, find the profound within the mundane,"
"Sometimes I feel that my mortal nature is flawed, but then I think that being mortal is not necessarily a bad thing and it doesn't hinder cultivation."
"Teacher, you who have come from ancient times, must have seen the rise and fall of countless beings. Is this mortal nature good or bad?"
Yun Zhongzi pondered briefly and smiled, saying, "Your question has truly stumped me; I am not of the Human Race, and I do not know how to answer you."
Li Ping'an hurriedly said, "I was presumptuous!"
"Ah, there's no such thing as presumption."
Yun Zhongzi placed the flower basket on his lap, twirled his beard, and spoke slowly:
"What you call mortal nature doesn't truly exist; it is simply human nature. If you were to abandon it, could you still call yourself a member of the Human Race?
